County Extension Agent-Agriculture Boone County, Mike Clintock spoke to the adult and student Leadership Classes on Tuesday, March 7, as the classes visited different agriculture operations around the community. The Arkansas Extension Service is a part of the University of Arkansas. more

The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) is proposing to widen Highway 65 between Highway 7 and Industrial Park Road; and improvements at the intersection of Highway 65, North. Main Street, and Industrial Park Road in Harrison. This project is a partnership between ARDOT and the City of Harrison. more

The Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted a legislative forum on Tuesday, March 21, at the Signature Bank Tower Community Room where Arkansas state Senator Bryan King (District 28), and state Representatives, Harlan Breaux (District 6), and Ron McNair (District 5) attended to answer questions from the public. more

The Newton County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) met on Monday, March 13, and continued to talk about next year's total eclipse. It is focusing on the county's coordinated efforts being made to prepare for it. more

The Pioneer Wilderness Bike Trail will open with an official ribbon cutting ceremony at 2 p.m.Wednesday, March 29. more

DEER — The Deer/Mt. Judea School District Board of Education hired certified and classified staffs for the 2023-24 school year when it met in regular session Monday night, March 13. more

The Harrison Goblin Leadslingers are already working hard getting ready for regional and state tournaments, but currently do not have team uniforms or complete funding for the supplies they need to practice properly. The 54-member team consist of students ranging from fifth through 12th grades. The goal is to teach them gun safety, confidence, teamwork, sportsmanship, school and community pride. more

Next Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the official end to the Vietnam War. It was on this date in 1973 that all remaining prisoners of war held by North Vietnam set foot on American soil and the last American combat troops left Vietnam. It only took 44 years, but, in 2017, President Trump signed the “Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act” establishing this day as a national observance to honor all U.S. military members who served between 1955 and 1975. more

The Harrison School District School Board met on Thursday, March 16, and approved the 2023-2024 school year contracts for the seven current therapists in the speech, occupational therapy and physical therapy fields as part of the special education program. Next year's contracts with the school therapists included a pay increase of $10 per hour. more

March 21-27 is National Agriculture Week and Boone County Judge Robert Hathaway made a proclamation designated that week as Farm Bureau Week in Boone County. Boone County Farm Bureau Board President Nick Simon and Vice President Nita Cooper were present for the proclamation. more

The Be Pro Be Proud mobile classroom will be in the area for three days. North Arkansas College, Dean of Workforce Development, Dr. David Mason said, “Be Pro Be Proud is a workforce development initiative introducing America’s students to technical careers through virtual reality experiences.” more

Dr. Terrance “Terry” Roberts was a guest speaker at North Arkansas College on Tuesday, March 7. Roberts has been to North Arkansas College before and was invited back so a “new generation” of Northark students could get to know this living legend of history. more

When our family moved here 43 years ago, we witnessed a Crooked Creek in downtown Harrison that was virtually a willow jungle. After the massive flood of 1961, the city applied for and was approved for Urban Renewal funds to build the current levee and widen the creek bed by scraping the drainage down to bedrock. The hoped for result was that a wider creek would not pour its waters into downtown when the next big flood came. Thankfully, the levee worked; however, every time the creek had a big rise, gravel and silt began to fill the massive cavity that had been made. Soon, willows and other natives began growing in the creek bed. In just a few years the area became an ugly wound in the middle of town. more

Newton County Hometown Health members welcomed Joni Padilla, a grants coordinator for the Arkansas Department of Health, to the coalition's regular meeting held Thursday, March 9. Padilla spoke at length about the department's Be Well Arkansas program and its tobacco cessation objectives. more

Harrison School District superintendent Stewart Pratt updated the Harrison School Board on Thursday, March 16, regarding the progress the district has made in responding to the recent LEARNS Act passed in the Arkansas legislature. The LEARNS Act, Senate Bill 294, was recently signed into Arkansas state law by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. more

The Boone County Adult Leadership and the Youth Leadership Academy took a tour of Quality Feed Grains for Agriculture Day on Tuesday, March 7. The month of March is National Agriculture Month and a great time for the adults and teens to learn about agriculture in Boone County. more

Mervin Jebaraj, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas was the speaker Wednesday, March 15, at the Economic Update Luncheon at North Arkansas College and answered a question about the bank failure of Silicon Valley. more

Influenza-related deaths reported to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) this flu season have reached 148 (PCR confirmed flu deaths at 62), according to the department's latest report. It was noted that of those deaths, 75.7% of those persons were not vaccinated against the virus. There were no PCR confirmed flu deaths for Week 10. more