Vol. 2, No. 2
Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020
Free entry possible for basketball Battle of Ravine Special to the Dispatch Henderson State University is offering an opportunity for free admission to HSU’s Battle of the Ravine women’s and men’s basketball games against Ouachita Baptist at Duke Wells Center on Thursday evening, Jan. 16. Simply bring one or more of items needed often by the local Percy and Donna Malone Child Safety Center. Otherwise, admission is $5 for adults, $4 for children in grades K-12 and free for children age 5 and younger. The women’s game tips off at 5:30 p.m., while the men face off at 7:30 p.m.
Fans from both schools are advised to arrive early as Battle of the Ravine basketball games usually attract large crowds to the 2,500-seat Wells Center. Going simply by win-loss records, both Henderson teams would appear to have the edge in tonight’s games, but longtime observers often say all bets are off for BoR matchups. Henderson State’s men are 11-3 and 6-2 in Great American Conference play, while HSU women are 10-4 and 5-3. Ouachita’s men are 6-7 and 3-5 in GAC play, while OBU women are 4-10 and 1-7. The Henderson State Student Athlete
Advisory Committee will work together with the safety center to collect donations at the ticket gate at Thursday's games. The Malone center provides a wide range of services in a child-friendly, central location for children who have been sexually abused, physically abused, or exposed to violence or neglect. The center also works to eliminate child abuse through prevention and awareness activities, also providing children a place for healing. Fans are encouraged to bring the following items to Thursday's games in exchange for free entry:
• Boxes of Kleenex • Full-size hygiene items, for adults and children, such as body wash, shampoo, deodorant • Packs of socks and-or underwear for children and adults • Small throw blankets • Activity-coloring books with crayonscolored pencils • Toilet paper • Non-perishable snacks • Paper towels For more information on how you can contribute, visit https://www.pdmcsc. org/.
County asks Corps to lease Lakeview area By Bill Sutley Dispatch Editor Clark County’s Quorum Court unanimously endorsed the idea Monday that the Corps of Engineers should abandon its plans to build a new office at the Lakeview area of Lake DeGray and instead let the county lease the property to enhance tourism. “I don’t want to fight with the Corps of Engineers, and I want them to have a nice, new building,” said Brown Hardman, a longtime justice of the peace who initiated the resolution adopted by the court. I just don’t want them to use Lakeview.” The county’s move,
Dispatch photo/Bill Sutley
Peake Elementary student Ben Taylor looks upward as he tries to recall the spelling of a word he’s being givebn at the Clark County Spelling Bee at Goza Middle School on Friday. Other spellers actually closed their eyes to concentrate and-or visualize the words they were trying to retrieve from their memories. More photos, Page 2.
S-a-v-v-y spellers shine at bee By Bill Sutley Dispatch Editor “Jumbo. J-U-M-B-O.” The Clark County Spelling Bee for students in grades 5-9 started innocently enough Friday, with a word that the first speller knocked out of the park quickly. But all that would change over the next 90 minutes as the words got increasingly tougher. “Widget” was one of the first words to eliminate
one of the 30 spellers from Goza Middle School, Peake Elementary and Gurdon schools participating in the Scripps Spelling Bee-sanctioned event held at Goza. The student speller forgot the pesky “d” in the middle. Only three students were eliminated in the first round, but the second round proved more lethal, eliminating 14 participants — nearly half those who started — for stum-
bling on less-common words such as “fabulist,” “Corgi,” “inclusion” and “prejudice.” One of the second round’s toughest? “Arborio,” which Webster’s defines as “a short-grain rice that has a creamy texture when cooked and is typically used in risotto.” But the speller got it correct, drawing a laugh from bewildered onlookers unfamilSee Spell • Page 4
meaningful impact agricultural leaders have throughout Arkansas. Beyond Ross, the new inductees include ag aviator and longtime chairman of the Arkansas State Plant Board, George Tidwell of Lonoke; Tuskegee airman and retired Cooperative Extension agent Thomas Vaughns from Marianna; and Gene Woodall, a retired University of Arkansas faculty member who paved the way for crop yield increases by creating verification programs that are now emulated around the world. Other posthumous inductees besides Ross are Gene Sullivan, who served See Ross • Page 4
See Corps • Page 4
Gurdon voters reject tax hike
From Dispatch Reports Gurdon Public Schools will be forced to reconsider its plans for the future after nearly 61 percent of voters rejected the district’s proposal to add five mills to the property taxes of homeowners in the school district. The vote was 245 for the millage increase, with 382 against it in complete but unofficial election returns on Tuesday night. Gurdon School Superintendent Allen Blackwell told citizens at a recent forum that the millage increase was mainly needed because of a downward slide of 200 students in annual enrollment since 2001. The district’s board proposed closing the old Gurdon Primary School and expanding the campus where all other students attend classes. That would reduce administrative costs and allow the See Vote • Page 4
Ross named to ag Hall of Fame Special to the Dispatch The dedication to forest conversation, management and stewardship exhibited by the late Jane Ross of Arkadelphia will be recognized in March when the wellknown philanthropist is inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame. She’s among six individuals being honored for how their leadership and service have brought Jane Ross distinction to the state’s largest business sector. The newest class represents timber, beef cattle, philanthropy, research, water management, conservation and reclamation, agricultural aviation, banking, civic leadership and outreach to farmers, a reflection of the broad and
which Hardman hopes to have endorsed by the governing bodies of Amity, Arkadelphia, Caddo Valley and Gurdon, is the latest volley in a monthslong battle to preserve the Lakeview site as a more pristine vantage point of the lake’s main basin, DeGray Dam and one of the lake’s best spots for watching the sun set. Some advocates have proposed using the area as a site for a wedding venue. And county officials wouldn’t be disappointed if such use produced revenue. Representing the
Murder trial to stay put By Bill Sutley Dispatch Editor
Mike Atkinson of 304 Cherry St., awoke Saturday morning to find the high winds of the night before had ripped off a giant limb of his front yard Maple tree, throwing it across the top of his parked Cadillac. Police responded to his 5:08 a.m. call and soon had city workers out to cut up and clear the limb from blocking tree-lined Cherry Street.
Holiday idles trash pickup Monday From Dispatch Reports
State, federal and local offices will close Monday, Jan. 20 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and no curbside trash will be picked up. Both Arkadelphia universities, as well as public schools throughout Clark County, will not hold classes, and offices won’t be open either. Several events are planned locally in recognition of the civil rights leader. See
Page 2 for a complete list. Clark County Sanitation, which operates in rural areas, will not run Monday, but workers will pick up trash on Tuesday, Jan 21 for those who weren’t able to be serviced on Monday. For more information, call 870-246-7602. In Arkadelphia, where Sanitation crews pick up twice a week, Monday customers will only get service one day of the week. Trash service returns to normal Tuesday.
Circuit Judge Blake Batson ruled Tuesday that Stanley Wayne Powell Sr., a suspect in Arkadelphia’s only murder of 2019, will have to stand trial in Clark County, rejecting a change of venue motion by Powell’s attorney. In a recent court filing, Willard Proctor Jr., Powell’s Little Rock-based defense attorney, had argued that Powell couldn’t get a fair trial on his first-degree murder charge because of how well-known and extensive the crime victim’s family is in Clark County. As a result of Batson’s ruling Tuesday, Powell, 60, will stand trial the week of March 16 on a first-degree murder charge in Arkadelphia’s first homicide since 2013. Powell is accused in the June 6, 2019 shooting death of Jalen Da’rel McGhee, 26, also of ArkadelSee Venue • Page 4