Monticello Live

According to Drew County Sheriff Mark Gober, DCSO arrested a 26 year old man, formerly of Monticello, for failure to register/failure to comply with reporting requirements as a convicted sex offender after receiving information that the residence in which he had last reported to be residing in had been vacant for the past month.

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Between July of 2010 and June of 2011, Monticello alone recycled 42.21 tons of newspapers. Considering that the majority of Drew County residents choose not to recycle, that’s quite an impact made by a small percentage of residents.

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These two photos are of the Monticello Doctors exhibit at the museum there are numerous photos of Doctors including the first doctor in Monticello as well as the first African-American Doctor in Monticello, Also in the cases are the tools of the trade, I can remember as a tot going to Dr. Hyatt’s office on Main Street and usually if one in the family was ill all of the family was, but this particular time stands out, Myself and my brother were sick with colds and had to receive a shot, Dr. Hyatt came in with a ominous looking metal syringe full of white liquid stuck it in my arm shot half of it in and pulled the needle out and jabbed it in my brother releasing the remainder of the medicine. How many of you can remember the “old days of modern medicine”?

Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 4pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 4 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

Let’s continue our look around the Square by looking at the east side of the Square, beginning at the north end of Main Street where it intersects with East McCloy and continuing south to its intersection with East Gaines.

As we look at that east side today, we see the several storefronts that encompass Discount Merchandise. Most of these buildings are two-storied. The northernmost building formerly held Plantation House Furniture. That business was preceded by Van-Atkins before their move to Northpark Mall. Before Van Atkins moved to this corner the location housed Sterling’s, a variety store, followed by Dozier’s Shoes and Trotter’s Grocery, operated by Charlie Green. Mr. Dozier’s shoe store was in a narrow space and was known as the “smallest big store in town” to reflect his large stock of merchandise.

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This week we’ll discuss the history and evolution of the south side of Monticello’s Square. Earliest memories recall a wooden two-story building on the southeast corner that housed the R. C. Bennett Saloon in the 1890s, as evidenced in an old partial picture of the Square we own at the museum. The second story once held a “private” poker room.

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The Arkansas Airport Operator’s Association has announced that Monticello’s Ellis Field has been chosen as the 2011 Arkansas Airport of the Year.

The Monticello Airport was also selected as Airport of the Year in 2008.  Our Airport is the only “repeat winner” of this award in over 20 years. 

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Let’s continue our look around the Square by looking at the east side of the Square, beginning at the north end of Main Street where it intersects with East McCloy and continuing south to its intersection with East Gaines.

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During last week’s special city council committee meeting, Rick Shepherd and Dennington Moss with Faulkner Pipe Company addressed the Council about the city’s current water meter problems.

Samples of replaced city water pipes, shown at meeting.

Based on 25 randomly selected old meters pulled from different areas around Monticello and sent to Austin, TX to Fluid Meters for testing, it was determined that the old meters are costing the city quite a large sum of money each month.

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When a resident of Oak View Apartments went to her car, last Wednesday morning, she discovered that it had been hit in the rear, overnight, and the accident was not reported.

When Monticello Police arrived, the investigation led to the discovery that the “hit & run” vehicle was actually a City of Monticello trash truck.  Estimates to repair the vehicle came in at around $3,000.

Since a city vehicle was involved, the Drew County Sheriff’s Dept. took over the case.

City truck #116 was identified as the vehicle involved, which was confirmed by paint marks.

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Around 12:30 Sunday afternoon, the Monticello Fire Dept. responded to the report to a mobile home fire in the Koala Bear Trailer Park on Scott Street.

The resident of the trailer, Eric Burton Bell, attempted to get close to or enter the burning structure while firefighters were still battling the blaze and was arrested by MPD.  Bell was charged with Disorderly Conduct, Obstructing Governmental Operations, Possession of Controlled Substance, and Resisting Arrest.

The cause of the fire was undetermined, but it appears that most of the damage was done in the living room / kitchen area of the trailer.

Another local resident was arrested after she set her own trailer on fire, and assaulted a family member, earlier this month.

Being born and raised right here in Arkansas, I’ve always had a lot of pride at how the rest of the country tends to think of us. I had someone from Iowa once tell me, “It’s so strange to me how you can be on line at the store around here (yes, they say ON line, not IN line) and out of no where some person you’ve never seen before will strike up a conversation with you. It must be a Southern thing…”

That conversation took place many years ago, and as I stand in line at stores today, I wonder how things have changed so rapidly. Are people really less polite today than they have ever been in the past?

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A Monticello woman was very busy, Saturday, October 8, being arrested 3 times, on a wide variety of charges by the Arkansas State Police and the Monticello Police Dept.

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A Dermott man was arrested by the Monticello Police Dept., Tuesday, and charged with voyeurism for his actions outside of a Monticello home.

James E. Dotson, Jr.’s bond was set at $15,000 by District Judge Ken Harper.

Dotson has since bonded out of jail.

A 22 year old Monticello man died of injuries he received Friday morning, in a single vehicle car crash, in Pine Bluff.

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This is an early 1900’s crank style telephone displayed in the kitchen area of the museum, When you would crank this telephone, it would get the attention of an operator who would ask who you were calling, then plug you into that line making a connection and alert the other party with a series of rings, also there would be up to 10 or more of your neighbors on this same “party” line all of whom could at any time pick up their phone receivers and listen in on your conversation.

Come see this and many other interesting items on display at your Drew County Museum, We are open Fridays from 1pm till 5pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 2 pm till 5 pm.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Drew County Historical Society, memberships are $25 Dollars for a single membership or $40 for a family membership. Please mail your membership request to The Drew County Historical Society 404 South Main Monticello, AR 71655.

Last week we stopped at the charming little orange brick structure formerly known as the “Finn McCloy” house. Now we’ll move on south to the next McCloy house.

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This week we will discuss the last block on the west side of North Main. I have chosen to try to cover the entire block because it not only faces Main Street, but also the heart of Monticello – the town’s Square. I had stopped earlier at the First Baptist Church so we could return and review some of the other businesses on that last corner block on North Main Street as we begin our “sentimental journey” around the Square.

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Around 5:30, Saturday morning, the driver of the trailer of hay bales (shown below) seems to have pulled out in front of the Tyson 18-wheeler.  Both vehicles were traveling north on HWY 25 South. 

The collision occurred between All-Occaision Florist and Jordan Drive.

The driver of the Tyson truck was transported to DMH to be checked for injuries.

Triple A Towing removed the big-rig, so the roadway could be re-opened.

Monticello Police, assisted by Drew County Sheriff’s deputies, worked the crash site.

Four teachers from around the state were named finalists for the 2012 Teacher of the Year Award, by the state Department of Education, including a Monticello High School teacher.

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HWY 425 South, just north of Ladelle, was the scene of a fatal motor vehicle collision, Wednesday morning around 6:15, as this Ford pick-up collided head on with this Toyota Corolla.  Monticello’s Fire and Rescue Team was called out to extricate the occupants from one of the vehicles.

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A Monticello woman was arrested Friday, around noon, after MPD responded to a call reporting that she had attacked a local beautician.  The woman was charged with battery, and bonded out of jail, upon being taken to the County Detention Facility.

But that wasn’t the only time she was arrested, that day.

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