The Hackett City Park is enjoyed by many residents and their families year-round. But according to Hackett Mayor Trini Harper, there is a need for additional playground equipment.
“We don’t have anything for the 2-5 age group,” Harper shared. “We really needed this addition to our park.”
The new equipment purchase has been approved and will be installed soon. Additionally, Harper stated she is working to add additional amenities.
Close to 300 University of Arkansas – Fort Smith employees received their first COVID-19 vaccination on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, thanks to a partnership clinic between the university and Mercy Fort Smith.
Spirits were high throughout the morning at the Ben Geren Park tornado shelter as colleagues shared distanced congratulations and sighs of relief, knowing they were one step closer to beating the virus and doing their part to protect their Lion pride.
“I want to help our campus and River Valley community, and I want to get back to safe face-to-face teaching,” shared Dr. Laura Witherington, associate professor of English. “And after reading ‘Station Eleven’ for our NEA Big Read Event,<https://news.uafs.edu/news/5064> I want to end this virus and avoid the apocalypse!” she added with a laugh. Emily Saint John Mandel, acclaimed author of “Station Eleven” visited UAFS in 2019, sharing conversations across campus about her best-selling novel which is set 20 years after a flu pandemic destroys most of civilization.
Tommye Robinson, assistant athletic director for compliance and senior woman administrator, also received her vaccination at the clinic. “Our staff has done an excellent job working to keep our student-athletes safe, and this is another way we can ensure the safety of our students and our colleagues,” she said.
Close to 140 staff and nearly 100 faculty members of the university, along with more than 30 student workers who serve in public-facing roles, received their first dose of the two-part Pfizer vaccination Friday morning as part of the Arkansas Department of Health’s Phase 1B classification.
A drive-through clinic was initially intended to take place on the UAFS campus Monday, Feb. 1, in tandem with the UAFS College of Health Sciences’ second-dose clinic held that afternoon, but due to a state-wide shortage of first vaccine doses, the open employee clinic was postponed.
Students, faculty, and staff of the College of Health Sciences who serve in clinical roles across the River Valley in conjunction with their coursework were eligible for vaccinations under ADH Phase 1A and received their first doses Jan. 11. Almost 100 members of that college were vaccinated on campus in partnership with Coleman Pharmacy.
In addition to the two clinics, UAFS employees have also sought the vaccine at area pharmacies and attended open clinics at Baptist and Mercy hospitals, helping prevent the spread of COVID-19 on an individual basis.
The university intends to continue working to provide additional clinics as often as supply allows until all members of the UAFS community who wish to be vaccinated are able to receive their vaccines.
Now that the regular duck season has come to a close, have you got some duck decoys that are ready for retirement? Don’t just toss them for the trash heap. There’s a place waiting for them that could help younger hunters down the road.
Eric Maynard, the AGFC’s assistant chief of education, has devised a solution to the situation of old decoys just sitting around or in need of a new home — the AGFC decoy adoption center.
Maynard’s “center” is really the bed of a pickup serving for a dropoff location, but thanks to volunteers who have donated their used decoys, Maynard and other members of the AGFC’s Education Division have been able to rehome these “outdated” dekes in the hands of aspiring duck hunters and birders participating in educational programs.
“We’ve done programs involving decoys for years, from duck identification to conservation and hunting techniques, and decoy painting always is a hit with new hunters and conservationists,” Maynard said. “We are always on the lookout for used decoys our participants can paint and take home with them.”
Anyone interested in donating their old decoys to the AGFC for educational purposes is encouraged to contact Maynard at eric.maynard@agfc.ar.gov, and he can make arrangements to have them picked up.
On Wednesday, February 3, we reported on the new prospective full-time officer for the City of Hackett.
Tyler Wagner was scheduled and did report for his first day on the job today, Friday, February 5. However, Wagner has resigned from that position.
“I felt like they placed unrealistic expectations on me and misrepresented the position,” Wagner stated. “The mayor wanted to maintain control of the department, and I felt she was assuming the role of chief rather than trusting me to do the job. I was initially told I would be on a 90-day probationary period before being made chief. This morning she told me I would have to apply for that position after 90-days. I was never told that before I accepted the job. I had a quarterly plan with goals, she was not interested in seeing those. It was my hope to get to work today and begin building the department back.”
Mayor Harper has issued no comment statements regarding personnel matters.
Captain Philip Pevehouse with the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office stated that the department will continue their patrols for the city.
With so many things that can go wrong, there are many kitchen hazards that can cause injury without proper care or caution. These injuries can range anywhere from minor cuts that need a bandage to major burns that require a doctor’s care.
One of the most common sources of home fires is kitchen cooking equipment. This danger is due in large part to leaving the stovetop on and unattended. Stay near the kitchen at all times when fire is in use, even if it seems as though everything would be under control if you stepped away for a minute. You never know what can go wrong or what you overlooked before leaving.
Be cautious of anything that may catch on fire. Take care not to leave any objects that can catch fire too close to the flame. Even clothing can ignite if you do not properly roll up your sleeves when close to the flame.
On a similar topic to fire, be aware of any burning hazards while cooking. Always have a pair of reliable oven mitts around for handling heated pots. If you are straining water, keep it at a safe distance and wear your mitts; you never know if it will splash back and burn you. This sudden burn may lead you to drop the pot and splash boiling water everywhere.
Know the temperature of food when it is done and ready to be served. Something that looks ready to eat could be searing hot to the touch without any obvious signs. Putting these foods in your mouth without realizing the temperature can lead to severe burns in the mouth that will need medical treatment.
When cooking on the stove, there are several sources of potentially poisonous fumes you could inhale. One hazardous gas is nitrogen dioxide, a chemical that can be released from gas stovetops. If inhaled, it has been known to inflame the lining of the lungs, which will cause respiratory problems.
Having a reliable ventilation system above your stovetop will combat these harmful fumes. Make sure they are sucked away from your kitchen before they have a chance to invade your body and cause severe harm.
Go into a cooking session aware of what you are using and the potential kitchen hazards that can cause injury as a result. Neglecting even one aspect—whether it be food temperature, fumes, fire, or any other situational specific danger—has the potential to end in disaster.
Pictured is Tiger Codi Chick and Rattler Cameron “Raging” Raggio
Mansfield and Magazine are two old school programs who haven’t played against each other in conference in years. But when Mansfield dropped from 3A to the 2A-4, both teams set aim at each other from the get-go. It was Magazine this season who pulled off a sweep of the Tigers with a 42-39 victory on Tuesday, February 2nd but it wasn’t without a fight from Mansfield.
You could go into deep play by play detail as to how the Tigers and Rattlers tore into each other with sweep scores and dominating defenses, but here’s all you need to know about how even the teams were in the first half. It can be simplified in two sentences. At the end of the first quarter, the score was a narrow 11-10 Mansfield lead over the Rattlers. At halftime, the score was a 20-20 tied ball game. Yeah, it was that kind of immovable object versus indestructible force battle.
With the fans on both sides of the court exploding with excitement and anxiety, Mansfield and Magazine came out of halftime with new game plans to win. The Tigers sped the game up offensively, but so did the Rattlers. The Rattlers stiffened up their defense, but the Tigers did the same. The Rattlers were able to find a tiny chink in Mansfield’s defensive armor and the 3rd quarter was closed with a slim 30-27 lead Mansfield. The fourth quarter remained the same ol song and dance for both programs up until the winding minutes of the game. As the game drew to an end, Mansfield was running out of time as Magazine maintained their small lead. To stop the clock, the Tigers were forced to foul sending the Rattlers to the free-throw line. Luckily for Magazine, they were able to sink their shot which wound up being the defining factor leading to a 42-39 victory over Mansfield.
“I felt like our guys competed well,” expressed Magazine Coach Justin Mackey. “There were two different occasions where we were down 8 in the game and we just kept grinding and stuck to our game plan. Our guys hit some clutch shots down the stretch and really buckled down on defense forcing stops through the 4th quarter.” Magazine’s Cameron Raggio led with 14 points followed by Ashton Droemer with 13, Brady Watson with 8, Haden Littleton with 5, and Jackson Oliver 2. Mansfield’s Ethan Pettus took the lead for the Tigers with 12 points trailed by Codi Chick with 10, Zayne Dugan with 6, JoJo Bailey with 5, Tyler Escalante with 4, and Bri Sanderson 2.
As intense as the game was for both sets of teams and fans, one can’t help but wonder if this could be the beginning of a solid rivalry in the future. The Tigers are deep in talent for years to come as are the Rattlers. The two schools might even consider making a Snakes and Stripes basketball trophy for the game in the future. The season isn’t over for either team though as the Tigers travel to battle Mountainburg on Friday, February 5, and Magazine heads to JC Westside to take a strike at the Rebels. “We are holding onto the 4 seed and will lock it up with a win at Westside tonight. I’m super proud of my guys. They have fully committed to the program and each other and those decisions are leading to improvement on the court,” concluded Coach Mackey.
On Tuesday night, the Cedarville Sr Lady Pirates squared off against the Hackett Lady Hornets for the second time this season. In their first hardwood hustle, the Lady Pirates won 53-26. Not wanting to stray from what works, Cedarville stuck to their game plan and again walked away victorious 51-24. The Sr Lady Pirates took a big 23-0 lead in the first half and never looked back. Hackett Coach Broc Adams stated, “They were on fire early and got us in a big hole. After we finally scored, we competed with them the next 3 quarters.”
With Cedarville Point Guard, Chloe Morrow, out with a stomach bug, the rest of the Lady Pirates stepped up to get the job done. McKenzie Marion boogied away with 13 points. Katie McBroom knocked down 12. Emily Wood and Anna Hightower each took home a pair of 7’s. MaKayla Pearcy netted 5. Audrey wells logged 3. And Sierra Hurst and Katelynn Oden scooped up 2 apiece. The Cedarville Lady Pirates are 17-3 on their season and 9-2 in conference play. They will travel to Danville tonight to face the Lady Little Johns. The Lady Hornets will stay home and host Booneville.
Photos courtesy of Bridget Freeman
The Mansfield Sr Lady Tigers seem to be getting better with every passing game. This was proven yet again on Tuesday, February 2 when they hosted the Magazine Lady Rattlers. Both teams had a lot of post regular-season goals on the line coming into the game, but it was the Lady Tigers who were victorious with a 55-29 final score.
The last time these two clashed, the Lady Rattlers held off Mansfield all the way into the 4th quarter before Mansfield pulled away with a 60-40 win at the Rattlers Den. With this game being played in The Jungle, the Lady Tigers had to get off to a better start in front of their home crowd. They did just that with a 17-10 lead in the first quarter and stretched it out to 30-12 by halftime. Senior Danielle Lillie was extremely selfless in the first half as she sacrificed possible points for herself by shifting the ball out to her teammates thus giving them the automatic scores. “D-Assist Queen” led the team with 6 of the Lady Tigers’ 13 assists in the game.
Mansfield didn’t hang up on any halftime blues and came out again on fire against the Lady Rattlers. With heavy defensive pressure, the Lady Tigers began portraying their best Jessie James moves by stealing the ball every chance they could and taking it back to light up the scoreboard. Try as they may, the Lady Rattlers just couldn’t keep up the pace as Mansfield ended the 3rd quarter with a commanding 50-20 lead. With the bench slowly filling in for the Lady Tigers starters, everyone could tell that the lead opera singer was tuning up her voice for the grand finale. Once the buzzer sounded, the Mansfield Sr Lady Tigers stole the show with a 55-29 victory. The Lady Tigers win currently leaves them sitting in second place in the conference and has Magazine at fourth in conference play.
Mansfield’s Makayla Strutton came in big with 22 points followed by Chloe Creekmore with 10, Brooke Wright with 9, Danielle Lillie with 8, and Seven Sanderson, Skylynn Harris, and Kiara Thomas with 2 each. Magazine’s Kylie Robinson led with 12 points, Kiara Vasquez netted 8, Carly Parrish scored 3, Elizabeth Greek picked-up 2, and Jordyn Krigbaum made 1.
With their Regional Tournament appearance inevitable now, the Lady Tigers will focus their attention on their game against the ever formidable opponent, the Mountainburg Lady Dragons. Mountainburg holds the third-place position in the conference and still has the Lady Tigers and number one Acorn left to play. With a win over the Lady Dragons, Mansfield will be guaranteed second place in conference. Then the waiting game will commence as the Lady Tigers hold their hopes for a Mountainburg victory at Acorn which would put Mansfield as the conference champions. The Magazine Lady Rattlers will go into tonight’s battle against JC Westside with a 9-8 total play record and are looking to score a Round 2 win against the Lady Rebels.
The Greenwood Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Belle Haven Photography on Thursday, February 4.
Owner Lori Ransom was joined by members of her family and members of the chamber of commerce. President Bob Purvis expressed his gratitude for small businesses like Belle Haven Photography.
Ransom named the business in memory of her mother, Belle. “The name means beautiful girl,” said Ransom. Haven means safe place.”
Ransom creates maternity, newborn, children, and family portraits. “I love the babies,” she added. “Cake smash sessions are also a favorite!”
The 1,000 sq. ft. studio is fully equipped with studio and natural lighting. “I have a maternity closet available for my clients to use. All newborn sessions are designed specifically for each client. I have many unique props and handmade items for use in newborn and other sessions.” Ransom, who has been in the photography business for nine years, also does head shots, personal branding and on location small business sessions.
For more information on Belle Haven Photography, visit their website at www.bellehavenphotography.com. Studio/office hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. You can also contact Lori Ransom at lori@bellehavenphotography.com or call 479-650-6524.
National Signing Day in any collegiate sport is a very special day for high school athletes who have worked hard to realize their dreams of playing on the collegiate level. It is a special day for the athletes, their coaches, schools, communities, and families. One of the greatest thrills for me is to see high school athletes have the opportunity to play collegiate sports and to earn a college degree. One very special Charleston Tiger has made his decision to remain a Tiger and to play football at Ouachita Baptist University. Dalton Curtis, a very talented athlete who has always played any position his coaches needed him to play for the good of the entire team, has seen his unselfishness and strong work ethic payoff with a scholarship to play college football.
In an official press release from Ouachita Baptist, the University announced the signing of Curtis in the announcement below, as well as in a video on Twitter. To view a highlight reel on Dalton at Charleston High School, click on the “Highlight Reel” link in the press release below.
6’0″ | 195 | Charleston, Ark. | Charleston | Highlight Reel
Curtis was named All-Conference and Honorable Mention All-State as a senior at Charleston High School. He caught 26 passes for 420 yards and scored eight total touchdowns while also making 30 tackles. Curtis helped Charleston extend Arkansas’ longest-running streak of playoff appearances.
Remarking about this year’s incoming Ouachita football class of signees, head coach Todd Knight expressed his feelings for a class that has a history of overcoming adversity, making this class a group that has great work ethic and is willing to work hard and make OBU a winning football program. On the OBU football website, Coach Knight expressed his feelings for this class as follows:
Dalton played two seasons, his junior and senior years, under head coach Ricky May who came to Charleston in the spring of 2019 and coached his first season later that fall. Dalton said, “It was kind of weird because I had always played under one coach until Coach May arrived. Coach May is a very upbeat guy, very optimistic; so it was just different.”
Dalton competed at the quarterback position in 2019 and 2020. When Coach May asked Dalton to play in other positions, Dalton was unselfish and told the coach that he wanted to play wherever it would benefit the team the most. “I really don’t care where I am on the field as long as I know I can contribute.” So this year, Dalton played wide receiver, defensive back, running back, safety, corner, wherever he was needed. On defense, Dalton had over 30 unassisted tackles in the 2020 season. In fact, Coach May said at one point he needed a punt returner, and Dalton was put in the game as a punt returner. A truly unselfish athlete that is becoming more and more unusual in today’s world of high school and collegiate sports.
Consistency in winning and making the playoffs is part of the Charleston football culture. In fact, Ouachita remarked that Dalton played high school football at a program that leads the state of Arkansas in consecutive years of football playoff appearances. It is just what is expected; both by the community, and within Dalton’s family. Dalton is one of many generations in his family that attended the Charleston school district, and his father was on the football team that began the consecutive streak of football playoff appearances by the Tigers. Dalton is a winner that has grown up and played in a winning culture, and I am sure Ouachita fans are hoping he will bring his winning ways to the Ouachita football program.
Ouachita lists Dalton as a wide receiver on their signing class list. I asked him if that is where Ouachita head coach Todd Knight had indicated their plans for him to play when he arrives in Arkadelphia. Dalton replied, “So far, going in, that is what I am expecting. But who knows? They may decide to move me.”
In the spirit of not disclosing private educational records information, I will not publish Dalton’s grade point average at Charleston. However, I will tell our readers that it is very high. In fact, Dalton plans to earn a degree in perhaps biology and go on to become a radiologist. And if that is what he truly wants to do at Ouachita, I am sure Dalton will become an excellent radiologist. Coach May added that Dalton has already earned numerous college academic hours from having taken concurrent credit classes at Charleston that will transfer to Ouachita.
Dalton chose Ouachita over Lyon College who had recruited him heavily throughout the season. Dalton said, “Lyon wanted me really bad. Before last season, I visited Lyon College, and in the middle of my quarantine, they offered me a scholarship to play. And then, I kind of held out on it and I wanted to wait to get every possible offer that actually wanted me before I made a decision. A few months ago, Ouachita contacted me. And we set up a visit and I went down there. I loved it!”
So just like his Coach, Ricky May who was offered a scholarship to play at Ouachita in 1989, Dalton was offered and will enroll this fall. According to Coach May, Ouachita has told him that the large majority of incoming freshmen football players are red shirted. The Tigers are building a program of four and five year seniors rather than young freshmen on the field. This will be an excellent opportunity for Dalton to develop physically and emotionally to college and collegiate football. Ouachita is known for academic excellence, and a red shirt year will give Dalton the chance to get a good start academically before he is expected to contribute more and more in the football program.
Coach May put together the highlight video that is embedded in the Ouachita tweet that is included in this story above. The Charleston coaches do an excellent job of not only expecting loyalty from their players, but returning that loyalty to their players by working to help them get evaluated and eventually offered opportunities to play college sports. It is part of the reason why Charleston is consistently competitive in high school sports as they have the reputation of helping students take the next steps to their dreams of playing college athletics. Not all schools do this, but in Charleston, it is part of the culture of excellence that they take pride in with all of their students.
On behalf of everyone at Resident Press, we would like to extend our most heartfelt congratulations to Dalton, his family, and to Coach May and the Charleston football program. We wish Dalton the best of success as a Ouachita Tiger!
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