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THE SALINE
INDEX
OBITUARIES .............................. 3
EDITORIAL ................................. 4
SPORTS .................................. 6,7
CLASSIFIEDS ............................ 8
COMICS ..................................... 9
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SALINE COUNTYS NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1876
WEDNESDAY
April 23, 2014
Volume 137
Number 113
1 Section 10 Pages
50
Home of Rose Poole
and Ralph Williams
Condent Quiz team heads for State
No. 1 Benton squad vying for 6A title
For the fourth consecu-
tive year, the Benton High
School Quiz Bowl Team
will be competing for the
state 6A title on live televi-
sion.
The competition is
scheduled to get under way
at 9 a.m. Saturday at AETN
studios in Conway.
The team coach, Brian
West, noted that on April
12 the team traveled to Fort
Smith and beat teams from
Parkview, Greenwood and
Russellville high schools to
secure the No. 1 seed in the
state finals.
The team will play
Greenwood again for the
state title Saturday morn-
ing, said West, who is in
his fourth year of coaching
the group.
Comprising the team are
senior Tucker Partridge,
captain; senior Jay Wilson;
senior Ariel Sorg; sopho-
more Sam Bell; senior Alex
Thurber; senior Addison
Williams; and sophomore
Caleb Webb.
The BHS team reported-
ly has competed in the fol-
lowing tournaments in the
2013-2014 academic year:
Watson Chapel
Invitational, where the team
finished in second place.
Centerpoint Invitational,
third place.
North Little Rock
Invitational, second place.
State National
Academic Quiz Tournament
(NAQT), runner-up.
LYNDA HOLLENBECK/The Saline Courier
Benton High School Quiz Bowl Team is ready for the 6A state competition Saturday at AETN studios in
Conway. Members of the team are, from left, Alex Thurber, Ariel Sorg, Tucker Partridge, Jay Wilson,
Sam Bell, Caleb Webb and Addison Williams. Coach Brian West kneels behind the team members.
HELPING EARTHS BEAUTY SHINE
BOBBYE PYKE/The Saline Courier
From left, Brooke Ousley, Makayla Connor, Nichole Forrester and Taylor Dickens are all smiles as they pick up trash
on Earth Day. The students said they were happy to help their community and the environment.
By Lynda Hollenbeck
lyndahol@yahoo.com
BENTON, page 5
ROAD CONSTRUCTION FINISHED NEAR EVENT CENTER
Sheriff candidate forum
set at Royal Theatre
The May 20 preferential
primary is approaching and
eight candidates for Saline
County sheriff will meet
at the Royal Theatre in
Downtown Benton to answer
questions about their qualifi-
cations.
Seven Republican candi-
dates and the lone Democrat
hopeful will field questions
gathered from residents.
The website, MySaline.
com, is promoting the event
that begins at 7 p.m. on
Thursday.
The seven Republican
candidates are Kevin
Cooper, Daniel Dodson, Tim
Dudderar, E.J. Harris, Simon
Haynes, Bruce Pennington
and Rodney Wright.
Rodney Goshien Sr. is the
Democrat in the race.
After opening statements,
the candidates will be asked
three questions, followed
by an intermission. After
intermission, three additional
questions will be asked of
each candidate. The order
of questioning will be deter-
mined by a draw of the candi-
dates and the first question of
each round will rotate among
the candidates.
After all questions have
been asked, each candidate
BOBBYE PYKE/The Saline Courier
City of Benton officials and other community leaders take part Tuesday morning in a ribbon-cutting
ceremony marking the completion of street improvement projects near the Benton Event Center.
Cutting the ceremonial ribbon are Rick Ashley of the Ashley Group, which developed Hickory Square,
the location of the center, and Mayor David Mattingly. Among those in attendance were Gary James,
executive director of the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce, and Saline County Judge Lanny Fite.
The work was done on Nalley Street, Sharon Road and Wright Avenue.
Cain steps
down from
City Council
At the end of the Bauxite City Council
meeting on April 21, Alderman Allison Cain
announced her decision to resign her posi-
tion, effective April 30.
She says her decision to leave the coun-
cil was not a spur-of-the-moment reaction.
After much prayer and thought, my hus-
band and I have decided it is time for me
to step down. My husband, our kids, and I
wish nothing but the best for the city and
the citizens of Bauxite.
Cain also expressed her appreciation to
the voters and residents of Bauxite.
I would like to thank the citizens of
Bauxite for electing me in 2010 and again
in 2012 to serve as an alderman for the city
of Bauxite. From this, I have gained a lot of
experience and knowledge as to how city
government works and operates. It has been
my pleasure to serve the citizens of this
town for three and one-half years. I have
always strived to do what was in the best
interests of the citizens and Bauxite.
The City Council now is charged with the
responsibility to choose someone to com-
By Brent Davis
bdavis@bentoncourier.com
BAUXITE, page 5
By Sarah Perry
sderouen@bentoncourier.com
Benton residents
address officials
regarding Internet
complications
Area residents were invited
Tuesday to a town hall meet-
ing designed to give them an
opportunity to address officials
from two communications
companies.
Jim Miller from Fidelity
Communications and Ronnie
Dedman from AT&T were
present for the event at
Benton Municipal Complex.
Mayor David Mattingly
began the session by saying
that its purpose was to address
complaints from residents
about an inability to receive
and maintain a consistent
Internet signal. The mayor
said he has heard many com-
plaints from residents in the
past and had discussed those
with staff, but noted that the
ones who put on the service
need to know the concerns.
Dedman addressed the
group first, saying, The way
we communicate is changing
and is continuing to change.
He said AT&T has invested
more than $98 billion in to
its network since 2008 and
has invested $275 million in
Central Arkansas to update
the network.
In some places you have
great service and in some
places you have good service.
AT&T has made a commit-
ment to Arkansas, to Central
Arkansas, and to Benton and
we will continue to make a
commitment. We are strongly
committed to rolling out our
broadband service and also
our mobile broadband.
Miller pointed out that
Fidelity has invested heavily
in the community.
In the past few years,
Fidelity has invested $7 mil-
lion in the city of Benton to
improve communications, he
said.
Our goal is to provide
By Bobbye Pyke
bpyke@bentoncourier.com
TOWN HALL, page 5
FORUM, page 5