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THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012
The
Daily Citizen
TheDailyCitizen.com
Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854
HU RECEIVES MABEE FOUNDATION GRANT
RIVERVIEW HOSTS DISTRICT MEET TODAY DAY
The Mabee Foundation has given Harding a grant toward the construction of an $8.5 million facility. — PAGE 3A
For the first time since its completion in 2011, 11, Riverview will host a varsity track meet. — PAGE GE 1B
Poll: Lincoln leads judge race Incumbent holds 15 point lead over Haynie BY JACOB BROWER jbrower@thedailycitizen.com
A recent poll of White County voters shows that incumbent Judge Michael Lincoln holds a 15 percent lead in his bid for re-election. Of those polled, 49 percent said they will vote for Lincoln, while 34 percent said they favor challenger Bill Haynie. SevenPlease see CANDIDATES | 2A Haynie
Planning and growth ■ Reached conclusion on sign ordinance revisions ■ Commercial, off-premise, temporary signs will be banned ■ Other sign users will need permit
City panel decides on signs
Lincoln
STUDENTS CREATE TOOL FOR FIRE DEPARTMENT
Committee plans to ban off-premise commercial signs BY MOLLY M. FLEMING mfleming@thedailycitizen.com
Businesses that want to advertise around the city of Searcy by using temporary signs will not be able to for much longer, according to the plans discussed during a committee meeting on Wednesday morning. The Searcy Planning and Growth Committee has been working for months on what it can do to regulate temporary sign usage within the city, and they have finally reached some conclusions. One conclusion that was drawn Wednesday is that the panel wants to create some type of permit system. The panel concluded that a permit system would help avoid visual clutter caused by the signs, avoid litter when the signs aren’t picked up in a timely fashion and help with city beautification. City Planner Jim von Tungeln is expected to report back to the
Please see SIGNS | 2A
Marisa Lytle/mlytle@thedailycitizen.com
John Falwell (far right) of the Searcy Fire Department inspects a fire hydrant map presented by Searcy High School EAST students Brett Pope (far left) and Dusty Womble. The map depicts more than 970 hydrants and represents an up-to-date street map of the city of Searcy.
More than 970 hydrants mapped per GPS BY MARISA LYTLE
Fire hydrant map
mlytle@thedailycitizen.com
The Searcy Fire Department has a new tool to help fight fires, thanks to students in the EAST program at Searcy High School. Four students have spent more than 100 hours outside of school mapping the location of 970 fire hydrants in the city of Searcy. Sophomore Josh Duff, juniors Robert Noland and Dusty Womble and senior Brett Pope of the Environmental and Spatial Technologies (EAST) program at Searcy High have worked from October through March on the project. Earlier this month, the students presented their complete project to the fire department. Pope explained that team of students had accomplishing updating the department’s fire hydrant map, marking each hydrant’s global position, creating a virtual tour/picture of each hydrant and updating the city of Searcy street map. Members of the fire department explained how this new mapping system will aid them in their work. “When the ISO (Insurance Service Office) comes to grade the city, they will have to check the location of hydrants
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Vol. 158, No. XX ©2012 The Daily Citizen
Who: Searcy High School EAST students What: Used GPS technology to map out more than 970 fire hydrants in Searcy Importance: Searcy Fire Department said the mapping system will aid its efficiency. to ensure there is one every 1,000 feet,” ISO administrator Debbie Raney said. “Now, we’ll be able to show them this map [to facilitate the process].” Lt. Bryon Jones said since the hydrants are plotted per GPS, their latitudinal and longitudinal locations are “pretty much as accurate as we’re going to get.” Capt. Kevin Smith said that the system the fire department uses relies on hand-drawn maps kept in books. He gave an example of how using a GPS and computer-based system could be more efficient. “A couple of months ago, we had a structure fire on Holly Street,” he said. “We gave [the firefighters] what we thought was the closest hydrant accord-
ing to our books. However, there was a hydrant one street over on Evergreen Street that was actually closer to the house. “The GPS system could have helped us save time in that situation, and time is the factor. Fires may start small, but they can double in size in one minute.” Jones agreed that the fire department’s ultimate goal is to efficiently put out fires and that the new mapping system should prove a great ally once fully installed. The fire hydrant map is available for viewing online at www.arcgisonline. com. People who are interested may enter “Searcy EAST” or “Searcy Fire Department” into the search bar on that website and click on “Searcy Fire Department - EAST Project - 2011-12.” Along with a map of all the hydrants, the website gives data about each hydrant and represents an up-to-date street map of Searcy. Raney said the fire department must wait to use the new program until the city approves and implements it. Pope said other EAST programs have completed similar mapping projects,
INDEX NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5A CALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B
Please see EAST | 2A
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Senator: No ‘Girls Gone Wild’ intern this summer Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK — State Sen. Mark Pryor says his internship program isn’t going wild. Pryor on Wednesday denied a claim that the winner of a contest put on by the “Girls Gone Wild” video empire will intern in Pryor’s office this summer. “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis says he announced the internship would be part of the prize package for the winner of “The Search for the Hottest Girl in America” after bidding on it at a Los Angeles-based fundraiser last weekend. Francis refused to identify the charity or say how much he paid. But Pryor’s office says it doesn’t sell or auction internships and calls the announcement a “hoax.” A Pryor spokesman says he doesn’t know what Francis thinks he bought but “he did not buy anything from our office, period.”
We are minor in everything but our passions. ELIZABETH BOWEN 20th Century Irish author
Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277
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