We continue our look back at some of the stories that shaped 2025.

This edition’s installment includes the months of July, August and September.

July

Kingfisher Junior High was the big winner of the annual “Duck Race” hosted by the Kingfisher Educational Foundation. The event is the only fundraiser held annually by the Kingfisher Educational Foundation, which provides tens of thousands of dollars in grants to KPS each year. The 2025 race had a record 768 ducks.

In a surprise development for many, the parent company of United Supermarket announced it would be closing the Kingfisher store. The announcement was made via a Facebook post on Monday, July 7. The post said the store would close Aug. 16. United Supermarket opened in Kingfisher in 1976 and remained at the same location at 1215 S. Main St.

The fallout from a quadruple homicide at a marijuana grow farm near Lacy in 2022 saw two more people plead guilty to felonies. Sentenced during their appearances before District Judge Paul Woodward at Kingfisher County District Court were Kevin Paul Pham and Richard Gregorio Ignacio. The two were among three people originally indicted in December 2023 by a multi-county grand jury for their alleged roles in a scheme that allowed non-Oklahomans to illegally obtain commercial licenses for medical marijuana in the state.

In following a new state law, cell phones and other electronic devices will not be allowed during the school day for the 2025-26 school year. School districts began to adopt the new policy “officially,” including Kingfisher, which saw its board of education vote it in unanimously during its July meeting.

Former Kingfisher High School and Oklahoma State University standout Ian Daugherty signed a free agent deal with the Minnesota Twins. Daugherty recently reported to prespring training camp for pitchers and catchers in Fort Myers, Fla., and is awaiting his assignment by the organization.

Debbie Burpo announced her resignation from the Kingfisher City Commission. The decision was prompted when she and her family moved outside of city limits, which made her ineligible to serve. Her resignation left an unexpired seat on the commission, which would later be filled via an appointment voted on by the seated commissioners.

In an unprecedented move, a Kingfisher County grand jury was convened to investigate a fatal Hennessey shooting from 2020. District Judge Paul Woodward signed an order earlier in the month to call for the grand jury in response to a successful effort launched by James Everett Jones and Lindsey Jones of Hennessey who filed a petition in Kingfisher County District Court in May. They represented a group wanting to revisit the shooting death of Christopher Shane Robinson, 33, by Benjamin Millis during an altercation at the residence of Trevor Gritz. A pool of 40 prospective jurors would be summoned to appear at the county courthouse, from which 12 jurors and three alternates would be selected. The grand jury would review evidence, interview witnesses and decide if an indictment should be issued in the case that initially saw no charges handed down. It’s the first time a grand jury was to convene in Kingfisher County.

Perhaps the most recognizable home on Kingfisher’s Main Street for much of the past century was torn down. Located at 1000 S. Main St., the home dated back to the late 1930s and was originally built by Rich Pappe. It later became known to many - for many years - as the “Springer Mansion.” The home and property were most recently purchased by Mike Matthews and his development company. After determining the house was beyond repair, Matthews opted to raze in and had plans for a retail center on the property, although it still hadn’t been approved by city boards. Matthews’ plans did - later in the month - clear a hurdle when the planning and zoning board voted 4-1 to approve his request to rezone the property from residential to C-4 commercial. It was a step in the right direction for Matthews, whose request to have the property rezoned to general commercial was denied by the P&Z board in May. Although the P&Z board vote was positive for Matthews, his quest wasn’t finished as it now had to move through the Kingfisher City Commission.

Kingfisher Board of Education members voted to hire Miranda Shelton as the new principal at Kingfisher Upper Elementary. She replaces Michelle Jones, who resigned earlier in the month to accept a position in Yukon.

Dover’s Byron Yeoman was recognized as the 2025 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Cattleman of the Year during the organization’s annual convention.

August

Heath Myers of Kingfisher won the Oklahoma Golf Association Mid-Amateur Championship at Meadowbrook Country Club in Tulsa. It was Myers’ second straight Mid-Am title and third overall and his fifth OGA championship.

U.S. Sen. James Lankford was briefly in Kingfi sher County as he visited P&K Equipment. Lankford toured the newly-renovated facility and talked with P&K owners and employees about what was currently good - and not so good - in their industry. Among those joining Lankford on the visit was Peyton Burns, a Kingfi sher High School graduate who is the senator’s field rep for northwest Oklahoma.

A 12-year-old girl from Dover died in a rollover accident near Dover. She was one of four juveniles on a Polaris side-by-side when it spun into a donut, causing it to roll over. Lexi Robles was trapped by the rollover bar of the side-by-side, according to an OHP report. She was a student at Dover Public Schools.

Former two-time KPS Superintendent Jack Harrel passed away Aug. 30. He was 82. Harrel served in Kingfisher from 1985-88 and again from 1990-96.

Cashion opened its new football stadium on Aug. 29. The Wildcats defeated Hennessey 41-13 in the season opener for both teams. The stadium is part of Cashion’s current ongoing construction that will include a major high school expansion. To make room for that expansion, the old football stadium had to be relocated across Euclid Street.

September

Tammy Sammons was voted by Kingfisher city commissioners to fill the unexpired term of Debbie Burpo. Sammons was voted in during the September meeting by a 3-1 vote with Mayor Geoff Covalt, Vice Mayor Jeff Wittrock and Commissioner Kyle Mecklenburg voting in favor. Voting against was Commissioner Dawn Taylor. Jeremie Hill, Jimmy Koehn and Wendell Prim had also expressed interest in filling the commission seat.

Later in that same city commission meeting, Mike Matthews’ request to rezone his property at 1000 S. Main St. to C4 commercial was denied by a 2-2 vote as the commission went against the recommendation of the P&Z board from the previous month. Mecklenburg and Wittrock voted for the request while Covalt and Taylor voted against it. Sammons, citing a lack of information due to just having taken the oath of office minutes earlier, abstained from the vote, which caused it to fail.

Three KHS alums - Ashley Casillas, Chloe Blair and Kylie Hood - were named to the Top 20 Freshmen Women list at Oklahoma State University. Later in the month, it was announced Blair had been selected as a Top 10 Freshman Woman for the class of 2024-25.

About 750 people attended the 89th Cimarron Electric Cooperative annual meeting at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds. That large number easily met the requirements for a quorum.

Mercy announced leadership changes in Kingfi sher. The announcement included naming Mercy Hospital Kingfisher Administrator Bobby Stitt as the new chief administrative officer of Mercy Hospital Ada. Selected to fill his role in Kingfisher - as well as oversee the operations in Watonga and Guthrie just as Stitt did - was Dustin Yowell. Yowell was previously the director of virtual medicine for Mercy in Oklahoma.

Seven companies submitted bids to build the new Kingfisher Fire Department. The bids were opened and announced at City Hall. Bids ranged from $8.53 million to $11.19 million. A bid was eventually awarded to A&K Construction of Edmond at the September meeting. The overall amount was $8.94 million, which also included $450,000 for contingencies.

The Kingfisher County Excise Board voted to pass the estimate of needs for Kingfisher Public Schools. Generally a foregone conclusion, the board amended the school district’s estimate of needs the previous year. This year’s general fund estimate of needs of $11.93 million was passed without being amended. The move also meant property owners inside the school district would have to foot the bill for the year’s installment of a civil lawsuit settlement payment in the case brought about by Mason Mecklenburg.

Kimberly Prack took over as executive director of The Chisholm in Kingfisher. Prack succeeded Jason Harris, who stepped down after eight years to accept a role as a museum studies professor at the University of Oklahoma. Prack has over 40 years of experience in museum work and living history interpretation. She was most recently the Nash Farm coordinator at Grapevine, Texas.

Cashion High School won the Class 2A competitive cheer state championship for the third consecutive year. The team’s score of 238.8 was 13.8 points higher than the week before at a regional and 13.8 more than runner-up Crescent.

After hearing from nearly two dozen witnesses, a Kingfisher County grand jury chose not to return any indictments in a case that resulted in the 2020 shooting death of Christopher Robinson. “The grand jury returned no indictments during this session,” it was written in a report that is part of the record in the case. “The grand jury has concluded that there is no reason to believe there is other evidence that needs to be produced for their consideration, including no additional witnesses to be called.” Members of the grand jury met at the Kingfi sher County Courthouse Sept. 17-19. According to its report, it issued 34 subpoenas, heard testimony from 23 witnesses and reviewed seven exhibits.