John Robert Castoe
Graveside services for John Robert Castoe, 85, were held Thursday in the Czech National Cemetery in Prague under direction of McNeil’s Mustang Funeral Service.

Mr. Castoe died Aug. 26 in Oklahoma City. He was born May 2, 1923, in Witts Springs Ark., and grew up in Arkansas. He served in the Army. He was a heavy truck mechanic, working for Hudiburg Chevrolet in Prague. He moved to Oklahoma City in 1950 and worked for American Trailers for 27 years. He worked 18 years with the Oklahoma School Book Fairs. He had lived in Yukon since 1994.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on August 30, 2008

Jim Burkey is the third top administrator to leave Mustang for the Oklahoma City School District in two months.

Burkey said he will start in Oklahoma City Sept. 15 as chief operating officer; his last day in Mustang is Sept. 12. He started in Mustang 35 years ago, teaching English and history at Mustang Middle School.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on August 30, 2008

Mustang High School’s ACT scores slid back to 21.7 in 2008 after results cracked 22 last year for the first time in a decade.

Mustang was outscored by 28 other Oklahoma high schools, according to data released by the Oklahoma Department of Education.

Oklahoma scores ranged from an average of 31.5 by Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics students to 14.1 scored by Riverside Indian School in Anadarko. Mustang students outpaced the 2008 national average at 21.1 and the state average at 20.7.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on August 30, 2008

A Mustang family aims to hit a home run to help Oklahoma children living with Down syndrome.

The Joy family and Tanner’s Trotters team are aiming to raise a record $7,500 as part of The Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma Sept. 20 at the Bricktown Ballpark.

In 2006, Shaun and Jennifer Joy and their children Tanner and Tyler helped raise $6,281, but Jennifer Joy said her family faced a difficult year and took a break from the 2007 walk.

By Daniel Lapham
Published on August 30, 2008

A program operated by the state Department of Human Services has been successful in other parts of the state and now will be used to assist Canadian County children.

“This is new for the Canadian County area,” said Mike Smith, OKDHS child support specialist and court liaison. “It has been used in Oklahoma County for two years. It has been successful there so we started it in other counties.”

The program was launched here in June, and Smith said he is working with approximately 12 non-custodial parents.

By Traci Chapman
Published on August 28, 2008

David Anderson won Tuesday’s District 2 County Commissioner runoff election after capturing more than 60 percent of the vote.

Anderson defeated Richard Engle 1,397 to 926 votes. A Mustang contractor, Anderson emerged on top of a field of five candidates in the July 29 primary with 1,042 votes, followed by 908 ballots cast for Engle.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on August 28, 2008

Steve Russell called increasing the state income tax credit related to children one of his top priorities when he joins lawmakers in the Oklahoma Senate this February.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on August 28, 2008

A Nicaraguan man told Mustang’s Haley Grant he would never forget seeing the women of his village dressed in black and crying.

As a toddler he witnessed shootings and bombings, his uncles leaving for war and the women around him crying, sick with grief.

“Most of the men in his family went to war and never came back,” Grant said.

By Traci Chapman
Published on August 28, 2008

Charlotte Holder has a dream — to see light rail service across Canadian County. She appeared before County Commissioners Monday as a first step in making that dream a reality.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on August 23, 2008

Mustang School District’s student population held steady as youth headed back to class Wednesday and then climbed almost 100 students on the second day of class.

School officials reported 8,229 youth in class Thursday — 90 more students than were in attendance Wednesday. Student attendance climbed 89 youth compared to the second day of school in August 2007 and 76 youth from attendance statistics for May.