News

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry has received numerous reports from Oklahomans stating they have received unsolicited seeds from foreign countries. These seeds are sent in packages, usually stating the contents are jewelry.   

This act is known as agriculture smuggling. Although these items appear to be harmless, there is a potential of hidden threats in these seeds that could seriously threaten U.S. agriculture and our natural resources. Unsolicited seeds could be invasive, introduce diseases to local plants or be harmful to livestock. 

A former firefighter could face criminal charges after being arrested Friday by Canadian County authorities after he allegedly made arrangements to have sex with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

Charles Guess, 37, of Noble, was arrested when he arrived at a local gym where he had allegedly arranged to meet the girl.

Instead, he was surrounded by deputies, said Sheriff Chris West.

West said Guess, who is a former McComb firefighter, was arrested on a complaint of solicitation of sex from a minor.

ARDMORE — Four Noble Research Institute research teams each received a two-year, $100,000 grant from Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). The four grants will be used to help improve various aspects of agriculture by fighting pecan scab, improving tall fescue, building plant defenses against disease and helping plants use nitrogen more efficiently.

MUNICIPAL COURT

Diana Renee Wilson, Yukon, speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Courtney Hope Kitchens, Bastrop, La., speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Roberto C. Aguilar, Yukon, speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Joshua S. Tresner, Yukon, speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Randy Chris Solorio, Wichita Falls, Texas, speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Jarico Maurice Hayes, El Reno, speeding, $185.

Kooper Jack Walker, El Reno, speeding, $165.

On the advice of local and state health officials, El Reno Public Schools Superintendent Craig McVay has opted to push forward with the district’s plan to hold in-person classes.

Using the Emergency Power Declaration passed by the El Reno Board of Education in March at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, McVay made the decision to hold in-person classes as well as push back the start of the school year. The school year will now begin Aug. 20.

A quick-acting adult was able to pull a child from Four Mile Creek after the girl slipped into the fast-moving water.

El Reno Assistant Police Chief Ken Dickerson said officers were called to the area of North Grand and Comanche after a 911 call reported the young girl had fallen into the creek. The child, whose age or name was not released, was reportedly swept downstream before an adult in the area was able to pull her out.

The adult was not identified.

Rafe Goucher put his health on the line for football as he and 73 other high school players statewide took part in the 2020 Oklahoma Football Coaches Association’s All-State Game.

It was by design.

“We had our first practice in Kingfisher two days earlier and they told us this was the first 11-man football played in Oklahoma since the state championships.

“They said this would go a long way to determining how football season would go this year for high schools. I didn’t mind being a guinea pig as long as I got to play football,” said Goucher.

With more than 300 children in DHS custody in Canadian County alone, it is CASA’s goal to provide every child with a volunteer advocate to speak up for them and in most cases, be the one consistent adult figure in their life.

MUNICIPAL COURT

Sandy Mae Smith, El Reno, trespassing, $295.

Jose Roman Sanchez, Minco, failure to appear warrant, $295.

Ginger Suzanne McVay, Enid, possession of drug paraphernalia, $300.

Casidy Hope Klusmeyer, El Reno, failure to wear seat restraint, $20.

Deborah Sue Osborn, Kingfisher, speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Connor Quaid Scott, Oklahoma City, speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Jose Quiroz, Minco, speeding in a construction zone, $295.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and what one owner calls “Hollywood greed,” El Reno’s Reno Cinema 8 may have shown its last movie.

Closed since March due to the coronavirus, Curtis Blanc said the six-screen theater is going on the market.

Blanc is one of three partners in El Reno Cinema LLC, which owns Reno Cinema 8. B&B Theaters and Ruthy Mittelstaedt are the other partners in the company.