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TUESDAY, August 9, 2016 / Vol. 2 Issue 30 / 75 cents
Buses ready to roll Aug. 15 It’s that time of year again – vacations are ending and last-minute shopping for new clothes and supplies, of getting haircuts and physicals has arrived. Classes begin on Aug. 15 at all three county schools. Clinton Police Chief John Willoughby reminds motorists to drive with care as buses roll and kids traverse the sidewalks. As well as endangering children,
passing a school bus with its red lights on could earn drivers a ticket with a hefty fine. Even on a fourlane highway, when those red lights are flashing, traffic in both directions must come to a complete stop. Clinton police will be on patrol. All three county school districts – Clinton, Shirley and South Side – will again offer free breakfast and lunch to all students regardless of income. This Community El-
igibility Provision is offered through the USDA. All visitors, teachers and staff will pay the full cost of the meal. Open houses are set at the schools, and this is the week to check out the hard work many teachers did over the summer to enliven their classrooms and help eager minds soar. The Voice wishes all of our Van Buren County teachers and students a happy, healthy, inspiring school year.
Open houses set It’s open house time at all of the county school districts. At South Side, open house is set for 6 p.m. Aug. 11 in the new Fine Arts building. At Clinton Elementary, open house will be 5-7 p.m. Aug. 11 in the individual classrooms. At Clinton Junior High, open house is 5-7 p.m. Aug. 9 in the cafeteria. For high
Jailer’s prank sends 2 to ER The Van Buren County sheriff’s office has fired a jailer whose apparent idea of a joke resulted in a trip to the emergency room for two inmates last week. According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, a jailer at the Van Buren County Detention Center asked two inmates if they liked key lime pie. He then handed them a bar of soap with a label printed “key lime pie.” One of the inmates opened the wrapper of the bar of soap, but before he took a bite, two jailers told him not to eat it, the press release states. The statement says the inmate “jokingly took a bite of the soap and handed the remaining bar to another inmate who took a bite as well.” The statement says both inmates were seen on cameras in the cell spitting the soap into a trash can. A short time later, both inmates began to complain of sickness from taking a bite out of a bar of soap, the statement said. As a precaution, both were taken to Ozark Health via ambulance to be checked out, according to the sheriff’s office statement. Within 15-20 minutes, both inmates were cleared with no residual medical issues, the statement said. See Prank on page 10
school, open house is Wednesday, Aug. 10, at the high school library, 4:30 p.m. for 10th and 11th grades, 5 p.m. for 11th and 12th grades. At Shirley Schools, orientation and open house for grades K-12 will be 4-6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 8. Seventh-grade orientaSee Open House on page 10
Summer of fun – Activities at the Van Buren County Library wrap up for the summer. More photos, article, Page 9.
Choctaw restocked with threadfin shad
Top photo – The decision was tough and the evidence was strong – we have a lot of really good photographers in Van Buren County! After careful consideration, the judges chose this entry from Holly Treece as the favorite for our 2016 Voice of Van Buren County photo contest. For other top finishers, see Page 16.
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologists recently released thousands of threadfin shad into Choctaw and Greers Ferry Lake to help boost the food source for sport fish. Last year, when biologists sampled Greers Ferry, predatory fish, such as crappie, walleye and bass, were in poor condition. They also noted that threadfin shad, the preferred forage for many species, were nowhere to be found. “Last year we saw gizzard shad and an abundance of brook silversides, which anglers often call glass minnows, but no threadfin shad,” said Matt Schroeder, fisheries biologist in the AGFC Mayflower office. “Threadfin grow to about 4 to 6 inches, so practically everything eats them.” To help reestablish the threadfin shad population, AGFC purchased 37,500 threadfin shad from a commercial hatchery to add to the lake.
“We stocked 16,000 of the shad at Choctaw in the upper end of the lake and 16,000 in the Heber Recreation Area in the lower end of the lake,” Schroeder said. “The remaining 5,500 were stocked in the lake’s nursery pond near Mill Creek.” Schroeder says the nursery pond was cleared of any species that would compete with the shad or feed upon them. The safety of the pond would allow the shad to grow larger and possibly reproduce before being released into the main lake. Schroeder says there’s no way to get an exact number on the amount of shad produced through the nursery pond, but expects it to measure in the hundreds of thousands. “We received a call from a walleye angler just the other day who said a walleye he caught had two large threadSee Shad on page 10
Burgess named to JP seat
Todd Burgess has been appointed to the Quorum Court.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson has appointed Todd Burgess to fill the vacancy on the Van Buren County Quorum Court. Burgess will fill the District 3 seat, which represents Shirley. He is the son-in-law of James Kirkendoll who held the seat for many years before his death on May 22, 2016. The term expires December 31, 2018. Burgess will not be eligible to run for the seat in 2018. Burgess is the general manager of the Clinton Water and Sewer Department.
He also owns Burgess and Daughters pawn shop in Clinton. The Van Buren County clerk’s office provided news of the appointment. A spokesman for the governor’s office said a statement will be released this week. The Quorum Court meets at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Courthouse Annex on Highway 65. The next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 18. All meetings of the Quorum Court and its committees are open to the public.
Rocking into retirement – Toney Parish reads over the list his wife, Sallie, prepared to keep him busy in retirement. Last Wednesday was his final day as Clinton chief of police. Former Mayor Roger Rorie gave a short speech and refreshments were served. The rocking chair was a gift from the police department staff.