Archive - Jun 2012
June 29th
BRYANT – With record-breaking heat in central Arkansas and a 101-degree game-time temperature, which actually felt like 104, the Bryant Sport Shop Black Sox hosted Little Rock Blue on Thursday and came away with a 6-2 victory at Bryant High School.
Three restaurants in Saline County recently were cited for failing an alcohol compliance check, authorities said.
The undercover compliance check of restaurants was made by the Benton Special Investigation Unit, which is comprised of officers from the Benton and Bryant police departments. Authorities said the checks were made to ensure local establishments are not serving alcohol to minors.
Possible naming rights for the Benton events center and advertising and promotion tax collections were addressed Thursday afternoon in a meeting of the Benton A & P Commission.
Commission Chairman Mark Fikes told the council that the events center project is ahead of schedule.
The commission recently approved an initial site plan and conceptual drawing of the center. A groundbreaking ceremony for the project is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. July 3 at the Hickory Square Shopping Center site.
June 28th
Robert Edwards has been named interim director of the Benton Parks and Recreation Department.
Mayor David Mattingly announced Edwards' appointment late Monday at a Benton City Council meeting.
Mattingly said he had selected Edwards to serve in this position and that he expressed appreciation to Edwards for the willingness to serve the city in this manner.
Edwards, in turn, expressed appreciation to the mayor for the confidence placed in him and said it was his pleasure to serve Benton residents.
Edwards is retired from the Federal Aviation Administration.
When Easton Lee Martin was born June 22 at Saline Memorial Hospital, he was following a family tradition.
Easton's mother, Melanie Martin, was born at Saline Memorial in 1984, and both of her parents also had started life inside the Benton hospital.
Martin's mother, Vicki Steele, was born at the hospital in December of 1957, and the birth of her father, Jeff Steele, occurred there in September of 1958.
The family's connection to the hospital goes even deeper.
As strange as it may sound to some Saline County residents, the level of ozone readings this summer poses a real threat to the local community.
June 27th
Saline County's burn ban means that the individual use of fireworks is prohibited anywhere in the county, according to a spokesperson for County Judge Lanny Fite.
In Benton, vendors may not sell fireworks during this period, but their sale is still allowed in the county for now, Fite said.
"The county ban doesn't prohibit the sale of fireworks, but it does prohibit the discharge unless a permit has been issued by the Office of Emergency Management," the county spokesperson said.
Saline County is among 52 in the state that have outlawed fireworks during the hot, dry weather.
BENTON – It didn’t look very promising for the Benton McClendon’s after the first inning of their game against Little Rock Blue on Tuesday night, but the McClendon’s came away with a 7-5 win at Bill Perry Field in Bernard Holland Park after their slow start.
Local law enforcement officers will put down their badges, guns and Tasers late Thursday to don aprons and street clothes while holding drink trays, all in the name of a good cause during the annual Tip-A-Cop.
The event will be held from 4 to 10 p.m. at Colton's Steakhouse in Benton and 100 percent of the proceeds benefit Special Olympics of Arkansas. Colton's is at 1929 Landers Drive, just off Interstate 30 and past the Walmart Supercenter.
The Independence Day celebration will come a few days early in Haskell and will include a large fireworks display to end the evening festivities.
The free event — including parking and admission — is scheduled from 5 to 10 p.m. on Friday at the Arkansas Health Center, located at 6701 U.S. Highway 67. From Interstate 30, take the Exit 114, drive past the Big Red Valero gas station and head straight past the first traffic light until reaching the sign for the Arkansas Health Center on the left.
