Paris Lady Eagles Volleyball Opens Season with 3-0 Road Win at Farmington
As high school students went back to school across Arkansas, the Paris Lady Eagles volleyball team went on the road to play Class 4A Farmington in the season opener for both schools. The game was played on August 24 which was supposed to be 11 days after the start of classes for the new school year. With the delayed opening of school this year, the Lady Eagles found themselves playing away from home on the first day of classes.
This year’s Paris volleyball team may be one of the youngest and inexperienced teams in recent memory. Although it is a team with great talent throughout the roster, it is a team that has not had much opportunity to play together on the senior high level. Many sophomores on the team played their very first high school game last evening. Add to this the abbreviated spring and summer practices that were available due to the COVID pandemic, and you have a Lady Eagles team that will be learning by on-the-job experience throughout the early weeks of the season. But also for Paris and other teams in their district, there is not much time to gel as a team. In fact, the Charleston Lady Tigers come calling tonight in just the second day of school, and already, the first conference match-up of the season.
Paris defeated Farmington in three straight sets to win the match 3-0. To the honest observer, a win, is a win, is a win….but…it was not, what shall we say, a match for the ages. Perhaps as a sign of the lack of preparation time that all teams have suffered through across the state, the quality of play was not that impressive. The young Lady Eagles showed flashes of what they will soon become…but early on, this group of young, talented players will need everyone’s patience as they just need court time to play together and develop the team chemistry they will have to have for the state playoffs.
Paris coach Jordan Devine was happy to get a road win against a Class 4A opponent on Monday night, and indicated that it was good for this young team to win their first time out, especially on the road. Coach Devine said the Lady Eagles were a little sloppy, but the win was a win, and the team knows going forward what they need to fix and focus on as they move through the schedule.
But there is no time to rest and evaluate corrections that need to be made. Paris, on 24 hours rest, will host Charleston coach Ryan Rachuy and the Charleston Lady Tigers. Coach Rachuy has rapidly built a contending volleyball program at the state level, and his Lady Tigers will be primed tonight when they enter Paris Gymnasium. Both Charleston and Paris lost several seniors to graduation in 2019, but much talent remains on both squads. And of course, anytime Paris and Charleston get together, regardless of the sport, you know it will be a fun and highly competitive night.
Last year’s regular season series between Paris and Charleston had a little bit of everything. The Lady Eagles won the first match in Paris in dominating fashion. The return match in Charleston was perhaps one of the greatest high school matches in recent history. In a back and forth match, the Lady Eagles hung on in a fifth and deciding set that saw Paris come back from a large deficit in the fifth set to pull out the victory. In the district tournament, the Lady Eagles defeated Charleston for a third time; the three losses to Paris being the only regular season losses for Charleston. Tonight, the Lady Tigers will be ready for the young Lady Eagles, and Paris has to put the trip to Farmington behind them quickly and be ready to play tonight.
First match begins at 4 p.m. this afternoon. Tickets for tonight’s match can be obtained in the Paris school district office. All fans must have an advanced ticket before paying at the gate. Face masks, social distancing, and other Arkansas Department of Health regulations will be in effect.
So tonight is game two of a grueling three match week for the Lady Tigers. On Thursday, Paris will again go on the road to play at Fort Smith Southside. But for now, the match that is most critical is the conference match-up with Charleston. Resident Press will be there to catch all of the action. Look for a game recap of the Charleston match on Wednesday afternoon.
See you tonight!
ASP Investigates Double Homicide in Scott County
The Arkansas State Police is investigating the murders of two Scott County residents whose bodies were discovered earlier today, Monday, August 24, inside a residence south of Waldron.
Special Agents of the state police criminal investigation division were requested by the Scott County Sheriff to conduct the investigation.
The sheriff’s department received a phone call about 1 a.m. today from an individual stating he had cut his foot and needed assistance. A sheriff’s deputy dispatched to the home found the murder victims in a bedroom.
An investigation is continuing and more information is expected to be released as early as tomorrow.
Meanwhile, authorities are attempting to notify next of kin.
Original Artwork on Display at Greenwood Walmart
The Greenwood Walmart is proudly displaying the original artwork of 12- year-old Tegan Stimac.
Stimac, a student at Greenwood Junior High, titled the work “Four-Eyed Bulldog.” According to the credits, Stimac is an “aspiring artist” and “can often be found at her desk, sketching digital drawings and blasting Broadway tunes. She enjoys composing music, writing fiction, and planning for her future as a prosecutor.”
The artwork is part of the Walmart Community Mural Program, a national celebration of community. Stimac’s art will be on display at the store located at 551 Liberty Drive in Greenwood for a limited time.
Water Gardens Gaining Ground on Arkansas Fisheries
By Randy Zellers
When Sean Lusk graduated from Auburn University with a master’s degree in fisheries management, he never dreamed his future would include taking up water gardening in Arkansas, but during the last two years he and other biologists have been hard at work planting, potting and growing aquatic vegetation in an effort to restore the once vibrant fishery at DeGray Lake.
DeGray was once known for thick beds of aquatic vegetation, which included non-native species such as hydrilla and Brazilian elodea that grew to as deep as 20 feet in some places and caused issues with boating and other recreation. In 2008 and 2009, extremely low water throughout winter exposed the root systems of this vegetation, killing much of it. Spring rain in each of those years then flooded the system quickly, placing what vegetation remained under many feet of muddy water with very little sunlight penetration, snuffing it out.
Lusk, a fisheries management biologist at the Hot Springs Regional Office and avid angler, says AGFC staff have put hundreds of hours into trying to get aquatic grasses back into DeGray to improve available habitat for bass, crappie and other sport fish. Their latest attempt includes some innovative floating enclosures to give plants a jump-start.
“The AGFC has worked with the [U.S. Army] Corps of Engineers for years to reestablish beneficial aquatic vegetation and add other forms of cover to the lake when we could,” Lusk said. “But getting native vegetation to come back has been a big challenge.”
Two major obstacles have stood in the way: extreme water level fluctuation in the flood-control reservoir and predation of the aquatic grasses by turtles and other wildlife before it can become established.
“We consulted with Lynde Dodd, a habitat restoration specialist with the Corps’ Engineering, Research and Development Center, last June, and she began developing a road map on options to move forward,” Lusk said. “Cages were needed to protect the vegetation from herbivory until enough became established. Those cages needed to rise up and down with the water level, but still allow seeds and fragments from the plants to disperse into the lake.”
AGFC biologists are focusing their efforts on four native plants, some of which were present at DeGray before the die-off.
“The four species of plants we’re working with are eelgrass, American pondweed, Sago pondweed and coontail,” Lusk said. “They offer a variety of benefits to fish in different depth ranges, and they are tolerant to low-light conditions if we have muddy water come through the reservoir. We’re growing the plants in greenhouses owned by the Corps and renovated to establish aquatic vegetation.”
The planting team includes Lusk, AGFC Fisheries Supervisor Brett Hobbs, AGFC Black Bass Program Biologist Jeff Buckingham, and Samuel Scott and Levi Rengstorf, regional fisheries staff at the AGFC’s Hot Springs office. Together they have spent many days during the summer collecting, planting, repotting and transplanting the aquatic grasses into the special floating cages throughout the lake.
“Scott Jones and Jonathan Spurgeon at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff worked with us to determine the areas of the lake that had the most potential to benefit the lake if the vegetation began to reproduce,” Lusk said. “We don’t want the entire lake to be full of vegetation, because too much is just as bad as not enough, so we want to concentrate our efforts on areas that have the best benefit.”
Cages are constructed of PVC and plastic construction fencing. They are anchored in place much like floating docks, where they may float freely in the water column and adjust to any fluctuations. Biologists altered the designs to fit the needs of particular plants being used in each cage.
“Coontail does just fine as a free-floating grass, so we have it in cubes that are open on all sides,” Lusk said. “But eelgrass and pondweeds need to be rooted, so we developed cages that had rigid bottoms that support potted plants.”
Lusk says the aquatic cages and nurseries have come with a large learning curve. Biologists already have made changes to their original designs based on results from the first year of the project.
“The coontail would grow so thick that it actually started shading itself out,” Lusk said. “We’ve learned that we’re better off to have more cages of coontail that are smaller than to have a few larger cages. We’re also learning just how devastating aquatic turtles can be on some vegetation. Some small turtles were able to fit through the gaps in the snow fencing of one enclosure that had a foot-tall pondweed in it. After a short time in the enclosure,the turtles had completely stripped the vegetation clean. It was like scorched earth on the water. We’ve since added additional layers of smaller-sized mesh to help keep them out.”
Once the vegetation takes hold, biologists hope it is able to outproduce what turtles and other wildlife eat; it’s just a matter of getting it established.
“We know from history that the lake was full of vegetation with these predators around and we know these areas are productive, we just need to get the seed in the right place at the right time,” Lusk said.
The effects of the project will be evaluated in the next year, once again calling on the assistance of Jones and Spurgeon at UAPB.
“If we can get some reproduction, this will be huge, you just can’t understate the value of aquatic vegetation to a fishery,” Lusk said. “When we’re transplanting these plants, they’re just full of insects and crustaceans that will provide food for growing fish, and the cover provided by the vegetation will help young fish survive. It also gives predators a place to ambush prey much more efficiently and exhibit better growth rates.”
Even though a formal evaluation is still to come, biologists have seen enough promise in the technique that it is being applied to other bodies of water in Arkansas. Similar cages have been placed at Greers Ferry and Greeson lakes to try to get plants established in those fisheries, both of which have a history of having difficulty establishing native aquatic vegetation.
“It’s exciting to see the technique being shared in other lakes,” Lusk said. “It’s hard work and we’re constantly learning how to improve our process, but aquatic vegetation is that much of a game-changer that it’s worth the effort for our anglers. We’ve even come across some anglers who said they didn’t really like fishing in vegetation, but the benefit of the grass is for the fish, which ends up being a benefit to them in the long term as well.”
Visit the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s AGFC Black Bass Management Facebook Page for updates on the DeGray Vegetation Project and many other efforts AGFC biologists are undertaking to improve the quality of angling in The Natural State.
Wild Man of the Mountain
By Dr. Curtis Varnell
My former student, Bobby Mackey, best describes the Civil War in Arkansas in his book title; The Uncivil War. This region was torn between North and South and it was often a no-holds bared battle of survival.
The inhabitants of the Arkansas River Valley were much divided in loyalty as the war began. Many were members of the home guard, a group similar to the National Guard of today, and were called into duty for the Confederacy. After Pea Ridge, many of these men returned home and determined they would never again fight for the Confederacy. A group of several hundred of these men organized under a former confederate, William Heffington. Heffington was raised around Belleville and knew Magazine Mountain well. He organized a large contingent of men of similar interest and began raiding confederate sympathizers throughout the region. At Indian Springs near Danville, he raided a union camp of 220 men, killing many of the men without mercy. He raided within miles of Dardanelle and terrorized the region. As the result of his actions, he was given the name of “Wild Bill.”
In February of 1863, he led over one hundred local men into Fayetteville and joined the Union Army as the 1st Arkansas Infantry. A list of the recruits read like a roll book from Franklin, Logan, and Yell counties. Familiar names included the Whites, Rogers, Massongill, Adams, Parker, Finks, Lipe, and others. The locals got their first initiation in battle in April at the Battle of Fayetteville and were able to hold their own against the southern forces.
Wild Bill and some of his men returned to Magazine Mountain to recruit additional men. A group of the men hid out on snake knob right off the peak of the mountain and lived in the many caves that riddled the mountain. From the flat-top of the ridge, they could see their homes. Wives would hang out colored clothing to let them know it was safe to come home for short visits. Continuing to raid the region and attack wagon trains of confederate supplies, the commander of the Southern forces at Dardanelle sent some 125 men to capture the wild man. Heffington and his men ambushed the Confederates as they came up the gap at Snake gap and defeated them in the ensuing battle.
Running low on supplies, Wild Bill, now with a $1,500 price on his head, determined he would seek out the regular Union army and get assistance. Traveling secretly, he decided to hide his favorite rifle, Silversides, in the cleft of a rock cliff. Caleb McBride, a relative, supposedly knew of Bills plans and informed the enemy. Bill was caught and, according to which story you prefer, hung, shot, or drowned by the confederates as he tried to cross the Mulberry River.
So ended the life of one of the notorious men of the Civil War era. After the war, the Grand Army of the Republic veteran’s post was named the Heffington Post. Several years later, families living in Cox valley located a civil war rifle in a cleft of rock. The rifle was sold to a museum collector in Kansas. Later, a civil war pistol was found in a nearby pasture and is still owned by Elda Bynum. Recently, a hideout was discovered on the south side of Magazine. Remnants of the Civil War and “Wild Bill?” Sometimes history leaves much to be answered!!
Community Responds to Family’s Tragic Loss
There has been an outpouring of love and support by the community after a Mansfield family lost their youngest child in a faultless tragedy.
Three month old baby Noah died on Sunday, August 16. Parents Jon and Abigale Trejo have understandably felt great loss and continue to mourn the death of their child. The couple also have two other children, Zayden and Jonathan Carter.
The community has come to the aid of the bereaving family. Area churches have provided food, and many residents have made item and monetary donations.
Also providing aid, the Huntington and Mansfield Police Department. The two departments teamed up with Levi’s Diesel and Auto Repair in Fort Smith. Mechanics Darren Anderson and Joshua Huskey donated parts and labor to repair the family’s vehicle.
“We have an amazing community with people who are quick to rise to the occasion,” shared Mansfield Police Officer Kelly Perez. “I’m blessed to work in such a place!”
The Trejo family is extremely appreciative of the outpouring of love by the community. “We couldn’t be more thankful for all the assistance we have received,” stated Abigale Trejo. “Thank you to everyone who helped with our Jeep, it really does mean a lot. We appreciate it so much!”
Mansfield Fire Chief Works to Restore Department
Mansfield Fire Chief Michael Smith has worked in the fire service since 1979, and has spent much of that time leading the department.
With a tight budget and low volunteer numbers, Smith returned to the position as chief when his city needed him most. Since his reinstatement in May of 2019, Smith has worked tirelessly.
When Smith took office, the department had eight volunteer members. Currently, the MVFD is up to 15. The department has openings for 22 members, however, due to lack of gear, no additional firemen can be added. “Twenty two, that’s what it was for years,” shared Smith. “We had people waiting in line to join!”
In addition to the need for new turnout gear, Smith stated he would like to add a new pumper, purchase Armour First Responder vests, a free standing ready rack, helmet flash lights, rechargeable handlights, PPV fan, and a thermal imaging stick.
Smith estimates the cost of equipment at $250,000. “Everything affects the ISO rating, both equipment and training,” added Smith. Improvements to the city’s ISO rating means savings to home owners with insurance rates.
Although the need for equipment to bring the department into compliance is great, he has made great improvements with the existing budget. Under his leadership, the department has added a new brush truck, and a new command unit, a Chevrolet Tahoe.
He has also been working on purchasing Sentry Sirens for the city. The sirens will replace the old and outdated system currently in use. “It will save so much time,” stated Smith. “I won’t have to go to multiple locations to activate the sirens, I can just do it remotely with my phone.” The new system will also provide a greater alert coverage area. The complete cost of the system, $35,000. Smith and the city’s grant writer, Shelby Allen, are awaiting notification on grant applications.
Smith, in the countless hours he’s spent assisting the citizens of this community, vows to continue this labor of love and working to ensure that in a resident’s time of crisis, the department has what it needs.
LL Football Stepping Out Of Shadows With Resident Press
For the most part, little league football is left in the dark when it comes to getting a fair share of the football hype. Sure, you have parents and grandparents making social media posts about how good “Little Johnny” did in the game but rarely does it go any further than that. Well, those days are about to be O-V-E-R !!! The Resident Press is joining forces with the West Central Football League to give small-town little league football the credit it deserves.
Both Resident Press and the WCFL were built on showcasing the awesomeness of small towns who, in the past, have been forgotten. Resident Press originally started out covering little league football for Mansfield, Hackett, and Waldron a few years back. In 2019, they picked up Magazine, Cedarville, and Mountainburg. So it only made sense to go all-in on the WCFL and add the remaining programs of Greenland, West Fork, JC Westside, and Lavaca to the little league football coverage list.
West Central Football League President, Adam Hecox, said about the partnership, “Resident Press joining forces with the WCFL could wind up being huge for the league programs. In the past years, I’ve seen the little league articles printed off by the teachers and posted in the hallways of the schools Resident Press covered. Kids would be in awe that they were “famous” because their name or picture was published in an article. That builds not only confidence in the kids, but also in the program and community. It makes more kids want to join the team thus growing each program’s numbers.”
JC Westside WCFL representative, Clay Bryant, added, “Westside Area Youth Organization is much more than just little league sports. It’s a leadership program for both children and adults, with the aim of helping children to become good and decent citizens. Being a 2A school from a small town in the River Valley, not many people realize what an outstanding program we have. Coverage by Resident Press could open up great opportunities for our young children as well as give them the recognition they deserve which in return will help in building their self-esteem.”
With COVID-19 creating havoc for sports as a whole and changes being made almost daily, there are still kids with the longing to play. Resident Press and the WCFL are still working to find contributors for all of the programs, but the wheels have begun to roll. The purpose of this merger is very clear. No matter the size of the program, every young man and woman on the field not only enjoys the spotlight but they deserve it as well. So flip the switch, sit back, and enjoy because the lights are coming on!
Sr Tigers Show Off Power Game In Mena Scrimmage
Pictured is Zayne Dugan handing off the ball to Randy Claude
The term “rebuild” has been tossed around since Mansfield’s immaculate class of 2020 ended their football season last year. Gone are most of the Sr High players that contributed to the Tigers acrobatics, top-end speed, and smooth air raid offenses. So what does head coach, Tim Cothran, do now? Simple, change things up and use the talent he has to it’s fullest. Anyone who watched the Tigers scrimmage against Mena on Friday night noticed success in a different manner on the field. Goodbye flashy football. Hello ground and pound.
Friday nights scrimmage against the Bearcats was Mansfield fans first look at the so-called rebuild. The scrimmage consisted of a full half of live regulation football. The Tigers started off slow by allowing Mena to get up on them 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. It looked like Mansfield was a brand new team that couldn’t get their X’s and O’s straight. That must’ve been their plan though as they started the second quarter like their tails were on fire. The Tigers defense stuffed Mena on back to back possessions then the magic started. Logan Cravey read the Bearcats quarterback and flashed in to pick off a pass then darted 21 yards. Not to be outdone, Codi Chick pounced on a Bearcat loose ball to give the Tigers offense another shot.
When Mansfield’s offense hit the field again, they became shock and awe showstoppers. Running backs senior, Randy Claude, and sophomore, Caleb Collier, lowered their shoulders and began to lay down the BOOM on the Bearcats defense. Claude plowed in for the Tiger’s first score of the game. No juking or dodging from either back, just line up and run the defense over. Juking and dodging belonged to the quick feet of sophomore, Tyler Woolbright, and junior, Austin Carlton, who sliced Mena’s defense braking ankles with every move.
Mena started keying on the run game forcing Mansfield to pass. The Tigers offense grinned and said “okay then” and the gun show kicked in. Junior QB, Zayne Dugan, hit passes to both Cravey and Carlton and put the Tigers on the board for a second time with a sweet pass to Chick. “I thought we were slow starting out,” explained Claude. “But, as the game went on, we started to click more.” Continuing his thoughts on how he felt he performed, “I believe I did what I was coached to do and I can improve on keeping the team positive.”
Although the score was not kept in the scrimmage, the Tigers definitely held their own against a 4A powerhouse such as Mena. Any worries about the program being down this season are history. Mansfield is not rebuilding. They’ve merely put a new coat of paint on the Tiger football program. “As a whole team, we learned a lot in our scrimmage with Mena and we know what we have to improve on. I think the team will be ready to take on whoever is next as long as we stick to what we’ve been coached to do,” concluded Claude. The Sr Tigers will next take on the Rattlers at Magazine on August 28th at 7 pm.
