News that Halliburton will close its El Reno operation and lay off more than 800 employees shook the community Monday morning. By Tuesday morning, Halliburton had announced it was moving the El Reno operation back to Duncan.

Halliburton spokeswoman Erin Fuchs released the following statement Tuesday after reports of the closure were made public:

Prayer service for Robert F. Hufnagel of Okarche will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Holy Trinity Church in Okarche. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Trinity with Rev. Cory Stanley and Deacon Max Schwarz officiating. Burial will be in the Holy Trinity Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Memorial service for Stean Allen Whitley will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. at First Christian Church with Rev. Colton Lott officiating. Following the service, a reception will be held at Pam and Brock Barber’s home on East Elm Street.

Mr. Whitley passed away Nov. 29, 2019. He was born March 25, 1972, in El Reno. As a toddler he lived in Egypt and Iran. He moved back to El Reno during his grade school years and graduated from El Reno High School.

It’s a word coaches hate to use before tipping off any season, but for El Reno High School's boys basketball team, “rebuilding” is the best word to describe the Indians heading into the 2019-20 season.

Kale Simon’s team kicked off that campaign Tuesday night against Shawnee with only two starters back from last year’s 20-8 team which fell a point shy of making the Class 5A state title game.