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SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 2010
The
Daily Citizen www.thedailycitizen.com
Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854
LIONS GAINING CONFIDENCE FOR 2010
The Searcy football team is feeling confident after finishing its first week of practices. — PAGE 1B
ROMER: DEPARTURE WAS LONG PLANNED
The departing chief of Obama’s economy council said she is leaving for family reasons. — PAGE 2A
AMMONIA LEAK STOPPED AT LAND O’FROST
SEARCY CITY COUNCIL
Next meeting: 7 p.m. Tuesday Agenda items: Tree board, fees for large scale developments
Tree board on city agenda Fees for large developments in consideration
Captain Barry Daniel and Lieutenant Josh Oakes with the Searcy Fire Department exit the Land O’Frost building Friday morning after shutting off a valve and stopping a leak of anhydrous ammonia. The pair are part of the Hazardous Material Response unit, seen in the foreground. Warren Watkins/warren@thedailycitizen.com
Haz-mat team responds to call
T
By Warren Watkins warren@thedailycitizen.com wo members of the Searcy Fire Department Hazardous Material Response (Haz-mat) unit entered the Land O’Frost factory Friday and shut off a valve, stopping an ammonia leak. At 10:05 a.m., workers at the factory, which makes lunch meat, were alerted to a possible leak of anhydrous ammonia by an electronic monitoring system, then verified the leak visually through a window on a room containing an ammonia compressor. A gauge on a tank had broken, according to Searcy Fire Department spokesman Doug Baker. Plant manager Pat Strickland said the employees shut a back-up valve to the room immediately and called the fire department. The building’s 150 employees were evacuated onto the front lawn along Lincoln Avenue at 10:15 a.m., according to a company Firefighter John Falwell, left, hands equipment to Firefighter Matt Mayfield as Captain Barry Daniel approachofficial. es the tape marking the edge of the scene during a response to Land O'Frost Friday. The two are members CONTINUED ON PAGE 3A of the Searcy Fire Department’s Hazardous Material Response unit. Warren Watkins/warren@thedailycitizen.com
White Sulphur Spring was once heart of Searcy
Thousands flocked to Spring Park
By Luke Jones ljones@thedailycitizen.com Before the days of Eureka Springs and Hot Springs, there was the White Sulphur Spring, and it flowed from the very heart of Searcy. In the mid-to-late 19th century, the town’s flavor was altogether different. The spring, located in the present Spring Park, was known of even before the town’s incorporation. Ray Muncy, a local historian, described it. “The springs had become ‘a place of considerable resort’ as early as 1836, according to a real estate ad in the Arkansas Gazette,” he wrote. According to a 1963 article in White County Heritage, an inn had
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS
Location: Present Spring Park Discovered: Before 1836 Donated to town: 1849 Ceased flowing: 1930s-1940s
been built just south of the spring. Stagecoaches would pause there, and travelers could be treated to a meal of hot cakes and coffee cooked by “Free Joe” and his wife, “Aunt Mymie,” an African-American couple who ran an eatery across from the inn. In 1849, Searcy pioneer Israel Moore made history by creating what is now known as Spring Park. According to Muncy, “Moore was benevolent and extremely civic minded and he confirmed all the sales of
WEATHER
Vol. 156, No. 187 ©2010 The Daily Citizen
Today: Mostly sunny. Highs in lower 90s. East winds 510 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in lower 70s. East winds 5 mph.
lots made previously in the newly budding business district and donated the acreage around what is now Spring Park to the city to be used purely and solely for the recreation of its citizens.” Moore continued to be influential in the development of the spring by building a hotel near the springs in the same year. The White Sulphur Springs Hotel was located on the northeast corner of Main and Pleasure Streets. “The public house at this watering place has been repaired and refitted, extensive additions for the accommodations of visitors made, for the entertainment of all who may resort to these Springs,” Moore advertised. His hotel was the first of many. The Kellum Hotel, the Chambliss Boarding House and the Gill House
were just a few of the community centers surrounding the park. The Gill House later became the Mayfair Hotel, and is the only remnant of the original hotels. It is “a present reminder of days gone by when Searcy was a spa city,” Muncy wrote. As for the springs themselves, they were reported to contain a combination of white sulfur, chalybeate and alum. Health benefits were, as with all springs, debatable, but one thing could be agreed on: Senses-wise, the waters were not pleasant. “In keeping with the pioneer attitude toward natural remedies, if it smelled and tasted terrible, it was bound to be good for you,” Muncy wrote. But times were not always so lav-
INDEX NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5A CALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3A
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By Warren Watkins warren@thedailycitizen.com The work of a Searcy Tree Board would represent an official environmentallyfriendly policy through the “Tree City USA” program already in place in 43 cities across the state. Mayor Belinda LaForce said such a board would require no budget and no extra money would be needed for compliance with regulations because the city is already doing work associated with the program. The formation of the board will once again come before the Searcy City Council as the group set the agenda Thursday for its regular meeting Tuesday. In other business, the council will consider fees CONTINUED ON PAGE 3A
Jonesboro resident convicted of murder
The Associated Press JONESBORO — A Jonesboro man has been sentenced to 65 years in prison after being convicted of killing a woman in her Jonesboro apartment. The jury returned the verdict late Thursday against 21-year-old Edward Anthony Liggins Jr. for the October death of 20-year-old Tyrina Cornwell. State Medical Examiner Frank Peretti testified that Cornwell died of trauma from a beating coupled with a gunshot wound. Deputy prosecutor Alan Copelin says jurors returned shortly after midnight with a 40-year sentence recommendation for the murder conviction that was followed by the judge. The sentence was enhanced by 25 years because a firearm was used in the crime and it was committed in the presence of children. Copelin says Liggins will be eligible for parole in about 48 years.
Well, most grown-ups forget what it was like to be a kid. I vowed that I would never forget. MATT GROENING
American cartoonist, 1954
Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277
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