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Carlisle Bison fall to EPC in tough battle. (See page 12.)
Volume 122 Number 48 - USPS 225-680
Serving all of Prairie County and the Grand Prairie
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Community Calendar of Events Hazen Senior Center opens daily from 9:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. Lunch is served from 11:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Tuesday November 28 Des Arc City Council meeting 6:00 p.m. City Hall Thursday November 30 DAIDC meeting County Annex Building in Des Arc 10:00 a.m. Friday December 1 Hazen Hornets vs Barton Hornets Nest 4:30 p.m. JB, JG, SG, SB Tuesday December 5 PC Master Gardeners Awards and Christmas Party Hazen Methodist Church 6:00 p.m. Saturday December 9 Christmas in the Park 5:00 p.m. Monday December 11 Biscoe EHC Meeting 10:30 Biscoe FBC Community events are brought to you by the Hazen Chamber of Commerce and the
Please call F&M Bank (255-3042) or The Grand Prairie Herald (255-4538) to list events.
It’s beginning to look like Christmas... Hazen’s gazebo is all decked out for the Christmas holidays. Hazen’s Christmas in the Park luminary event is scheduled for Saturday, December 9th from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. If you want to purchase luminaries in honor of, or in memory of, a loved one contact any Chamber member.
Quorum Court passes protective ordinances The Prairie County Quorum Court met in its regular meeting on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, to discuss four ordinances, three of which concern how funds that come into the county will be handled. All court members were present at the meeting, along with Judge Lawrence Holloway, County Clerk Gaylon Hale, County Treasurer Tamara Dabney, Sheriff Rick Parson, and County Attorney Abram Skarda. Ordinance 2023-18 states that money designated by law for the Communication Facility and Equipment Fund must be deposited into that fund and stay there, segregated from the County General account. Ordinance 2023-19 requires that funds designated for the County Detention Fund must be separated from the County General Funds, and Ordinance 2023-20 requires that funds that come into the county for the operation and maintenance of the jail must be held separate from general county funds as well. All of the ordinances were proposed by Justice Rick
Stallings and passed unanimously. The ordinances can be read in this week’s edition of the Herald. The fourth ordinance, passed unanimously, sets the millage rates for Prairie County personal and real property, for the year 2023. It also sets the millage going to the cities of Biscoe, DeValls Bluff, Ulm, Hazen, Des Arc, and the Prairie County General Fund at five mills, the millage going to the county road department at three mills, and the millage going to the county library system at two mills. Deputy Sheriff Jeffery Bokker asked that the court allow the Sheriff’s Department to sell a 2015 vehicle for $4200. The cost to repair the vehicle would cost the department $2500 with other repairs anticipated at a later time. The justices approved the sale. According to Holloway, the county departmental budgets have been given to the judge’s office, and Debbie Dunbar is working on them. Dunbar has experience working with the county budget. She will turn her report
over to the budget committee, which will discuss her results at its next meeting. The county general budget and the emergency 911 budget were reported to be running at deficits in November. The county’s finances are presently under state legislative audit. There is no final audit report as yet, but when it arrives, it will be sent to the Quorum Court. When asked by Justice Paul Hooks if the county will be carrying over a deficit in the next budget in 2024, Holloway
answered, “We’ll work on that to see what that is.” Dabney said that the county had received money at the first of November from taxes being paid, and that there were fewer delinquencies this year. The Tribal Assistance contingency funds have been received by the county. Holloway said that the county was paying $5000 to audit the American Rescue Plan fund because so much money has been spent out of it. Hale said that $97,430.63 of the $133,476.04 courthouse
renovation funds has yet to be spent. Sheriff Parson reported that the Brightspeed company that recently bought Centurylink will be laying fiber cables in the county. The county has been having problems with internet and phone connectivity. Community member Harvey Joe Sanner told the court that a meeting with state officials regarding the internet and phone services will take place on Thursday, November 30, to discuss the problems.
AR Connect to be in Des Arc The Des Arc Industrial D e v e l o p m e n t Commission (DAIDC) is holding a public meeting with officials of Arkansas Connect to answer the questions of Prairie County residents regarding their
phone/internet issues. The meeting is set for Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 10 AM in the County Annex building at 605 Highway 38 East. If you have concerns that you wish to men-
tion to officials regarding your internet and cell phone services in Prairie County, the opportunity will be available. Please attend. For questions, call DAIDC phone contact number is 501-516-7000.
My boss will be making his annual check on who's been naughty and nice. So now is the time to write your letter to Santa. He's arranged to have your letters printed in the Wednesday, December 21st edition of
The Grand Prairie Herald. Mail them to Letters To Santa, PO Box 370, Hazen, AR 72064, bring them to our office at 111 Hwy. 70 East in Hazen or email us at heraldpublishing@gmail.com by Tuesday, December 5, at noon. Elementary Students Pre-K - 2nd grade will turn their letters in at school to their teachers. I'll see you Christmas Eve, but you won't see me!
Love, Rudolph
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