Mansfield School District Superintendent Joe Staton has announced that the board has approved a plan to place a millage increase before the voters this May. Factors leading to the proposed increase–extensive building repairs, including roof replacement, heating and air units, and extensive foundation repairs.
“The middle school needs a lot of preventative maintenance,” stated Staton. “In the years prior and since I have been here, multiple heating and air units have needed repair or replacement, a completely new roof is needed and there are foundation problems. We are looking at several million dollars in repairs.”
The school board has agreed on a plan to demolish the area at the middle school that’s in greatest disrepair. That would include the portion on the lower end (hillside) of the middle school from the west side of the offices, down. It would leave the portion on the upper level, the office and gym. Staton noted that the school will continue to maintain and upkeep all of those buildings and hopes to relocate the administration to the current office of the middle school. Additionally, the district hopes to implement a pre-k program to be housed in the upper level of the current middle school. “These projects would allow for so many opportunities for our community.”
Middle school students, grade 5-8 would be split between the elementary and high school. Grades 5 and 6 would go to the elementary school and grades 7 and 8 would go to the high school. “We would build an additional wing on both campuses to accommodate these students,” continued Staton.
Mansfield Elementary School additional wing rendering.Mansfield High School additional wing rendering.
In the end, Staton estimates a cost savings to the district for operating just two campuses at $850,000 per year. He also noted that there will be no immediate cut in staff with this proposed plan allowing attrition to provide the appropriate staff numbers over a short time.
“The school system, to be efficient, is set up for 500 or so students per campus. When the new high school was built, there were 1,079 students. Today, our K-12 numbers are below 720, with no indication of growth. Efficiency wise, we can better serve our students and provide them with more opportunities.” Staton would go on to note that the Department of Education provides forecasts for 10-year future enrollment. The Department has forecasted a student population of 700-710 students in years 1-9 and dropping to 690 in year 10.
Although the district has been placing money into a building fund, it will not be enough to cover all the project costs. Additionally, it would not allow for any reserve funds for other routine maintenance projects. Staton noted that there was $580,000 in the building fund when he first started as Superintendent and the district now has $2.7 million in reserve to contribute toward building projects or necessary repairs.
“Of course this is all contingent on the millage passing,” summed Staton. “The proposal by the board for a 5.98 mill increase would bring the total millage to 45.99 mills.” This would be an approximate increase to the average property owner with a home valued at $100k at an estimated $115 increase in personal property tax per year, for many, less increase.
It wasn’t the results they had grown accustomed to over the last several seasons. Considering the circumstances, Mansfield’s senior girls track team reached a significant plateau at Saturday’s ATCA Indoor State Track Meet anyway. Despite team numbers being diluted by understandable absences, a small band of Lady Tiger track athletes put enough pieces together to step atop the third-place podium at the Class 3A indoor track finals on February 22.
Mansfield’s available roster had only nine athletes listed for competition to cover the 14 event schedule inside the Randal Tyson Track Complex on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville. Eleven other potential roster spots were either involved in the 3A-4 District Basketball Tournament semi-final round in Booneville or home with flu-like symptoms.
MHS Lady Tiger 4x400m relay teammates Payton Meyers, Ashlynn Whittaker, Danielle Lowery, and Laney Wood earn All-State medals.
“When you look closely at what these girls accomplished, it’s really quite remarkable,” said retired Mansfield coach, John Mackey, who has temporarily returned to the track program covering for the school’s current head coach Kaylie Andrews while she is out on maternity leave.
“Obviously, you want to win,” the former mentor and acting head coach submitted. “That’s what we’re in it for. When you share kids in a small school, overlapping seasons and situations out of your control happen. We’re excited for what was accomplished on the track this past Saturday, and we’re equally excited for the extended season our basketball teammates enjoyed at the same time. When you’re a true Tiger, you want all teams to be successful.”
Early on, Mansfield was clearly in the hunt for their fourth consecutive indoor state title and the program’s 16th state track championship overall. It was Mansfield along with Providence Academy, an independent Christian preparatory school in Rogers, and DeWitt High School out of Arkansas County that separated themselves as early 3A contenders. Throughout the mid-morning and late afternoon the three schools stayed closely connected in the overall points race.
Mansfield rode a quick wave of 22 points from three of the first four contested events. Lady Tiger junior Daisey Nelson was busy bouncing between the three separate venues having to endure numerous heats, FAT clock issues, and reruns. The All-State award winner for her third straight indoor season, posted two second place finishes and a third respectively in the 60 meter dash, long jump, and 60 meter hurdles.
It was off the long jump board that the class 2A 100 meter dash state champion from last year’s outdoor season shined the brightest. The MHS superstar posted three consecutive long jump personal records into the white, soft sands of the horizontal pit. In order, Mansfield’s leading scorer for the day sailed 16 feet 2 inches, 16 feet 6 inches, and 16 feet 6 inches.
“I feel like moving back to a 14 step approach has helped,” announced the silver medalist after her big bounds of the long jump board bettered her previous best by 12 inches. “It feels as if I have time to gain more speed and explode off the board.”
Asked what else may have impacted her new found capacity to fly, Nelson admitted her participation in a weights class coupled with the support of family, teammates, and coaches was undeniable.
“Yes, lifting weights has definitely helped me a lot,” confessed the junior jumper, sprinter, and hurdler. “I can’t wait for what the rest of this season will bring.
“It’s amazing being All-State for three consecutive years! I’d like to thank my family and teammates for cheering me on…also my coaches for preparing and pushing me to my limits.”
Danielle Lowery added to Nelson’s early production with an eight point runner-up, All-State finish in the women’s shot put. The versatile Lady Tiger sophomore added another nine points with combined scoring places in the high jump, 400m dash, and 4×400 meter relay. It was the night’s concluding relay that Lowery earned her second All-State certificate.
Freshman Payton Meyers, sophomore Ashlynn Whittaker, and senior Laney Wood joined Lowery with the second place relay score. All four girls, because of this top two finish in a state event, earned All-State honors. That put five of the nine Mansfield players on the indoor All-State team.
Despite Mansfield’s best efforts, it was their depth issues that kept them short of the top two spots in the final team rankings. Unable to offer more than one entry into five different events with a two person limit, the thinly stretched Tiger nine eventually dropped pace with the proven winners from Providence Academy and the larger DeWitt school district.
Providence Academy, one of five private school entities that would land among the final top-ten scoring schools, would go on to win the meet with 142 total points. Their strength was built on the backs of a well rehearsed distance core that won the state’s class 3A cross country championship back in November. In fact, the independent institution swept every race 800 meters or above on Saturday night. Along with that, they also took all second place points in those same events in all races but one. They also ran the fastest times in the only two relay events.
By contrast, DeWitt did most of their damage via the sprint events. Other than Nelson edging in with her second place 60 meter dash, it was DeWitt that monopolized the short speed events. By virtue of that success, combined with a full slate of entries to capture those highly valuable second tier points, DeWitt took the state runner-up trophy home with 93 total points.
Mansfield, with 76 total points, was only 17 points away from bringing home at least one of the two coveted trophies presented by the Arkansas Track Coaches Association. It was a mathematical difference to which Mackey, a retired Algebra teacher, was well aware.
“You could drive yourself crazy thinking about the what ifs,” offered the Mansfield interim head coach. “Yeah, it’s safe to say a box full of points didn’t make the bus. What gives you satisfaction though, and clarity is knowing that we had kids that prepared and competed at a high standard despite any perceived setbacks.”
The only Mansfield senior athlete to make the trip was Laney Wood. The one time high point winner scored in four different events at the ATCA competition. Her best outcome besides being the anchor leg to the second place 4×400 meter relay team came at the pole vault. Her 8 feet clearance garnered the team another eight points off a second All-State performance. Although the senior’s leap equaled the winning height, a scratch on her her first attempt came back to break the tie with an equally adept Providence Academy vaulter.
First time indoor participants Eva Trinh and Summer Lyon scored the first state points for the Lady Tiger program. Trinh, a sophomore, was the second leg on the fourth place 4×800 meter relay team with Whittaker, Wood, and Bailey London. Lyon, also a sophomore, made her two lap trip around the smaller indoor track worthwhile. She clocked in with the seventh best time in her classification at the 400 meter distance.
Bailey London, Mansfield’s Freshman Rising Star in 2024, was the team’s best distance runner scoring in three long distance races. Besides anchoring the 4×800 meter cooperative, the tenth grader picked up five points through the 1600 meter and 3200 meter runs.
Payton Meyers, the only Lady Tiger freshman to move up for the indoor competition, proved a valuable track commodity. The tiny-mite with explosive power won her heat of the women’s 200 meter dash. Her 30.56 second sprint around the entirety of the inside track placed her eighth overall just slightly behind DeWitt’s top two sprinters, a Lincoln Wolf, and Mansfield’s Nelson among others.
Mylee Strozier, one of only two Mansfield juniors to compete, ran in the first indoor meet of her young career after joining track last year with a partial outdoor season. Strozier missed a scoring place by tenths of a second in the 60 meter dash.
Mansfield was elevated back into the 3A track classification for the 2024-2026 AAA cycle after spending the last four years in class 2A.
George Kenneth Ridenhour of Waldron, Arkansas went to be with his Lord and Savior on February 18, 2025 at home with his wife of 49 years by his side. Kenneth was born March 13, 1946 to Leonard and Iva Mae Ridenhour. He was 79 years old.
Kenneth loved the Lord and his family deeply. He also, in case someone might not know, had a slight love for cows. You could always find him weekly at the surrounding cattle auctions. Kenneth was a little shy and it was hard at times to get him to talk. He never met anyone he wouldn’t talk to for hours and hours, telling the same stories over and over.
Kenneth loved to farm. He knew his cattle and everyone else’s within a 1000 mile radius. He would tell a many local farmers how to run their own cattle operation and get extremely upset when they did not listen. He would pick anyone up to go with him to check cows because everyone he knew would run when they saw him coming. He didn’t like to talk much on the phone, just when he woke up until he went to bed. Kenneth never met a stranger. Always across the restaurants–“Hey, I think I know you, where you from?” Before they could answer, he would start talking about…yes…Cows. Sometimes he would talk them into buying cows, but more importantly selling theirs.
Kenneth was quiet about his business and rarely discussed anyone else’s except, all the time. Kenneth’s many hobbies were…yes, you guessed it, cows!! Aggravating the girls at the local restaurant, and driving Sherry crazy was a daily basic goal for Kenneth.
Kenneth loved his church and his pastor, Bro John. He generally loved kids and he would take the neighbor kids, The Granos, to church and always treated them to a meal afterwards.
Kenneth loved his kids, grand kids and did I tell you, he loved cows? He loved deer hunting and some of his fondest memories were made at Beaucamp Arkansas with the camping crew. He was also very fortunate to never have gotten stopped for doing wrong by the game warden.
Kenneth’s family loved him so. We are deeply saddened and as much as we hate to admit it, would love to hear a good ole cow story. One thing for sure, one day we will again hear a story by our favorite cowboy.
Kenneth leaves behind to cherish his memory, his wife Sherry of the home and his children: Bradley (Teresa) Ridenhour of Dripping Springs Texas, Georgia Ridenhour of Camden Maine, Paige (Matt) Kenny of Spicewood Texas, Shanna Chick (Jarrod) of Broken Bow Oklahoma, and Terri Lynn (Tim) Steward of Tontitown Arkansas. Papa Kenneth will forever remain in the hearts of his grandchildren: Mason Chick, Rylie Davis, Peyton Patterson, Emmylou Ridenhour, Gabrielle Ridenhour, Von Kenny, Ledger Hale and Parker Chrisman. Kenneth leaves a legacy of Ridenhour memories with his siblings: Jean (Jimmy Dale) Solomon, Karen (Mo) Broomfield, Freddie (Cheril) Ridenhour, Susan Hale and sister in love Deidre Ridenhour.
Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents: Leonard and Iva Ridenhour and one brother, Leonard Ed Ridenhour, one brother in law Link Hale.
Kenneth’s celebration of life will be 1:00 p.m. Monday, February, 24, 2025 at the Haw Creek Baptist Church in Waldron, Arkansas with Rev. Todd VanDeWiele and Rev. John Elmore officiating. Interment will follow in the Grace Lawn Cemetery in Van Buren, Arkansas. Arrangements are being entrusted to the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Waldron, Arkansas.
Kenneth’s pallbearers will be Paul Wade Ridenhour, Logan Solomon, Shawn Ridenhour, Lance Hartsell, Kenny Johnson, Brady Watkins, Richie Perkins, Randy Solomon, Shay Hattabaugh, Brian Jones, Austin Jones, Gabino Grano, Michael Grano and Steve Grano. Honorary pallbearers will be Freddie Ridenhour, Randy Cockrum, Terry Cockrum, Neal Preston, Jimmy Dale Solomon, Doug White, Dal White, Junior Newman and past and present co-workers of Arkansas Valley Electric.
Kenneth’s visitation will be Sunday, February 23, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home Chapel in Waldron, Arkansas.
Hello everyone! I guess we all survived the bitter cold temps and now next week spring is supposed to be back. I told y’all if you don’t like it, stick around, and it will change.
I had my yearly physical and the sweet nurse asked me all the questions and in comes the doctor and she’s asking me questions and she says, “Do you have a form for me to fill out for your physical?” I have never been asked that question before. I am thinking I’m not trying out for a women’s volleyball team. I decided to just say no. Still don’t know why she asked me that. I got a good report, and my bloodwork was all good for a plus size gal. My blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol was all good. Trust me, this big girl likes her sweets. In other words, you would have to work all summer to get a hog as fat as me. Ha, ha!
Speaking of fat, I go out to eat with friends on most Friday nights and we like to go try out different restaurants, mostly little diners. We have been to some good places. One of my favorites is in Talihina called Pam’s Hateful Hussy Diner. They have the best food and the best fried pickles. I can tell you where to get the best fried pickles around. We went to a restaurant one Friday night, and I couldn’t tell you how to get there again if you held a gun to my head. I have no clue, but it seems like it was in Oklahoma somewhere. It was in the middle of nowhere. I may have even heard banjos. We walk in and there is a recliner and big TV set up. Well, that’s a nice touch if you eat too much, you could kick back and watch TV until you felt like moving on. My friend decided to go to the bathroom before we headed home and when we got to the car, she said “you will not believe it, but there was a shower in there and someone’s toothbrush on the sink.” Well, good hygiene is a plus if you are going to run a restaurant. There have only been two places that we have been to that we have walked out without ordering. If you know, you just know. What I am trying to say is, don’t always go to chain restaurants, go out on a limb and try some diners and mom and pop places.
PEANUT BUTTER PIE 8 oz. of cream cheese softened 1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter 3/4 cup powdered sugar 8 oz. of Cool Whip 19″ chocolate ready-made pie crust 1 cup mini peanut butter cups (chopped) In a bowl combine the cream cheese, 1 cup of peanut butter and the powdered sugar. Beat with a mixer until smooth, fold in the Cool Whip. Pour this mixture into the chocolate crust and chill until firm. Decorate the top with chopped peanut butter cups. Use the peanut butter that’s left and melt it (I like to put a little powdered sugar and milk in it). Mix it good and drizzle over the pie. Keep in the refrigerator.
Have a wonderful week and enjoy the spring weather that is coming. remember to always tell your loved ones how much you love them.
Bright light glittered off the shiny surface. It had rained hard the night before and the beautiful old marble, lost a half century ago from some young child’s collection, was again exposed. Joining a collection of several dozen gathered at the old home place, the discovery underscores the popularity of a game kids of today know nothing about.
Marbles was played at every school and community gathering place for most of the previous century. My grandfather, writing for the local paper in March of 1941, describes watching a group of men playing marbles at night by carbide lamp. “Can you beat this, he asks” “Four men on their knees playing marbles after a hard day’s work! Every school yard, including the ones I attended in the 1960’s, you would find a group of kids sprawled in the dirt playing marbles.
It is a game that possibly dates back to pre-history. The Roman poet Ovid wrote about the game in his poem “Nux.” Romans constructed the round balls from clay, alabaster, marble, and even agate. When playing the game, few people know that the term for a fine marble called an “aggie” came from the word agate and the alley was short for alabaster. The term marble itself came from the fact that marble stone was used to fashion some of the objects and all these names have transcended to us from ancient times.
The first modern glass marbles were made in 1848 by the German glass maker, George Greiner, who developed the marble scissors used to shape the toy from left over glass. Soon he and fellow glassmakers made Germany the world marble capital and exported the toy by the millions. Expensive, most early American pioneers made their own marbles from baked clay, a process they may have learned from the Indians. A friend of mine recently found several marbles of the clay variety at an old home site. A collector sample of unknown value, they were an awesome find and date back to the Civil War era.
After WWI, American industrialists discovered an assembly line method and the business center shifted to the U.S. They also discovered you could bake the glass and it would fracture giving the marble a glistening interior. By the 1950’s, the Japanese discovered a method of injecting various colors into the center of the marble to make the highly sought-after cat-eyes. The new, cheaper varieties were turned out by the millions and every five and dime in America offered bags-full of the toy at cheap prices.
The most common game consists of drawing a circle in the dirt and placing marbles within the circle. The player then squeezed the “loggie” which was generally a larger sized version of the marble and shot it at the marbles within the circle. A point was given for each marble knocked from the circle and the player continued until he failed to remove a marble from the circle. The game continued until all marbles were removed from the circle and the points scored. At least that was the way the game was intended. Teachers hated the game because we played “keepsies” where you were allowed to keep the other players marbles if you knocked them from the circle. This was intense, cut-throat competition where you gambled your best and most attractive marble by placing them in the circle and giving your opponent a chance to win them from you. Arguments were intense, often resulting in bloody noses and a trip to see the principal where even more punishment was awarded.
There were other variations of the game. Most players remember playing bulls-eye in which an eye-shaped design was drawn in the dirt and players started by first bowling the marbles from ten foot or more away and then shooting from where the marble happened to land. Diamonds involved the same principal but began with the players dropping the marble from chest high and then proceeding with the game.
Marbles are just one of the forgotten games of our ancestors. Warring tops was fun, pick-up sticks great, most girls played hopscotch, and those brave enough played a game with pocketknives called mumbly peg. A few years ago, the Logan County fair board sponsored a booth featuring frontier games and the “cell phone” generation found it exciting. All of these are great games but, as a word of caution, if you value fingers, toes, and an occasional clipped ear, you might forgo the mumbly peg.
LITTLE ROCK – The Senate approved legislation to transfer the powers of the state Library Board to the Education Department.
The same bill transfers the authority of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission to the Education Department.
The measure is Senate Bill 184. It passed in the Senate by a vote of 23-to-8 and was sent to the House of Representatives.
The bill’s sponsor said it was necessary to abolish the Board and the Commission because of their poor leadership. Their staff and funding would remain intact under the control of the Education Department, he said.
Also this week the Senate gave final approval to SB 59 to provide a free breakfast every day to every public school student, regardless of their family’s income, beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.
It is part of the governor’s package. The Senate completed action on the measure and sent it to the governor for her signature.
The fiscal impact is estimated to be $14.7 million a year.
SB 59 creates a Food Insecurity Fund. Revenue from a tax on sales of medical marijuana are prioritized under the bill. Besides paying for breakfasts for students, the revenue will pay for Summer EBT, which provides food for children during the summer when they otherwise would not get free or reduced-price meals at school.
The Senate also passed House Bill 1048, which allows the sale of unpasteurized milk at farmers’ markets, or by delivery from the dairy farm to consumers. The milk could be from a cow, goat or sheep. The bill is ready for the governor’s signature.
The deadline has passed for filing proposed constitutional amendments and this year legislators introduced 44 proposals. In every regular session legislators can place up to three proposed amendments on the upcoming general election ballot. Proposals approved during this session will be on the ballot in November of 2026.
The Senate and House Committees on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs will narrow the list of 44 down to three, or fewer, proposals. They are in the form of joint resolutions. For example, Senate Joint Resolution 16, or SJR 16, would exempt certain types of property from real property taxes. House Joint Resolution 1008, or HJR 1008, would lower property taxes and create exemption.
The Arkansas Constitution also allows for citizens to propose constitutional amendments and initiated acts. The Secretary of State is the top election official in Arkansas. He announced this week the results of a national study that gave Arkansas high marks for election security and prevention of voter fraud. However, the process of collecting signatures earned Arkansas a grade of D.
A concern is that a well-financed, out-of-state organization could buy its way into the Constitution. First it could pay canvassers to collect thousands of signatures, then it could flood the media with commercials during election season.
In past election years, some groups have submitted petitions with thousands of fraudulent signatures.
