Resident News Network

Sebastian County Conservation District Reaches New Heights with Drone Capabilites

Outdoors

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7:02 pm

Sebastian County Conservation District Reaches New Heights with Drone Capabilites

The Sebastian County Conservation District has acquired a state of the art drone, making it the first Conservation Districts in the state of Arkansas to fly this upscale technology. The district also has two newly licensed FAA commercial pilots with Part 107 certification, Harrison Sears and William Baggett. The drone will enhance the capabilities of the Conservation District by utilizing it with farmers and landowners. The drone will be used to enhance forage improvement by doing pasture surveys, forestry surveys, and monitor the spread of invasive plants. The drone also has the ability to create current maps of land and pastures that can benefit farmers and landowners alike.

The drone’s state of the art capabilities include the ability to shoot 5.2K in 30 frames per second and 4K in 60 frames per second. It also has an anti-collision feature and is one of the only drones that is omnidirectional gimble. The drone can also be used for marketing and promotion of the Sebastian County Conservation District various projects, as well as for other Conservation Districts across the state. The new uses of the drone are limitless when it comes to conservation in Sebastian County and across the state.

Reynolds Announces Candidacy for District 21 State Representative

Tammy Teague

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6:31 pm

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Reynolds Announces Candidacy for District 21 State Representative

Jim Reynolds, a Republican, has announced his candidacy for District 21 State Representative. Reynolds resides in the Excelsior Community near Greenwood and owns an advertising business. He retired from education after 25 years with experience in several school districts, including Hackett and Mansfield in which all or part is included in District 21. Reynolds and Melissa, his wife of 29 years, have one daughter Laura Elizabeth. Reynolds stated, “I have wanted to run ever since I retired from education. I realized that I needed to gain experience working at my business and learn the challenges that business owners faced. I am better prepared to represent District 21 constituents because of that experience.”

District 21 is the second largest district in the state. It covers the southwest portion of Sebastian County, most of Scott County, northern Polk, Montgomery and Garland County, southern Perry and Yell County. This includes southern Fort Smith, Jenny Lind, Hackett, Hartford, Huntington, the area around Mansfield, Waldron, Acorn and Jessieville. Jim Reynolds, stated, “I have been all over this area as part of my radio show for ten years and also on the yellow bus during my coaching career. I have met many people in the district over the years and now I want to serve them as their State Representative. I will listen to their needs and do what is best for District 21.”

Reynolds started an outdoor radio program in 2007 while he was teaching and coaching full-time. He broadened his work in radio into an advertising agency which is now located in Greenwood, Arkansas. Part of his campaign platform will be to promote issues that are conducive to small business growth, to listen to teachers and their needs to address problems in education and to build a support system for new teachers. He will protect our 2ndamendment rights and will promote our tourism industrythrough advocacy for the outdoors. He is a strong advocate for agricultural, technical and vocational issues as well. “I have areas that I believe need to be addressed. However, I will listen to the needs of the residents of District 21, prioritize them and develop a plan to implement them.” Reynolds said. Jim Reynolds is a lifetime fishing and hunting license holder. He also holds Lifetime memberships in the NRA, South Sebastian County Retired Teachers Association, and the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association (ARTA). Jim is the Area I Director for ARTA over Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Logan, Polk, Pope, Scott, Sebastian and Yell Counties. He also has a Lifetime pass through the Arkansas High School Coaches Association. Finally, Jim also holds a Lifetime Teacher and Administrators License.“I’ve had people ask me when I was going to run for office. I prayed about it, talked with my family and decided now was the time. I understand there are many things I’ll have to learn, but I’ve always been very adaptable,” Reynolds stated.

Candidate filing for partisan office begins at noon, Nov. 4 and ends at noon, Nov. 12, 2019. Partisan primaries in Arkansas are the first Tuesday in March during presidential election years, setting next year’s primary for March 3, 2020. Early voting will start February 18, 2020. Candidate filing for partisan office begins at noon, Nov. 4 and ends at noon, Nov. 12, 2019.

Sr Rattlers Deliver The Pain To Hackett Hornets

Sports

Megan Hecox

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1:28 pm

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Sr Rattlers Deliver The Pain To Hackett Hornets

Photos courtesy of LaWaynea Cox

In their first conference game of the season, the Magazine Rattlers delivered a huge upset to the Hackett Hornets in their own territory. The Sr High Rattlers marched onto the field ready to strike at any opponent that came their way. After falling short by one point to Cutter-Morning Star in last weeks game, Magazine was fighting mad and determined to take this win. After the dust had settled, the Rattlers walked away beaming with a 44-14 victory.

Tatum Scott was first to set the field on fire with a 55-yard hotfoot scramble downfield for a touchdown. The Rattlers had now set the tone of the game paving the way for more TD madness. Caleb Hyatt dominated next with a 15-yard run for a touchdown and the board lit up to read 16-0 Magazine. Scott put up one more touchdown with a 27-yard run and the game was sent to halftime 22-8 Rattlers.

The second half of the game showed the same intensity from Magazine as Scott would throw down two more touchdowns for the books within minutes of the start of the third quarter. With the score showing 38-8 Rattlers, Magazine just wasn’t happy with those numbers yet. Kaedon Trejo got Rattler fans on their feet with a massive 60-yard run in which Hyatt then came in to deliver one more Magazine touchdown allowing the Rattlers to close down shop with 44 points on the game.

With their impressive win, Magazine looks to keep the momentum going after this weeks bye week. The Rattlers will hit the road to take on the Hector Wildcats on October 11 at 7 p.m.

The Rematch: Paris Travels to Charleston for Critical District Volleyball Match

Sports

Resident News Network

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1:05 pm

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The Rematch: Paris Travels to Charleston for Critical District Volleyball Match

It seems like a long time ago that the Charleston Lady Tigers traveled to Paris to face the defending Class 3A champions. That night, September 5, the Paris Lady Eagles made quick work of Charleston, sweeping the Lady Tigers in an awesome display of power volleyball. That night, Charleston had no answers for the big and imposing front line of Paris. The rematch will be played in Charleston Tuesday night, October 1.

A lot of things have happened since that night in Paris. The Lady Eagles are now 18-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play. In short, it has been Paris and everybody else in the conference. Charleston has not lost a set since that night. The Lady Tigers (11-1, 7-1) are in second place in the district with their only loss being to Paris. Paris suffered their only loss this past weekend in tournament play vs. class 5A Hot Springs Lakeside.

Paris is ranked number one in Arkansas in class 3A, according to Max Preps. Overall, Paris is ranked 10th in Arkansas across all classifications. Charleston will enter the game ranked 6th in class 3A and 27th across all classifications in the state.

This match is important to both schools for different reasons. For Paris, the Lady Eagles want to get back on the winning track and assert their dominance as the conference season winds down and into the district tournament. Barring extraordinary events, the Lady Eagles should be the number one seed in the district tournament and have themselves in a position to be a high seed going into the state tournament. Paris is hosting the first three rounds of the state tournament, and that is a huge advantage to play in front of the home crowd, not to have to travel, and for their players to stay in their routines of sleeping at home and having access to their facilities. An upset loss to Charleston on Tuesday would not end all of this, but it would make things a little more interesting going down to the finish line of the conference season.

For Charleston, this may be the biggest match of its short program history to date. This year’s senior class wants to extend the successes of the past few years and take the program to new heights. In short, if you want to be the man, you have to beat the man. And nobody in the conference so far has found a way to dethrone Paris. An upset win over Paris would bring both schools into a tie in the loss columns in conference play. It would keep Charleston alive for a possible share or outright conference championship. It would virtually assure the Lady Tigers of no less than a two seed in the district tournament, barring a let down against another school in the second half of the conference season. In a big picture sense, it would show the rest of the conference that Paris is beatable; a significant psychological improvement over the feeling of Paris invincibility when teams play Paris.

With just a few weeks remaining before the district tournament, both coaches are working to have their teams playing their best volleyball. As the season progresses, injuries become a factor. Paris is adjusting to injuries over the past week, and this could make the match in Charleston more competitive.

Mix all of this in with the fact that this is an intense rivalry for both schools, no matter what the sport, and it should be a great night of volleyball. For Charleston, they must show up mentally in better shape than when they last played in Paris. For Paris, they must overcome the shock of a surprise loss over the weekend, as well as some key injuries.

Sr Bulldogs Bogged Down By Elks

Sports

Megan Hecox

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12:26 pm

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Although Friday nights football game wasn’t quite the outcome that the Waldron Sr High Bulldogs had hoped for, they fought hard and pushed through until the bitter end. The Bulldogs ended the night with a 36-16 loss to the Elkins Elks. Waldron may sit 0-1 in conference play and 0-4 in season play but don’t expect them to hang up their cleats anytime soon. The Bulldogs still have a ton of fight left in them.

By the end of the third quarter, Waldron had yet to put points up. And just when it looked like things were over for the Bulldogs, Isaac Villarreal was on target catching a pass from Braden Williams and running it in for a massive 62-yard touchdown. Ruben Valdez added the extra two-point conversion and Waldron was on the board with eight points. With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs weren’t ready to call it quits. Williams connected with Seth Hunt for another Bulldog touchdown with Gabino Grano scoring the extra two points and closing out the game.

Quarterback, Braden Williams, finished the night completing 11 passes for 134 yards and scoring nine tackles. Grano earned a 22-yard reception. Carson Cain had two receptions for 14 yards and Hunt snagged four receptions for 26 yards. Defensively, Matthew Tegtmeyer led the team with 11 tackles out of 45 total team tackles. Bradley Smith followed with five and Bryson Bailey netted four.

Up next on the schedule the Bulldogs will host the 4-0 Dardanelle Sand Lizards on October 4 at 7 p.m.

Photo by Sandy Tull

LL Tigers Declaw West Fork

Sports

Megan Hecox

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10:53 am

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Pictured is Colton Nelson

The Mansfield Little League Tigers held their Homecoming festivities on Saturday, September 28th as they played the West Fork Tigers for a Big Cat competition. It was a tale of two Tigers as Red and White clashed with Black and Gold. Only one Tiger could reign supreme and Mansfield took that challenge seriously.

The Mansfield 3rd and 4th grade started the night off with a 30-0 rout of West Fork. The Tigers struck early and often with Colton Nelson, Colton Moore, Trevin Hattabaugh, and Lincoln Allison eating up yards and touchdowns throughout the game. It was a pass, pitch, and run offensive showcase that kept the scoreboard lights hot. Defensively, Mansfield clawed their way into the West Fork backfield and shut down every attempt made by players wearing black and gold. The 3rd and 4th grade Tiger defense ended up issuing their second shutout of the season.

The Tigers 5th and 6th grade set out to make a point that they are a head above the rest as they ran over West Fork dominating with a 38-16 victory. Dawson Robinson exploded out of the backfield right off the bat to put the Tigers on the board and set the game up from there. The Tigers offense was firing on all cylinders as Ethan Martin, Keaton Oliver, Cordell Stone, Dominic Shores, and James Bausley all contributed to Mansfield’s ground and pound attack.

Cooper Edwards fired a laser pass to Junior Cash for a touchdown to prove to opponents that Mansfield is very capable of a balanced offense. Not to be outdone, the Mansfield defense cut through West Forks offense like a hot knife through butter putting pressure on the black and gold Tigers all night. It was the beef upfront on the D-Line that shut down West Forks attempts at making it a game.

The Mansfield Little League Tigers were able to get all players on both teams plenty of playing time Saturday night. This will help give the Tigers more experience and depth as Mansfield enters the second half of the WCFL season. Mansfield will host the Lavaca Golden Arrows on Saturday, October 5^th with games starting at 6 p.m. The Tigers will also be celebrating 6^th Grade appreciation night on October 5th as well.

Hackett LL Iceberg Crushes Pirates

Sports

Megan Hecox

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10:26 am

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On Saturday, September 28th the Hackett Little League Hornets celebrated their Homecoming and hosted the Greenland Pirates. Everyone knows that you can’t lose on your homecoming and the Hornets made sure that didn’t happen as they issued the Pirates a double dose of defeat.

The 3rd and 4th grade Hornets kicked things off with a battle of the wills. The Hornets struck first to take an 8-0 lead in the first half, but it was a defensive battle from there. Both Hackett and Greenland traded shots not giving each other’s offense any breathing room to open up the game. Hackett’s first half score was the only time either team lit up the scoreboard in the game, but that was all the Hornets needed for the 8-0 victory.

Hackett 3rd and 4th grade coach, Nick Holbert said “It was another tough defensive standoff. We were able to drive and score in the first half, but after that, we couldn’t punch it in against Greenland’s tough defense. We were able to stand our ground defensively and keep them out of the end zone. It was a hard-fought fun game to coach.”

Hackett’s 5th and 6th grade team opened up the playbook on Greenland as they sent offensive title waves at the Pirates all night. The Hornets speed tore through Greenland’s defense with precision and ease for most of the game. The Hackett defense didn’t take any prisoners as they crashed into the backfield chopping down the Pirates at every snap. Hackett finished off Greenland with an impressive final score of 28-0.

The Hornets are in a familiar winning form right now. Halfway through the season, Hackett’s 3rd and 4th grade is sitting at a tie for the #1 Seed in the WCFL Playoffs and the 5th and 6th grade is tied for the #2 Seed in the WCFL Playoffs. Although Hackett has a bye week on October 5^th, the Hornets will hone in their skills and play the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club in nonconference play on October 5^th. On October 12th, the Hornets will fire conference play back up as they travel to Lavaca to square off against the Golden Arrows starting at 6 p.m.

Jr Tigers Put The Brakes On West Fork

Sports

Megan Hecox

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9:56 am

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Bringing in their second win of the season, the Mansfield Jr High Tigers are feeling good. In Thursday nights away game against the West Fork Tigers, Mansfield came prepared for a battle. After securing their first win the week before against Paris, the Tigers were determined to keep those good vibes going. West Fork definitely gave the Tigers a run for their money but after staying focused and capitalizing on West Forks miscues, Mansfield took the win 20-14. The win upgrades the Tigers record to 2-3 on the season.

The first quarter had both teams on top of their defensive game. Mansfield and West Fork took turns shutting down each others plays leaving the scoreboard reading 0-0. Mansfield was first to put points up when Peyton Martin caught a Fisher Willsey pass and ran the ball in for a 25-yard touchdown moving the score to 6-0 Mansfield.

West Fork returned the favor by adding their own touchdown to the board but Mansfield wasn’t having it. Tyler Turnipseed caught a Willsey pass for another Tiger touchdown coupled with the two-point conversion and the score was set to 14-6 at halftime. The start of the third quarter had West Fork looking like they were going to score. When out of nowhere, Austin Quinalty swooped in like a thief in the night stealing West Forks fumbled ball and taking it in for a 31-yard Tiger touchdown.

The Jr High Tigers ended the game with 163 total yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback, Fisher Willsey, completed 12 passes for 155 yards. Caleb Collier achieved four rushes for seven yards. Drew Elmore obtained six receptions for 89 yards. And Logan Cravey caught two receptions for 25 yards along with a fumble recovery. The Mansfield Tigers are looking forward to their next game when they get to face the Greenland Pirates at home on October 3 at 7 p.m.

Jr Lady Hornets Aren’t Messing Around

Sports

Megan Hecox

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9:37 am

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The Hackett Jr High Lady Hornets dominated with three straight wins in last weeks volleyball matches. The Lady Hornets took on the Booneville Lady Bearcats, the Eureka Springs Lady Highlanders, and the Mulberry Lady Yellowjackets. Hackett held all three of their opponents at the net allowing the Lady Hornets to keep total control. The Jr High squad now sits undefeated 9-0 in conference play and 11-1 on the season.

During their match against Booneville, Makenzie Freeman led her team with five aces while Mackenzie Mendenhall followed with four. In the kills department, Alona Rothwell earned five, Prairie Vaughn totaled four, and both Lilly Slavens and Abby McBride secured two. Mendenhall and Vaughn made 10 and three assists respectively. And digging their way to China was McBride with eight digs and Freeman with four.

After overpowering Eureka Springs, the Lady Hornets ended their sets 25-7 and 25-8. Mendenhall came out on top with six aces while Tori Blanton and Rothwell made five and four. With a total of 10 kills were Rothwell, Mendenhall, and McBride with Rothwell also earning two blocks. And helping with assists was Vaughn with five and Mendenhall with four.

Ending their very productive week against Mulberry, the Lady Hornets tallied some great success. Alona Rothwell grabbed eight aces, Lexie Gann had three and coming in with two apiece was Mendenhall, Blanton, Slavens, and Hannah Fox. Slavens earned four kills while Makenzie Freeman and Teonna Best totaled for four. And assisting with the win was Mendenhall with five assists, Vaughn with three, and Kyleigh Hill with two assists and one dig.

The Jr High Lady Hornets will again hit the road and take their determination and supreme volleyball skills to West Fork on September 30 starting at 4 p.m.

Tigers Seek Second Conference Win at Cedarville

Sports

Resident News Network

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4:18 pm

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Tigers Seek Second Conference Win at Cedarville

There is no question that Friday night’s conference victory over Greenland was a huge win for Charleston. But now, it is time for the Tigers to focus on a very good Cedarville Pirates team in week two of the conference season. The Tigers will travel to Cedarville Friday night for what should be some old fashioned, physical football.

If you are a football purest who loves teams that run the football, this game is for you. Both Cedarville (4-0, 1-0) and Charleston (1-3, 1-0) love to run the football. This game does not promise to be a game where both teams will be throwing it all over the place for three plus hours.

At the time of publication, statistics were not available for Cedarville’s win over Lamar. The statistics in this article encompass the first three games of the season for Cedarville.

Cedarville is undefeated and is ranked 12th in Class 3A according to Max Preps. Across all classifications, Cedarville is ranked 74th in Arkansas. Charleston, after its win against Greenland, is ranked 20th in Class 3A, and 109th across all classifications in the state. Cedarville’s win over Lamar last week dropped the Warriors to 13th in Class 3A. Charleston’s win over Greenland dropped Greenland to 22nd in Class 3A.

Cedarville runs the football, and they run it well. In their first three games, the Pirates ran the ball an average of 446.0 yards per game. Passing, Cedarville averaged 35.3 yards per game and had one touchdown. Their passing completion percentage through three games was 39 percent.

Cedarville’s vaunted rushing attack is led by sophomore running back Daryl Kattich. In the first three games, Kattich ran for 409 yards on 25 rushes. He averaged 16.4 yards per carry. For three games, Kattich has averaged 136 yards per game.

Joining Kattich in the backfield is junior Kelin Mitchell. Mitchell, in his first three games, has rushed for 379 yards on 23 carries. He averages 16.5 yards per rush and 126.3 yards per game. The backfield duo of underclassmen Kattich and Mitchell gives the Pirates a potent 1-2 punch in the backfield that will be strong not only this year but next, as well. Charleston coach Ricky May knows stopping or slowing the Cedarville ground attack will be a key to victory for the Tigers. “They have two really good running backs. Right now, nobody has stopped them. Our front (defensive line and linebackers) have been playing good. They can definitely hurt you if you are not reading your keys.” Charleston will need their defensive front to play a great game to have a chance to win at Cedarville. Stopping the run game, along with being ready for the occasional play action pass will be critical for the Tigers.

When you can run the ball as effectively as Cedarville there is not much of a need to pass. And the statistics are very telling. The Cedarville offense, in its first three games, passed the ball for just 106 yards on 13 attempts. The Pirates completed 5 of 13 attempts total in their first three games. They averaged 21.2 yards per completion. Cedarville had one pass for a touchdown in the first three games. Cedarville’s passing has been split between senior Calloway Henslee and sophomore Cody Dickens. Henslee has thrown for 74 yards on five attempts. He has completed 3 of 5 passes and has averaged 24.7 yards per pass. Dickens has passed for 32 yards on seven attempts. He has completed 2 of 7 passes for 16.0 yards per pass.

At publication time, defensive stats for Cedarville were not available.

Friday night’s game should be a test of wills. Cedarville wants to run the football, and it will be up to the Charleston defensive line and its linebackers to slow down or possibly stop the Pirates’ ground attack. Charleston’s strong point all season has been the front end of its defense, so it appears to be a game of strength versus strength.

As the Tigers prepare for Cedarville, both schools know the importance of the game with respect to standings in conference play. With both schools having games with Booneville and Mansfield later in the schedule, the importance of this game is magnified. Both schools won important week one conference games and earned a one game lead on half of the conference.

After week one of the conference season, the standings in district 3A-1 are:

Booneville 1-0

Cedarville 1-0

Charleston 1-0

Mansfield 1-0

Greenland 0-1

Lamar 0-1

Paris 0-1

West Fork 0-1

The Tigers have entered a crucial three game stretch that began last week with Greenland and will include this week’s game at Cedarville, and a home match with Mansfield on October 11. “Greenland, Cedarville, and Mansfield in a row is pretty tough. But if you come out of there and can win those games you are sitting really good.”

There is nothing like a win at home, particularly on homecoming night, to turn a season around. No one (injured players) reported to the coaches on Saturday following the Greenland game to get treatment for any possible injuries. The Tigers are riding the euphoria of a great win and are ready to go back to work on Monday. “I think they (Tigers players) are higher than they have been. We are expecting them to come in on Monday ready to go, fired up and ready to get it going.”

Consistency will be a key for the Tigers this week. Now that they have had a taste of victory this season, the team’s maturity will be tested in how they go back to practice to prepare for Cedarville. They have to forget last Friday night and focus on the 12th ranked team in Class 3A. I am sure that none of the players or coaches want to lose everything that was gained in the Greenland win. Conversely, a follow-up win this week in Cedarville puts Charleston in great position to make the playoffs.

It will be up to the coaches and the seniors on this team to keep the team focused on Cedarville and to approach this week in practice like they did against Greenland. From my observation this year, this should not be a problem. As I stated in yesterday’s article, this is a tough, hard-working team that plays their guts out every Friday night. And that is what I expect the Tigers to do.

Friday’s game will not be for the faint of heart. The pads will be popping all night. It will be good old fashioned football. It won’t be pretty, but it will be a hard hitting game between two teams who will attempt to impose their will on the other to run the football. Don’t be surprised if this game turns on a surprise play or a turnover.

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