The historic Route 66 highway crosses Canadian County. 

In a beeline, the first highway from Chicago to Los Angeles would change the early development of Yukon and El Reno.

Established Nov. 11, 1926, the highway would bypass Calumet and Geary by 1935 as a shorter section of Portland cement was built between El Reno and Bridgeport.

One of the historians of the Mother Road, Michael Wallis of Tulsa, was one of the first nationally known authors to spur interest in the highway.

Children involved in Project Transformation took a field trip last week to the El Reno Regional Airport. Airport Manager Scott Law took the group on a tour of buildings and offices at the airport. 

The first- through fifth-graders learned El Reno’s history of how the airport was originally built as Mustang Field, as well as its role in World War II and other aspects of aviation history. 

The group saw the hangar where helicopters are repaired and a few of the planes from Tony Caldwell’s collection.

Canadian County sheriff’s investigator Preston Hodge earned the U.S. Attorney Award for Community Impact, signed by Acting U.S. Attorney John E. Childress. Hodge was recently honored by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Hodge was recognized for his role in a large-scale federal narcotics investigation that began with a routine traffic stop and ultimately led to a million-dollar drug seizure, multiple arrests and federal prosecution.

OKLAHOMA CITY – A federal jury has convicted Ronnie Allen Barton, 48, of Canadian County, of two counts of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, one count of commission of a sex offense by a registered sex offender and one count of attempted receipt of child pornography, said U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On Feb. 20, 2025, a federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment against Barton, charging him with the above crimes. On June 17, 2025, a federal jury found Barton guilty on all counts.