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1 SECTION - 14 PAGES V OLUME 108 (51ST WEEK OF 108TH YEAR - 5,634 WEEKS TOTAL)
ACTIVITIES CALENDAR JULY 30-31, 9 AM-12 NOON Kids History Day Camp Lower White River Museum SAT., AUG. 1, 1 PM River Rat Floatilla Des Arc Boat Landing SAT., AUG. 4, 6 PM Prayer Walk from First Baptist Church FRI, AUG. 7 Ark. Rice Expo Grand Prairie Research Center, Stuttgart MON & TUES, AUG. 10 & 11 Open House Des Arc Schools (See Ad Page 14) SAT., AUG. 15, 5:30 PM Faith Football Dinner First Baptist Church MONDAY, AUG. 17 School Opens for 2015-16 School Year SAT., AUG. 22, Fair Queen Contest DeValls Bluff Center
“A F REE P RESS AND A F REE P EOPLE - A N U NBEATABLE T EAM ” D ES A RC , A RKANSAS (C OUNTY S EAT ) P RAIRIE C OUNTY
P UB L I S H E D E A C H T H U R S D A Y S I N C E 1 9 0 7 THUR SDAY, JUL Y 30, 2015
School Board increases substitute teacher pay; Hires new employees: Jeff Adams, Ramona Holloway, James Featherston The Des Arc Board of Education, held their regular monthly meeting Monday, July 27. Present were Superintendent Nick Hill and all seven board members: Stewart Morton, Johnny Reidhar, Charlie Brown, Billy Hinson, Eric Kennedy, Kent Childers and Sylvester Holloway. The following items were all unanimously approved by the board: 1. Increase the daily rate of substitute teacher pay to $65 for substitutes with less than a bachelor’s degree, and $70 for those with a BA or highter. 2. Hold school elections by absentee and early voting only. 3. Accept Hiland Dairy Foods’ bid for milk products and Flowers Baking’ bid for bread products for
the 2015-16 school year. 4. Accept resignation of Scott Peters. 5. Emploty Jeff Adams as head basketball /assistant football coach and ALE Coordinator; Ramona Holloway as secondary Math Teacher; and James Featherston as Business Teacher for the 2015-16 school year. 6. Renew the 3 year ASBA model policy service contract. 7. Identify personnel Des Arc Firemen inside destroyed home (additional photo - Page 14) with a salary increase of 5% or more as required by law. 8. Deny request for legal transfer of a student from the Riverview School District. The next meeting of the Board will be Monday, August 24 at 7 pm in the SuDes Arc fire trucks responded to a mo- keep “Lady” by her grandparents, Lela perintendent’s office at the bile home on fire at 10900 block of Whip- Mae and Don Rogers. However, the dog High School. poorwill Road about 3:45 pm last Saturday, soon became everyone’s pet, going riding just as a thunderstorm with heavy rain and with Steve Rogers in his truck and followstrong winds was hitting the area. The ing Lela Mae to feed the chickens every Don Rogers declared her as the mobile home belonged to Diane Taylor, day. “smartest dog he’d every known”. Also who was not home at the time. Doing remodeling work inside Diane’s shared by everyone was “Mama Kitty”, but second mobile home next door were her was mostly claimed by Diane. Diane had no insurance and lost everysister, Donna Wesson and her boy friend. When they smelled smoke, Donna looked thing in the trailer, but said her biggest loss out to see Diane’s home on fire. Thinking was “Lady” - more important than all the Diane’s pets, three dogs and her cat were material things. Lady was kept preserved inside, she ran over to open the front door. in a freezer until yesterday, when Carmen, But the force of heat pushed her back and Steve and Lela Mae took her to be crematthe fire “exploded”. It wasn’t until after the ed. Lela Mae said there had been a “flood partment for their time and fire was extinguished that the fate of the of tears” the last few days. effort during the search. Fire Chief Don Harvey was reported to animals could be known. Chief Deputy Bill DuerTwo of the dogs and “Mama Kitty” were have suggested lightning as probable son stated, “We are very found safely outside. However, ten-year- cause for the fire. proud to have so many old “Lady”, a Blue Heeler-Border Collie Many friends turned out to help in people committed to the mix didn’t make it out. Originally found at every way they could the next day, Sunday. safety and well-being of the a flea market as a pup, Carmen Rogers, Ricky McFarlin excavated a large hole in citizens of Prairie County who at that time had recently lost her their adjacent pasture and buried the moand also our visitors”. horse, was finally granted permission to bile home and its destroyed contents.
Saturday fire destroys mobile home;
10 year-old “Lady”, Blue Heeler succumbs - Mama Kitty escapes
Missing Bryant man’s body found near campsite at DeValls Bluff On Wednesday, July 22, 2015, the Prairie County Sheriff’s Department received information regarding an abandoned boat that was tied to the river bank approximately ten miles south of DeValls Bluff on the White River. It was discovered that the occupant, Charles Morgan, 61, of Bryant was missing. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission along with the DeValls Bluff Fire Department began the search of the river that evening which continued into the following day (Thursday). On day two (Thursday) of the search, the Arkansas State Police assisted with an aerial search of the White River and surrounding areas by helicopter. As the search continued, information was obtained that the son of an area fisherman had spotted the boat floating in the river and tied it to the bank so it would not float any farther. This led investigators to believe that Morgan had fallen into the river near a campsite that he was staying at near the DeValls Bluff White River landing.
Obituaries Pg. 7
Denver Barger, 87, Austin Shirley Cunningham, 77, Des Arc Lorene Dorn, 91, Benton Thelma Griffith, 75, Des Arc Violet Haase, 88, Stuttgart Charlene Johnson, 66, Beebe Dr. J. L. Ransom, 66, Mississippi Robin Sample, 58, Lonoke James Volner, 69, West Memphis
As search efforts were being concluded for the second day, Charles Morgan’s body was found in the area of the campsite where it is believed that he fell into the river. The body was recovered and transported to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for autopsy and a ruling of the cause of death. Morgan’s family was present throughout the search and investigation. The Prairie County Sheriff’s Department urges citizens of the County to keep the family and friends of Mr. Morgan in their thoughts and prayers. This search was the first implementation of the Prairie County Sheriff’s Office Dive Operations group. The Sheriff’s office would like to thank the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission along with the Arkansas State Police Aviation Unit for their assistance. A special thanks to the DeValls Bluff Fire De-
County’s sales tax distribution for June Prairie County Treasurer Judy Burnett advises that $87,196.09 from the county’s sales and use tax in June, 2015 was distributed to cities and county as of July 23, 2015 as follows: City of Biscoe................. $ 2,421,28 City of DeValls Bluff....... 4,128.85 City of Des Arc................ 11,452.72 City of Hazen............... 9,791.84 City of Ulm.................... 1,133.94 Prairie County................, 29,202.10 Prairie County...0.125% 7,266.34 Prairie County.. 0.375% 21,799.02
$87,196.09
County Jailers receive Certification Five new Prairie County Detention Center employees are now "Certified" jailers ready to take their places in the new soon-to-be-open county jail. The jailers, who are on the job and working in the current county facility, recently completed the required 40 hour training course to receive certification as jailers by the State of Arkansas. The course, which consisted of various subjects including Ethics, Jail Standards and Constitutional Law was completed on Tuesday after a hands on block of instruction and practical application of defensive tactics. Left to right: Chrystal Bonner, Mallory Latch, Chelsea Hinshaw, Jail Administrator Darrell Turner, Cara Norman and Kelsea Gunn.
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