This is the final edition of the Times & Free Press for the 2024 calendar year.

As this year comes to a close and before we dive too deep into 2025, we wanted to take a look back at the stories that made 2024.

There were changes at the top at both the Kingfisher police and fire departments.

There were major elections that shaped our government, specifically at the local level in Kingfi sher County as several vital officers announced their retirements effective at the end of this year.

There were state championships won.

There was crime and there was also resolution to crimes that took place in years prior.

Schools always dominate our pages, especially in the nine months classes are in session.

But this year Kingfisher Public Schools was in the news even more than normal.

From the fallout of a lawsuit settlement to the death of its superintendent, KPS was certainly a topic of conversation throughout the year.

So here is the first of a multi-part series as we look back at the first four months of 2024...

January

Kingfisher Superintendent David Glover confirmed to the Times & Free Press that he had selected Reagan Roof as the next head high school football coach. Roof had spent the previous seven seasons at Weatherford and was the head coach at Bethany for nine years before that. Roof, whose hiring became official by the school board later in the month, succeeds Jeff Myers, who was the coach for 20 seasons.

Kara Brueggen was announced as the KPS Teacher of the Year for 2023-24. Brueggen teaches kindergarten at Gilmour Elementary.

The Kingfisher City Commission approved City Manager Jim Thomas’ recommendation of Ryan Gibson to be the new fire chief. Gibson, a captain, had been with the department since June 2004. He officially took over for the retiring Tony Stewart on March 29.

Governor Kevin Stitt tabbed Kingfi sher’s Nellie Tayloe Sanders to serve as secretary of education. The cabinet position had been empty since July 2023 when Dr. Katherine Curry resigned the position. Sanders had been serving on the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board.

Greg Kannady was named Citizen of the Year and the Kingfisher AMBUCS board members (Taryn Kuehn, Jenny Laudwig, Terri Stake and Erin Scammahorn) were announced as Volunteers of the Year at the Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce’s 85th annual banquet. The chamber also unveiled two new awards: the Small Business of the Year (Walter Building Center) and Large Business of the Year (Johnsons of Kingfisher).

February

Wu Chen, a Chinese national, pleaded guilty in Kingfisher County District Court to the 2022 homicide of four people at a marijuana grow facility near Lacey. As part of his plea agreement, Chen will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole for each of the first-degree murder counts with which he was charged as well as 20 years for an assault and battery with a deadly weapon felony charge. At its February meeting, the Oklahoma State Board of Education voted to begin the process of revoking the teaching certificates of Jeff Myers and Micah Nall. Both former KHS football coaches were charged in October 2023 with felonies. Nall was charged with child abuse and perjury. Myers was charged with child neglect. Nall later in the year would plead no contest to his charge and voluntarily surrendered his teaching certificate. Myers’ felony case is still ongoing (more on this later in the year in review) and the status of his certification won’t be decided until the conclusion of his case.

Cashion’s Alyssa Davis was announced as one of 100 recipients of the Academic All-State honor by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.

In small-school basketball, the Lomega girls and Okarche boys qualified for return trips to their respective state basketball tournaments. Meanwhile, the Dover girls also qualifi ed to make their first trip since 2007. They eventually reached the state semifinals.

Kingfisher sophomore Brayden Kochenower finished as the state runner-up in the 138-pound bracket at the Class 3A state wrestling tournament. Kochenower was defeated by Berryhill’s Kyler Tabor in the title bout.

March

Lomega defeated Lookeba- Sickles 53-43 on Saturday, March 2, to win the Class B girls state basketball championship. For the Lomega program, it added to its own record of state titles, which now sits at 16. For coach Kevin Lewallen, the championship was his eighth, which tied him with the legendary Bertha Frank Teague for the most in Oklahoma high school girls basketball history. Lomega’s wasn’t the only gold ball brought back to Kingfisher County that night… The Okarche boys beat defending state champ Caddo 56-38 to claim the Class A state championship. It was the first title for the program since 1979. It was also the first for head coach Aaron West, whose father Ray West was the longtime coach at Okarche with Aaron serving as his assistant for several years until Ray’s passing in 2019.

The Hennessey boys not only qualified for the state tournament, but beat Merritt 59-50 to advance to the 2A semifinals for the first time since 2019. They were eventually defeated by No. 1 Dale, which went on to win its third consecutive title.

The Kingfisher APB hosted the funeral for Kinlee Denton, a 15-year-old student at KHS who passed away from injuries suffered in a vehicle accident east of Kingfisher. Denton was a passenger in the car that included a 17-year-old male driver and another 13-yearold female passenger. He was treated at the scene for minor injuries while the 13-year-old passenger was taken to a hospital, treated and later released.

Ryan Gibson was officially sworn in as the new fire chief.

April

Joseph Gregory Hayslip, 39, pleaded guilty to the August 2023 murder of Peggy Bollenbach in a Kingfi sher motel. Hayslip’s plea requires him to serve life in prison.

The body of Carrie Lynn Eckroat Feuerborn, 55, was found in a Dover rental home by the home’s owners. Feuerborn’s death was eventually ruled a suicide by investigators.

Kingfisher County Commissioner Heath Dobrovolny announced during the commission’s April 8 meeting that he would be resigning his District 3 seat to accept a position in New Mexico. He had been with the county since October 2009 and began his first term as commissioner in January 2019. Dobrovolny’s resignation became effective April 19. District 3 First Deputy Anthony Schwarz was named the interim commissioner until an election called for by Governor Kevin Stitt could be held later in the year.

The Chisholm began a $6 million capital campaign to upgrade the museum in multiple phases over multiple years. At the start of the campaign, the museum had already secured about $2 million in funding.

The Cashion Board of Education voted to hire Shane Hood as its next superintendent. Hood would replace Leon Ashlock, who was taking the same position at Muldrow after two years in Cashion. Hood served the previous year as superintendent at Aline-Cleo. Prior to that, Hood was a principal at multiple KPS schools during his tenure that started there in 2017-18.

Hennessey Fire Department held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open its new $1.9 addition.

After three hours in executive session, members of the Okarche Board of Trustees voted 4-1 to fire Police Chief Forrest Smith. Sgt. Chris Sadler was named the acting chief. Smith had been the Okarche chief for six years. The board also accepted the resignation of Town Attorney Bryan Kennedy. One of the agenda items for the meeting called for the board to potentially vote to terminate Kennedy’s services.

Kingfisher Heritage third grader Pressley Page finished as the national runner-up at the Elks Hoop Shoot National Finals in Chicago. The daughter of Brady and Lindsey Page, Pressley competed in the 8-9 year-old division. Prior to nationals, Page won local, northwest district and state competitions to qualify for the Region 11 competition in Dallas. She won that multi-state competition to advance to nationals.