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Lions Club poster winners. See page 6. )
Volume 118 Number 3 - USPS 225-680
Community Events Calendar Thursday January 24 Commodities distribution Hazen First United Methodist Church 10:00a.m.12:00p.m. GFWC Elsie McCain Club & Ruth Barrett Fox Club Meeting at Swilley Lodge 6:00p.m. Friday January 25 Des Arc Eagles @ White County Center JB, SG, SB 5:30p.m. Hazen Hornets @ England Lions 7B, JG;s, SRS 4:30p.m. Monday January 28 Hazen School Board Meeting 6:00p.m. High School Library Des Arc Eagles VS Hazen Hornets Hornets Nest SRB, SRG 5:30p.m. Hazen Senior Health and Wellness Center UAEX Chair Yoga 10:30a.m. Wednesday January 30 Hazen Senior Halth & Wellness Center National State Bingo 12:30p.m. Tuesday February 4 Hazen Chamber of Commerce Meeting 6:30p.m.-7:30p.m. BancorpSouth Community events brought to you by Hazen Chamber of Commerce and the
Please call F&M Bank (255-3042) or The Grand Prairie Herald (255-4538) to list events.
Serving all of Prairie County, Arkansas
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Hazen City Council votes on budget for 2019 The Hazen City Council met for its first meeting of the new year on Thursday, January 17, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall to discuss the 2019 budget. Present at the meeting were members Barbara Rogers, Rick Wiggins, Tim Juola, Steve Chlapecka, newly reelected Clevella Mosby, and Larry Anthony. Anthony who has been chosen to take the council seat of David Campbell, who no longer lives in Hazen. Also present were Recorder/Treasurer David Hardke and Mayor David Duch, who ran unopposed in the last election. The meeting began with the swearing in of the city officials by Prairie County Clerk Gaylon Hale. The main business of the council was to pass the 2019 City of Hazen budget, which was presented by Duch. He stated that the new budget raised the salaries of city workers, and also included the funding of some needed projects including a remodeling of the pilot lounge at the city airport, $90,000 to fix the two bridges on Hazen Avenue next to the high school, $10,000 to the Hazen Baseball Association to help pay for the upkeep of the baseball/softball complex, one-third of the School Resource Officer salary and benefits, and $16,000 for a new roof and new appliances for the kitchen in the Hazen Firehouse. The budget also includes a $2300 grant for another police radio. None of the extra $600,000 in sales tax money was budgeted,
The members of the Hazen City Council are pictured being sworn in at their January meeting. They are (l to r): Larry Anthony, Barbara Rogers, Steve Chlapecka, Recorder/Treasurer David Hardke, Mayor David Duch, Rick Wiggins, Tim Juola, and Clevella Mosby.
Duch said, and neither was the additional revenue from the new Love’s station taken into account in the 2019 budget. The treasurer’s report stated that the balance of the total general accounts for the city as of December 31, 2018 was $1,169,323.79, and the the total of all funds in the special accounts as of that date was $1,817,626.80. After passing the budget, the council voted to approve an ordinance amending sections pertaining to the district court. Hazen has one of the 13 departments of the Twenty-Third District, which includes Prairie and White counties. The ordinance brings the city’s municipal code book
Local ATU students named to Dean’s List RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. Seven college students from the Grand Prairie area have been named to the 2018 fall undergraduate Dean’s List at Arkansas Tech University. Des Arc students, who attend ATU on its Russellville campus are Sarabeth Dian Devore and Bailey Nell Greenwood, both of whom earned a 4.0 gradepoint average. Lonoke students Taylor Denise Carr, Charley Jo Chesney, Sydney Nicole Hallum (4.0), Scarlett Lea
ment goes in pursuit of a suspect, Taylor said that his department has gone as far as Palestine, but if there are other troopers helping, he sends his units home. The Hazen Police Department had 2500 traffic stops in 2018, according to Taylor, and have confiscated a large number of drugs in those stops. Taylor also told the council that DeValls Bluff City Mayor Brooks Castleberry has asked the Hazen Police Department to assist with arrests until that city can reorganize its police department. He said that Prairie County Sheriff Rick Hickman has also been approached for help. Since three Hazen officers live in the DeValls Bluff and Biscoe areas, Taylor didn’t think this assis-
tance would be a problem for his department. City Utilities Manager Phillip Foot told the council members that the main project for his department in 2019 will be to work on the equipment and do maintenance on the water plants. He said that the money has already been put back for the water project and that he the pipe needed for it is in storage. Part of his budgeted items for 2019 includes the purchase of 2 new trucks, a new trackhoe, and trench boxes. Fire Chief Ashley Loudermilk reported one house fire and 19 phone calls. He told the council that the ambulance service is going to try to keep a truck in Hazen full time to assist his department. (Continued on p. 4)
Moore (4.0), and Graycen Renee Russell (4.0) were also named to ATU’s Dean’s List. A student must achieve a 3.5 grade point average or higher and complete at least 12 hours of collegelevel coursework to be named to the Dean’s List. A total of 1,999 Arkansas Tech students achieved that distinction during fall 2018. Included in the fall 2018 Dean’s List are 802 students that achieved a 4.0 grade point average, a 6.4 percent increase over fall 2017.
AG to host mobile office at Des Arc Senior Center Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office will hold the county’s annual mobile office, a prescription drug take back, and a presentation on common scams in Prairie County on Tuesday, January 29 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Des Arc Senior Center. During the Attorney General Mobile Office, staff members will assist constituents with consumer-related issues by filing consumer complaints and providing information about scams, identity theft, fraud and other threats. During that time, authorities from Prairie County Sheriff Rick Hickman’s office will also collect prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, pet medicines, medicated
into compliance with a state law. Police Chief Bradley Taylor reported that one of the city officers had been involved in minor crash with a state trooper vehicle in pursuit of a fleeing suspect on I-40. When asked about the police department’s policy on chases, especially those on the interstate, Taylor said that he has been looking into his department’s chase policies to see if some changes need to be made. “I’ll have to go off what I’ve got to make a decision about when or when not to chase,” Taylor said. Taylor told the council that when state troopers arrive, the department tries to let them take over, with the the Hazen department taking the second position. When asked how far the depart-
ointments and lotions, inhalers, liquid medicines in glass or leak-proof containers and medicine samples as part of a prescription drug take back event. Community educators will also present a senior scams and identity theft prevention presentation to senior citizens. Seniors and older adults can also learn about common scams that target them, along with ways to spot and prevent identity theft. For more information about services provided by the Attorney General’s office, visit ArkansasAG.gov or call (501) 682-2007. Rutledge can also be found on Facebook at facebook.com/AGLeslieRu tledge and on Twitter at twitter.com/AGRutledge.
Going, going, gone... Prairie County was treated to a full eclipse of the moon on Sunday night, January 20. The eclipse was called a Super Blood Wolf Moon, and it will be the only total lunar eclipse to occur this year. According to space.com, the next total lunar eclipse will occur on May 26, 2021, but it will only be “visible in its totality from parts of Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean.” The Americas will only see part of that next eclipse.
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