Stories from Friday, September 13, 2013

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Jason L. Sprenger, 44, of Eureka Springs, charged with five counts of rape and 10 counts of child pornography, will go to trial on March 24 of next year, a judge decided on Tuesday. Sprenger, a former fire chief at Inspiration Point Volunteer Fire Department, was arrested on June 26 by the Carroll County Sheriff's Office and charged with five counts of rape, a Class Y felony, and 10 counts of distributing, possessing or viewing of child pornography, a Class C felony...

CARROLL COUNTY -- A vacationing woman was sent to the emergency room with multiple animal bites that she sustained while being attacked by three stray dogs just outside of Green Forest city limits on County Road 1651 on Sept. 6, according to official records...

First National Bank -- Green Forest employees share a laugh after the ribbon cutting Thursday morning at the newest branch, located at the former First Federal Bank on Main Street in Berryville. This is the Green Forest financial institution's eighth branch since they expanded into Berryville in 1991. ...

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Joe Anthony Gutierrez, the man accused of trying to shoot a woman at an Alpena gas station in the wee hours of May 15, has pleaded not guilty, and his next pretrial hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12 in Eureka Springs. The next hearing is a revocation hearing, and after that, the next pretrial hearing is Dec. 9. His defense attorney has not indicated that he will accept a plea bargain...

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Just because the state legislature changed the law in this year's session to allow five board members on the ambulance commission doesn't mean the county can amend its ordinance limiting it to three, Western Carroll County Ambulance District commissioners found out Tuesday...

When I first met Father Thad, I was a Baptist minister and he was the priest at the neighborhood Catholic parish. A complete stranger to me, he popped into my office and stated that he must use our church baptistery. A brief reminder about baptism: Baptists practice baptism by immersion. They dunk converts completely under the water...