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Serving Arkansas County, Arkansas Since 1882
(USPS156-140) Vol. 132, Number 38 DeWitt, AR 72042 • 16 Pages • 2 Sections • 75 cents
AROUND THE COUNTY
UN AT THE ARKANSAS COUNTY FAIR! Story and Photos in this issue!
Thursday, September 18, 2014
MILLAGE NARROWLY PASSES
40 YEAR CLASS REUNION
The DeWitt High School Class of 1974 will be celebrating their 40 year reunion on September 19th and 20th. On Friday the 19th, class members will attend the Dragon vs. Ricebirds game. Go Dragons Go!! On the 20th they will celebrate at PCCUA in the student center to reminisce over food and fun. Forty Years of Progression!
DRAGONS VS RICEBIRDS
The DeWitt Dragons will go head to head with the Stuttgart Ricebirds Friday, September 19th at 7:30. Tailgaters will start setting up at 4:00, so come out and tailgate and support the Dragons!!!!! Friday is Blue Out, so wear your blue and gold, decorate your businesses, cars, yards, and show your support.
HOMECOMING AND REVIVAL
Reydell Baptist Church, at Reydell, is holding its Homecoming on September 21, 2014. Bro. Bud Calhoun is the pastor. He invites everyone to come and celebrate Eightythree years of church, school and community history. The day begins at 10:00 with Sunday school classes, worship service at 11:00, potluck dinner at 12:30 and music and memories at 1:30. Revival services begin Monday, September 22 at 6:00 pm and will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Bro. Bert Thomas of St. Charles Baptist Church will bring the message each night. Anyone who has lived in the Reydell area will have a great time sharing their memories with old friends and family members. And, everyone will be blessed by each service.
DeWitt Schools Superintendent Dr. Lynne Dardenne checking the final election results.
After long debates and much planning, the millage for the new DeWitt Middle School passed 492 votes to 445. This comes after a failed attempt in 2010. “ We are thrilled with the results. It has been a long time coming,” said Superintendent Dr. Lynne Dardenne. The total cost of the project will be 9.5 million dollars, 1.5 million of which will come from State Partnership Funds. The school will be built near the high school and will share facilities with the elementary and
high school. The new school will be a 35,000 sq ft state-ofthe-art building with safe rooms and increased bandwidth. Repairs will be made to the cafeteria and band room with the allotted money. Also on the ballot was the race for DeWitt School Board Zone 5 with Johnny Lockley against Lee Hearn. Lockley came out on top with 109 votes to Hearn’s 57. Lockley thanked the voters, staff and community for their support, “We are all in it for our kids, ”Lockley said.
STREET PAVING PROJECT 2014 City Street Paving Project Set to Begin By Terrye Seamon Short, sweet and hard to beat are the words used to describe Monday night’s monthly City Council meeting at City Hall. The Council continued to discuss some ongoing issues, tied up a few ends and went on with business as usual. The City’s plans to pave Adams Street from 2nd to 6th Streets and 5th to 6th Streets from Jefferson to Union will soon come to fruition now that bids have been reviewed. Redstone’s bid of $424, 269 was accepted and turned out to be lower than what was originally anticipated. Mayor Relyea informed the Council, “The bid came in a little under what we projected, so we may want to look at expanding some because we will have some funds left.” As a result, the Council decided to check into the cost of possibly constructing a spillway at 13th and Lee Streets to help alleviate the current drainage problems in that area. The paving project is scheduled to start in a few weeks, weather permitting, and should be done before the end of the year. City Attorney T. Buie briefed the Council on regulations for out-of-town contractor permits in the area of
occupation taxes. “If a business pays an occupation tax in one city, by law they are not required to pay it in any other city,” Buie said. In an area of old business, the Council continued discussing the possibility of banning leaf burning within city limits. Council members bantered around the idea of only allowing leaf burning certain days of the week, but no action was taken at this time. After the proposal was brought before the Council for consideration this past summer, Mayor Relyea said he thought he had found a grant that would fund the purchase of a leaf vacuum, but it did not work out. He plans to continue his search for grants that will possibly fund the cost of the equipment in the future. In other business, the Council passed a motion to allow fireworks at the football games, and Alderman Heath Holbert reported that after this month’s outstanding bills, the city has $120, 592.53 total funds available. The October City Council meeting has been moved to October 20 due to the Columbus Day holiday on the 12th. City Council meets the second Monday of every month at City Hall at 6:00 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend.
G o Dragon s Torch the Birds! 114 Court Square • DeWitt AR 72042 • 870-946-0PUB
Come eat and celebrate victory after the game! Grill open until 10:30 this Friday!