Stories from Friday, December 30, 2016

Carroll County's largest employer is set to become even larger. Tyson Foods officially broke ground Aug. 24 on a 200,000-square-foot facility across the street from its existing plant in Green Forest. Construction costs for the new plant are estimated at $136 million, and it is expected to create 85 new jobs...

A candlelight vigil was held June 15 in Basin Spring Park in Eureka Springs for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. CCN photographer David Bell selected this picture as his No. 1 photograph of 2016. (Photo by David Bell/Carroll County News)...

Even the most passionate supporters of a proposed ambulance service district in eastern Carroll County weren't optimistic about its chances of being approved in the November general election. Local voters pulled a surprise, though, approving the district by a narrow margin on Nov. 8...

Two Carroll County officials were re-elected in the Nov. 8 general election, while a long-time Eureka Springs alderman was defeated by a first-time challenger in his bid for re-election. Voters on the eastern side of the county approved the creation of an ambulance service district, and Eureka Springs residents rejected a proposed sales-tax increase by a wide margin...

Traveling to and from Carroll County will be faster and safer in the years to come thanks to the widening of Arkansas Highway 62. The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department is currently expanding a portion of Highway 62 between Green Forest and Berryville from two lanes to five lanes...

The Berryville School District is working on plans for the construction of a new high school. The Berryville School Board officially announced the project at its Dec. 12 meeting. The school district's construction plans were voted the No. 5 local news story of 2016 by the editorial staff of Carroll County Newspapers...

Eureka Springs -- Nonprofits working in and for youth and children of Carroll County can go to arcf.org beginning Jan. 10 to apply online for Youth Advisory Council (YAC) Giving Tree Grants through Carroll County Community Foundation, an affiliate of Arkansas Community Foundation. Applications must be submitted online by Feb. 15...

When you have finished your set in the Berryville band concert, how do you fill the time between performances? With a bubble contest, of course. (Photo by David Bell/Carroll County News)

I spent some time over the holidays thinking about the past. Not in a regretful sort of way, but with a good dose of romantic nostalgia. I was reminiscing to my children how I would climb on my bicycle on summer mornings and be gone all day, never once checking in by text or cell phone -- so long as I was home before the porch light came on at dark...