Of the people, By the people, For the people
Daylight Saving Time begins March 13, 2016
TUESDAY, March 8, 2016 / Vol. 2 Issue 10 / 75 cents
Celebrate
Jamie Hamilton leads an outdoor excursion at the Van Buren County Special School last week in observance of National Wildlife Day. More photos, Page 16.
Incumbent JP loses seat to challenger
Mary Jean Hall of Scotland and EuGene Smith of Clinton dressed appropriately last month to attend the 110th anniversary celebration of the founding of the United Daughters of the War of 1812 at the Pine Bluff Country Club. Hall is a member of the local chapter and Smith is the state registrar for the General Society Arkansas Chapter of Sons of the War of 1812. Attendees were asked to wear Edwardian dress.
Chamber bestows honors, scholarships
Rhonda Davis
The Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet last week at the Clinton High School Cafeteria. The annual fundraising event marks numerous local accomplishments over the past year. Receiving the Business of the Year award was Rhonda Davis of Davis Cash
Lumber. Volunteer of the Year award went to Scott and Betty Spencer. Betty Spencer said she was surprised by the award. Proceeds of the chamber’s scholarship fund were awarded to selected local students: Rachel Lawrence, South Side-Bee
Branch; Grant McMurry, Clinton; and Joscelyn Boggs, Shirley. The special guest speaker at the event Tuesday, March 1, was Steve Clark, a former Arkansas attorney general and current president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. (More photos Pages 7, 9)
A Quorum Court member was toppled from his position in last week's Republican primary. In the race for Justice of the Peace District 6 John Bradford defeated incumbent Randy Story. In Tuesday's non-partisan judicial races, Van Buren County backed 20th Judicial Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland over Circuit Judge Mike Murphy for the state Court of Appeal, 2,141 to 1,988. Murphy won the seat. In the race for the state Supreme Court county voters went for Judge Dan Kemp over Justice Courtney Goodson by a 2,5521,685 vote and picked Judge Shawn Womack over Clark Mason by a vote of 2,552 to 1,467. Kemp and Womack won the contests. In the District Court race, Kent Tester, who dropped out of the race last month, still garnered 1,549 votes. Incumbent Susan Weaver received 2,711. If the races for the 2016 presidential nominations were decided by Van Buren County voters, Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton would face off in November. Trump received 1,198 votes, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 958 votes and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with 674 votes. Dr. Ben Car-
son received 164 votes while Ohio Gov. John Kasich got 107 votes. Carson withdrew from the race the day after the primary. In the Democratic contest, Clinton received 770 votes while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders got 436 votes. Also in Van Buren County's Republican primary voting, incumbent state Rep. Josh Miller easily defeated Chris Steplock, 1,120 to 337. U.S. Sen. John Boozman received 2,286 votes to 766 for Curtis Coleman. U.S. Rep. French Hill received 2,625 votes to 437 for brock Olree. Turnout for registered voters in Van Buren County was 47.69 percent. Percentage voting by township was: Barnett, 54 percent; Bradley, 46.7 percent; Culpepper, 63 percent; Holley Mountain, 45 percent; Choctaw, 45 percent; West Griggs, 43 percent; Craig, 45 percent; Cargile, 52 percent; Davis, 48 percent; Formosa, 46 percent; East Griggs, 53 percent; Mountain, 44 percent; Linn Creek, 42 percent; Red River, 49 percent; Union, 45 percent; Washington, 50 percent; Wheeler, 48 percent; Mountain Ranch, 52 percent; South Griggs, 49 percent; Indian Hills, 54 percent; and Lakewood, 47 percent.
Motorcyclist leads deputy on hour-long chase through county A motorcyclist led law enforcement officials on a chase lasting more than an hour Sunday afternoon. The ordeal began when a Van Buren County deputy tried to stop a motorcycle around 1:40 p.m. Sunday, March 6. The deputy radioed in that the motorcycle was fleeing. Within the next 15 minutes, they were on
Highway 254, and by 2 p.m. they were on Little River Road. Pope and Searcy county sheriff's offices had been notified that Van Buren County might need their assistance. Searcy County was standing by, but Pope County said they had a shooting on their hands and might not be able to respond, according to police radio reports.
"We're going toward Tilly," the deputy radioed. "I'm directly behind the motorcycle." Soon, the deputy said, they had turned back onto Highway 16 West, traveling toward Clinton. He said they were traveling about 70 mph. About 2:20 p.m. the deputy radioed that they were "coming into Rupert." He
advised that the driver had been "digging in his pocket a few times" and pulling out a cell phone. The deputy advised they were about to turn onto Lo-Gap Road, traveling about 60 mph. Deputies and a state trooper were making their way toward the scene, and a Clinton Police officer was standing by at the city limits.
The chase then turned onto Highway 95, heading south, and state police and the sheriff's office in Conway County were notified. At this point, the chase had been going on for an hour and the speed had reached 100 mph. The Van Buren County deputy was notified that a Conway County unit was north
of the motorcycle and would attempt to slow him down. At 2:45 p.m. on Pear Tree Road in Conway County, near Wilderness Trail, the motorcycle pulled over and the chase ended as quickly as it began. The suspect appears to have had a Florida drivers license, but no information was available by press time.
Special day for eighth-graders -- Clinton Junior High celebrated the novel "The Outsiders" with a Socs and Greasers day recently. Story, Page 6