Stories from Tuesday, August 9, 2016

The Green Forest School Board voted at a special called meeting Thursday to approve a few hires and personnel changes before the new school year begins. The board voted to extend the contract of coach Jonathan Bryant to 205 days. Bryant serves as the head seventh-grade football coach, assistant junior high football coach, assistant high school football coach, head seventh-grade boys basketball coach, assistant junior high boys basketball coach and head boys soccer coach. ...

The stands inside Bobcat Arena were packed Monday morning with staff from all four Berryville school buildings. It was time for the annual district meeting. Superintendent Owen Powell said the district meeting mostly consists of training required by the Arkansas Department of Education, such as school safety policies, technology guidelines, health training by the nurse and other policies and procedures...

Good Shepherd Humane Society's dogs need better kennels, and office manager Donieal Fletcher believes she's found a way to raise money to provide them. Fletcher said Monday that she's been working with online crowd funding campaigns to establish the new kennel fund. It will cost around $50,000 to replace all the kennels, she said, and the shelter is 10 percent of the way there already...

Linda Wilson (left) visits with Mary Nell Billings on a recent Saturday at the Berryville farmers market. Lots of summer veggies are now coming on strong. The market is open from 7:30 a.m. to noon each Saturday on the Berryville Square. (Photo by David Bell/Carroll County News)...

Berryville gifted and talented teacher Delene McCoy points to the 1864 painting "Thomas Strong's House" by William Sidney Mount. It appears to be nothing more than a farm landscape, she says, but there is a lot of history going on in the painting. "The story goes that Mrs. Strong would hang her laundry in a particular way to tell members of the Culper Ring, a spy group formed by George Washington, where they could meet," McCoy says...

Last week, I interviewed Mary Jane Fritsch at Green Acre Lodge. Mary Jane recently turned 103, and she has spent most of that time in Carroll County. She moved to the county with her family when she was around 5 years old, living in and around Eureka Springs for a number of years. Mary Jane was quick to tell me that she felt "free as a bird" when she was an adolescent, recounting how her family purchased and cultivated several plots of land in the county...

It's a presidential election year, and this particular presidential election is perhaps the most divisive, vitriolic, just plain nasty campaign in my lifetime -- if not ever. For that reason alone, there is certain to be an enormous voter turnout on Nov. 8, both across the United States and right here in Carroll County. Voters on both sides of the aisle are fired up about the national race and eager to have their say in the outcome...

After Cocktails for a Cause last Thursday night, The Purple Flower is a little closer to paying its rent for the rest of the year. Jackie Wolven, executive director of the Eureka Springs Downtown Network, reported Monday that the event at Aquarius Taqueria raised $2,355 at the door...

Craig Hicks, the school resource officer for Berryville schools, focused on two points in his address to school staff at the district meeting Monday: trust and preparedness. "My main point was 'I trust you with my kid,' and 'They trust you with their kids,' " he said, referring to the trust parents place in school staff when their children are in class...

Community Blood Center of the Ozarks (CBCO) has issued a Code Yellow Alert for O-positive and all negative blood types. There is currently less than a two-day supply of blood available for patients at 39 area hospitals. Donors to Community Blood Center of the Ozarks (CBCO) provide all of the blood for patients at 39 area hospitals. ...

After Green Forest assistant coach Josh Henley resigned to become the basketball coach at Bruno-Pyatt, the Tigers were in search of a replacement. After Josh Dale was officially hired to replace Henley at Wednesday night's school board meeting, everyone was is in agreement that they found the right man for the job. ...

Having only lost two seniors from a year ago, the Berryville Lady Bobcat volleyball team should be poised to make another run at the Class 4A state tournament. A year ago, the Lady Bobcats made it to the semifinals of the state tournament, losing in straight sets to Mena. The Lady Bobcats finished second in the 4A-1 conference, losing two matches to Shiloh Christian, but went 12-0 against other conference opponents...

With only two seniors on the Eureka Springs cross country team, it's safe to say the Highlanders are youthful. This doesn't mean they are inexperienced, though. Eureka Springs returns junior Gabi Bloch, who finished third at the Class 2A state championship a year ago. Her sister, Sara Bloch, finished 15th...

It isn't often I get nervous watching sports. Once every four years, when the Summer Olympics roll around, I tend to get a little bit nervous when tuning into the various sporting events, however. I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to gymnastics, or going downhill on a bicycle at 50 mph, but I must say, it has me on the edge of my seat the entire time hoping everyone makes it down safely. ...