Stories from Friday, February 20, 2009

City, federal agency differ on how to price work of clearing storm debris

The Arkansas Department of Information Systems (DIS) was informed at the end of January that a vendor providing secure off-site storage for electronic records and computer files was unable to locate a DIS computer tape in its inventory. The tape contained information from criminal-background checks run on approximately 807,000 people over at least 12 years...

EUREKA SPRINGS -- A variety of local citizens made a big splash last weekend in support of Special Olympics of Arkansas. Saturday morning at 11 a.m., 34 brave souls jumped into the 40-degree water of Table Rock Lake. The pledges they secured raised more than $6,300 for Special Olympics, and donations continue to come in to support this cause...

GREEN FOREST -- This city will spend $43,000 for a chipper to reduce the mountain of tree limbs at curbs. Monday night, the city council passed an emergency ordinance to waive competitive bidding on the chipper. Public Works Director Buddy Fry said the city expects to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. In the meantime, the money to buy the chipper will come from the streets budget...

Eureka Springs High School is one of 11 schools selected as 2009 Founder's Award Finalists. The Founder's Award is given annually by the EAST Initiative to the school that best shows the EAST values of teamwork, collaboration, problem solving and community involvement...

BEAVER -- After much deliberation and a site visit, town officials have decided to reopen the Beaver RV Park this year for camping, shooting for an April 1 open date. Full services will not be available, however. Meeting in council Thursday night, Mayor Mary Hill presented a hand-drawn map of the park campsites and noted the tent sites on the waterfront are so choked with mud from last year's flooding they are unusable for camping...

Funeral services for Ronnie Bell of Berryville, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Charles M. Nelson Memorial Chapel in Berryville. Mr. Bell passed away on Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, at the age of 60 years. Interment will be at the Berryville Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Nelson Funeral Service, Inc...

Emerald O. Carlson, 66, of Humboldt Kan., passed away Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009, at her home. She was born in Blue Eye, Ark., on April 21, 1942, the daughter of Joy and Clellie (Peden) Terherst. She attended schools in Blue Eye, and later earned her associate's degree in business at NCCC...

Billy G. Welch, 81, died Feb. 6, 2009. He was born in Floydada, Texas on Sept. 30, 1927. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1947 at the age of 19. He worked offshore as a marine biologist in Louisiana and New Jersey, and moved back to Texas in 1951 to help his father in the oil field trucking business...

CHARLES HENRY SUGG, formerly of Berryville, died Jan. 14, 2009, in Thousand Palms, Calif., at the age of 88. He was born Sept. 16, 1920, in Dry Fork. Henry served in the U.S. Navy, was a small business owner, a member of the Lion's Club, and served on the hospital board of directors in Berryville. He was a member of the Hope Lutheran Church in Thousand Palms...

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