From the March 20, 2019 issue: Stone County voters who participated in a special election last week soundly rejected the sales tax proposal for construction and maintenance of a new county jail. Each of the two half-cent taxes was defeated with 64 percent of the vote “against” and 36 percent “for.” More than 2,200 of the county’s 8,124 registered voters – about 27 percent – took part in the special election ...

Rescue personnel work to evacuate a burn victim from the roof. Two employees of Fiber Energy Products were seriously injured in a fire at the plant in Stone County’s industrial park last Friday afternoon. Paul David Sutterfield and Sean Steiger were both airlifted from the site after they went to the factory’s roof and opened a hatch, which resulted in an explosion as flames were exposed to air. Sutterfield ...

The March 6, 2019 issue contains diagrams of the proposed Stone County Jail floor plan and site plan, as well as coverage of two informational meetings regarding the proposed sales tax measures to fund operation and maintenance. ...

A local applicant is expected to receive a license for a medical marijuana dispensary and plans to open in April. Fiddler’s Green, owned by Stone County resident Lisa Murphy and her son, Kent Thomas, was ranked first by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission among applicants in Zone 2. Murphy said it has been confirmed that the top four applicants in each zone will receive a license, and notifications ar ...

A head-on collision on Highway 14 East near the county line in Independence County took the life of a local man and injured four others just after noon on New Year’s Eve. Adalberto Diaz, 57, of Mountain View was the passenger in a 1999 Honda van that was traveling east on Highway 14 when the van collided with a westbound 2017 GMC Yukon Denali (shown above). According to a preliminary report filed by State P ...

Stone County and Circuit Clerk Angie Hudspeth-Wade (pictured) and other public officials were sworn into office on Jan. 1 by Circuit Judge Lee Harrod. The swearing-in took place at the Stone County Court Complex. From the Jan. 9 issue of the Leader. ...

Blanchard Springs Caverns reopened Dec. 28 after being closed since Dec. 22 because of the federal government shutdown. Although the shutdown continues, the Caverns is able to operate using its local fees, District Ranger Jim McCoy explained. “There is technically no lapse in funding because we have fee dollars to cover operation costs,” McCoy said. Money collected from ticket purchases is local funding and ...

Investigators search through the remains of the John Battaglear residence where a fire is believed to have taken the life of 91-year-old Lois Vannatter on Nov. 13. See the Nov. 21, 2018 issue for the full story. ...

This 2000 Ford Expedition collided with the 18-wheeler hauling lumber (in background) on Highway 5 North Nov. 5 just after 1 p.m. The SUV was driven by Roland Powell, 41, of Marcella. Sources at the scene said Powell was driving in the wrong lane and that no one was seriously injured. See more details in the Nov. 7, 2018 issue. ...

Above, the east side of the Stone County Jail is being considered for expansion potential. Changing standards for jail operation are mainly responsible for the problems forcing Stone County to consider constructing a new jail, along with an unanticipated rise in crime. Kirk Green, who now serves as jail administrator, was a Stone County deputy when the current jail was built in 1994-95 and made the move fro ...