75¢
First day of school for HHS and HES, see p. 8
Volume 118 Number 33 - USPS 225-680
Hazen/DeValls Bluff, Prairie County, Arkansas
Community Events Calendar
DVB Council makes decisions on hotel/permits
Thursdays August 24 Adult Bingo Hazen Public Library 12:00pm - 1:00pm Thursday August 24 Commodities distributed at Hazen First United Methodist Church 10:30am - 12:30pm
All over town Hazenites looked to the sky, as the moon covered approximately 90% of the sun. The sky darkened and the temperature dropped. The last eclipse like this happened 40 years ago. Here, the elementary students gaze upward.
Hazen enjoys solar eclipse
Saturday August 26 SWARMFEST 2017 City Park/East Hazen 4:00pm Monday August 28 Hazen School Board Meeting 6:00pm - 7:00pm High School Library
High school students take time out from classes to see the phenomenom.
Monday September 4 Labor Day Hazen Schools Closed Hazen Chamber of Commerce Meeting 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm BanCorp South Hazen
The employees at Farmers and Merchants Bank got into the spirit by handing out Sunchips and Moonpies to customers.
Community events brought to you by
At a special meeting held Tuesday, August 15, the DeValls Bluff City Council voted to open bids for the old Castleberry Hotel in downtown DeValls Bluff. The building, which has been vacant for some time, was discussed at the last regular meeting of the council, and the subject of the hotel sale was tabled at the time. Present at the meeting were council members Bill Arnold, Wanda Atkins, Raymond Watson, Richard Henry, and Marie Flanagan. Recorder/Treasurer Shante Matthews and Mayor Kenny Anderson. Alice Metcalf was absent from the meeting. The Castleberry Hotel, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is in disrepair, and the council was asked by Allen Childress during their last meeting to purchase the property for $5000. At that time, Childress promised that if allowed to purchase the hotel, he would restore it and use it as housing for young mothers. The council could not come to a decision on this offer, and tabled the proposal until the mayor was able to attend the regular meeting. Councilman Arnold moved to open the sale of the hotel to open bids for 60 days, and suggested that the council limit the bidding to non-profit organizations only. Anderson agreed. During the following discussion Anderson stated that the hotel is a safety hazard. He said that the building is in danger of falling down and that it would take $1 million dollars to repair the building and get it back to its original state. “I don’t want the city to be sued for neglect,” he said. Arnold said so large a sum would require government grants that could only be obtained through cooperation between a non-profit
organization and the city. He stated that a private entity would not be able to acquire such grants. Anderson told the council members, “ I’ve been trying to do something with the hotel since I got here. We just do not have the money.” He agreed with Arnold that the bids should be limited to nonprofits only. Lacking a second, Arnold’s motion failed. Throughout the meeting, one of the onlookers continually spoke out loud, interrupting the discussion and telling members how to vote. When asked by the mayor to stop, she refused and continued throughout the meeting. The council then moved on to the subject of allowing Dallas Taylor to continue with building a house on his property in DeValls Bluff. A former council member, Dwight Isbell, was invited to speak and told the council that during his tenure as a council member no building requests were ever questioned or voted upon in a council meeting. This called into question whether the ordinance passed requiring council approval of all building permits could or should be invoked. After a short discussion, the council the council members voted to allow Taylor to build his house. The council returned to the subject of the sale of the hotel. Arnold and Anderson posed the argument that a private entity could refuse to do anything with the hotel once they purchased it and that in that event, the deterioration of the structure would continue. Despite this, the council voted to open the bids to both non-profit organizations and private individuals and organizations. Two members, Henry and Watson, abstained from voting. Without further business, the meeting was adjourned.
County receives AAC safety award
Biscoe City Council Meeting Biscoe City Hall 7:00pm - 8:00 pm Saturday September 9 Prairie County Fair Queen Pageant 4:00pm DeValls Bluff Community Center
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
LITTLE ROCK – The Association of Arkansas Counties awarded its annual safety awards during the AAC’s 49th annual conference in August in Little Rock. Counties that met three main safety requirements received the annual awards. These counties that were honored scored at least 80 percent on the AAC’s safety survey, had a loss ratio of less than 50 percent and had not been in the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission Rule 32
Mrs. King shows Mrs. Caviness her cereal box pinhole camera, and Ethan and Ross stare at the sun.
Hazard Program currently or within the past two years. In addition to Prairie County, the counties receiving 2017 AAC safety awards were: Arkansas, Baxter, Benton, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Clay, Columbia, Conway, Craighead, Dallas, Garland, Greene, Jackson, Lafayette, Lincoln, Montgomery, Nevada, Perry, Poinsett Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Sevier, St. Francis, Stone, Union, Van Buren, White, and Yell.
5-D Day Weather Forecast for Hazen, AR
Wednesday Thursday
Friday Saturday Sunday
Hazen Chamber of Commerce and the
81° 62°
Please call F&M Bank, 255-3042 to list events.
50%
82° 62° 10%
83° 64° 0%
85 65° 20%
85° 67° 20%