New Kay County news site launches

Longtime Cowley County news editor and owner of KSOK Radio, Shane Farley and Kay County reporter Sharon Rowen, are teaming up to launch http://kaynewscow.com, an online-only news site providing content to readers free of charge.

Farley, a former managing editor of the now defunct Winfield Courier, teamed up Brian Bird and former Courier reporters Dakota Davis, and the late Judy Welch, to launch the original www.newscow.net in May of 2007.

The name, short for News Cowley, grew and soon SumnerNewsCow.com was born.

Rowen has been covering breaking news and issues in Kay and Cowley counties for 17 years.

A native of Ponca City, graduate of Ponca City High School and Northern Oklahoma College, Rowen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma before joining the staff of the Blackwell Journal Tribune.

In 2003, she begin working at the Arkansas City Traveler as news editor.

In 2005, Rowen started a 13 plus year stint at The Ponca City News, that included working as Midweek and Education Editor.

She was named the 2005 Oklahoma Farm Bureau Journalist of the Year for in depth coverage of a landfill issue near Blackwell.

She also covered county jail issues, many high profile court cases, and was one of 12 journalists to witness the Clayton Lockett execution in 2014.

She has been published in every Kay County publication and others including The Kansas City Star and The Oklahoman.

Rowen’s position and others were eliminated in November of 2018 after The Ponca City News sold, eliminating the last locally owned newspaper in Kay County.

“I have enjoyed working with and learning from the area’s seasoned journalists and editors over the years including Foster Johnson, Patti Carmack, the late Charles Abbott, Helen Siebert, and Judy Welch. I look forward to working with Shane again, a professional and reliable news editor and business man. Together I believe we can fill a void created in the local news industry.”