10 YEARS AGO APRIL 23, 2014 The Rison School campus was put on lock down for a short period of time last Wednesday afternoon after a man had threatened to bring a gun to the campus over a family matter. Law enforcement officers learned that the suspect was possibly at a residence in north Rison, and when deputies went to the location, they found him there. The 51-year-old Pine Bluff man was arrested and taken into custody at the Cleveland County jail in Rison.

10 YEARS AGO APRIL 16, 2014 The board of the Cleveland County School District unanimously approved giving all classified staff employees a $200 pay raise, plus added another 'step' to the classified pay schedule. Supt. Johnnie Johnson said the classified staff had not received a pay raise since 2010. Classified staff includes all noncertified school employees, such as office personnel, maintenance staff, and others. The board recently voted to give the certified staff (faculty) a $500 pay raise, plus added another step to their pay schedule as well.

10 YEARS AGO APRIL 9, 2014 Even though it's only April, county treasurer Jack Hopson warned the Cleveland County Quorum Court Monday night that the county general budget could be 'running in the red' by the end of the year. The county's sales tax revenue for county general was down for the third consecutive month, and the budget for the county is running behind 2013. While projections are showing a possible shortfall, no formal action on the matter was suggested by the court.

10 YEARS AGO APRIL 2, 2014 Mayor Vernon Dollar informed the Rison City Council Tuesday night that the city may be close to reaching an agreement to sell its first piece of property at the Rison Industrial Park on Hwy. 79 north of Rison. Dollar reported he met with a potential buyer who was interested in purchasing five acres of the 40-acre park site. Dollar said the prospect would like to put in a service and parking area for his trucks that run in this region. The park is located on the east side of the highway across from the pole plant.

10 YEARS AGO MARCH 26, 2014 Cleveland County Judge Gary Spears said two houses located across Sycamore Street from the court square here were razed earlier this week to make way for a new parking area as well as a site for a possible new county building in the future. The county received $40,000 from the General Improvement Fund of the state to buy the property and make the improvements. Spears said $32,500 was used to buy the two houses and property, while the remaining $7,500 will be used to build the parking area. Spears said the plans are to build a parking lot at the site located next to the Hall-Morgan Veterans Building, while the lot for the other house located at the southeast corner of Magnolia (Hwy. 133) and Sycamore will be left vacant as the site for a possible county building in the future.

10 YEARS AGO MARCH 19, 2014 Circuit Judge Don Glover on Monday found probable cause to hold a Warren man without bond for capital murder in connection with the Friday night shooting death at Monticello of a Cleveland County woman. Jonathan Woods, 30, of Warren, is suspected of firing multiple gunshots at 30-year-old Samantha Poole of Woodlawn before he was wounded by a gunshot, fired by a Drew County deputy. Poole is a 2002 graduate of Woodlawn High School and has a daughter who attends Woodlawn Elementary. The shooting occurred at 7:39 p.m. Friday at the corner of North Hyatt and W. Trotter streets, adjacent to the Save-ALot grocery store in Monticello. It is reported that it began as a domestic incident.

10 YEARS AGO MARCH 12, 2014 Cleveland County Judge Gary Spears told the Quorum Court that he plans to hold at least three public meetings around the county in early May to explain the county's proposed 2-cent sales tax for solid waste services. In February, the court approved putting the proposed 2cent sales tax before voters during the primary election on May 20. If approved, the tax would eliminate the trash bills that residents currently receive - over $61 on a quarterly basis.

(The following items were compiled by Stan Sadler from files of past issues of the Cleveland County Herald. For questions or comments, contact Stan Sadler, P.O. Box 325, Rison, AR 71665, phone (870) 830-2056 or 870-325-6412; or email at sadler.stan@yahoo.com) 10 YEARS AGO MARCH 5, 2014 The filing deadline for the 2014 election cycle came to a close at noon Monday, with several locally contested races making this year's ballot, including those for state representative, county clerk, coroner, two Quorum Court positions and two constable positions.

10 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 26, 2014 The opening of the one-week filing period for candidates seeking office this year brought a few unexpected surprises to the local political landscape by Tuesday afternoon. Multiple candidates have filed for county clerk, county coroner and for Justice of the Peace District 9. The filing deadline is at noon on Monday.

10 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 19, 2014 Unless there is a rush of lastminute candidates, it looks as though the 2014 election cycle could have the fewest locally contested political races in several years.