Stories from Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Looking over the calendar for April last week, it struck me: In six weeks, my youngest son will graduate from high school. It hardly seems possible. Why, just a couple of months ago he was eating Fruit Loops in his high chair. He fell asleep there and we got that cute picture. That wasn't that long ago, was it?...

When I was a kid, my mother always told me she feared I'd elope without telling anyone once I grew up. Hearing that usually offended me, because I assumed she was calling me selfish. I'm now 23 years old and in a long-term relationship headed toward marriage. Suddenly, I understand her assessment. You see, weddings are expensive. Engagement rings are expensive. Honeymoons are expensive...

BERRYVILLE -- Easter Sunday ended unexpectedly for residents of Carroll House Apartments, with a fire gutting three of the apartments and leaving a fourth apartment with water and smoke damage. Berryville Fire Chief Shannon Chester said he received the call around 2:40 p.m. Once on the scene, he said, his team realized the importance of working quickly...

Carroll County residents will have the opportunity to safely dispose of prescription medications April 25. Taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the drug takeback will be set up at the Green Forest Police Department, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office and the Eureka Springs Police Department...

Freeman Heights Baptist Church held its 11th annual AWANA Pinewood Derby race on Wednesday, March 18. There were approximately 180 in attendance as 62 children raced their handcrafted cars. Pastor Alan Brown provided a sermonette. All clubbers raced their cars multiple times to determine the overall fastest cars. In addition to the big race a design contest was held with many great-looking cars. All of the participants were winners and had a great time at the event...

This church building in Berryville is but a distant memory to many. The quarried-rock structure served the religious community for years as the Berryville United Methodist Church. After the church moved to another location it was used as apartments.

Jessie Lorene Phillips and Stephen Matthew Goline are happy to announce their engagement. The bride to be is the daughter of Lori and Dan Johnston of Berryville and Kevin Phillips of Green Forest. Grandparents of the bride are Betty Davis and the late Bobby Gene Davis of Golden, Mo., and Nancy and Cecil Phillips of Lowell, N.C...

The Carroll County Speech Contest sponsored by the Carroll County 4-H was held March 31. The first-place senior division winner was Kaitlyn Warner with a speech on the Holocaust. Second place in the senior division went to Andrew Galicia, who spoke about the freedom of education...

GRAVETTE -- The Senior Lion Invitational was held last Thursday in Gravette. Farmington won the boys division, scoring 93 points. Green Forest finished seventh with 47 points and Eureka Springs finished 12th with 22 points. Pea Ridge won the girls division, scoring 153 points. Green Forest finished fourth with 89 points and Eureka Springs finished 13th with four points. The individual boys results are as follows:...

GENTRY -- Some wins mean more than others do. The Berryville Bobcats' 8-5 win last Thursday over the Gentry Pioneers was one of those. It had been four years since the Bobcats had won a conference game, but that came to an end Thursday evening. Gentry got out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but Berryville answered in a big way in the top of the second. ...

GENTRY -- A 14-5 Berryville victory might sound like a routine win, but the final score isn't indicative of how close the Lady Bobcats' softball game against Gentry was Thursday evening. Going into the top of the seventh, the game was tied at 5-5, and the Lady Pioneers had scored the last five runs. The Lady Bobcats decided to take back the control of the game at this point, however...

HARRISON-- The Green Forest Tigers participated in the 2015 Ozark Baseball Classic this past weekend in Harrison. The tournament started poorly for the Tigers, but they finished strong. The Classic Champion was Warsaw, Mo., who beat Pea Ridge in the championship 10-5...

The Major League Baseball season started Sunday and for the first time since the 1998 season, Opening Day started with a new commissioner, Rob Manfred. Manfred has many things on his plate as he assumes office, including speeding up pace of play, strengthening player relations with the fans and consideration of allowing Pete Rose back into baseball...

VALLEY SPRINGS -- The Green Forest Lady Tigers have been waiting for a chance to build off a disappointing 2014 season. Having only lost three seniors from that team, Coach Ryan Whetham believes his team has the ability to do that. It had been 13 days since the Lady Tigers' 9-8 victory over Bergman and Whetham was glad to see the Lady Tigers come out and took care of business 12-0 on Monday against Bruno-Pyatt...

GREEN FOREST -- The first time Berryville and Green Forest met on the baseball diamond this season, the game was back and forth before Berryville won 9-8 on a balk in the bottom of the seventh on March 21. On Tuesday, the two teams met again and Berryville won 12-9...

COAL HILL -- While Berryville and Green Forest have had games on the schedule for more than three weeks now, the Eureka Springs baseball team finally begins its 2015 season Tuesday at Johnson County Westside. While Coach Brian Rambo and the Highlanders have enjoyed the break between basketball and baseball, the team is ready to take the field...

While the madness of March has been taking place on the court over the past two weeks, Las Vegas has been feeling the madness off the court. It is estimated that "Sin City" earns $100 million annually as college basketball fans flock to the city each year. Additionally, Americans spend an estimated $3 billion on bracket pools, and this doesn't even count the contests put on by businesses that require an entry fee...

COTTER-- A poor offensive performance by the Green Forest Tigers resulted in a 4-2 loss to the Cotter Warriors on Friday afternoon. With Green Forest trailing 4-0 in the top of the sixth inning, the Tigers were looking for a two-out rally. It started with consecutive singles to left field by Cory Bryant and Caleb Lucas. ...