News

Polls will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at six vote centers in Carroll County for the 2022 preferential primary on Tuesday, May 24. Voters can choose to cast their ballots in either the Republican or Democratic primary, although there are no contested races among local candidates in the Democratic primary. ...

State auditors found a number of issues related to Eureka Springs city finances and record-keeping, according to a report presented to a legislative committee last week. The Arkansas Legislative Audit division presented reports to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee Standing Committees on Counties and Municipalities, Educational Institutions and State Agencies on Thursday, May 12...

State Sen. Bob Ballinger’s bill for advertising in the program for Green Forest’s annual Agriculture Appreciation Days remains unpaid, a source said last week, even though Ballinger’s campaign page on Facebook said the debt has been paid. Two separate sources, each of whom asked not to be identified, confirmed recently that Ballinger had not paid for advertising in the program for the past three years, with one source saying Ballinger owed “around $400 or $500.”...

The Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission spent most of its recent workshop discussing tweaks to procedures for giving marketing money to individuals and groups who are bringing events to the city. City tourism director Madison Dawson presented suggested changes during the May 12 workshop at The Auditorium. ...

Visitors to Eureka Springs have a new way to learn about the city’s public art and natural springs. And all that is needed is a smart phone. A new augmented reality tour called Eureka Springs AR Tour (ESART) is sponsored by the Eureka Springs Arts Council and the City Advertising and Promotion Commission and will give users an interactive way to discover many areas in the downtown area...

Eureka Springs High School is ranked 11th best in the state according to a recent survey conducted by U.S. News and World Report. Eureka Springs Schools superintendent Bryan Pruitt shared the news with the school board during its regular meeting on May 9...

Active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County rose slightly over the past week, with 19 cases reported Monday by the Arkansas Department of Health. Statewide, the active case total showed a more than 25 percent increase for the second consecutive week, rising to 2,581 — the fourth consecutive week of rising numbers...

Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry contacted state auditors in February 2021 about “possible overpayments” to Tracy Johnson, former events coordinator for the City Advertising and Promotion Commission. In an internal email obtained by the Lovely County Citizen, Lance Woodworth, a certified public accountant for Arkansas Legislative Audit, writes that he “received a call from the Mayor of Eureka and the Finance Director.”...

Carroll County is getting its first medical marijuana dispensary. Osage Creek Dispensary, owned by Berryville resident Jay Trulove, received approval from the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission on Thursday, May 5, to transfer from its location in Fayetteville to 101 E. Van Buren near downtown Eureka Springs...

Carroll County Solid Waste customers in Eureka Springs will likely soon see an increase on their bills. The Eureka Springs City Council voted to give Mayor Butch Berry the authority to amend the current contract with Carroll County Solid Waste to include a fuel surcharge that will go in affect when diesel prices increase enough to greatly surpass the budgeted cost...

Active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County dropped slightly over the past week, with 13 cases reported Monday by the Arkansas Department of Health. Statewide, the active case total showed a nearly 25 percent increase, rising to 2,057 — the third consecutive week of rising numbers...

It’s no surprise that Mackenzie Loudermilk and Jacob Eastburn are the top two graduates who will represent their class during the Eureka Springs High School commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21 at Highlander Gym. “It’s always been a running joke that it would be us,” Eastburn, the school’s salutatorian, said about himself and Loudermilk, the valedictorian. “It was just a matter of who would end up on top.”...

Robert Kennedy, the candidate for Carroll County sheriff who was arrested last week on multiple felony charges, was released from jail Sunday night after posting bond. Kennedy was released from the Carroll County Detention Center in Berryville around 8 p.m. Sunday. Carroll County District Judge Dale Ramsey had set Kennedy’s bond at $100,000 after his initial judicial appearance on Wednesday, April 27...

The Auditorium will continue to receive a facelift after more funds were approved for renovations and improvements. The Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission, at its April 27 meeting, unanimously approved $107,443 from its surplus budget to be used for an array of projects aimed at sprucing up the facility...

Active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County more than doubled over the past week, with 15 cases reported Monday by the Arkansas Department of Health. Statewide, the active case total also showed an increase, rising to 1,562 — the second consecutive week of rising numbers...

Mackenzie Loudermilk didn’t have much luck finding a prom dress during a shopping trip to Branson with her mom on March 22. “Didn’t find one that day,” the Eureka Springs High School senior said. She certainly didn’t mind. Especially after receiving some big news on the drive home that quickly overshadowed any concerns about a dress...

Kelly Swofford is almost a fixture in Carroll County education. During a career that has spanned parts of five decades, he’s been everything from a teacher to an administrator, working with and mentoring several generations of the county’s youngest residents, primarily in Green Forest and Berryville...

Students interested in machining and computer numeric control fields at Connect Four in Berryville will have a shot at getting a boost as they start their careers thanks to a $12,000 grant the program received last month from the Gene Haas Foundation. “We’re going to be able to use that to give some grant money to some students that might be going to school or something like that to learn more about how to write code and CNC programs,” said Connect 4 director James Knight. ...

Jeff Carter, chairman of the Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission, discussed the possibility of firing Gina Rambo — who was then serving as the commission’s interim director — at a meeting with a group of citizens approximately three weeks before Rambo’s termination in February 2021...

Robert Kennedy, a candidate for Carroll County sheriff, was arrested Monday morning and is being held in the county jail, the sheriff’s office confirmed. Few details were available by Tuesday morning. The intake log from the Carroll County Detention Center in Berryville showed that Kennedy, 38, was booked into the jail on felony charges of terroristic threatening and second-degree battery as well as two misdemeanor counts of assault on a family or household member. ...

Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry did not lie under oath in a deposition, he told the city council Monday night. “Recently I was, been accused of lying,” Berry said at the end of a tense two-hour meeting at the Auditorium. “I want to be clear that I did not. I do not believe that I lied under oath.”...

Active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County increased by one over the past week, with seven cases reported Monday by the Arkansas Department of Health, after two weeks with six. Statewide, the active case total showed a larger increase, rising to 1,268 after several consecutive weeks of falling numbers...

Ballinger responds to King mailer By Scott Loftis SLoftis@cherryroad.com State Sen. Bob Ballinger responded last week to criticism from former legislator Bryan King, one of his four opponents in the May 24 preferential primary, who has referred to Ballinger as “Back Tax Bob” in campaign mailers...

Matthew Dunham, one of five candidates running for Carroll County sheriff in the May 24 Republican preferential primary, was fired last week from his job with the Centerton Police Department. In a post to his campaign’s Facebook page, Dunham said he was fired on Tuesday, April 19...