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James Beavers
TUESDAY, March 14, 2017 / Vol. 3 Issue 11 / 75 cents
Council rejects animal ordinance
Miss South Side royalty – These girls were crowned March 3 in the 2017 Miss South Side beauty pageant: Tiny Miss Aubrey Lankford, Wee Miss Lydia Smith, Tiny Miss Laciegh Duncan, Senior Miss Sydni Clark and Junior Miss Erin Holland. (Photo by Wendy Gross)
The Clinton City Council decided at its meeting last week that the city did not need an ordinance prohibiting animal trafficking, rejecting the proposal on a 4-2 vote. Councilmen Jeff Pistole and Shon Hastings said the city already has the laws it needs to protect the animals if they were enforced. “Nobody likes this ordinance,” Pistole said. The ordinance was mostly aimed at stopping people from taking a litter of puppies or kittens to the Walmart parking lot and keeping them in the hot sun without proper shade for hours. Sometimes the animals that weren’t given away were left in the woods behind the store. The ordinance would have allowed people to bring one animal to the Police Department to sell or give to another person.
People buying a puppy want the pick of the litter, not to just be handed a dog, Pistole said. Councilmen Timothy Barnes and Sam Ward voted for the ordinance. Also at Thursday’s meeting, the council approved a resolution to authorize selling real estate related to the Highway 65 expansion. The property involved includes the “Welcome to Clinton” sign on north U.S. Highway 65. The Highway Department will pay the town $13,575 for the tract. Three other tracts will be sold to the state for a total of $4,925. Water Department manager Richard Hink said the department is still dealing with right-of-way issues on north U.S. Highway 65 and still getting phone calls from landowners who think it is the city that is moving their water lines. He stresses
Snow way! – OK, so it wasn’t exactly a blizzard, but it’s still unusual to have snow in the middle of March. A bit of the white stuff fell Saturday evening. No problems were reported, and it was almost all melted by Sunday afternoon. Anita Tucker/Voice editor
that the state Highway Department is the agency in charge of moving the lines. Also at the meeting: Councilwoman Gayla Bradley informed Police Chief John Willoughby that he cannot claim overtime as a department head regardless of how many hours he has spent on the job. Also, Willoughby, who was asking approval for a $4,500 weapons expenditure he had made, was told his spending limit without council approval is $2,000, and Bradley said she would have preferred the weapons be purchased locally. Bradley is married to a former Clinton Police officer. Airport Commission member Alex Kienlen of Conway told the council he had worked around airplanes a long time and had never seen the kind of damage he did at the air-
By Robert Snyder/for The Voice
Devils fall in finals
Man dies in car crash
The Shirley Blue Devils senior boys’ basketball team wrapped up a great season Saturday before a crowed of almost 6,000 at the Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs. Though they lost by 10 points to the Guy-Perkins Thumderbirds, 67-57, in the State Class 1A championship game, they made their small hometown proud. The 300 tickets allotted to the school sold out within an hour even though Shirley’s population is 223, according to the 2010 Census. Many in the county who did not go to the game watched it Saturday afternoon on the CW television station. On Wednesday, an estimated crowd See Devils on page 6
port after the March 1 storm. Charles Wilson reported that the Street Department, which has only three employees, is still working on getting the “big stuff” cleared after the storm. He said the workers will return later to clear the smaller debris. Fire Chief D.L. Webb asked the councilors to consider a special election on fire dues. The dues used to be collected on water bills for city residents, but that was stopped a couple of years ago. Webb said the department needs the funds. Mayor Richard McCormac said the city has $3,000 set aside for a special election. The Clinton City Council meets the second Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Clinton Municipal Airport. The meetings are open to the public.
Some of the team members arrive at the community rally last week. The Blue Devils were making their first appearance in a state championship game. More photos, Page 6
A Bee Branch man was killed Saturday in a one-car accident on U.S. Highway 65 in Bee Branch. Scotty Ray Cossey, 37, was driving a 2006 Lincoln south on Highway 65 about 5 p.m. Saturday, March 11, when the accident occurred. He was north of Highway 92 West when he lost control and traveled into the northbound lane, according to a report from the Arkansas State Police. Cossey overcorrected and struck a guardrail, traveled down a steep ditch and struck an embankment, according to the report. The report states that the roads were wet and it was raining when the accident occurred. Cossey was taken to UAMS in Little Rock where he died. No further details were available.