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Spurlins concert featured
Doc and Connie Spurlin along with their puppet Rusty and their daughter Kristi will be the featured entertainers at “Singing in the Hall” at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Parkview Baptist Church at 2600 N. St. Louis St., according to a news release from Friendship Outreach Inc.
The event is free and open to the public. Concessions will be available, as well as a bounce house for children.
The church is just north of the Batesville North Complex and on the same side of the road. -
The Weekend Events
Friday
• Parent’s Night Out, Family Connections Ministry of Batesville First Assembly, 6:30-8:30 p.m., must pre-register by Friday morning at 9 by calling (870) 793-5489
• “Footloose, the Musical,” Batesville Musical Theatre, 7:30. Tickets $8 adults, $5 students, 10 and under free. For information call (870) 698-1200.Saturday
• Fundraiser for Eagle Mountain Magnet archery team, selling snow cones and Sonic cards at Walmart entrance. -
Historic lighthouses being sold
Want to own a lighthouse?
I mean a real one. The government owns about 250 lighthouses, maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, and plans to get rid of — oh, sorry, make that decommission — about a tenth of those within the next few months.
Two are up for auction right now. Well, make that one. Bids were to close Wednesday for one of them, but bidding remains open until July 23 for the other. -
Fidel Castro answers: No, Virginia
Cuba’s “Ministry of Letters to Fidel” is running six months behind, as usual. And so it is that retired communist dictator Fidel Castro just lately received — and replied to — a letter sent to him last Christmas.
Dear Fidel, I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there IS a Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in the Communist Party paper Granma, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, former El Presidente. Is there a Santa Claus?
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‘Mad Men’ gets top Emmy nominations among series
LOS ANGELES — “Mad Men,” the sharply observed drama of a changing 1960s America, captured 19 Emmy nominations this morning to lead the series pack, with the melodramatic miniseries “Mildred Pierce” starring Kate Winslet grabbing a top 21 bids.
“Mad Men” has a chance to repeat for a fourth consecutive year as best drama. “Modern Family,” last year’s top comedy series, was the most-nominated sitcom with 17 bids. -
Deputy arrives to find man already cuffed by girlfriend
His girlfriend may have been the person that handcuffed him, but it took the Batesville Fire Department to get a Leslie man out of them when he was arrested while wandering around a local college campus.
Deputy Colby Markum, with the Independence County Sheriff’s Office, said he responded to a call of a man wandering the campus at University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville shortly after 7 a.m. Friday. -
Attorney general: $700,000 to go toward state police center
LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Tuesday announced he’s directing $700,000 from a legal settlement the state has received toward a state police training facility, pushing back against criticism from some lawmakers who say they should have a say in where such funds go.
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Little wouldn’t be where he is without program
Without Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ashston Sledge admits he would probably be a different person.
Now 20 years old, Ashston is a student attending the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, studying physical education with hopes to become a basketball coach. He has his own house and car — and an adopted family in Rick and Margaret Elumbaugh.
Margaret was Ashston’s sixth-grade teacher, and Rick was his P.E. teacher at Batesville Middle School. -
Leaving scene ends in citation
Failure to notify a property owner of damage resulted in a Floral man being cited for leaving the scene of an accident and careless driving Tuesday night.
Independence County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Moody was dispatched about 9:51 in regards to an abandoned Chevrolet S-10 pickup and damage to a fence near the 3200 block of Floral Road.
Upon arrival, Moody said the fence appeared to have been patched poorly and a check through dispatch showed the vehicle not stolen. -
Vilonia gets $1M toward safe room
LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A town hard hit by a deadly tornado outbreak in late April is getting more than $1 million to build a safe room at the high school.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday that its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program will pay $1,000,440 of a $1.3 million project to construct a safe room at Vilonia High School.
FEMA officials say the stand-alone safe room will measure more than 6,500 square feet and should accommodate nearly 1,150 people during a severe storm or tornado. -
Newport voters OK extending half-cent tax
NEWPORT (AP) — Voters in Newport have approved by a 3-1 margin extending a half-cent sales tax to support economic development efforts.
The tax was approved in a special election Tuesday by a vote of 592-176.
Newport Economic Development Commission Executive Director Jon Chadwell said the tax allows the northeast Arkansas city to compete for industry and businesses.
The tax was first passed in 2002 and would have expired in 2012. The extension of the tax includes a provision calling for its expiration in 10 years. -
Sulphur Rock man dies in accident
A Sulphur Rock man is dead after he apparently lost control of the vehicle he was driving, according to a report issued by the Independence County Sheriff’s Office.
Teddy Ray Daigle, 29, of 1375 Old Stoner Road was killed while traveling south on Holcombe Cemetery Road, according to the report.
