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Obituary – Betty Jane Miller (1932-2022)

Tammy Teague
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Obituary – Betty Jane Miller (1932-2022)

Betty Jane Miller, 90 of Bates Arkansas went to be with her Lord and Savior on Sunday, September 25, 2022 with her loving family by her side. Betty was born August 17, 1932 in Bates, Arkansas to John Jackson Pepper and Mollie Jane (Wilson) Pepper.  Betty was of the Pentecostal faith. She was a true example of living by God’s word. Her faithfulness and servant’s heart were witnessed by many.

Betty was a hard working woman who enjoyed quilting, canning and working on word searches. She loved her family and looked forward to spending time with each and every one of them.  Betty leaves a legacy of love, compassion and helping others with everyone blessed to have been touched by her friendship.

Betty leaves behind to cherish her memory, her children: Carolyn Underwood and husband Larry of Bates, Arkansas, Donna Quick and husband Randy of Greenwood, Arkansas, Ronnie Miller and wife Sheila of Greenwood, Arkansas and Jerry Miller and wife Toni of Heavener, Oklahoma. She will forever remain in the hearts of her 6 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild. Betty will be missed by all that knew her and the many whose lives she impacted including a host of extended family, friends and loved ones dear to heart.

She was preceded in death by her parents Mollie Jane (Wilson) Pepper and John Jackson Pepper, her husband Deral Miller, one son Wayland Miller, three sisters: Willa Dean Duncan, Evelene Fruen, Mary Ann Pathiakis and three brothers: Julious Pepper, John Ed Pepper, Jimmy Pepper. 

Betty’s life celebration will be at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at the Bates Assembly of God Church in Bates, Arkansas. with Rev. James Self officiating. Interment will follow at Gipson Cemetery in Bates, Arkansas.

Betty’s pallbearers will be Ronnie Miller, Jerry Miller, Nathan Underwood, Josh Miller, Scott Quick and Richard Miller. Honorary pallbearers will be Roy Dale Nix, Roger Nix, Mike Nix and Terry Nix.

Betty’s visitation will be held on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Waldron, Arkansas. 

Exciting Projects To Make in Your Backyard

Resident News Network
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Exciting Projects To Make in Your Backyard

There are lots of exciting things that you can do once you have a backyard. Many strive to cultivate a healthy lawn and focus on having open space. However, you have lots more opportunities when it comes to decorating and using your yard. If you like spending time outside, you may want to do more than the bare minimum to maintain your outdoor space. Even though summer has ended this year, you can still plan for the future. So here are some exciting projects to make in your backyard that you may not have considered.

Garden Beds

Backyards are an excellent place to test whether you have a green thumb. On top of cultivating your grass, why not try growing some delicious fruits, vegetables, or herbs? Building a garden bed out of a few wooden planks or palettes allows you to grow things with healthy soil and regular watering. Garden beds are productive and engaging. They can become incredible decorative pieces in your yard.

Swimming Pool

If you have the space for it, backyard swimming pools make your yard the best spot to hang out on hot days. Pools come in many unique above- or below-ground varieties. Also, many DIY enthusiasts may try to build their own pool from shipping containers. Give yourself a relaxing oasis to cool off with a swimming pool.

Bird Feeders

If you’re a fan of observing local wildlife, bird feeders might be an exciting project to make in your backyard. There are many different shapes and styles of bird feeders, and they can attract a wide variety of colorful birds to your yard. Birds communicate with one another, so once word gets out that your yard has food, you’ll start to see more beaks and feathers popping by for a visit.

However, the seeds in bird feeders tend to attract greedy squirrels. So if you want to keep them away, you may want to look into some squirrel-proof options or design your own workarounds.

Lounge Area

Creating a unique place to sit and relax over a cup of tea with friends or family is one of the most wonderful things you can do with your yard. Many homeowners aim to find patio furniture that matches their home or focus on making this place of relaxation feel like an exciting getaway. No matter which option you prefer, having a table and some chairs in a nice shady area will help you stay comfortable in your backyard. For colder afternoons and evenings, you may want to install a firepit to stay warm while you relax in your outdoor lounge area.

Side Gigs That Can Earn You Some Extra Cash

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Side Gigs That Can Earn You Some Extra Cash

No matter how much you make with your primary job, it’s hard to get upset with a little bit of extra cash coming in. That’s why so many people have taken an interest in side gigs in recent years. These can earn you a good amount of extra cash with little effort. If you want to pick up a side gig or two, we have some recommendations you can try out.

Online Tutoring

Depending on your job, there’s a good chance you have a lot of knowledge on specific topics. You should look into online tutoring if you’d like to get paid for sharing that info with others. Students are always in need of assistance when it comes to learning some of the more complex topics. While this might take up a decent amount of your time, it pays pretty well and shouldn’t involve too much additional effort.

House-Sitting

If you’re looking for something that involves a bit less work on your end, you should check out house-sitting. Pet sitting and babysitting both involve watching a living being, while house-sitting doesn’t. If you have a job that lets you work from home, you can easily do both things simultaneously.

Becoming a Landlord

If you want something a bit more lucrative than house-sitting, though, you should think about becoming a landlord. Of course, this will involve you needing enough money to own property, but the amount you make back will more than cover that expense, especially if you buy property in Mexico.

This is because properties are much less expensive there. Plus, due to the demand for rentals in areas such as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, steadily increasing over the years, you should never have to worry about vacancies. Just make sure you avoid some common mistakes new landlords make in that area.

Renting Out Your Car

If you don’t own any properties you can lease, you can rent out your car instead. This works like ride-sharing services, except that you don’t drive people around yourself; you just let them borrow your car instead. There are certain risks associated with allowing an unknown person to drive your car freely, but if you’re properly insured, you can make a lot of money this way without ever getting behind the wheel.

Selling Your Unwanted Stuff

The last side gig we have for you that can earn you some extra cash is selling any unwanted items you have around your home. So many people have extra stuff they don’t need anymore that other people would be more than happy to buy off them. Instead of throwing out the things you don’t want anymore, try selling them. Online secondhand markets are huge these days, and we know that you’ll make more money than you’d think by selling these items over the internet.

Timepiece: Weather Worries

Tammy Teague
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Timepiece: Weather Worries

By Dr. Curtis Varnell

A common refrain in Arkansas is, “if you don’t like the weather today, just wait till tomorrow.”  During the summer, we wish for colder weather; in winter, we wish for the reverse.  Recently, a common refrain across a big part of the U.S. is drought and the need for more rain.  No matter the weather, we always are ready for a change but never for as much as we received in 1927.  

The year started out warm and dry, resulting in early snow melts in the Rockies. When spring arrived, rains set in on the upper Mississippi and waters from the north filled the Mississippi river basin and the Gulf of Mexico.   In April, weather fronts converged across Arkansas and torrents of water poured from the sky.  In western Arkansas, twenty inches of rain fell within a two-week period of time.  With the Mississippi River at flood stage and melt-water arriving from the mountain, the water had nowhere to go.  In places, the Mississippi river was 60 miles wide. So much water was trying to pour into the Mississippi that water flowed backward up the White river, flooding much of the delta.  The Baring Cross bridge at Little Rock was endangered.  To prevent its collapse, 16 box cars of coal were placed on the railroad track that spanned it to prevent it from being swept away.  All 16 cars plus half of the bridge disappeared down the maelstrom.

Levees along the Arkansas river overflowed and then collapsed from the onslaught.  Residents from Paris, Ozark, and Russellville watched in horror as equipment, dead animals, and even homes swept by carried by the flood waters.  Wild animals, including all kinds of insects, rats, and snakes, were driven to higher ground.  The richest of farmland along the major Arkansas rivers and streams were flooded, wiping out any hope for the growing of crops.  

Cities faced growing sanitation problems as water, sewer, and electrical power was lost.  Streets were impassable, many homes were flooded with feet of water, and people were left without food, clothing, or safe water to drink.  Small airplanes flew over area towns, looking for individuals that needed rescued after being stranded on the roofs of buildings.

Eleven per-cent of the state was completely covered by water; water that in some places was 20 feet or more in depth.  Dardanelle became an isolated island, surrounded by streams of water.  Residents watched as the huge supports for the pontoon bridge washed away, two of them later located far downstream near Morrilton.  Residents of area towns called for federal assistance but began collecting local funds and assistance as well to build sand barriers and earth walls to protect their homes.  Tent cities developed on top of some of the high levees, attempts to survive until the water receded.  The river remained over flood stage for 153 days and it was months before the water receded enough for people to attempt to return to their homes.

Many returned to find their homes and land destroyed.  Six miles east of Dardanelle, the Carden bottoms land was covered by several feet of sand washed in from distant mountains.  The land was worthless and useless for years to come.  The enormity of the disaster changed people’s attitude toward government assistance and resulted in initiating government disaster assistance.   The government bought up acres of the land; the portion near Dardanelle is now the Holla Bend wildlife refuge.  Remove a few inches of topsoil, the several foot layer of sand still resides.

Like today, a common refrain would have been, “I could live for years without seeing another rainfall.  Lord, why can’t you send us some dry weather for a change?” 

Be careful what you wish for. The next great American disaster began in 1930 and we know of those times of drought as the “Great Dust Bowl.”

Mansfield City Wide Fall Cleanup Campaign

Tammy Teague
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Mansfield City Wide Fall Cleanup Campaign

Fall is in the air and that means it’s time for our Fall Cleanup Campaign.

Residents of Mansfield are encouraged to use the Cleanup Site dumpsters, to pick up litter, tackle illegal dumps and do whatever else it takes to put a shine on Mansfield, according to Mansfield Mayor Buddy Black. This city wide cleanup campaign is in coordination with the Great American Cleanup.

Proof of Mansfield residency is required by Arkansas Drivers License for disposal of trash at the cleanup site. The City Campaign will take place on Saturday October 15, 2022 from 7:30 AM until 2:00 PM or until dumpsters are full. Dumpster location will be @ 601 East Center Street or at Greenwood Road Department Road Yard (October 8, 2022).

NOTE: Tires will NOT be accepted as a part of this cleanup campaign. County residents may dispose of up to four passenger tires, without rims, at no charge by taking the tires to Westark Tire @ 601 Oak Grove Road in Van Buren,
Monday through Friday 8:00AM to 5:00 PM.

NOTE: Dumpsters will be staffed by City employees at all times to assure that only acceptable wastes are disposed of properly. The following items are NOT acceptable due to Landfill regulations:

Yard waste, grass, leaves and brush
Used oil
Tires
Batteries
Hazardous or toxic waste
**TVs Computers – Electronic Equipment
Cleaning chemicals
Herbicides or pesticides
Paints or liquids of any kind
Fluorescent Bulbs
Freon containing appliances (appliances using Freon MUST have the compressor removed before it can be accepted)
NOTE: Barrels used to burn trash are illegal in the State of Arkansas and will NOT be accepted as part of the cleanup campaign.

Please see County Wide Cleanup instruction for anything not listed. This Cleanup is for Mansfield Residents only and NOT for Commercial Disposal.

Mansfield Earns Interest At Today’s Bank Event

Tammy Teague
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Mansfield Earns Interest At Today’s Bank Event

Mansfield distance runners earned a high interest yield at their home cross country meet sponsored by Today’s Bank on September 24.

Among the 554 entries and 24 schools enrolled in the 19th annual event, it was Mansfield that showed to be a worthy adversary. The MHS players came away with 12 medals and 2 runner-up team finishes in the small school division.

The junior boys of Mansfield made the most noise in the final race of the morning. Six of those competing Tigers earned medals. 

Rising freshman star runner Joey Williams once again highlighted the strong showing by the team.Gunner Williams, Jonah Martin, Hunter Whittaker, Braxton Bartlett, and Joseph Carter all joined the medal party with top 15 placements.

As a group, the Tiger men finished in second place in the team standings. West Fork took the title with 23 points while Mansfield finished with 33.

The Tiger junior boys finished in third just a few days earlier at the UA Rich Mountain hosted Buck Fever race. In a close contest, DeQueen took the top prize with 98 points. Mena and Mansfield tied with 100 points but Mena took the runner-up status due to their higher placing sixth runner breaking the tie.

Mansfield’s junior girls also took the second place prize at the Today’s Bank Invitational. Class 3A West Fork dominated the lower division with 25 points. The young MHS Lady Tiger team made up exclusively of seventh graders squeezed past conference rival Magazine 61 to 62 for second.

Rylan Jones continued her meteoric rise through the running ranks. The Lady Tiger’s top junior girl runner finished sixth overall in the 1A-3A division. More importantly, Jones’s 3k time was only 7 seconds behind the 2A-4 conference leader.

“Rylan is coming along strong”, noted meet director John Mackey. “If she wants to be the conference champion, it’s right there in front of her. Rylan is making gains every week on the Magazine freshman leader.”

Jones was also sixth at the Buck Fever 2.5K race on Tuesday. She has medaled in every meet but one so far this season.

MHS newcomer and teammate Abby Smith also medaled at the Today’s Bank race. It was her first medal in only her second event of the year.

“Abby has been heavily involved in conference volleyball play,” said Mackey. “She has been running early in the mornings to get some work. The more race reps she gets, the better she will be. I’m happy she got this medal. It was a matter of time she would break through.”

Mansfield’s junior girls used Jones, Smith, Miley Clopton, Adeline Bray, and Bailey Quick as their scoring five. All finished in the top 21.

Mansfield’s senior girls did well walking away with four medals. Unfortunately, those placings fell out of the rankings as the team did not have a fifth runner. The groups top two players Laney and Jadelyn Wood fell ill the night before the race.

“With those two here, we may have had a shot at winning,” offered the head coach. “Our girls ran well. Raine Hecox set a personal record for the 5K distance.”

Award winners for the Mansfield senior girls were Trinity Triska, Hecox, Ashley Martin, and Addie Bowman. Triska, Hecox, and Martin joined the Wood sisters at the UARM race earlier in the week to take the runner-up plaque there.

Waldron Track Team – a Force to be Reckoned With

Tammy Teague
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Waldron Track Team – a Force to be Reckoned With


Contributed by Coach Angie Bailey

Mansfield hosted the Today’s Bank invitational Saturday, September 24.
Even though Waldron has a new classification and has moved to 4A, the cross country team is still proving to be a force to be reckoned with.
Senior high boys came in 4th behind Bentonville West, Fort Smith Northside and Fort Smith Southside which are all bigger classifications. Kason Moudy was the only medalist coming in 13th but Landon Defoor came in 18th, Cole Bailey came in 27th, Julio Grano came in 28th and Billy Garrison 35th to round out the top 5 from Waldron.
“Three of our top five are sophomores. The fact we are competing against bigger schools only helps us for when we get to State in November. This is Senior Kason Moudy’s 1st year to run cross country and he’s our #1 right now. He should break 19:00 soon which is a great time for a first year runner.”
Senior high girls are rebuilding after a couple of years out for the State Championship team who are all graduated. Kynlyn Frayer was the teams’s #1 on Saturday with a 26th place finish. Ailey Ledesma was 31st, Erika Gabel 35th, Lexee Kesterson 49th and Haylee Thomas 51st rounding out the top 5 for Waldron.
Junior high boys came in 3rd behind Bentonville West and Greenwood junior high. Three boys received medals. Jonny Williams came in 4th and Eli Connelly came in a close 5th and Dakoda Weaver came in 7th. Julian Shaddon was 23rd and finishing off the top 5 was Pete Williams in 30th.
“The top 3 medalists are all 9th graders so it’ll be interesting to see what they can do in a 5K since they could potentially move up for state.”
Waldron junior high girls came in 2nd behind Greenwood. All the competition they were up against did nothing to hamper their determination.
There were 3 medalists. Emily Defoor came in 3rd overall, Haley Mitts came in 5th and Madison Johnson came in 15th. Connie Grano came in 20th and Kimber Carnahan finished out Waldron’s top 5 coming in 23rd.
“This group has a lot of potential. There hasn’t been a group like this since the State championship team of 2019. I’m excited to see where they can go in a couple of years!”

SR Tigers Win A Wild One At West Fork

Adam Hecox
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SR Tigers Win A Wild One At West Fork

For the past couple of decades, the high-flying spread offense has been king of the gridiron. The old ways of three yards and a cloud of dust mixed in with powerful hits by players labeled “headhunters” became caveman-like. Low-scoring defensive battles became boring to fans. That mindset may be changed though after Mansfield traveled to West Fork on Friday, September 23rd. Was it a low-scoring game? Yes. Was it a defensive battle? You betcha. But one thing Friday’s game definitely won’t be called by fans in attendance though is boring.

God, Country, and Mansfield Tiger Football.

Both teams entered the match-up undefeated in non-conference play with West Fork defeating the likes of Green Forest (4A), Berryville (4A), and Paris (3A) while Mansfield beat Magazine (2A), Paris (3A), and Waldron (4A). The two evenly matched teams flipped the coin and off to the races they went. The Tigers started off with the ball and began to chisel away at West Fork’s defense with runs by running backs, Tyler Woolbright and Fisher Willsey. Mansfield mixed in a few dump passes to Tyler Turnipseed and Daniel Burton to keep West Forks defense guessing what was coming next. This offensive trail mix of play calling kept West Fork on their heels for 16 plays until the Tigers finally capitalized with a Fisher Willsey four yard Tiger Touchdown. Mansfield would miss the extra point kick giving the Tigers an early 6-0 lead.

Running back Fisher Willsey speeds around the West Fork defense for a Tiger touchdown.

Mansfield’s defense took the field to face the West Fork offensive giants. The cards were stacked against the Tigers defense as they were outsized, were short two defensive starters, and were on an unfamiliar field. But that’s all part of the game, so the Tigers looked West Fork dead in the eye and flat out said “Just Bring It”. Mansfield chopped down each West Fork play on their opening series to force a punt in just six plays. Unfortunately for the Tigers, West Fork’s defense got some redemption on Mansfield’s next drive by intercepting a pass at their own 27-yard line. Just as before though, West Fork couldn’t move the ball on the Tigers defense. Big tackles by Drew Elmore and Sam Burton pushed West Fork into a passing situation. Greyson Baggett was lying in wait for that exact scenario as he jumped the pass and nearly picked the ball off. West Fork would punt again and were able to get a good kick-off pinning the Tigers back deep in enemy territory. West Fork gave Mansfield all they could handle, but the Tigers would still close out the first quarter with possession of the ball up by a score of 6-0.

Running back Tyler Woolbright (#22) follows his linemen for a big gain.

The Tigers weren’t able to keep the ball for very long in their opening drive of the second quarter and had to punt on fourth down giving West Fork a short field to work with. West Fork quickly took advantage of the shift in momentum and tired the Tigers defense to drive 48 yards on 9 plays to score. After tacking on the extra point kick, West Fork took the lead from the Tigers 7-6. Mansfield roared back with powerful runs by Tyler Woolbright and Fisher Willsey to get down to their own 34-yard line. Even though the Tigers offense was short two starting linemen, the line was able to protect quarterback Cole Kindle long enough to find Peyton Martin for a tip-toe catch at the Tigers three-yard line. After a short talk between officials, the catch was called out of bounds which put Mansfield at a fourth down decision to make. But no decision was needed when Daniel Burton is on the field. Burton caught a pass from Cole Kindle and danced his way to a Mansfield Tiger first down. Emotions and mental mistakes put the Tigers a mile behind the chains again but didn’t deter them from earning those yards back. A couple of runs by Tyler Woolbright set up Fisher Willsey for a 3-yard end-around sprint into the end zone. The Tigers couldn’t add the two-point conversion, but the touchdown gave them the lead back with a 12-7 score.

Tyler Turnipseed (#10) finds a gap and turns on the “Turnipspeed”.

Mansfield’s defense was back at it again, but this time it was the linebacker corps that stepped up. West Fork tried to run to the perimeters of the field only to be met head-on by sophomore Jeremy Strozier and freshman Andrew Burton. Since they couldn’t run to the outside, West Fork tried passing down the middle of the field. Big Mistake. Senior Drew Elmore read the quarterback like a kindergarten picture book and intercepted the pass to give the Tigers offense another shot at scoring before the half. Mansfield marched downfield with a balanced pass and run offense. Cole Kindle found Peyton Martin again but this time the catch was in bounds and in the end zone for a Tiger Touchdown. Unable to convert the two-point conversion, Mansfield closed the half ahead of West Fork 18-7.

Peyton Martin (#25) weaves his way through West Fork’s defense for a Tiger touchdown.

West Fork received the opening kickoff of the second half and the Tigers defense went straight to work stuffing West Fork for a three and out. Both teams’ defenses played tag back and forth as neither offense could put up a score for the first four series of play in the second half. The Tigers finally punched through with a touchdown, but unfortunately, it was the Tigers in black that scored. West Fork added an extra point to leave Mansfield clinging to an 18-14 lead with a full quarter and a half left in the game. Luckily for Mansfield, the Tigers defense stood strong for that quarter and a half. Defensive ends Trey Vaughan and Samuel Burton created chaos in the backfield as both secured big quarterback sacks on West Forks passing occasions. Linemen Caleb Collier and Dakota Deer were put in as backups for the Tigers two missing starters but stepped up well beyond the position of backups as the duo clubbed their way through West Forks massive offensive line to stop the run game. The Tigers defensive onslaught shut down a West Fork final drive to prevent a comeback as Mansfield secured an 18-14 final score.

The headhunting buzzsaw also known as the Mansfield Tiger defense.

Mansfield’s victory wasn’t an easy one nor was it pretty. But an ugly win is still a win and the Tigers earned it. Head Coach, Tim Cothran, was proud of his team’s endeavor to persevere against all odds. “Our guys played hard and fought valiantly. They had to overcome a lot of adversity against a very good West Fork program and came out with a win. They never gave up. We’re very proud of them for this hard-earned victory”. The victory puts Mansfield in territory that hasn’t been seen in a few years. The Tigers now have a 4-0 overall record and are 1-0 in conference play. Possibly the most impressive stat though is Mansfield’s defensive achievements over the past four games. The Tigers defense leads the 3A-1 in points allowed by only giving up 20 total offensive points overall in their four games this season. Add that with a prolific offense that has hung up a total of 122 points in the same period of time and you have one heck of a ball team on your hands. The Tigers next challenge though is all that is on their minds right now as Mansfield will host Greenland for the Tiger’s homecoming on September 30th.

Glen Rose Looks the Part of Conference Favorite; Defeats Paris 54-7

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Glen Rose Looks the Part of Conference Favorite; Defeats Paris 54-7

The Glen Rose Beavers came to Eagles Stadium tonight, perhaps for the first time in the history of both schools. The game featured a Glen Rose team that was picked by many to win the 3A-4 conference. The Beavers’ looked the part tonight, defeating Paris 54-7 in week one of the conference season.

The game was never really in doubt at any point of the contest. Paris was clearly over-matched by an experienced, talented, and very big Glen Rose team. Paris struggled with moving the ball offensively, and defensively, the Eagles had few answers to slow the Glen Rose offense.

The game took a controversial turn late in the second quarter. Glen Rose, leading 35-0 against a Paris team that was having very little success, elected to take the ball after a turn over on downs, inside their half of the field with approximately 40 seconds remaining in the first half. A lot of teams in the Beavers’ position would have chosen a conservative running play, or, would have taken a knee to run out the first half. Glen Rose was scheduled to have the first possession of the second half after Paris had chosen to receive the opening kickoff.

But Glen Rose went into a “trips right” (three wide receivers at the line on the right side of their formation) and threw the ball two out of three downs to score just before the end of the first half. The PAT was unsuccessful, and the Beavers took at 41-0 lead into the locker room.

As a sportswriter I am not going to comment on this, other than to say a lot of teams would not have elected to be that aggressive with a 35 point lead just before the half against a team that had shown no threat to them the entire half. That is all I am going to say.

But Paris fans can be proud of the effort the Eagles played with all night. They were clearly outmatched against a very good football team, but they kept battling on every down.

The Eagles will go on the road next week to Bismarck to play their second conference game of the year. The Lions will be another big test for Paris with the schedule not getting any easier in their first year in the newly revamped 3A-4.

Look for a preview of the Bismarck game in next week’s Logan County weekly newspaper. Additional photos from this game will be published on Facebook at Paris Eagles sports next week.

Financial Focus: Should you stick with index-based investments?

Tammy Teague
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Financial Focus: Should you stick with index-based investments?

By Jeffery O’Neal,
Financial Advisor

You may have heard that you can simplify your investment strategy just by owning index-based or passive investments. But is this a good idea? You’ll want to consider the different aspects of this type of investment style.

To begin with, an index-based investment is a vehicle such as a mutual fund or an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that mimics the performance of a market benchmark, or index — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and so on. (An ETF is similar to a mutual fund in that it holds a variety of investments but differs in that it is traded like a common stock.) You can also invest in index funds that track the bond market.

Index investing does offer some benefits. Most notably, it’s a buy-and-hold strategy, which is typically more effective than a market-timing approach, in which individuals try to buy investments when their prices are down and sell them when the prices rise. Attempts to time the market this way are usually futile because nobody can really predict when high and low points will be reached. Plus, the very act of constantly buying and selling investments can generate commissions and fees, which can lower your overall rate of return. Thus, index investing generally involves lower fees and is considered more tax efficient than a more active investing style.

Also, when the financial markets are soaring, which happened for several years until this year’s downturn, index-based investments can certainly look pretty good — after all, when the major indexes go up, index funds will do the same.

Conversely, during a correction, when the market drops at least 10% from recent highs, or during a bear market, when prices fall 20% or more, index-based investments will likely follow the same downward path.

And there are also other issues to consider with index-based investments. For one thing, if you’re investing with the objective of matching an index, you may be overlooking the key factors that should be driving your investment decisions — your goals and your risk tolerance. An index is a completely impersonal benchmark measuring the performance of a specific set of investments — but it can’t be a measuring stick of your own progress.

Furthermore, a single index, by definition, can’t be as diversified as the type of portfolio you might need to achieve your objectives. For example, the S&P 500 may track a lot of companies, but they’re predominantly large ones. And to achieve your objectives, you may need a portfolio consisting of large- and small-company stocks, bonds, government securities and other investments. (Keep in mind, though, that while diversification can give you more

opportunities for success and can reduce the effects of volatility on your portfolio, it can’t guarantee profits or prevent all losses.)

Ultimately, diversifying across different types of investments that align with your risk tolerance and goals — regardless of whether they track an index — is the most important consideration for your investment portfolio. Use this idea as your guiding principle as you journey through the investment world. 

This article is provided by Jeffrey O’Neal, Financial Advisor
Edward Jones 
20 N Express St, Paris, AR 72855
479-963-1321
jeffrey.o’neal@edwardjones.com
edwardjones.com/jeffrey-o’neal
Edward Jones, Member SIP

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