Beginning Friday night and lasting through Sunday, El Reno’s Route 66 corridor is expected to be buzzing with vehicles of all makes and models for the 27th Annual A Small Town Weekend.

The City of El Reno’s newly opened The Filling Station is expected to be a popular place for photos.

In the late hours of what was functionally its final day of regular session, the Oklahoma Legislature voted in supermajorities to remove Allie Friesen as commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

The inherently tense situation escalated past the point of no return when Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a statement targeting the wife of a senator — leading some legislators to question if the governor was any more fit to lead than Friesen.

Juanita “Nita” Gail King was born Nov. 15, 1962, in Carnegie, Oklahoma, to Geneva Ervin. They moved to Greenfield where Nita attended school.

She married David Christopher Seitter, deceased, in 1977, and their daughter, Shannon was born in 1979.

Nita had been involved in the health-care industry. She loved growing plants, gardening and crafting with driftwood. 

Nita, a longtime resident of El Reno, passed away May 27, 2025, at Integris SW in Oklahoma City after a short illness. 

She was preceded in death by her sister, Anita King. 

In recent rulings, U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Jones of the Western District of Oklahoma has taken diametrically opposite stances regarding requests for plaintiffs in lawsuits to have their identities kept anonymous.

When a lawsuit was recently filed on behalf of illegal immigrants, Jones granted anonymity, saying the plaintiffs had reason to fear being arrested for their illegal activity if identified by name.