The Monticello High School Class of 2006 is coming home to celebrate 20 years!

Classmates are invited to reconnect and reminisce during the MHS Class of 2006 Reunion Weekend, October 9–10, 2026, in Monticello.

Registration is $100 per classmate, and the final registration and payment deadline is Friday, October 2, 2026.

Complete our Reunion Registration Form:
Connect with Reunion Committee

Pay Online:
billies2006reunion.square.site

CashApp: $2006Billies

Questions? Contact the Reunion Committee:
billies06reunion@gmail.com

Class of 2006 members are encouraged to register and help spread the word to fellow classmates.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello Forestry Club will host the Tall Pines Timber Challenge on Saturday, September 12, at the Bradley County Fairgrounds as part of the Bradley County Fair.

Designed as a fun, family-friendly introduction to forestry and timbersports, the Tall Pines Timber Challenge will give members of the public an opportunity to learn about forestry skills and traditions while participating in a friendly competition. Participants of all experience levels are encouraged to join in, and the emphasis is on having fun and trying something new.

The event will have divisions for both youth and adults. 

A youth division will begin at 10 a.m. and is open to participants ages 10 through high school seniors. Youth competitors will test their forestry knowledge and skills in events including tree identification, forestry equipment identification, compass and pacing and a tree cookie toss.

The adult division, open to participants ages 18 and older, will begin at 1 p.m. and will feature traditional timbersports events such as crosscut sawing, axe throwing, Jack and Jill, and more.

No experience is necessary to participate. UAM Forestry Club students will demonstrate the events throughout the competition and help participants learn how each event works. For events requiring a partner, Forestry Club members will also be available to team up with participants who need a partner.

The exhibition “into the current: eroding and evolving” by Brooke Cassady will be on display from August 19 through October 21 in the Glassblock Gallery in the Fred J. Taylor Library and Technology Center at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM). There will be a closing reception and activation of the gallery space on Wednesday, October 21, from 6 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

“Working across ceramics, fibers and metals, I build objects and installations holding the tension between lack and excess, between the solitary self and the collective unconscious, weaving through all living matter,” said Cassady. “I engage the alchemy of air, fire and water, transmuting raw material into form to give shape to what has no shape.”

The exhibition, which spans both floors of the Glassblock Gallery, is based on the concept that “everything alive is in the process of becoming and dissolving,” explained Cassady. “What do we keep and what do we release? Shells and nests outlive the creatures that built it. Seed hold plants that have yet to emerge. This altar begins with what can still be touched: clay, sand, bone, the record of a hand’s touch pressed into earth. Small pinches of clay dissolve slowly in a jar of water over the course of the show, an invitation to let go of something. Upstairs, the waters of the unconscious unravel. Between the two floors, suspended in the open air, eight porous vessels escape from their nets, dredging what is buried into the light.”

On August 19th, 2026, an Ashley County jury found Rosario Ford Jr., a 34-year-old Crossett resident and violent habitual offender, guilty of multiple felony charges.

The conviction stems from an investigation by the Crossett Police Department into a report from the victim regarding an incident on December 13, 2025. The victim reported that Ford threatened to “blow her brains out” while possessing a firearm. The Tenth Judicial District Prosecution Attorney’s Office charged Ford as a habitual offender with the offenses of Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree, a Class D Felony and Felon in Possession of a Firearm, a Class B Felony.

During the one-day jury trial Chief Deputy Prosecutor Attorney Sandra Bradshaw presented testimony from the victim and additional witnesses along with home surveillance video. Ford was represented by attorney Joe Mazzanti. After hearing all the evidence, the jury found Ford guilty of both charges.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello Athletics Department announced Nat Grubbs as the 21st recipient of the Spirit Award, presented annually at the Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet.

Introduced in 2006, the UAM Spirit Award is presented to individuals who demonstrate exceptional support and unwavering dedication to the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s athletic programs. This honor recognizes those who go above and beyond for our student-athletes, teams, and department. The recipient embodies the heart and soul of UAM Athletics – through every win, every loss, every rain delay, and every nail-biting moment, they are there. They truly bleed green and white.

Grubbs, a longtime fan of UAM Athletics programs, has provided physical therapy care to Boll Weevil and Blossom athletes for years at South Arkansas Rehabilitation. He and his team have made an incredible impact on the athletics department, helping rehabilitate numerous student-athletes to get them back on the field and back in competitive shape.

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On September 2, 2026, after a two-day jury trial, a Drew County jury convicted Taiwan Collins of two counts of Murder in the First Degree and one count of Terroristic Act. The convictions stemmed from the December 3, 2023, shooting at the old Wilmar High School.

Agents from the Arkansas State Police and the Drew County Sheriff’s Office investigated the shooting that ultimately ended in the death of two people. The shooting occurred shortly after the party concluded at approximately 2:10 in the morning. The City of Wilmar uses the old high school as a community center and in the past has rented out the facilities for events.

Jurors heard testimony from witnesses at the scene and that officers arrived at the at the school to find the bodies of Suquorey Pitts, and Independence Young. Special Agent Bo Norris testified that while processing the scene 100 shell casings were collected. Those shell casings were sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for firearms and tool marks examination, and the bodies were sent to the medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of death.

Associate Medical Examiner, Dr. Teddi Tubre testified that the cause of death for both men was gunshot wounds. Further testimony indicated that multiple firearms were used in the commission of the indicating multiple individuals firing weapons.

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