Lifestyle

KINGSLAND - Runaway Music and Kickstart Kingsland will be hosting Runaway Derailed: A Two-Night Acoustic Event featuring country and rock performances on Friday and Saturday, July 21-22, at the Kingsland School auditorium. Doors will open at 4 p.m. each night. There will be a separate lineup of guest performers and bands each day. General admission is $5 while a $10 admission gets a Runaway mixtape that includes both live and special performances by those performing. Paul Abeyta of Runaway Music said the event will focus on hits from the 1990s, and is inspired by inspired by the iconic Unplugged events of the 1990s on MTV. "Our talented musicians will take you on a journey to the past, as they perform hits from Nirvana, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, and many more," Runaway Music wrote about the event. "This unique acoustic and electric music performance will transport you back in time and fill your night with nostalgia and memories." Klaun Goodloe, a disc jockey from Pine Bluff, will be the master of ceremonies for both nights. Friday's performances include Reagan Harvill, Machinedog, The Golden Boy (William Golden) and CS Dubb. Saturday's line-up features Forrest-Brumley; The Experience; Saving For Tuesday, Jamburger Helper, and rising star Josie Hargis, a Christian and country artist from the Warren area who was the Inspirational Artist of the Year at the 2023 Arkansas Country Music Awards. There will be a "Meet and Greet" with many of the performers from 3 to 5 p.m. this Friday, July 8, at the Kingsland School auditorium. Tickets will be sold online and the door for the two-night event. To buy tickets online, go to runawayderailed.ticketleap.com. Bills and Dimes, food truck from Camden, will be on site offering a menu of tacos, quesadillas, sandwiches, specialty drinks and more. Snacks and drinks will be available inside for purchase we well. Bands will also have merchandise table.

FORDYCE, Ark. — On July 5, 1975, Arkansas stopped the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards and Ron Wood, guitarists for the band, drove through Arkansas on their way from a concert in Memphis to a concert in Dallas the next day. Fordyce police officers pulled over their Chevy Impala and...

A Fordyce man got an early birthday present courtesy of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery’s $20 200X instant game. L.C. Brown, who will turn 65 next Thursday, recently claimed his $500,000 lottery prize at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) Claim Center. Brown purchased the scratch-off ticket at Bailey’s Mobile, 2235...

RISON - The Village Farmers and Flea Market will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, July 15, at the Pioneer Village, 200 Yaney Street in Rison. All booth space is free, and there is no admission charge. In addition, the Pioneer Village will be selling breakfast burritos and sausage biscuits as a fundraiser to support the Village. Coffee, soft drinks and bottled water will also be available. Organizer Greg Jaggers said anyone selling traditional farmers market products like fruits and vegetables, cottage food items or handmade items is welcome to attend. Jaggers said they have changed the Homestead Trade Day to a Flea Market to allow a greater variety of items to be sold. He said vendors will be allowed to set up tables and canpopies or simply bring their items in the back of a truck or on a trailer.

Local photographer Michael Weatherford spent a day wandering around the Saline River bottom in Cleveland County just north of the Bradley County line recently. He snapped this beautiful photo of a venomous cottonmouth snake. Photo taken June 26, 2023.

RISON - Rison Shine has announced that this year's Rison in the Fall Festival will be held Saturday, Oct. 7 in Downtown Rison. Festival Organizer Douglas Boultinghouse is now accepting vendors for the event. He noted that food truck spaces have been filled. For more information, call (870) 510-2433 or...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Five Arkansans claimed big prizes this week with the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL). LC Brown of Fordyce claimed $500,000 playing ASL's $20 200X instant game. Brown, who turns 65 on July 6, purchased the scratch-off ticket at Bailey's Mobile, 2235 Highway 79 in Fordyce. “I...

RISON - GRAMMY and Academy of Country Musicnominated, multi-platinum artist David Nail will headline this year's Rison in the Fall Festival, Saturday, Oct. 7, organizer Douglas Boultinghouse has announced. The Rison Shine-hosted event, which is free to attend, will take place in Downtown Rison featuring vendors, food trucks, activities and...

RISON - Logan Grubb and Ryan Cottrell both won Class 3A state titles while Steven Shaddock placed second in their respective weight divisions at the Arkansas Weightlifting Championships held May 6 at Lake Hamilton High School. As a team, Rison's lift total of 4,245 lbs. ranked fifth among the Class 3A schools competing in the meet. Junction City was the Class 3A team winner with 4,750 lbs. followed by Prescott with 4,700, Charleston with 4,565, and Hoxie with 4420. Grubb shattered the old Rison High School records in the 123pound division, lifting 195 lbs. in the power clean and 205 in the bench press for a total lift of 400 lbs. The former 123-pound record at Rison was 370 lbs. Grubb finished second among all 123-pound lifters from all the classifications at the meet. Braden Brown of Class 5A White Hall was the overall winner in the 123-pound division with a 410 lbs. total. Cottrell was first among the Class 3A lifters in the 242pound division. He lifted 235 lbs. in the power clean and 305 lbs. in the bench for 540 lbs. total. He was seventh among all lifters at the meet for his weight division. Shaddock, meanwhile, was second to Reese Merechka of Charleston in both the Class 3A and overall rankings. Shaddock lifted 235 lbs. in the power clean and 265 lbs. in the bench for a 500 lbs. total. Merechka lifted a total of 550 lbs. Rison was forced to move a few lifters up in weight divisions in order to have competitors in each division in order to contend for the team championship. For instance, Coy Socia, who weighed in at 110 lbs., competed in the 132-pound division. Here is how the Rison lifters fared at the state meet: 148 Division - DJ Kines was unable to complete his lift in the bench press. He lifted 195 lbs. in the power clean. 181 Division - Billy Ballard finished third among the Class 3A competitors after lifting 235 lbs. in the power clean and 225 lbs. in the bench press for a total of 480 lbs. 198 Division - Zakyler Walker, who was competing up in…

Opening Day Is May 25; Pioneer Village Market, Trade Day Set For June 17. RISON - The Rison Farmers Market is preparing to open for its 2023 season next Thursday, May 25, at FBT Community Park in downtown Rison. Meanwhile, online registration has also opened for the all-new Village Farmers Market & Homestead Trade Day to be held three Saturdays this summer with the first set for June 17 at the Pioneer Village in Rison. Vendor space for both the Rison Farmers Market and Village Farmers Market & Homestead Trade Day are free. Booth space at the Rison Farmers Market is for those selling fresh produce, plants, cottage food items or handmade crafts/items. The market will be open each Thursday afternoon throughout the 2023 growing season. While some tables will be available, those planning to set up a booth at the Rison Farmers Market are encouraged to bring their own tables and chairs. Anyone planning to be a vendor are encouraged to register online by going to the Rison Farmers Market page on Facebook or going to https://tinyurl.com/38d8c68r Greg…

RISON - A pressure canning workshop for vegetable soup will be held Thursday, April 6 at the Fairgrounds in Rison. Guest speaker will be Michlle Carter, Bradley County Extension Agent. This will be a handson experience and participants will go home with two jars of produce. The cost is $10...

The Haley Creek Boys, a bluegrass/gospel group based in the Hamburg area, will be performing a Gospel Concert at the Kingsland Missionary Baptist Church at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5. The church is located at 220 First Street in Kingsland.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For nearly three decades, the Cooper family has owned and operated restaurants and bakeries in Star City, Arkansas where they've left mouths watering for more. For many in that southeastern portion of Arkansas, their food has left quite the impression and has become iconic as...

KINGSLAND - While most popular culture has focused on the rebellious spirit of American music icon and Kingsland native Johnny Cash, filmmaker/director Ben Smallbone was more interested in another part of his life that, for the most part, has been untold - his faith. Smallbone, along with producer Andrea Royer, hosted a screening of their new film "Johnny Cash - The Redemption of an American Icon" to a group of about 70 people this past Saturday inside the auditorium of Kingsland School. The faith-based film is based on the 2019 book with the same name written by Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Church in California and Hawaii. It was released at theaters nationwide earlier this week. The site of Saturday's screening is about three-and-a-half miles from where Cash was born in the Cross Roads community north of Kingsland on Feb. 26, 1932. Prior to the showing of the film, an audio from Johnny Cash's daughter, Rosanne Cash, was played to the audience in which she told the story…

RISON - The Christmas season officially kicks off this week in Rison with several events taking place through Sunday. Rison Shine will host its annual Christmas Parade this Thursday, Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m., President Celeste Beatty has announced. The parade will begin in the ShopWise parking lot on Main...

KINGSLAND - The Kinsmen Quartet will be in concert Saturday, Nov. 19 at Kingsland United Methodist Church. The concert is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Pastor David Andrews invites the public to attend. The Kismen have been delivering the good news of Gospel through their spiritually uplifting musical ministry...

RISON - This year’s Rison In The Fall proved to be its largest in the festival’s history bringing in more entertainment and vendors with crowds estimated to be over a thousand throughout the day and a few hundred staying through the evening’s concerts headlined by Julie Roberts.

Jayme Montana Cowell and Ty Dylan Butler announce their engagement and upcoming wedding on Saturday, October 8, 2022. Jayme in the daughter of Jospeh Cowell and Jade Cowell, both of Camden, and the granddaughter of Randy and Paula White from Star City and the late Kathey Waddell from Camden. Ty...

RISON - The Rison in the Fall Festival is set to welcome 12-time Arkansas Country Music Award winner Erin Enderlin as a special guest next Saturday, Oct. 15. Enderlin, a native of Conway, will perform on the Main Street stage at 7:30 p.m. prior to headliner Julie Roberts at 9 p.m.

RISON - Julie Roberts may be known for singing the line “I’d sure hate to break down here” in her signature 2004 hit “Break Down Here,” but if you ask her, she’d love to break down in Rison. The star is anticipating her return to this year’s Rison In The Fall Festival, which will take place this Saturday, Oct. 15 downtown.