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5 days ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Becca Martin-Brown
Eric Yarberry is 31 years old. He's married. He takes public transit to his job in Little Rock, where he is chief executive officer for World Services for the Blind.
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1 week ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Penny Weaver
VAN BUREN -- The Crawford County Library System board is set to meet just two days after a new court decision related to a federal lawsuit focusing on a former "social section" at the county libraries. An updated meeting agenda issued Thursday morning added a "court fees ruling" discussion item under "new business" on the board's slate of topics for the session.
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1 week ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Becca Martin-Brown
Immigration to and through Northwest Arkansas is a long story, sometimes easier and sometimes more difficult to hear. The Cherokee came through Northwest Arkansas on the Trail of Tears in 1838-39.
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1 week ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Shane Monaco
FORT SMITH -- While Arkansas State Police are warning drivers about operating their vehicles impaired this weekend, local officials said they don't expect any issues.
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1 week ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Randal Seyler
FORT SMITH — A 56-year-old Hackett man admitted he molested a girl from the time she was 3 years old until she was 6 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Jamie Leon Speaks pleaded guilty Monday morning in Sebastian County Circuit Court to second-degree sexual assault of a victim less than 14 years old and as a habitual offender with two previous felony convictions. Prosecutors agreed to bring no additional charges against Speaks in exchange for his guilty plea.
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1 week ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Penny Weaver
FORT SMITH -- More than a decade after he raped a 6-year-old female relative, a Fort Smith man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Damien C. Marks, 30, of North 48th Street in Fort Smith, must serve 12 1/2 years before being eligible for parole, according to Sebastian County Circuit Court documents. Marks pleaded guilty Feb. 26 to one count of rape and was sentenced to 25 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections plus a 15-year suspended sentence, court records show.
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2 weeks ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Penny Weaver
ArrestsSebastian CountyKelli Casey, 31, of Yorkshire Drive in Fort Smith, was arrested Tuesday in connection with maintaining a premises for drug activity and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. Casey remained in the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center on Wednesday on $10,000 bond. Roy Lee Casey, 31, of Yorkshire Drive in Fort Smith, was arrested Tuesday in connection with maintaining a premises for drug activity and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor.
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2 weeks ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Graham Thomas
GREENWOOD – An early four-run inning wasn't quite enough for the Greenwood Bulldogs on Tuesday so they plated another. The Bulldogs scored four in the second and sixth innings for an 8-4 win over Mountain Home in the opening game of a twi-night 5A-West Conference doubleheader.
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2 weeks ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Campbell Roper
VAN BUREN -- Chapters on Main Bookstore and Coffee Shop is reopening the Chapters Book Club on Thursday. The book club will meet at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at the Van Buren bookstore, located downtown at 816 Main St. According to the store's website, group members will decide at Thursday's meeting what book they will read this month. The website also states group members will discuss their expectations for the club at the meeting.
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2 weeks ago | 
rivervalleydemocratgazette.com | Penny Weaver
ArrestsCrawford CountyKenneth Gilkey, of Spiro, Okla., was arrested Sunday in connection with delivery of methamphetamine or cocaine. Gilkey remained in the Crawford County Detention Center on Monday on $150,000 bond. Fort SmithDerrick T. Hanzy, 30, of Spradling Avenue in Fort Smith, was arrested Sunday in connection with aggravated assault on a family or household member involving a firearm and aggravated assault on a family or household member involving choking.