Stories from Tuesday, May 2, 2017

A Eureka Springs woman drowned in Leatherwood Creek on Saturday night. Multiple friends confirmed the woman was 24-year-old Montana Widener. Eureka Springs Fire Chief Nick Samac said the fire department received a call from Widener’s friends around 9:30 p.m. saying Widener had been riding an inner-tube, went into Leatherwood Creek and never resurfaced...

Carroll County officials spent Monday assessing the damage caused by weekend flooding throughout the county that resulted from several inches of rainfall Friday and Saturday. One person died in a weather-related incident, and the flooding forced the closure of streets and bridges in areas throughout the county...

Graduation is right around the corner for Carroll County seniors, and local schools will be holding ceremonies to honor their students throughout the month of May. Berryville The Berryville School District will hold an optional Baccalaureate ceremony for its senior class at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 7, in Bobcat Arena...

A Berryville man was arrested Wednesday, April 26, on charges of rape and the production and possession of child pornography. An intake log from the Carroll County Detention Center says Irvin Gerald Earles, 46, of Berryville was booked into the jail Wednesday, April 26, on charges of rape by force, engaging a child in explicit sexual conduct for use in a visual or print medium and possession of child pornography. Bond has been set at $250,000...

James and Tonja Smith of Berryville were announced as the Carroll County’s 2017 Farm Family of the Year this Monday. A press release from Arkansas Farm Bureau says county winners for the 70th annual Arkansas Farm Family of the Year program have been selected. ...

This past weekend, our little community was hit by a series of storms so strong that some roads were still blocked off on Monday morning. The rain was relentless and never-ending, pouring down fast enough to create one of the largest floods Carroll County has ever seen. Several cars were lost in the flood, and one local woman lost her life. She was only 24...

Standardized testing can be a stressful time for students, but the community leaders of the Berryville Bright Futures program worked to ease that anxiety this year. Mindy Hicks, district testing coordinator and Bright Futures coordinator, said the Bright Futures team worked to organize community leaders and parents to greet students at Berryville Elementary and Intermediate schools each morning of testing...

Two Berryville Middle School students have qualified for the national level of the National History Day competition this June at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. Issy Knapik and Alyssa Reed won second place in the Junior Group Performance division of the state National History Day competition on April 15 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. ...

ELI HUGH HOLMAN, of Green Forest, Arkansas, was born September 15, 1928 at Rock House, Arkansas, son of John Doyle “J.D.” and Serelda Janie (Armstrong) Holman. He departed this life Wednesday, April 26, 2017 in Rogers, Arkansas at the age of 88.  Hugh proudly served his country in the United States Army during the Korean War. ...

Four Carroll County veterans were invited on an Honor Flight to Washington on Tuesday, April 18, taking in the sights around the nation’s capital. Ray Backs, Richard Keller and John McCauley of Berryville and Gus Midden of Eureka Springs were among the 71 Arkansas and Oklahoma veterans invited for the Honor Flight. Traveling with the group were 71 assistants, known as Guardians, to help veterans as needed on the trip...

Our nation’s 65th annual National Day of Prayer will be held Thursday, May 4t. The first Thursday of May is a call for all people to join together and lift their hearts and voices to Him. Daniel 9:19 is the theme of this year’s National Day of Prayer...

Shorter hospital stays, fewer complications and better patient results are just a few metrics used to rank Mercy as one of the top five large health systems in the nation, alongside Mayo Clinic. The 2017 Truven Health 15 Top Health Systems study, which includes five large, five mediu sm and five small systems, analyzes 337 health systems and 2,924 hospitals across the U.S...

Baylor Deislinger of Green Forest, a student at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, was one of 20 western Arkansas students awarded a $1,000 academic scholarship from Farm Credit of Western Arkansas this spring. Baylor is the son of Devin and Christie Deislinger of Green Forest and is pursuing a degree in agricultural business...

Arkansas Hospice will soon serve patients in several Northwest Arkansas counties within a 50-mile radius of a new location in Berryville formerly operated by Mercy. The new service area includes all or parts of Benton, Boone, Carroll, Franklin, Madison, Marion, Newton, Searcy and Washington counties...

The Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission could be striking up a partnership with the Eureka Springs Community Center Foundation. On Tuesday, April 18, the commission considered using a $63,274 grant from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to help build a perimeter exercise trail around the community center. ...

Eureka Springs residents will have a slightly higher water and sewer bill this June. After holding a public hearing on the proposed rate increases Monday night, April 24, the Eureka Springs City Council approved an ordinance applying a fixed fee to water and a 21 percent increase to sewer rates. The ordinance was approved on all three readings, with the emergency clause approved as well. Mayor Butch Berry said the increases will be reflected in the June billing cycle...

BERRYVILLE — Monday evening's home match against Dardanelle was set to be a showdown between the top two teams in the 4A-1 conference and a potential No. 1 seed in the state tournament was on the line for the Berryville Lady Bobcats. A 2-0 victory over the Sand Lizards put the Lady Bobcats in prime position heading into the state tournament...

HARRISON — Green Forest softball coach Ryan Whetham had high hopes going into Tuesday's game against Mountain View. Those hopes were quickly dashed after the Lady Yellowjackets scored eight runs in the bottom of the second inning and went on to beat Green Forest in the first round of the 3A-1 district tournament, 15-0...

The Berryville Bobcats competed in the 4A-1 district track meet on Tuesday in Pea Ridge. The Lady Bobcats finished third, scoring 105 points. The Berryville boys finished sixth, scoring 46.50 points. Individual results for the Lady Bobcats are as follows:...

The search for a basketball coach at Green Forest continues. After interviewing Hunter Sims of Hector and Chris Jones of Lake Village at Tuesday's special called board meeting, the school board voted 7-0 to hire Jones. Upon getting the offer, Jones turned down the job...

The Eureka Springs Highlanders competed in the 2A-4 West District Track meet on Monday in Eureka Springs. The Eureka Springs girls finished second, scoring 161 points. Individual results for the Lady Highlanders are as follows: 100-meter dash: Katelyn Ross finished second at 14.02 and Rilee Brouillette finished sixth at 14.66...

A scoreless first half turned into an offensive explosion for the Green Forest Tigers, as they went on to win at Gentry, 4-3. "It was their senior night," Green Forest coach Jonathan Bryant said. "I knew they were going to come out firing because there is no senior that wants to end their career with a loss at home."...

HARRISON — Losing 15-1 is never a good way to end the season. That is how the Green Forest Tigers ended their season in the first round of the 3A-1 district tournament on Tuesday against Clinton, but coach Tony Coffey said his team has plenty to be proud of...