News

A new law touted as giving parents more choices as far as their children’s educational opportunities is drawing puzzling response from El Reno Public Schools.

Co-authored by Republican lawmakers Adam Pugh (Edmond) and Kim David (Porter), Senate Bill 783 was signed into law in March of 2021 by Gov. Kevin Stitt and went into effect Jan. 1.

Better known as the Education Open Transfer Act, the law is aimed at helping ease requirements and restrictions for the some 3,000 students who are annually denied movement between school districts among the 30,000 who apply.

When national media personality Soledad O’Brien took the stage as the keynote speaker for Oklahoma State University’s 2022 MLK Celebration, university officials were promising an “elevating” experience.

In a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic caused upheaval throughout the travel sector, the Oklahoma travel and tourism industry increased its market share of domestic travel and generated $7.1 billion in direct spending by visitors, according to new research by the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department.

Oklahoma brought in an estimated 17 million visitors in 2020, a 17 percent drop from the previous year, but the number was substantially less than the 34 percent drop in domestic travel that the United States endured.

LAWSUITS

Velocity Investments LLC vs. William Ordenis for $10,578.50 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Jessica Mercer vs. 3J Construction Inc. for an amount in excess of $40,000 for alleged actual damages.

Velocity Investments LLC vs. Banner Stovall for $20,997.50 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Justin Batte and Green Roots Wellness Medical Cannabis Dispensary vs. Keith Courtney for an amount in excess of $75,000 for alleged actual and punitive damages.

El Reno’s city government is going through a transition period with some employees stepping down, another leaving and still others contemplating early retirement.

Several are veterans who will take “years of institutional knowledge” with them.

City Manager Matt Sandidge said at last week’s council meeting that Assistant City Manager Kent Lagaly and Finance Director and Treasurer Marsha Leck will retire in April. Also last week, Adam Fox, manager at the El Reno Regional Airport, tendered his resignation effective Jan. 25.

Delayed weeks by COVID-19, a film crew from Oklahoma City-based Boiling Point Media battled sub-freezing temperatures and blowing snow over the weekend to continue shooting the film The Adventures of Jurassic Pets: The Lost Secrets.

Shooting was expected to continue at different locations in the city.

The Union City Fire Department had a sizable fire Jan. 4. A short video posted to the Union City Fire Department Facebook page shows firefighters battling a blaze at an oil field site.

Fortunately, there was no collateral damage. Union City Fire Chief David Jones spoke about the response to a fire at an oil field location.

“It was about 11 at night and apparently, it’s some kind of compressor separator station,” the chief said.

Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, is calling for the removal of Don Spencer as the executive director of the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association (OK2A) after making comments Paxton said could put the lives of legislators and other elected officials in danger.  

At an event held in Duncan last month, Spencer told the audience, “We win at the ballot box, so we don’t have to go to the ammo box.” Paxton said the comment crossed every conceivable line of decency.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement after a bill imposing critical sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project failed to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to advance:

“The Senate had another chance to get it right on Nord Stream 2, but Democrats let this opportunity to stand up to Putin pass us by.

“For years, there has been wide bipartisan support to stop this pipeline from becoming another tool in Putin’s arsenal to further bully his neighbors.

Haven’t settled on resolutions for 2022?

Experts at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation have a few suggestions for healthy commitments you can still check off the list this year.

Get moving

OMRF physician-scientist Hal Scofield, M.D., said adding movement like taking the stairs or a short walk can pay dividends.

“You don’t have to sign up for a marathon,” Scofield said. “The greatest health benefits come from changing habits by small increments that fit your current lifestyle.”