NEWS
The filing period for the May preferential primary and nonpartisan judicial general election ended Monday, and the stage is set for a number of high-profile races in Conway County. The May primary will feature contested races for the office of county judge, and the office of mayor in Morrilton, Oppelo and Menifee. County Judge Jimmy Hart faces opposition from Stephen "Archie" Arbaugh, while Morrilton Mayor Bobby Kirby is being opposed by former mayor Stewart Nelson. Oppelo Mayor Cletus McCoy faces a challenge from Jessie Goodman. In Menifee, Margarette Oliver and Lee Smith have both filed for the office of mayor. There will also be a race for the office of county collector in the May primary. Incumbent Catherine Bradshaw is being challenged by Dana Love. For the District Six Justice of the Peace position, Tyrone Hammond will challenge incumbent Billy Deaver, and the constable position for the McClaren Township features a race between Berry Don Alvey and incumbent Danny Story. Democrat incumbent Sheriff Mike Smith filed for re-election, while Don Shamsie filed for the Republican nomination to that office...
In Perry County, the May primary will feature contested races for the District 3 and District 5 Justice of the Peace positions, as well as for the Maumelle Constable position. The Justice of the Peace District 3 race will be between incumbent Randy Wilson and Toby Davis. For the District 5 position, incumbent Edward Evans faces a challenge from Ralph Freeman. The Maumelle Constable race will be between incumbent Bobby Elliott and challenger Chad Durham...
In statewide races, Democrat Representative Johnny Hoyt of Morrilton and Republican Jason Rapert of Bigelow have filed for State Senate District 18. For the District 60 State Representative position, Democrats Al Garrett, Jr. and Tommy Thompson have filed, along with Republican Brent Murphy...
The preferential primary election will be held May 18th. The general election will be held November 2nd...
The University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton has reported a record-setting enrollment of 2,234 students for the spring 2010 semester, an increase of 17 percent above the spring 2009 semester. The official report was submitted to the Arkansas Department of Higher Education on the 11th class day. Full-time students make up 67 percent of the student body. Thirty-three percent are considered part-time students, enrolled in courses ranging from one to 11 credit hours. The full-time equivalent enrollment also increased by 280 to 1,701. FTE is determined by converting the part-time student enrollment into a full-time equivalent, or dividing the student semester credit hours by 15. The state used the FTE number in its funding formula. Jacob Ward, UACCM's Coordinator of Information and Public Relations, says the growth is good for the school, and overcrowding has not been an issue. Established in 1961 as Petit Jean Vocational Technical School, UACCM has experienced tremendous growth since becoming a two-year college in 1991. Enrollment has increased approximately 650 percent since 1991, and total enrollment has doubled since merging with the University of Arkansas System in 2001...
Morrilton City Council members Monday night tabled a resolution to accept Robert H. Fiser Drive and Medical Services Drive as city streets. It was determined some work would need to be performed on the roads before they would be acceptable as a city street. In action taken by the Council during Monday's monthly session, aldermen authorized a lien against Magalene Allen Cunningham for the clean-up of condemned property at 705 Alston Street. Cunningham was present to argue that she was not notified the property was being condemned. City Inspector Greg Woodard stated a notice of condemnation was placed on the door of the building on the property for much longer than the mandatory 30 days before it was demolished and removed. Because a notice was placed on the house, aldermen approved the resolution to authorize the lien...
In other matters, aldermen approved the purchase of a used bulldozer for the city landfill at the cost of 111-thousand dollars. The Council also approved the mayor's appointment of Romie Price to the Morrilton Historic District Commission for a term to expire August 1st, 2013...
Construction has now begun on the Fayetteville Express Pipeline, a 1.25 billion dollar, 185-mile natural gas pipeline that will serve the Fayetteville Shale region in Arkansas. The 42-inch pipeline will originate in Conway County, travel through White County, and terminate at an interconnection in Panola County, Mississippi. The project is a 50-50 joint venture between Energy Transfer Partners and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners. When the pipeline is in service, it will have initial capacity to transport two billion cubic feet of natural gas per day...
SPORTS
Advance tickets are on sale for the Wonderview Dare Devils' Class 1A State Championship basketball game against Bay. The Wonderview/Bay game opens the second day of the state high school basketball finals in Hot Springs at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Other games on Friday include Valley Springs against Cave City in the Class 3A girls title game at 5:15, Fayetteville against Conway in the 7A boys title game at 7:00, and Fayetteville against North Little Rock in the 7A girls game at 8:45 that night. Finals weekend at the Summit Arena in Hot Springs begins Thursday with four games on the schedule, starting at 3:30. Six games will be played on Saturday, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Advance tickets for Wonderview's game against Bay can be purchased at the Wonderview superintendent's office. Adult tickets are eight dollars. Student tickets are seven dollars. All tickets will cost eight dollars if purchased at the door...
Arkansas Tech University will host the NCAA Division II Tournament South Regionals for both men's and women's basketball beginning on Friday and continuing through Tuesday, March 16th, at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville. The two regionals will bring a combined 14 tournament games to Russellville. The Wonder Boys are the Number One seed in the men's regional, while the Golden Suns are the Number One seed in the women's regional. First-round action will begin on Friday with four women's games. The Golden Suns will face Number Eight seed Benedict College at 6:30 p.m. The men's tournament begins on Saturday. The Wonder Boys will face Number Eight Seed Tuskegee at 6:00 p.m. Both women's semifinals and both men's semifinals are scheduled for Sunday. The regional championship games will be played on Tuesday, March 16th. This marks the third time that Arkansas Tech has hosted a women's regional. The Golden Suns won the 1998 NCAA South Regional at Tucker Coliseum, and they finished as region runners-up when they hosted the event in 2003. This is the first time that Arkansas Tech has ever hosted a men's tournament regional...
Weather permitting, a number of area baseball and softball teams will be in action Tuesday. The Devil Dog softball team is scheduled to play host to Dover at 4:30 for varsity and junior varsity action. Sacred Heart's baseball team opens its season at 4:30 at Little Rock Lutheran with varsity and junior varsity action. Nemo Vista's baseball team plays at home against Perryville at 4:30, while the Lady Red Hawk softball team plays at Perryville at 4:30...
Coming off a series win in its first road trip of the season, the Number 14 University of Arkansas baseball team returns home for a two-game mid-week set against South Dakota State. Both games, to be played Tuesday and Wednesday, are scheduled for a 3:05 p.m. start at Baum Stadium. Arkansas took two of three from California during its weekend stay out west and is now 8-2 on the season. South Dakota State comes to Fayetteville with a 5-2 record after winning three of four at Air Force this past weekend...
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