Other Days: Jan. 18, 2023

10 YEARS AGO JANUARY 16, 2013 Former school board member, John Kinley of the 'Y' community, asked the board of the Cleveland County School District to get behind an effort to make improvements at all three campuses, including adding classrooms at Rison Elementary, building a new gym on the Rison campus, and replacing the Kingsland gym with a new physical education building. Two Cleveland County residents died last week in separate traffic accidents. Joshua Womack, 25, of Woodlawn died Friday morning in a one-vehicle accident on Hwy. 79-B near the intersection with Orlando Street in Pine Bluff. Fred Dorsey, 67, of Rison died last Wednesday in a one-car accident along Hwy. 63 near Rye. Rison Shine Downtown Development began looking at ways to develop the proposed 'pocket park' on the east side of Main Street in the second block. The city has taken ownership of the vacant lot located in the 200 block of Main. Sub-freezing temperatures, accompanied by freezing rain, sleet and snow, is gripping Cleveland County this week. Rison's Sloane Roberts, Miss Arkansas, was named Miss Congeniality at the Miss America pageant held last week in Las Vegas. It was reported that more than two dozen people from Cleveland County and the surrounding area made the trip to Las Vegas to cheer on Roberts, while many watch parties were held at homes and other places in Rison and the county. 20 YEARS AGO JANUARY 22, 2003 While Governor Mike Huckabee's plan to consolidate many of the state's school districts has not been formally introduced as legislation, Cleveland County's three school district superintendents aren't waiting for that to happen before taking action. In light of the state Supreme Court's ruling that the state must provide an 'adequate and equitable' education system in Arkansas, the governor's plan seeks to create new 'unified districts' that have at least 1,500 students each. None of the co...