News

Several hundred people turned out recently for a tribute to former Redlands Community College President Jack Bryant.

The event, which featured a live and silent auction, helped raise close to $70,000 that will go toward the construction of a soccer stadium at Redlands.

Held at the Palace Event Center on Banner Road, the gala drew local and state dignitaries as well as longtime supporters of the school. Special guests were members of the Redlands women’s soccer team that will benefit from the event.

Airport Manager Bailey Flaming literally brought down the curtain on the 2023 El Reno Fly-In and Community Day, making her first-ever tandem skydive on short notice.

“I was told to go by one of our performers. There was no practice. They told me what to expect and we were out the plane a little time later,” said Flaming.

The longtime pilot said it was an experience she had been wanting to try and didn’t hesitate, even at 10,000 feet.

“I wasn’t nervous but excited. It was something I’ve been wanting to do,” said Flaming.

A nonprofit group is spearheading an effort to save the old Canadian County Jail, with the goal to reopen the historic building in fall 2025 as a museum and education center.

Preservation El Reno has presented a detailed proposal to Canadian County commissioners to make repairs and upgrades to the old jail site at 300 N. Evans.

Canadian County Historical Society Museum President Vicki Proctor on Oct. 2 urged commissioners not to demolish the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In a split vote, Canadian County commissioners added Juneteenth to the 2024 holiday schedule.

Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of African American slaves, has been observed as a federal holiday since 2021.

But it has not been part of the official Canadian County holiday calendar.

That changed Oct. 2 when commissioners voted 2-1 to recognize Juneteenth in the county’s 2024 schedule.

That means Canadian County offices will be closed 12 days for holidays, instead of 11.

LAWSUITS

Velocity Investments LLC vs. Jennifer McCalip for $1,089.01 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Velocity Investments LLC vs. Rafael Vargas for $8,500 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Velocity Investments LLC vs. Maria Guest for $3,197.34 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Velocity Investments LLC vs. Destiny Gonzalez for $2,580.77 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Carol Nichols knows about the 23rd Psalm. She has lived it. She has sobbed and prayed her way wandering in the “valley of the shadow of death” and now she has written about it.

She had to write about it. What else could she do? She had lost the love of her life, her husband. And then, as if death hadn’t cut her soul deep enough, her only son was told he had months to live.

The darkness of death had swallowed Carol Nichols.

Reggie Jammer from Fort Cavazos in Kileen, Texas, reaches back to shoot a balloon off a post during the mounted pistol competition at the 2023 U.S. Cavalry Competition held last week at Fort Reno.

Riders navigate a series of jumps on horseback and must fire and bust a balloon at each station.

The rounds fired do not carry any live ammunition.

Mike Gallaway puts his aerobatic plane into a vertical climb during El Reno’s Fly-In and Community Day Saturday at the El Reno Municipal Airpark.

See Saturday’s edition for coverage from the event.

Some 300 certified master gardeners from across Oklahoma will visit Canadian County to hear from experienced horticulture professionals and tour local gardens.

Canadian County Master Gardeners will host the Master Gardeners State Conference on Friday, Oct. 6 at Canadian Valley Technology Center, 6505 E. Highway 66.

The theme is “Honoring Our Past, Growing Our Future.” The program will be inside CV Tech’s seminar center and three classrooms, with on-site vendor and educational booths.

The Oklahoma District Attorneys Association has honored Sen. Lonnie Paxton with its highest award, the Soaring Eagle.

Paxton was the only recipient of the Soaring Eagle, an award bestowed to the association’s greatest champions. Paxton earned the award for his efforts to increase penalties for dangerous drive-by shootings into dwellings as well as his efforts to help law enforcement deal with illegal marijuana operations that are plaguing so much of rural Oklahoma.