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Larry Linn
TUESDAY, June 19, 2018 / Vol. 4 Issue 25 / 75 cents
Shirley told AG opinion will be delayed
On the quilt trail - This strawberry quilt block hangs, appropriately, at Wade Lucas Farms in Shirley. Van Buren County is working on getting 12 quilt blocks. Story, Page 6
An opinion from the State Attorney General’s office on which statute would apply to the sale of the city’s water system to Community Water System won’t be coming any time soon. City attorney Matt Gilmore said he was told the office was backed up with ballot issues and it could be six or seven weeks before an opinion is issued. Gilmore stated that the city could move forward with both statutes but putting the Shirley system out for bid may take at least as long as waiting on the opinion, and not be necessary. He further suggested
that the city might request that an assurance that the City’s water rates would not be increased over 5 percent for 5 years be put in the contract with Community Water System. The item will be tabled until the July meeting. Next under unfinished business was a wrap-up of the 2018 Homecoming. Mayor Lisa Hackett reported that she had not heard of any complaints, attendance was good, and this year’s parade was probably the biggest one yet. There was a total of 14 vendors. Treasurer Melissa Worthing passed out the event financial statement which
showed a profit. The 2018 Homecoming Celebration was deemed a success. Under new business, Councilwoman Deborah Kerrigan asked who was running the water department office now that Larry Dollar had retired. Hackett reported that she had put a new lock on the lock on the payment lockbox, and she was entering the payments received. Worthing was writing the checks for the monthly bills and continuing to enter these payments as well as the deposits into the city’s computer system as she had always done.
Healthy talk - Health was the talk of the Town Hall meeting last Tuesday, June 12. Former Surgeon General of Arkansas Joe Thompson, Dr. Jose Abiseid, Angie Hutchins of Community Services Inc., County Judge Roger Hooper, Donna Branscum of the Van Buren County Health Department and Lisa Swofford of Ozark Health took part in the discussion. About 65 people attended.
Judge to hear motions in SWN lawsuit The next step in Southwestern Energy Production’s lawsuit against Van Buren County and several of its elected officials will take place in Circuit Court this week. Division 1 Judge Chris Carnahan will hear motions in his courtroom on June 21. S o u t h w e s t e r n ’s complaint says the county assessor valued its working interests using the methodology as presented by the 2017 Guidelines for the Mass Appraisal of Minerals issued by the Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division. The price used by the assessor and determined by thr ACD in the Guidelines was $3.04 mcf. The price SWN actually gets for it oil is $1.80 per mcf, the company states. The county argues that it uses the methods prescribed by the state. The county is represented by Clinton lawyer Eddie Morgan. Carnahan will hear motions at his courtroom in the County Courthouse Annex,
A character from AETN oaid a visit to Clinton students on Friday, June 15, (Photos by Sam Tucker/for the Voice)
Clinton program gets Super Why! visit
Happy July 4th
The office of The Voice will be closed in observance of Independence Day on July 4. Have a happy Fourth.
A student gives Super Why! a bop on the nose last week.
Children’s TV character Super Why!, who is traveling around the state in June to promote summer learning and the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, made a stop at a summer program, PAWS for Reading, in
Clinton on June 15. Super Why!, which airs on the Arkansas Education Television Network, will travel to seven programs that were awarded Summer Learning Initiative Grants through the Arkansas Community Foundation in April.
Throughout the summer months, many students can lose as much two to three months of reading skills. Known as the “summer slide,” this learning loss can leave children up to three years behind their peers by the end of fifth grade. However, the summer slide can be prevented by keeping students engaged in fun, quality educational programming during the summer. Summer Learning Initiative grants are intended to support and extend the efforts of the Arkansas Out of School Network, who seeks to create safe, healthy and enriching experiences for Arkansas youth outside the school day and the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which has identified summer learning as one of five key strategies to help Arkansas kids improve their literacy skills by Third Grade. Clinton School District received a $24,000 grant to support “PAWS” for Reading, which served 74 children during a three-week program, May 29-June 15, using evidence-based program “Muttigrees” that engages students in a creative curriculum designed around empathy for animals.