Con g ress m an Cra wf or d v isits WRID p ro j ect site

By Leigh VanHouten

Congressman Rick Crawford met with White River Irrigation District (WRID) board members and area farmers Thursday at the completed Downs Road canal crossing north of Highway 70 between DeValls Bluff and Hazen. Crawford, who was in the area for additional meetings, made time for a question-andanswer session.

Dennis Carman, WRID director and chief engineer, gave a brief update on the project. The entire project, once complete, will bring affordable water to area farmers in portions of Prairie, Arkansas, Lonoke and Monroe Counties.

Currently the district is focusing on Phase No. 1, which will bring the canal West to Hazen Airport.

“The first phase has 10 more miles to go which we expect to complete this year”, Carman explained. “We really do appreciate you coming through and stopping by for a visit so we could share our progress and say thanks for your support.”

With recently received grant money from NRCS and loans from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, after the weather clears, WRID will be focusing on building canals and road crossings and looking forward to seeing the pump station powered and running. The Army Corp of Engineers has set a date of Spring 2025 to see the pump station powered, which will include a new Entergy substation near DeValls Bluff. “We will be able to pump water to the Hazen Airport with phase No. 1,” Carman explained. “We need to keep moving the canal toward Carlisle and then Stuttgart with future phases of the project. We are doing our own contracting to keep the cost down, which makes water cheaper for the farmers.

We are in phase No. 1, which is 13 miles of canal and an additional leg that goes Southeast to Tollville. There are enough acres in phase No. 1 to start selling enough water to continue building future phases.”

Crawford asked about water storage, which will be done through farmer-owned reservoirs. Funding ended in 2005 from WRID in conjunction with the Army Corp of Engineers, but during that time 200 reservoirs were built averaging about 40 acres in size.

Landowners continued adding 10-12 reservoirs every year on their farms using programs such as EQIP and the state tax credit program. About 350 new on-farm reservoirs have been added since 2000. Financial assistance continues to be available through programs such as EQIP and the Arkansas Groundwater Conservation Tax Credit Program.

“This project has far greater impacts from here,” Congressman Crawford said. He explained that large municipalities such as Memphis and Shreveport continue to pull from the Sparta Aquifer, so certainly a water project of this magnitude once complete will help.

“It would be cheaper if you have a template like this project, with none of the starts and stops,” Crawford said, explaining if others have something like this project to look to it could save much needed water for future generations.

“We have two crown jewels right here,” William Grantham, an engineer with Army Corp of Engineers, said of the WRID and the Bayou Meto Irrigation District. “This could be a lesson on how to do it right.”

Keep up to date with WRID on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Whi teRiverIrrigationDistrict

P rairie County S h eri ff’ s R e p ort

As of Friday, March 3rd,2023, the Prairie County Sheriff's Department located in Des Arc is currently housing 48 individuals with felony and/or misdemeanor charges.

02/25/2023 - Lance

Adkins was arrested for Possession of a

Controlled Substance.

03/01/2023 - Jose

Escobar was arrested for Possession of a Sch. VI controlled substance w/ purpose to deliver.

03/01/2023 - DeVante

Young was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance.

For more information

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss...

D AHS to a dd JAG course

By Lisa Mills

Arc High School

Des on incarcerated inmates in Prairie County and other detention centers across the state visit www.vinelink.com

To report an incident or to give information for ongoing please call (870) 256-4137 , we are a 24/7 facility.

History Teacher Robin English presented information on the new JAG (Jobs for Graduates) course to the Des Arc school board and an audience at the January 27 school board meeting. English formerly taught the JAG course at Riverview High School. English explained that the JAG course can be offered to seniors and/or juniors. The course content includes life survival skills (cost of living, banking, budgeting, credit, taxes), career development skills (resumes, applications, interviews), leadership and self-development skills, workplace skills and job attainment skills. The course also helps with scholarship and college applications for college bound stu- dents. The teacher may work with businesses and community leaders to further help students with the course skills.

English said she felt that one of the best aspects of the course is the follow-up after graduation. She will follow up with the students monthly for one year after they graduate. She said that she has really enjoyed following her former students from Riverview. Students will receive one credit for the course. A student who is also working may receive another credit for work/study.

Johnny Reidhar asked English what her recommendation was as to which age she would prefer to teach. She stated that either seniors only or juniors and seniors would be fine with her, but the advan- tage to including juniors is that they can take a 2 year class and will receive another credit.

Drew Widener asked what would be required to implement the course to which she replied “The only equipment I need is a printer in my room and ordering the class materials.” An audience member asked if the class could be implemented for the 2023-2024 school year to which English replied, “Yes, the deadline to add the course for next year is May 1st.”

Superintendent Sherrell stated that he felt the course would be a great addition, and all the board members and the audience agreed. The board passed a motion to add the JAG course to the curriculum for the 2023-2024 school year with English as the teacher.

Carlisle City Council __________________

(Continued from p. 1) over the last years, but with budget shortfalls increases will have to be made. The new pricing will be available at the City Water and Sewer Office. Redstone, the company that is leasing land for an asphalt plant north of town, will be re-surfacing Interstate 40 from Lonoke to DeValls Bluff. They will be purchasing water from the City of Carlisle. Their trucks will be traveling on an assigned route

School Choice Notice for 2023-2024

The following Public School Districts in Prairie County (Des Arc and Hazen) and Lonoke County (Carlisle) would like to inform parents that public school choice is available to their children in accordance with applicable Arkansas law and the rules and regulations approved by the Arkansas State Board of Education. Applicants must submit school choice applications to the nonresident district and the student’s resident district. The application must be delivered or postmarked no later than May 1 of the calendar year in which the student seeks to begin the fall semester at the nonresident district. In accordance with Act 490 of 2021 (codified at Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-227(b)(1)(B)(i), the window period for applicant filing and school districts accepting school choice applications for the 2023-2024 school year begins on January 1, 2023, and runs through May 1, 2023. For questions regarding school choice, please contact the superintendent’s office at the school of your choice.

through town. The asphalt for the interstate requires 8,000 gallons of water per mile, and this project could take up to five years to complete.

The city Trash Bash will be held on the second week in May. On that Saturday, volunteers are needed to spread across the city to cover each ward and clean in the neediest areas. Each councilman is responsible for identifying this area in his/her ward.

High school students and community members will be invited to participate. The city will provide gloves and trash bags.

$115.

The Verizon tower located in the center of the Rock Island Park has offered to purchase that plot of land for $186,500. The Council voted to proceed with negotiations for that sale. The money could be used to help pay for the new fire truck which is due to be delivered in the near future.

Proverbs 29:11

Who’s been fiddling with my mind ...

by Dr. James L. Snyder

When it comes to music, I am an amateur in many regards. I signed up for a violin class in first grade and took lessons. After about a month, the teacher met with my parents and begged them to pull me from that class. He said, “Out of deep respect for music, this boy should not play the violin.”

I can’t think of anybody in my immediate family that plays any instrument or has any skill in music. I thought I would be the first one, but I wasn’t. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage is a different story. Many people on her side of the family are involved in music, and her father was a great piano player and could play the piano with no music set before him. Also, his daughter plays the piano, organ, flute, and harp. As long as I’ve been a pastor, she has played the piano in all our church services. She is very gifted along that line, and I’m so happy. I confess that I am not musically inclined, and I am unanimous in that opinion. It’s not that I don’t like music; I cannot replicate it with these vocal cords that God gave me. So I guess His plan was for me not to sing. Music is very relaxing for me, and even though I cannot sing, I can listen to music with great appreciation. The one thing that bugs me is early in the morning, whether it’s television or radio, I hear a song and can’t get it out of my head. All day, that music buzzes in my head, and I can’t get it to stop.

We took a trip not long ago, and The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage drove her Sissy Van, while I sat in the passenger side. For some reason a song got in my head, I can’t remember which one, but I heard it over and over again.

I heard it so many times that I began to sing that song under my breath, which was not a very good thing to do. I have a way of humming and singing a song simultaneously, coming out naturally. As I got to singing, suddenly, The Gracious

Mistress of the Parsonage pulled over, stopped her van, looked at me, and said, “Are you having some kind of spasm?” She looked very serious as she said it. I looked at her seriously, having no idea what she was talking about.

“You’re not sick, are you?”

I began to understand her alarm, and I cautiously said, “I’m okay; I was just singing.”

“Oh my,” she said, “it sounded like you were on your last road trip to death.”

I don’t know where that came from.

She then encouraged me not to hum or sing along the way.

I didn’t realize I was singing out loud. I thought it was just in my head. But being the kind of husband I am, I kept my mouth shut for the rest of the trip. The only place I sing is in the shower because there’s nobody there, and nobody can hear me, and I can do my thing. The other day as I was showering, I did not realize The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage was within

Carlisle First United Methodist Church 215 East Third St., Carlisle, AR Phone (870) 552 - 7789

Rev. Michael Daniel, Pastor

Sunday School: 9:45 AM Worship: 10:45 AM

Immanuel Baptist Church Pastor Bill Ricks Highway 13 North Carlisle, AR. Phone (870) 552 - 3100

Sunday School: 9:45 AM Worship:11 AM

Sunday Evening: 6 PM

Wednesday Evening: 7 PM

Landmark Baptist Church 517 East Third, Carlisle, AR.

Phone (870) 552 - 3568

Pastor Albert Young

Sunday School: 9:45 AM Worship: 10:45 AM BTC 6 PM - Worship 7 PM

Wed. Evening: 7:30 PM

St. Rose Catholic Church Highway 70, Carlisle, AR.

Phone (870) 552 - 3601

Father Shaun Wesley Sunday Mass 10:30AM English 12:00PM Spanish

Tuesday Mass 6:00 PM

Wednesday Mass in Spanish 5:30 PM

Holy Hour & Confessions 6:05PM

Friday (except First Friday) Mass 8:30AM

Saturday Mass in Spanish 7:00 PM

United Methodist Church of DeValls Bluff Highway 70 West, DeValls Bluff AR.

Pastor Chris Wright

Sunday Morning Worship: 9 AM

Friendship Lunch: 3rd Wed. of Month, 11:30 AM

First Baptist Church of DeValls Bluff

Pastor Bobby Powers

P. O. Box 358 Highway 70 West, DeValls Bluff, AR.

Phone (870) 998 - 7118

Sunday School: 9:45 AM

Morning Worship: 11 AM

Evening Worship: 5 PM

Wednesday Evening: 7 PM

Mount Olive MB Church Highway 70, DeValls Bluff, AR.

Rev. Tony Haskins

Sunday School: 9:30AM

Worship Service: 11 AM

Peppers Lake Church of Christ Hwy 302, SE of DeValls Bluff, AR.

Sunday - Bible Study: 10 AM

Worship: 11 AM Evening Service: 6 PM

Wednesday - Bible Study: 7 PM hearing distance. I try to take a shower when she’s not home and cannot hear me. There’s a reason for that.

As so I got into my shower a song began to rumble in my head, and within a few seconds, I started singing. Boy, was I singing and enjoying every note.

Suddenly, I heard a rapid knock on the bathroom door and my wife saying, “Are you okay? You didn’t fall in the shower, did you? Do you need any help?”

At first, I couldn’t figure out what was happening when it dawned on me that I was singing and she was hearing. Oh “No, my dear,” I said quite loudly, “I was just singing.” I heard a profound sigh on the other side of the bathroom door, and heard her say, “Don’t scare me like that again.” I do try to control my singing and keep it from crossing my lips. Music does have a way of controlling me. Some music makes me sad, and some makes me glad. The problem is music that’s in my head controls me in some

St. John's Baptist Church Biscoe, AR 870-998-2777

Sunday School 10 A.M.

Worship 11 A.M.

Rev. William Brown - pastor

Holy Temple Church of God in Christ

Elder James Clark, Pastor

Sunday School: 9:30 AM Worship Service: 11 AM

Jehovah Community Temple Church 710 Sycamore St, DeValls Bluff, AR

Elder Ronnie Mosby

Sunday 10:30 AM

Monday Bible School 7 PM

Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church

Pastor Alan Minton Hwy.

70 West of DeValls Bluff

Sunday School-10:00 a.m.

Sunday morning -11:00 a.m.

Sunday Evening-5:00 p.m.

Wednesday Night-7:00 p.m.

Zion Lutheran Church Hwy 79 PO Box 158 Ulm, AR 72170

Phone: 870-241-3778 email: zionlutheran@hotmail.com way. I go into a store, and they’re playing music, and come out of that store with the music playing in my head, and I’m humming along the way. Driving home in my truck alone, I sing as loudly as possible, knowing nobody can hear me. But, of course, sometimes I forget to stop and walk into the house singing, and you can only guess the kind of trouble it presents to me. If only I could remember to keep my thoughts especially those musical thoughts in my head and far away from my tongue I would have a happier life.

Thinking about this all little I was reminded of what King Solomon said in Proverbs 29:11, “A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.”

That wise old man knew what he was talking about. I know there’s a time to speak but there’s also a time to keep quiet. For me it’s a challenge to differentiate between the two. The quieter I am the less difficulties I encounter.

Sunday School at 10 am Worship at 11am Bible study: Wed at 5:30

The Apostolic Church of Des Arc

712 Calhoun Street Services Sunday at 10:30 and Wednesday at 7:30

Pastor Russell Penn St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church of Biscoe

Pastor Jerry Saxton

Sunday School 10:00-11:00 Service 11:00-12:00

Oasis Church of Hazen

113 North Hazen Ave.

Sunday Service 10:00 a.m.

Wednesday Night Service 7:00 p.m.

Pastor Teddy Walker 870-255-5640

Family Worship Center

9th & Main St. Des Arc, AR 72040

Sunday School 10 am

Sunday Service 11 am & 6 pm

Wednesday Bible Study 7 pm

Pastors Mike Edwards and Patrick “Woody” Lantrip

AR

Elder Lee Russel Penn, Pastor

First Pentecostal Church of Prairie County

3201 Hwy. 70 E., Hazen, AR (870) 255-9177

Pastor J N Holmes

Sunday 10 A.M. Wednesday 7 P.M.

First Baptist Church 319 Court St., P. O. Box 25, Carlisle, AR

Phone (870) 552 - 7732

David Lee - Pastor Sun School: 9:45 AM Worship: 11 AM Awana: 5 PMWorship: 7 PM

Holy Temple COGIC

Elder McFadden, Pastor

St. John's Lutheran Church and College

Union Chapel FreeWill Baptist Church Metcalf Road, Rt.1, DeValls Bluff, AR

Pastor Darrell Foster

Sunday School: 9:30 AM

Worship Service: 11 AM

Sts. Cyril & Methodius

Catholic Church Highway 86, Slovak, AR. Fr. Shaun Wesley, School: 9:45 AM Mass: 8:30 AM

Thursday Holy Hours 5:00 pm and Mass at 6:00pm

Biscoe Baptist Church Biscoe, AR.

Pastor David Rogers Sunday School: 10 AM Worship Service: 11 AM & 7 PM Training 6 PMWed. Serv. 7 PM

First Assembly of God Hwy 33 and U.S. 70 Biscoe, Arkansas

Wednesdays

Sunday Services: 10:30 A.M., 6 P.M.

Joshua D. Jacobs & Yvonne J.

Arc Bank Teller Must possess excellent customer service skills, Good math

Des Competitive salary Please send resume to: Bank Teller Attn: Human Resources P O Box 650 Newport AR 72112 EOE

The Des Arc Police Department Is currently taking applications for Patrolman/School Resource Officer.

–

GENERAL PURPOSE:

Performs police patrol, investigation, traffic regulation, and related law enforcement activities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Work on shifts performing security patrols, traffic control, investigation, and first aid at accidents; investigation, and arrest of persons involved in crimes or misconduct.

Work on assigned shift using own judgment in deciding courses of action and being expected to handle difficult and emergency situations with a minimum of assistance maintain normal availability by radio or telephone when needed.

Carries out duties in conformance with Federal, State, County, and City laws and ordinances. Patrol City streets, and residential areas to preserve peace

To Whom It May

Concern: A 2010 Nissan Altima Vin# IN4AL2APXAN552909 was picked up on 12-122 at the I-40 EB 186 mile marker at the request of the Arkansas State Police. This vehicle is in the possession of Rick’s Automotive & Wrecker Service 1111 Hwy 70 W, Hazen Ar. 72064, (870)255-3305.

Towing, storage, & administrative costs are accruing as legal liability of the owner. Rick’s Automotive & Wrecker Service claims first priority possessory and enforce laws, and otherwise serve and protect.

MINIMUM

QUALIFICATIONS

Must be 21 years old or older at time of employment Must possess, or be able to obtain by time of hire, a valid Arkansas State driver's license without record of suspension or revocation in any state.

No felony convictions or disqualifying criminal history lien on the said vehicle and its content for all such charges. The vehicle and its contents will be dismantled, destroyed, or sold at public sale to the highest bidder if not claimed within 45 days and constitutes a waiver by the owner and lien holder of all right, title, and interest in the vehicle. To take possession of this vehicle, you must appear during normal business hours, Mon-Fri, 8am5pm, provide proof of ownership and pay all associated charges. of the owner. The wrecker company claims a first priority possession lien on the vehicle and its contents for all charges. Unless the vehicle is claimed within 45 days the owner and/or lien holder waives all rights, title, and interest in the vehicle and its contents and consents to the sale of the vehicle. The vehicle will then be sold for towing and storage fees.