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Of the people, By the people, For the people
Robert & Sharon Bernine
TUESDAY, December 11, 2018 / Vol. 4 Issue 50 / 75 cents
JP panel finishes work on budget
Photo by Marlisa Rollins
Photo by Jeff Burgess
Photo from Facebook
White and cold The place to be if you wanted snow in Van Buren County over the weekend appears
to have been Dennard. These three photos all are from the area. Roads were slick,
some crossings were closed in several areas of the county, and Petit Jean Electric reported
Son charged with assaulting mom An Eglantine man was arrested after deputies were called to his parents’ home three times in less than four hours on Nov. 24. Eric Riggin, 33, was “acting crazy” and dragged his mother across the living room floor by her arm, according to an arrest affidavit. He was intoxicated and was physically abusive with both his parents, the court document states. When a deputy arrived, Riggin had left the home and his mother stated she did not want to file charges, the report states. An hour later, at 1:28 a.m., the dep-
Riggin uty was called back to the scene. Riggin had already left again. This time, his mother states, he threatened to kill her, her husband and her grandson, the report states. At 3:47 a.m., the deputy was summoned for the third
time. His mother stated that she had been physically assaulted, the report states. Deputies, using a k-9 unit, tracked Riggins down about 6 a.m. at a friend’s home. The deputy returned to the parents’ home where they found the mother with red marks and a black eye, the report states. She told the deputy her son stated that since she was filing charges, he would give her reason to, the report states. Riggin has been charged with terrorist threatening-1st degree, a Class D felony, and two counts of domestic battery, both misdemeanors.
that 379 customers lost power, including some in the Scotland area, due to the weather.
Merry Christmas Next week’s issue of The Voice of Van Buren County will be our final one for 2018. It will feature the holiday favorite – Letters to Santa. The Voice office will be closed from Dec. 18 through Dec. 26. If you're still looking for some stocking stuffers, a subscription to The Voice could be just the thing - $20 for six months or $35 for a year, in county. Give us a call at 745-8040 and will get the first issue on the way. We with you all a very happy holiday season.
The budget committee of the Van Buren County Quorum Court held a marathon session on Dec. 6, coming away with a final product that was close enough to call it done. The committee, which chairman and County Judge-elect Dale James passed along to Brian Tatum to head for 2019, heard plea after plea from organizations asking that their funds not be cut. “Everything tonight is going to ache when we do it,” James said. Kicking it off was Pamala Draeger of the Van Buren County Aging Program. Draeger noted that senior hunger is a real problem in Arkansas, which ranks No. 5 nationally, as well as emphasizing the importance of socialization for the senior population. The program makes 250 meals per day when opened, she said, and delivers 80 Meals on Wheels daily. She said they do this at the five centers with one full-time and 18 part-time employees. In 2018, the county provided the program with $98,000. Scotland Van Corp. gets another $11,000 from the county to run its center, plus holds fundraisers quarterly to raise money, according to Doyle Scroggins from the Scotland center. The cities of Fairfield Bay and Clinton provide the program with money, then the program pays the bills for those cities’ centers. However, there is a shortfall of about $2,000 for Fair-
field Bay and about $4,500 for Clinton that the program makes up. This was something JP Mary Philips sought to rectify, suggesting cutting the county’s contribution by that amount and letting the cities make it up. Also on the chopping block was the Van Buren County Historical Society and Museum, the county Fair Association, the Alread Community Center, Rescue Squad, Special School and 911. Van Buren County Special School director Neil Wilkins stepped forward and said the program is about to undergo many changes and will likely go from $1.5 million in funding from the state to about half that. He said the school had “a pretty good year,” and he would like to turn back the county’s $20,000 for 2019 with the understanding that he could come back next year and ask for it to be restored if necessary. That comment was met with rousing applause. At the end of discussions, it was decided to eliminate funding for the historical society, which had several thousand dollars of its own money, and to cut all the other agencies funding by 10 percent. After going through each department and trimming here and there, $46,630 remained unfunded. James announced that due diligence had been done and revenue projections would be adjusted to balance the budget.
Runoff elections over Voting is done and the results are in. Van Buren County Coroner Joe Tsosie has retained his seat, defeating challenger John Galbraith in the Dec. 4 election. Tsosie received 907 votes while Galbraith got 116.
In the runoff for Justice of the Peace District 9 on the Quorum Court, Ester Bass defeated Wes Newland. Bass, longtime county clerk, received 107 votes while Newland got 99. The results are unofficial.