Resident News Network

Paris Jr. Boys & Girls Drop Pair to Pottsville at Lamar Invitational Tournament

Sports

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2:19 pm

Paris Jr. Boys & Girls Drop Pair to Pottsville at Lamar Invitational Tournament

The Paris junior Eagles and Lady Eagles dropped their first round games Monday night at the Lamar Invitational Tournament. The Class 4A Pottsville Junior Lady Apaches gave the Junior Lady Eagles and the Junior Eagles their first losses of the young season.

Both teams, in just the second week of the new season, are working to find the right lineup combinations and rotations that the coaches will use when conference play begins. The preseason tournaments provide area teams the opportunity to play critical games early in the year to prepare them for conference play.

Paris boys basketball coach, Mike Foster was asked about his junior high team’s performance against Pottsville. Coach Foster said, “Pottsville has a very good team. The boys (Eagles) played very hard; we just had too many turnovers to win the ball game. Proud of the effort they gave.” On the night, Sam Muldrow had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Paris. Jesse Wells had 11 points and 8 rebounds, and Juan Santos had 7 points and 4 assists. The junior Eagles lost the game to Pottsville 42-35.

Paris girls basketball coach Dustin Williams emphasized the number of new players on this year’s junior Lady Eagles team. “Our new team with some fresh faces is still finding its way. We have seen ourselves win a close game (in the opening win versus County Line), and come back from an early deficit in game two to win (versus Dardanelle). In game three last night against Pottsville, we proved that we have the ability to play with anyone in the area. We are still working on getting our legs under us and we are still figuring out our new roles as a team. All of our girls now have bigger roles on this team than they did the year before. Our team is also getting use to a new offensive and defensive philosophy, as well. We are ahead of schedule than we were at this point in the season last year, but we still have a lot of room to improve.” In last night’s game versus Pottsville, Jayden Wells had 14 points and 4 rebounds. Brailey Forst had 10 poiints and 6 rebounds. The Lady Eagles reduced the lead to 4 points early in the fourth quarter but could not quite get over the hump to secure their third victory of the season. Pottsville defeated the junior Lady Eagles 45-29.

The Paris senior Lady Eagles will open play today in the Booneville Invitational Tournament. The Lady Eagles will play Prairie Grove at 4 p.m. The senior boys will also play Prairie Grove at approximately 5:30 p.m. today.

The Paris junior girls will resume play in the Lamar Invitational tournament on Wednesday with a match-up with Johnson County Westside. That game begins at 6 p.m. The junior boys will also play Westside at approximately 7 p.m.

Stay with Resident Press throughout the season for more Paris Eagles and Lady Eagles basketball coverage!

Rattler Football: Who’s Laughing Now

Sports

Megan Hecox

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10:25 am

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Everybody loves a good underdog story and this football season, the Magazine Rattlers have delivered. The Magazine community doesn’t see what all the hoopla is about though. They knew all along what their Rattlers had to offer so when Magazine won the first round of the State Playoffs 54-22 against Mineral Springs, it was the Rattlers that were left saying “Told you so!”

When it came to facing the Mineral Springs Hornets, Magazine knew they would have to bring the same intensity to the field like they had all season long and that’s just what they did. In a mind-blowing out of this world accomplishment, the Rattlers put all 54 of their points on the board in the first half of the game alone. To top it off, senior Caleb Hyatt surmounted the 3,000-yard career mark.

Hyatt also finished the game with 24 rushing touchdown yards on three of the seven Rattler touchdowns. Junior Tatum Scott overpowered the Hornets defense by rushing 88 yards from two touchdowns. Sophomore Ashton Droemer added his own three-yard rushing touchdown for the Rattlers along with a Pick 6 from junior Cameron Raggio for a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The two-point conversion kings of the night were Kobe Faughn, Xeng Yang, Kaedon Trejo, and James Haugh who helped move the Rattlers further into greatness. Now, #1 seeded Magazine (8-1) will host #2 seeded Fordyce (9-2) in what is sure to be an epic ground and pound football match-up this Friday, November 22 at 7 p.m. The winner will go on to face either Hazen or Earle in the quarterfinals.

Experts yet again, have Magazine pegged to be the underdogs. But what people are failing to understand yet again, is that the Rattlers don’t lay down for anyone let alone in their own house. So make no mistake, the Rattlers will strike first and fierce and when they do, the Redbugs will be left crawling back to Fordyce.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Scott

Mansfield Hosts All-Stars At Farm Bureau XC Race

Sports

Tammy Teague

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9:53 am

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Mansfield Hosts All-Stars At Farm Bureau XC Race

Mansfield High School took the reigns of the Farm Bureau River Valley All-Star Cross Country Meet. The invitations were sent and accepted. The races were run. The results tabulated. And, the athletes reaped all the awards.

The day that honored these decorated athletes was Saturday, November 16. On a cool crisp morning along the perimeter of Mansfield’s senior high campus, some of the best endurance runners from across the local region gathered for one more glorious race of the 2019 cross country season.

Twenty-five class 1A-4A schools scattered from across 12 different Arkansas counties were included in the search for the top 5K racers. From that pool of players, an initial list of 40 athletes (20 women and 20 men) were asked to participate. In case of conflicts with the Arkansas-Oklahoma All-Star Meet or local basketball obligations, another 40 names were submitted as possible substitutes.

Off the initial list of All-Star invites, 65% of the players made arrangements to attend. The remaining players that filled the rosters were elevated in ranked numerical order according to best 5K times throughout the season. The results were a very competitive set of two races with nearly 40 high profile distance runners.

The high level of competition was never more apparent than the results of the men’s race. Logan Myers of Mena strained into first place by a minuscule one second difference ahead of Max Linares of Subiaco.

Myers’ winning time was 17:56.4. Linares second place mark was 17:57.4. The next five runners all came under 19 minutes for the 3.1 mile equivalent course work.

“One of our all-stars confessed to me that it was really intimidating to have such high caliber athletes in one setting,” said Mansfield Tiger coach John Mackey. “There weren’t many runners entered, but they were all so very good. Just being in the lineup was quite an honor.”

The top ten finishers in the men’s race all completed the two loop course in 19 minutes and some change. Further proof, this event carried some of the best talent in the small school rankings.

“It’s a real credit to the work ethic of these local runners,” explained Mackey. “Not to many years ago, only a handful of the small school male runners broke 19 minutes. Now, it takes being under 18 minutes to reach this new level of success.”

On the women’s side, Waldron’s Maria Grano continued her assault of the trophy stand. The freshman sensation won the first race of the morning with an outstanding time of 21:17.3. That easily shed her closest competition, Maggie Gregory of Pottsville, by 1 minute 49 seconds.

Grano and seven of her Waldron Bulldog teammates all made the All-Star race fresh off their state championship run a week earlier in Hot Springs.

Mansfield’s female runners earned the second highest amount of roster spots on the All-Star list compared to their Scott County neighbor. The Lady Tigers had two first round invites in McKenzie Griffin and Faith Rainwater. They landed three more from high positions off the alternates list. Those included Darby Jones, Jadelynn Wood, and Katlynn Moore.

Griffin, at number ten, found her way to the medal stand with a time of 24:20.2. For the last month of the season, she has been the Tiger’s top runner.

Ozark’s Gillian Shultz was third at 23:17.0. Constance Richmond of Waldron (4), Ryleigh Anshutz of Waldron (5), Lindsey Ward of Paris (6), Paige Childers of Mulberry (7), Kentucky Spence of Waldron (8), and Lalei Townsend of Mulberry (9) completed the top ten medalists.

Ethan Chapman of Mansfield came into the men’s all-star race ranked as the number 16th overall small school runner. Unfortunately, the Tiger’s top product was unable to finish the race due to an undisclosed ailment during the early stages of the race.

Austin Hill of Booneville (3), Baltazr Garcia of Dardanelle (4), AJ Post of Ozark (5), Baldy Villareal of Waldron (6), Daniel Sanderson of Clarksville (7), Skylar Wrinkle of Dardanelle (8), Issac Tedder of Acorn (9), and Jacob Bristol of Subiaco (10) completed the top ten men finishers.

All the athletes were issued souvenir uniform tops, team medals, and lunch. The top ten finishers were also awarded additional race medals. The overall winners of each gender race received a statuette.

Meet director John Mackey had this to say about Saturday’s meet. “I’d like to thank Roger Thompson and Shane Medford, a couple of our local Farm Bureau Insurance agents, for affording us the opportunity to host to this event. I also want to thank all the volunteers that made this event special for the athletes. You all did amazing in my unexpected absence. Thank you.”

XC-track-FB — Mansfield All-Stars Katlynn Moore, Jadelynn Wood, McKenzie Griffin, Faith Rainwater, Darby Jones, and Ethan Chapman.

Board Approves Early and Absentee Voting For March Election

News

Tammy Teague

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9:41 am

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Board Approves Early and Absentee Voting For March Election

The Mansfield School Board met on Monday evening, November 18. All members were present, including Rick Nicodemus, Mark Barton, Michael Gipson, Dewayne Ward and Trent Hayslip. Also present Secretary Carol Reano and Superintendent Joe Staton.

After being called to order at 6 p.m., members of the board approved the consent agenda items as presented.

Next on the agenda, the resignation of a bus driver. A motion was made by Gipson and seconded by Hayslip to accept the retirement resignation of bus driver James Williams, effective November 30, 2019. The motion passed unanimously.

Staton recommended that the board approve the Resolution for Local Support of the 2018/19 6-Year Master Plan and 2021-2023 Funding Cycle Partnership Program Application. A motion was made by Nicodemus and seconded by Ward to approve the resolution. The motion passed unanimously.

A motion was made by Nicodemus and seconded by Barton, to approve Staton’s recommendation for early and absentee voting for the uncontested March school board election. The motion passed unanimously.

Staton recommended that the board terminate the contract with financial advisor, Stephen’s Inc., when the term is expired in order to pursue other options. Barton made the motion to move forward with the termination, Hayslip seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Lastly, Staton reviewed the financial and child nutrition reports for the district. He discussed the issue with the boiler and needed repairs. Additionally, that the fence at the baseball field had been repaired.

With no other items of business, the meeting of the Mansfield School Board was adjourned.

Jr Dogs Split The Columns At Invitational

Sports

Megan Hecox

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8:51 am

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Jr Dogs Split The Columns At Invitational

The Junior Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs traveled to Ozark this past Saturday for the first round of the 2019 Priority Bank Junior Invitational. The Lady Bulldogs started the action against the Lady Dragons from Mountainburg. The Lady Dogs battled all game but ended with a five-point, 19-25, loss. The Lady Dogs were led in scoring by ninth-grader Peyton Boyd who finished the game with six points. With 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, Vivian Holmes, also a freshman, hit a lay-up and got fouled to bring the game to a one-point difference, but Waldron never could quite take the lead. “Coach Brown and I were so proud of the girls,” expressed Coach Atchley. “They battled the whole game but just came up a little short. They have already dealt with some adversity this season and have responded nicely so far. Hopefully, we can continue building and improving as the year goes on.”

The Junior Bulldogs also matched up with the Mountainburg Dragons to start the tournament, and after a bit of a slow start, pulled away to secure an impressive 67 to 30 victory. The Dogs jumped out to an early 14 to 5 lead after a Peyton Lipham bucket at the first-quarter buzzer. Behind shooting 8 for 10 from the 3 point line in the 2nd half, the Bulldogs extended their lead. Freshman Lidge Stinson finished with 14 points and four rebounds and Trevor Hunt added 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. “We have a chance to play for championships this season if we can work on our games throughout the year. We want to really focus on doing our own jobs, and the wins should take care of themselves.”

The next games for the Junior Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs will be at home against Magazine on Tuesday, November 19th starting at 4:00 p.m.

Millions of Shad Stocked in Arkansas Lakes to Benefit Bass and Other Sport Fish

Outdoors

Tammy Teague

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6:17 pm

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Millions of Shad Stocked in Arkansas Lakes to Benefit Bass and Other Sport Fish

LITTLE ROCK — While fall temperatures are driving most anglers indoors or to the deer woods, staff at Arkansas Game and Fish Commission hatcheries throughout the state are still going full bore to improve future fishing conditions for anglers. More than 4 million threadfin shad have been raised in hatchery locations and nursery ponds throughout the year, and most of those shad have been released into Arkansas lakes in the last month.

Threadfin shad are a favorite forage of many game fish such as bass, walleye and crappie. While plentiful in many lakes, these oily morsels can be in short supply if the predator/prey relationship in a body of water is thrown out of balance.

“There is no silver bullet for improving populations of sportfish,” said Ben Batten, AGFC Chief of Fisheries. “All lakes go in cycles, and our role as fisheries managers is to monitor those fluctuations and use the tools that we have to improve things as necessary and where we can.

“We often hear people ask for increased stockings of largemouth bass, crappie and other sport fish, but in truth, most lakes that have good habitat in Arkansas have healthy bass spawns that can produce more fingerling bass in a lake than we could in our entire hatchery system. By stocking threadfin shad in lakes where we believe forage levels are low, we’re trying to help by adding to the food in the lake.”

Raising forage species is not new for AGFC hatcheries. Fathead minnows and golden shiners are raised to feed fish in nursery ponds and occasionally stock in smaller bodies of water. Bluegill and redear sunfish also are raised in hatcheries for anglers but also are important food sources for large predator fish. Shad are a relatively new challenge for the hatcheries to tackle.

“We started production of threadfins in 2016,” said Tommy Laird, AGFC Assistant Chief of Fish Culture. “It’s been a big challenge, but we’re adapting and learning how to be more efficient every year.”

Laird says last winter, hatcheries brought in 775 pounds of shad to use as brood stock to begin this season. By the time the last shad was stocked, more than 4 million fish had been raised to supply lakes throughout the state.

“We stocked shad in lakes as large as Bull Shoals, Greers Ferry and Beaver Lake to as small as Terre Noire Lake on (Rick Evans) Grandview (Prairie) WMA and Mallard Lake near Manilla,” Laird said. “Maumelle, Hinkle, Ashbaugh, Cargile, Barnett, Columbia, Sugarloaf, Lake Charles, Lower Lake Hogue and South Fork Lake on Grandview also saw shad stockings this year. DeGray was our highest priority for any surplus fish we produced as well.”

Highland impoundments such as Beaver, Maumelle and Greers Ferry can be very infertile, which causes slow growth rates in fish. The boost to the food chain through the stockings can help those lakes.

“Not only do we want to put these shad out as food, which is helpful, but the hope is that more importantly, the fish that survive will act as broodstock,” Batten said. “That will increase the next generation of shad during the next spawning cycle.”

The last of the shad stockings was completed last Friday, just as Old Man Winter announced his first arrival into the state with some frosty mornings.

“We worked very hard to get all of the shad out of our ponds and to their destinations before the freezing weather,” Laird said. “Shad are delicate and can be very susceptible to extreme temperatures. We wait until cooler weather to transport them because they can’t stand extreme heat, but we have to get them moved before the cold catches up to us and adds stress that can kill them.”

Laird says staff also kept hundreds of pounds of adult shad in outdoor ponds or in tanks indoors to be used for next year’s production.

“If we can keep them in the outdoor ponds, they actually have a better survival rate if we don’t get too hard of a freeze,” Laird said. “But we also bring some inside to overwinter. The additional handling decreases survival, but it’s good insurance against a hard freeze on the ponds that could kill the shad stored outside.”

Sebastian and Scott County Candidates File for Office

Tammy Teague

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6:08 pm

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The following candidates have filed to be on the ballot for the March 3, 2020 Preferential Primary Election.

SEBASTIAN COUNTY:

Justice of the Peace District 1
Johnny Hobbs JP District 1 (R)
Justice of the Peace District 2
Jackie C. Davis JP #2 (R)
Justice of the Peace District 3
Shawn Looper (R)
Justice of the Peace District 4
James W Butler JP IV (R)
Justice of the Peace District 5
JP#5 John Spradlin (R)
Justice of the Peace District 6
J.P. Danny Aldridge (R)
Justice of the Peace District 7
JP 7 Jim Medley (R)
William Whitfield Hyman (L)
Justice of the Peace District 8
Valeria J Robinson (D)
Justice of the Peace District 9
Rhonda Royal (D)
Justice of the Peace District 10
Dickie L Robertson (D)
Justice of the Peace District 11
Linda Willsey Murry (D)
Zach Mulson (L)
Justice of the Peace District 12
Rebekah Schwartz (R)
Jo Elsken (D)
Justice of the Peace District 13
Brian Leach (L)
Lorrie Ann Glidewell Runion (R)
Susan Marie Simkowski (D)
Constable Position 1
Paul K Teel (R)
Constable Position 2
Steve Wiley Constable (R)
Constable Position 3
Tommy Hoopengarner (D)
Constable Position 4
Constable William Justin Hayes (R)
Constable Upper Township
Constable Upper Township Paul Foley (R)

School Board
Fort Smith Zone III, Position 7
Dee Blackwell
Fort Smith at Large, Position 2
J. Dalton Person
Greenwood, Position 3
Jeffrey B. Turner
Lavaca, Position 4
Tricia Leigh May
Mansfield, Position 1
Lesli Baggett

SCOTT COUNTY:

J.P. District 1
*Bobby Hattabaugh (R)
J.P. District 2
Melvin “Dee” Parker (R)
J.P. District 5
*Tom Wagner (D)
J.P. District 7
*John E. Luttrell (R)
J.P. District 9
*Larry (Bear) Brigance (D)
Constable Hickman Wards
*Lyndy Holland (D)
Constable James
*Windell Hale (D)
Constable Lamb
*Rick Powell (D)
Constable Tomlinson
*Jerry Traylor (D)

*-denotes incumbent

DYS Deputy Director Calls for Change at MJTC

Tammy Teague

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2:50 pm

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DYS Deputy Director Calls for Change at MJTC

Division of Youth Services Deputy Director Glen Holt was onsite at the Mansfield Juvenile Treatment Center on Monday morning, November 18. Atop the agenda, a review of protocols and training.

Holt, along with staff members of Youth Opportunity Investments, fencing contractors and Captain Philip Pevehouse with the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office walked the perimeter of the facility looking for ways to improve safety and security at the facility.

“They wrote down things that need to be done,” shared Pevehouse. “I am hopeful things are going to get better.”

Senator Terry Rice stated that a review of protocols, adjustments, augmentation in certain areas of the new fencing, and additional training are all part of stated improvements to help deter escapes. “Even though the new fence is now in place, I have requested to know the estimated completion time on the additional enhancements,” Rice added.

Members of the Community Advisory Board, which was formed by YOI to improve community relations, will meet on Tuesday evening, November 19. Members of that board include Mansfield Mayor Buddy Black, Huntington Mayor Gary Lawrence, Waldron Mayor David Millard, Mansfield Alderman Rick McDaniel and local businessman Shawn Silvey.

Cothran Adds Confidence And Respect To Tiger Football Program

Sports

Megan Hecox

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12:10 pm

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Cothran Adds Confidence And Respect To Tiger Football Program

With his first football season under his belt as the Head Coach for the Mansfield Tigers, Coach Tim Cothran has given the program a refreshing face-lift. Mansfield recently ended their football season with a 7-4 total season record, a 4-3 conference record, and made it to the first round of the State Playoffs. The Tigers concluded with a total of 3764 yards, 55 touchdowns, 24 sacks, 399 points, and numerous other memorable plays. But its not always the stats that define a team. Sometimes, it’s also their leader.

One Tiger parent had this to say about Coach Cothran. “Tim is a breath of fresh air for our kids and our community. He is the perfect combination when it comes to coaching. On one hand, Coach Cothran is firm and holds the kids accountable for their behaviors and on the other hand, he is supportive, patiently guiding these kids down the right path in life. He shows up to every practice and game from Little League up and wears many hats while holding an overflowing plate. But what really seals the deal about Coach Cothran, is that you will never hear this man complain. Instead, he continues to bend over backward for everyone around him and does it with a smile on his face.”

Coach Cothran is not only building a program but he is also building upstanding citizens to unleash on the world. “It’s hard to say goodbye to your seniors. Always.,” expressed Cothran. “But this special group of young men, I have watched grow up since the 6th grade when they won the Little League Championship. Their picture is still in the trophy case at the middle school. Rarely does a school our size get to enjoy such a large senior class, but we did this year.”

“Couple that with the fact that my own son is in this group makes it especially hard. We didn’t finish the season the way we wanted, but only one team gets to complete that goal. We played great and exciting football. We had lots of fun. Too many memories to recall, so many that will last a lifetime. Whether it was the big bombs, the punishing hits, or the highlight reel catches, they are all burned in our memories for a lifetime. It is hard to say goodbye.”

“Our goal for the future is to keep making the playoffs and to keep pushing our expectations higher until we are a championship-caliber team. Playing with heart and purpose has to become the norm. If we will play with desire, everything else takes care of itself. We have some good kids moving forward and I still expect that Tiger football will be exciting and fun to watch. We have got to honor this year’s seniors by raising the bar and not accepting anything but success.”

Coach Cothran and son Isaac on Senior Night

Godwins Featured in Hometown Highlight

Networks

Tammy Teague

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11:22 am

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Tucked away on a quiet side street in the City of Mansfield, a couple whose heart is centered around faith, family and their community.

Sam and Peggy Godwin have been married 66 years. Together they have four children, seven grandchildren and seventeen great-grand children. Throughout the years, and any sport imaginable, you could always find Sam and Peggy faithfully cheering each of them on. Not just in the world of sports, but also in life. This patriarch and matriarch are the stronghold of their family.

The couple live near their home church, Mansfield First Baptist. They have been devoted members, serving in multiple capacities throughout the years.

The Godwins quietly serve, without a call to recognition or favor. They see needs of their brothers, sisters and community members and respond, sharing and demonstrating the love of Christ.

Sam and Peggy are shining examples for each of us, strong in faith, dedicated to family and community. Most importantly, they show their love through action and deed.

It is with great honor to feature the Godwins in this month’s Hometown Highlight. If you know of an ordinary citizen doing extraordinary things, we want to feature them! Email us your nomination!

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