Stories from Friday, December 21, 2012

HOLIDAY ISLAND -- Holiday Island will soon become embroiled in a third lawsuit, as the Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to direct the district manager to proceed to sue the county. In his report to the board, District Manager Gerald Hartley said he had received a letter from Carroll County Tax Assessor Jo Ann Harris. The district has been in dispute with Harris over whether it owes property taxes on quit-claimed and foreclosed lots, which number in the hundreds at this point...

HOLIDAY ISLAND -- HISID attorney Matt Bishop turned out to be wrong when he petitioned the Western District Court in November for formal mediation in the matter of two lawsuits against HISID. After a first failed attempt at informal settlement in October, he wrote to Judge G. Kent Crow that a "trained mediator is typically able to overcome" the squabbles that prevented settlement the first time...

BERRYVILLE -- Berryville Middle School and High School failed to adequately improve students' standardized test scores last school year, school board members learned Monday night. The information was one finding of a report delivered by Testing Coordinator Patricia Connor, who also handed in her letter of resignation at the meeting --she is accepting a position with the Arkansas Department of Education...

BERRYVILLE -- In a City Council meeting dominated by discussion of sound budgets and safe routes to school, Police Chief Dave Muniz took a moment Tuesday night to address this week's school shooting in Newtown, Conn. During his monthly report, Muniz said he knew the subject was weighing on people's hearts and wanted the public to know his officers were well-equipped to cope with similar crises...

HOLIDAY ISLAND -- Whether the term "domestic partner" stays in a draft of a regulation governing the use of amenities at Holiday Island remains to be seen, but it represents a change from how the historically conservative community has viewed families and households...

The following people were booked into the Carroll County Detention Center between Dec. 13 and Dec. 19 and charged with the following crimes for which they have not yet been tried: Dec. 13 Michael Anthony Delgado, 33, Berryville, was booked in for parole violation...

HOLIDAY ISLAND -- In a long discussion Wednesday over changes to its amenity usage rules and fees, the Holiday Island Board of Commissioners voted to table selling amenity cards to non-property owners until it can obtain legal opinion. A draft of Reg. 42, which amends the current amenity rules and fees, establishes several categories of fees for non-property owner families and individuals in 2013, including annual, monthly and weekly access cards...

We at Carroll County News will never have enough staff, time or space in our pages to accurately reflect the depth of sharing that goes on in Carroll County. From the dozens of sheriff's deputies, local police officers and paramedics who participate each year in Shop With a Cop, taking underprivileged children shopping for Christmas gifts; to the Eureka Springs Rotary Club, police department and school counselor Rachal Hyatt spearheading the Angel Tree program; from the Berryville School District children collecting more than two tons of food for the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank recently; to the Eureka Springs Garden Club ladies plus a few Holiday Island volunteers who chipped in to give Christmas gift goodie bags -- many of them hand-made -- to nearly 100 needy pre-schoolers and first-graders .... ...

In my last two columns, I suggested you make 2013 the year of the dream. I gave you a recipe: Your life plus 3 things = progress! No more vague sadness, as the years pass and you don't follow your passion. Three things. I discuss these from a writing standpoint, but they are applicable to any creative endeavor...

Boyd Church of God in Oak Grove will hold a special New Year's Eve fish fry and Gospel singing on Monday, Dec. 31 starting with dinner at 6:30 p.m., to be followed by the singing. The cost is $10 per person, including dinner, dessert and a drink. Food will be prepared by Les, formerly of Gas n Grub...

Holiday Island Baptist Church invites the public for carols, candlelight and cookies at its special Christmas Candlelight Service on Sunday, Dec. 23 at 5 p.m. at 14 Stateline Drive in Holiday Island.

The Green Forest United Methodist Church will be holding their annual Christmas Candlelight Service on Sunday, Dec. 23 beginning at 6 p.m. There will be special music and a cookie reception immediately following the service. Everyone is welcome to attend. The Green Forest United Methodist Church is located on the corner of U.S. Highway 62 and Springfield Street in Green Forest, right across from the Exxon...