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.

10 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 12, 2014 Cleveland County has agreed to honor the City of Rison's contract with Waste Management should a proposed 2-cent sales tax for solid waste pickup be approved by voters in a special election in May. Should the tax be approved, both incorporated municipalities inside the county - the cities of Rison and Kingsland - will have the option of taking a pro-rated amount of the tax money to be used for solid waste, or allow the county to keep the money and run the program for them. The revenue generated through the tax is supposed to eliminate the need for trash fees inside both the cities and the county.

10 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 5, 2014 It's now official - Cleveland County voters will have an opportunity during the May 20 primary election to decide if they want to support a 2-cent sales tax to replace their quarterly trash bills. County residents now pay $19.10 monthly for garbage pickup. City of Rison customers, served by Waste Management, pay about $6 less per household than the county due to the fact that the city has shorter routes. County customers are served by Get Rid of It, Inc.

10 YEARS AGO JANUARY 29, 2014 A man and a woman are facing charges involving the attempted murder of a man living in northern Cleveland County, Chief Deputy Gary Young of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department reported. Young said that Joe Lunsford, 63, of Star City, and Molly McCool, 42, of Lincoln County, were arrested for their alleged connection with the attempted shooting of Sam McCool, 38, at a residence along Rodgers Road West Wednesday morning of last week. Young stated that Lunsford allegedly fired a shot from a long gun, narrowly missing McCool. Lunsford was arrested on Thursday, and Molly McCool on Friday. Officers indicated Lunsford was an associate of McCool's estranged wife, Molly McCool. Young said he could not comment on the motive for the shooting.

10 YEARS AGO JANUARY 22, 2014 As of January 2, there were 259 people from Cleveland County who had signed up to get health insurance under the new 'Private Option' program being administered through the state. In addition, the Department of Human Services reports that more than half of those signing up are under age 40, which the state claims could help lower premiums for others in Arkansas. The program was approved with bi-partisan support during the 2013 legislative session. The program allows the state of Arkansas to use federal Medicaid funding to pay the monthly private health insurance premiums for eligible individuals who make 138 percent or less of the federal poverty level, or about $15,850 a year for an individual.

10 YEARS AGO JANUARY 15, 2014 Cleveland County Judge Gary Spears said he has reached out to Rison Mayor Vernon Dollar about having the City of Rison participate in a proposed 2-cent sales tax that would eliminate the need for trash bills. Cleveland County and the City of Rison each have their own solid waste contracts. Cleveland County's contract also includes the City of Kingsland. Currently, the county is in the second year of a 10-year contract with Get Rid of It of Arkansas, while Rison is in a contract with Waste Management. Rison residents are currently paying about $13 per month for trash pickup, while the monthly bills for the county and City of Kingsland were recently raised to $19.10 per month.

10 YEARS AGO JANUARY 8, 2014 In an effort to keep the solid waste budget afloat, the Cleveland County Quorum Court voted Monday night to raise trash bills from $15.73 to $19.10 per month effective with the next billing cycle. In addition, the court also approved a motion Monday night to ask voters for a 2-cent sales tax this spring that would be dedicated solely to solid waste and would eliminate the need for trash bills altogether. Cleveland County is currently in the second year of a 10year contract with Get Rid of It, Inc., for door-to-door pickup of trash. In a related matter, Judge Gary Spears told the court that he has not formally signed the contract yet with the trash disposal company. Spears said he will not sign the contract until a dispute concerning the number of households being served through the contract can be resolved. He explained that Get Rid of It claims it is providing door-to-door trash pickup for 2,716 households in the county, while the county has bills going out to a little more than 2,500 customers.

Cleveland County Judge Gary Spears said drainage improvements made more than a year ago probably saved the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in road damage when more than 5 inches of rain fell throughout the county within about a 12hour period on Saturday, December 21. Estimated damage to county roads, several of which were closed, totaled over $70,000. Spears said the rain gauge at his home near New Edinburg showed more than 7.5 inches that day, while measurements of 5 inches or more were common at other locations in the county. The state is expected to declare the county a disaster area. The storm damage left the county starting the 2014 budget year with an unexpected expense that was not included in what was already a tight budget.

10 YEARS AGO DECEMBER 18, 2013 As predicted about two months ago, it appears as though Cleveland County will finish 2013 with a balance of a little more than $100,000 left in county general, shoring up what had been an ailing budget account in recent years. Budget cuts in 2013 apparently helped reverse the trend of dwindling year-end balances. Judge Gary Spears had every department in county general cut their budgets by 8 percent for 2013.