ACO sets fish fry fundraiser
Arkansas Community Organizations is having a fish fry fundraiser Friday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at 3712 W. 34th Ave. The dinners include catfish, coleslaw, baked beans and bottled water or soda for $15. The public is invited to participate, according to a news release. Details: Rosetta Madison, (870) 536-6300.
Local on Tufts Dean’s list
Jose Armando Rodriguez Sanchez of Stuttgart was named to the Dean’s List at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., for the spring 2025 semester. Dean’s list honors at Tufts require a semester grade point average of 3.4 or greater, according to a news release.
Stone Bank among best work sites
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Stone Bank has been named to the prestigious “Best Places to Work” list published annually by Arkansas Business magazine.
The bank applied for the recognition by completing a survey created and administered by the Workforce Research Group. The bank was also recognized the past two years, according to a news release.
The survey included: self-exam (a narrative written by management), an employee survey and WRG’s comparison of the bank’s narrative and employee survey responses versus the same data from a group of its peer organizations.
Since the bank’s founding in 2011 in Mountain View, it has expanded from a small community bank with assets under $90 million to a statewide entity with seven locations and assets totaling $867 million, according to the release.
“Stone Bank challenges our employees to focus on excellent customer service with our 10 Be’s of Boulder Banking,” said Shelia Cannon, branch manager of the White Hall location. “The bank offers competitive benefits, including 15-30 days of paid-time off, medical programs paid at 90%-100% and leadership development opportunities. The bank even offers employees the option of pet insurance.”
Stone Bank in White Hall is located at 7739 Sheridan Road. The bank also has locations in DeWitt, Gillett, Mountain View, Little Rock and Harrison.
UAM plans registration event
The University of Arkansas at Monticello will offer a fall 2025 class registration event July 21-22 for all new and returning students.
On both days, in-person registration will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and virtual registration will be open from 5-7 p.m., according to a news release.
Any student who plans to attend UAM’s Monticello campus, the UAM College of Technology-Crossett or the UAM College of Technology-McGehee is invited to register on the campus they plan to attend.
Students may also visit any office related to attending school in the fall. Parents and legal guardians are welcome to attend; however, no formal program will be held during registration.
Prior to attending the registration event, new students must apply to UAM and submit the necessary materials to the Office of Admissions by July 17. This includes submitting a free admission application and any required test scores and transcripts, as detailed in the RSVP process.
Visit https://www.uamont.edu/admissions/recruitment.html to RSVP to register for classes. Details: UAM Office of Admissions at admissionsoffice@uamont.edu or (870) 460-1026.
Enforcement lowers drunk boating
According to Sgt. Sydney Grant, boating law administrator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 118 Arkansas game wardens worked a heightened enforcement detail over the Independence Day weekend to increase boating safety on one of the state’s busiest boating holidays.
At the end of the weekend more than 2,474 hours of AGFC manpower was spent working to keep Arkansas waters safe, according to a news release.
“Game wardens visited 1,897 vessels for more than 6,700 boater contacts over the three-day weekend,” Grant said. “One hundred and forty citations were issued, which is less than 10 percent of the vessels contacted. Officers also issued 353 warnings during the operation.”
Grant said the number of arrests for boating under the influence saw a healthy decline this year, dropping from 23 during Independence Day weekend in 2024 to 10 last weekend.
“It’s nice to see that number drop, but our goal is really to get those arrests and tickets down to zero,” Grant said. “Until then, we can always improve on our efforts to keep boaters safe.”
Grant said six boating accidents did occur over the weekend, including two fatalities, both on Lake Ouachita. Both fatalities are still under investigation, but preliminary indications point to a continuation of non life-jacket use, according to the news release.
“It’s a sad truth we deal with in boating enforcement,” Grant said. “The vast majority of fatalities recorded from boating accidents could have been avoided if the victim were wearing a properly fitted, functional life jacket at the time of the accident. Quite a few of the citations and warnings issued over the weekend also point to life jacket issues. If one of those tickets reminds people to wear a life jacket next time and saves a life, it’s worth every hour our officers spend on the water.”