As 2025 is wrapping up and making way for 2026, there’s no better time than to look back at some of the stories that shaped the past year.

From tragedy to triumph. From championships to special honors.

Weather. Sports. School news. Government. Politics.

All that and more is included as we revisit the headlines that made 2025 the year it was. Included in this edition are just some of the top stories from January, February and March:

January

A new era at the courthouse began as four new Kingfisher County officers were sworn in on Jan. 2. Taking their respective oaths of office were new Sheriff Aaron Pitts, County Clerk Emily Lee, Court Clerk Lauren Stroh and District 2 Commissioner Mike Sparks. The oaths of office were administered by Associate District Judge Lance Schneiter.

A Dover basketball player collapsed during a game in Mulhall-Orlando due to an apparent cardiac arrest. Randy Vitales, a sophomore at the time, had just scored a basket during a tournament game, ran to the other end, then collapsed. It was determined he wasn’t breathing, nor did he have a pulse. Multiple coaches and, Magnus Miller, a player from Life Christian Academy - Dover’s opponent - began CPR and also used an on-site automated external defibrillator (AED) to restore Vitales’ heartbeat. He was transported to Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City and released early the next week. Vitales ultimately was cleared by multiple doctors to begin playing again during the 2025-26 season and has played a role in the Longhorns’ success.

After finishing as the runner-up five times since 2018, Kingfisher’s girls basketball team “finally” claimed its second-ever Wheat Capital Tournament championship in Tulsa. Kingfisher’s 60-44 victory over Jones gave the Lady Jackets their first title win in the tournament since 2009.

Yes. That was the overwhelming answer provided by voters in Kingfisher who were being asked to extend

• EARLY PRINTING:

a Fire, Infrastructure, Recreation, Emergency (FIRE) services sales tax for another 10 years. The tax will be used primarily to fund the construction of a new fire station at 1501 S. Main St. The vote in favor of passing the extension was 353-82 (81.2%). Preliminary construction is currently taking place at the site of the new station.

Terry Payne announced his resignation from the Kingfisher Board of Education. A former principal at Kingfisher who for the last several years was pastor at Life Way Church, said he was moving out of the district. He was elected to the board in April 2021. He defeated incumbent Mike Copeland for the seat. After Payne resigned, the remaining board members voted to appoint Copeland to fill the unexpired term during the February meeting.

Hennessey senior Camdyn Richardson set a school record by scoring 56 points in his team’s 99-69 win in the quarterfinals of the Yale Invitational. Richardson made 8 3-pointers and also went 14 of 14 from the free throw line. The guard scored at least 10 points in every quarter, including 18 in the third.

Cory Mueggenborg was announced as the Citizen of the Year and Brittney Hladik the Volunteer of the Year during the Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds. Other honors went to TerraStar Inc., named the Large Business of the Year, and Skin & Beauty Esthetics, the Small Business of the Year. Earlier in the month, the chamber also surprised longtime educator Dr. A.J. Johnson with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

There were some historic wins of note in the final basketball tournament weekend of the season. Dover’s boys beat Pond Creek-Hunter 23-16 to win the Skeltur Conference Tournament for the first time in more than 30 years. The KHS girls held off a late Weatherford rally to win 46-45, giving the Lady Jackets their fifth straight Buckle of the Wheatbelt championship. Not to be outdone, Lomega’s girls defeated Medford 62-44 for their 10th consecutive Cherokee Strip Conference Tournament title.

Kim Gritz was selected as the Hennessey Public Schools 2024-25 Teacher of the Year by school staff. A science teacher at the high school, she was first selected as the top teacher in her building before becoming eligible for the district honor. Other teachers of the year were Chelli Rapp at the middle school and Flo Conway at the elementary.

February

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 to deny clemency for Wendell Grissom, who was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of Dover’s Amber Dawn Matthews. Cortney Fuston of Dover, Amber’s cousin, was among those to speak at the clemency hearing. “That was for Amber,” Fuston told the KT&FP after it was determined Grissom’s life would not be spared.

Kingfisher’s board of education determined Andy Evans would no longer be the district’s interim superintendent. That’s because board members wanted him to permanently fill the role. The board voted 4-0 to hire Evans as the superintendent during the February meeting. He’d been serving in an interim capacity since October 2024 after the passing of former Superintendent David Glover.

Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Ryan Deatherage of Kingfisher to the Oklahoma State Board of Education. Deatherage, who at the time was the Kingfisher County Emergency Management and 911 director, was one of three new nominees to the board by Stitt after the governor removed three members.

Cashion voters narrowly approved a $93.93 million school bond issue that is expected to allow it to begin to catch up with its unprecedented growth. The issue passed with 587 of the 962 voters in favor, just a shade over 61 percent. Bond issues need a 60 percent super majority to pass. The funds will allow for the major expansion - more than 30,000 square feet - of the high school among several other upgrades across the campus.

The Okarche boys basketball team defeated Cashion 84-66 on the road in a win that carried two points of significance. One, it gave the Warriors the Three Rivers Conference regular season title to go along with the tournament title it claimed in January. Second, it wrapped up a perfect 25-0 regular season for the defending Class A state champs.

Historic pins were made by Rylee Hamil of Kingfi sher and Roman Davis of Cashion. Hamil pinned Elk City’s Melodie Martinez in their 115-pound fifth-place match at a 5A wrestling regional to secure a spot in the state tournament. Davis pinned Anna Toumbs of Marlow in their 190-pound consolation semifinal to secure her own spot. Each wrestler became the first-ever female from their respective schools to qualify for state wrestling.

Kingfisher’s Jose Santoyo made good on his last try and finished fifth at 215 pounds at a 3A regional to qualify for the 3A state tournament for the first time in his career. The senior was joined at state by teammate Jax Sheppard, who became a two-time qualifier after taking fifth at 132. Cashion sent three wrestlers to state: Cale Browning at 113, Carlos Martinez at 165 and Matthew Stockton at heavyweight. Martinez and Stockton became the program’s first-ever state qualifiers the previous year.

March

Okarche’s girls downed No. 7 Red Oak 57-45 to complete a three-day run through the consolation bracket of a Class A area basketball tournament in Cleveland to qualify for the state tournament. However, that wasn’t the biggest news for first-year head coach Brett Tahah and her husband/assistant coach Scott. Some 16 hours after the final buzzer of the area consolation championship, Tahah gave birth to the couple’s fourth child, Denver Hayes Tahah. He was born at 11:24 a.m. Sunday, March 2. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 4, Denver Hayes was at State Fair Arena watching mom and dad coach the Okarche Lady Warriors to an upset of Amber-Pocasset in the Class A state quarterfi nals.

The “Last Dance at the Big House” was guaranteed to have a strong Kingfisher County flavor. The 2025 rounds of the state basketball tournaments were to be the last ever played at State Fair Arena (technically Jim Norick Arena) as it makes way for the new OG&E Coliseum being constructed next door. The first weekend of state included teams from Classes B, A and 2A. Joining the Okarche girls in reaching state were the Okarche boys, Cashion boys and Dover boys. For Dover, it was the first time to qualify in 32 years.

Jan Swart was named the Kingfisher Public Schools Teacher of the Year. Swart, a Dover High School graduate, had a variety of roles at the high school, including teaching biology to sophomores as well as anatomy and physiology, STEM, forensics and AP biology to juniors and seniors. She was previously selected as the KHS Teacher of the Year. Also earning honors at the district’s campus buildings were Jarren Graham at Gilmour Elementary, Kaytlyn Woods at Heritage Elementary, Katy Buckner at the upper elementary and Timmy Winans at the junior high.

Dover made history by advancing to the Class B semifinals for just the second time ever for the boys basketball program. The Longhorns won a quarterfi nal game for the first time in 63 years by downing No. 5 Braggs 63-36. The Longhorns’ run ended in the state semifinals when they were downed by No. 1 Calumet, 44-36. The Chieftains went on to win the state championship.

Better than Okay. In fact, the Warriors were perfect. That summed up Okarche’s second straight Class A state championship and season. The Warriors downed No. 4 Okay 67-54 to become backto- back state champs AND complete a perfect 32-0 season. Junior Jett Mueggenborg scored 32 points in the title game and was named the state tournament MVP by multiple publications.

Kingfisher High School’s girls basketball team made sure it would take part in that “last dance.” The Lady Jackets defeated No. 14 Oologah 45-39 in Stroud to claim a Class 4A area consolation championship and qualify for state for the 28th time in the program’s history. KHS was defeated 52-39 by Locust Grove in the state quarterfinals.

Kingfisher County wasn’t finished at “The Big House.” After the final basketball game ended, the arena was transformed for the annual Oklahoma Youth Expo, also being held at State Fair Arena for the final time. Among the big winners was Lomega fourth grader Skylar Dooley, whose market lamb Bandit was awarded grand champion out of the more than 2,700 market wether lambs at the show.

The air in Kingfisher County was filled with dust and smoke. Wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour were recorded on March 14 as winds raced across the state much of the day. Combined with low humidity and dry vegetation, the wind even resulted in more than 130 fires in at least 44 counties. However, despite the haze that settled over Kingfisher, the county was largely untouched by major damage.

Wendell Grissom, 56, was executed March 20 by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Grissom was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of Amber Matthews of Dover and earlier in 2025 was denied clemency during a hearing.

Teachers of the Year were announced at Dover Public Schools. Earning honors were Rachel Wilczek for the junior high and high school and Amanda Matthews for the elementary.

Kingfisher Public Schools received a huge boost in its aim to improve reading skills for students when it was awarded an Oklahoma Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant. The grant period runs from March 2025 through June 2029 and will total more than $600,000. With the grant, the district implemented the Read to Rise initiative.