The deadline for applying for Academic Challenge Scholarships is June 1. The applications are available online at the state Department of Higher Education web site.

High school graduates who intend to go to an Arkansas college or university are eligible if their grade point average is 2.5 on a scale of 4.0, with an “A” being a 4.0 and a “B” being a 3.0.  Graduates must have completed the Smart Core curriculum, which is a modern and rigorous college preparatory set of courses. Read the rest of this post

The Drew County Single Parent Scholarship Board is hosting their summer fundraiser, Tea and Talent Show; It’s A Family Affair, on June 1 from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the Ethel Hawkins Christian Life Center in Monticello.

Award-winning syndicated gospel radio host, Rev. Clarence “JC Loves” Thornton of Little Rock will be the guest host.  The show will feature a variety of talent including the Monticello Dance Academy, Trey Hawkins, Gabe Pace, Kim’s Dance Factory, Kirby Merritt, Jonathan Yarbrough, The Brewer Sisters, Korsica Robinson, Kristian Hicks, Nancy Brown and Mary Washington and more. Local “DJ”, Tony Williams, will also be providing musical entertainment.  Read the rest of this post

Two 2013 high school graduates have been selected to receive Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) scholarships to attend the University of Arkansas at Monticello next fall.
Read the rest of this post

Registrations are being accepted at the Bradley County Chamber of Commerce for the 2013 Little Miss Pink Tomato pageant.

The pageant will be held at the Warren Cultural Center at 2:30 p.m. on June 15, during the 57th annual Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival. Eligible participants must be 4 or 5 years of age on June 1, 2013 and must live in Bradley, Ashley, Dallas, Drew, Calhoun, Cleveland, Lincoln or Union County.  Read the rest of this post

Prosecutor Thomas Deen, left, and Daniel Pedraza's lead attorney Jeff Rosenzweig of Little Rock, review a document in the Drew County Circuit Courtroom Tuesday afternoon following Pedraza's competency hearing.

Daniel Pedraza has been found competent to stand trial for the February 2012 beating death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter Aubriana Coke. His capital murder trial is set for May 30. If convicted he could face the death penalty.  (Text of Circuit Judge Bynum Gibson’s comments explaining his ruling follows the story).  Read the rest of this post

Chicot Memorial Medical Center hosted an awards banquet last week honoring hospital auxiliary members for their service to the hospital. Margie Smith, pictured with auxiliary president Barbara Harris and hospital chief executive officer David Mantz, was named 2012 Volunteer of the Year. Volunteers donating 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 hours to the hospital were awarded pins.  Betty Gay-Shuler volunteered 700 hours in 2012. The hospital staff also awarded scholarships to Lisa McCoy, Enoch Williams, Anna Jasay and Roberto Bernal. McCoy and Williams are repeat recipients. Jasay and Bernal are recent high school graduates. All four are pursing degrees in the health care field. Approximately 50 guests, including the Auxiliary members, scholarship recipients, parents, hospital board members and staff attended the banquet.

Dr. Jason Cater, president of the Desha/Drew Cattlemen’s Association, conducted a tour last week of his Drew County cattle farm for members of the cattlemen’s association. The cattlemen and women met at Cater’s business, Cater Cattle & Equine Clinic in Monticello, before heading out to his farm on Florence Road.  Read the rest of this post

The Monticello Kiwanis Club will display American flags on the town square and Drew County Courthouse lawn in honor and remembrance of service men and women. The Kiwanis Club is selling flags for $30 each to individuals or groups interested in honoring a particular soldier or group of soldiers with a flag on the town square or courthouse lawn. A flag with an attached tag identifying the honored soldier(s) will be displayed. The donation will accommodate two names on the tag. There will be an additional $2 charge per name for more than two names. After the display period, the keepsake flag may be picked up by the donor at Union Bank.The flags may be purchased from any Monticello Kiwanis member or at Union Bank in Monticello from Sandra Wright or Gail Hooker. All proceeds will fund bedroom makeovers for children in need, a Monticello Kiwanis service project.

English and social studies teachers will spend 39 days in the Republic of South Africa June 20 through July 28 as part of a program in curriculum development hosted by the University of Arkansas at Monticello’s 2013 Summer Institute, “South Africa: Continuity and Change.”  Read the rest of this post

Two cub scouts from Pack 69 represented the Monticello area at the De Soto Area Council Boat Float & Pinewood Derby Adventure on May 4, placing third place in their respective groups. Cole Hawkins placed third in the ‘Bear’ group and Jack Nickolson placed third in the ‘Wolf’ group.The weekend adventure included the BB and archery shooting range, canoeing, fishing, hiking, the annual cardboard boat race and the pinewood derby, which included more than 60 entries.

Circuit Judge Bynum Gibson has set a Tuesday competency hearing for Daniel Pedraza, a 24-year-old Drew County man charged with capital murder in the February 2012 beating death of his 2-year-old step-daughter, Aubriana Coke.
Read the rest of this post

Steel guitarists, representing at least five states, will be showcased June 7-8 at the Hacketts Gospel Singing Shed, located at the intersection of highways 65 and 165, halfway between McGehee and Dermott. It is a first-time event for Southeast Arkansas.

This event has never before taken place in southeast Arkansas and seems to be raising quite a bit of interest throughout the United States and abroad from enthusiest of the pedal steel guitar and gospel music, according to a news release announcing the event. Read the rest of this post

A former Crossett High School teacher has been charged with sexually assaulting one of her students this year.

Amanda Leigh Reilly, 31, is alleged to have had inappropriate sexual contact with a 16-year-old male student in February and March of 2013. She is also alleged to have urged the student to engage in deviate sexual activity, according to charging information filed by 10th Judicial District Prosecutor Thomas Deen. Read the rest of this post

The University of Arkansas at Monticello will hold two preregistration sessions for incoming freshmen June 17 and 18, according to Mary Whiting, director of admissions.  Read the rest of this post

The University of Arkansas at Monticello has entered into a partnership with the Little Rock Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) to begin administering the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), according to Laura Hughes, director counseling, testing and career services.  Read the rest of this post

The Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission has approved an application for an Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Historical Marker in Lincoln County, ACWSC Chairman TomDupree announced.

The historical marker will be located at Hickory Grove Cemetery and will commemorate the January 19, 1864, skirmish at Branchville. The Ninth Arkansas Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 652 is sponsoring the marker.  Read the rest of this post

Judy Shipp and Jordan Rivera

Judy Shipp, an adjunct faculty member on the Warren campus of the UAM College of Technology-McGehee was recently selected as “Teacher of the Year” by The Honors College of Henderson State University. Read the rest of this post

A request for a change of venue was denied Friday in the case of a Lake Village man accused of the May 2012 beating death of then Chicot County Tax Collector Nell Johnson.

Brooks, 50, says he cannot get a fair trial in Chicot County due to pretrial publicity and the victim’s standing in the community. He is charged with capital murder, aggravated residential burglary and aggravated robbery in the death of the 73-year-old county tax collector.
Read the rest of this post

Glen Darnell Perrian

Glen Darnell Perrian, the man suspected in the June 2012 armed robbery of the First National Bank of McGehee, was arrested in Monticello on Sunday, less than a week after he escaped the Desha County Courthouse. Read the rest of this post

CLDI meeting in Crossett in 2010

The Southeast Arkansas Cornerstone Coalition is currently accepting applications for the 2013 class of the Cornerstone Leadership Development Institute’s (CLDI) Southern Leadership Academy, according to Zach Tucker, director of the Cornerston Coalition. Read the rest of this post

A 66-year-old Fountain Hill man died Tuesday at a Little Rock hospital following a Tuesday morning traffic accident in Bradley County.

Sammy Wigley, 66, was traveling east on State Highway 8 in Bradley County about ten miles east of Warren when he lost control of his pickup truck and crossed the center line and struck the left rear of a Freightliner.  Read the rest of this post

About a dozen Drew Central High School students are suspected in the Thursday night vandalism of their school, according to 10th Judicial District Prosecutor Thomas Deen.  Read the rest of this post

Cassidy Zuspan, a fifth grade student at Jimmy Brown Elementary School and Colton Rudder, a junior at Star City High School, have artwork included in the state Arkansas Art Educators art exhibit in Little Rock at the Arkansas Studies Institute in the Butler Center Main Gallery located in the River Market District at 401 President Clinton Avenue in Little Rock. Their art will be on display through July 27.  Read the rest of this post