Janice Kay Plumley was born Dec. 8, 1947.

She passed away peacefully June 19, 2025, in El Reno, surrounded by the people she loved. 

Janice was the daughter of Raymond Ruskin Stovall and June Evelyn (Banta) Stovall. She was a graduate of Minco High School. She married and soon became a young mother to three sons.

Later she returned to her studies, becoming a certified paralegal, and proudly spent many years working with some of Oklahoma’s most respected attorneys and law firms.

Fireworks could be heard in the skies over El Reno just moments after the Oklahoma City Thunder won the state’s first-ever major league sports championship with a 103-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

The 12-point win in Game 7 of the 2025 National Basketball Association Finals gave the Thunder the 4-3 series decision and the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the first time in the franchise’s 17-year history in the state.

Surfing the wave of excitement with the Oklahoma City Thunder being in the NBA Finals, the city of El Reno’s Fast Connect fiber optic network passed a major field test last week.

Literally.

In the grass field east of the main pavilion at Lake El Reno, the city hosted a free watch party.

More than 125 residents brought blankets, lawn chairs and umbrellas to watch Game 6 of the NBA Finals on a big screen television measuring 12 feet wide and 7 feet tall. The Internet used for the live feed was provided by the city’s fiber optic system.

The centennial of the Mother Road is coming in 2026. 

Although it was not completely paved until the late 1930s, the stretch of what was originally designated as U.S. Highway No. 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles, would enter Canadian County at County Line Road on the east and into Caddo County on the west side of the county.

The 2,448 miles of the original U.S. Highway 66 included 400 miles that would become Oklahoma State Highway 66, as it is officially named today.