News

The 2024 valedictorians for El Reno High School are Brianna Barksdale, Emma Ketter, Cooper Park and Jadzia Taylor.

These students earned this distinction by obtaining all A’s during their high school career and taking 13 Pre-AP and AP courses with an AP course in each core subject.

Grady Lesperance is the 2024 salutatorian. He took the same number of Pre-AP and AP classes and has the next highest GPA.

Brianna Barksdale is the daughter of Sheldon Henderson and Eric Barksdale. She has a sister, Olivia.

El Reno City Council voted to condemn an “inoperable” car wash on Sunset Drive and also to purchase three properties on South Choctaw. The problem is, some of the Choctaw owners apparently don’t want to sell.

That led to the council voting to support taking the properties by eminent domain if negotiations to purchase fall through.

Council voted 5-0 at its Tuesday night meeting to declare the car wash at 1408 Sunset Drive dilapidated and authorize it to be brought down on or after June 25.

Redlands Community College recently celebrated the graduation of more than 250 students during its spring commencement ceremony that included a keynote address from college alumni Christian Wassana, actor and founder of the I am, I can, I will movement. 

El Reno’s VFW Post 382 is struggling. And longtime supporters of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post are hoping to enlist the public to help right the ship.

Nancy Salsman has been associated with VFW Post 382 since she was a youngster.

Salsman said the VFW Post has had its sales tax and mixed beverage licenses pulled by the state. The post cannot operate its lounge without the permits and this cuts deep into the budget, she said. The VFW owes the Oklahoma Tax Commission for the unpaid taxes.

As Missouri-based Mansion Entertainment Group attempts to tweak the design of the $2 billion American Heartland Theme Park and Resort it has proposed near Vinita, a Canadian firm hired to design the massive project has filed a lien claiming it is owed nearly $5.5 million from unpaid invoices. The filing comes as the Oklahoma Legislature continues to consider a $35 million request from the city of Vinita for water infrastructure upgrades to accommodate the project.

BlueSTEM AgriLearning Center recently held its 2024 Agriscience Symposium. The event showcased advanced experiential research projects conducted by students from El Reno, Calumet, Yukon, Mustang and Epic Charter high schools, all part of the BlueSTEM program.

The forum was held in the Austin Family Conference Center at Redlands Community College.

BlueSTEM is headquartered at Fort Reno. It was established in 2015. In the past nine years, 180 high school students and one middle school student have been part of the BlueSTEM program.

The 2024 Mary K. Ashbrook Kids Fishing Derby, hosted by the El Reno Sportmans Club, drew over 300 youth anglers to Lake El Reno.

The kids were bidding for trophies in different age groups as well as prizes such as lifetime fishing licenses.

Anglers, who were given a free rod and reel as well as a tackle box, were also treated to lunch by the club.

“Blue Hawaii” was the theme of the Canadian County child advocacy center’s annual recognition event.

The Child Abuse Response Team (C.A.R.T.) honored its supporters and contributors at the Champions for Children Gala at the Mathena Events Center in Yukon.

“We want to thank Dave Mathena for his generosity,” C.A.R.T. House Executive Director Joanne Riley said.