Page 6 - YearInReview.2017

6 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2018 – El Dorado NEWS-TIMES
April 7
Council denies Country Club Colony petition
Barricades that blocked two entrances into the Country Club Colony were voted to come down following the El Dorado City Council meet- ing.
A petition was previously created by a majority of residents in the neighborhood to permanently close Glenridge Parkway and Woodland, which link North West Avenue to through-traffic.
Mayor Frank Hash read excerpts from an opinon that was submitted by the Arkansas Municipal League and noted other issues such as public safety before the council voted in favor of the barricades coming down.
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April 10
Ancestry.com account leads local woman to lost family
Virginia Dana never knew her background or heritage — until she got help from Ancestry.com.
During a Union County Genealogical Society meeting at Barton Library, Dana explained that following completion of the DNA test, she was able to connect with a cousin who lived 50 miles away, Ed Dunn.
File photo
Finding family: Volunteers work together at the Southside Community Garden, which is located on the corner of Jackson and Pecan streets. Robin Bridges, far left, spoke about “Gardening for Healthier Communities” at a TOUCH Coalition meeting in April.
April 11
El Dorado man pleads guilty to wire fraud, money laundering
Dana noted that she had been raised by her biological mother and non-biological father and that her family never discussed the identity of her biological father.
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File photo
Finding family: Virginia Dana, left, and Ed Dunn spoke at the Genealogical Society at the Barton Library on Sunday. Dana was connected with a part of her family she never knew about, the Dunns, through Ancestry.com.
The Southside Community Garden is a place for members of the com- munity to come and plant a garden. Plots are free and space is provided to residents who want to work the ground and care for the crops and harvest.
Lawrence Shelton, 69, of El Dorado pled guilty on April 10 to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering following an investigation by the FBI and IRS.
Shelton was the CEO, director and founder of a nonprofit organization that focused on “at risk” youth from low-income households called Second Chance.
It was discovered that fraudulent claims were electronically submitted to DHS by the organization, which received federal funding from the USDA through a federal grant managed by the state DHS.
Overpayments made by DHS exceeded $250,000. •••
Southside Community Garden to provide free spaces for families to grow gardens
In the aftermath of the demolition of the former Southside Elementary School, the fenced area, on the corner of Jackson and Pecan streets, was transformed into the first community garden for the area.
The garden is a project that gardening volunteers, the Union County Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, and Robin Bridges, extension agent, collaborated on to help teach the community about growing crops and the health and financial benefit of doing so.