A look back at '08 -- Year of the Deluge

The White River below Beaver Dam rose to unprecedented heights in early April in the wake of the dam's floodgate releases, allowing 700,000 gallons of water per second into the valley below. It took months for the waters to recede and for the Arkansas Highway Department to determine how much structural damage was done to Beaver's historic one-lane bridge. Kathryn Lucariello / Carroll County Newspapers [Order this photo]

CARROLL COUNTY -- The spring of 2008 was one of the wettest on record, bringing with it what some hydrologists suggest was a flood seen only once every 50 years. It ranks as our number one story of the year.

The catastrophe began building in mid-March, when rains brought the worst flooding in four years. They began on the 18th and drove scores along the Kings River from their homes, causing the opening of the National Guard Armory in Berryville as a shelter. It was only a taste of what was to come.

Heavy rains -- four inches in 10 hours -- on April 10 sent both Osage Creek and the Kings beyond their banks. The deluge caused Beaver and Table Rock Lakes to rise drastically. Roads and bridges already damaged by the March rains were further impaired, placing an immense burden on county road crews.

As lake waters continued to rise at unprecedented rates, the Corps of Engineers made the decision the evening of April 11 to open the Beaver Dam floodgates to 9.5 feet, allowing 700,000 gallons of water per second to pour into the White River basin below. Scores of persons were forced to head for high ground with little notice, and 40 homes were flooded by the raging river.

By this time, more than 23 inches of rain had fallen in the drainage area of Beaver Lake in just 10 weeks. And still it wasn't over.

With every lake in the White River chain lapping at the top of its dam, along came another downpour on April 24, dropping one to six inches in the Beaver watershed. The Corps was forced to open the Beaver Dam floodgates for the third time since mid-March.

Even now, the Corps is working to return lakes in the White River chain to normal levels, dropping Beaver six feet just this month.

Rains and floods aside, the year provided plenty of other stories of note, offered here in more-or-less chronological order:

In January, the Green Forest School Board, wincing from two failed attempts at getting voters to approve millage increases for much-needed classroom construction, presented a plan to the state for a 12-classroom, $2.3 million building. Voters later overwhelming approved a $3.82 millage increase to fund the 27,500-square-foot structure, at a cost that had risen to $4 million.

The quorum court got welcome news from the county treasurer that the largest carryover of operating funds in the county's history -- $1.7 million -- would be available for county expenses. The JPs chose to give county deputies a $4,000-a-year raise; jailers and dispatchers $1,500 raises; and county employees four percent raises. Road department workers received raises higher than four percent.

In early January, county Guardsmen got the word that they would be headed for mobilization and a 10-month tour in Iraq.

On Jan. 7, Bill Doyle was named Green Forest Fire Chief, replacing long-time chief Chris Trask.

On Jan. 14, Dr. Randy Byrd was announced as Berryville Schools new superintendent with a two-year contract at $120,000 a year. Dr. Byrd had been superintendent in Brinkley.

On Jan. 17, Green Forest City Council set about to create a city plan, choosing to hire a certified planner to begin the work. By December, after a series of meetings on the subject, the public was invited to attend a planning session and start drafting the new city plan.

Perhaps the strangest story of the year -- and one that kept state newspapers riveting to the unique goings-on in Eureka Springs politics, began on Jan. 14, when council member Kathy Harrison drove Pat Matsukis to Green Forest to be sworn in as a council member to fill a vacancy. Eureka Mayor Dani Joy had vetoed the Matsukis choice at an earlier council meeting. In a legal thrust and parry which may still not be over, Matsukis, Harrison, council members Rae Hahn and Eric Scheunemann and local resident Ernst Schrader sued to have Matsukis seated. Attorneys for the mayor filed responses. State Rep. Bryan King got involved, asking for an opinion from the Arkansas Attorney General, who responded that Joy was within her rights as mayor. Finally, on Oct. 17, a ruling was handed down by Circuit Judge John Lineberger affirming that Mayor Joy had acted within her authority.

At last report, the judge's order had not yet been entered at the office of the Circuit Clerk. The attorney for the defense was responsible for writing an order, which will be reviewed by the plaintiffs' attorney before going back to the judge for his approval.

Once the judge's order is entered, the plaintiffs will have 30 days to appeal the ruling.

Although the main point of the suit no longer has any significance, an appeal is technically a possibility for the recovery of legal fees. The plaintiffs' suit had requested to have Matsukis seated, and to have the city pay the legal fees of the plaintiffs.

On Feb. 6, election officials worked into the wee hours to tally local election results, because high humidity had affected the counting machine.

On Feb. 11, it was Green Forest's turn to hire a new school superintendent, Jeff Williams, who had been the superintendent of Rose Bud Schools.

On the eighth of February, the long awaited completion and opening of the Eureka Springs wastewater treatment plant came to pass, after a series of delays caused by underfunding and mechanical flaws. The plant can handle 450,000 of wastewater per day and more during rainy weather and in the summer during the peak tourist season.

On Feb. 16, Carroll County Fresh! came into existence with the purpose of providing fresher, healthier and safer food and to promote the idea of supporting locally-grown fruit and vegetable farmers.

On Feb. 29, County Clerk Shirley Doss announced she would step down after 24 years of service in the office.

On May 20, election returns showed that Kent Crow had captured the circuit judgeship held by incumbent Alan Epley. Chuck Medford won his preliminary race to face incumbent Sheriff Bob Grudek in the November election.

In early July, Tyson Foods made a major announcement in the county, saying it would add 370 new production jobs in Green Forest, spending an estimated $11 million to install a new deboning line. It also announced across-the-board wage increases at both its Carroll County plants.

In August, Rep. King said he would request state and federal election monitors to oversee polling in November. He pointed out that Election Commission Chairman Levi Phillips was collecting $85,000 a year from the county and state for building leases and called that a "direct conflict of interest." In late October, the seven-members state board of elections voted unanimously against sending the requested election monitors.

Eureka Springs Mayor Joy, in an Aug. 1 statement, said that new City Advertisement and Promotion Commission marketing director Jim Williams had garnered state-wide recognition for the city, and had "repaired lost communications with our state leaders, thereby influencing our tourism revenue for years to come." It was also noted that CAPC tax collections were up in June by 2.2 percent, bucking a national trend.

On Aug. 13, Eureka Springs voters approved a reallocation of the city's one-cent sales and use tax, which had not been updated since 1981. The vote allows the city to avoid overhauling its budget to compensate for the lack of money going into the general fund.

In early August, some justices of the peace bristled over the notion that County Judge Richard Williams was adding proposed ordinances to a Quorum Court agenda, including one that would ask voters to allow the county to use revenue from a county sales tax to build a new consolidated courthouse. The proposal never made it onto the ballot, but by October, the county judge was still holding public meetings to explain his intent, saying he had never intended to close the courthouse in Eureka Springs.

On Aug. 18, approximately 100 LaBarge employees at the Berryville plant received their pink slips, cutting the workforce at the plant almost in half. The cutback apparently stemmed from production delays of a new major customer.

On Sept. 12, the first Habitat for Humanity of Carroll County house-building project was announced. It is to be built on property in Berryville, donated by Chuck Wofford, who owns several acres along Phillips Street.

If the spring rains hadn't already done enough damage to the county in the spring, the remnants of Hurricane Ike roared through on Sept. 14, causing widespread damage from downed trees and qualifying the county for public assistance as part of a 16-county disaster area. The costliest loss from Ike was a bridge on Osage Creek. The bridge is being replaced.

On Oct. 10, the new campus of North Arkansas College was officially opened in Berryville. The campus will house classrooms for adult education, GED classes, and college credit courses.

In late October, it was announced by Holiday Island District Manager Kevin Crosson that National Recreational Properties, owing some $200,000 in assessments, had not come through with any payments and were not returning phone calls. The company had also failed to make its agreed-upon quarterly payment in July, Crosson said.

Most county incumbents retained their seats when a record number of voters cast ballots in the Nov. 4 General Election. County Judge Richard Williams lost his chance at a second term to Democrat Sam Barr.

On Nov. 28, it was learned that some 50 Carroll County families were planning a special Christmas celebration for local soldiers returning as part of the Arkansas National Guard contingent which had been serving in Iraq.

In Nov. 21, it was announced that David Davis Chevrolet Pontiac in Berryville had officially closed, leaving some 20 people out of work. Both the Ford and Chrysler dealerships made it clear that there were no plans for either of them to follow suit.

On Dec. 15, the results of a quality-of-life study were released, showing that though the number of families living in poverty has declined in the county over the past two decades, the number of children living in poverty is growing. It also found that though the county's schools were doing well in early childhood education, numbers were not so good for eighth grade and beyond.