Good morning, Lawton.

Lawton Firefighters are battling a structure fire at 1100 Block of NW Taft St in Lawton—teams work to control the blaze as updates are expected.

Lawton Firefighters responded to a home fire in the 2700 block of Northwest 24th Street Tuesday at about 2:00 a.m.—nobody was inside when they arrived and officials are investigating the cause.

Lawton police arrested Eric Shantrell Sanders, 38, of Kent, Washington—who allegedly ran a red light and evaded an officer while he was found transporting 80 pounds of black-market marijuana—and he now faces charges including trafficking with a preliminary hearing set for July 29.

The 11th annual Lawton-Fort Sill Freedom Festival will be held at Elmer Thomas Park on June 27-28—kicking off each day at 5 p.m. with free family-friendly activities including live music, bounce houses, drone and fireworks shows, classic car races, and ceremonial remarks.

A Soapbox Derby car race on June 27 will feature youth and custom divisions, with contests and awards adding extra excitement to the event.

The city of Lawton will host multiple events throughout the week to celebrate Juneteenth—residents can join in festivities that honor the historic holiday.

Public Service Oklahoma reported a widespread power outage affecting central Lawton at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 17th; the cause remains unknown.

City officials began rehabilitation on 38th Street between Gore and Lee boulevards after awarding T&G Construction a $4.349 million contract.

Councilman George Gill said similar work on Lee Boulevard between 38th and 52nd streets will start in about two months—plans will be ready by the end of this month and bids will follow a 30-day process.

On June 10, the Lawton Youth Sports Authority approved a 55-year lease with Lawton Public Schools to control 120 acres in Eastside Park, including land for a planned indoor youth sports complex.

Under the deal, the school district will waive rent for 36 months—giving the Authority time to complete improvements—while monthly rent of $4,013.92 will start once the facility is ready.

Due to heavy rain that flooded the new landfill cells, free dump days dropped from six times a year to one per quarter and the City Council paused demolition of old structures for 60 days—city officials said they will use emergency funds to repair the cells and study new bulk trash services to extend remaining landfill space.

Six southwestern lawmakers gave updates on the recent legislative session at the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon held on June 17 at Hilton Garden Inn (135 NW Second St.) in Lawton.

They discussed passed bills and current initiatives that will affect southwest Oklahoma.

Clean Comedy Show

7-9 p.m. — Comedy Avenue — $15 Entry — Experience a night of laughter with clean comedy and free snacks at a local venue.

3rd annual set free praise dance conference

This community event is to encourage and empower our youth and young adults to use their gift of dance to build their relationship with God and draw others to Him. We are also bridging the generational gap with our youth to mentor and share life experiences to help them become servant leaders. Friday night will be a night of praise and worship, with instruction on the importance of covering as ministers and how colors have important meaning. Saturday will be all-day workshops including dance technique, mime, and lyrical dance. Each dancer will have two dance workshops based on their training and experience.

3rd annual set free praise dance conference

This community event is to encourage and empower our youth and young adults to use their gift of dance to build their relationship with God and draw others to Him. We are also bridging the generational gap with our youth to mentor and share life experiences to help them become servant leaders. Friday night will be a night of praise and worship, with instruction on the importance of covering as ministers and how colors have important meaning. Saturday will be all-day workshops including dance technique, mime, and lyrical dance. Each dancer will have two dance workshops based on their training and experience.