Other Days: October 25, 2023

10 YEARS AGO OCTOBER 23, 2013 Rison in The Fall experienced a turnaround, as a change of venue from the former Main Street site to Pioneer Village, larger prizes, and more attractions rescued the struggling festival. Roy Phillips, who has been with the festival since its inception in 1990, gave a conservative estimate that about 1,500 people attended the 24th annual event held this past Saturday. This was the first time for the festival to be held outside its original location in downtown. Carlos Johnson of Big J's cook team won the $1,000 grand prize for the barbecue cook-off. Cleveland County Sheriff Jack Rodgers announced this week that two Rison men have been arrested for their alleged connection to a break-in and copper theft at the old Cleveland County Nursing Home here. Tenario Miles, 28, and Joshua Hopper, 25, both of Rison, were both arrested in connection with the break-in and theft. Kingsland water operator Joe Cook received support from the city council Monday night to stop issuing so many adjustments to customers' water bills. Cook reported that he has been receiving a number of requests for adjustments on water bills, simply because the bills may be a few dollars higher than they were in previous months. The number of requests for adjustments has grown to such a degree that Cook said he felt something needed to be done. Also during the meeting, city marshal Ronnie Smith told the council that he is seeing an increase in calls lately, and is also staying busy trying to collect unpaid fines. 20 YEARS AGO OCTOBER 29, 2003 From the initial assessment, it seemed the bioterrorism exercise conducted Saturday at the Cleveland County fairgrounds may have gone off a little better than expected. Cleveland County was one of nine spots selected from around the state to serve as a site for a mock bioterrorism exercise to test the readiness of local agencies in response to a widespread medical emergency like smallpox. The...