Archive - News Article
March 12th, 2012
From Lt. Russell at the Benton Police Department:
A juvenile, Paxton Griffith, who was reported as a runaway recently out of our department has been located and is safe. Thank you for your help in trying locate him.
March 10th
Lexie Magby Spickard will be celebrating a milestone event this Sunday: The lifetime Saline County resident will be observing her 90th birthday.
Spickard said she's grateful for every day and enjoys her life. "I don't feel 90," she said.
"It just doesn't feel like 90 years," she added. "I'm very healthy and happy, and I'm grateful to have such good health.
"I still drive," she added. " I think I'll know when to quit. I don't go very far — just to church and Benton and things."
March 9th
The Benton Police Department is asking the public to help find a runaway juvenile.
Destoni Wiggins, 17, was last seen in the area of Chicken Express on Landers Drive late Thursday, "and has not been seen since," Lt. Kevin Russell said.
Destoni is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall, 110 pounds with brown eyes and long brown hair. She was last seen wearing a camouflage jacket, black slacks, and black shoes. She was traveling on foot and is believed to still be in the Saline County area, Russell noted.
March 7th
Bryant firefighters are now better equipped to meet the needs of residents thanks to three Bullard Eclipse thermal imaging cameras that were recently donated to the fire department by the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.
The devices, worth nearly $19,000, detect body heat and hot spots in burning buildings, allowing firefighters to reach victims in half the time and extinguish potentially deadly fires.
“When you can’t even see your hand in front of your face, these cameras guide us to the heat source and people who may be inside the structure,” Capt. Rusty Long said.
A new chief executive officer has been named for Saline Memorial Hospital.
The SMH Board of Directors has selected Bob Trautman to fill the CEO position.
Trautman comes to SMH with more than 35 years of executive-level health-care experience working in a diverse group of healthcare facilities from Mississippi to California, according to Rebecca Jones, director of marketing and community relations.
"He brings extensive experience leading a 239-bed acute care hospital in Palmdale, Calif.," Jones said.
March 6th
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.
