(The following items were compiled from files of past issues of the Cleveland County Herald. For questions or comments, contact Stan Sadler, P.O. Box 325, Rison, AR 71665, phone (870) 830-2056 or 870-325-6412; or email at sadler.stan@yahoo.com)
10 YEARS AGO AUGUST 3, 2016 The Cleveland County Quorum Court voted 8-1 - Justice of the Peace Don Triplett of New Edinburg casting a no vote - Monday night to put two sales tax questions before voters this November, asking for a total of 2.5 cents to pay for building, maintaining and operating a 47-bed county jail that has an estimated price tag of $6.7 million. The decision to ask voters for the two sales tax questions came after about an hour and a half discussion. The 47-bed jail would replace the existing 10bed unit that is attached to the courthouse, which does not meet several state regulations. Sheriff Jack Rodgers said converting the old Cleveland County Hospital and Nursing Home building in Rison into a jail facility is not an option, since the vacant building itself was not built to jail standards and it would be too costly to convert it.
The Rison City Council voted to begin charging $75 per hour to mow unkept property in the town in a move it hopes will encourage more people to tend to their vacant lots and houses. The move to increase the mowing fee was motivated by a discussion started by Alderman Cleve Reed, who said he would like for the city to begin cracking down again on the overgrown lots and vacant houses around town.
20 YEARS AGO AUGUST 9, 2006 Calvin Roberson of near Rison, one of the major suspects in a 15-person drug sweep by law officers in and around the Rison area on June 5, pleaded guilty to eight counts of delivery of a controlled substance in court here Tuesday. Deputy Prosecuting Atty. Alan Humphries of Rison said that Roberson, 37, received 35-year sentences for each count, but Judge Larry Chandler ruled they could be served concurrently in prison. Cleveland County Sheriff Joe Paul King described the sweep as the biggest drug raid ever made in the county.
Only one race developed for a school board position among the two districts in the county. In Zone 7 of the Cleveland County School District, incumbent Jeffie Hyatt is being cha…