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Vol. 158, No. 274©2012 The Daily Citizen

“ ”Never be afraid to sit awhile

and think.

LORRAINE HANSBERRY10th Century American playwright

Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2012 75¢

NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5ACALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B

I N D E X

CITY APPROVES TRAFFIC LIGHT EXPENDITURESearcy officials thought they wiped their hands of the traffic signal on Highway 16, but the state disagreed. — PAGE 3A

Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854

3 WHITE COUNTY BASEBALL PLAYERS SIGNHarding Academy pitcher Trent Finley will continue his career with the Bisons next year. — PAGE 1B

TheDailyCitizen.com

In 1998, then-Searcy Mayor David Evans and the city coun-cil had to come up with money,

quickly.The Arkansas Supreme Court

ruled that White County was guilty of illegal sales tax exac-tion. The ruling meant that the county and the municipalities therein had to set aside funds for residents who wanted to be reimbursed for taxes the court ruled were obtained illegally.

To come up with the money, the city reduced its residential trash pickup from twice to once weekly. Evans said once-weekly

pickups saved the city around 30 percent of its sanitation budget.

“We saved on oil, gasoline, tires,” Evans said. “It didn’t save us half, but it saved us a lot.”

As the city begins 2013 bud-get talks, the sanitation bud-get will once again be a topic of conversation. With a budget of over $3.2 million, sanitation ac-

City may mull sanitation cuts

BY JACOB [email protected]

Reduced commercial pickup frequency, new trucks could save over

$1 million per year

Searcy sanitation

Annual budget: Over $3.2 million

Percentage of general fund: 22 percent

PANGBURN — City offi cials are proceeding with caution despite the narrow passing of a one-percent sales tax.

“It’s hard to get a tax passed,” said Mayor Gary Doyle. “I really appreciate the people voting for this.”

The sales and use tax will be dis-bursed between the general fund, the street improvement fund and the public safety fund.

Tax no factor in

Pangburn budget

BY M. A. WEBBSpecial to The Daily Citizen

Doyle

City of Pangburn

The city on Tuesday passed a projected 2013 budget that did not include revenue generated from the recently-passed 1 percent sales tax

Please see PANGBURN | 3A

City to re-evaluate budget after

analyzing sales tax effects

Molly M. Fleming/[email protected]

Evelyn Harms of Bradford waves her bingo card in the air after winning a game at the Lightle Center on Wednes-day morning. The center of-fers a variety of activities and lunch daily for senior resi-dents. At left, Noralene Wash-ington (right) and her sister-in-law Carrie Ann Washington, both of Searcy, check their bingo cards during a game.

LIGHTLE CENTER OFFERS BINGO

Associated PressLITTLE ROCK — Provisional

ballots to be certifi ed Friday in Poinsett County will narrow the gap between two legislative candidates but the new fi gures won't reverse the outcome of the race by themselves.

Republican John K. Hutchi-son defeated Democrat L.J. Bry-ant by 44 votes based on results received election night, but Bry-ant has asked for a recount that could leave neither party with a majority of the House's 100 seats.

Control of the Arkansas House of Representatives depends on who ultimately wins District 52, which covers portions of Craig-head, Independence, Jackson and Poinsett counties. Indepen-dence County will review its bal-lots Thursday; the other coun-ties have completed their new tallies with Hutchison picking up one vote.

Poinsett County Clerk Fonda Condra said Wednesday that

GOP has edge with 1 recount pending

BY ANDREW DEMILLOAssociated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednes-day that expanding Medicaid el-igibility under the federal health care law would be the best way to avoid removing thousands of people from nursing home care, but he's open to other ideas.

A day after state offi cials de-tailed a series of proposed cuts under a plan to fi ll a $138 mil-lion shortfall in the state Med-icaid program's budget, Beebe said he wanted to fi nd a way to avoid the nursing home reduc-tions. Department of Human

Services offi cials have proposed eliminating the lowest level of nursing home care under the state program, a $35 million cut that would affect between 10,000 and 15,000 seniors.

The nursing home cuts are part of service reductions or freezes that DHS offi cials say

would affect more than 75,000 people on Medicaid in the state. Even more would be affected by other cost-saving measures, including a rate freeze for pro-viders.

"The one that bothers me the most and the one that we would work the hardest to try to keep

from occurring is the level-three nursing home folks," Beebe told reporters.

Beebe, a Democrat, said his preference would be to use the savings from a Medicaid expan-sion under the health care law to prevent the reductions. DHS offi cials project that expanding Medicaid's eligibility — covered by the federal government for the fi rst three years — would add 250,000 people to the state's rolls and save the state $44 million next year.

Beebe said he'll consider other

Beebe: Medicaid expansion can spare nursing homes“The one that bothers me the most and the one that we would work the hardest

to try to keep from occurring is the level-three nursing home folks.”

Gov. Mike Beebe

Please see SANITATION | 2A

Please see BUDGET | 2APlease see HOUSE | 2A

A • Thursday, November 15, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE

The Daily Citizen corrects factual errors promptly and courteously. If you have a correction or clarifica-tion, please call Editor Jacob Brower at (501) 268-8621 or e-mail him at [email protected].

Corrections

ideas, however, noting that the expansion would require the support of at least three-fourths of the House and Senate — a margin even more diffi -cult after Republicans won control of the Legislature in last week's election.

"There may not be any other realistic option, but we won't preclude or foreclose any thoughts by anybody," Beebe told re-porters.

The nursing home cuts faced opposition Wednes-day from skeptical Re-publican lawmakers, who wondered whether it was an effort to prod them to support the Medicaid ex-pansion.

"I'm not even sure I

consider a proposal like that a serious proposal," said Sen. Michael Lamou-reux, R-Russellville, who will be the Senate's presi-dent next year.

Under the health care law, the federal govern-ment agreed to pay the full tab for the Medicaid expansion when it begins in 2014. After three years, states must pay a gradu-ally increasing share that tops out at 10 percent of the cost. The U.S. Su-preme Court's ruling in June upholding the fed-eral overhaul gave states the right to opt out of the expansion.

Lamoureux said the ex-pansion and the shortfall are two different issues.

"They're wanting to tell us they're going to solve

the immediate Medicaid crisis by expanding Med-icaid and that's not what we want to hear," he said. "We want to hear how to solve the Medicaid crisis right now by itself."

Rep. Greg Leding, the House Democratic leader, said he believed the cuts make a strong argument for expanding Medicaid's eligibility.

"I think we help an-other group of vulnerable people and help protect those people who rely on and need these nursing home services," said Led-ing, D-Fayetteville.

Lamoureux and other Republican leaders said they want to look in other parts of the state's budget to see if there are other cuts that could be made

to help save some of the Medicaid services. Beebe, who is expected to unveil his budget proposal on Thursday, said there's lit-tle room outside Medicaid and public schools to look for additional money.

Another option, DHS offi cials say, may be through a request Beebe has made to the federal government for a "global waiver" that would give the state more fl exibil-ity on how it uses federal Medicaid funds but would put a cap on its spending over the next eight years. DHS Director John Selig said that fl exibility could allow the state to require co-pays for some Med-icaid recipients, an idea backed by some GOP law-makers.

Bryant will be awarded three provisional ballots in advance of Friday's vote-certifi cation meeting while Hutchison could be awarded additional votes as well.

"It appears there were two additional ballots for Hutchison. We haven't been able to verify that

yet," she said.With a provisional vote

Hutchison picked up last week in Jackson County, the Republican holds any-where from a 42- to 44-vote margin as Indepen-dence County prepares for its recount Thursday in Batesville. There were 790 votes cast in the race last week in Indepen-dence County.

Four military ballots also are pending: three in Poinsett County and one in Independence. They must arrive by the end of business Friday to be counted.

If the results hold, Re-publicans will have a 51-48-1 edge over Democrats

and the Green Party and hold control of the Ar-kansas House for the fi rst time since Reconstruc-tion. The GOP last week won the Senate for the fi rst time since the post-Civil War period and will enjoy a 21-14 advantage in January.

HOUSE

CONTINUED FROM 1A

BUDGET

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Associated Press

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe speaks about expanding Medicaid during a speech to the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce Wednesday in Little Rock.

counts for 22 percent of the city’s $14.9 million general budget. The police depart-ment checks in at No. 2 ($3.1 million, 21 percent) and the fi re department is third ($2.4 million, 16 per-cent).

Assuming the city would see the same savings as in 1998, reducing pickup fre-quency could save the city around $1 million per year.

“I plan to look at the en-tire operation of the sani-tation department and get some guidance from the council,” said David Mor-ris, Searcy mayor. “One-day pickup for residential may be something we need to look at.”

Residents of Searcy’s approximate 6,800 house-holds pay $14 per month for sanitation services.

Twice-weekly pickup for a city of Searcy’s size is rare. Of Arkansas’ 30 larg-est cities, only three others have twice-weekly pickup. They are Texarkana (No. 13; 29,119 population), Paragould (No. 19; 26,113 population), and Siloam Springs (No. 28; 15,039). Searcy checks in at No. 21 with a population of 22,858.

Morris lived in Sherwood for three years, which has once-weekly residential pickup.

“You get used to it,” he said. “In the middle of July or August, I’d open the ga-rage door and the garage didn’t smell too pleasant. You learn to live with it, but there are problems and concerns with that. What do you do with the work-force? You’re reducing jobs. It would be through attrition, but it’s still elimi-nating jobs.”

During the 1998 reduc-tion, Evans said he had workers help with miscel-laneous projects around the city.

“We had some projects we worked on in-house,” Evans said. “We didn’t lay anyone off and we used them on some cleanup projects around the city in-stead of hiring extra help.”

Evans said the reduction was not seen as a perma-nent budget solution.

“We went to two pick-ups as soon as we possibly could,” he said. “People in Searcy had twice a week for a long time. They were used to it and there were a lot of people who missed it. We felt it was what the people of Searcy wanted to see.”

The city may also consid-er the purchase or lease of sidearm sanitation trucks. Whereas the city’s current fl eet requires one CDL driver and two people who ride the backs of trucks, the sidearm trucks — which require the use of custom-made garbage bins — elim-inate the necessity of peo-ple riding in the back.

A new sidearm truck costs around $200,000.

When fully staffed, the sanitation department has 45 employees. Fourteen of these employees are driv-ers and 23 are “throwers,” the people who ride the backs of trucks. Commer-

cial drivers start at $10.87 per hour and throwers start at $7.83 per hour.

The city of Jacksonville last year reduced residen-tial garbage pickup to once weekly and purchased three sidearm trucks and 8,000 to 10,000 special-ized garbage bins for a total of $1.4 million. Jim Dur-ham, Jacksonville’s direc-tor of administration, said he expects the purchase to pay for itself in less than two years.

“For a few months, we dealt with phone calls, ask-ing us what we were think-ing,” he said. “Now [resi-dents are] saying it’s the greatest thing in the world. The town is clean. There’s no garbage all over from cats and raccoons getting into it. It’s rare that we have a trash complaint now.”

Shock said the purchase or lease of sidearm trucks is something the city should consider, though he described the situation as a “Catch 22.” The city’s current fl eet is outdated and requires a lot of main-tenance, he said, eating up money the city could apply toward purchasing a new fl eet.

He stressed that if the city were to choose this route, the sanitation work-force would be reduced through attrition, not lay-offs, meaning that employ-ees who leave would sim-ply not be replaced until the city hits its target staff number.

Shock said he is unsure what that number would be.

“That in and of itself would save us on man-power,” he said. “That’s just my opinion. Instead of a 45-employee base, we can cut that by several em-ployees.”

A proposal to reduce pickup frequency may have drawbacks. Alderman Dale English, who served on the council in 1998, said he recalls complaints the city received when pickup fre-quency was decreased.

“It was bad,” he said. “There were a lot of people really stirred up about it. You have some who think one pickup is fi ne, but the bigger household people were the ones who com-plained.”

However, English said this may be the time to give reduced pickup frequency a second look.

“I think it’s something we ought to look at and see where we’re at,” he said.

Dale Brewer is the only other current alderman who served on the council in 1998.

“People get used to hav-ing their trash picked up twice a week,” he said. “I’m not sure it would be the ap-propriate thing, but we’ll see. I think there will be a lot of disappointed people in town.”

Brewer said he is open to the council discussing reducing pickup frequency once again.

“I’ve had several people mention it to me,” he said. “If it would really reduce our costs in the sanitation department, it is some-thing we should consider.”

SANITATION

CONTINUED FROM 1A

BY WAYNE PARRYAssociated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City's poor-est residents had next to nothing going into the storm, and they came out of it with even less.

In the shadow of mul-tibillion-dollar casinos that now boast of having come through Super-storm Sandy just fi ne, urging gamblers to re-turn with their wallets, many of the seaside gam-bling resort's least for-tunate endure hardship with quiet resignation — even gratitude for the help they're getting.

Some lost heat, hot water or electricity for days, weeks. They lost many of their meager possessions, their food, and most of their clothes. But instead of complain-

ing about what they don't have, many say they feel blessed for what remains.

Lonzie Tolbert's base-ment took on 6 feet of water, ruining his fur-nace. He has no heat, so he burns small pieces of wood and scraps of pa-per in a fi replace to try to keep warm. He has no hot water, so he tries to heat some in a kettle near the fi replace.

"You do the best you can with what you have," said the 84-year-old Tol-bert, sunning himself on a 66-degree afternoon outside his home three blocks from Revel, a $2.4 billion casino resort. "I can't complain and I'm not hollerin'."

Life was tough for many Atlantic City resi-dents even before the storm hit Oct. 29. One

in four Atlantic City resi-dents lives in poverty, according to Census fi g-ures, a rate that has re-mained unchanged since 1970. That's well above the national rate.

When an emergency shelter at the Atlantic City Convention Center closed over the week-end, 100 people were still there and had to be moved to hotels, the At-lantic City Rescue Mis-sion, or to the homes of friends. And about 20 percent of the apart-ments at Stanley Holmes Village, a 443-unit low-income public housing project, remain uninhab-itable since the storm.

"These are people who have already had tremen-dous struggles in the fi rst place," said the Rev. Col-lins Days Sr., pastor of

Second Baptist Church, which helped distribute supplies over the week-end.

"Tough times and be-ing without is nothing new to them. But we re-alize it could have been a whole lot worse, and we are not as bad off as our neighbors to the north," he said. "There's a lot of help out there, and they are grateful to it and to God."

Tolbert counts himself among the thankful.

"As long as you have your life, and we do," he said. "At least nobody lost their lives; people could easily have drowned."

Farther north on the Jersey shore, they did; at least four deaths at-tributable to the storm involved people who drowned in their homes.

Atlantic City’s poor endure superstorm quietly, humbly

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“ ”I can,

therefore I am.

SIMONE WEIL20th Century French philosopher


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2012 75¢


I N D E X

HANGING AROUND AT BERRYHILL PARK

The Arkansas Democratic Party said Tuesday that the State Senate District 28 race

has been compromised due to the Democratic candidate’s name being truncated on electronic voting machines in White County.

The name of Tiffany Rog-ers, D-Stuttgart, was entered in the balloting software as “State Representative Tiffany Rogers,” as Rogers entered on her political practice pledge, according to Winston Collier, White County Election Com-mission chairman. However,

Dems: Election compromised


The Say “Yes” to Searcy Parks Committee has started distribut-ing literature, but the process of passing out some of their infor-mation could be found as a viola-tion of federal law.

Some Searcy residents re-ceived postcards with informa-tion in their mailboxes, without postage or a return address.

“Nothing is supposed to be put in any mailboxes other than mailthat is put in by a postal service employee with postage on it,” said Leisa Tolliver-Gay, spokes-person for the United State

A&P group

may face problem

BY MOLLY M. [email protected]

Dismang Rogers

A&P committee

The Say “Yes” to Searcy Parks Committee has started distributing fliers explaining information about the adver-tising and promotion tax that is on the ballot. The fliers were supposed to be given to people, but some ended up in mailboxes, which is against federal law.

USPS says postcards placed

in mailboxes violate federal law

White Countians can continue taking to the polls this week tovote early for the November general elections.

Early voting begins at 8 a.m. at the White County Courthouse in Searcy, ending at 6 p.m.

Voting will continue today through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m.

Early voting

continues this week

BY KYLE [email protected]

Polls open in White County Courthouse

at 8 a.m.

Early voting

When: Continues todayOff-site voting: Today and

Thursday at Beebe City Hall from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.


Becca Patton, 3, of Searcy climbs up the jungle gym at Ber-ryhill Park on Tuesday afternoon. She was visiting the park with her grandfather Bill Patton, also of Searcy. At right, Rhett Knight, 6, of Searcy hangs upside down on the jungle gym at the park. He was visiting the park with his aunt Trisha Allison.


CONWAY — Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffi n accused Democratic rival Herb Rule of disrespecting police during an arrest on drunken driving charges earlier this year, while Rule branded the incumbent lawmaker a "captive" of Karl Rove and other national GOP interests during a televised de-bate Tuesday.

The exchanges between the

two highlighted the 90-min-ute debate among the four candidates running for Arkan-sas' 2nd Congressional Dis-trict. Griffi n, a former interim U.S. attorney who worked in the White House with Rove, is seeking a second term. The taped debate was to be shown on AETN Tuesday night.

Rule, a Little Rock attorney and former state legislator, was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after he was pulled over by Fayetteville Po-lice in August. Rule has pleaded not guilty and has a November court date.

When asked about the arrest, Griffi n said he didn't want to

raise it as a campaign issue but said he found some of Rule's comments to police troubling. He cited a dashboard camera video that shows Rule asking an offi cer, "Is this the best thing you all have got to do tonight?"

"I mean, come on, you don't talk to law enforcement that way," Griffi n said. "It's inap-propriate. It's disrespectful. If you take that attitude to Wash-

Rivals for congressional seat debateGriffin, Rule trade verbal blows

in televised event

Please see POLLS | 2APlease see DEBATE | 2A

Please see A&P | 2A

Senate challenger’s name truncated on county ballot

Please see NAME | 2A

PLAYOFF PICTURE COMES INTO FOCUS


Searcy and Harding Academy have playoff spots locked up. Everyone else has work to do. — PAGE 1B

SENATE CANDIDATES AIM TO LURE GAS INDUSTRYBoth District 28 candidates are looking at ways to revive the natural gas industry in White County. — PAGE 3A

TheDailyCitizen.com

to 4 p.m.Voting resumes Mon-

day, Oct. 29, and will continue through Friday, Nov. 2 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Polls will be open Saturday, Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the fi nal day of early voting will be Monday, Nov. 5, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Voters may cast bal-

lots off-site at Beebe City Hall today and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

On Election Day, Nov. 6, all precincts will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For more informa-tion about early voting, people may call the voter registration department of the White County Clerk’s Offi ce at 501-279-6207.

Page 2A • Wednesday, October 24, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE


Corrections

POLLS

CONTINUED FROM 1A

ington, you're not going to get anything done."

Rule vowed to continue fi ghting the charges and urged voters to look at video of the stop that his campaign says shows it was unjustifi ed and un-warranted.

"I am not guilty," Rule said. "I respect the law, but I also respect the courts as the place to work out and decide what happened at the time of that arrest and whether that arrest was done with probable cause and reasonable cause."

Rule, who has struggled in fundraising against

Griffi n, repeatedly tried to tie the freshman lawmak-er to Rove and national Republican interests more than the seven-county district.

"Our congressman in Washington is a cap-tive of Karl Rove and the Republican Party, of the banks and oil companies, and of Stephens Inc.," Rule said, referring to the Little Rock-based fi -nancial services company whose executives and po-litical action committee have contributed to Grif-fi n's campaign. "He does what they tell him to, not what Arkansans need and want."

Rule also invoked Grif-fi n's short tenure as in-terim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkan-sas. Griffi n was appoint-ed after then-President George W. Bush's admin-istration fi red a number of federal prosecutors and installed political appoin-tees. A two-year investiga-tion into the fi rings con-cluded in 2010 that the Justice Department under Bush took actions that

were politically inappro-priate but not criminal.

Griffi n worked in the White House Offi ce of Po-litical Affairs under Bush adviser Karl Rove, who supported Griffi n for the U.S. attorney post. Griffi n resigned the prosecutor post after six months.

Griffi n defended his time as interim U.S. attor-ney and accused Rule of using the same attacks he faced in his 2010 bid.

DEBATE

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Postal Service in Little Rock. “They could actu-ally be fi ned and have to pay postage for all of those pieces of mail. It is against federal law.”

Tolliver-Gay said that if a complaint is fi led for the violation, it would be han-dled by the Postal Inspec-tion Service.

“Some carriers have picked up fl iers and brought them back to the postal inspection service,” she said, in reference to occurrences that have tak-en place in the past.

Susannah Streit, who chairs the Say “Yes” Com-mittee, said the literature in mailboxes was a mis-communication between Streit and campaign vol-unteers.

“I told them to go door to door,” Streit said, who is an attorney in Searcy. “I specifi cally told them not

to put them in the mail-boxes.”

She said committee of-fi cials decided to not mail the postcards because of the needed manpower to put literature in the mail.

“We didn’t have the manpower or the funds to (mail them),” she said. “Plus, we wanted to go door-to-door so people could put a face with a cause.”

The literature contains information about how the A&P tax revenue will be used, as well as why the tax does not have a sunset.

However, the commit-tee name itself is not listed as being the distributor of the information. However, that is not required on pamphlets, according to Graham Sloan, director of the Arkansas Ethics Com-mission.

“‘Paid for by’ only has to go on radio, television, or newspaper ads,” Sloan

said. “Yard signs or a piece of campaign literature — the law doesn’t require there to be a tagline on those materials.”

Streit said she didn’t have a specifi c reason as to why the committee’s name wasn’t on the literature.

“We looked at two or three drafts before we went with the one we have,” she said. “It might have been there wasn’t enough space for it.”

The committee ordered 5,000 of the postcards that are in the process of being distributed in various neighborhoods around the city, as well as at peewee football games, soccer games and the Lytle Center.

The cards were paid for by the funds collected by the committee. The com-mittee has raised $2,794 as of Oct. 12, according to the report fi led with the Arkansas Ethics Commis-

sion.Of that total, nearly half

of the amount was backed by two local banks, with $500 being donated by First Security Bank and another $500 from Lib-erty Bank.

The other people who contributed more than $50, which requires their names to be listed on the fi nancial report for the committee are as follows: Mike and Rhonda Wood, $100; Donnie and Kristy Parish, $50; Phillip Py-eatt, $300; Sowell Fam-ily Inc., $500; Jon David and Kim Yingling, $250; Robert Scott and Rose-mary Bell, $200; Harley and Katy Bridger, $75; and Greg Rowden of Sonic One, $319.11.

As of Oct. 8, the com-mittee had spent $2,507 on yard signs at Conley Graphics. The total for the postcards has not yet been fi led.

A&P

CONTINUED FROM 1A

her name appears on the electronic ballot as “State Representative Tiffany Rog...”

In a 5:52 p.m. Tuesday press release from the Ar-kansas Democratic Party titled “Elections in White County Compromised Due to Election Commis-sion Mistake,” spokesman Candace Martin said, “Our number one prior-ity is ensuring the right to vote in fair and lawful elections is available to the people of White County. A citizen has fi led an affi da-vit which asks the White County Election Com-mission to correct their error immediately and to ensure that Tiffany Rog-ers’ name is corrected on the ballot. We fully expect that the Commission will own up to their responsi-bility to the hard-working taxpayers of White Coun-ty who deserve the right to vote in an election that adheres to the law.”

The citizen to whom the press release refers is Lau-ra McKinney of Searcy. McKinney told The Daily Citizen that she noticed Rogers’ name had been truncated when she took part in early voting Mon-day morning and contact-ed Rogers via email. She said the state Democratic Party contacted her Tues-day morning and asked her to fi le an affi davit with the White County Clerk’s offi ce to have Rogers’ name corrected on the

ballot.Collier said he was

made aware of the mis-take Monday morning. Afterwards, the commis-sion had signs placed on printed paper inside each voting machine, saying that Rogers’ name was truncated with her full name printed.

Collier said he took ex-ception to the Democratic Party issuing a press re-lease implicating wrong-doing by the commission.

“The Democratic Party of Arkansas’ spinning of this is mischaracterized and inaccurate,” said Col-lier, a Democrat. “The al-legation that the election commission has made some kind of error and the insinuation that there has been some kind of sinister reason that her name reads as it reads on the ballot is troubling and simply not true.

“What their press re-lease failed to mention is that Representative Rog-ers’ name was entered into the ballot exactly as she presented it to us in her political practice pledge, but her name as she presented it was too large for our software, so it added ‘...’ in place of ‘ers.’ What their state-ment also fails to point out is that, in a good faith effort to accommodate Representative Rogers’ concerns, we have placed a clarifi cation inside ev-ery single voting machine listing the full text of Rep-resentative Rogers’ name

for voters to see.”Collier said the software

the commission uses im-plements a 14-point font, adding that when tests were run on the machine, the software did not indi-cate any errors.

“The election coordi-nator (Leslie Bellamy) is trained on how to enter candidates’ names and our policy has always been enter the name of the can-didate as they present it on their political practice pledge,” he said. “We’re not in the business of abbreviating ‘Represen-tative’ to ‘Rep.’ because that’s not an authority I or the election coordina-tor has. We ran that test to see if there are any er-rors and it came back that there was none.”

Collier said that voting machines are not turned on and ballots are not loaded during the testing process, rather the ma-chines are scanned to see if any errors are detected.

Collier said he plans to meet with the State Board of Election Commission-ers and the Arkansas Secretary of State’s offi ce before deciding the next step.

“We have to know for sure if we can change it,” he said. “It’s illegal to have two ballot forms. I need to fi nd out what remedies we do have available.”

He said early voting will not be suspended in the interim.

“We’re going to focus

on running this election and we’re not going to let this press release side-track us from doing our best in running this elec-tion for people in White County,” he said.

Rogers said she hopes her name is corrected as soon as possible.

“I’m disappointed in what is going on,” she said. “If no one had voted yet when they noticed, why didn’t they fi x it? I’m also confused why it would say ‘...’ instead of ‘ers.’ They’re both three characters.”

District 28 encompass-es southeastern White County, all of Prairie County and portions of Lonoke, Monroe and Ar-kansas counties. Rogers said she contacted the other four counties in the district and was told that her name appears in full on their electronic voting machines. Collier said he is unsure as to why Rog-ers’ name is not truncated in other counties.

Rogers’ opponent, in-cumbent State Sen. Jona-than Dismang, R-Searcy, said he has does not be-lieve the election has been compromised.

“From what I under-stand, the election com-mission has corrected the issue by posting her name inside the machines,” he said. “Our voters are edu-cated. I’m confi dent they know who they’re voting for when they vote. I don’t think anything has been compromised.”

NAME

CONTINUED FROM 1A

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I N D E X

TheDailyCitizen.com

CONDOLEEZZA RICE SPEAKS AT HARDING

LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe on Thurs-day said he is in favor of the Highway 36/67 Connector Route bypass project going forward, but will not press the Arkansas State Highway Commission to make a full commitment to the project.

Beebe said that Senate Republicans’ deci-sion during the fi scal session to vote against suspending the rules to consider repealing the

diesel tax exemption for truckers will knock $4 million per year out of the highway depart-ment’s funding, placing the Searcy project and other projects around the state in jeopardy.

“I’m obviously for the Searcy bypass project, but I’m not going to ask the highway depart-ment to spend money they don’t have,” Beebe told The Daily Citizen Thursday. “If they don’t have the money, they’ll have to make adjust-

Beebe: I will not push bypassBY JACOB BROWERjbrower@thedailycitizen

Beebe says highway commission will make cuts where appropriate

Beebe DismangPlease see BYPASS | 3A

Yarnell’s back in stores

When: Yarnell’s will be in Searcy Walmart freezers 7 a.m. Monday.

Flavors: 17 from original line, including ice cream sandwiches.

Workers: 16 former em-ployees are working at the Searcy plant, and company officials say they hope to hire more as the brand expands.

GrantWho: Searcy Fire Depart-

mentWhat: Will be going door-

to-door in low income and elderly neighborhoods check-ing and installing free smoke detectors

Why: The department re-ceived a $4,000 grant from the Arkansas Fire Prevention Board in May 2011

When: Beginning Monday

LITTLE ROCK — The wait will not be long for White Countians who have missed the taste of Yar-nell’s Premium Ice Cream.

The brand will be available at Walmart in Searcy at 7 a.m. Mon-day, and all grocery retailers that will carry the product should have it in freezers no later than May 18,Yarnell’s general manager AlexBell said Thursday. The product is expected to be available at all 80 Walmart retailers in Arkansas by Wednesday.

As fi rst reported in the March 3 edition of The Daily Citizen,the company will bring back 17 fl avors in its relaunch. The “Pre-mium Red” fl avors are Butter Pecan, Cookies & Cream, Death by Chocolate, Homemade Choc-olate, Homemade Strawberry,

Yarnell’s in stores Monday


The Searcy Fire Department will be going door-to-door in low income and elderly neighbor-hoods checking and installing free smoke detectors beginning Monday.

The fi re department received a $4,000 grant from the Arkan-sas Fire Prevention Board in May 2011 to purchase the smoke de-tectors. The department has pur-chased 569 smoke detectors.

The fi refi ghters will begin the door-to-door campaign from 5-7 p.m. Monday through Friday. The fi rst neighborhoods to be visited will be between Vine and Moore, Park and Woodruff and the subdivision north of Race and west of Maple. All the fi refi ghters will be in uniform and have a fi re department identifi cation card.

“The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that in 2010 there were 384,000 residential fi res resulting in 2,665 deaths and 13,800 injuries,” said Fire Inspector Lisa Coleman. “That amounts to a home fi re every 85 seconds, and one fi re death almost every three hours. Of those fatalities, almost two-thirds of them resulted from fi res in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.”

The Searcy Fire Department along with the National Fire Pro-tection Administration recom-mends having a smoke detector in each bedroom and in the hall-way. As a condition of the grant the department has to install the smoke detectors. Individuals needing smoke detectors should contact the Searcy Fire Depart-ment by calling (501) 279-1066. The caller’s information will be taken and fi re department per-sonnel will be assigned to install the smoke detectors.

Searcy firefighters

to check detectors

17 flavors, ice cream sandwiches available at 7 a.m.

Please see YARNELL’S | 3A

Firefighters to visit neighborhoods


LITTLE ROCK — Sen. Mark Pryor said Thursday he’s run-ning for a third term in 2014, as Arkansas’ only Democratic senator dismissed rumors that he planned to retire or run for governor.

Pryor said he’s months from organizing his re-election campaign, but that he’s begun telling close friends and sup-porters about his plans in an effort to tamp down specula-tion. He previously said he was leaning toward running, but wouldn’t make a decision until after the November elec-tion.

“I really look forward to going around the state and talking about what I’ve been able to accomplish in Wash-ington,” Pryor told The As-sociated Press. “Washington is a dysfunctional place right now, and some people may wonder, ‘Can anybody sane really want to do this job?’ But I think it’s important and I love representing Arkansas, and I wanted to be clear with people that that would be my intention.”

In a letter to friends and sup-ports last month, Pryor said he’s heard rumors around the state that he would retire to run for governor or take a po-

sition with a university. Pryor wrote that he had even heard speculation that he may join the seminary.

“Regardless of these ru-mors, I am planning on run-ning for re-election in 2014,” Pryor wrote in the letter, which was fi rst reported Thursday morning on the Ar-kansas Times’ website. “In the Senate, I have built relation-ships and I have worked hard to put myself in the position to best help Arkansas — and I’d like to continue those ef-forts.”

Pryor said Thursday none

Pryor says he’s running for re-election


LITTLE ROCK — The co-chairman of a legislative panel that will spend the next several months studying the Arkansas tax code said Thursday that the dozens of exemptions for indus-tries should be reviewed more regularly.

The House and Senate Rev-enue and Taxation committees reviewed 103 exemptions af-fecting sales of items ranging from groceries to baby chickens as lawmakers prepare for a leg-islative session that’s expected to be marked by competing tax cut ideas. The meeting was the fi rst of several the panels expect to have on the state’s tax code ahead of the legislative session that begins in January.

Rep. Davy Carter, the House panel’s chairman, said he doesn’t expect most of the ex-emptions to be changed by law-makers during next year’s ses-sion.

“I think it would be benefi -

Lawmakers start lengthy

tax study

Please see TAXES | 2A

BEEBE POLICE MAKE 3 RECENT ARRESTSPolice arrested an intoxicated man after he entered the police station asking to use a restroom. — PAGE 2A

LADY ’CATS, LADY RAMBLERS MEET TODAYAn all-White County doubleheader today will decide the conference championship. — PAGE 1B


Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addressed a capacity crowd Thurs-day night at Harding University’s Benson Auditorium. Rice was the final speaker in this year’s American Studies Institute Distinguished Lecture series. Her presentation was titled, “Looking back and moving forward for a stronger America.” She discussed three main areas: the Arab Spring, the economic crisis, and the economic influences of Bra-zil, Russia, India and China.

Please see PRYOR | 2A

The Daily Citizen Friday, April 20, 2012 • Page 3A

FROM PAGE ONE

ments.”Beebe said he would

not speculate where the Searcy project should rank in the order of proj-ects to be cut.

“I’m not in any position to rank all the highways in the state of Arkansas,” he said. “That’s what the highway commission is for. Obviously, I have a little prejudice in favor of Searcy because that’s where I’m from, but I still have to govern the whole state.”

Beebe said he was dis-appointed that Senate Re-publicans, including Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, voted to block the diesel tax bill during the fi scal session.

“You’ll have to ask those 13 senators why they did what they did, of which Dismang was one,” Beebe said. “There was an agree-ment. The House Repub-licans favored it. I don’t know what on earth mo-tivated those folks down there, but it was pretty much a blocked vote.

“It’s really sad. It’s sad for Searcy. It’s sad for any projects around the state.”

The issue came to the fl oor three days before the fi scal session adjourned, and Dismang said he vot-ed to block the measure because he did not want to have to choose between voting to repeal the tax exemption and voting on a bill he initially spon-sored making it more diffi cult for online sexual predators to get released on parole. By the end of the session, neither mea-sure was successful.

“Right now, sexual predators are guaran-

teed mandatory parole, which means they’re serving one-third of their sentence time or less,” Dismang said. “We were under the understanding that no non-fi scal mat-ters would be considered. I didn’t think it would be appropriate to consider a tax issue, but not an is-sue about keeping sexual predators off the streets.”

Dismang said he spoke to Beebe on the next to

last day of the fi scal ses-sion, in which Beebe ex-pressed concerns about the future of the Searcy bypass project. Dismang said he attempted to get the trucker tax issue brought back to the Sen-ate fl oor, but was told by Democratic leadership that it was too late.

Dismang said he was opposed to the exemption when it was fi rst proposed during the 2011 regular session, and that he plans to support repeal during the 2013 session if re-elected.

Dismang did not direct-ly respond when asked about Beebe’s comments.

“I don’t want to get into an argument with the governor, but there was quite a bit more that occurred during the ses-sion,” he said. “If we’re going to point a fi nger at anyone, it’s the law itself.

These were not fi scal mat-ters, and it’s probably best that no action was taken.”

Highway Commission John Burkhalter told The Citizen last Friday that he is optimistic about the project going forward, but could not say with 100 percent certainty that it would be completed as planned.

White County and the city of Searcy have both committed to funding a combined $6 million to-ward the $40 million by-pass project.

The county was able to pay its portion of the $3 million with funds from the county general budget. The city had to pass a 1 percent sales tax in December in order to raise the necessary $3 million.

The city tax collection began on April 1 and will sunset after 15 months.

Jacob Brower/[email protected]

Gov. Mike Beebe speaks to reporters at the state Capitol Thursday morning. Beebe told The Daily Citizen that he hopes the Highway 36/67 Connector Route goes forward as planned, but said he will not press the highway commission to make the project a priority.

Bypass in question

Gov. Mike Beebe on Thursday said he hopes the Highway 36/67 Connector Route project goes forward, but will not push the Ar-kansas State Highway Commission to make it a priority.

BYPASS

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Homemade Vanilla, Real Vanilla, Ozark Black Wal-nut and Rocky Road. Fro-zen yogurt fl avors will be Blueberries and Cream, Chocolate, Peaches and Cream, Strawberry and Vanilla. “Guilt free” fl avors will be Butter Pecan, Choc-olate and Vanilla.

According a press re-lease, the company will look to bring back other

fl avors over time depend-ing on consumer feedback. The company has no plans to produce Razorback-themed ice cream, such as Woo Pig Chewy, because those products were part of a licensing agreement with the University of Arkansas that no longer exists.

Kevin Boyle, CEO of Yar-nell’s parent company Chi-cago-based Shulze & Burch Biscuit Company, reiter-ated at a Thursday press

conference at the state capitol that the recipes re-main unchanged from the recipes used by the original Yarnell’s company, which closed its doors on June 30, 2011. One change is the squared container, while Boyle said will aid in stor-age.

Another change is the number of employees. Yarnell’s employed ap-proximately 200 workers when it closed its doors last

summer, but now employs only 16 — all of whom are former employees. Com-pany offi cials say they hope to hire more workers at the Searcy plant as the compa-ny expands the brand.

Yarnell’s is not limit-ing its product to the state of Arkansas. The brand will also be distributed in southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma and northern Mississippi, according to a press release.

Jacob Brower/[email protected]

Gov. Mike Beebe speaks to hundreds in attendance at a press conference in Little Rock Thursday morning announcing the return of Yarnell’s Premium Ice Cream to store freezers, while Searcy Mayor David Morris, left, and Shulze & Burch Biscuit Company CEO Kevin Boyle listen. The ice cream will be on sale in Searcy, be-ginning at 7 a.m. Monday.

YARNELL’S

CONTINUED FROM 1A

BY KAREN MATTHEWSAssociated Press

NEW YORK — Presi-dent Barack Obama should not bother trying to pass gun-control leg-islation because the is-sue is partly cultural and Obama is from an urban area, former President Bill Clinton said Thurs-day.

Clinton was asked about the gun issue dur-ing his keynote address at a New York City con-ference on sustainability.

The former president said Obama is from Chi-cago and “he was in the state Senate from the most liberal district in Chicago.”

Clinton said he was able to sign the 1993 Brady handgun law, which mandated federal background checks for gun buyers, because he was from Arkansas, had grown up among hunt-ers and had hunted in his youth.

“I knew what to do,” Clinton said. “They couldn’t turn me into some freak, and I went after them.”

He added, “I have an unusual cultural advan-tage to deal with this on a legislative basis.”

Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told the National Rifl e Asso-ciation last week that Obama would like to erode gun owners’ rights. But the topic has rarely arisen during Obama’s time in offi ce, and gun-control advocates have expressed disappoint-ment with the president.

Clinton also men-tioned the Romney aide who last month com-pared his candidate’s shift from the primary fi ght to the general elec-tion to an Etch A Sketch.

“He told the truth,” Clinton said. “Sometimes it’s the worst sin you can commit in politics.”

Clinton: I had cultural advantage on gun laws

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W E A T H E RToday: Mostly cloudy. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the lower 70s.Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the lower 50s.


“ ”To love oneself is the beginning of a

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OSCAR WILDE19th Century Irish writer and poet



I N D E X

SEARCY CHRISTMAS PARADE DRAWS CROWD

The proposed 2013 budget on which members of the Searcy City Council will vote this month will include a line item to reopen the leaky municipal pool for

the 2013 season.Mayor David Morris said he will pass

along a budget proposal to the council that includes funding for the nearly

Pool in 2013 budget proposal


Mayor recommends keeping pool open despite financial, environmental concerns

Municipal PoolWhat: The proposed bud-

get on which members of the city council will vote includes funding to keep the pool open another year.

Cost: Pool season this past summer cost the city $128,152.39

Morris

The fi nancial situation at the Searcy Sanitation Department has improved, but the num-bers are still in the red.

As of the end of July, the depart-ment had a negative balance of $48,967.01, but as the end of October, the department only had a nega-tive balance of $23,457.67.

City sanitation finances

improving


Shock

Searcy Sanitation

Earlier this year, the Searcy Sanitation Department had lost nearly $50,000. How-ever, the department has im-proved its financial state and is only down $23,457.

Department still losing money, despite

revenue sources

Please see SANITATION | 2A

Every year since 1998, on the Saturday following Thanksgiv-ing, 39-year-old Judsonian Brad Allen calls ducks.

H o w e v e r , Allen isn’t in a blind or a fi eld. He’s on Main Street in Stutt-gart.

This year, Allen won his second duck calling world championship. Al-though the prize package is worth

Judsonia man revels in second

title


Allen

World champion duck caller

Who: Brad Allen, 39, of Judsonia

What: Recently won his second duck calling world championship in Stuttgart

One-of-a-kind duck call helps Allen win

Please see ALLEN | 3A

With winter weather quickly approaching, local fi re depart-ments are hoping to make sure residents stay safe while stay-ing warm.

Bald Knob Fire Chief Danny Holobaugh said space heaters are the biggest threat to homes, but not the only one.

“Everyone uses space heat-ers and they never put them in the right place,” he said. “A

space heater is what it says — it needs space.”

According to the National Fire Protection Association, heating equipment was in-volved in an estimated 57,100 house fi res in 2010, resulting in 490 deaths, 1,540 injuries and $1.1 billion in property dam-age. Nearly half (49 percent) of these fi res occurred in Decem-ber, January and February.

More than half of the fatal home fi res (53 percent) were attributed to space heater placement. Space heaters should be kept away from

things that may burn, such as furniture, clothing, mattresses or bedding.

“People set up the space heater, plug it in, then never pay attention to it when it could be close to something and get hot,” Holobaugh said. “Space heaters need to be put in an area with plenty of room.”

Lisa Coleman, Searcy fi re marshal, agreed about the dangers of space heaters and shared her advice on how to handle them.

Local firefighters stress safety in winter


Space heaters, chimneys leading

cause of house fires

Fire safety

What: Local fire depart-ments hope citizens will make themselves aware of fire safety in the winter

Leading cause: Heating equipment (space heaters) was involved in an estimated 57,100 house fires in 2010, resulting in 490 deaths, 1,540 injuries and $1.1 bil-lion in property damage.

Please see SAFETY | 2A

Please see POOL | 2A

BIG STOP SECURES TICKET TO TITLE GAME


Harding Academy’s defense rose to the challenge, sending the Wildcats to the title game. — PAGE 1B

LETTER EXPLAINS MAYOR ASSAULT VERDICTJudge Mark Pate said the state did not meet its burden of proof in prosecuting an assault case. — PAGE 3A

TheDailyCitizen.com

Kyle Troutman/[email protected]

Santa Claus waves to people lining the street as he pass-es the White County Court-house during Searcy’s annual Christmas parade Saturday evening. At left, Belinda An-derson and Kaleigh Anderson, 3, wave at Santa Claus as he passes them near the corner of Main Street and Race Av-enue during Searcy’s parade.

“I tell people there needs to be 3 feet around it that’s completely clear,” she said. “And never leave it on when you’re not at home. People do that to keep the house warm when they’re not gone long, but it’s never a good idea.”

Coleman said people looking to buy space heat-ers should seek out newer models, as many have safety devices that shut them off if the units are knocked over.

While space heaters are a major concern, Ho-

lobaugh said the depart-ment also gets lots of calls about chimneys, which can cause fi res if not properly cleaned.

“Creosote builds up from wood burned in a fi replace during the win-ter and sits there during the summer months,” he said. “Then, when some-one lights a fi re in the fi re-place, it starts a fi re in the chimney, and you can’t put water on it because it will crack. So, we usually have to wait until it burns itself out.”

Coleman said chim-ney fi res and controlled burns, people burning

leaves or pine needles, are more of an issue in Searcy.

“Have your chimney cleaned once per year and make sure you have work-ing smoke detectors and a home escape plan,” she said.

She also advises people with wood-burning stoves to use them properly. The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) advises people with such stoves to make sure they are installed properly and away from combustible surfaces,

along with ensuring prop-er ventilation to prevent smoke building up in the home. Coleman also said when using traditional fi replaces, be sure to use screens to prevent em-bers from escaping onto carpets or furniture.

Beyond space heat-ers, chimneys, fi replaces, wood-burning stoves and controlled burns, Holo-baugh said basic fi re pre-vention techniques are also important.

“Check your smoke de-tectors and make sure the batteries are fresh,” he

said. “Also, have a fi re ex-tinguisher on hand. They don’t cost much and can take care of a little issue before it turns into a big one.”

Small fi re extinguishers range in price from $10 to $50 and are available lo-cally at hardware and re-

tail stores.“When you consider

what a home fi re would cost versus buying a fi re extinguisher, it’s not a lot,” Coleman said.

For more information about fi re safety, people may visit www.usfa.fema.gov.

Page 2A • Sunday, December 2, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE


Corrections

Associated PressLITTLE ROCK — A north-

ern Arkansas public school teacher wants to know why public school employees pay more than twice as much for insurance as state employees and what state lawmakers plan to do about it.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Shelley Branscum of Fox told mem-bers of the House and Senate education committees' Joint Subcommittee on Public School Employee Health In-surance that she learned how much less state employees pay while she investigated a

20 percent increase in insur-ance premiums that is to go into effect Jan. 1.

Public school employees, including teachers, cafete-ria workers and janitors, are considered employees of the individual school districts, not state employees.

In 2013, a state employee with the best possible cover-age and no dependents will pay $95.78 per month, while a public school employee with the same circumstance will pay $226.70, more than twice as much.

A state employee with family members in the

top, or gold, plan will pay $419.62 a month. A public school employee in the same situation will pay $1,029.96 per month.

"That's outrageous," said Branscum, an art, Spanish and journalism teacher at the Fox Rural Special School in Stone County. "We can't afford our insurance"

The state provides $390 a month for insurance for every state employee, com-pared with $131 a month for each school employee.

The $131 comes from the state's funding plan, which in the 2012-13 school year

provides districts $6,267 per student.

The school districts are expected to add to that $131 minimum contribution paid by the state from their own funds. However, they aren't required to do so and some use the remainder for other needs, Arkansas Education Association Executive Direc-tor Rich Nagel said.

Subcommittee Co-chair-man Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, said the Legislature will likely address the issue in the 2013 session, but he doesn't expect major changes to occur quickly.

Teacher questions cost of insurance

SAFETY

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Jay Shock, Searcy chief of staff, said thedecline at the beginning of the year was be-cause of a number of annual expenses thedepartment has to pay during the fi rst quar-ter.

Those expenses include workers’ compen-sation, insurance on the sanitation buildingand vehicles.

The department has paid $63,289.35 inworkers compensation this year, but thatamount is paid in four increments, ratherthan at one time. The total must be paid offby June, Shock said.

The department has also paid $13,393.54in insurance for the building and $20,915for vehicle insurance, which is due by Jan.15.

“We then collected revenues in Septem-ber and October, and we didn’t have to paythose expenses,” Shock said. “We were ableto have more revenue and less expenses be-cause we paid our bills up front.”

He said the department — like everyoneelse in the county — has saved money onits bills because of a decrease in the cost ofgasoline.

Between July and August, the cost of gas-oline reached $3.40 a gallon, but has sincedecreased to $3.17 in Searcy.

Shock said the department has seen a in-crease in revenue from recycling and trashbins being used, but neither of those itemsare as high as they once were, which is oneof the factors as to why the department is inthe negative.

A decrease in commercial pick-up, as wellas a decline in companies using the city forcardboard recycling are two reasons whythe revenue to the department has decline.

A third reason is because of a decline inthe amount of 40-yard bins that have beenrented through the department, whichShock said is a refl ection of the economicclimate in the area.

Shock has previously recommended forthe city to increase commercial rates, as hesaid businesses would be able to pass thoseexpenses off to their customers, whereasresidents would have to pay those costsfrom their own pockets.

Shock presented the fi nancial state of thedepartment to the city council in August. Atthat time, council members said they wouldlike to have a special meeting to address thefi nancial state of the department. However,that meeting has yet to be held.

The council will have a special meeting onThursday before its regular agenda meetingto discuss city employees receiving bonuses.

Shock said the fi nancial state of the sani-tation department could improve as theyear comes to an end.

“It’s a moving target,” Shock said. “Ev-erything is a moving target every month. Itjust depends on what expenses we’ve had topay.”

50-year-old pool. Building a new similarly sized pool would cost the city at least $4 million, which the city cannot afford on its $15 mil-lion budget, he said.

“My recommendation will be to patch it up as best we can and see how it goes,” he said. “Obviously, there isn’t any new revenue available to start a new pool and our only options are to patch the pool and operate under the existing funds or simply shut the pool down.

“I feel like a tremendous amount of the people in Searcy who use the pool, a lot of them don’t have the means to go to the lake, or use a privately-funded pool or put a pool in their yard. There are a lot of people who use the pool that don’t have any viable option.”

The cost of admission at the pool is $2 per day, sin-gle-person season passes are $50 and family season passes are $140. Including repeat customers, the pool served approximately 7,500 people this past season, ac-cording to Chad Price, pool manager.

This past summer, the pool cost the city a total of $128,152.39, and the city generated only $13,465.90

through daily admission fees, season passes, pool party fees and day care fees. Besides the $85,837.56 cost of wages and benefi ts for pool staff, the largest expen-diture was $39,311.52 for water and sewer services.

No money changes hands for water and sewer, since the city donates the service to itself for pool season.

City Engineer Mark Lane said the 275,000-gallon pool has used 13,342,100 gallons of water this year, enough water to fi ll it 48-1⁄2 times. A fi berglass liner was installed in 1990 and was intended to last the city 10 years. The liner is repaired annually in order for the pool to continue operations. The cost of repairs this past season was $3,003.13.

In January 2011, Lane said that pool should only be using 1.1 million gal-lons, and recommended that the pool be closed due to environmental concerns regarding the large amount of chlorinated water be-ing leaked into the soil and nearby Gin Creek.

Lane said he has not reit-erated his previous recom-mendation to Morris and the city council, but it still stands.

“My recommendation has not changed,” he said. “It’s

not good to be losing water out of the pool. It’s either go-ing into the ground or into the creek, probably some of both. A pool this size should be using nowhere near 13 million gallons a year.”

Brian Smith, Searcy parks and recreation director, said he is frustrated that steps have not been taken toward acquiring a new pool, but believes the current pool is better than no pool at all.

“As long as we do not have to spend a great amount of money on any repairs and if we can do business as nor-mal within our existing bud-get, I think it offers another service to the community at a marginal cost to the city,” he said. “Considering the city’s annual budget is $15 million, this is money well spent to provide a recreational ser-vice for our community.”

Price, who also serves as head coach of the Searcy Sharks swim team, said he hopes the council decides to continue funding the pool. The Sharks feature between 50 and 70 swimmers per year from ages 6 to 18. The team holds competitions and practices at the munici-pal pool during pool season and the Ganus Athletic Cen-ter at Harding University during the off-season.

When asked what would

happen to the Sharks should the municipal pool close, Price said, “We would cease to exist.”

The Sharks are funded through membership dues, but also through admis-sion and concession fees for home meets. The Sharks do not pay for use of the city pool, but pay around $1,000 per year for use of the Hard-ing pool, Price said.

“We hosted the AAU state championships this past summer and, this summer, it’s moving to Bryant be-cause they have a new mu-nicipal pool,” he said. “This will bring 500 swimmers to that meet alone. It hurts to lose that, but there are other meets we just can’t do with-out.”

Morris said he will un-derstands concerns about keeping the pool open, but believes the money will be well spent.

“You could take that $100,000 and give employee bonuses or three new police cars of repave some streets,” he said. “But a recreational opportunity for our citizens is a good expenditure of our money because the kids need recreational opportunities in the summer.

“A municipality the size of Searcy should provide a pool.”

SANITATION

CONTINUED FROM 1A

POOL

CONTINUED FROM 1A

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White County Sheriff Ricky Shourd, a Republican, will re-turn to offi ce in 2013 after not receiving an opponent as of the noon Thursday fi ling deadline.

Shourd took offi ce in 2007 and has never faced a chal-lenger since his initial race. His next term will expire in 2015.

Shourd was not available for

W E A T H E RToday: Mostly sunny. Rain likely. Highs in the upper 70s. Southwest winds 20 to 25 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.


“ ”Tact is the ability to describe others

as they see themselves.ABRAHAM LINCOLN

16th President of the United States



I N D E X

CATS IN THE HATS ATTEND LITERACY EVENT

CitizenDailyThe


FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2012 75¢

COUNTY JUDGE RACE FEATURES 2 OPPONENTSAfter expressing interest, a local radio executive decided not to enter the White County Judge’s race. — PAGE 3A

TheDailyCitizen.com 4

RIVERVIEW HEADS TO LONOKE TOURNEYThe Raiders are looking to gain experience with an early-season tourney this weekend. — PAGE 1B

The White County Quorum Court will see at least one change in 2013.

Republican Joel “JP” Pritch-ett will replace Democrat Bud Osborn as Justice of the Peace from District 12, which covers the central portion of the city of Searcy.

Pritchett served as the jus-tice from District 13 from 1988-89, but had to step down when he took a job as an audi-tor for the state of Arkansas.

He has served as chairman of the White County Republi-can Party since January 2011, and his term expires on Dec.

Former JP to replace OsbornPritchett is county GOP chairman, served as JP in late 1980s

New Justice of the Peace

Who: Joel “JP” PritchettParty: RepublicanPolitical experience: Dis-

trict 13 JP from 1988-89, current White County Repub-lican chairman

Osborn

Shourd

Pritchett

Gillam


Marisa Lytle/[email protected]

Cheryl Faulk watches Grayden Armstrong as he decorates a cookie at the “Red Fish, Blue Fish Art Fun” station during Dr. Seuss Night at McRae Elementary School Thursday night. Many booths were set up for the purpose of encouraging literacy and celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday.

A two-vehicle accident on Highway 31 near mile marker 5.4 in White County claimed the life of a Ward woman.

Cheryl Hill, 55, was killed at approximately 2 p.m. Tuesday while traveling northbound in a 2005 Chevrolet truck. A 2006 Volkswagen, driven by Nathan-iel Crump, 24, of Beebe, crossed into the northbound lanes and struck the Hill’s vehicle, accord-ing to a report from Trooper Mike McNeil of the Arkansas State Police.

Hill, who was wearing a seat-belt, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Crump was not injured.

Road conditions were dry and the weather was clear at the the time of the crash.

Police did not release any fur-ther details. The crash is still un-der investigation.

The Daily Citizen

Collision on Highway 31 claims life of Ward resident

Woman, 55, killed in White County crash

Vehicle fatalityVictim: Cheryl Hill, 55, of

WardLocation: Highway 31

near mile marker 5.4 in White County

Time: Approximately 2 p.m. Tuesday

Republicans will hold at least a 9-4 majority in the White County Quorum Court, starting in January 2013.

Seven Republican incum-bents will return to the court, while one race will be a primary race between two Republicans. Democrat Bud Osborn, District 12, was the only incumbent to not run for re-election. He will be replaced by Republican Joel “JP” Pritchett, who is running unopposed.

Republicans Bobby Burns (District 2), Cameron Cooper (District 3), Allen King (District 4), Shane Allen Sellers (District 6), Mike Cleveland (District 9), Bobby Quattlebaum (District 10) and Ron Gibbs (District 13) are running unopposed and will return to their seats in 2013. Re-publican David Schoenberger is challenging fellow Republican incumbent Ed Land in District 11.

Four other seats on the Quo-rum Court will be contested. Republican Nathan Ray is chal-

Quorum CourtThe Republican Party will

hold at least a 9-4 majority on the White County Quorum Court as of 2013.

GOP to widen Quorum

Court majorityRepublicans will pick up

at least one seat in county government


A Searcy man charged withcapital murder has been foundto be mentally fi t to stand trial,according to an examination bythe state hospital.

Derrick Lynn Williams, 31, ofSearcy sought a mental exam inlate December after being ac-cused of stab-bing to death Robbie Joey Blagg, 37.

Williams has pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The mental examination conducted by the state hos-pital found that Williams was “mentally fi t” toproceed with a trial, according to17th Judicial District Prosecut-ing Attorney Chris Raff. A trialdate has not been set yet.

Williams is being representedby public defender Pat Aydelott.

Williams will appear in WhiteCounty Division 2 Circuit Courton Wednesday at 9 a.m. wherehis attorney will discuss whetherWilliams plans to seek a privatemental examination.

Raff said Williams has the le-gal right to have a second exami-nation.

Williams was arrested in No-vember and charged with onecount of capital murder in con-nection with the death of Blagg.The charge could bring him life

White County homicide

Suspect: Derrick Lynn Wil-liams

Victim: Robbie BlaggCharge: Capital murder

Suspect found mentally fit

for trialDefense can have suspect re-tested


Williams

6 local officials to serve another term in 2013Sheriff, state representative, others gain no opposition

No oppositionSix White County officials

and State Rep. Jeremy Gil-lam, R-Judsonia, will return to office after not drawing opposition as of the noon Thursday filing deadline.


Please see WIDEN | 3A

Please see SERVE | 3A

Please see PEACE | 2A

Please see MURDER | 2A

31. He said he has not de-cided whether he will run for re-election as party chairman, though bylaws do not prohibit it.

Osborn, who is in his 20th year on the Quo-rum Court, was arrested for driving while intoxi-cated four months ago on Thanksgiving afternoon. He is set to appear in court to face charges on May 1.

Pritchett was the only candidate to fi le for the District 12 seat as of Thursday’s noon dead-line, meaning he will run unopposed for the seat.

Pritchett said Osborn’s arrest did not play a factor

in his decision to run.“Not at all,” he said.

“This is an opportunity to serve the people. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was formerly on the Quorum Court. I ap-preciate Mr. Osborn’s 20 years of service to White County.”

Osborn said his arrest did not play a factor in his decision not to seek re-election. “It wasn’t some-thing I considered,” he said. “All that kind of dies down over time. I’m al-most 80 years old and I’ve been on the court for 20 years and I fi gured it was time that someone else do it. I’m still mentally able to do the job, but I’m not as able, physically, as I

used to be.”White County Judge

Michael Lincoln said he was not surprised by Os-born’s decision not to seek re-election.

“I was under the im-pression even before the arrest that this was going to be Bud’s last term,” he said. “Twenty years is a long time to serve. I wouldn’t see myself want-ing to run for offi ce when I’m in my late 70s.”

Lincoln’s challenger, Bill Haynie, commended Osborn on his decision not to run again.

“I think it was a wise move,” he said. “I’ve al-ways liked Mr. Bud, but this was just an unfortu-nate thing. Maybe this is good for him, good for his health. I have a lot of re-spect for the man.

“It hurts that he has to go out on this note, but he did the right thing.”

Page 2A • Friday, March 2, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE

Briefs


Corrections

CONTINUED FROM 1A

PEACE: Pritchett was only candidate to file for District 12 JP seat

in jail or the death pen-alty.

Blagg was found with multiple stab wounds in a ditch near 160 Highway 258 in the Judsonia area at 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 9.

First responders ad-ministered cardiopul-monary resusciation onBlagg, who was later pro-nounced dead at WhiteCounty Hospital.

CONTINUED FROM 1A

MURDER: Blagg found stabbed in ditch near Jusdonia highway

Associated Press

Session end in limbo over trucker tax break

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas House and Senate lead-ers remained split Thursday on whether there’s still time to negate a tax break for truckers after they failed to reach an agreement on three nonbudget issues before a self-imposed deadline to end this year’s session by the weekend.

Senate President Paul Bookout said the Senate was headed toward recessing the legislative session Friday as originally planned, while House Speaker Robert Moore said he was working toward a last-minute compromise.

“Proposals have been made, counterproposals made, and there has been no finality to the process,” Moore said. “We’ll continue through the night and in the morning. We’ll either have some sort of agree-ment, or we’re going to go home at 10 o’clock tomor-row.”

The tax exemption on commercial truck sales was among three final issues remaining before the Legis-lature wraps up a session intended to focus primarily on the state’s budget.

Court upholds sentence in Fort Smith case

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and death sentence of a man who crashed into his estranged wife’s car at a busy Fort Smith intersection then fatally stabbed her.

Thomas Springs had argued that he had ineffectual legal counsel in his 2005 trial when he was convicted of capital murder in the death of Christina Springs.

Thomas Springs argued that his lawyer should have called his son to testify during the sentencing portion of the trial. But the Arkansas Supreme Court noted Thursday that Springs’ lawyers called 14 other witnesses who provided positive testimony about Springs’ character, work ethic and love for his chil-dren.

The court says the son’s testimony likely wouldn’t have changed the jury’s decision to sentence Springs to death.

Bad Boy Mowers adds 150 jobs in Batesville

BATESVILLE — Bad Boy Mowers says it will expand its operations in Batesville, investing $7.4 million and adding 150 jobs.

With the expansion, Bad Boy Mowers will employ more than 550 people in Arkansas. The company makes zero-turn mowers and multi-terrain vehicles that are distributed throughout the United States and in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Bad Boy Mowers was established in 1998 in Diaz and began production at its Batesville location in 2002. The company’s owners say a strong workforce and demand for their products led to the expansion.

With the expansion, the company will begin manu-facturing additional versions of multi-terrain vehicles that are used for agricultural, recreational and indus-trial purposes.

Prosecutor joins congressional race in east

LITTLE ROCK — A prosecutor who agreed to the deal that freed the West Memphis Three joined the Democratic race for an east Arkansas congressional seat.

Prosecutor Scott Ellington’s entrance creates a po-tentially heated primary for a district Democrats hope to regain in November. He submitted paperwork to run for the Democratic party’s nomination for the 1st Congressional District, making his bid official shortly before Thursday’s deadline for federal and state can-didates to file in Arkansas.


LITTLE ROCK — A for-mer state representative who resigned last year after a felony theft con-viction is trying to run for the Legislature again, but state Democratic offi cials say it appears he’s not eli-gible for the seat.

Former state Rep. Fred Smith fi led Thursday to run in the east Arkansas district from which he’d resigned last year because of the felony conviction that made him ineligible. State Democratic Party Chairman Will Bond says Smith’s attorneys told the party that Smith was in the process of having his conviction expunged.

But the circuit clerk’s offi ce in Chicot County — where Smith was con-victed — said Thursday his record had not been expunged. The offi ce also said there had been no papers fi led to have Smith’s criminal record sealed.

“As it stands right now, we don’t think we can certify his candidacy,” Ar-kansas Democratic Party spokeswoman Candace Martin said.

Bond says he told Smith — a former Harlem Globetrotter from Craw-fordsville— that he would have to forfeit his $3,000 fi ling fee if he’s found to be ineligible. “Since we don’t know if the order has been entered or will be entered and fi ling is at the closing, we’re going

to accept his paperwork with the understanding that he could ineligible and could lose his fi ling fee unless he’s met the re-quirements,” Bond said.

Smith made his bid of-fi cial shortly before the deadline to fi le for state offi ce on Thursday.

As he left the state Cap-

itol on Thursday, Smith gave a brief, rambling in-terview, in which he said he was running again “to clear my name and give God all the glory.”

“I’m the Tim Tebow of state representatives,” Smith said, comparing himself to the devout NFL quarterback.

Smith not eligible due to felony

Associated Press

Former Arkansas state Rep. Fred Smith pleads his case to Democratic Party workers as State Democratic Party Chairman Will Bond (left) talks on the phone to try to resolve whether or not Smith was eligible to file to run for his former seat on the last day of filing Thursday morning at the state Capitol in Little Rock.

BY CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AND PAUL

WISEMANAssociated Press

WASHINGTON — After years of bad news beget-ting more bad news, the American economy may fi nally be building mo-mentum in the other di-rection.

A fl urry of economic reports issued Thursday captured some solid re-cent gains: Companies are hiring. Factories and department stores are busier. Americans are buying more cars.

And the stock market just ended its best Febru-ary in 14 years.

But Thursday’s re-ports also showed that a healthier job market hasn’t translated into bigger paychecks for workers or a surge in consumer spending. And the progress of the past few months is now threatened by a rise in

gasoline prices.On one hand, analysts

say the economy may beon the verge of a “vir-tuous cycle,” in whichstronger hiring fuelsmore consumer spend-ing, which leads to evenmore hiring and spend-ing. On the other hand,even months of improve-ment have yet to demon-strate that the cycle cansustain itself.

“When you get this sortof hodgepodge and not-so-good results, you startto see the true nature ofthis recovery,” said SeanSnaith, director of theUniversity of CentralFlorida’s Institute forEconomic Competitive-ness.

A healthier job markethasn’t produced biggerpaychecks or a surge inconsumer spending. Thehousing market is stillweak. A European reces-sion threatens to holdback U.S. growth.

Jobs picture brightens, but economy awaiting liftoff

Associated Press

Obama’s commitmentPresident Barack Obama talks about U.S. oil de-pendence Thursday in Nashua, N.H. At a fund-raiser — a $5,000-a-person reception — Obama defended his commitment to Israel’s security, par-ticularly amid the turbulence in the Middle East and North Africa, where some long-time leaders having been pushed from power over the past year. The sweeping changes, he said, make foreign policy in the region more complex. “It used to be easier to deal with one person who was an autocrat when it came to knowing who you could strike a deal with,” Obama said. With the region’s leadership structure changing, Obama said the U.S. would have to take into account the “politics and the attitudes of peo-ple in the region,” some of which he acknowledged were anti-Israel.

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W E A T H E RToday: Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 50s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.


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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2012 75¢


I N D E X

The parties who were set to go to court to decide ownership of a $1 million winning lottery ticket settled out of court on Friday morning.

Defense attorney Jimmy Simpson, representing Sharon

Jones, said terms of the settle-ment will not be made public.

“The terms are confi den-tial and sealed,” Simpson said. “Any time there’s a settlement both sides have to give some, but we’re pleased.”

The plaintiffs in the case were Sharon Duncan, Lisa Petriches, Luay Dejani, and Summer One, L.L.C. They were being repre-sented by Sam Hilburn, Traci LaCerra, Steven Underwood and James “Red” Morgan.

Morgan said the plaintiffs’ at-torneys were pleased as well.

“The attorneys met and the clients met, and we reached a

settlement before they started calling jury names,” Morgan said. “Everybody’s happy and pleased. We were very pleased. It’s been a long time.”

There was $490,000 remain-ing from the jackpot when the lawsuit was fi led. That was after the Jones family spent $190,000 and $320,000 was taken out for taxes.

Simpson said he could not recall as to who made the fi rst deal in terms of a settlement.

Parties settle lotto lawsuit


Terms of settlement kept

confidential

Lottery

Defense: Sharon Jones, represented by Jimmy Simp-son

Plaintiffs: Sharon Duncan, Lisa Petriches, Luay Dejani, and Summer One, L.L.C.

What happened: The par-ties settled out of court. The terms of the settlement were kept confidential.

The chairman of the White County Election Commission resigned from the panel Friday, citing a desire to “pursue other oppor-tunities.”

W i n s t o n Collier, who has served on the com-mission since 2009, de-clined to spec-ify what inter-ests he wants to pursue, but said he has not ruled out a run for public offi ce.

“Serving as chair of the elec-tion commission, you can’t

Election panel head

resigns


Commission chairman resigns

Who: Winston CollierEffective: January 2013

Collier cites desire to ‘pursue other opportunities’ in resignation

Collier

Please see COLLIER | 2A

Kyle Troutman/[email protected]

Angie Stevens decorates a Christmas tree in her home in preparation for Harding University’s Christmas Tour of Homes on Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased at each home. All proceeds from the tour will go toward need-based scholarships for Harding University students.

During the holidays, many people open their homes to friends and family. But for six Searcy couples, friends and family also includes the Searcy community.

The Associated Women for Harding is hosting the 30th annual Christmas Tour of Homes today from 1-4 p.m., with six west Searcy homes to be featured this year.

Liz Howell, Harding University’s as-sistant to the president for alumni and parent relations, has been involved with the event for 14 years and said the tour offers people a chance to get in the holi-day spirit.

“Everyone on the tour loves Christmas

and is in the holiday spirit, and it’s a fun thing for people,” she said. “Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year and its great to see how different people deco-

HARDING HOMES TOUR SET FOR SUNDAY

BY KYLE [email protected] Christmas Tour

of Homes

What: Six homes will be featured in the 30th annual Christmas Tour of Homes.

When: Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Cost: $20 per ticket

30th annual event to raise money for need-based student scholarships

Santa Claus will not be com-ing to town with gifts for a few more weeks, but he will be vis-iting Pioneer Village in Searcy during its fi rst-ever Christmas Open House.

The village usually hosts two open house events each year, but offi cials decided to help peo-ple get in the Christmas spirit with a third event.

The open house will be held Saturday, Dec. 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pioneer Village is lo-cated at 1166 Higginson Street in Searcy.

“This is really just a feel-good day to help get people in the Christmas spirit,” said Elizabeth Heard with Friends of Pioneer Village. “We want people to step back in time to a Christmas without all of the glitz and bling. It’s a great way to kick off the Christmas season and see how it was during simpler times.”

Visitors to the village will be treated to hot apple cider and sugar cookies, made by Carolyn Bowman.

All buildings will be opened and adorned with Christmas decorations similar to those used in the 1800s.

People can have their pictures taken with Santa and his sleigh, but they must bring their own cameras. Donations will be ac-cepted for a photo with Santa. All donations will help with the maintenance of Pioneer Village.

To help set the Christmas spirit, carolers will be roaming the village singing favorite holi-

Pioneer Village to celebrate

Christmas


Open House

Where: Pioneer VillageWhen: Saturday, Dec. 8

from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.What to expect: Santa

Claus and his sleigh, roam-ing carolers, Christmas deco-rations

Center will host first-ever holiday

open house


LITTLE ROCK — Rep. Tim Griffi n, an Arkansas Republi-can, was named Friday to the powerful U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, a move that he says rules out a run for gover-nor or the Senate in 2014.

The panel announced that Griffi n, who represents cen-tral Arkansas' 2nd District, was among four new Republican members. It is the chief tax-writing committee and mem-bers are not allowed to serve on other committees unless they receive a waiver from congres-sional leaders.

Griffi n is the fi rst congress-man from Arkansas to serve on the panel since 1992 and the fi rst Republican from the state.

"Being on the Ways and Means Committee is one of the best jobs in Washington," Grif-fi n said. "I think it's great news for my constituents and great news for all of Arkansas."

Griffin named to Ways

and Means Committee

Please see VILLAGE | 2APlease see GRIFFIN | 2A Please see HOMES | 3A

Please see LAWSUIT | 2A

PANGBURN HOSTS CHRISTMAS EVENT TODAYThe Pangburn Museum will be decorated with holiday memorabilia for an Old-Fashioned Christmas. — PAGE 3A


WILDCATS PLAY FOR TICKET TO TITLE GAMEHarding Academy hosted Fountain Lake Friday for a chance to advance to the title game. — PAGE 1B

WHf

TheDailyCitizen.com

A • Saturday, December 1, 2012 The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE


Corrections

Contributed photo

Griffi n said the appoint-ment means he won't run for governor or challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in 2014, races he said he had considered.

"I was going to give some serious thought to other options, but this is such an honor and it is exactly the subject mat-ter I'm interested in, that I think holds the key to a lot of our fi scal problems," Griffi n said.

The panel is the oldest committee in Congress and also deals with legisla-tion related to trade agree-ments, the national debt, federal revenues and pro-

grams such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Secu-rity. Only eight Arkansas residents have served on the committee since it was founded in 1789.

The last Arkansas con-gressman to serve on the panel was Beryl Anthony, a Democrat who repre-sented south Arkansas' 4th District. The late Con-gressman Wilbur Mills, who represented Arkan-sas' 2nd District, chaired the panel for 18 years and remains the longest serv-ing chairman of the com-mittee.

The announcement leaves Republicans uncer-tain on who will challenge Pryor, who announced

earlier this year that he would seek a third term. Others seen as potential challengers include Rep. Steve Womack and in-coming Rep. Tom Cotton. Both have said they're fo-cused on their jobs.

Several Republicans are considering running for governor with Democrat-ic Gov. Mike Beebe barred by term limits from run-ning again. The potential candidates include for-mer Congressman Asa Hutchinson, who said he'll likely announce a de-cision in January. Attor-ney General Dustin Mc-Daniel, a Democrat, is the only announced guberna-torial candidate so far.

GRIFFIN

CONTINUED FROM 1A

campaign on behalf of a particular candidate and can’t be involved in the campaign process, and I’m looking forward to being active in that pro-cess moving forward,” he said. “[Running for of-fi ce] is something that I’ll never rule out, but that is not the reason I’m doing this.”

Collier served as chair-man of the White County Democratic Club in 2007 and 2008, and was chair-man of the Democratic Central Committee from 2009 to 2011. He resigned last year and was replaced by former Searcy Mayor Belinda LaForce. The po-sition is now held by Da-vid Griffi th.

Collier was recently in-

volved in a confl ict with his party over Democratic state Senate candidate Tiffany Rogers’ name be-ing truncated on early voting machines in White County as “State Repre-sentative Tiffany Rog...” The commission placed signs on printed paper in-side each voting machine, saying that Rogers’ name was truncated with her full name printed.

On the second day of early voting, the state Democratic Party issued a press release titled “Elec-tions in White County Compromised Due to Election Commission Mistake,” which Collier publicly rebuked.

“I was very disappoint-ed in the way the state party treated someone who has worked very dili-

gently on their behalf,” he said. “They never picked up the phone and called me and told me that re-lease was about to hit the press.”

Collier insisted the release had nothing to do with his resignation, though he is considering leaving the Democratic Party.

“I haven’t decided that yet,” he said.

Each county party gets to appoint an election commissioner and the party that holds a major-ity of state constitutional

offi ces also gets to select an at-large member. Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel are Democrats, and Sec-retary of State Mark Mar-tin is a Republican.

Collier’s resignation is effective January, mean-ing the local Democratic Party will need to appoint his replacement at that time.

Collier said he is grate-ful to have served on the commission, the other members of which are Republican Cindy Bark-er and Democrat Jason

Brooks.“I am thankful that I

had the opportunity to serve,” he said. “[Barker and Brooks] are two of the most helpful people I’ve been around. I can’t say enough about the service [Election Coor-dinator] Leslie Bellamy provides to the citizens of White County. We have a wonderful election team and I will miss working with all of them.”

Barker said she was saddened to learn Collier is stepping down.

“With Winston, neither

of us looked at it as Re-publican or Democrat,”she said. “We wanted it to be fair. We tease eachother, but there was nev-er any issue about ourparties. I wish all people could work together asgood as our commission. Winston was an asset and we are going to miss him.”

An attorney, Collier was a partner in what is now the Simpson & Simpson law fi rm in Searcy before taking a job as general council at Augusta-based ARcare earlier this year.

COLLIER

CONTINUED FROM 1A


Barkin Barn proceeds benefit Humane SocietyLarry Douglas of Pangburn browses through a container of door handles while shopping at The Barkin Barn on Friday morning. The store has all of its Christmas items on sale for 50 percent off. The store is open today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is located at 108 N. Gum St. in Searcy. All proceeds benefit the Humane So-ciety of Searcy.

Beebe man wins $11,000

He said discussion of a settlement started on Thursday evening, and then as both parties gath-ered in the court room on Friday morning for jury selection, the settlement became a reality.

“As you get closer to a trial this all starts to take shape,” Simpson said. “It’s amazing what hap-pens on the courthouse steps.”

He said that Friday was the fi rst time that both parties and their clients had been in the same room since the trial in May.

The dispute over the lottery ticket started in the summer of 2011, when Jones said she found the ticket in a trash receptacle at the Super One Stop in Beebe. She said she found the ticket in a pile of tickets that

were not winners. She had picked up the pile to take them home and en-ter them in the computer for Points for Prizes, a program through the Ar-kansas Lottery Commis-sion that allows people to submit codes on their ticket for points to be used for prizes.

According to Petriches, the tickets, including the one that Jones had found, belonged to her because

she had placed the re-ceptacle there to collectscanned non-winningtickets.

Duncan was broughtinto the case after thetrial in May, where shetestifi ed that she was theoriginal purchaser of theticket.

Dejani was the ownerof the store, under hiscompany Summer OneL.L.C.

In May, Judge Thom-as Hughes awarded thewinnings to Duncan, as

he said she did not giveup her right to the win-nings when she gave upthe ticket.

The defense appealedthe outcome of the trialand asked for a jury trial,which was set to start onThursday. Hughes had re-cused himself and the trialwould have been heardby White County Cir-cuit Court Third DivisionJudge Craig Hannah.

LAWSUIT

CONTINUED FROM 1A “As you get closer to a trial this all starts to take shape. It’s amazing what happens on

the courthouse steps.”

Jimmy SimpsonDefense attorney

Duston Curtsinger of Beebe holds a check for $11,000 he won on a $10Money Maker ticket through the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. The ticket was purchased at the Miraj Flash Market in McRae.

day songs.The Garner Train De-

pot gift shop will be open with a variety of “old time Christmas gifts,” Heard said.

Some of the items on

sale will include hand-made toys, books, cook-books, and other hand-made gifts. Toy trains will also be on display.

The school house will feature a Christmas tree decorated with or-naments made by Girl

Scouts from across White County.

For more information about Pioneer Village or to get involved with the Christmas Open House, people can call the White County Historical Soci-ety at 501-278-5010.

VILLAGE

CONTINUED FROM 1A

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