B (USPS156-140) Vol. 132, Number 4 DeWitt, AR 72042 • 16 Pages • 2 Sections • 75 cents
AROUND THE COUNTY
ig Weekend for Local Churches
Stories and Photos on Page B1
Serving Arkansas k County, Arkansas k Since 1882 Thursday, January 23, 2014
Best of DeWitt: Entrepreneur of the Year
GES PARENT NIGHT
GES will have a parent night on January 27 at 5:00 p.m. A guest speaker will present on cyber-bullying to the parents. There will be childcare provided, snacks and door prizes. Parents need to RSVP to the school 870548-2466.
DMS AWARDS ASSEMBLY
January 29 DMS will have an awards assembly for parents/ guardians in the cafeteria. 6th grade assembly will be at 8:30, 7th grade assembly will be at 9:30 and 8th grade assembly will be at 10:30. Honor’s for Semester will be given out.
PTA SOCK HOP
The DeWitt Parent-Teacher Association is sponsoring a Sock Hop this Friday, January 24 from 6-8 PM at DeWitt Elementary School. Admission is $1, and goodies, games, and tattoos are 50 cents each. There will be a cupcake and cake walk, 50’s music and games, and a Coke and rootbeer float station. Put on your 50’s attire and come out and join us this Friday! For any additional information, you can contact PTA officers, members, or Nia Rieves at PCCUA.
NORTHEAST WATER ASSOCIATION
The Northeast Water Association will hold its annual board meeting Tuesday, January 28, 2014 at Arkansas County Bank Community Room at 1:00 p.m. The meeting is open to all association members.
DEWITT ERA-ENTERPRISE RATE CHANGES FOR 2014
Johnny Davis (6th from the right) with the Chamber of Commerce at the grand opening of the biofuel refinery on October 29, 2013.
Johnny Davis, Sr. has been voted the Best of DeWitt’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Davis has a true entrepreneurial spirit. Through the years, he has begun several businesses that were very successful. He attended DeWitt Public Schools and graduated from DeWitt High School in 1971. In 1980, Johnny married Shelia Wylie Davis and they have three children, Nancy Carmichael, John Davis, and Amy Perez, three grandsons and three granddaughters. He started working for Riceland Foods in Stuttgart while in 12th grade in 1971 and remained employed there until 1975. He started on the packing floor assembly line packing soybean oil, and later advanced to instrument technician. In 1975, Johnny bought his father’s business in DeWitt, Davis Feed and Grocery, which he later sold to two of his brothers in 1982. In 1977
(Prices on A2)
Name: _________________ Address: _______________ ______________________ City: ________ State: _____ Phone #: _______________
in biofuel in 2005 when he started using used cooking oil in a F350 Ford Diesel pick up on the ranch. He used this for several years until his sister and brother-in-law sold their convenience store where he was getting the waste oil for the truck. His current project is to make and provide biofuels for local usage, and to support economic development in the area and to promote the use of renewable energy in today’s world. He is in the process of manufacturing biodiesel with alt. Consulting and the City of DeWitt at the feed store location on Jefferson Street in DeWitt. The diesel will be made with used vegetable oil collected by the city of DeWitt from local schools, nursing homes, businesses, etc. Along with his business, Arkansas County Feed, Johnny has purchased the old Arkansas Petroleum site, and is an integral part of the Farm
to Fuel agenda facilitated by the Advanced Arkansas Energy Association, alt.Consulting, the City of DeWitt, and Phillips Community College University of Arkansas DeWitt Campus. Using used vegetable and the camelina crop, David hopes to provide enough biofuel to the City of DeWitt’s vehicles and for the DeWitt Public School buses. With a deep history in businesses and development of DeWitt, Johnny Davis has earned the title Entrepreneur of the Year. He will be presented a plaque award for his contribution to the city’s growth at the Best of DeWitt Banquet hosted by the DeWitt Chamber of Commerce, January 30. Guest speaker will be Mike Ross. Tickets will be on sale at the local banks for $15. Come and show her your support as she has shown her to the community and people of DeWitt.
Cox Seeks Re-Election
Effective IMMEDIATELY, the DeWitt Era-Enterprises newspaper rates have gone up to $23.50 for in-county and $30 for anywhere outside of Arkansas County. Legal rates are now $0.25 a word, also effective immediately. Obituaries will continue to be free for all obituaries with less than 300 words. Call for prices on anything over 300 words. Also, the DeWitt EraEnterprise will ONLY re-run ads that have a misspelling or incorrect information.
If you would like to subscribe to DeWitt Era-Enterprise, please fill out the form below and mail to: DeWitt Era, P.O. Box 678, DeWitt, AR 72042.
he purchased the local IGA grocery store, which he sold in 1984. He farmed from 1980 to 1985, and worked for Arkansas Gazette in sales from 1985 to 1990. He later opened a Primerica Life Insurance business in 1990 on the square in Dewitt. Davis started a cattle ranch in 1995, which still operates today, and in 2010, he opened ARCO Feed, wholesale and retail, off of Elm Branch Road outside of DeWitt city limits. There he mixes livestock feed and sells to feed stores and individuals. He is also a Purina dealer. In 2013, he purchased a petroleum distribution company in DeWitt that had been closed for four years. He moved the retail part of ARCO Feed to this location. Plans are to remodel the building and open a convenience store and restaurant in part of that building. He first started to dabble
Arkansas County Judge Glenn “Sonny” Cox has announced that he will seek re-election. He is in his 11th term. “I appreciate very much the trust and cooperation that the citizens of Arkansas County has placed in me,” he said. “I want to thank you for allowing me to be your County Judge for the past 21 years I’m asking for your support again so that we may finish the job we started together by replacing the last 54 one lane wooden bridges with either large plastic pipes, steel pipes or steel flat cars and also add some much needed gravel on our highly traveled roads. If re-elected, Cox said he would also escalate building up county roads that become impassible by the rain and will continue upgrading the drainage in the county. Better roads, bridges and drainage have always been and will re-
main his #1 priority and (with the extra sales tax money), this will become a reality, We also will be upgrading and modernizing our 911 system with new hardware and software over the next two years. “All the problems haven’t been solved in Arkansas County, but with the extra $400,000 a year from the percent state sales tax for roads, that was passed in 2012 , this money makes it possible to solve many of these problems. We the (County Judges Assoc. and Municipal League) worked well together to promote this tax to help our road systems in the cities and counties. With my experience in building roads, bridges and designing drainage systems, I believe we can accomplish many of these projects in the next few years. “I will continue to be a ‘Hands On‘ Judge and work hard for Arkansas County and by using my 21 years of administrative experience that is required to operate the systems of county government, we can cut through the red tape that is always involved. The many contacts in federal and state government that l have made over the years are invaluable to Arkansas County when applying for grants and knowing
who to talk to. I will use these contacts and will continue to apply for all grants that can be used on our roads, bridges and drainage systems and in our DeWitt and Stuttgart courthouses, 911 system, Office of Emergency Management, Fire Departments, Radio systems and other projects. Some of the projects we have accomplished together during the last 21 years are our Adult and Juvenile Detention Centers, North Arkansas County Health Department building, State of the art Mapping and E-911 System, Phase I and II, a model countywide beaver program, updating of our county roads, bridge system, drainage system, county road equipment and the continuing restoration of all three Courthouses. Handicapped chair lifts and handicap restrooms and other ADA requirements were installed in the Dewitt and Stuttgart Courthouses and Annex. A 180-foot radio tower was installed to aid in the countywide communications for the Office of Emergency Management, Sheriffs Department, County Road Department and County Fire Departments along with our State wide AWIN radio system and new AWIN tower at Preston’s Ferry. These projects were completed by using federal and state grants and county matching money to make them possible. I am very grateful for my administrative assistant, office staff, 911 coordinator, OEM coordinator, Road Foremen, Head Shop Mechanic and
road crew and courthouse custodians.They are all doing an excellent job in helping us meet the important deadlines and keeping us on track for the many ongoing grant projects here in Arkansas County.” He and his wife, Marilyn Shirkey Cox, have two children, Kristi Cox and Marci Cox Miller, and two grandchildren, Olivia and Rally. They are members of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Stuttgart, where Cox has served as the council’s president and is currently serving on the church council. He is also a Board Member of Dewitt and Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce, Dewitt and Stuttgart Industrial Development Boards, President of the Southeast Solid Waste Board, and is a Board Member and Vice President of the Southeast Economic Development District. He is on the AWIN (AICC) committee, chairman of the AWIN (AIECC) executive committee, member of the State Court Security committee, and co-chairman of the local Court Security committee. In addition, he was honored by being elected to a two year term (2003 -2005) as President of the Arkansas County Judges Association and is currently serving on the Executive Committee from the southeast district and serves on many other boards throughout the County and State.