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i f f y for your information USPS 035-740 The Heart of the Arkansas River Valley for a Century WEDNESDAY, January 7, 2009 — NO. 7 inside The Chronicle Opinions ................ 2 Church .................. 4 Society ................... 5 School ....................... 6 sPORTS ....................... 7 Legals ................... 9 Classifieds .......... 9 Obituaries ............. 10 The Atkins Chronicle 50¢ Welcomed each week into the home of Charles Jackson Calendar www.atkinschronicle.com Winner of the arkansas press association general excellence award ONE HUNDRED AND Fourteenth YEAR ATKINS (POPE COUNTY) ARKANSAS 72823 photos by Van Tyson Thursday, Jan. 8 — People for a Better Atkins (PBA), 7 p.m., Depot Sunday, Jan. 11 — Atkins Civic Team, 2:3o p.m., W.J. Matthews Civic Center Monday, Jan. 12 — Atkins School Board, 7 p.m., adminis- tration building Monday, Jan. 12 — Shiloh Lodge, 6 p.m., Masonic Lodge Tuesday, Jan. 12 — Atkins City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall Thursday, Jan. 15 — Atkins Lions Club, noon, First United Methodist Church, visitors welcome See 2008 on page 10 Aaron Felkins suffered a stroke while hunting and is hospitalized. An account has been set up at Liberty Bank to help the family with expenses, as Aaron was the family’s only support. The Felkinses have one child. To donate, go to any Lib- erty Bank and donate to account #8672113. Account set up for Felkins family photo by Beckie Tyson Atkins After Prom is spon- soring a Macho Miss contest on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Atkins High School Auditorium. Join our celebrity judges for an evening of fun. Tickets are $5 at the door. All proceeds will be going to the Atkins After Prom. Macho Miss contest planned The Atkins Civic Team will meet 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11 at the W.J. Matthews Civic Center. The group will be elec- ting officers for 2009. Anyone interested in the civic team sports program is encouraged to attend. Civic team to elect officers Sunday People for a Better Atkins will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, Chuck Colflesh is 2009 president, vice president is John Sunderland, Kay Sunderland, secretary, and treasurer, Renee Taylor. PBA to meet Thursday Inside By Beckie Tyson In its first meeting of 2009 Monday night, the Pope County Quorum Court welcomed four new justices of the peace and reorganized for the year. New to the court are JPs David Ivy, Mary Metz, Dusty Hampton and Roy Butler. Ivy and Metz defeated incum- bent JPs Edwin Shinn and Jerry Williams in their re-election bids. Butler and Hampton were elected to seats vacated during last year by JPs Neil Jackson and Roger Freeman. As its first action, the new court set its regular meeting day as the first Thursday of each month, which is the same as in 2008. The meeting time has been changed, however, to 5:30 p.m., 30 minutes earlier than in 2008. The budget committee meeting will continue to be the Tuesday preceding the Quorum Court meeting. The commit- tee meeting time has also been changed to 5:30 p.m. County Judge Jim Ed Gibson explained procedural rules to the new members, includ- ing the method of placing items on the court’s agenda. He said agenda items must be to the court clerk by noon on the Wednesday preceding the budget meeting but late items could be added with a vote of the court at its meeting. Gibson appointed the follow- ing committee chairmen and committee members: • Budget committee: David Rollans, chairman; all justices serve on this committee; • Public safety/911: Jerry Evans, chairman; Tom McMil- len; Madelyn Ginsberg, David Rollans and Roy Butler; • Insurance, welfare and personnel: Madelyn Ginsburg, chairman; Mary Metz, Don Daily, David Rollans, Sharon France and Shirley Chism; • Government relations: Don Daily, chairman; David Ivy, Sharon France, Roy Butler and Nell Warren; • Roads: Shirley Chism, chair- man; Mary Metz, Bill Jones, Tom McMillen, Dusty Hampton and Jerry Evans. In other business, the court elected David Ivy to be its rep- resentative to the Arkansas Association of Quorum Courts and voted to begin each monthly meeting with a prayer. The court also discussed the practice of JPs perform- ing marriages. By law, JPs may not charge a fee for performing a marriage but may accept an offered gratuity. Couples wishing to be married must have a valid marriage license not more than 60 days old and the marriage may be performed anywhere in the state. The license must be filed at the courthouse within 10 days of the marriage. All justices were present except David Rollans. Gibson said the court will not meet again until February unless an emergency arises. Quorum Court reorganizes for 2009 David Ivy Outgoing JP — Jerry Williams, right, receives a plaque of apprecia- tion for his service to the Quorum Court from Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson at the December meeting of the court. Williams, who represented District 6, lost his re-election race to David Ivy. June 11 continued Pope County adopted a revised vicious dog ordinance. PBA reported that Picklefest earned just over $6,000. Beverly Davis and The Chron- icle presented a copy of Molly the Pony to the Atkins library in honor of Emmy Cherry, who was killed in the Feb. 5 tornado. June 18 Voters approved the Atkins school millage increase by 346 to 249. It raised the millage from 34.16 to 43.4. The Atkins City Council approved sending letters to five property owners cited by the City Beautification Committee. The parcels were on NW 14th Street, NW First Street, SE Sev- enth Street, East main Street, and North Church Street. June 25 The Pottsville City Council took the first step toward asking for a .5 percent sales tax increase for the fire department. The Hector School Board hired Andy Cheney as head football coach, replacing Mark Tucker, who resigned. A big flag was flying again at the Taco Bell-KFC beside Inter- state 40. The city fixed the cable to raise the flag, costing about $350. The new Atkins fire truck, which costs $387,000, arrived. It will be paid for in installments. A regional 4-H O-Rama was held at Atkins schools June 18, attracting students and families and Extension Service profes- sionals from 25 counties, about 400 people. July 2 A Dover World War II vet- eran, John Robison, received five medals for his service in in that war in a ceremony in Dover Friday. A pickling contest was added to the 2009 Picklefest events, by the PBA. Andy Cheney, new football coach, was named athletic direc- tor by the Hector School Board. July 9 The Atkins death toll from the Feb. 5 tornado increase to five, when Dorothy Veira, who was injured by the tornado, died from her injuries July 5. Carl Warren will seek reelec- tion to the Atkins School Board. The Pope County Property Tax reappraisal was completed and notices of the changed assessments were to be sent to property owners. Pope County JPs expressed concern about fire ants at the monthly meeting. July 16 The Atkins City Council got responses from owners of two pieces of property who were sent letters asking them to clean up their lots. Carroll and Judy Griffin and Jim Sellers came to the council meeting to say they would work on the request. The Atkins Chronicle and Dover Times receive seven award at the annual Arkansas Press Association editorial awards ceremony. Van A Tyson got the Golden 50 award for more than 50 years in the newspaper busi- ness. Pottsville increased lunch prices and Atkins announced it would keep them the same. July 23 A log cabin was added to the buildings at Potts Inn. It was moved from western Little Rock and contributed by the daughter of Rev. R.E.L. Bearden, longtime Methodist minister who used it as a retreat for ministers. Filings for school board races were announced, showing races in Pottsville, Dover and Russell- ville. LAR Lewis W. Eoff of Potts- ville received the Herb Weber award for her service in the Army, after three tours of duty in Iraq and another coming up. A National Emergency Grant was award by the Department of Labor to assist residents unem- ployed as result of the Feb. 5 tor- nado. July 30 Two drivers were transported to St. Mary’s hospital after a head-on collision north of Atkins on SR 105 just south of the Oak- land Road intersection. They were Christopher Manning, 33, of Atkins and Kristin Helton, 19 of Russellville. Manning was flown to a Fort Smith hospital. Two boats were stolen and an underwater car recovered on Lake Atkins during the past week. The Pottsville City Council voted to hold a 1/2 percent sales tax election to raise money for the fire department. An Atkins Chamber of Com- merce was formed to promote economic development and local networking. August 6 The Atkins School Board interviewed contracting firms interested in the new K-8 school building construction. State preservation officials were to meet Atkins residents about forming a historic district in downtown Atkins. August 13 The Pilgrim’s Pride plant “idling” was announced, effec- tive in 60 days. It would put 25 people out of work and 140 chicken growers. The Atkins School Board chose CDI as contractors for the new school building. A Hector High School student, Chase Outlaw, won the national high school rodeo competition. August 20 Donald Ware published a book on Remington Army and Navy revolvers and showed his expertise about pistols in an interview. 2008 Year in review continued from last week’s isssue Atkins Holiday Classic — Atkins Lady Red Devil Heather Kendall dribbles around Pottsville Lady Apache Michaela Talley as LAdy Devil Shelby Thomas (#12) provides protection during the Holiday Clas- sic held in Atkins Dec.29-30. See game stories and results on page 7. Game fixtures — Roy Pitts, left, and Bro Price sit on the sidelines of the Atkins Holiday Classic broad- casting the game on KWKK 100.9. The Atkins area dodged the bullet as other areas of the state suffered icy road conditions. We did, however, have a few people fall on the ice.
