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Wanda Belonie
TUESDAY, October 4, 2016 / Vol. 2 Issue 37 / 75 cents
BHP donates millions for river projects BHP Billiton has donated $6 million to help develop recreational opportunities and for conservation efforts on the Little Red River in Clinton, the gas and oil producer announced on its website late last week. The money will go to the Nature Conservancy, which has spent $3.5 million on
land for two nature preserves in Van Buren County. Another $500,000 from the conservancy is in an endowment fund for the protection of the watershed at Greers Ferry Lake, which provides drinking water for 150,000 people. The conservancy also is spending $1 million on designing and imple-
menting watershed protection for the lake, and $1 million on amenities at the preserves, one of them the Bluffton Preserve off Watergate Road just north of Clinton, which already is open; the other is the South Fork Preserve. The U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service provided $816,000 and an-
other $92,000 is from counties through matching funds for road work. The road work, which will include adding and repairing culverts, and other steps such as planting trees, should help battle the Little Red River's sedimentation problem. The Clinton Water Department is finishing up work
on a clarifier that also will help with the problem. The Little Red is said to be home to two endangered species that can't be found anywhere else in the world -- the yellowcheek darter and the speckled pocketbook mussel. Even though BHP is no longer drilling in the area, the project
in Van Buren County is one of the two in which BHP is partnering with the Nature Conservancy under the Sustainable Rivers and Forests Initiative. The other project is in Texas. BHP purchased Chesapeake Energy's assets in the Fayetteville Shale in 2011.
Teen faces 2nd battle with cancer
A budget lesson Quorum Court budget committee Chairman Dale James last Tuesday explained a restrictive vs. non-restrictive budget. He explained to the audience and other justices of the peace that under a restrictive budget even though a line item can be over budget that does not mean the department's entire budget is. All of the department heads present indicated they would prefer a non-restrictive budget. The committee is scheduled to meet again at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13. The meeting is open to the public.
Water chief quits; no vote on rates At last week's twice rescheduled Clinton City Council meeting, there was a piece of good news along with the usual talk of problems in the water department. Before announcing his immediate resignation, department Manager Todd Burgess told the council the state Highway Department has agreed to pick up the entire tab for moving water lines out of the way of its expansion project, both north and south of town on U.S. Highway 65. The price, which likely would have been about $3 million, will now cost the water department about $50,000, Burgess said. Later in the meeting, the council heard from an auditor who reaffirmed what Burgess had been telling them since January: The department is losing thousands of dollars each month and without more revenue the department is in jeopardy of not having ad-
equate funds to meet the threshold necessary for its bond issuers not to intervene. Citing other commitments and obligations, Burgess then resigned effective immediately. Accepting the resignation, Clinton Mayor Richard McCormac told Burgess: "I don't think we've been as cooperative with you as we should have been, and for that, I apologize." McCormac appointed longtime former Councilman Dickie Hink to the position "for the short term." Hink, who is running for his old seat on the council against two others, told the audience that he was committed to finding the best water department manager in the state, and said there are other ways besides a big rate increase to raise revenue. "We'll find a number everyone can live with," he said. No vote was called for a water rate increase proposal.
Ally Graddy is a 17-year-old senior at Shirley High School. She is proud to be a Lady Blue Devil, but has to watch from the sidelines yet again. Ally was diagnosed with Stage 4B Hodgkin's Lymphoma in June 2014. She was 14 years old. When the doctors told her she had cancer her response was, "OK, it is what it is. Let's do this; what do we do next?" That began her journey of visits to doctors at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, surgeries, labs, needles, chemo, radiation and lots of hospital stays. She lost all her hair shortly after chemo started, but she never lost that contagious smile. In November 2014, she was done! The cancer was gone, she was in remission, her hair started growing back and she could play basketball again. It was a slow basketball year for her as
Cancer treatment has taken Ally Graddy's hair, but her radiant smile remains. she was gaining her strength back. She worked so hard to get back in shape to be able to keep up with her team. Then in August 2016, her senior year, the doctor called after a routine CT and gave her the news. The Stage 4B Hodgkin's Lymphoma was back. She had relapsed. Her family's worst nightmare had come true. Ally had her moment to be mad and
cry - yet again. Then she said, again, "It is what it is, let's do this ... again." Currently Ally is doing it all over again. There are a lot of trips to Little Rock, she has lost her hair again, she is weak, tired but still she smiles. Her family is worried about money again and worried about time spent away from home when they really need to just focus on Ally beating this thing
again. She is a rock star to her family and friends. And she's still the Blue Devils No. 1 fan. There will be a barbecue dinner and silent auction benefit in Ally's honor from 3-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, in downtown Shirley. There will be live music from local performers. All donations go to Ally's family. To donate an item for the silent auction, contact Heith Crow at (501) 757-1359.
4 vehicles crash on Highway 65 A four-vehicle wreck on U.S. Highway 65 in front of Walmart tied up traffic Wednesday morning and injured a local restaurant owner. The driver of a tractor-trailer rig, Jesse D. McKee, 23, of Harrison, told a Clinton Police officer that
he was driving south in the inside lane when he veered into the other southbound lane. The 2016 Peterbilt truck, owned by Kirk Powell Farms of Green Forrest, knocked a 2013 Jeep driven by Gabrielle Henson of Clinton into two northbound vehicles.
Those vehicles were a 2009 Honda driven by Cindy Brown of Leslie and a 2006 Chrysler driven by Reyes G. Medina of Clinton. Medina is owner of Reyes restaurant in Choctaw. All four of the drivers were transported by Southern Paramed-
ic Service to Ozark Health Medical Center. Reyes' reported later on its Facebook page that Medina was bruised and had some cuts but was doing all right and back at the restaurant. No details were available on the others who were injured.
Autumn's arrival -- On the first day of autumn during sunset over this farm pond near Crabtree temperatures still hung in the mid 80s after daytime temperatures in the 90s. (Photo by Jeff Burgess)