Two Waldron Elementary student scientists, Kazyah Kinney and Justi Hunsucker, recently won first place at the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain’s 5th Annual Science Fair held at the college campus in Mena.
Their project was: “Do Dogs have a Color Preference?” and the girls proved that dogs do, in fact, have a color preference through experimentation, application and collecting and charting data.
Kinney and Hunsucker won first place in the Rich Mountain Elementary Student category and brought home a giant $250 prize money check and a plaque.
Congratulations to these two WES student scientists, who no doubt have a very bright future ahead of them!
One of the items of unfinished business before the Mansfield City Council during their regularly scheduled meeting on February 20, was new building permit fees.
The proposed fees discussed by the council during a recent study session included the following increases:
Residential $150 (old fee $100)
Commercial $.25 x sq. ft. (old fee $.04 x sq. ft.)
HVAC/R contractor $125 (old fee $75)
Plumbing contractor $125 (old fee $100)
Gas contractor $75 (old fee $25)
Electrical contractor $125 (old fee $75)
The new building permit fees were approved unanimously by the council.
The next item of business, employee boot replacement. This includes the public works department and police department. “This is a fringe benefit that will be added to our personnel policy manual,” stated Mayor Buddy Black. The fringe benefit addition states that “city employees required to wear boots shall be allowed, at the city’s expense, to purchase one pair of boots per 12 month period. The maximum amount the city will pay is $100 with replacement being issued at the end of a 12 month period from each purchase date. Any amount exceeding $100 will be at the employee’s expense.” The motion passed unanimously by the council.
In items of new business, the council voted to add an expiration date on city issued checks. Any city issued checks will be void after 90 days. Next, the discussion of increasing the fuel surcharge on water bills. Currently the city charges $2, and according to Mayor Black there hasn’t been an increase in “forever.” The proposed new fee is $4. “Mansfield does not charge for trash pickup, and all the other towns around do…We have to recoup some of our losses in sanitation.” The motion to increase the fuel surcharge passed unanimously. Also discussed, the increased dumping fee at the public works department for roll-off containers. The council voted to increase the fee from $10 to $15 per load.
Next, the council discussed the price increase for the City of Hartford’s waste water fees. “We were supposed to, according to the contract, look at it one year after the agreement. That has never been done, so we’re doing it now,” stated Black. Currently, both the City of Hartford and the City of Midland pay Mansfield $1.19 per thousand gallons of waste. The proposed new cost is $1.40 per thousand gallons. The council will have to revisit the City of Midland’s agreement at next month’s meeting. Black added that in a new contract, it will be noted that the costs will be looked at two years later, and every year after that. The motion to increase Hartford’s waste fee from $1.19 to $1.40 per thousand gallons passed unanimously.
One final item of new business, the city was offered eight acres of land near the City Lake property at $65,000. The council, however, declined to take any action on that offer.
At the Mansfield City Council meeting held on the evening February 20, council members voted unanimously to repeal and replace yard sale ordinance 2019-7 with ordinance 2020-1.
In the first section of that ordinance, the city sets forth definitions of garage, or yard sales. “‘Yard sale’ or ‘garage sale’ shall mean and include all general sales, open to the public, conducted from or any premises in any residential or commercial zone, as defined by the zoning ordinance…for the purpose of disposing of personal property including, but not limited to, all sales entitled ‘garage,’ ‘lawn,’ ‘yard,’ ‘attic,’ ‘porch,’ ‘room,’ ‘backyard,’ ‘patio,’ ‘flea market,’ or ‘rummage sale.'” This does not include businesses in a commercial zone where sales occur on a day to day business.
The ordinance goes on to define personal property, property owned, utilized or maintained by an individual or member of his or her residence and acquired in the normal course of living or in maintaining residence.
According to ordinance 2020-1, a permit is still required in order to conduct such a sale. That permit can be picked up at the public works department, and “members of more than one residence may join in obtaining a permit for a yard or garage sale.”
In order to obtain a permit, you must fill out an application within at least one day in advance of the proposed sale. That application requires the name, address, location and dates of the sale.
No more than five permits may be issued to one residential location, residence and/or family household during any calendar year. “If members or more than one residence join in requesting a permit, then such permit shall be considered as having been issued for each and all of such residences. No more than five permits may be issued for any commercial location during any calendar year.”
Additionally, sales cannot occur any earlier than 7 a.m., and last no longer than 6 p.m. on three consecutive days.
“Personal property offered for sale may be displayed within the residence, in a garage, carport, driveway, and/or in a front side or rear yard, but only in such areas. No personal property offered for sale at a yard/garage sale shall be displayed at any public right-of-way.”
The permit is to be posted on the premises in a place so it can be seen by the public, or any city official. Two signs of not more than four square feet shall be permitted to be displayed on the property of the residence or commercial site where the sale is being conducted. Signs are not allowed on the city right-of-way. Those signs, according to the ordinance, must be removed at the close of sale, but no longer than one day after the last day of the sale. No sign, or any other form of advertisement can be exhibited for more than two days before the sale.
Anyone found in violation of the ordinance will be subject to a penalty of $25 per day for each offense.
After an exciting week of district tournament championships, eight teams, four boys and four girls teams from each district now move on to the regional tournaments held around the state. The regionals are the next step toward each team’s ultimate goal of winning a state championship. Four teams, two boys and two girls teams from each region will qualify for the state tournament that will be held next week at Charleston High School. Teams will ultimately advance to the state finals for boys and girls that will be held a week later at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs on Friday, March 13.
This week, four regional tournaments will be held in Waldron, Jessieville, Searcy (Harding Academy), and in Monticello (Drew-Central). In this article, Resident Press will preview the teams and match-ups in the Waldron regional. The Waldron regional will feature teams from the Class 3A-1 (West) conference and the Class 3A East.
In the boys brackets, Elkins and Valley Springs are the number one seeds in the tournament. The number two seeds are Bergman and the host school, Waldron Bulldogs. The number three seeds are Charleston and Clinton. Rounding out the boys field are number four seeds Mountain View and Greenland.
The boys side of the Waldron regional brackets include two teams from the top five ranked teams in the state in Class 3A: number one ranked Valley Springs, and number five ranked Elkins, Just outside of the state’s top five is number six ranked Bergman. So, the boys brackets in this regional will feature a tough field, just as on the girls side of the regional brackets. Teams that can survive and advance to the state tournament will be heavily regarded as teams to beat next week in Charleston.
The boys tournament will open on Wednesday, February 26 with the following games:
BOYS
Game 1: #1 Elkins vs. #4 Mountain View, 5:30 p.m.
Game 3: #1 Valley Springs vs. #4 Greenland, 8:30 p.m.
February 27
Game 2: #2 Bergman vs. #3 Charleston, 5:30 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Waldron vs. #3 Clinton, 8:30 p.m.
For a copy of the Class 3A-1 boys regional brackets, click here to be re-directed to Max Preps to view or download your copy.
In the girls bracket, play will begin on February 26. Charleston and Valley Springs are the number one seeds in the tournament. The number two seeds are Mountain View and Elkins. The number three seeds are West Fork and Rose Bud, and the four seeds are Waldron and Bergman.
GIRLS
February 26
Game 1: #1 Charleston vs. #4 Bergman, 4 p.m.
Game 3: #1 Valley Springs vs. #4 Waldron, 7 p.m.
February 27
Game 2: #2 Mountain View vs. #3 West Fork, 4 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Elkins vs. #3 Rose Bud, 7 p.m.
For a copy of the girls Class 3A-1 regional brackets, click here to be re-directed to Max Preps to view or download your copy.
The Class 3A-1 regional girls tournament features three of the top four teams in the state in Class 3A: Number one-ranked Mountain View, number three-ranked Valley Springs, and number four-ranked Charleston. Bergman is ranked just outside the group at number six. Any team that survives the Waldron regional will be a strong contender in the state tournament, having already faced in regional play several of the top five ranked teams in the state.
Charleston First Round Games in Boys and Girls Regional
The Charleston Lady Tigers will open the tournament with a 4 p.m. game on Wednesday versus the Bergman Lady Panthers. Bergman’s colors are blue and gold and their school is located just northeast of Harrison. Bergman will travel 3 hours and 20 minutes to play in the Waldron regional. Bergman’s conference includes Mountain View, Rose Bud, Valley Springs, Marshall, Clinton, and Green Forest. The Lady Panthers finished the regular season 26-11 overall and 7-5 in conference play. Bergman averages 53.5 points per game shoots approximately 34% from the field. The Lady Panthers average 28 rebounds per game, as well as 7.3 steals per game. Bergman is ranked 33rd in Arkansas across all classifications, and 6th in Class 3A, according to Max Preps. Bergman and Charleston both played one common opponent, that being Lincoln on November 11. Bergman played Lincoln as a non-conference game in the Green Forest Queens of the Court Tournament where they defeated Lincoln 59-48.
The Charleston boys will also open the tournament versus Bergman. The Tigers will play the Panthers on Thursday, February 27 at 5:30 p.m. The Panthers are 30-7 overall and finished the regular season 9-3 in conference play. Bergman finished their conference regular season in third place behind first place Valley Springs who was 11-1, and second place Clinton who was 10-2. The Bergman boys are ranked 40th in Arkansas across all classifications and are ranked 6th in Class 3A. In common opponents with Charleston, Bergman lost to Waldron on December 8 in the UARM Classic by the score of 62-55. On December 11, the Panthers won a non-conference game against Greenland, 64-47. As of the publication time of this article, stats were not available with Max Preps for Bergman.
Every team in the Waldron regional has had a good season and has hopes of moving on to the state tournament. The top objective for every team is to win their first game in the regional tournament. A first round victory will ensure a team’s qualification to advance to next week’s state tournament. Two victories in the tournament will seed a team higher in the state tournament and give them a more favorable path in the tournament. But one thing is for sure, from this point on, there are no weak teams or easy games. Every team has had a winning season, and every team is a tough out.
It is the time of year where players enter each game knowing that it could be their last. Everyone wants to keep playing. No one wants to feel the sudden loss of defeat and know that they will be cleaning out their lockers for the last time this season. And for seniors on each team, it is that much more important to every senior who has invested their high school careers to get to this point.
It is the stuff that lifelong memories are made from; it can be the greatest time of a player’s life, and it can also be one that a player remembers for the rest of his or her life for all the wrong reasons. It is these anxious moments and circumstances that motivates each player and coach to give it every thing they have. It is what makes post-season play so special.
Congratulations to all of the teams in this year’s regional tournament, and best of luck in your quest to make the state tournament. And Resident Press will be there to tell the story.
The Arkansas Municipal League congratulates Becky Walker, who has achieved or maintained their status as a Certified Municipal Official through the League’s Voluntary Certified Continuing Education Program.
The certified municipal officials were honored during the opening night banquet at the League’s 2020 Winter Conference, held February 12-14 in Little Rock.
Numerous municipal officials representing cities and towns from across the state completed 15 core Level 1 hours and six continuing education hours of study in subjects such as budgeting, personnel management and methods of effective leadership. To maintain certification, graduates must complete six hours of continuing education workshops each year.
The program continues in 2020 with workshops held throughout the year at the League’s North Little Rock headquarters and in June at the League’s Annual Convention in Little Rock. The League is also expanding its certification program this year, offering Advanced Level 2 workshops for those who have achieved Level 1 status in addition to offering a new Certified Municipal Personnel designation for key municipal personnel such as department heads and finance directors.
The Arkansas Municipal League is a service and advocacy organization for the municipalities of Arkansas. The League offers its programs and services to 500 cities and towns in Arkansas and was created in 1934 to assist cities with information and representation in the public affairs of our state and nation. To find out more, please visit www.arml.org.
We’re still battling the elements in many places around Arkansas. The Arkansas River is running fast and high still. Another big rain on Tuesday put a rise to lake levels. Little Red River wade-fishing regulars are still waiting for the generation to slow down at Greers Ferry Dam. Fish can’t figure out the wide-ranging temps anymore than the anglers can. Here are some news items worth nothing, though: * Ralph Donnangelo, superintendent at Lake Fort Smith State Park, says the park’s new courtesy dock is completed and ready for use. * Guide Austin Kennedy said Wednesday that the Corps of Engineers were able to shut the gates at Beaver Lake Dam. Until then, with flood gates open a foot at the dam, fishing had been “kinda tricky,” he said, in the Beaver Lake tailwater. One of his clients landed a nice 19.5-inch rainbow, though. “If you hit the right area with the right baits, you could catch some fish,” Austin said. “Most of the trout were caught between the Highway 62 bridge and Spider Creek, and on light terminal tackle.” The walleye spawn is getting close there, he added. * Guide Shane Goodner, owner of Catch’em All Guide Service, reports that open flood gates and extremely high generation flows have continued for another week as heavy rainfall plagues the Carpenter Dam tailwater at the upper end of Lake Catherine. Fishing has stopped below Carpenter Dam in the treacherous conditions, he said. Entergy has scheduled this discharge pattern in an attempt to keep area lakes at the winter drawdown levels and to draw Lake Ouachita out of flood pool. Muddy water and very fast flows have been the norm for weeks on Lake Catherine and all anglers are advised to remain off the water until conditions return to normal. The drawdowns at lakes Hamilton and Catherine end on March 1. When the rain ends is another matter altogether.
As sports fans, it is not often that we get the opportunity to witness perfection. Perfection; if it were easy to obtain, it would be meaningless. But that is exactly what the Charleston Lady Tigers have achieved this year. Charleston completed an undefeated conference regular season last week in Elkins, and last night, the Lady Tigers put the cap on a perfect overall conference season with their two wins in the district tournament to win the Class 3A-1 district tournament championship.
The Lady Tigers defeated the Elkins Lady Elks by the score of 33-17. But unless your were at the Waldron Activities Center last night to witness this historic event, you cannot appreciate the performance of the Lady Tigers. The game ended in the second half with the Lady Tigers holding Elkins to just two points for the entire second half. And once again, the disciplined, experienced, and very talented Lady Tigers methodically dismantled Elkins on the way to the tournament championship.
As the game began, it appeared that both baskets had lids on them as both teams struggled to score. This was the third meeting between the two teams this year, and both teams knew a great deal about each other. Coaches make adjustments with each game, and it was evident that both teams wanted to plug the middle and not allow the other teams’ scorers to have room inside the lane. Charleston again began the game with a low shooting percentage from the field. Elkins eventually managed to get their inside game going, and the result was a halftime lead of 15-11 for the Elks as the two teams went to the locker room. As the Lady Tigers left the floor at half, they appeared to be unphased by the score; the business as usual attitude of this very experienced team.
But as the second half began, the Lady Tigers made adjustments and regrouped. The result was a torrent run in which Charleston held Elkins to just two points in the second half, outscoring the Lady Elks 22-2. Charleston’s defense that had been good in the first half, became even better in the second. The Lady Tigers forced Elkins in to several turnovers and prevented the Lady Elkins from seldomly getting more than one shot on their offensive end of the court. Often times, when it seemed Elkins was finally able to get the ball down low into scoring position, a Charleston guard would sweep in for support and steal the ball.
Elkins, the tournament’s #2 seed, is a very good basketball team and will make noise in next week’s regional tournament. The Lady Elks have had the misfortune of playing in conference with a Charleston team that may be one of the best in its school’s history. In fact, this year’s Lady Tigers may be the best in school history. If they are, remains to be seen. This team is clearly not finished. They have much work to do next week in the regional tournament.
Next week’s regionals will again be hosted by Waldron High School. As soon as the final brackets are known, Resident Press will publish an update for our readers. We do know that to advance to the following week’s state tournament in Charleston, teams must win their first game in the regional tournament. A first round win in the regional will guarantee a spot in the state tournament to continue their fight to a state championship. And of course, the more games that a team can win in regional the higher their state tournament seed will be. This is extremely important for not only their state tournament match-ups in Charleston, but also who they would be opposite of in the brackets and potentially face in Hot Springs for the state championship game.
Charleston is now 27-2 overall and 16-0 in conference play (includes regular season and two district tournament wins). They will enter the regional tournament next week as a #1 seed. This seems to be a team of destiny. But it is much more than that. The team that we have the privilege of watching today is a product of many years of playing together and buying into Charleston coach Jason Rucker’s system of detail, discipline and fundamentally sound basketball. Coach Rucker has pushed them to be the best they can be, and the team’s record this year is not only a testament to the team’s athletic abilities and good teamwork, but also to the true character and work ethic that each player possess. This is truly a very special team, and if you have not had the chance to see them play, you need to do so over the next two weeks. There may never be a Lady Tigers team in the near future that is this talented and is as special as this one.
The final chapter for this team has not been written. The fruit of their labor is just around the corner. Most coaches would worry about a team this good keeping their focus in the final two weeks of post-season play. But from my observation, this special group of Lady Tigers is too disciplined to have a lapse in concentration or effort in the post-season. The Lady Tigers are too disciplined and have worked too hard to let this opportunity slip by. I look for Charleston to come out strong next week in the regional tournament to secure their pathway in the state tournament, and to move toward their team goal of winning a title in Hot Springs while doing so on their home court and in front of their beloved fans.
It is a very special time for the Lady Tigers and the Charleston community. This team deserves a big turnout in Waldron next week from the Charleston fans to cheer them on to the state tournament. And as always, Resident Press will be there all the way to provide coverage of this very special group of Lady Tigers and their drive to a state championship!
Voters packed out the venue on Saturday, February 22, eager to hear from candidates on issues important to them.
The highly anticipated event, Meet the Candidates night, was co-sponsored this year by Resident Press and the Arkansas Liberty Coalition.
This year’s meeting was a town hall style forum, with the following candidates present: Judge Emily White, candidate for Arkansas Court of Appeals; District 74 State Representative (I) Jon Eubanks, District 74 Representative candidates Curtis Varnell, and Shawn Bates; Scott County JP candidate Dee Parker; District 21 State Representative Marcus Richmond (I), District 21 State Representative candidate Jim Reynolds; Circuit Judge Division VI candidates Phil Milligan, Rita Howard Watkins, and Greg Magness; Circuit Judge Division VII candidate Dianna Ladd.
Serving as moderator, Don Cloud Davis, and Timekeeper, Dan Borum, both members of the ALC.
Mansfield Mayor Buddy Black opened the forum with a welcome. An invocation followed, and lastly, the Pledge of Allegiance led by VFW Post 1345 Commander Bill Coben.
Several elected officials were also present, including Waldron Mayor David Millard, Scott County Sheriff Randy Shores, State Representative Charlene Fite, and Scott County Judge James Forbes.
The night went well-over the two hour alloted time, with pointed questions from the audience. Members listened intently as candidates and incumbents explained their position and record.
One audience member inquired about teacher pay, and the fact that small districts like Mansfield loose good teachers to other schools. Representative Eubanks responded that every year they have allocated increasingly more monies for education. Varnell followed up and stated that multiple assistants to administrators is unnecessary, and that their salaries could fund teacher raises.
Judge Forbes closed out the evening by asking, “what do we expect from our leaders? We need integrity, honesty, compassion, confidence and flexibility…The most important thing that you can do to preserve our rights and freedoms is vote.”
Roger Dale Locke Sr., 70, of Waldron Arkansas passed away February 20, 2020, with his loving wife by his side. He was born September 5, 1949, to the late Joseph Marvin Locke and Doris Maureen Caroll (Johnny) in Tahoka, Texas. He married his true love Linda Faye Merryman on March 17, 1973, for a fabulous 46 years. They were blessed with three amazing sons. Denver Harlis Locke, Roger Dale Locke Jr., and Marvin Gabe Locke.
Roger was known for so many things in his life, he was an amazing mechanic, a little league baseball coach, and an avid teacher to so many future mechanics. He had a huge heart and was always willing to lend a helping hand. If you knew nothing else of Roger Locke you knew he absolutely loved to fish, loved his wife, and loved his family. And Possibly in that VERY ORDER! There is a plaque that hangs in their humble home that says: “I have two licenses, my fishing license and my marriage license but I only carry one of them in my wallet” This explains it all! Probably the only thing he might have loved more than fishing was fishing with his grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Roger leaves behnd to cherish his memory, his wife: Linda Faye Locke of the home, son Denver Harlis Locke and wife Patricia of New Burn, North Carolina, son Roger Dale Locke Jr. and wife Melody Locke of Waldron, Arkansas and son Marvin Gabe Locke and wife Amanda Locke of Lubbock Texas. Papa will forever remain in the hearts of his 8 Grandchildren: Landon Locke, Vincent Cowan, Elizabeth Dotson and husband Dillon Dotson, Nathaniel Locke, Carol Locke, Marvin Locke, Kaleb Locke, Kayleigh Locke, and one great granddaughter Mary Elizabeth Dotson. Roger is also survived by one brother, Tommy Locke of Pie, Texas. Roger will be missed by all that knew him and the many whose lives he impacted including a large extended family, friends and neighbors he loved dearly.
He is preceded in death by his parents.
Roger’s life celebration will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, February 22, 2020 at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Jerry Isham officiating. Interment will follow in the Duncan Cemetery in Waldron, Arkansas. Arrangements are being entrusted to the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home in Waldron, Arkansas.
Roger’s pallbearers will be Jonathan Taylor, Dylan Staggs, Denver Loyd Merryman Jr., Denver Loyd Merryman Sr., Dillo Dotson, James Morgan, Warren Davis and Stewart Staggs. Honorary pallbearers will be Mike Quisenberry, Jerry Edwards and Tommy Locke. Roger’s visitation will be Saturday, February 22, 2020 from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Heritage Memorial Funeral Home. You may leave words of remembrance for Roger’s family by visiting: www.heritagememorialfh.com.
