The Crittenden Press

1 Yep, it sour freeeditionIf you re not a weeklysubscriber to thisnewspaper, you may bewondering why you rereceiving this edition ofThe Crittenden Feb. 10 issue ofyour community news-paper is being distrib-uted to every home inCrittenden County on aone-timebasis. It sa com-mon an-nualpracticefor manynewspa-pers, butthis is ourfirst runat it, atleast news is no lessimportant than it was30-plus years ago be-fore the rise of our In-formation Age andsocial media reporting aboutissues or events in thiscommunity, which af-fect you, can be foundnowhere else in verifiedand accurate detailthan in the pages ofyour weekly , social mediaplatforms are fun, butthey are also filled withmis- and disinforma-tion, which makes ourjob of collecting, verify-ing and reporting factseven more journalism isreliable, accurate, thor-ough and news is at-tributable and reportedby professionalstrained in research andmedia law.

2 Carrying out ourcharge has been thegoal of this newspapersince 1879 and we areproud to continue thiscommitment 143 may see thisnewspaper on thecounter at Food Giantor a dozen other localoutlets, or if you re intown on Wednesday af-ternoons, you may seepeople carrying it out ofour office. Watch andyou just might see peo-ple sitting in their carflipping through thepages before they pullaway from the curb. Ithappens and we appre-ciate all of our the printedpage is how local newshas been shared fordecades, we haveevolved in the digitalworld to offer our news-paper in online elec-tronic format and wealso send it to sub-scribers who prefer thefull email edition. It spretty cool to see thenewspaper in your in-box every week in this a spe-cial issue, what you seeis what you get on anaverage week. News,sports, obituaries, com-mentary, history and See PAPER/page 7A24/7 BREAKING AND LOCAL NEWS / INDEPENDENTLY-OWNED, LOCAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1879 ONE DOLLAROld Kentucky hayrideat fohs hall saturdayThe popular Old KentuckyHayride music and variety showreturns to Fohs Hall Saturday,Feb.

3 12. Two dozen area musi-cians will entertain the crowdwith classic country musicstarting at 7 The show isproduced by local entertainersClassy & Grassy. Canned goodswill be accepted as County FFA will op-erate concessions. You can fol-low Old Kentucky Hayride onFacebook for additional s withdrawalleaves 1 in District 4 Robbie Kirk, a Republicancandidate for District 4 magis-trate in Crittenden County, hassubmitted a Notice of CandidateWithdrawal. Kirk is currentlycounty jailer, but had decidedto not seek re-election. How-ever, he filed to run for magis-trate in District 4. Democratincumbent Chad Thomas is theonly other candidate to havefiled for the District 4 seat onCrittenden Fiscal Court. See fullcandidate list on page to seekboard re-electionRyan McDaniel, a six-year in-cumbent on the CrittendenCounty Board of Education, hasfiled for re-election.

4 Schoolboard races are non-partisanand the deadline to file for anon-partisan election is June serves in District 5,which includes voting precincts3, 6 and 12. He is seeking hissecond full term on the boardafter serving part of an unex-pired term and being elected fora full four-year term in only other school boardseat up for election in 2022 isin District 2 where Eric LaRue isthe incumbent. Five individualsmake up the board of MEETINGS Crittenden County InteragencyCouncil will meet at 9:30 ,Thursday, Feb. 17. Site TBD. Crittenden County Fiscal Courtmeets at 8:30 , Thursday,Feb. 17 at the courthouse. Marion City Council will meetat 5 , Monday, Feb. 14 atcity hall. This is earlier in themonth than the council s typicalmeeting on the third Monday. Fredonia City Council will meetat 7 , Monday, Feb. 21 atcity hall. Salem City Council will meet at6 , Tuesday, Feb.

5 15 atDeer Lakes meeting room. Crittenden County Board ofEducation meets at 5:30 ,Tuesday, Feb. 22. Crittenden -Livingston WaterDistrict will meet at 4 ,Monday, Feb. 28 at Deer Lakesmeeting PressTheCrittenden Press 2022, The Crittenden Press contents of this newspaper,including stories and advertising, are protectedby copyright PressUSPS 138-260 / Marion, Customer2 SECTIONS, 22 PAGES / VOLUME 141 / NUMBER 6 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022No matter your generation or whichplatform you prefer, The Press is therebringing you news and sports in atimely fashion. Join us online today!This Week s Newspaper|Mailed to entire countyAllisonMICK-EVANSTHE Crittenden PRESSW rite NowCommentaryWayne Agent has been sheriff in CrittendenCounty for more than two decades. He s thelongest serving sheriff in county history andthis year will be his it QuitsSheriff, County Attorney, PVA, Jailer, other officialsare not seeking re-election, ending years of serviceBY CHRIS EVANSPRESS EDITORThis year s election cycle willchange the landscape of Crit-tenden County s public serv-ice leadership like none inrecent some cases, this historicelection will mean a changingof the guard in a couple ofcounty offices held for morethan two decades by the sameindividuals.

6 The filing deadline has comeand gone for candidates torun in the spring primaryelection. Among those who arehanging up their spikes ofcommunity service are long-time local servants who havechosen not to seek are Sheriff WayneAgent, County Attorney Re-becca Johnson, PVA RonnieHeady, Jailer Robbie Kirk andMagistrateDan Wood. Together,they sharealmost 100years of ex-perience inpublic of-fice. Anothermagistrate,Todd Perry-man, is notseeking re-election. In-stead, he is campaigning sheriff and property val-uation administrator are thelongest serving of those retir-ing from public office. Theywere each elected in the fall of1998 and took office a coupleof months later, beginningtheir first years of service was elected to serveDistrict 6, which includesShady Grove and the easternsection of the county. John-son was elected as counsel tocounty government and localprosecutor in the fall of 2006.

7 Coincidentally, three ofthose four not seeking a re-turn to office are among thefew Democrats who have heldonto public posts amid a waveof party defections across theSouth and Midwest, and evenhere in Crittenden Countywhere a two-party system hasbeen quite strong for held a majorityhere until 2014. In the past 8years, Republicans havemounted huge gains in thecounty, holding a nearly 60-See RETIRE/page 3 APrimary ElectionMay 17 General ElectionNovember 8 See complete list ofcandidates cur-rently filed on page3 of this project likely toface a six-month delayLongest serving PVAR onnie HeadyCounty JailerRobbie KirkDistrict 6 MagistrateDan WoodFirst elected in 20022nd longest serving County Attorney Rebecca JohnsonArchitectural rendering of design option for new high schoolcPQ^a Schumann $150,000to foundationSTAFF REPORTThe first distribution offunds from the Linda Schu-mann estate are going to theCrittenden County school district has an-nounced that $150,000 hasbeen pledged to its founda-tion, which helps students off-set the cost of dual-creditcollege courses and voca-tional-technical certificationsamong other benefits.

8 Thefoundation began an aggres-sive fundraising effort about ayear ago with the goal of rais-ing $150,000. Before theSchumann contribution, thefoundation had reached aboutone-third of its objective. Schumann, a communityand civic advocate, died inJune 2019, leaving nearly $1million to Crittenden CountyTomorrow, an organization See PLEDGE/page 13 ASTAFF REPORTA shortage of building mate-rials and labor appears likely tocreate delays in constructionprojects on the high schoolcampus. Some will stay on tar-get, but the new high schooland football field will probablybe series of renovation andconstruction plans have beenin the works for more than ayear. Intentions are to build anew high school and upgradethe current high school build-ing, which will be turned into amiddle had been some specu-lation that demolition wouldbegin on the football field thisspring to free up the spot wherea high school will be built.

9 Itnow appears that demolitionand construction of a newRocket Stadium will be delayeduntil after the 2022 fall increase in material costs,plus labor and material short-ages, have been feared for sev-eral months. Last week, schoolofficials began talking about anew timeline that wouldn t kickoff until November. School of-ficials had hoped to advertisefor bids next month and haveconstruction of the field com-plete by September. With the pre-constructiontimeline already a month be-hind, school administrators sayit will be best to plan for a See SCHOOL/page 13 ALawless Bennett R. Lawless, 83, of Smithland, died Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022 at Livingston Hospital and Healthcare Services in Salem. He was born in Lola to Bill and Elsie Faulkner Lawless Sept. 23, 1938. He was a member of Burna Com-munity Baptist Church and previously a member of Birdsville Bap-tist, where he was saved and baptized, Second Baptist in Smithland and Mint Springs Baptist.

10 He was also a member of Local 181 Operating Engi-neers, and Salem Ma-sonic Lodge # 81. He was an amateur radio oper-ator and a veteran of the United States Army. Surviving are a daugh-ter, Bridgett Lawless of Smithland; a son, Daniel Lawless of Smithland; a grandchild, Lakyn Alex-ander; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Doro-thy Buford Lawless; three brothers; and his par-ents. Graveside services were Wednesday, Feb. 9 at McMurray Chapel Cemetery. Boyd Funeral Directors and Cremation Services was in charge of arrangements. Holloman Eddie Bruce Holloman, 71, of Marion, died Tues-day, Feb. 1, 2022 at Liv-ingston Hospital and Healthcare Services, Inc. Surviving are his wife of nine years, Estie Thomas; two children, Patrick Holloman of Prov-idence and Robert (Leta) Holloman of Macedonia, Ill.