News

The Senate Committee on Education and the House Committee on Education met at 1:30 PM on Monday, January 8, marking their first meeting of 2024 and kicking off the biennial adequacy study process. Every interim for the last two decades, the education committees have been charged with taking a close look at our state’s education system, determining how the state can better ensure an “adequate education” to all Arkansas public school students, and reporting their findings and recommendations to the full legislature in advance of the next regular session— in this case, the 2025 Regular Session of the 95th Arkansas General Assembly, set to begin Monday, January 13, 2025.

Clay County celebrated it’s 150th anniversary on Friday, March 24 with a proclamation read by County Judge Mike Patterson honoring the birthdate of Clay County, March 23, 1873 and declaring the year from March 24, 2023 through March 24, 2024 as the period for residents of Clay County to celebrate the sesquicentennial. After the courthouse ceremonies, the 10Box in Corning, and the Harps stores in Piggott and Rector served cake from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. to honor the occasion.

A Community Easter Egg Hunt as held at the Victory Lake Ball Complex in Corning on Saturday, April 8 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Families enjoyed a day of egg hunts, games, vendors, giveaways, face painting, animal petting booths, Easter Bunny photos, and free food. In an effort to assist students in the Wynne School District, attendees had the option of bringing personal hygiene items for teachers to provide for their students in exchange for an extra door prize ticket at the egg hunt.

The Clay County Detention Center was given the authority to reopen on Monday, May 22, 2023. Sheriff Ronnie Cole received word from the District 3 Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee the jail was cleared to open. The facility has the capacity to house 16 females and approximately 46 male inmates.

By PAM LOWE Clay County Courier It’s not often a town is fortunate to have someone who has lived and contributed to a community for 100 years. Corning can count among its centenarians, Osel Edington, who celebrated her 100th birthday on Friday, January 5 in the presence of loved ones. The highlight of her birthday was the nearly 100 birthday cards, gifts, and calls received and visits from family and friends.

Terry Sears has been selected by the Corning Beautification Committee as the January Artist of the Month. He has always liked to draw using colored and graphite pencils. Retirement has given him the time to enjoy being creative. He finds choosing and blending colors and seeing his drawings come together very satisfying.

The Corning Area Chamber of Commerce members acquired information concerning the grant opportunities offered by the North Delta Community Foundation during their monthly luncheon on Monday, January 8, 2024 at the Parkview Restaurant. The guest speaker at the luncheon was Melody Rainwater, Executive Director of the North Delta Community Foundation, an affiliate of Arkansas Community Foundation. Rainwater spoke of available grants for nonprofits through The Giving Tree Grant, with recipients receiving amounts from $250 to $2,000. The window for grant submission is January 10 - February 15. Nonprofits in Clay, Lawrence and Randolph counties can go to arcf.org/givingtree to apply online. Rainwater stated that requests for all types of grants will be considered, but the Community Foundation is especially interested in awarding grants that address food insecurity and early childhood literacy. Chamber members learned that 20% of Clay County falls into the food insecurity category. The organization also has an early childhood learning program in place.

POCAHONTAS, AR — Black River Technical College (BRTC) will host the third annual First Horizon Lecture Series featuring true crime author and award-winning investigative journalist George Jared on Tuesday, March 12 in the Randolph County Development Center.