News

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE plans are shelved for now at the new Kingfisher County Justice Center. Sheriff Dennis Banther said the decision was made to move inmates in last week to accommodate a sudden influx of females, which exceeded the old jail’s capacity to segregate inmates by gender.

Kingfisher city commissioners awarded a contract Wednesday night to an Idaho construction company to build a premier feature of Newfield Community Park. South Industries of Menan, Idaho was the sole bidder for construction of a concrete band shell at $154,532, plus an addtional 1.

In what was billed on the agenda as a “sales tax proposal” workshop, Kingfisher city commissioners, staff and fire department personnel narrowed down the path forward for building a new fire station and the sales tax proposal needed to fund it.

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office issued an appeal for both medical and nonmedical volunteers to help accelerate the state’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines to eligible recipients.

The Cashion academic team has punched its ticket to the Class 3A state tournament. The team took runner-up at last weekend’s Area 1 tournament held at Crossings Christian School in Oklahoma City to qualify.

The Okarche HighSchool speech team ended the first semester and started the second semester of the 2020-21 school year with team trophies at two virtual speech competitions.

Kingfisher Rotary Club is currently accepting applications for its annual John A. Francis Scholarship recipient. The $1,000 scholarship is designed to assist current college students with qualified educational expenses.

Okarche High School has announced the Lions and Lionesses chosen for the months of August through November 2020. Those selected for this recognition must be a junior or senior and are chosen for their scholarship, leadership, willingness to help others, self-motivation and self-discipline.

The Kingfisher Community Fund (KCF) announced recently the opening of its 2021 Grant Cycle benefiting the Kingfisher community. KCF seeks to fund projects and organizations that enhance the quality of life in Kingfisher.

After an hour in closed session Wednesday night, the Hennessey Board of Education voted unanimously to accept the resignation of Dr. Mike Woods that he’d submitted at a Jan. 11 meeting. Woods has held that position for five years and told The Times & Free Press he was not at the meeting.