Of the people, By the people, For the people
Home of subscribers
Richard Collins
TUESDAY, November 27, 2018 / Vol. 4 Issue 48 / 75 cents
Runoff election Dec. 4
Van Buren County voters get one more chance to vote this year. There will be two runoff elections on Dec. 4, 2018. First, the whole county has the opportunity to go to the polls to select the winner of the coroner’s race. In the General Election, incumbent Joe
Tsosie received 2,976 votes, or 47.68 percent, while John Galbraith received 2,765 votes, or 44.3 percent. The third candidate in the race was Ron Henson. Also to be decided Dec. 4 is the Quorum Court District 9 race. The top two vote-getters in the district where Wes Newland with 292
votes, or 41.6 percent, and Ester Bass with 222 votes or 31.6 percent, Also in the District 9 race were Judy Wells and Tracen Wheeler. Newland previously was appointed to serve on the Quorum Court, while Bass was longtime county clerk. Voting Tuesday will be at the regular polling sites.
Bass
Newland
Board hears reports The Clinton School Board heard reports from principals and others at its November meeting. FFA students and sponsor Chad Mooney presented information about the program. The FFA chapter earned more than $50,000 at the County and State fairs and the Agronomy Team placed 21st in the Na-
Tsosie
Panel mulls budget cuts
FFB eyes annexation Dear county property owners: You are surrounded by the city of Fairfield Bay and may be annexed into the city limits. This, though not in those words, according to a letter from the city dated Nov. 10, 2018. The letter states that landowners in the enclaves within the Fairfield Bay boundaries should know that the City Council is likely to consider an ordinance to annex properties surrounded by the city. Those annexed would not automatically become members of the Community Club, though they might find it economically advantageous to petition for membership, the letter states. They also would pay the city’s 5-mill rate, and a 4.5 percent franchise fee on electricity bills. The city would gain from the state $80 per year for each full-time resident gained through the annexation. A public hearing on the matter has been set for 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, at the Fairfield Bay Lions Club, 365 Dave Creek Parkway. Before that, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27 at the Shirley Senior Center, a citizens gathering is planned. Several years ago when Fairfield Bay explored annexing several areas, there was a huge public outcry. The proposal was dropped at a standing-room-only City Council meeting.
Galbraith
Sunset highlight - The sunset silhouettes a tree as winter begins to get a chilly grip in Alread earlier this month. (Photo by Robert R. Gaut) tional FFA Convention. Junior High Principal Michael Wells announced that two students - Chloe Gustus and Alexa Cowans had been named as alternates to the All-Region Choir. He also said Clinton’s first robotics team has been developed and students are working on VEX robotics kits and programming. Superintendent Joe Fisher reported that enrollment in the district is 1,354. He also said air conditioning has been installed in the Walker gym, and repairs have been completed on the greenhouse.
The five-member Quorum Court budget committee tossed around ideas for cutting about a half-million dollars from the county’s budget at a meeting last week. One cost-saving measure apparently will be eliminating the position of election coordinator. County Clerk Pam Bradford announced that coordinator Jeff Hall has taken another job and will not be replaced. She said her office will take over those duties, including delivering the voting machines to the precinct. The committee also discussed eliminating several of the county’s polling sites. That move would safe $57,000. Emerging from an executive session, Justice of the Peace Dell Holt informed incoming Sheriff Lucas Emberton that three of the positions in his office would be eliminated. That did not set well with Emberton, who previously had negotiated a 5 percent increase in pay for deputies. He requested that the Quorum Court cease funding for a Drug Task Force position, saying that the officer rarely works in Van Buren County anyway, The JPs seemed agreeable, and Holt said he would need to cut two others then.
Emberton said he would give up his $100,000 vehicle budget, keeping only $10,000 of it, The sheriff’s office Tahoes are only 2 years old, he said, and should last throughout 2019. The JPs plan to meet next month to take a look at some of the associations to which the county gives money, such as the Rescue Squad, the Fair Association, Alread Community Center, the Clinton Senior Center, the county Historical Society and others. As the meeting was about to adjourn, Bradford said that she was decreasing the Quorum Court’s budget by eliminating pay the members get for special meetings. Bradford said the JPs were supposed to be paid their salary once a month and nothing for special meetings. The current pay for justices of the peace is $300 monthly plus $110 per special meeting. Some of the committees, such as the budget committee, meet several times per year. Chairman of the committee and incoming county judge Dale James told Bradford he did not think it was the place of the county clerk to make that decision. The matter appeared to be left unresolved.
Christmas parade - The SNYP Arkansas float glides past in Saturday’s Christmas parade in downtown Clinton. After the parade, there was food and gifts at the City Park.