News

Republican legislators passed a law lowering taxes for businesses, but critics say it comes at the expense of jobless Oklahomans.

The law, which passed along party lines in both the House and the Senate, cuts the maximum number of weeks that unemployed Oklahomans can receive financial support from 26 to 16 starting Jan. 1.

Right now, Oklahoma offers the same number of weeks in unemployment benefits as 40 other states. But when House Bill 1933 takes effect, only four states will offer fewer weeks of emergency income to those looking for a job.

LAWSUITS

LVNV Funding LLC vs. Edward B. Wright for $12,010.25 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Ford Motor Credit Company LLC vs. Janalie Simmons for $38,805.35 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Capital One Bank N.A. vs. Katie A. Schorp for $11,001.79 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Slawson Exploration Company Inc. vs. Chaco Energy Company for an amount in excess of $30,000 for alleged compensatory damages.

About a dozen young children spent an hour listening and rolling with laughter as El Reno Mayor Matt White read a book to them at the Carnegie Library. The event was part of the Summer Reading fun put on by the Children’s Library inside the historic library.

White chose a book titled “The Book With No Pictures.”

He told the kids he’d never read a book before that didn’t have pictures.

“That's crazy,” he said, and the dozen or so giggling youngsters appeared to agree.

An El Reno man who left home to serve his country in the early days of World War II has finally officially been identified.

Petty Officer Robert Thomas Stout was killed in the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Stout was one of 429 crewmen serving on the USS Oklahoma killed in that attack. Stout was a Navy fire controlment third class who enlisted in Tulsa in 1939, federal officials said.

He was 21 years old.

Amid a thunderous beating of red animal-skin drums and powerful song, survivors of Indian boarding schools met in southern Oklahoma recently with the nation’s ranking official in charge of strengthening tribal self-determination in Indian Country and upholding the government’s treaty obligations to tribes. 

A group of dedicated volunteers served 131 abused and neglected Canadian County children in 2021.

And with more volunteer help, Canadian County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) will be able to reach more vulnerable youth in 2022.

That was the message CASA’s leaders shared with Canadian County commissioners last week.

Commissioners agreed to continue providing $25,000 in funding for the CASA program. The unanimous vote was to renew a contract to provide that level of financial support in fiscal year 2023.

Voters in Canadian County who want absentee ballots mailed to them for the Aug. 23 Runoff Primary Election, Banner School Bond Election and Geary School Bond Election should apply now, according to Canadian County Election Board Secretary Wanda Armold.

Absentee ballots are available to any registered voter, provided they are eligible to vote in the election requested. No excuse is needed to vote by absentee ballot.

Investigators with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office arrested Dalton Skipworth, 27, of Mountain View and Christian Dalmont, 24, of Wichita, Kan., for allegedly soliciting sex with a minor by use of technology.

On July 8, Skipworth was arrested with the assistance of the Murray County Sheriff’s Office and taken to the Canadian County Jail. On July 9, Dalmont was arrested and was also taken to the Canadian County Jail.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is testing a wrong-way detection and alert system on six ramps along Interstate 40 in eastern Oklahoma.

Using thermal cameras, the system identifies when a vehicle enters an exit ramp in the wrong direction and displays flashing lights on already posted Wrong Way signs to increase noticeability.

Over the last two decades, many states have seen a steady rise in obesity rates, including Oklahoma. Across the nation, 31.9 percent of the adult population are considered obese compared to 36.4 percent of adults in Oklahoma, which equates to approximately 1 million adults in our state’s population having obesity.

In 2019, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) engaged in a year-long process, bringing to the table partners from across the state to develop a State Obesity Plan.