Monticello Live

The Drew Memorial Hospital Board Meeting was held Wednesday, in the hospital’s board room.

• Representatives from the hospital administration and the USDA met last week to finalize the application for a $12 million loan from the USDA. The hospital’s new architectural firm, Cromwell, will reassess the hospital’s building modernization program and update the USDA application for the hospital’s architectural plans.

• The board approved the hospital to go forward with a financial feasibility study to complete the USDA application to complete phase I and II of the hospital modernization program. (more…)

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Inside The Marketplace you can find booth 7B filled with all new items such as Bath and Body Works products, football mom shirts and $1 grab bags.

It all started in 2007 when Jo Banks moved to the area and decided to rent the former Monticello Drug location on the downtown square to open Monticello’s first multi-vendor shop called Grannie’s Attic. It took off from the beginning and it wasn’t long until she outgrew the space and moved to the empty warehouse beside Save A Lot to offer 54 booth spaces. Grannie’s Attic is now loaded with something for everyone from antiques to new purses, new gift items to knives. In the summer of 2009, Banks transferred ownership of the business to Tracy Strange. Grannie’s Attic is located at 307 North Hyatt Street (beside Save A Lot) and is opened for business Monday-Friday 10am-6, Saturday 9am-6pm and Sunday 1pm-5pm. Booths are 11′x10′ and rent for $100 per month. Call 870-367-3977 for more information.

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Monticello’s District Court has been extremely busy, during the past few weeks.  The district court is in session everyTuesday and Wednesday (except for months that have 5).

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, a total of 668 individual cases went before the judge, during what is called a “plea day”, when cases are divided between those who plead “guilty” and “not guilty”.

On a Wednesday session, earlier this month, Judge Kenneth Harper was called as a witness.  In June, there was an altercation, which led to the arrest of one of that day’s defendants.  Since Judge Harper was presiding, he was called as a witness.  Judge Harper is shown here, being sworn in by Hamburg District Judge Reid Harrod, who served as judge for the case.

At Tuesday night’s Drew County Fair Board meeting, the board heard the results of their recent applications to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Board president John Wayne Ross presented documentation to the group showing that FEMA had accepted the total amount of loss/damage as being approximately $556,712.

FEMA is expected to fund repairs to the fairgrounds area and buildings at a rate of 75%, for a total of around $417,534.  This amount includes future funds that will be paid after or durning building construction, as well as money already received to remove the destroyed buildings and debris from the area. The total amount will cover the costs to repair/replace fencing, rebuild the electrical power supply grid, repair the roads, replace damaged miscellaneous items (tables, chair, desks, cattle panels, etc.), re-construct the damaged roof and supports on the EHC exhibit building, and rebuild the structure that housed the old auditorium and cattle exhibit barn. (more…)

William John “Bill” Burton, a 51 year old Monticello man, hasn’t been seen since October 8.  Burton worked as a nurse in Pine Bluff.

Burton’s vehicle has been located in Texas, and he has been entered into a national database, to link him to Monticello, if he is found in another state.

The search is being co-ordinated by the Monticello Police Dept, assisted by Arkansas State Police Special Agent, Rick McKelvey.

Anyone with any information about Burton, please call the Monticello Police Dept. at 870-367-3411.

Anonymous supporters offered the Monticello School District the chance to have Hyatt Field dried out by having a helicopter hover over the muddy playing surface, Friday afternoon, at no expense to the district. (more…)

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After the collapse of the building on the east side of  the square’s south side, a temporary repair was noticed that had recently been applied to the building on the west end of that same row of building.

The tape appears to be Duct Tape, a product that is usually made of aluminum, and used in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry, and not the standard grade of “duck tape.”

But it is still a shining example of a potential problem.

Fifteen organizations received Governor’s Quality Awards Monday evening in Little Rock, and Drew Memorial Hospital received the second highest award possible.

The top award went to White River Medical Center, receiving the Governors Award for Performance Excellence. Drew Memorial Hospital received the next highest award from the Governor, the Governors Achievement Award.  Several organizations received the third place award, the Governors Commitment award and several more received the forth place award, the Governors Challenge Award. (more…)

An 18-year-old Monticello man was killed in a head-on collision between the Toyota pick-up he was driving and a truck from the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Dept., around 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.

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During the regular Quorum Court meeting held last Thursday, County Judge Damon Lampkin brought up the new Medical Office Building. Dr. Sidney Collins and Dr. Jeffrey Reinhart were there to discuss the status of the prospective building. Collins stated that they had come to a roadblock in the building because the land was appraised for much higher than they were hoping to pay.

The county paid for an appraiser to come in and examine the land and his estimate for the five acres of land was around $224,000. The doctors then paid for a different appraiser to examine the land and his estimate for the five acres was $110,000. The doctors do not want to have to pay $224,000 with all the restrictions that were put on the building. They asked the court to lower the price of the land. (more…)

Beverly Hudson lead a debate last Thursday during the regular city council meeting on condemning buildings for city clean ups. She opened the topic by showing pictures taken by Truman Hamilton depicting the old, abandoned buildings. Hudson wanted the council to enforce the ordinance already in place that states that if the council deems a building to be a nuisance they can condemn it and ask the owner to tear it down and clean it up, or if the owner refuses, the city can take down the building. (more…)

According to Drew County Sheriff Mark Gober, while on patrol on the evening of October 13, Drew County Sheriff Department Deputies David Wesson and Jeremy Chapman observed a vehicle traveling north on Midway Route. Deputies observed the brake light out on the passenger side of the vehicle. As the deputies approached the vehicle they observed a rifle in the front seat. The driver was asked to step out of the vehicle. Deputies searched the vehicle and found approximately two grams of a white substance believed to be that of methamphetamine and a glass pipe which is typically used to smoke meth. (more…)

A special called meeting of the Drew Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees was held at noon Thursday. The purpose of the meeting was to select a Architectural firm to provide traditional architect/General contractor bid process and over site services for the planned $14 million Hospital expansion and modernization program.

Proposals from three architectural firms were reviewed . All firms were based in Little Rock ,have extensive hospital experience and are large enough to work with government funding requirements. Proposals were reviewed from: Polk, Stanley and Wilcox Architects; Wittenberg,Delony&Davidson and Cromwell Architects and Engineers.

The board voted to select Cromwell Architects and Engineers from Little Rock as the hospital’s Architect to provide services for the allied health building and 41 inpatient bed wing.

The back section of the former Thrifty Chicks, also known as the old Tree-0 and Apples & Amens building collapsed, shortly after noon, Tuesday afternoon, likely under the weight of heavy rain.

Monticello Police and Fire Units responded, and Drew County Deputies also assisted.

The front of the top floor was reportedly being used as an office by Judge Clifton Bond, a retired attorney and judge.

Centerpoint energy was also called to the site to turn of the natural gas supply, which was smelled immediately after the rumble of falling bricks came to an end.

The building collapse was covered on TV by KATV-7 and KLRT-16, who used photos provided by MonticelloLive.com

Channels 4 & 11 were also reported on the event.

MonticelloLive.com is celebrating it’s 2nd  birthday this week, since business operations and reporting duties were taken over by Joe Burgess (“the MonticelloLive guy”) back in October, 2007.

Readership has grown constantly over the 2 year period, as shown by the 1.6 million pageviews that the site has received over in the past year.

While another website keeps posting impressive numbers, MonticelloLive makes it possible for readers to view our actual daily pageviews totals.  Just click on the black, white, & orange One Stat.com logo at the bottom left of  MonticelloLive newspages. 

MonticelloLive is designed to be “User Friendly”, we don’t make you play “hide & seek” to find stories.  All new news stories at that the top of the front page.

When you click on the MonticelloLive icon on your desktop screen, it doesn’t take you to a roadmap of the website, you’re immediately taken to the most recent news items posted that day.  I’ts that simple.   If you want to see school lunch menus, obituaries, yard sales, or the classifieds, they’re just one click away, at the top of the page. 

News and events may be submitted to MonticelloLive by sending an e-mail to joe@MonticelloLive.com.

And if you around town and see a big guy in a MonticelloLive.com shirt, that’s probably Joe. You many want to slow down, because there may be a car wreck, fire, or other event nearby that would be better to read about, than be a part of.

If there are no flashing lights around, just stop and say “hi”.  Joe’s usually a friendly fellow, who likes to hear what folks think about Monticello.

Finally, say “Happy Anniversary” to the sponsors that make our time together each morning possible.

Monticello High School EAST is making an effort to “go green”.

Every Thursday, students collect paper from the recycle bins that are placed in every high school classroom.

They also collect from the OEC and Administration Building.

After all of the paper is collected, the Drew County Recycling Center picks it up and starts the recycling process.

Each student on the recycling team feels that they are doing their part in helping the economy.

U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representatives John Boozman and Mike Ross recently announced that Arkansas has received $1,135,088 to fight domestic violence in the state. The funds are allocated through the “Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program,” which is authorized through the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women.

Options, Inc., a women’s shelter in  Monticello that provides multiple services to women and children will received $644,447 of those funds.  Options applied for these funds last January.

However, the funds are designated to provide “outreach service” to the surrounding counties in the 10th judicial district, where Options also provides services to, in an effort to levelize the services that are provided to nearby areas.

The news from Washington was considered a blessing by Options Director, Brenda Noble, even though it’s funds can’t be used to help with the Women’s Shelter’s most serious problem.

The Drew County Public Facilities Board met Thursday, Oct. 1 to confirm that organizations desire to sell the property, which has served as “Options Safe House” for 20 years, either to Options, or to list it for sale to the public. (more…)

U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representatives Marion Berry, Vic Snyder, and Mike Ross have announced that the Senate and House have passed the Conference Report for the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which contains funding for Arkansas priorities.

Among these priorities is $319,000 for the Center for Integrated Forest Management Strategies at the University of Arkansas in Monticello for forestry research and education activities.  (more…)

Roderic Ridgell accepted a plea agreement to a recommended sentence of 18 years, Monday, in the Drew County Circuit Court, before Judge Sam Pope.

Ridgell had been charged with possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, with intent to deliver.

University of Arkansas at Monticello junior quarterback Scott Buisson is the school’s new all-time leader with 8,629 yards of total offense with more than a season remaining in his career.

Buisson (Metairie, La.) broke the record in UAM’s 59-14 loss to Arkansas Tech on September 26, a game in which he had 264 passing yards and 106 rushing yards to give him a total of 8,313 career yards, breaking Cory Allred’s record of 7,988 yards from 2003-04. In this past Saturday’s win over Ouachita Baptist, Buisson increased his totals with 306 passing yards and 10 rushing yards. (more…)

Photos by Marilyn Patrick

Shortly after Thursday night’s thunderstorn, a small alligator was seen crossing East McCloy Street by Drew County Deputy Steven Mitchell, near the city warehouse around midnight.

The alligator, estimated to measure around 2 1/2 foot long, was detained by city employee Charlie Hammock, with local law authorities present, and turned over to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commision.