Greenwood News

The economy has taken a toll on America's spare dollars. Vacations are being canceled, and now, shrinking incomes are affecting America's birthday.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MICHAEL WOODS Chris Masingill of Gov. Mike Beebe's office speaks to officials Thursday on receiving federal stimulus package money at a town hall meeting at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- Five-year-old Cameron Jessen had a great time June 19.

Saturday, June 27th Vache Grasse Country Club Greenwood, AR Tournament format is three-man scramble Cost $120 per team Lunch provided by the Lions Club If you have a team interested in playing, contact the Vache Grasse Country Club at 479.996.4191, Paul Goldsmith at 479.414.3285, or Steve Tedford at 479.996.2742

Jim Tabor, KU5S, passed away at his home in Greenwood, Arkansas on May 27; he was 54.

Doris Tate, county clerk of Sebastian County, announced her candidacy for secretary of state Thursday at the Capitol in Little Rock, citing her love of managing elections and her 18 years as clerk in the state's fourth most populous county.

Planners in Greenwood may put an abandoned steel-truss bridge to use as part of a planned pedestrian/bicycle path.

Oral arguments are set for May 21 before the state Supreme Court in a lawsuit by 14 school districts accusing the state of violating the state constitution by relying too much on local property taxes for funding schools.

A Greenwood man is sent to the hospital after his car slams into a tree. It happened around 10:30 this morning near the intersection of Highway 10 East and Mount Harmony Road in Greenwood.

The search continued for a second day Wednesday without locating a 66-year-old Jenny Lind man who wandered away from his home.

The Sebastian County Sheriff's Office has activated a Silver Alert for a missing man.

BONANZA, Ark. -- John Orick recently put up a sign outside his business that reads, "John Mitchell Go Back To Poteau." Mitchell is a Bonanza police officer who Orick said was recently hired by the police department.

Gov. Mike Beebe on Thursday announced his appointment of Mary Ann Greenwood, an investment adviser and business owner in Fayetteville, to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

Greenwood police said three teenagers were driving near Lake Jack Nolan Tuesday night when a witness saw them throw rocks at ducks.

After waiving a preliminary hearing, a Greenwood basketball referee arrest on child pornography charges is expected to appear in circuit court next week.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:03 PM CDT Dustin Graham, Greenwood Democrat On Thursday the Greenwood Police Department responded to a call at the high school of a possible bomb threat. According to a press release from the Greenwood PD custodial staff working in the Student Union located a note written on a restroom wall in the Student Union. The note indicated there was a bomb located in the high school. Students were removed from the affected building into adjacent buildings while officers and staff searched for any suspicious devices. After a thorough search, no devices or suspicious items were located. "After checking the building diligently, we were not able to locate anything which would lend credibility to this threat", said Lt James Flynn. "These incidents must be taken seriously, and the Greenwood Police Department has opened an investigation into the incident and the person(s) responsible could possibly face felony charges of communicating a false alarm".

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 12:30 PM CDT Mary Crider, Special to the Democrat A Greenwood teacher fired in October 2006 after being accused of making harassing phone calls to other district employees prevailed in her breach of contract suit all the way to the state Supreme Court. On Feb. 26, the Arkansas Supreme Court denied a Greenwood School District petition asking the high court to review a May 2008 state Court of Appeals ruling that former special education teacher Barbara Leonard is entitled to her full $39,831 salary for the 2006-07 school year. Leonard, who was suspended with pay by the Greenwood School District in August 2006, had been paid for three months of her contract, leaving a balance of $28,873. After the school board terminated her, Leonard, then a probationary teacher, filed a complaint in Sebastian County Circuit Court, Greenwood Division, seeking either an appeal under the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act or damages for breach of contract. She was represented by Greg Alagood of Little Rock, an Arkansas Education Association attorney. The court granted the school district's motion to dismiss Leonard's appeal under the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, but allowed the breach of contract suit to continue. Following an Aug. 20, 2007, bench trial, Sebastian County Circuit Judge Mike Fitzhugh filed a court order on Sept. 5, 2007, saying Leonard met her burden of proof in the breach of contract case and ordering the district to pay her the balance of her year's contract within 30 days. During the bench trial, Leonard testified that her then 17-year-old niece had made the harassing and lewd calls, using Leonard's cell phone and was punished for it. Leonard's niece also testified that she'd made the calls. Through its attorney, Mitch Llewellyn of Fort Smith, the school district appealed the lower court's ruling to the state Court of Appeals, arguing that under the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, probationary teachers have no right of appeal for a school board's termination decision, that she did not have an actionable breach of contract claim, and that the circuit court erred when it found Leonard had met her burden of proof for breach of contract.

Complaint against PD dismissed Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:03 PM CDT Dustin Graham, Greenwood Democrat Greenwood Police Chief Keith Jackson received notice from the EEOC that a previously filed discrimination charge of retaliation had been dismissed. Former officer Heather McCaslin filed the discrimination charge on October 6, 2008; alleging she had been denied donated sick time and discharged in retaliation for the original charge she filed in November of 2007.This is the second dismissal issued to the police department in a series of charges filed by McCaslin. McCaslin first filed a sexual discrimination complaint on November 26, 2007; adding a charge or retaliation in December of the same year. Those charges were dismissed in June of 2008. The latest charge was filed after her employment with the city ended in August, 2008. As with the first dismissal, the EEOC issued a notice that stated "based upon its investigation, we are unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes." In her inital complaint stated that she was descriminated against because she was denied a transfer, denied a new car, required to use her own leave when needing a day off and making less money than a male officer at the same rank. Chief Jackson stated that McCaslin's claims had no merit and in his report to the EEOC he refuted each one of her complaints including McCaslin's claim that she was paid less. Jackson stated that she was the highest paid corporal in the department and that the only reason a male corporal was given a larger yearly raise was to bring his salary up to up to the minimum for corporals in the department.

Two bomb threats in one week have Greenwood School officials and authorities looking for a felon.