Ashdown High School's Tobacco Prevention Chapter of Project Prevent Youth Coalition

A portion of the Ashdown PPYC chapter with their anti-vaping bulletin board. L-R VonJoy Thomas, MaKayla Dixon, Aniya Polite, Chloe Silva, T’Nia Washington, Cole Smith & Anijah Ramnarine

Ashdown High School's tobacco prevention chapter of Project Prevent Youth Coalition (PPYC) is beginning it’s second year on the AHS Campus.  The chapter is funded through a grant by Stamp Out Smoking and Arkansas Children’s Hospital for seven years.  According to their website, “Project Prevent is a youth tobacco prevention initiative of Stamp Out Smoking.  By exposing the truth about Big Tobacco and arming you and your peers with knowledge, tools, and power to make informed choices, our goal is to prevent Arkansas youth from smoking or using tobacco products.  Project Prevent works year-round to provide events and programs to engage you and your friends in new ways.”  Project Prevent Youth Coalition is "aiming for a happy, healthy, and tobacco-free Arkansas." 

The mission of PPYC will provide youth with action-oriented activities that address social norms about tobacco and nicotine.   

Throughout the year students will have two advocacy projects which may include providing signage around campuses to inform that it is illegal to smoke on campus grounds and read age appropriate books to elementary students on the unhealthy effects of smoking.    

More information can be found at sosprojectprevent.com.

Project Prevent

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Ashdown High School Students Honored at SAU Induction Ceremony

Six students from Ashdown High School were recently honored at Southern Arkansas University in an induction ceremony for teacher cadets. The Arkansas Deputy Commissioner of Education, Dr.
Pfeffer, spoke to the students. The Teacher Cadet Program at Ashdown High School is a concurrent credit college class, partnered with SAU, that encourages “academically talented, high-achieving, high school students with exemplary interpersonal and leadership skills to consider teaching as a career.” The Teacher Cadet Program has become the national model for pre-collegiate teacher recruitment programs across the United States. The course will include, among many other things, instructional, motivational, and disciplinary tools for teaching and first-hand knowledge of teaching through practical experience in the elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The Teacher Cadets include Ricky Branscum, Will Burnett, Blaire Gentry, Lannah Huddleston, Anna Moss and Keely Turner. The instructor is Dr. Julie Sheppard.

FAFSA Financial Aid Overview at Nashville High School Thursday

NASHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL will host a FAFSA Financial Aid overview tonight at 6:00 PM in the High School Cafeteria.  It is OPEN to all parents and students from the surrounding area. Lisa Smith with the State Department will go over what the 2020 seniors are responsible for completing before entering into a secondary education facility.  The address is 1301 Mt Pleasant Drive, Nashville AR.

Everyone is welcome.

UA Cossatot is Leading in Post-Secondary Enrollment

The Arkansas Department of Higher Education has announced the statewide colleges and universities fall 2019 preliminary enrollment numbers. The data shows that from fall 2018 to fall 2019, UA Cossatot had the highest post-secondary enrollment increase for all public two-year colleges and four-year universities in the state of Arkansas.
Since the beginning of the academic year in August of 2018, the college has achieved a 14.8% increase for post-secondary students. This increase surpasses the community college total average of 0.6 % and the four-year university average of - 2.5%.
UA Cossatot’s overall student enrollment percentage combined for concurrent and post-secondary students saw a 4.0% increase in enrollment beating the community college average in Arkansas, which is 1.4%. The four-year university average in Arkansas for total enrollment is -2.4%, which UA Cossatot exceeded as well.
According to UA Cossatot Chancellor Dr. Steve Cole, “We are obviously pleased with our numbers, especially the large increase in post-secondary students. I think this is reflective of how our students and future students view us, and that is a college that not only offers highly skilled technical training, but also a college that prepares them for university transfer. Add to that the new transfer scholarship to the University of Arkansas, where transfer students pay our tuition rate at the U of A, and I think we have a pretty good idea why our post-secondary numbers look the way they do”.
UA Cossatot has also announced that the college has reached a total enrollment of 1,521 students for the fall 2019 semester, which is UA Cossatot’s largest enrollment since 2014, and the eighth highest of the 22 two-year colleges in Arkansas.

Cossatot Community College

The University of Arkansas - Fayetteville's Chancellor, Dr. Joe Steinmetz has announced that the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville will now charge associate degree graduates from UA Cossatot the same tuition rates those graduates were charged at UA Cossatot. Upcoming Events

Hurrah Festival in De Queen October 5th

Coach Jacob Lee Guest Speaker at De Queen Lions Club

De Queen Lion Tail Twister, Jeff Holcombe, introduced Coach Jacob Lee as the guest speaker at De Queen Lions Club noon meeting on Tuesday. Lee talked about the Leopard and Lady Leopard tennis teams at Tuesday’s meeting.

Customer Appreciation Day Tuesday at Sevier County Farmers Co-Op De Queen

Kaylynn Kiker is the company Representative for Elanco and she says her company has a special offer (Tuesday only) for Co-Op customers!

Ed 88 visits with Anneke Carr of Animal Health International

Customer Appreciationn day at the Co-Op with Josh!

Chris Kyle with Vitaferm is at the Custmer Appreciation Day at the Co-Op!

Leslie Chandler of Sofarmhouseco of Sevier County is live at the Custo.Dr Appreciation Day at the Co-Op!

Don Bush of Consumer Supply is at the Co-Op.

B with the Final Prize Drawings

It's Banned Books Week at the Sevier County Library System

Banned Books Week (September 22-28, 2019) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. It brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.
The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted for removal or restriction in libraries and schools. By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship.

Mark Dale of Nashville Parks and Recreation

Mark Dale of Nashville Parks and Rec was in our Nashville studio Tuesday morning to talk about the upcoming Golden Gathering on October 10th.

Morris Ranch & Triple J Angus Ranch Angus Sale October 19th

Big event coming up for one of our newest Ed 88 Community Partners, Morris Ranch, Inc.

NWS Shreveport Issues a Flood Warning for Little River Near Idabel

Issued by the National Weather Service
For Sevier County, Arkansas
RIVER FLOOD WARNING FROM 8:20AM CDT WED UNTIL 3PM CDT FRI THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A * FLOOD WARNING FOR THE LITTLE RIVER NEAR IDABEL. * FROM WEDNESDAY MORNING TO FRIDAY AFTERNOON...OR UNTIL THE WARNING IS CANCELLED. * AT 8:30 PM MONDAY THE STAGE WAS 15.5 FEET. * MODERATE FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FLOOD STAGE IS 30.0 FEET. * FORECAST...RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BY WEDNESDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE TO RISE TO NEAR 32.2 FEET BY EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY THURSDAY BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

Sevier County Coalition to Host Refuse to Be a Victim Lunch-and-Learn

On Thursday, October 17, 2019, the Sevier County Coalition’s Live Well Sevier County Committee and UA Cossatot will be co-hosting a Lunch-n-Learn presentation entitled Refuse to Be a Victim on UA Cossatot’s De Queen Campus. The presentation will begin at 12:00 noon in the Weyerhaeuser room, located in the Skilled Trades Building, and will conclude at 12:40 p.m.

UA Cossatot Police Officers Monte Stringfellow and Jason Curtis will provide participants with tools needed to develop their own safety strategy, including information on the psychology of the criminal mind, home and phone security, automobile and travel security, personal and technical security, and self-defense tools. Stringfellow says, “Refuse to Be a Victim is not a firearms or a self-defense course. We’ll be providing practical information geared toward awareness and avoidance of criminal attack.” Curtis added, “As we enter into the upcoming holiday season, which often involves traveling and shopping, one of the most important steps toward ensuring your own safety is having a personal safety strategy in place before you need it.”

Stringfellow, a resident of Horatio, has a long career with police service. He began his police work in 1992 with the City of De Queen Police Department before joining the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office in December 1993. He worked there until 1998, when he left police work for the construction industry. He ran for Sevier County Sheriff and was elected in 2008. He served as the Sevier County Sheriff until 2012, and joined UA Cossatot in 2013 as a Campus Police Officer.

Curtis, a resident of Ashdown, has over 20 years of experience in police service. He began his police career as an officer in 1995 for Ashdown Police Department. Throughout Curtis’s career, he has worked as a patrolman, canine officer, criminal investigator, and as a Patrol Sargent. He has also worked with the Little River Sheriff’s Office and the Texarkana Police Department transporting US Marshall Service inmates. Curtis joined UA Cossatot as Campus Police Officer in 2013.

Stringfellow and Curtis hold, among other credentials, Law Enforcement Certifications and are Certified Police Professional Instructors. Both are also Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response and Refuse to Be a Victim trainers.

All are invited to bring their lunch and join officers Stringfellow and Curtis for this free event. For more on Lunch-and-Learn programs, visit the Sevier County Coalition website at seviercountycoalition.com or call UA Cossatot’s Continuing Education Services at (870) 584-4471

Community Organization | Sevier County Coalition | United States

Have a local event you would like to add? Contact us below and we can add it to our community calendar!

Sevier County Farmers Co-Op Customer Appreciation Event Today

Tuesday, September 24th, the Sevier County Farmers Co-Op is hosting a customer appreciation celebration! Everyone is invited to come by and check out the giveaways, refreshments, and demonstrations. A number of agri products company reps will be on hand including:
VitaFerm – Chris Kyle

Elanco – Kaylynn Kiker

BWI – Andy Rayburn

K&K Vet Supply – Tim Morphew

Weaver Supply – Danny Allen

Consumers Supply – Don Bush

Animal Health International – Anneke Carr

Plenty of great deals and free burgers for everyone! And Ed 88 will be there too! The fun starts at 10 am and goes till 5:30 pm this Tuesday at the Co-Op in De Queen!

Dr Steve Cole on the Latest Efforts of Building a New Hospital in Sevier County

New development in the effort to build a new hospital in Sevier County. Here is Dr Steve Cole

Heavy Rains on the First Day of Fall

Heavy rain drenched parts of the 4-state area this morning on the first day of fall. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will remain in the forecast for the next couple of days followed by a slight chance of rain possible for the remainder of the week into the weekend.

Annual Hurrah Days Rotary Breakfast Saturday October 5th

De Queen Rotary Club will be hosting their annual Hurrah Days Breakfast Oct. 5 (7:30 am to 9:30 am). Meal will include eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuit, gravy and drink for $6. Children under 12 are $3. Meal will be served at Sevier County Senior Citizen Center. Proceeds will benefit Sevier County Museum. Enjoy a delicious breakfast before you start your day at the Hurrah Festival! For more info, contact Tammy Huddleston 584-2550.

Weekly Update from State Representative DeAnn Vaught

In Arkansas, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men will be the victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime. In 2018, 44 Arkansans died as a result of domestic violence.

Domestic violence occurs among all types of families, regardless of income, profession, region, ethnicity, educational level or race.

This week, a rally was held inside the Capitol to raise awareness as we approach Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The Governor and legislators also recognized the work of the 32 domestic violence shelters across the state assisting 18,000 Arkansans last year.

Every year, we study ways to strengthen our domestic violence laws in an effort to reduce and eliminate this epidemic.

In the 2019 Regular Session we passed the following bills addressing domestic violence:

ACT 499 creates a privilege of communication between a victim of domestic violence and the personnel of a domestic violence shelter or center and makes confidential certain communications between a victim and a victim advocate.

Act 498 reconciles the differences between the offenses of domestic battering in the first degree and battery in the first degree and increases the penalties for battery offenses under certain circumstances.

Act 324 allows for an additional sentence of 1 to 10 years in prison if certain offenses are committed in the presence of a child. The offenses include murder, aggravated robbery, felony assault or battery, and rape. Domestic violence is the leading predictor of child abuse.

Act 113 helps ensure that the $25 fee added to domestic violence convictions is directed to fund domestic violence shelters.

Act 908 amends the Arkansas code concerning orders of protection to align with federal code.

Domestic violence not only affects victims and families, it harms entire communities.

Below are numbers to 24-hour crisis lines:

Women and Children First - (800) 332-4443

Arkansas Coalition Against Sexual Assault - (800) 656-4673

Arkansas State Police Child Abuse - (800) 482-5964

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence - (800) 799-SAFE (7233)

National Human Trafficking Resource Center - (888) 373-7888

Local Mass Flu Clinics

Daniel Martinez and Callie Miller of the De Queen/Sevier County Chamber of Commerce

Daniel Martinez and Callie Miller of the De Queen - Sevier County Chamber of Commerce were in our studios Friday to talk about the free movie at the UA Cossatot Amphitheater this Saturday night, as well as a number of other upcoming area events.

Lisa Taylor, Sevier County Economic Development Director

Lisa Taylor, Sevier County Economic Development Director, visited with us Friday about the "Ralph Lauren" misunderstanding on the Morning Show With Loren on Ed 88.