UA Cossatot Hosts the Ninth Annual Colts Classic

The ninth annual Colts Classic Career Development Event took place at UA Cossatot in De Queen on Friday, February 14, 2020, where over 700 high school students traveled to the college to compete in agricultural competitions. Thirty-four schools across Arkansas and one from Missouri participated in this event to promote the study of careers in agriculture.

At 8:30 A.M., schools began checking-in and then made way to the UA Cossatot Amphitheater. UA Cossatot Chancellor, Dr. Steve Cole, and UA Cossatot Agriculture Instructor, Kelli Harris, welcomed the students before they dispersed into different locations for the contests.

Students competed in many different contest areas, including agricultural mechanics, dairy foods, electricity, farm business management, floriculture, forestry, land, horse judging, poultry judging, vet science, and nursery and landscape.

The UA Cossatot Colts Classic is an annual event organized and hosted by the UA Cossatot Collegiate FFA and the students competing in the contests are high school FFA members. This event gives high school students the chance to learn about careers in agriculture and develop skills to be successful in these careers

Veteran Basketball Official David Hall of De Queen Honored in Nashville

Veteran basketball official David Hall of De Queen, honored in Nashville

By John R. Schirmer Nashville News-Leader

David Hall and wife Carol

Photo by John R. Schirmer

Veteran basketball official David Hall of De Queen was honored Thursday, Feb. 13, before the finals of the District 7-4A junior high tournament at Scrapper Arena.

Hall is retiring after more than 35 years of officiating.

The entire story can be viewed online at:
https://www.dequeenbee.com/…/article_b2673fc6-51ca-11ea-9e2…

dequeenbee.com | The primary source of local news for De Queen and Sevier County

While admittedly not the most exciting member of the De Queen/Sevier County Chamber of Commerce. CTS Services of Benton - with a location in Lockesburg - provides a service that while seemingly mundane to ordinary folks, is vital and sometimes critical to the business that they service.

AMS Global & Norwegian Based Jets AS North American Training Seminar

Arkansas based AMS Global & Norwegian based Jets AS held their 1st Annual North American Training Seminar on the Campus of UA Cossatot in De Queen on February 12th & 13th of this year. Attendees were giving theoretical and hands on training on Vacuum Sanitation Technology during the event.

There were 27 total people attending the event from 10 States including Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, California, Arizona, New York & Michigan as well as attendees from 2 other countries including representatives from the Province of Quebec in Canada and Norway.

AMS Global Representative Clint Nelson indicated he is “Extremely Grateful” for the hospitality shown by UAC’s Dr. Steve Cole and Tammy Coleman for helping to make the event a success. The “UAC Facilities were outstanding and all attendees were very complimentary of them” said Nelson.

Norwegian based Jets AS is the world leader in pioneering eco-efficient technology with a distribution network that spans the globe. AMS Global, in De Queen, is the proud, land based, North American Distributor for Jets AS.

Create Bridges to Conduct Additional Surveys in Six Arkansas Counties

A pilot program focusing on rural economic development in six rural Arkansas counties is surveying employees to learn more about job training and experiences that can bolster businesses in the retail, tourism, entertainment and accommodations industries.

Create Bridges, a multi-state program to help communities strengthen their retail, tourism, accommodations, and entertainment sectors, which in turn provide jobs and business opportunities that can boost rural economies, is seeking survey participants. In Arkansas, the efforts are organized by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Community, Professional and Economic Development unit.

The program was established in October 2018 in two regions in Arkansas. The 3Cs Region includes Howard, Little River and Sevier counties, while the Ozark Foothills Region is made up of Fulton, Izard and Sharp counties.

In 2019, Create Bridges held forums in several counties throughout the state to gather information about community assets in the retail, tourism, entertainment and accommodations industries. They also interviewed business owners to learn about the opportunities, benefits and challenges of operating a business in rural Arkansas.

Now, the project is focusing on gathering employee insight, asking survey participants about their current skills, areas in which they want to improve, and training available to them. The survey also asks about the types of benefits employees appreciate in their jobs, such as flexible scheduling, training opportunities, childcare assistance and insurance. Finally, the survey asked participants about the factors affecting their ability to work, including limited transportation options, housing availability, and child or elder care access.

Employees in the six program counties can access the survey at http://bit.ly/CBEmployeeSurvey. The survey is anonymous and takes about 15 minutes to complete. Results will be used to create strategies to support these businesses including workforce training.

Julianne Dunn, economic development instructor for the Division of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service, encouraged employees to participate in the program.

“The employee perspective will be invaluable to identifying training and policy opportunities to promote the flourishing of these types of businesses,” Dunn said.

Talk Business & Politics - Daily Business & Political News for Arkansas

Talk Business & Politics is a news website that covers business, politics and culture across all the Arkansas regions. You can also sign up for daily e-mail news delivered every morning to your inbox.

Create Bridges — an acronym for Celebrating Retail, Accommodations, Tourism, and Entertainment by Building Rural Innovations and Developing Growth Economies — has already held community forums and a retail academy for regional leaders.

Nashville WRA 5K Training Clinic Orientation on February 18th

Truck Driving Training Program Offered This Spring at UA Cossatot

UA Cossatot is offering a Truck Driving Training Program this spring at its Nashville Campus for individuals seeking a career as a professional truck driver. The training program is provided through the college’s Continuing Education department and is available in March, April, and May.

The UA Cossatot Truck Driver Training Program is an intensive one hundred and sixty-hour training program with a proven record of providing quality, in-depth truck driver training that will have students on the road in four fast-paced weeks.

The training program includes a combination of up-to-date classroom, field, and on the road training. The total cost to sign up for the course is $3,695, which includes books needed for the training. Financial assistance may be available for students interested in being in the program.

Classes will take place Monday through Thursday on March 2-26, April 6-30, and May 4-28. The instructor, Phillip Jones, will teach the course from 6:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. each day.

The Truck Driving Training Program at UA Cossatot will be offered three times this spring semester. The deadline days to register for one of the three options is February 24, March 30, and April 27.

Truck drivers, on average, make $39,070 a year in Arkansas. In only four weeks, students in this program at UA Cossatot can expect to be prepared to enter a career where there is a bright job outlook.

The college is also offering a Truck Driver Refresher Program designed to reacquaint individuals who haven’t worked in the trucking industry for a long period of time with the opportunity to get refreshed. In this

program, the student will learn skills to obtain his/her CDL license and re-enter the trucking industry as a professional commercial truck driver.

The course is also available to those who would like to improve on their existing skills, such as backing, shifting, or driving. The course is customizable to each student’s needs and may include classroom, range, and road time.

Persons entering this course must have his/her permit or a valid CDL. The program includes forty hours of training and costs $900, which includes the CDL Skills Test.

To learn more about the Truck Driving Training Program, the Truck Driver Refresher Program, or to enroll in either program, please call UA Cossatot’s Continuing Education department at 870-584-1178

National Weather Service Potential Rainfall for Arkansas for Early Week

The National Weather Service predicts a wet start to the week!

Census 2020 Helps Build Arkansas

Want more money for Roads, Libraries, Schools, Employment, Healthcare, etc? Make sure to #BECOUNTED You can fill out the 10 minute questionnaire by phone, mail, or internet.
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¿Quiere más dinero para carreteras, bibliotecas, escuelas, empleo, atención médica, etc.? Asegúrese de ser contado #BECOUNTED. Puede llenar el cuestionario de 10 minutos por teléfono, correo o por internet.

The 2020 Census is coming! March 12-April 30, 2020. Get involved and help make sure we count EVERYONE living in Sevier County. The 10 minute questionnaire will impact the next 10 years! The 2020 Census is IMPORTANT, SAFE and Easy!
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¡Se acerca el Censo 2020! Del 12 de marzo al 30 de abril de 2020. Participe y ayude a asegurarse de contar a TODOS los que viven en el Condado de Sevier. ¡El cuestionario de 10 minutos tendrá un impacto en los próximos 10 años! ¡El Censo 2020 es IMPORTANTE, SEGURO y Fácil!

Create Bridges Wants to Hear From You

The CREATE BRIDGES pilot project wants to hear about the experiences of retail, accommodations, tourism or entertainment employees in your community! Retail and hospitality sectors provide jobs and business opportunities that often drive rural economies. University Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is piloting CREATE BRIDGES, a program designed to strengthen these industries in Arkansas. As part of the pilot, CREATE BRIDGES is collecting the opinions and comments of retail, accommodations, tourism, and entertainment employees related to their preparation, training, and benefits in the industry. The following Arkansas counties are included: Howard, Little River, and Sevier. This anonymous survey takes less than 15 minutes: http://bit.ly/CBEmployeeSurvey. Please help us get the word out about this opportunity, as these employees’ feedback will be invaluable to identifying training and policy opportunities to promote the flourishing of these industries. If your business or community is having an event at which we can survey or you are interested in more information, please contact Julianne Dunn at 501-671-2158 or jbdunn@uaex.edu.

Motown Valentine's Show February 13th at Occasions in Nashville

Tickets are at Southern Belle Inn for $30.00 each.

WIN TWO Free Tickets! 💕
To see the BEST of Motown. ONE incredible night full of music & dancing!
Thursday FEB 13 @ 7pm!

Or go ahead and get your tickets before they sell out. (Just message us!) It’s going to be INCREDIBLE! 💃🏽🕺🏽... See More

 — with Sandra Jones, Craig Jones and Holly Elizabeth.

Cossatot Fire Department Annual Fish Fry & Auction Saturday, March 28th

Best Care Classes Being Offered

The University of Arkansas, Cooperative Extension Service, in partnership with the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE) offers up to 50 hours of professional development training for educators or caregivers of young children. If you provide care to children birth to 5 years of age, we offer three programs to meet your needs.

The Best Care 2020 professional development training has been scheduled for Saturday, February 29, from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm in the Howard County Extension Homemakers Educational Center at 425 Second Street (behind the courthouse) in Nashville. This is an all-day event, participants are asked to bring their own lunch, and your PDR number is required. Light snacks will be provided during the day.

The ten hours of face-to-face lessons include, The Importance of Oral Care, Self-Care, Stress & Anxiety in Young Children, Dramatic Play Areas, Fostering Self-Esteem: Tools to Build Up children in the Classroom, Math Skills and Manipulatives, Family Engagement, Weather in the Classroom: Rain, Snow, or Shine!, Movement and Literacy, and Bullying: Identifying Behaviors and Risks Factors.

We also offer Best Care Connected, which is five hours of online training, and Guiding Children Successfully is 30 hours of self-guided study and available online. If you prefer to use the self-guided hard copy of the Guiding Children Successfully, it is available at your local county Extension office.

All training opportunities are offered free of charge and are verified training through the Professional Development Registry (PDR), formerly known as the Traveling Arkansas’ Professional Pathways (TAPP) and support the Better Beginnings quality rating system.

The deadline to register is February 21. For more information about The Best Care classes for early childhood professionals, contact Howard County FCS Agent, Jean Ince, at (870) 845-7517 or email at jince@uaex.edu.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is an equal opportunity/equal access/affirmative action institution. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate or need materials in another format, please contact the Howard County Extension Office as soon as possible. Dial 711 for Arkansas Relay.

Tri-County Regional Library System Board of Trustees Quarterly Meeting Tuesday

The quarterly meeting of the Tri-County Regional Library System Board of Trustees will be held on Tuesday, February 11th, at 5 p.m. at the Sevier County Library-De Queen Branch. Business to be discussed include: financial issues, board of officer elections and dates for meetings in the state.

Marilyn B. Archer, MLS
Director
Tri-County Regional Library System
Serving 11 Public Libraries in Howard, Little River and Sevier counties in Southwest Arkansas

Updated Winter Weather Projection For Arkansas

Free Bariatric Seminar at Howard Memorial Hospital

Heavy Rains Possible in the Early Part of the Week

Here's an update on the severe weather potential for Tuesday afternoon/evening across Arkansas. Heavy rain will also be possible through mid week, with around 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.

Forecast for the Middle of the Week Calls for Snow

Around half an inch to an inch of snow is forecast for Wednesday into Thursday, with higher amounts near 2 inches possible across the northwest.

Rotaract has Chocolate Covered Strawberries for Valentine's Day

Julie Rhodes of UA Cossatot Interview

Julie Rhodes of UA Cossatot visits with Ed 88’s Loren Hinton and talks about the opportunities for high school students to earn a 2 year associate degree through UA Cossatot before leaving high school. If the student transfers to UofA, he/she will pay the same tuition fees of UA Cossatot.

County 4-H Clubs Reorganizing

The Sevier County 4-H clubs are reorganizing and seeking new members and leaders. The purpose of these clubs is to give youth ages 5-19 an opportunity to participate in the youth development educational program of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Youth in 4-H clubs will learn life skills, enhance leadership skills, and increase self-esteem while serving in a number of community service projects. Youth in 4-H clubs have an opportunity to compete in a number of competitive activities, attend camps, and earn scholarships for education.
The following is a list of the Sevier County 4-H clubs: Chapel Hill 4-H Club, Happy Face 4-H Club, Lakeside 4-H Club, Infinity∞ 4-H Club, Froglevel Hoppers 4-H Club, Shooting Sports 4-H Club, Teen Leaders 4-H Club, Goin’ Showin’ 4-H Club, Legacy 4-H After School Club and Community Changers 4-H Club.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
For more information about meetings, 4-H club membership or program benefits, contact Sevier County Cooperative Extension Service located in the Adams Building on the UA Cossatot Campus in De Queen or call (870) 584-3013.