Morgan Brothers scored 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second period as Union City High School’s girls basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak with a 60-20 win over Gracemont.

The Tigers dropped out of the Class A state rankings with the skid but improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Washita Valley Conference standings with the 40-point decision over the Lions.

Brothers was one of three players in double digits as Reyna Mendoza followed with 12 points and Kamryn Cook with 11. Keely Riley closed with nine points, while Lilly Russell added four points.

The first workout for the new Fitness Court at Adams Park was surviving the ribbon-cutting ceremony held last week. Reggie Wassana said the Thursday ceremony was no doubt “held on the coldest day of the year.” A north wind brought with it a wind chill in the lower 20s.

Fortunately for many in the audience, the ceremony came with commemorative stocking caps, scarves and gloves. 

Hundreds of residents, both young and old, from El Reno and surrounding communities lined the streets of the downtown area for the annual Christmas parade and community tree lighting event.

The parade covered several city blocks and featured floats decorated in vivid holiday colors.

Classic cars, horses and some traditional holiday characters like that pesky green Grinch were present.

Santa Claus was in the parade lineup and was given a lift by the El Reno Fire Department. Santa stayed around to greet dozens of children in a special meet-and-greet setting.

Blake Foster has joined Canadian County as safety coordinator and emergency manager.

Foster, who grew up in Mustang and now lives in the Yukon area, is a former emergency medical technician with a background in environmental health and safety. He comes to the county government after being a regional manager with Amazon.

Having worked for private companies in his career, Foster said he embraced an opportunity to grow professionally in the public sector and make a larger difference to benefit county employees and residents alike.