By Brett Jones
Published on September 27, 2008

A public hearing Monday could pave the way for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to abandon state Highway 92, and Mayor Jeff Landrith worries the road could fall into the same disrepair in the coming years as Czech Hall, Sara and Morgan roads.

“It is not a matter of lack of cooperation; it is a matter that Oklahoma City is responsible for it (road upkeep), and they are not keeping those roads up to standards,” Landrith said.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on September 27, 2008

Hundreds of Mustang High School students held hands and prayed Wednesday for their classmates, school and community as part of the national See You at the Pole rally.

Student organizer Tyler Woodward asked his classmates to pray for change within their community and added he feels a wave coming.

“There is a revival coming to Mustang,” he said. “For that revival to happen we have got to ask for it.”

By Carolyn Cole
Published on September 27, 2008

Mustang has about half as many police officers per population than the national and state averages, but city officials say staffing concerns are more complicated than just population.

On average, police departments in the United States have 2.4 sworn officers per 1,000 people, according to the FBI’s recently released 2007 Uniform Crime Statistics Report. That report also showed a state average of about 2.35 police officers per 1,000 Oklahomans.

By Traci Chapman
Published on September 27, 2008

Escalating costs are leading government officials to work together to seek ways to pay for needed road and bridge repairs.

Canadian County Commissioner Phil Carson spoke about one such program at the commissioners’ regular meeting Monday. Carson said he was one of “several” attendees at a meeting sponsored by the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma last week in Chickasha.

Connie Jo Hart
Family memorial services for Connie Jo Hart, 50, will be held at 2 p.m. Oct. 5 at the family home in Mustang.

Hart died Tuesday after being rushed to a Yukon hospital. She was born July 1, 1958, in Fort Smith, Ark., to John and Robbie (Hatfield) Duplantis and grew up in the Fort Smith area.

Hart came to Mustang in 1999 and was a housewife. She loved animals and doing crafts.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on September 25, 2008

Taft Turner is ready to take the court next week with Mustang High School’s girls basketball team as they start practice.

Turner will follow Nichole Copeland, who resigned last month as coach after eight years and leading the team to win the 2006 Class 6A state championship and to the 2007 state finals. She is continuing to teach biology at the high school.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on September 25, 2008

The number of property crimes reported to the Mustang Police Department climbed in 2007, while violent crimes declined in the city, according to a national study.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report released recently showed 537 property crimes were reported for 2007, an increase of 47 incidents from 490 in the 2006 report, 454 for 2005; 466 for 2004; and 293 for 2003.

By Carolyn Cole
Published on September 25, 2008

Five pacesetters have driven the United Way of Canadian County one-fifth of the way toward volunteers’ $125,000 fundraising campaign goal.

Officials announced the milestone during the local United Way’s second annual kick off cook out last week at Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno. About 175 people gathered to eat free hamburgers and hotdogs donated by sponsors and cooked by business leaders and Canadian County dignitaries.

By Traci Chapman
Published on September 25, 2008

Re-enactors at Fort Reno’s annual Tombstone Tales will begin summoning the ghosts of pioneers past today as the event again draws visitors “far and wide.”

The event not only draws crowds but volunteers who work to tell the story of the fort’s history. Perhaps no other person has been as committed to that task as Jessica Wells.

By Traci Chapman
Published on September 25, 2008

Canadian County resident Shannon Wann still dreams about her father, a soldier who went to Vietnam when she was 9 years old and never came home.

Last week, Wann gathered with other families who have gone through the uncertainty and “emptiness” of a life with a family member missing in action, former prisoners of war and others who came together to commemorate POW/MIA Recognition Day.

The candlelight ceremony was held at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oklahoma City.