Agriculture

The Daily Citizen Sunday, September 16, 2012 • Page 3A

LOCAL

Despite a long drought and extreme heat this summer, White County’s rice yield is looking to be about average.

Keith Martin of the White County Coopera-tive Extension Service said farmers have had to use much more water this year, but the rice yield is looking good.

“The drought certainly affected everyone, and the high temperatures may have affected the rice more than anything else,” he said. “It took a lot more water out of the reservoir, and any time you do that, it makes the crop more ex-pensive. It also hurts the soybean crop because the water you would normally use isn’t available.”

Farmer Michael Tay-lor, who has 450 acres of rice east of Worden, said although he’s used more water than normal, his

crop is looking to be aver-age this year.

“The crop looks about average and average is pretty good,” he said. “It takes a lot to be average, but this crop looks nor-mal.”

Taylor said he got off to a late start this year due to illness, not getting to plant his rice crop until April.

“A lot of farmers started planting in March be-cause it was so hot and dry early,” he said. “I was sick the fi rst week of March, so that took out some time, and when we got around to planting the rice, it was considered normal plant-ing time.”

Taylor said the drought over the summer and the high temperatures had an effect on the rice, forc-ing him to use more water than normal to keep it healthy.

“Our rice looks good,” he said. “The drought and

heat had an effect on the rice. We couldn’t turn the pumps off and had to manage our water con-stantly. We had less water than before because the heat was so intense and the White River, which fi lls our reservoir, was so low.”

Taylor said he just be-gan harvesting his crop Wednesday, having to wait for the fi eld to drain two weeks later than nor-mal.

“We had some rice be-gin to die before we got water on it, but we did some extra pumping to keep it alive so we would get a big enough crop to permanently fl ood the fi eld,” he said.

Martin said some farm-ers have also dealt with milling issues.

“We’ve had some mill-ing yield problems be-cause of the high tem-peratures while the rice was maturing,” he said.

“The yield has been aver-age and above, but we’re still in the middle of the harvest, so we don’t know how the fi nal numbers will turn out.”

Arkansas farmers pro-vide for about half of the nation’s rice crop, but Martin said that may not continue if conditions are as dry and hot in the fu-ture as they were this year.

“If that happens, the percentage [of Arkan-sas rice] would decrease and farmers would plant other crops because of the price,” he said. “Arkansas farmers focus on planting crops with more potential for a profi t.”

Martin said no one knows what next year will bring, but he hopes there will be cooler, wetter con-ditions.

“This year’s heat and drought were major fac-tors, and we hope it’s not as dry or as hot next year,” he said.

Rice yield average despite weatherBY KYLE TROUTMAN

[email protected]

Kyle Troutman/[email protected]

Earlene Taylor works a tractor to load rice into a truck at the Taylor farm. Farmer Michael Taylor said his yield is looking to be average this year, despite the extreme heat and drought this summer.


B.H. Taylor works to harvest rice at the Taylor farm last week. Taylor began harvesting rice Wednesday on the farm’s 450-acre plot.

Amy Burton said booth spaces are fi lling quickly. She said that at last year’s event, 100 vendor spaces were fi lled and festival organizers are expect-ing a similar turnout this year.

“We have several new vendors this year,” Bur-ton said. “We’ve been do-ing this long enough that word of mouth has trav-eled among the festival goers.”

Vendor applications are available at Searcy.com/MainStreet.

The price for a 12x12 foot booth varies based on the organization. Poli-ticians, non-profi t orga-nizations, schools and churches must pay $35 for a booth, along with a $25 refundable deposit.

Merchandise, art, or business booths must pay $50 along with a $50 re-fundable deposit.

However, businesses in the Main Street business district can have booth space for free.

Food vendors can apply for a space, but Burton said there is a waiting list.

“We’ve been very for-tunate that we don’t lose food vendors,” she said.

Burton said the festival will draw a crowd ranging from 20,000 to 25,000 people.

“We’re proud that we draw the crowd we do after just four years,” she said. “Once again, a lot of it has to do with putting on a quality event.”

Burton credited much of the success of the event to the volunteers.

“We have a good festi-val committee and a lot of people from the commu-nity volunteer to help,” she said. “People just en-joy being a part of it.”

The festival will open

at 6 p.m. on Friday, S e p t . 28 with a per-f o r -m a n c e by Big S i lver . F o u r o t h e r b a n d s

slated to perform on Fri-day include Big Silver, The Salty Dogs, PG-13 and JR and the All Stars.

Burton said many ven-dors will be set up at that time as well, as they do not have to pay extra money to set up on Friday night, though they are re-quired to be in attendance on Saturday.

On Saturday, the fes-

tival will open at 10 a.m. with the national anthem being performed by Eliza-beth Taylor.

Once again, BHP Bil-liton Petroleum will have a a Jumbotron screen set up at the corner of Spruce and Spring Streets to broadcast college football during the day.

During the day, more than 20 live stage perfor-mances will be available, as well as games and vari-ous vendor activities.

Children’s activi-ties, sponsored by Land O’Frost, will be set up in Spring Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

At 6:30 p.m., former Searcy Police Offi cer and now a Nashville recording artist Matt Dame will take the stage. He will open for

Nashville recording artist, Daryle Singletary, who will start at 8 p.m.

“The show is free and everyone is encouraged to bring a lawn chair and enjoy a weekend full of great music, performers, games and food,” Bur-ton said. “The downtown Searcy retailers will also be open for business on Saturday.”

For more information about Get Down Down-town 2012, visit facebook.com/mainstreetsearcy, visit searcy.com/main-street, or call Burton at 501-279-9007.

DOWNTOWN

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Burton

DOLBY DIGITAL 3DALL DIGITAL! ALL SCREENS!

TUESDAY DISCOUNT DAYTICKETS $5 • 3D TICKETS $8

Searcy Cinema 8501-279-3644 • 501-305-3456 • www.searcycinema.com

Show Times Friday, September 14 - Th ursday, September 20

Featuring Digital Light Projection & DTS in all Auditoriums! DOLBY 3D DIGITAL LIGHT PROJECTION on 4 SCREENSMATINEES SAT & SUN

The Posession PG13Stadium Seating

2:00 7:00 9:10

Resident Evil Retribution 3D RStadium Seating, DOLBY DIGITAL 3D

1:45 6:45 9:00

The Words PG13Stadium Seating

9:15

Finding Nemo 3D GStadium Seating, DOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:15 7:15 9:10

2016 Obama’s America PGStadium Seating

2:30 7:30 9:20

Tuesday Discount DayTickets $5 • 3D Tickets $8

Ice Age: Continental Drift 3D PGDOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:30 7:30

The Odd Life of Timothy Green PGDigital Surround Sound

2:15 7:15 9:20

Expendables 2 RDigital Surround Sound

2:00 7:00 9:15

Hope Springs PG13Digital Surround Sound

1:45 6:45 9:00

K. Neaville D.D.S. is pleased to announce the full time employment of...Jessica Siler, Hygienist

Please call our offi ce today for your

appointment.501-268-3332

Ask about our FREE

LIFETIME Whitening!

1901 E. Beebe Capps, Searcy, AR

It is with humble and very gracious hearts that the David Green family says Thank You to the many citizens of Searcy and surrounding areas. Your care, concern, support, love and especially prayers have been of great comfort to our family. Words are inadequate to thank the "Host of Angels" that worked on David that night at Lion Fest when he experienced

cardiac arrest. Thank you to Northstar EMS and their skills. The trained hands of the doctors and nurses of the WCMC Emergency Room were a blessing. Our hearts were touched by the loving care that was shown David by the CCU nurses. Dr. Katherine Durham, you were the most thorough and caring doctor. We believe that God sent you specifi cally to take care of David. God answered many prayers through this ordeal. David was with us for one week after the attack which allowed all of our sons and their families to come home. Plus, all of David's brothers and sister were able to be by his bedside during the fi nal hour.

"I thank my God upon all my remembrance of you," (Phillippians 1:3 ASV).With many thanks, Sandy, Joe, Jason and Jay Green

The Daily Citizen Sunday, September 30, 3012 • Page 3A

LOCAL

GRIFFITHVILLE — De-spite this summer’s long drought, local farmers say this year’s corn crop is big.

How big? If estimates hold up, Arkansas and White County are in line to produce the highest corn yield on record. The yield is forecasted at 112 million bushels, up 9 per-cent from August’s fore-cast and up 52 percent from 2011.

“I haven’t seen the of-fi cial [White County] numbers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a record yield,” said Keith Martin, county extension agent at the Cooperative Extension Service. “We’ve had the best yield I’ve heard of in specifi c fi elds, and if all of them are like that, it would certainly be a record.”

Higginson farmer Keith Feather, who planted 500 acres of corn, said he’s never had a yield this good.

“My crop will be the best ever,” he said. “If [farmers] irrigated this year, they’re more than likely to have their best crop.”

Brandon Cain, who has 300 acres of corn in West Point, said he’s relatively new to growing corn, but plans to stick with it after this year’s yield.

“My yield was excel-lent,” he said. “Much bet-ter than expected. I hope this will take the place of rice for me in the future.”

Feather said a number of factors play into the high yields, irrigation be-ing one, and planting time a second.

“We had an early spring, so we got to plant early,” he said. “That allowed the plants to pollinate before it got hot.”

Instead of planting in April, Feather said he be-gan planting in March, shaving off a couple weeks of planting because a lack of rain didn’t slow the process.

“When it got dry, there was no question about when to start irrigating, and everyone started on time,” Martin said. “It took more water and wa-tering more frequently, but farmers did a better job irrigating than most years.”

Another big bonus is the economic benefi t, as higher yields mean more dollars in the pockets of farmers.

“Yield is extremely im-portant,” Martin said. “Yield determines gross income, and if you in-crease your yield by 50 percent, that has a great impact on your bottom line.”

Cain said this year’s corn crop has helped him make up some of his loss-es from past years.

“There’s a good price on corn, so that means we

might have a Christmas this year,” he said.

Although there are plenty positives that come with a record yield, Mar-tin said the uptick in wa-ter usage may be cause for concern.

“Normally, we’re able to fi ll our reservoirs dur-ing the winter,” he said. “In the long term, we may see our ground water de-cline because the more

you pump out, the longer it takes to build back up.”

Martin said farmers are fully aware of the water is-sue, and have been mak-ing adjustments to ensure irrigation will not be a problem in coming years.

“Lots of farmers are building above-grounds reservoirs to contain more water, instead of pumping the water out of wells,” he said.

Cain, who pumps his water from the Red River, said although he was ner-vous at times this year, he’s confi dent his water supply will not falter.

“All year long there were only two weeks I got nervous,” he said. “But, if I didn’t run out this year, I should never run out. I don’t think there will be another year dryer than this year.”

County in line for record cropBY KYLE TROUTMAN

[email protected]


Mike Wright of the Bruce Oakley Inc. Grain Division explains how corn should grow to the end of the cob while visiting Carl Beavers’ cornfield near Griffithville. Beavers, White County and Arkansas expect to have record yields this year.

from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.People caught dropping

off items outside of the designated time will face a $1,000 fi ne.

The event is held in partnership with the city of Searcy.

“We couldn’t do it with-out them,” said Michael Lincoln, White County Judge. “They supply the bins and the transfer sta-tion takes the materials. If we didn’t have the part-nership, we wouldn’t be able to have it.”

The county does help with the event by provid-ing the place for disposal, trustees from the White County Detention Center and some road depart-ment employees. The city also provides some work-ers and community ser-vices workers to assist.

While the event does help collect a number of unwanted items from across the county, there are only certain materials that can be disposed of at the event.

Items that can be ac-cepted are as follows: reg-ular size tires off the rim (maximum of 10), white goods such as appliances, scrap metal, furniture, bagged trash, and solid paint.

There are also a number

of items that cannot be ac-cepted, which are as fol-lows: concrete/masonary,chemicals, liquid paint,batteries, electronics andtractor tires.

Lincoln said that everyevent is unique in regardsto what people bring tothe site.

“We’re always amazedat what comes in,” Lincolnsaid. “Some of it doesn’tseem to have anythingwrong with it. We livein a throw-away society.This gives people the op-portunity to get it out oftheir yard before it gets ina roadside ditch.”

He said the event isalways well received bycounty residents andthose who live in smallercities.

“We get more com-ments of gratitude forhaving it,” Lincoln said.“Everyone that comes in isjust very thankful. A lot ofthe smaller cities are verythankful. They take ad-vantage of it by encourag-ing their residents to cleanup and bring it in since wedon’t have rural pick-up.It’s a great time for thesmaller cities as well.”

For more informationabout the county-widecleanup, people can callthe judge’s offi ce at 501-279-6200 or the SearcySanitation Department at501-279-1000.

CLEANUP

CONTINUED FROM 1A


Gettin’ downThe White County Star Steppers perform a line dance during Get Down Downtown Saturday morn-ing. The Star Steppers perform at various local events, blending classical and contemporary cho-reography. The group dances for fun and fitness Tuesday nights at the Lightle Center.

Searcy Beauty Searcy Beauty College, Inc.Time for a Fresh StartGive Your Career a Makeover

Tues. - Sat. 9:30am - 4:00pm • 1004 S. Main • Searcy, AR 72143Tues. - Sat. 9:30am - 4:00pm • 1004 S. Main • Searcy, AR 72143501-268-6300501-268-6300

All Student Services under Instructor SupervisionAll Student Services under Instructor Supervision

Get Hands-On Training In: Get Hands-On Training In: • Cosmetology • Esthetician • Skin Care Specialist • Cosmetology • Esthetician • Skin Care Specialist

• Nail Technicians • Nail Technicians Flexible SchedulesFlexible Schedules

$300 OFFOn A Perm

FREE Manicurewith Pedicure

$1500With This Coupon. 10-30-12With This Coupon. 10-30-12

$1000Shampoo, Hair-cut Style

& Deep Condition

The Works!

With This Coupon. 10-30-12

$300 OFFFOILS

With This Coupon. 10-30-12

(TEMPORARY COLOR IN ALL SHADES)

MEMBER FDIC / SINCE 1903Matt Boyd Loan Officer

401 S. Main, Searcy, AR 501-268-7575

If you can build it, drive it or ride it, Matt can get you moving.

simmonsfirst.com

MEMBER FDIC / SINCE 1903

OOppEEnn HHooUUssEEOCtober 7thOCtober 7th1 pm - 5 pm1 pm - 5 pm

Holiday Decor at Holiday Decor at Holly Jolly PricesHolly Jolly Prices

OPEN FOR BUSINESSOPEN FOR BUSINESSOCTOBER 1ST - DECEMBER 31STOCTOBER 1ST - DECEMBER 31STMonday - Friday 10 am - 8 pmMonday - Friday 10 am - 8 pmSaturday 1 pm - 5 pmSaturday 1 pm - 5 pm

1211 E Beebe CappsSearcy, AR 72143




Show Times Friday, September 27 - Th ursday, October 4


Looper RStadium Seating

2:15 7:15 9:20

Hotel Transylvania PGStadium Seating

9:20

Resident Evil Retribution 3D RDOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:00 7:00 9:15

Hotel Transylvania 3D PGStadium Seating, DOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:30 7:30

Won’t Back Down PGStadium Seating

1:45 6:45 9:00End of Watch RStadium Seating

9:10

Finding Nemo 3D GStadium Seating, DOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:15 7:15

Trouble With the Curve PG13Digital Surround Sound

1:45 6:45 9:00

House at the End of the Street PG13Digital Surround Sound

2:00 7:00 9:10

Dredd 3D RDOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:30 7:30 9:15

EXIT NATURAL STATE REALTY904 E. Race

Searcy, AR 72143Office: 501-279-9929

FOR MORE INFO TEXT CODE TO 51004

Linda Castle501-230-9721


FOR MORE INFO TEXT CODE TO 51004

355 Honey Hill Lp$132,500

3BR/2BA 2.55 AcresFor more info textE100198 to 51004

304 Billy Davis$199,0003BR/2BA Shop!

For more info textE92910 to 51004

REDUCED

100 Mark (Club West)$317,500

4 BR/3.5 BA Bonus RoomFor more info textE95370 to 51004

128 Cox Road$359,000

4BR/4BA 12.19 AcresPond/Pool/Additional Land!

E84782 to 51004

Voted “Best of the Best”

Realtor 2012


W E A T H E RToday: Mostly sunny. Cooler. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning. Highs in the lower 60s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy in the evening...becom-ing mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 40s.

Vol. 158, No. 265©2012 The Daily Citizen

“ ”Character may be manifested

in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones

PHILLIPS BROOKSAmerican clergyman

Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277

NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5ACALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B

I N D E X

PIONEER VILLAGE HOSTS FESTIVAL

NEW TECH TO CHANGE LEARNING AT RIVERVIEWRiverview High School is trying to stay ahead of the game when it comes to technology in school. — PAGE 3A

HARDING FACES GSC ROAD TEST AT SEOSU In its final road contest of the season, HU faced Southeastern Oklahoma State Saturday. — PAGE 1B

For the fi rst time in nearly a decade, White County employ-ees will not be given raises dur-ing the budget process.

The 2013 county revenue projections are lower than pre-vious years, which led to White County Treasurer Janet Hib-bitts making the recommenda-tion to cut employee raises for

the county’s nearly 250 em-ployees.

“Based on the anticipated revenue for 2013 not being as high as the 2012 anticipated revenue, I made the recom-mendation to not give raises this year,” she said. “I’ve been with the county for 17 years and I know of only twice that we haven’t received a raise.”

The overall projected revenue

for 2013 is $33,371,838.51 while the 2012 projected revenue was $35,006,704.55.

By state law, the county can budget up to 90 percent of its total projected revenue because it is required to carry over 10 percent of its revenue into the following year.

Hibbitts said, on average, em-

County nixes employee raises

BY MOLLY M. [email protected]

2 of 3 budgets have lower revenue projections than in 2012County budgetThe White County Budget

Committee will not include raises for the county’s employ-ees in the 2013 budget, which is the first time this has hap-pened in more than 10 years. White County Treasurer Janet Hibbitts said the county’s overall budget is $2 million less in 2013 than in 2012.Please see RAISES | 2A

Abigail An-derson, 1, of Beebe indulg-es in some Yarnell’s ice cream while visiting Pio-neer Village on Saturday during its an-nual fall fes-tival, which continues to-day. The fes-tival includes several vendors with handmade items, as well as tours of all of the build-ings at Pio-neer Village. The village is located at 1166 Hig-ginson St. in Searcy, ad-jacent to the Searcy Sports Complex. Molly M. Fleming/[email protected]

Max Rudesill of Searcy and his dad, Casey, check out the farm animals at Pioneer Vil-lage on Satur-day afternoon. The free festi-val continues today from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Molly M. Fleming/[email protected]

After calling multiple special meetings to gather information, the White County Personnel and Public Safety Committee has reached a decision regard-ing health insurance for county employees.

The committee narrowed the options down to offers from QualChoice and United Health-Care River Valley, eventually deciding to stay the course with QualChoice on a 3-2 vote.

Justices Bobby Burns, R-

White County staying with QualChoice insuranceBY KYLE TROUTMAN

[email protected]

Committee sticks with provider to keep free wellness programs

InsuranceWhat: The White County Personnel and Public Safety Com-

mittee voted 3-2 to stay with QualChoice as an insurance provider for full-time employees.

Why: An employee survey, discrepancies between prescrip-tion costs, the offering of wellness programs, and the lower overall cost to the county.

Please see INSURANCE | 2A

When most people think of an election, the candidates are the fi rst thing to come to mind.

But to make an election come to life, it takes the time and dedica-tion of many people, including

Elections special

for local veteran


Southerland says time spentin Army gives

him appreciation of democracy

Southerland

When it comes to insect infes-tations on farmland, row crop farmers enjoyed a bit of a break this year.

Grasshoppers swarmed White County last year in plague-like fashion, but the grasshoppers

Local farmers

enjoy relief from pests

BY KYLE [email protected]

Farmland pestsThe good: Grasshoppers,

stink bugs and soybean pod worms were not much of a problem this year.

The bad: Money saved on pesticide had to be real-located to irrigation costs because of the drought.

The ugly: Army worms, in greater numbers than years past because of the drought, took a toll on cattle ranch-ers’ pastures.

Please see VETERAN | 2A

Please see PESTS | 3A

Riverview High School is trying to stay ahead of the game when it comes to technology in school.

Moving toward a proj-ect-based learning sys-tem, Riverview has im-plemented the New Tech program, which Principal Bill Mullins says is the fu-ture of high school educa-tion.

“We looked at our graduation rate, student engagement in the class-room and dropout rate, and we felt we needed to reinvent school,” he said. “We joined the New Tech network and are moving to project-based learn-ing, which aligns with the state’s common core stan-dards.”

The New Tech program, which calls for each stu-dent to have a laptop, is being implemented at the ninth and 10th grade lev-els this year, with 11th and 12th grades to be added in 2013. The program calls for each student to have a laptop, and Riverview has 270 right now and is in the process of buying 200 more at a cost of $91,100.

“In the New Tech pro-gram, each kid has a technology tool, so we’ve issued laptops to each student,” said Howard Morris, Riverview super-intendent.

The laptops are used in

projects assigned to the students, such as build-ing websites and making commercials.

“The program lends to higher engagement and gives the students a pur-pose,” Mullins said. “In-stead of taking notes and writing defi nitions, stu-dents will now be engaged in a project and still learn all the same information.”

Sheila Morgan, 10th grade biology teacher at Riverview, said students have already done one project assessing man’s impact on the Earth through environmental pollution and recycling. While this was the fi rst project of the year, Mor-gan said there is another one lined up for this fall for which the students are excited.

“We’re going to do a unit on zombies to learn how to stop, catch and spread viruses,” she said. “The kids have been ask-ing me constantly when we’re going to do that one. They’re excited about it. It’s easier when you have things that can relate to something the students can understand and get behind.”

Morgan said the proj-ect-based approach is keeping her students in-volved with hands-on ma-terial, which cuts down on the number of sleepy-heads in class.

“The program keeps kids on task because it’s engaging and interest-ing,” she said. “I have not had to wake up a single student in the fi rst seven weeks of school.”

With more heads up and more student engage-ment, Morgan said all her students are benefi tting, including previously low achievers.

“The projects challenge the higher-performing students who want to do better and it piques the interest of middle and

lower-achieving students and challenges them,” she said. There were 87 high schools in the United States running the New Tech program in 2011, and Riverview admin-istrators visited some of those schools to get a fi rst-hand look.

One of those schools was Manor High School in Texas, in its sixth year

of New Tech, where Mor-ris said what Riverview administrators saw was promising.

“It was exciting to see what the kids could do and all of their test scores had gone up,” he said.

Mullilns said he visited two Texas schools, two Illinois schools and one Arkansas school before deciding to implement

New Tech.“It was great to see the

high student engagement and the students taking ownership of the learning environment,” he said. “By working on projects instead of sitting through lectures, the students are able to talk to the teachers differently and get more information. The kidsowned the school and the school pride was just tre-mendous.”

Mullins is hoping New Tech will boost River-view’s school pride and, ultimately, test scores, but he knows that won’t come overnight.

“I expect test scores to go up,” he said. “Research says we may have a hit to test scores this year because of implementa-tion, but I feel we’ll move forward because the kids are learning at a deeper level.”

Mullins said Riverview has also personalized New Tech, centering it around seven school-wide learning outcomes: pro-fessional ethics, academic content, written commu-nication, oral commu-nication, reasoning and justifi cation, global and community engagement and collaboration.

The Daily Citizen Sunday, November 4, 2012 • Page 3A

LOCAL


Riverview ninth grade social studies teacher Jessica Capps (left) talks with stu-dents Kaiser Hahn, right, Hannah Pratt and Cody Stephens about projects the students are working on for Riverview’s New Tech program. The program is de-signed to transition teaching at Riverview from lectures and note-taking to a more project-based approach.

New Tech to change learning at Riverview High SchoolBY KYLE TROUTMAN

[email protected]

this year were much less invasive.

“There’s almost no way to know when they will come,” said Keith Martin, White County Extension Service agent. “Insects come and go in cycles. One year it’s bad, then the the next there’s just a few. Some areas had grass-hoppers, but it was not as many as in the past.”

Martin said the lack of insects this year, such as grasshoppers, soybean pod worms and stink bugs, have had a positive effect on farmers’ overhead.

Insecticide can cost from $7-$10 per acre for insects like army worms, but soy-bean pod worm and stink bug insecticides can cost as much as $20-$30 per acre.

“Any time farmers don’t have to treat for a pest, it’s an advantage,” Martin said.

Although less pests means less money spent on pesticides, Martin said that didn’t really matter this year because of the drought, which forced farmers to pay more in ir-rigation costs.

“Most farmers prob-ably spent more in the dry weather to irrigate crops,” he said. “And farmers that didn’t irrigate took a hit because the yield was not what they needed.”

Although row crop farmers enjoyed some re-lief from insects, insect woes among cattle ranch-ers were a big problem.

David Martin, owner of Martin Cattle Company in Judsonia, said he lost his entire grazing fi eld to army worms, not getting to use pesticide because he was out of town.

Army worms aim for fresh grass, which cattle ranchers had hoped to preserve for grazing.

“The army worms got ahead of us and quickly destroyed all the grass,” Martin said. “There was nothing but dirt in some areas.”

Martin said the destruc-tion of his cattle’s graz-ing land has forced him to spend more money on feed.

“This time of the year, it affects grazing, and we’re having to feed more hay,” he said. “It just adds to the drought we already had this year.”

Martin said army worms are come around nearly every year, but they were worse this year because of

the drought.Keith Martin said expect

for the army worms, it was a good year for farmers and ranchers.

“Generally speaking, there were much less in-

sects than normal except for army worms,” he said. “Row crop farmers got a pleasant surprise by not having to deal with stink bugs or soybean pod worms.”

PESTS

CONTINUED FROM 1A

OPEN HOUSE

Sunday, Nov. 41-5 PM

20% OFFRegister for Door Prizes

Refreshments

Come Shop, Visit and EnjoySALON BOUTIQUE

K. Neaville D.D.S. is pleased to announce the full time employment of...

Jessica Siler, Hygienist Please call our

offi ce today for your appointment.

501-268-3332Ask about our

FREELIFETIMEWhitening! 1901 E. Beebe Capps,

Searcy, AR




Show Times Friday, November 2 - Th ursday, November 8


Paranormal Activity 4 RStadium Seating

2:15 7:15 9:20

Silent Hill Revelation 3D RStadium Seating

2:30 7:30 9:20

Fun Size PG13Digital Surround Sound

6:45

Wreck-It Ralph 3D PGStadium Seating DOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:00 7:00 9:10

Sinister RDigital Surround Sound

2:15 7:15 9:10

Here Comes the Boom PGDigital Surround Sound

1:45 9:00

Taken 2 PG13Digital Surround Sound

2:00 7:00

Hotel Transylvania 3D PGDOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:30 7:30 9:00

Pitch Perfect PG13Digital Surround Sound

1:45 6:45 9:00

Chasing Mavericks PGDigital Surround Sound

9:00

REFRESHMENTS

LAY AWAY

FREE GIFT WRAPPING

D OOR PRIZES

SPECIAL STOREWIDE

OFFERS THIS WEEK ONLY!

START THE SEASON AT OUR PLACE!

YOU’RE INVITED TO OUR

CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE

TODAY, Nov. 4th 1-5 PM

Recordable Story Book1/2 Price SUNDAY ONLY

Reg. $29.95 (No Music)

White County farmer Keith Feather said his soybean crop is a little above average this year, citing irrigation as the major reason why.

Feather has 600 acres of soy-beans and said his system of furrow irrigation is what’s led to the high yield.

“Keeping everything irrigated

is the key to growing any crop in our types of soil,” he said.

Feather said he uses poly pipe throughout his land, using a computer program through the cooperative extension service to

determine how many holes to punch into the pipe and what size the holes are to ensure proper irrigation.

“When we put water in the poly pipe, it expands,” he said.

“We water the soybeans once per week and during the peak of the heat, we water about every fi ve days.”

Keith Martin, White Coun-ty Cooperative Extension Ser-vice agent, said White County farmers’ yields will depend largely on whether they were irrigated.

Irrigation helping White County soybeans thriveBY KYLE TROUTMAN

[email protected]

A recent poll of registered Searcy voters shows that oppo-sition is 12 percent higher than support for the advertising and promotion (A&P) tax proposal that will appear on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

Of those polled, 44 percent said they will vote against the A&P tax

and 34 percent said they will vote in favor, while 24 percent said they are undecided.

The poll was conducted at The Daily Citizen’s offi ce Mon-day and Thursday nights with the help of eight local residents hired by the newspaper. The poll consisted of 366 successful

Poll: 44 percent oppose A&P

BY JACOB [email protected]

W E A T H E RToday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds 5 to 10 mph in the morning...increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Vol. 158, No. 253©2012 The Daily Citizen

“ ”What we achieve inwardly will

change outer reality.PLUTARCH

Greek philiosopher

Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277

NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5ACALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B

I N D E X

RUNNERS TACKLE LIZARD LICK 5K

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2012

Soybeans

White County soybean farmers are in line for an average yield, especially for farmers who have irrigated their crops.

Tax opposition 12 percent stronger than support

In the past fi ve years, White County has been one of six counties in the state to greatly benefi t from the natural gas industry in the Fayettevi l le Shale Play.

But the eco-nomic boom from that in-dustry is slow-ly dwindling, as the price of natural gas decreases and the amount of gas drilling in-creases, caus-ing a surplus in the indus-try.

Because of

Economy concerns

House candidates


Biviano, Osborne:

Focus should be off natural gas industry

Please see OPPOSE | 2A


Kyle Tal-ley (left) and Johnathon Burgess clear one of the final hurdles at the Lizard Lick 5K in Judsonia Sat-urday morning. Talley finished first in the opening group of runners. The 5K race fea-tured 31 obstacles for runners to over-come.

Local farmers in line for average yield despite drought

Please see SOYBEANS | 3A

Biviano

Osborne

Debate

What: Arkansas Congres-sional District 2 debate

When: Will broadcast 8 p.m. Tuesday and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Network: AETN

Jacob Brower, editor of TheDaily Citizen, will be one of three panel-ists for an Ar-kansas House District 2 con-gressional de-bate Tuesday.

T h e 9 0 - m i n u t e debate is sponsored by the Arkansas Educational Tele-

Daily Citizen editor to serve on

debate panelThe Daily Citizen

Please see CONCERNS | 2A

Brower

Please see EDITOR | 3A

‘I LOVE MY PET’ 2013 WINNERS ANNOUNCEDThe ‘I Love My Pet 2013’ contest winners are announced in a full color insert inside today’s newspaper. — INSERT

BISONS SQUARE OFF WITH NO. 10 OBUNo. 25 Harding went on the road to take on No. 10 Ouachita Baptist Saturday afternoon. — PAGE 1B


A group of runners go down the water slide together at the Lizard Lick 5K in Judsonia Saturday morning. This is the first year for the race, whose proceeds of which benefit Kids First in Searcy.

The Daily Citizen Sunday, October 21, 2012 • Page 3A

FROM PAGE ONE


Dalton Davis, 9 (from left), Keegan Rhodes, 6, and Dayton Davis, 4, all of Beebe, marvel at the line of hot rods at the Beebe Fallfest car show Saturday morning in downtown Beebe.

Local residents

attend Beebe

FallfestJessica Gutierrez, 8

(left), watches as her little sister, Gracie

Gutierrez, 5, shoots a ball into a cup floating

in a pool of goldfish. Each girl won a fish af-ter making a ball in the

cup during the Beebe Fallfest in downtown

Beebe Saturday morning.


vision Network (AETN) and will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Other panelists will be Malcolm Glover of KUAR and Lance Turner of Arkansas Business. The debate will be moderated by Steve Barnes.

District 2 candidates are incumbent Republi-can Tim Griffi n, Democrat Herb Rule, Libertarian Chris Hayes and Green Barbara Wood. The can-didates will face off in the Nov. 6 general election.

The debate will re-air Sunday, Nov. 4 at 2:30 p.m.

EDITOR

CONTINUED FROM 1A

“For those who irrigate, it should be an average yield, and for those who don’t, the yield will be off because of the heat and dry weather,” he said. “Probably half of our acreage is irrigated, and maybe even more.”

All that irrigation is helping the crops, but it’s not helping farmers’ wal-lets.

“The more water you pump, the more it costs,” Feather said. “You have to use electricity or diesel for the pumps, and the more you irrigate, the higher your expenses will be for energy and labor.”

With irrigation costs up this year, Martin said he’s hoping the poor condi-tions in the Midwest will mean more money for White County farmers.

“Certainly the national yield is off, especially in the Midwest,” he said. “If their yield is off, it will certainly affect our pric-es.”

Feather said some farmers have also been fi ghting off infestation from Palmer Pigweeds, which have been threat-ening soybean fi elds.

“We’ve been fortunate enough we haven’t had a problem yet, but they’re spreading across the state,” he said. “We’ve been pulling them by hand in the fi eld because we don’t want it to seed.”

Even though weeds may be an issue, Feather said the warmer weather this year forced farmers to

plant three weeks earlier. Plus, the dry conditions have worked in farmers’ favor when harvest time arrived.

“It’s one of those things where you want it to rain all summer and don’t want rain in the fall,” he said. “It’s been a good fall harvest because we were fortunate not to have a lot of rain.”

Conditions this year have been out of the or-dinary, but Martin said he doesn’t expect that to have a big impact on soy-

bean farmers next year.“Whether or not farm-

ers will go back to soy-beans will depend on the prices, but I expect the acreage to remain con-stant,” he said. Martin said there is normally 40,000 acres of soybeans in White County.

SOYBEANS

CONTINUED FROM 1A

Member SIPC

Looking for the right fi nancial advisor?

Dan WhittingtonFinancial Advisor

2112 W Beebe-Capps ExpwySearcy, AR 72143501-268-2561www.edwardjones.com

VotedBest of the Best

FinancialAdvisor

2012

Carpet & SupplyCCaarrppppppppppppppeett &&& SSSuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppplllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyCCaarrppppppppppppppeett &&& SSSuuuppppppppppppppppppppppppppppplllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy“Family Owned and Operated for 45 Years”“Family Owned and Operated for 45 Years”

501-742-3543 • www.doublescarpet.com •101 Hwy 36E, Kensett, AR

LAMINATE AS

LOW AS

$169 sq. ft.

While Supplies

Last

WOOD

ANDTILE PATTERNS

AGRA TURF Inc.The Turf Specialist

2008 Eastline RoadSearcy, AR

WHITETAIL BUFFET

A unique mixture of cool and warm season varieties of forge all types of wildlife. Southern

Formula mixture of Wheat, Rye, Oats and Millet, Austrian winter peas,Crimson Clover,

Ladino Clover, Brassica/PT Turnip




Show Times Friday, October 19 - Th ursday, October 25


Sinister RStadium Seating

2:15 7:15 9:10

Alex Cross PG13Stadium Seating

1:45 6:45 9:00

Argo RDigital Surround Sound

1:45 6:45 9:15

Paranormal Activity 4 RStadium Seating

2:15 7:15 9:20

Here Comes the Boom PGDigital Surround Sound

2:00 7:00 9:10

TUESDAY DISCOUNT DAYTickets $5 • 3D TICKETS $8

Frankenweenie 3D PGDOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:30 7:30

Hotel Transylvania 3D PGDOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:30 7:30 9:20

Pitch Perfect PG13Digital Surround Sound

1:45 6:45 9:00

Taken 2 PG13Stadium Seating

2:00 7:00 9:15

Meet Randy

Randy Jones recently joined Liberty Bank in Searcy as a vice president of lending. Randy brings over 10 years of lending and wealth management experience to the Liberty Bank team.

He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance.

Randy’s banking experience along with his years of volunteering for youth sports make him a perfect fit for Liberty Bank. We have a tradition of active involvement, using our resources to help create better places to live, work and grow.

Join us in welcoming Randy to the Liberty Bank team. Stop by to visit him for your next loan at 1609 East Race Avenue in Searcy or give him a call at 501.279.2789.

mylibertybank.com

MEMBER FDIC

Randy Jones Vice President/Lending

Community Banking starts with Our Community!

The Daily Citizen Sunday, December 30, 2012 • Page 3A

FROM PAGE ONE

The city council ap-proved an ordinance earlier this year that pro-hibited fi reworks in areas where blackbirds have been known to roost. The area includes the Wind-wood subdivision and west, then back to High-way 67/167 along Center Street and then south to-ward Ward.

Mayor Mike Robertson said the construction of

the city’s new Walmart Supercenter has helped alleviate part of the po-tential problem.

“Walmart has taken out a lot of the trees where they used to roost,” Rob-ertson said. “They moved a little west along the old highway. We went ahead and tried to prevent fi re-works in those areas.”

The ordinance is in ef-fect for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The fi rst reports of dead

birds on New Year’s Day came on Jan. 1, 2011. There was an estimated 1,000 dead birds in the city, according to the Ar-kansas Game and Fish Commission. They esti-mated that the birds fell before midnight.

The birds suffered from

acute physical trauma leading to internal hem-orrhaging, then death. There was no sign of any chronic or infectious dis-ease, according to the re-port from the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission Veterinary Diagnostic Lab.

The incident occurred again on New Year’s Eve 2012 when nearly 80 birds fell from the sky because of fi reworks detonated in the area. It was later learned that the birds were targeted, ac-cording to a report by the Arkansas Game and Fish

Commission.The dead birds attract-

ed such popularity that a television crew came to Beebe to shoot a docu-mentary-style show titled “Omens of the Apoca-lypse.” The show aired on the National Geographic channel in March.

BIRDS

CONTINUED FROM 1A

White County farmers are calling the fi ve inch-es of snow that fell on Christmas day a blessing.

Winter wheat is the only crop in season and Keith Martin, county extension agent at the White County Coopera-tive Extension service, said the crop should not be damaged by the snow-fall.

The snow doesn’t hurt the winter wheat and can actually be a benefi t,” he said. “If we got down to single-digit tempera-tures, that could hurt the crop, but the snow would also act as a insulator to protect it.”

Tom Feather, who has 360 acres of winter wheat in White County, said the only thing that would have damaged his crop is if the snowstorm

had been an ice storm.“I don’t believe the

snow will hurt the wheat,” he said. “Actually, the wheat usually greens up under the snow.”

Martin said the win-ter wheat has to have a one-week to six-week dormancy period of cold temperatures for the crop to enter reproduction stages, and the snow is just something to which

the wheat adapts.The snow is also help-

ing farmers, even those not growing winter wheat, because it gives a chance to help replenish reservoirs following the drought.

“This will defi nitely help farmers because the snow soaks into the ground slower and has a slower runoff, which al-lows farmers to pump it into their reservoirs and store for use in the summer,” Martin said. “When the snow melts, it runs off into ditches and creeks, which is where the farmers pump form.

Feather, who has fi ve pumps on multiple sects of land, said he’s been pumping away since the snow arrived.

“I pumped some [Wednesday], and if we get some rain, that will help, too,” he said. “It will

be very benefi cial in thesense of saturating theground, and any amountof runoff water is greatlyappreciated.”

Feather’s pumps rangein size and pump any-where from 2,500 to4,000 gallons of watera minute into one of hisreservoirs, which rangein size from 10-45 acres.

Tom Feather, whogrows a small amount ofwinter wheat, said the ex-tra water is a huge benefi tafter the poor conditionsover the summer, andprecipitation in the formof snow is even better.

“The thaw will prob-ably be slow, which willlet us pump longer periodof time than if we just gota downpour,” he said. “Itwill help to get my reser-voir recharged becausewe haven’t had muchrain to pump back in andrefi ll.”

Winter wheat safe amid snowfall

BY KYLE [email protected]


Tom Feather explains how one of his pumps works while it gushes 2,500 to 3,000 gallons per minute intoone of his reservoirs. Feather’s pumps range in size, pumping up to 4,000 gallons of water a minute intoone of his five reservoirs, which range in size from 10-45 acres.

Winter wheat

What: Recent snow-fall should not do any damage to local winter wheat crop.Benefits: The snow will allow all farmers a chance beef up their reservoirs after a dry year.

5-plus inches of snow to give farmers needed water for reservoirs

Judge OKs settlement in desegregation case

LITTLE ROCK — A federal judge in Arkansas has approved a settlement in which the Pulaski County Special School District agreed to pay $875,000 to cover some litigation and monitoring costs in a 30-year-old desegregation case.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. called the out-of-court settlement “fair and reasonable” in an order Friday.

The money will cover two decades of litigation and desegregation monitoring by attorneys for the so-called Joshua intervenors. The Joshua interve-nors are representatives of black students in the long-running desegregation case.

The intervenors’ litigation and monitoring stems from a lawsuit in which the Little Rock School Dis-trict sued the state and the North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts in 1982, claiming they fostered segregation among the county’s three school systems.

Radio owner solicits $75,000 for play

EUREKA SPRINGS — The owner of a gospel radio network is trying to raise $75,000 to stop a bank from taking over a large religious play in northwest Arkansas.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Randall Christy is trying to raise the money by midnight Monday to stop Cornerstone Bank of Eureka Springs from taking over the 700-acre Great Pas-sion Play property in lieu of foreclosure.

Christy is the president and founder of The Gos-pel Station Network of Ada, Okla.

He says paying $75,000 before the deadline would allow the Great Passion Play to continue op-erating. Officials announced earlier this year that the play was closing because of financial troubles.

Mike Bishop, president of the Eureka Springs Chamber of Commerce, says donations totaled $16,720 as of Friday afternoon.

Woman charged with murder in subway death

NEW YORK — A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform into the path of a train because she hates Mus-lims and thought he was one was charged Sat-urday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said.

Erika Menendez was charged in the death of Sunando Sen, who was crushed by a 7 train in Queens on Thursday night, the second time this month a commuter has died in such a nightmarish fashion.

Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge Saturday evening, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. She could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted. She was in custody and couldn’t be reached for comment, and it was un-clear if she had an attorney.

Menendez, who was arrested after a tip by a passer-by who saw her on a street and thought she looked like the woman in a surveillance video released by police, admitted shoving Sen, who was pushed from behind, authorities said.

News in Brief

Associated Press

NOW OPENNOW OPENCellphone CentralCellphone Central

BUY • REPAIRS • SELLWE REPAIR CELL PHONESWE REPAIR CELL PHONES

CASES • ACCESSORIES • PHONES

3542 E. Race Ave. • Searcy (Beside Fujiʼs)Hours 10-6 Mon-Fri, 10-5 Sat.

Friend us on Facebook & Get the Friend Discount!

501-322-3694501-322-3694

MEMBER FDIC / SINCE 1903

Thanks for 12 great years, Sharon.Enjoy your retirement!

Sharon Hansen

To all our good friends far and near, we wish a Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year!

501-281-6338

Stuart Greer1507 E. Race, Searcy, AR

501-268-1115

Advantage, REALTORS®

May Your Home Be Blessed!


HELP WANTEDNOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS


Show Times Tuesday, December 25 - Th ursday, January 3

Featuring Digital Light Projection & DTS in all Auditoriums! DOLBY 3D DIGITAL LIGHT PROJECTION on 4 SCREENSMATINEES DAILY

Monsters Inc 3D GDOLBY DIGITAL 3D

2:30 7:30 9:25Les Miserables PG13

Stadium Seating1:45 6:45 9:45

Jack Reacher PG13Stadium Seating2:00 7:00 9:40

Django Unchained RStadium Seating1:45 6:45 9:45

Parental Guidance PGStadium Seating

2:15 7:15 9:20

This is 40 RDigital Surround Sound

2:00 7:00 9:40

The Guilt Trip PG13Digital Surround Sound

2:15 7:15 9:20

Open All Day on ChristmasTexas Chainsaw Massacre 3D R

10 pm, Thursday, Jan 3Advance Tickets On Sale Now!

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D PG13DOLBY DIGITAL 3D

1:45 6:45 9:45

E.U.C. Pre-Owned & New - Buy & SellApparel • Merchandise • Equipment

Toddler - Children - AdultName Brands at a Bargain!

1511 W Pleasure, Searcy 501.305.3663Next to Main Street Cafe

ATHLETIC SOULT H E

CONSIGNMENT

Agriculture

Documents