Archive - 2012
March 6th
Louis Russell Nicklaus, 82, of Benton, died Saturday, March 3, at the Hospice Home in Little Rock.Â
He was born June 24, 1929 in Etta, Miss. to the late Lewis and Mildred Nicklaus.Â
Mr. Nicklaus was a retired truck driver for Arkansas Face Veneer and a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Benton Congregation.
Robert James "Bob" Grable, 88, of Alexander, passed away Friday, March 2. Bob was born November 4, 1923 in Quitman. During World War II, Bob briefly worked for Bruce Lumber Company in Little Rock before joining Mobil Oil Company. He retired from Mobil to start Grable Oil Company in Little Rock. He was a long time member and deacon of Temple Baptist Church in Little Rock.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Sue (McMahon) Grable; parents, William Orbra Grable and Arvada Amanda (Hendrickson) Grable of Bryant; and one brother, Billy Grable of Fort Worth.
Lee E. Jackson, 75, of Mabelvale, died March 5.
Saturday afternoon, March 03, Mary Athlene Sloan Harrison, 92, of Benton quietly slipped from the presence of her daughter and granddaughter, and joined her heavenly Father and many friends and loved ones in her heavenly home. She was born to Daniel Vernon and Mary Bonds Sloan on July 17, 1919, in England, Ark. Her mother died shortly after Mary A’s birth and her grandmother, Alpha Etta Sloan, lovingly helped her son care for the baby. A few years later, Vernon married Ellen Tanner and Mary was blessed to have a stepmother who loved her dearly.
Vernelle B. Ramsey, 89, of Benton, died Sunday, March 4. She was born Feb. 15, 1923, to Warren Ralph and Eunice McGraw Bishop in Caledonia, Ark. Mrs. Ramsey earned a master’s degree in education and was also a teacher at Bryant and Bauxite schools for 34 years. Before retiring, she became the first counselor at Bauxite. She was a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, the Arkansas Society of Mayflower Descendants, A.E.A, N.E.A., Saline County Retired Teachers Association and a charter member of Trinity Baptist Church.Â
Mrs. Ramsey was preceded in death by her parents and husband, G. Tom Ramsey.
The United States Army Field Band will present a free concert March 9 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Bishop Park on Boone Road in Bryant. A ticket is required for admission but may be picked up at two locations:
- Saline Courier office at 321 N. Market in Benton
- Bishop Park on Boone Road in Bryant
Online tickets may be obtained by visiting the following Internet sites:
- http://armyfieldband.ticketleap.com/bryant/
- www.armyfieldband.com/tickets
The concert is sponsored by The Saline Courier and The Center at Bishop Park in Bryant.
Some major changes are on the forefront for the Benton School District and Downtown Benton.
In a special meeting Monday night, the Benton School Board voted to approve completion of the district sports complex for $5,254,235, with the project to be financed by second-lien bonds and the balance in the district's existing Qualified School Construction Bonds.
Within a recent eight-hour span, nine people were cited and one person was arrested for failure to comply with the state truck tarpaulin law, according to Bauxite police.
"The goal is to cut down the trash that is getting on the roadways," Police Chief Ron Parsons said. "Anytime we see anyone with uncovered loads of trash, they will be subject to being stopped and cited."
March 5th
Thomas Road from Military Road to the Interstate 30 service road is expected to closed to traffic for ongoing work on the Lower Military Road expansion project.
Crews today were scheduled to begin undercutting and rebuilding of the intersection, Mayor David Mattingly said.
That location will be barricaded and marked with a "no through traffic" sign, he said.
In a recent town hall meeting, Mattingly said he expects the entire improvement project to be completed in June 2013.
The overall goal is to protect and serve the residents and visitors of the community, officials at the Benton Police Department said.
But officers are limited on keeping repeat criminal offenders from re-entering society by the court system, probation and parole boards, and even by state legislators — who write laws and vote on the enforcement of such laws. Law enforcement officers have the ability to arrest, or at least detain, people when laws are broken, but once they write a citation and/or take that person to the Saline County jail, that ends the scope of their abilities.
