Stories from Friday, December 28, 2012

It could only happen at Christmas. In a concentrated last-minute effort, the South Central Oklahoma Christian Broadcasting radio ministry is stepping in to pull the fat out of the fire for Eureka Springs' Great Passion Play. At a public meeting hosted by the Eureka Chamber of Commerce on Thursday night, Randall Christy, pastor of Union Valley Baptist Church in Ada, Okla., and founder of the Ada-based Gospel Station Network, announced plans to raise $75,000 by Dec. ...

EUREKA SPRINGS -- 2012 saw a number of high-profile sexual predator cases in Carroll County, among them a former school board member and police dispatcher pleading guilty this year to sexual assault of a child. Randy Ray Wells of Wall Street in Eureka Springs was arrested in June 2011 on charges of second-degree sexual assault, a Class B felony, and rape, a Class Y felony. ...

GREEN FOREST -- A former coach and teacher's aide at Green Forest High School walked free after admitting to battering a 17-year-old girl early this year, becoming Carroll County News' No. 6 crime story of 2012. Coach Andrew Ray, of Berryville, was charged in April with second-degree sexual assault, a Class B felony, after a student alleged he had assaulted and groped her in the Green Forest High School field house...

GREEN FOREST -- The former building inspector for the city of Green Forest resigned in September after he allegedly sent sexually explicit messages and videos to a police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl. James Eugene Johnson, who lives on Oakview Drive in Berryville, was arrested on Sept. 16 in Van Buren, Ark., and charged with Internet Stalking of a Child -- a Class-B felony...

EUREKA SPRINGS -- The case of Walter Jason Ward was selected by the Carroll County News as the No. 8 crime story of the year. In March, Ward attacked two Eureka Springs women with a knife and a gas-powered BB gun inside their home before leading police on a chase through nearby woods, police said...

GREEN FOREST -- Carroll County News' No. 9 crime of the year is the case of Trevor Elder, who was charged with attempted capital murder after police say he drove by his estranged wife outside Jim's Drive-In and fired several shots at her in July. A trial date was recently set for the drive-by shooting suspect, 26...

GREEN FOREST -- Carroll County News' No. 10 crime story of the year has not actually been deemed a crime officially, but authorities are investigating the death of a woman at Lovers Leap as such and are awaiting autopsy and other reports, they say. Crystal McCarley, 44, died after she fell from a 200-foot-high bluff Lovers Leap southwest of Green Forest. The investigation is centering on how, exactly, she came to fall from the top of the bluff, police have said...

HOLIDAY ISLAND -- Holiday Island went through more major changes in 2012, perhaps, than in any year in the last 10 years, and those changes will no doubt affect the future of the 42-year-old planned community. A shakeup of personnel and board members in the last year has had an as-yet untold impact...

The following people were booked into the Carroll County Detention Center between Dec.21 and Dec. 26 and charged with the following crimes for which they have not yet been tried: Dec. 21 Shane Robert Lee Anderson, 29, Berryville, was booked in for third-degree domestic battery, and forst-degree terroristic threatening...

CARROLL COUNTY -- The last year was mostly smooth sailing for the Carroll County Quorum Court. However, Justices of the Peace butted heads with each other and County Judge Sam Barr during the last half of 2012 over a proposed study of county salaries and struggled to craft a balanced budget amid rising personnel costs and sagging revenue...

GREEN FOREST -- The past year saw the birth of new leadership in Green Forest. Several longtime leaders left the council table and were succeeded by fresh faces. The year brought some good news: Residents and local officials banded together to convince the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to abandon plans to move U.S. Highway 62 around the city, bypassing the downtown area...

BERRYVILLE -- The balance of power in Berryville government didn't tilt, lilt or waiver in 2012. Though city leaders stayed on and stayed the course, 2012 had its own challenges and changes. Following is a recap of the major issues considered by council members in 2012:...

BERRYVILLE -- A proposal by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to enforce stricter water quality standards at the Berryville wastewater treatment plant could cost the city millions of dollars, local and state officials say. The gloomy outlook resulted from a Dec. 21 meeting between Mayor Tim McKinney and ADEQ Director Teresa Marks...

BERRYVILLE -- The Good Shepherd Humane Society Doggie Thrift Store at 202 S. Springfield St., directly behind Davis Fina and housed in the old Brashears barn, burned to the ground late Friday afternoon. The building, circa early 1930s, formerly housed Brashears Furniture long before it moved to its current location on U.S. Highway 62...