Of the people, By the people, For the people
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Diane Canterbury
TUESDAY, December 12, 2017 / Vol. 3 Issue 50 / 75 cents
Signs of change – Which of these buildings is Clinton City Hall? If you said the building on the right that is clearly marked City Hall, you would be wrong. The city government offices recently completed their move to the former dentistry building but haven’t put up their canopy identifying the building yet. They say only one person has stopped by so far for teeth cleaning services. The mayor says the signs should be correct by the end of this week. The new building, which the city is renting, will hold the offices of clerk, mayor and zoning director.
Budgets, services keep officials busy
Christmas on Main Street – Tammie Williams has her shop, Main Street Florist, as Christmasy as can be. Several other businesses in downtown Clinton are all dressed up, too, and anyone who hasn’t seen the lights in City Park should make it a point as soon as possible.
The end of the year has been filled with a flurry of meetings as cities and the county try to finish up with budgets and select an ambulance service. The county Ambulance Committee heard pitches from three companies last week on why they should service Van Buren County. First up was Larry Thompson of Liberty Ambulance from Perry County. Liberty would offer the county two ambulances 24 hours a day and one paramedic ambulances 12 hours a day, Medic One’s Ryan Kibler told the com-
mittee that “no provider will bid enough that 100 percent of the county will be covered all the time.” Medic One averages about 3,000 calls per month and has locations near Memphis, St. Louis, in Jonesboro, Trumann, Oklahoma, Missouri and several other locations. Comparatively, Van Buren County has about 1,800 calls per year. Final speaker was Gary Padget of Southern Paramedic Service, which currently covers Van Buren County. Padget See Meetings on page 4
2 felony cases filed There has been a second arrest in two church burglaries last month. Zachery B. Bowman, 38, of Clinton has been charged with forgery and commercial burglary, both Class C felonies. Eric Edwards earlier was charged with several counts after the burglaries at First Assembly of God and Pleasant Grove church in Alread. According to an affidavit, Bowman cooperated with authorities at the time and led them to many of the stolen items. He was
Deputy cleared
not charged at the time, but the prosecutor’s office charged Bowman several days later. In another felony case filed in December, a 39-yearold Fairfield Bay man has been charged with possession of a schedule VI controlled substance with purpose to deliver. On Nov. 28, 2017, the 20th Judicial District Crime Task Force was notified by Conway police that FedEx had intercepted a package that was searched after a warrant was ob-
A Cleburne County deputy fired for allegedly passing a stopped school bus, has been found not guilty of that charge in District Court, according to a report from KAIT television. Jeffrey Maxey, who at last check is now a Van
Buren County deputy, was fired by Cleburne County Sheriff Chris Brown earlier this year. Maxey was cleared by the Quorum Court but the firing was upheld.
Homecoming
The South Side Bee Branch School
tained. The package contained 1 pound, 3 ounces of marijuana, according to an affidavit. The package was being sent to an address in Fairfield Bay. A Van Buren County deputy, acting in an undercover capacity, delivered the package to home owner Reed McBride. A few minutes later, the residence was searched and marijuana found in a safe, according to the affidavit. Also located at the residence were three handguns and a sawed-off shotgun, the report states.
District Homecoming is Dec. 15. The ceremony begins at 5 p.m. followed by high school basketball at 5:30.
Christmas
The Voice will print its final edition of 2017 next week, Dec. 19. Our office
100th anniversary – Thelma Murray (right), president of the Van Buren County EH Council, presents a 100th anniversary quilt to raffle winner David Lafferty of Shirley. Also pictured are Linda Headley (left) and Patty Munson. Read more about the EH Clubs on Page 5.
will be closed Dec. 20-26 so our staff can spend Christmas with family. We will reopen on Dec. 27, 2017. The first Voice issue of 2018 will be Jan. 2. But remember, the post office will be closed on New Year’s Day, so the Voice will arrive a day later than
usual. Merry Christmas.
Santa’s coming
Deadline is Friday, Dec. 15, for first grade, kindergarten and head start teachers to get their Letters to Santa to the Voice for publication Dec.
19. Please keep the letters as close to originally written as possible and e-mail to voiceeditor@artelco.com, mail to P.O. Box 1396, Clinton, AR 72031, or bring them by our office at 328 Main St., Clinton.