By Rex Hogan

Leland Robinson cast his first vote Monday evening as a member of the El Reno School Board. The vote was to adjourn the meeting.

Robinson was selected to fill the unexpired term of Basil Abouarrage, Office 5 member, who resigned recently when he moved to Yukon.

The board met with three people, including Robinson, in executive session, before returning to an open meeting and naming Robinson as Abouarrage’s replacement.

Robinson will serve the remainder of Abouarrage’s term, which is about two years.

By Rex Hogan

Andrew Snyder was attending a class in viniculture - the science of growing grapes - in a Texas classroom at a college in the Sherman-Dennison area three years ago when he opened up an Oklahoma newspaper he had purchased that day.

In the business section he saw a story in which Redlands Community College - along with four other colleges - was awarded a $2.9 million National Science Foundation grant to teach people how to grow grapes and turn the grapes into wine.

Snyder, who has a vineyard in Geary, was ecstatic.

By Daniel Lapham

Curbside recycling could be coming to El Reno.

City Manager Tony Rivera outlined a plan to the City Council last week that would allow residents to voluntarily pay for such a program. Rivera said he would create a resolution that would allow residents to “opt-in” to a curbside pickup recycling program for a $5 monthly fee. The program would be operated by the Oklahoma Environmental Management Authority and would need a minimum of 500 people to make it financially feasible.