News

Imagine a movie that's part “Elf,” the zany antics of Will Ferrell, raised by Santa and his jolly crew of toy makers, mixed with “It's a Wonderful Life” and the drama, despair and redemption portrayed by Jimmy Stewart in the traditional Christmas classic.

Interested?

Now, imagine such a movie being made in El Reno.

That’s actually the plan as cast and crew are expected to begin production in late February of “Needle Little Christmas.”

The script was written by Steve Maddox, El Reno’s Film Commissioner, with help from his wife, Alex and their children.

Khristan Strubhar has made history as Canadian County’s first female district judge.

Her mother, Reta Strubhar, was this county’s first female associate judge more than 30 years ago, before becoming a long-serving Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals judge.

Retired Judge Strubhar administered the oath to her daughter, as Khristan Strubhar became a district judge during a swearing-in ceremony Jan. 27 at the Canadian County Courthouse.

An inmate was allegedly caught carrying methamphetamine into the Canadian County Jail when the drugs were revealed by the sheriff’s new full-body scanner.

Christina Dawn Beck a/k/a Yarber, 44, was charged Jan. 19 in Canadian County District Court with bringing contraband into jail. The felony crime is punishable by one to five years in state prison and/or a $100 to $1,000 fine.

Pro-life Oklahomans are invited to come to the state Capitol in Oklahoma City Feb. 8 to urge elected officials to support life.

The program will include the invocation by Archbishop Paul Coakley, recognition of attending legislators by Speaker of the House Charles McCall and Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, remarks by Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and Sen. Julie Daniels, a video message from Gov. Kevin Stitt, and the benediction by Dr. Vern Charette of First Baptist Church of Coweta.

STILLWATER – Traditional in-ground beds, raised beds and ceramic/plastic pot gardens are mainstay gardening methods, but grow bags add another dimension to this popular pastime.

LAWSUITS

First Investors Servicing Corporation vs. Maryah Blanton for $9,716.02 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Arvest Bank vs. Ross Haxton for $4,142.85 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

American Express National Bank vs. Kalin Dyer and Speech Heart Service for $3,657.89 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Bank of America N.A. vs. Christina Birdsley for $4,884.18 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Chelsea Reed enjoys singing about as much as she loves to teach, so it was only natural she merge the two worlds inside her classroom at Rose Witcher Learning Center.

“I love to sing to my kids and we do a lot of movement in the classroom every day,” said Reed.

“They don’t all learn the same. Some are visual learners, some learn by hearing and others by movement. First-graders can’t sit still for very long and it’s very challenging to keep them entertained, so we do a lot of movement and extra things because not only are they learning, but they are exercising.”

The El Reno Chamber of Commerce will partner with the El Reno Tribune to host a candidate forum, this time for the upcoming El Reno Public School Board election.

The Chamber and Tribune hosted a candidate forum for the November city council and mayoral race and like the earlier one, the school board forum will be held at Redlands Community College.

The forum is set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7. It will run for one hour.

Proponents of a $4 million bond issue at Riverside School call the election “historic.”

Since it appears the only other time the dependent pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school on Foreman Road held a bond election was in 1968, that may be a fitting description.

Lisa Derryberry, Riverside superintendent, said the bond issue supported at the beginning of the Nixon administration in ‘68 was for $35,000.

Times have changed.

Oklahoma’s business taxes are not a major factor in business expansion or relocation decisions, but the state’s personal income tax remains a challenge cited by many business officials, according to a review conducted by the Oklahoma Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT).