White river journal, september 17, 2015

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Fall Equinox: 3:22am Wed., Sept. 23, CDT When the sun shines directly on equator, and day & night are near equal - but not exactly (In Des Arc, sunrise at 6:55am - sunset at 7:02pm)

1 SECT IO N - 14 PAG ES V OLUME 109 (6TH WEEK OF 109TH YEAR - 5,641 WEEKS TOTAL)

P U B L I S H ED E A C H T H U R S D A Y S I N C E 1 9 0 7

“A FREE P RESS AND A FREE P EOPLE - A N U NBEATABLE TEAM ” D ES A RC , A RKANSAS (C OUNTY S EAT ) P RAIRIE C OUNTY

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015

Above photo taken by Rodney Adams at the Des Arc - McCrory football game played there Sept. 4

ACTIVITIES CALENDAR THURSDAY, SEPT. 17 Today — September 17 — is Constitution Day. It has been 228 years to the day since the adoption of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights THURS., SEPT. 17, 7 PM Catfish Meeting/Film Courthouse Annex SAT., SEPT. 19, 4:30 PM Prairie County Fair Parade

“Adopt A Highway Litter Control Next 2 Miles, Rodney W. Adams” sign at 4-mile corner

SUN., SEPT. 20, 7 AM Men’s Union Breakfast Family Worship Center WED., SEPT. 23, 7:30 AM See You at the Pole High School Campus MON-SAT, SEPT. 20-26 Prairie County Fair Week MON, SEPT. 21, 9 AM Plea Day Hearings Courthouse, DeValls Bluff TUES., SEPT. 22, 9 AM Plea Day Hearings Des Arc Courthouse WED., SEPT. 23, 20”30 AM Alzheimer’s Support Group Museum in Des Arc SAT., SEPT. 26, 6 PM Princess Rice Pageant Hazen Community Ctr. SUN., SEPT. 27, 6 PM Fellowship Worship Gospel Mission MON., SEPT. 28,6:30 PM School Board Report to Public Meeting Follows

City’s old sirens up and running, says Mayor Garth Mayor Jim Garth advised council members Tuesday night that the city’s old sirens have been rebuilt and have been permanently re-installed at three locations - at Dondie’s, the Elementary school, and the pumping station north of town on highway 11. He also advised that all the chip-sealing is done for the year. Police Rick Parson, reporting for his department, said, “it has been a slow month for us”. He reported 9 traffic tickets issued and 10 criminal charges filed. Those charges included seven misdemeanors and three felonies. Animal Control: Officer Wayne Mayher reported 3 dogs picked up with 1 being reclaimed by the owner and one adopted out to an adoption agency from Stuttgart. He shared that he was working with a lady named in Beebe who advised him that the dogs could be adopted out to people up north. To participate in this program, the dogs would have to be spayed or neutered and have first shots as well as de-wormed. “Once they are adopted out,” he said, “the city would be reimbursed the cost of shots.” He was given Unanimous approval to begin the program.

Rodney Adams keeping his adoption commitment Wed., Sept 16

County’s Medlin certified as Master Diver Detective James Medlin, dive team coordinator for the Prairie County Sheriff’s Department Dive Operations Group (D.O.G), recently received the certification rating of Master Scuba Diver through the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). The Master Scuba Diver rating is achieved after several levels of certifications are reached and five specialty diving courses are completed. Medlin, who began diving with the inception of the county’s Dive Operations Group in 2013, had completed and received certification as an open water diver, advanced open water diver and rescue diver prior to completing the Master Scuba Diver Course and the specialty dive courses of boat diving, peak performance buoyancy, equipment repair, navigation and search and recovery. “The team’s mission is to conduct underwater recovery services and waterborne emergency services; to respond to underwater emergencies and provide mutual aid for any agency requesting help inside or out of Prairie County”, said Medlin. He added, “We recognized the need for specific water emergency related operations and everyone has been extremely

supportive from the beginning. Sheriff Burnett has done an excellent job allowing the time and resources for training and, although we are limited somewhat in funds and man-power, we have managed to flourish and advance because those involved with the dive team see past our limitations. They see the greater picture which is providing specific specialized services which unfortunately are not always pleasant but are extremely important to individuals and families and those affected by situations for which we may be called upon.” The PCSO D.O.G currently has two certified divers; Medlin and Des Arc Police Department Sergeant DeWayne Mayher, but will soon have additional help above and below the surface. Dispatcher Chrystal Bonner is set to attend the Open water Diver training course mid –September and dispatcher Albert Harrell is also a PADI certified diver. Medlin says the sheriff’s department is hoping that government grants will pay the cost of equipment for the additional divers and hopes to have the team trained and equipped by spring of 2016.

“Litter Crusader”, Rodney Adams, was pictured last year in April 20 issue of the Journal with his pickup truck full of bags of trash he and Stan Ferguson had picked up along the Hwy 11 approaches to town. Rodney began his crusade against litter in Feb 2014 because of “his concern for what outsiders coming to Des Arc would think about the town and its citizens when they saw all the litter along the highways and streets”. He has continued his basic oneman-campaign against litter ever since, with little or no assistance. Recently however, Rodney says there has been some help from the County’s Community Service Program, whereby those unable to pay their fines can work them off. There’s also been improvement with enforced covering of trash trucks from White County traveling thru Des

Adopt A Highway sign near 2400 W. Main, Des Arc Arc to the landfill south of town. He says that compared to this time last year, when he picked up 85 trash bags of litter in a 1-mile stretch of Hwy 11, this year he picked up only 8 trash bags in that same stretch. Rodney finally “gave in” and signed up with the Arkansas Hwy Dept in May to adopt a 2-mile stretch of Hwy 11 from where the 4 lanes end (about 2400 W. Main), on past the ‘4-mile

corner’ to the Don and Sharon Morton residence. When he noticed on Sunday, Sept. 6 that two adoption signs had been erected, he exclaimed on his FaceBook page that “I’m sombody now - my name is in print”. He just spontaneously quoted Steve Martin in the movie “The Jerk”, when Martin saw his name for the first time in the telephone book.

From left: Des Arc Schools Superintendent Nick Hill, Des Arc Elementary Principal Dena Rooks, ADE Commissioner Johnny Key presenting the award

Local school receives prestigious national award The National Title I Distinguished School program is an important element in the National Title I Association's efforts to share positive examples of Title I schools making a difference in the educational lives of their students. On September 11, 2015, Des Arc Elementary was one of two schools in Arkansas recognized for outstanding student achievement. The school was chosen by the Arkansas State Department of Education based on exceeding adequate yearly progress for two or more years. Des Arc Elementary's school letter grade for the 2014 school year was an "A" with a 300 out of 300 score.

Bridge inspection requires lane closure on 70 A routine inspection of the U.S. Highway 70 Bridge over the Cache River in Prairie County will require lane closures this week, according to Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) officials. On Thursday, September 17, work will require the eastbound and westbound lanes on the bridge to be alternately closed as work progresses between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Traffic will be controlled using warning signs and flaggers.

(See COUNCIL Page 2)

NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS: Your subscription’s expiration date is shown on second line of the mailing label as month-day-year, thusly: 00-00-00. As much as we hate to lose anyone as a subscriber, all subscriptions with expiration dates earlier than September 1, 2015 will be stopped October 15, if payment (check or cash) is not received by Ocober 10. It will be required in the future that subscriptions be kept paid in advance, even though in the past the Journal has negligently (or compassionately) continued mailing the paper for months (even years) beyond the expiration date. Either way, that business practice must be discontinued, and expired subscriptions automatically stopped on a monthly basis. There will also be a $10 late fee added to restart the paper after subscription has been stopped. For those who recall when statements were mailed as reminders of pending expirations, because of time and postage involved, these are no longer sent to subscribers. Instead, the mailing label itself serves as a regular weekly reminder. Contact Us: Email: wrjnews1@centurytel.net

Mail: PO Box 1051, Des Arc, Ar 72040

Tel: 870-256-4254


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