News

Pictured are the El Reno High School students in the running for the 2024 All-Sports Homecoming Queen and King.

A former sheriff’s deputy has pleaded guilty in Canadian County District Court to a felony murder charge for shooting to death his wife, also a former deputy, in August 2023.

Yukon’s Vaughn R. Cannon, 42, entered a blind guilty plea at a Sept. 17 court hearing before Canadian County District Judge Paul Hesse.

Cannon, who is represented by attorney Zachary Ramsey, waived his right to a jury trial.

He will be formally sentenced Dec. 10 by Judge Hesse.

A Canadian County commissioner is making another major upgrade to her district yard.

District 3 Commissioner Tracey Rider is moving ahead with plans to build a new shop and garage at 1205 N. Calumet Road.

Rider, who succeeded Jack Stewart as District 3 commissioner in November 2022, has reached an agreement with Redhawk Construction to serve as construction manager for the project.

Constructing a new shop was one of Rider’s goals when she took office. Plans call for an 80x100-foot shop building with a separate 60x40-foot structure to house offices and a storm shelter.

Despite its reputation as one of the nation’s most conservative states, Oklahoma imposes far more regulations than most other states in the nation.

According to the 2024 edition of “Snapshots of State Regulations,” issued by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Oklahoma is the 17th most regulated state in the country with 142,313 regulations on the books.

In comparison, Idaho, the nation’s least-regulated state, has just 31,497 regulations in place.

LAWSUITS

Centurion Land Development Inc. vs. Russell Land and Cattle Company LLC for $147,924.57 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees and foreclosure of mortgage.

Arvest Bank vs. Nhu Lan Restaurant for $8,299.98 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Capital One N.A. vs. Lindsey Drewry for $13,069.69 to pay a debt plus interest and costs.

Ally Bank vs. Jonathan Brown for $23,070.00 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

People matter.

Their stories matter. 

That’s a major point of the lesson Brian Rukes set out to convey to his students as they embarked on a journey to recognize the El Reno men who gave their lives for this nation during a time of war. 

Along the way, the lesson adopted a code the El Reno High School English teacher and district historian strives to live by: “If not me, then who? And if not now, when?”

When Brian Rukes isn’t teaching English to El Reno High School students or working to build the Gold Star Plaza at Memorial Stadium, he spends his spare time taking EHS reunion groups on tours of the beloved high school. 

Rukes spent countless hours researching the early years of EHS, which started in 1892. Class photos of those early years have been created and in another research assignment, Rukes’ students took on the task of identifying the students.

A construction crew hired by Preservation El Reno is making steady progress to replace the roof at the historic Canadian County Jail.

The nonprofit is raising funds to make upgrades and repairs to the 117-year-old building, which they plan to turn into a museum and education center.

Amy Neathery, a member of the El Reno City Council and an attorney, serves as president of Preservation El Reno.

Last week she encouraged Canadian County officials to sign rafter boards before they are installed on the new roof.

Madison Basler, 11, and Abby Bass, 10, will appear in the Southwest Playhouse production of the beloved musical which opened Friday, Sept. 20 and runs for two weekends. 

Madison is co-starring as the title character in the show and Abby is performing with the ensemble as an orphan and member of Fagin’s lovable gang of pickpockets. 

Madison and Abby have both lived in El Reno all their lives, and became involved with Clinton’s Southwest Playhouse theater last year. They appeared in The Sound of Music in 2023 and Fiddler on the Roof earlier this year.

The ground is turning colors of yellow and brown on ranches, farms and fields and for lawns and water supplies. Dust devils swirl in the September wind.

The extreme drought returned to Canadian County in mid-September. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s U.S. Drought Monitor showed the western part of Canadian County bordering the extreme drought areas.

Blaine County and areas to the west were under extreme drought conditions.