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Corinne Williams
TUESDAY, April 11, 2017 / Vol. 3 Issue 15 / 75 cents
Firefighters, police on their toes this weekend
Happy hunting Here are this weekend’s Easter Egg hunts: Archey Fork Easter Egg Blast 10,000 eggs waiting for you at Clinton’s biggest egg hunt on record! Everyone is welcome to join the fun at the softball fields at Archey Fork Park from 2-4 p.m. Easter Sunday. Kids will be divided into age groups for egg hunting. Sponsored by the Clinton Volunteer Fire Dept. and the Clinton A&P Commission. April 15 is the Easter Egg Hunt in Shirley. The search is on in the depot area starting at 10 a.m. Enjoy this blessed day with eggs filled with money, candy and prizes. This is a free event with hot dogs, cupcakes and lemonade. It is sponsored by local merchants, friends and neighbors. The Alread Egg Hunt takes place on the EHC building grounds on Highway 16 West on Saturday, April 15. The hunt begins at 11 a.m. followed by lunch in the Alread FUN Park. Sponsored by the Alread EH Club. In Scotland, the second annual Easter Egg Hunt on the River is from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, April 16, 1.3 miles from the stop sign on LoGap Road. If your church or organization is having an egg hunt that’s not listed here, it’s because no one told us. Send your events to voiceeditor@artelco.com and never get left out again.
Happy Easter!
Clinton Elementary is getting some new playground equipment. (Photo by Robert Snyder / for The Voice)
March sales tax figures County and municipal levy receipts collected in March and reported in April: Clinton - $74,776.78, down from $90,021.80 in 2016 Damascus - $13,706.58, up from $7,361.81 in 2016 Fairfield Bay - $24,693.07, down from $27,054.59 in 2016 Shirley - $2,833.27, down from $3,967.80 County sales tax and use with 2016 comparison: Van Buren County: $274,256.66; 2016 - $302,163.43 Clinton: $24,362.14; 2016 -
$26,841.09 Damascus: $2,340.71; 2016 - $2,578.89 Fairfield Bay: $20,176.95; 2016 - $22,230.04 Shirley: $2,724.59; 2016 $2,724.59 The local option sales and use tax for Van Buren County towns: Clinton, 1 percent; Damascus, 1 percent; Fairfield Bay, 1.5 percent; and Shirley, 1 percent. For Van Buren County, it is 2 percent. Figures provided by the Arkansas Municipal League.
From fires to a driver vs. wasp incident, local law enforcement officers and firefighters were busy this weekend. Shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday, firefighters were heading for a house fire at 2966 Scotland-Formosa Road. Petit Jean Electric also was on the scene and an ambulance was called to tend to resident Julie Morrison for smoke inhalation, according to reports on the police scanner. No further details were available before press time. About 8 p.m. Saturday, as Clinton High School was holding its prom, a call was put out that a fire alarm was going off at Shirley High School. As an ambulance and several fire departments, including trucks from Choctaw and Burnt Ridge, sped toward the scene, Shirley Fire 1 came over the scanner to announce that he was on the scene and there was no fire; “everything is 10-4.” “Attention all units heading for Shirley High School,” the dispatcher said, “you can cancel. Everything is OK.” There also was a fire in Bee Branch. It happed Friday afternoon about 5:30
p.m. on North Fork Road when a grass fire got out of control and spread into the woods. Firefighters got it under control in short order. Also on Friday afternoon, Sheriff Scott Bradley came upon a wreck near Maranatha Assembly of God on Highway 16 East, Shirley. Bradley called in for a tow truck and an ambulance, telling the dispatcher that a woman driving the car had been trying to get a wasp out and ran off the road. The woman was allergic to wasps, he said. The driver was complaining of back pain and taken to a hospital. Clinton police responded to a call at Walmart Saturday night, told that a woman was in her car, unresponsive with her eyes rolled back in her head. A few minutes later, the officer reported that the woman was fine, she was just looking for coupons on a cell phone app before heading in to shop. Law enforcement agents stopped vehicle after vehicle Saturday night and early Sunday. Jail records show at least three people were booked into the Detention Center on public intoxication charges.
Bridge closing scheduled
An inquisitive squirrel checks out his surroundings in Clinton. (Photos by Robert Snyder / for The Voice)
Nature Scenes
Beautiful wisteria blooms along the hillside on Highway 65B in downtown Clinton.
(Photo by Robert Gaut)
The Corps of Engineers has announced that it will close both lanes of Highway 25 across Greers Ferry Dam from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. April 22 and 23, weather permitting, to install equipment needed to refurbish the tainter gates. However, one lane will open each night from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. Alternative route will be Highways 16 and 92 around the west side of the lake. Beginning April 24, only one lane will remain closed while the rehab work is performed. The single lane closure is scheduled through November. Additional road closures, of up to two days will be scheduled about every eight weeks, to move equipment, as work progresses. If you are traveling in this area, expect delays, obey traffic lights, and operate cautiously around equipment and work crews. For more information, contact the Greers Ferry Project Office at 501-362-2416.