Local students attend M.A.S.H. camp at JRMC Twenty-three junior and senior high-school students from Cleveland, Grant, Jefferson and Lincoln counties are attending a Medical Applications of Science for Health (M*A*S*H) camp June 10-21 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences South Central campus in Pine Bluff. Pictured with their instructors are (kneeling in front) Nathan Taylor, White Hall; (first row from left) Renisha Ward, camp director; Tyra Walker, Pine Bluff; Dahlia Ramsey, Pine Bluff; Abigail Howard, Pine Bluff; Kayln Howard, Rison; Daniel Stuckey, Rison. (Second Row from left) Rebecca Reed White Hall; Mya Cole, Pine Bluff; Claire Talbot, White Hall; Gracie Harris, Star City; Abby Gray, Rison; Alexis Mosley, Sheridan; Brooke Heller, Sheridan; Vanessa Hernandez, White Hall; Zachary Guinn, Rison; Emily Blue, Pine Bluff; and Sushma Dadlani, White Hall. (Back Row from left) Aaron Wilkins, Rison; Michael Burrage III, White Hall; Autumn Wooden, Sheridan; Faith Sipes, Rison and Kaitlyn Lee, Rison. (Not pictured, Aaliyah Handy, Pine Bluff). In addition to other activities, the students observed and participated in a "MASH Crash" simulated two-vehicle accident June 14 involving local first responders demonstrating the dangers of distracted driving. The two-week summer medical enrichment experience allows high school students to shadow health professionals and attend workshops that enhance their experiences in the health-care field. They learn about pharmacy, therapy, CPR, anatomy, surgery, emergency medical response and much more. The program hopes to encourage rural youth interested in medical fields to continue their education and then return to rural areas to work. M*A*S*H students are sponsored by their local county Farm Bureaus and the M*A*S*H Partnership, which includes the University of Arkansas for Medical Science's Regional Centers, Arkansas Farm Bureau and Delta Dental. Arkansas Farm Bureau is a nonprofit, private farm and rural advocacy organization of more than 190,000 families throughout the state working to improve farm and rural life.

GCSO investigating second homicide of 2019

The death of a 37-year-old Sheridan man is being investigated as a homicide by the Grant County Sheriff’s Department after deputies were called to his residence in the early morning hours Friday. Grant County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Pete Roberts said, in a press release issued Friday afternoon, that deputies were dispatched to a residence on Grant 9 Aug. 23 at approximately 6:55 a.m. in reference to a possible death, and upon arrival found Keith Alan Bailey lying beside a camper trailer. Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

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Draper's death a suicide, authorities say

Editor’s note: This story contains mature subject matter and may not be appropriate for all readers. Rusty Draper, by his own hand, lasted less than a year in state prison. The 47-year-old Prattsville man pleaded guilty to murder in a plea deal in Grant County Circuit Court in mid-May 2018, and by the end of March, he had taken his own life – something he had talked about and tried before. His method of suicide was to take a more-than-lethal dose of his blood pressure medication, according to a State Police investigation into his death, a report of which was given to The Headlight on Aug. 28. Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

Body of missing Grant County sheriff's deputy found

The body of Grant County Deputy Keith Wright has been recovered a little over a month after he went missing. Montgomery County Sheriff David White contacted the Grant County Sheriff’s Office on Friday evening about 7 p.m. to report that the Joplin Fire Department had recovered Wright’s body in the area on Lake Ouachita where he went missing, according to a press release from the office of Grant County Sheriff Ray Vance. Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

County employees get 1.5 percent bonus

All 90 or so employees of Grant County will soon receive a 1.5 percent bonus, thanks to action taken on Monday night by the Quorum Court. County Judge Randy Pruitt said he had looked over the finances and had given his thumbs up after determining that county finances were in good enough shape to make the one-time  outlay of funds, which amounts to about $54,000. Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

Pond algae toxic to animals

A North Carolina couple took their three dogs, Abby, Izzy and Harpo, to a pond this summer to escape the summer heat. But 15 minutes after they left to go home, one of their dogs started having seizures. The owners immediately took the dogs to a veterinary hospital, where the other two dogs started seizing. In a few hours, all three dogs had died. The culprit was cyanobacteria, a deadly bacteria in blue-green algae that can be found in ponds and small lakes and that has been blamed for several dog deaths around the country this summer. Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

Journalism educators to honor Rep. Julie Mayberry

By Byron Tate The national Journalism Education Association has named Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-East End, as a 2019 recipient of its Friend of Scholastic Journalism Award. But the lawmaker said the award might be coming a bit early. “We didn’t accomplish all that we wanted to accomplish,” she said. “Maybe the award is premature, but I’m still going!” Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

Fair times in Grant County from 1926

Editor’s Note: This article was first published in the August 2018 issue of “Grassroots,” the quarterly publication of the Grant County Museum. For more information about the Grassroots publications, contact the museum at 870-942-4496.   The county fair is an exciting time every year.  Family members enthusiastically jump into the car and pile on top of one another for the drive there.  On arrival, everyone impatiently un-piles before stampeding towards the frenzy of sound and light.  Small children enjoy rides and win stuffed animals that instantaneously become their most prized possession.  Others can’t wait for the rodeo.  For some out there it is a foot-long corndog, funnel cake, and cotton candy. A 3,000 calorie dinner of fried breads, processed meats, and pure sugar.  Fortified with a sugar-buzzed adrenaline rush from the lights and sounds, everybody jumps on the Gravitron for one bout of inner-ear abuse before heading to the house.  This familiar scene, and various iterations of it, have played out at the Grant County Fair for over ninety years.  Despite the span of time between today and its inception, the fair has remained remarkably similar in its presentation.  Newspaper articles and catalogues from the time of the earliest fairs reflect this continuity.  Carnival rides, exhibits, livestock shows, and refreshment stands have been a part of the fair since the beginning. Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

Their store is named Resurrections Owners hoping business has its own rebirth with sale

Jan and DJ Wallace were on their way home from church years ago. The pastor’s sermon had been on the resurrection and the beginning of new life. Inspired by the theme of rebirth and rejuvenation, Jan said “if we ever have a shop, we’re going to call it Resurrections.” And thus it was. Wednesday, September 4, 2019 Click here to read more!

Deputy missing at Lake Ouachita

Keith Wright, a deputy with the Grant County Sheriff’s office, went missing Friday night while boating and swimming on Lake Ouachita and had not been found as of Monday morning. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency in charge of the search, but they are getting help from numerous state and county agencies as well as area police and fire departments and search-and-rescue teams in combing the shoreline and searching the bottom of the lake. Where the 44-year-old deputy disappeared is as much as 90 feet deep. Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Click here to read more!

Library summer reading program finale, Imagination Library Kick-Off

In a “Universe of Stories,” Grant County children were able to write one of their own this summer. For three decades, the Grant County Library has hosted its annual summer reading program. The summer reading program is a nationwide program through the American Library Association. The association picks a theme that is used in libraries across the United States. Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Click here to read more!

Handguns on courthouse grounds now okay for approved persons

Thanks to a new county ordinance certain individuals can now carry a handgun on courthouse grounds The ordinance, written by Justice of the Peace Jason Roshto, was first brought to the quorum court for an initial reading in June’s meeting. The court met in regular conference on July 15. Wednesday, July 24, 2019 Click here to read more!