Parents in the Huntsville School District who participated in a recent follow-up paper ballot survey indicated their preference for a four-day school calendar for the 2024-25 school year, district officials reported Monday. 

The Record is taking a closer look at issues facing Madison County and how candidates plan to address those issues.

Local merchants are gearing up for what they say is one of the busiest — if not the busiest — holiday of the year: Valentine’s Day.

Dist. 28 State Sen. Bryan King expressed dissatisfaction with the State of Arkansas’ response to the plight of former growers for Cooks Venture, which unexpectedly announced it would close last November.

Medical-care offerings continue to expand in Madison County as Boston Mountain Rural Health Center aims to complete its after-hours urgent-care facility this summer. A new health-care facility, …

Madison County citizens can expect better and faster service in the event of a medical crisis with the long-awaited addition of a third ambulance crew to the Madison County Emergency Medical Service (EMS).

The Huntsville City Council on Monday authorized Mayor Travis Dotson to pursue a line of credit in the amount of $580,000 to purchase two pieces of property from Charles Coger and Lois Jean Coger totaling $350,000, of which Dotson said the city will be reimbursed $200,000 by the Huntsville Airport Commission.

Madison County residents awoke to a very late White Christmas Friday morning, as a promised wet snow event occurred in the early morning hours, blanketing city streets and county roads. City of …

Madison County Sheriff Ronnie Boyd, left, and Madison County Judge Larry Garrett meet Tuesday morning in front of the blueprints for the new Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Jail which is located on 19.22 acres behind the Arkansas Department of Transportation off of Highway 412B East.

The prospect of increasing tourism at Withrow Springs State Park and in Huntsville is on the radar of the Natural State Advisory Council, a group appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in January 2023 and tasked with growing the state’s outdoor economy.

Second-grade students from Watson Primary School in Huntsville sing Christmas songs at the Madison County Courthouse on Friday.

About 50 chicken growers affected by the closing of poultry company Cooks Venture met Dec. 7 in Green Forest to discuss their legal and financial options. The meeting was attended by Patrick Fisk, Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission director; District 28 State Sen. Bryan King, and Eddie Todd, president of the Mo-Ark Poultry Growers Association and incoming president of Arkansas Farmers Union. The farmers also heard from Tray Kitchens, a Little Rock lawyer who said the growers might have a case against Cooks Venture.

Former chicken growers for Cooks Venture, a Decatur-based poultry company that recently declared it will close, will gather at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Train Depot in Green Forest to discuss their future and, according to one farmer, put together a plan for potential litigation.

As the result of an agreement with the Madison County Quorum Court to purchase a new roll-off truck, fees have been increased at the Recycling Transfer Station in Huntsville and a station in Kingston closed in order to make the Solid Waste Department profitable. Even though County Judge Larry Garrett said he would like to find a way to re-open the Kingston station, he expects the station to close permanently on Saturday.

Polk Square in Huntsville lit up for the Christmas season Friday at the annual Lighting of the Square.

FAYETTEVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA — New River Gorge became the nation’s second national river in 1978, its’ designation following the country’s first national river established in 1972: Arkansas’ Buffalo National River.

In an emotional and sometimes confusing special meeting, the Madison County Quorum Court on Monday night voted to purchase a new Mack roll-off truck for the Solid Waste & Recycling Department that was recommended by department manager Christal Baker last summer.

JASPER — After a town hall meeting last Thursday, proponents of turning public land around the Buffalo National River into a national park preserve said they would step back from the idea. The following day, a website touting the benefits of re-designating the land was taken down. 

JASPER — Nearly 1,200 people — more than double the town’s population — packed the Jasper High School Auditorium on Thursday night to voice concerns and pose questions regarding a proposal to turn the public lands around the Buffalo National River into the Buffalo River National Park Preserve.

The Runway Group of Bentonville is “retracting” the idea of turning federal land around the Buffalo National River into a national park preserve, according to State Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, who represents District 28, which includes Madison County.