Using fireworks is mostly illegal

Fireworks are banned in many local cities and counties so check first.

The use of fireworks during the Fourth of July is illegal in North Little Rock, Sherwood, and Jacksonville. However, Beebe and Lonoke allow fireworks. Individuals can buy fireworks within city limits from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. July 2-4. Residents may fire them off during the same time, except on the Fourth, shooting of fireworks can go until midnight. Jacksonville […]

Working hard every day

The Thaxton Brothers of Carlisle were named the 2020 Lonoke County Farm Family of the Year. Clayton and Keaton Thaxton are second-generation farmers, working the soil on 4,000 acres (6.25 square miles) of leased land along East Schaffer Road, east of Lonoke. They grow 750 acres of corn, 1,400 acres of rice and the rest is soybeans. They started their […]

Improving safety on Hwy. 107

Plans call for reducing accidents by revamping intersections and more.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation has unveiled preliminary designs for im-proving Hwy. 107 from General Samuels Road in Jacksonville to Hwy. 89 in Cabot. Details and maps of the proposed project are available online at Hwy107.TransportationPlanRoom.com. The highway department is seeking public comments through July 12 to determine priorities and gauge public support. The highway department has not yet secured […]

Virus takes many lives at old-age home here

Jacksonville nursing home has 42 residents and 31 staff members with the disease and eight deaths as state reports highest daily cases in community at 669.

Carrie Mashburn, the 106-year-old Woodland Hills Nursing Home resident died Tuesday of a COVID-19-related illness, the ninth such death at the facility. (See obituary below.) With the state Health Department declining to confirm cause of death under HIPPA regulations, it’s rare to put a name or face to a COVID-19 death. Mashburn’s death is one of 242 Covid-related deaths since […]

Sherwood Rotary’s first black president

Civic group’s new leader, who owns a child adoption agency, is a milestone during a time of turmoil.

Sherwood resident Michelle Oglesby became the first African American president of the Sherwood Rotary Club during an installation ceremony Tuesday at Sherwood Forest. She was also named the club’s Rotarian of the Year. Oglesby is the owner of a child adoption agency. Oglesby said being the member of the year was a surprise. She did not know until minutes before […]

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District plans to reopen Aug. 13

Jacksonville schools are looking at a blended fall curriculum during virus.

As Arkansans are buffeted by Covid’s rampant increase in the state, Jacksonville-North Pulaski School Superintendent Bryan Duffie says the 2020-2021 school year will launch Aug. 13…probably. Following state Education Department guidelines, Duffie and the other administrators have developed an outline of what the new school year will look like, subject to changes by either the state education or health departments, […]