News

A new funding formula passed by the Oklahoma Legislature and signed into law will reduce the amount Canadian County receives for road and bridge work, county officials say.

Canadian County is due about $327,000 in County Improvements for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) funds, according to estimates provided by the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma (ACCO).

The funding formula - which especially benefits rural counties with more bad bridges - is not equitable, said District 1 County Commissioner Marc Hader.

Savannah Station Therapeutic Riding Program will hold a grand opening at their new home, located at 13420 Frisco Road, on Saturday starting at 11 a.m.

Housed the past five years at Redlands Community College’s Royse Ranch, Savannah Station moved from the El Reno location to its new home north of Yukon in May.

The grand opening program will start with a welcome by Tomas Manske, chairman of the SSTRP Board. Keynote address will be given by Craig McVay, superintendent of El Reno Public Schools.

Congressman Frank Lucas (OK-03) joined Congressman Michael Guest (R-MS) and Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL) in sending a bipartisan letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) provide updates or a final report to Congress on the DOJ’s investigations into anti-competitive conduct within the beef industry.

Cattle producers in Oklahoma and across the country have continued to experience volatile livestock markets driven by supply chain disruptions and labor challenges driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and a consolidated beef market.

A common theme of commemorations of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was that the event was swept under the rug.

Some officials say the way schools have handled the 1921 massacre provides another glimpse of how students can be shortchanged by a one-size-fits-all approach to education where providers are assigned based solely on geographic location, and demonstrate why families need robust school choice.

LAWSUITS

Discover Bank vs. Roger Swagerty for $1,688.81 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC vs. Brett McCain for $3,948.31 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC vs. Chelsea E. Hogan for $7,102.23 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

Second Round Sub LLC vs. Ashleigh Klaus for $1,504.54 to pay a debt plus interest, costs and attorney fees.

A group of women descended on The Lord’s Harvest last week and they came bearing gifts in the form of more than $17,000 to be used by the food-based ministry to help support the El Reno community. The Power of 100 Canadian County presented founder and director Nikki Pruitt with the oversized check.

The Lord’s Harvest was the most recent Canadian County organization to benefit from the generosity of The Power of 100 Canadian County.

Lt. Mike Grimes has seen what a bulletproof vest means during his roughly 50-year career in law enforcement.

“I’ve seen them save lives,” Grimes said.

That’s why Grimes is again helping to put together a grant application to bring protective vests to the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office.

On Monday, county commissioners threw their support behind the grant application. If funded, Grimes said the office should expect a rebate of about “30 to 50 percent” of the costs of the vests.

Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, along with state Sen. Lonnie Paxton (R-Tuttle), and State Rep. Rhonda Baker (R-Yukon), helped kick off A Small Town Weekend in El Reno when they drove the original 1926-1932 alignment of Route 66 through El Reno neighborhoods.

The state officials would end the cruise in the home of Karen Nance, director of El Reno’s Chamber of Commerce.

Nance and her husband, Larry, live on Hoff Avenue, one of the streets that was the original Route 66 highway.

Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Redlands Community College alumna Kass Newell to a seven-year term on the college’s Board of Regents, succeeding Yukon businessman Jim Kitch.

Newell earned an associate degree from Redlands in 2012 and was a member of the college’s National Champion Livestock Judging Team.

“I am so honored to be asked to serve the college that was such an important step in my life,” Newell said.

In a letter sent to Oklahoma’s two U.S. senators, the secretary of the Oklahoma State Election Board warned that an election bill promoted by congressional Democrats “guarantees chaos in our elections.”

The June 2 letter from Oklahoma State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax focused on the provisions of S.1, titled by its authors as the “For the People Act of 2021.”