Stories from Tuesday, December 27, 2016

In keeping with the true spirit of Christmas, several Berryville first-graders penned Christmas letters to recovering soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C. First-grader Daisy Ballard explained: 'We wrote letters to the soldiers because instead of celebrating Christmas with their families, they will be in the hospital. I hope our letters will make them feel good and happy!'...

A proposed 1 percent sales tax in Eureka Springs failed to win voters' approval in November, but dominated discussion at Eureka Springs City Council meetings for much of the year after Mayor Butch Berry suggested it at a meeting of The Auditorium Committee on March 10...

The death of longtime Berryville Police Chief David Muniz was a big loss to the community, but the Berryville Police Department is continuing his legacy. Muniz died Jan. 5 after battling cancer for several years. He had served as Berryville's chief of police for 35 years...

After Berryville School District Superintendent Phil Clark stepped down in January, the Berryville School Board promoted high school principal Owen Powell to the position. The personnel change was selected as the No. 8 local news story of 2016 by the editorial staff of Carroll County News...

At the beginning of 2016, the Eureka Springs Community Center Foundation had just announced its $200,000 fundraising goal to acquire the old high school property. Going into 2017, the foundation has met that goal, taken ownership of the property and begun planning programming for years to come...

A 19-year-old Berryville man was arrested Oct. 14 in connection with the robbery earlier that day of a First National Bank branch in Eureka Springs. The robbery was selected at the No. 10 local news story of 2016 by the editorial staff of Carroll County News...

End of the year columns can go in a lot of different directions. I could look back on 2016 and some of the important stories that happened in Carroll County -- like Tyson Foods' announcement of major expansion plans in Green Forest, or the re-election of County Judge Sam Barr and Sheriff Randy Mayfield...

Berryville Intermediate students got a glimpse into the exciting origins of authors on Friday, Dec. 16, only to discover those origins aren't so different from their own lives. Jefferson Knapp, author of "The Kingdom at the End of the Driveway," visited the intermediate students and discussed how what inspired him to be an author is the same thing that they use every day during recess or when playing at home: imagination...

Santa Claus has a lot of helpers in the city of Berryville. Throughout November and December, members of the community have been stepping up to help the Berryville School District make sure every student has a happy holiday season. Middle school counselor Eryn Killingsworth said about 166 students between kindergarten and 12th grade were helped or offered help in some way during the holiday season...

PHILIP ALAN GREER, a resident of Green Forest, Arkansas, was born May13, 1949, in Berryville, AR to Richard and Bonnie (Rice) Greer. Philip, backhoe extraordinaire, prince of Papas, aficionado of shenanigans and stunts, Harley hotshot, '57 Chevy consummate, martin house maestro and dog whisperer left this world on December 20, 2016 at the age of 67, doing exactly what he loved to do -- work...

Dora Lee Minick Ferguson departed this life on December 22, 2016, at home with her family at her side. Dora began her life journey on June 7, 1935. She loved to tell of the events of that day when she was born to Charley and Ollie (Williams) Minick in Ramona, Oklahoma...

Derlyne Gibson of Berryville, Arkansas was born in St. Louis, OK, daughter of Wayne Derl Simpson and Cora Mae Simpson. She moved into the arms of God Tuesday, November 8, 2016 in Rogers, Arkansas at the age of 79 years. On August 22, 1959 she was united in marriage with John Lanier Gibson of the home. ...