Stories from Wednesday, August 1, 2012

EUREKA SPRINGS -- A $1,000 grand prize is being offered to the last poet standing in a free contest sponsored by the Celestial Arts Society. There are 50 prizes totaling $5,000. Poems of 21 lines or fewer on any subject and in any style will be judged by the contest director, Dr. James Cameron...

HOLIDAY ISLAND -- The Board of Commissioners heard some good news Monday about the district office roof -- the district won't have to pay for its replacement. District Manager John Kennedy said the district's insurance carrier notified him the roof is eligible for replacement under storm damage back at the same time the Fire Station #1 roof was damaged...

FAYETTEVILLE -- With harvest time not far off for many Arkansas crops, anxiety over this year's yields is expanding into next year's planting. A third of Arkansas is covered by "exceptional drought," the most intense category of dryness, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map issued late last week. The "exceptional drought" area is now three times larger than it was the week prior...

BERRYVILLE -- Farmers suffering from the effects of this summer's drought could soon receive federal assistance. The Carroll County Farm Service Agency will accept applications from Aug. 1 to Aug. 30 for the Emergency Conservation Program. Under the program, the agency will pay 90 percent of the cost of eligible projects for limited resource producers and 75 percent for other producers...

FAYETTEVILLE -- As Arkansas' drought deepens, many are finding that "you don't know what you've 'til it's gone," said John Pennington, Washington County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Exceptional and severe drought in parts of Arkansas have left some communities without water and have prompted some water systems to put water-use restrictions in place as reservoirs and other waterways become more shallow by the day...

HOLIDAY ISLAND -- The Board of Commissioners heard some good news Monday about the district office roof -- the district won't have to pay for its replacement. District Manager John Kennedy said the district's insurance carrier notified him the roof is eligible for replacement under storm damage back at the same time the Fire Station #1 roof was damaged...