Redrawing lines a try for fairness
      Last year's special census in Benton was a wise move, paying dividends through 2011. The cost was recouped the first year in additional state turnback, meaning Benton will enjoy hundreds of thousands of dollars in more revenue each year through the 2010 federal census. (Results are released the n...
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Nutt wins big in Hog opera
John Brummett
      Is there a winner in sight in the latest tragi-comedic story line of our ever-running hogaholic soap opera, this business about football coaching, up on what the local television people incessantly call "the hill?" Yeah, here's one: It's - oh, how I grimace to say this - Houston Dale Nutt.
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Precautions keep season merry
Lewis Delavan
      Christmas should be a gay time of year, but it's easy to overlook dangers. An average of 8,700 people are treated at hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to Christmas decorations. More than 400 fires occur annually each yuletide season, causing nearly two dozen deaths, five dozen injurie...
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Internet changes way we shop for Christmas
Mike Dougherty
      Does the pace of the human race speed up during Christmas time, or is it just the clock or the calendar? Maybe the question should be amended to pose it as the pace of Americans. Whatever the reason, scientific or psychological, the pace seems to quicken during the late days of November and the ...
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Coach Hannibal: Power of one, changing lives
      Editor's note: Krista Hannibal, who would have been 21 on Dec. 1, was the volunteer coach for the newly formed soccer team at Harmony Grove High School. She died in a car accident in Benton on Nov. 26.
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Some Christmas letters annoying like fruitcakes
Pat Laster
      For several years, Christmas letters have garnered as bad a rap as fruitcake, sentiments I never shared since I enjoy hearing from friends and family, and because I like fruitcake. (Have you tried Archway's Fruitcake Cookies? Yummy.
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