Custom-built home is designed for fun and family

BY ANNETTE BEARD Times Editor annetteb@nwanews.com

A home fit for a teen! The home of Dino and Sharon Collins at 2510 Hayden Road is the perfect haven for a teen — or two or three. The couple and their three children, Justin, Joshua and Jasmine, love their custom home, which they designed and built. Dino Collins is a builder and assistant chief of the Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department, as well as a member of the Pea Ridge Planning Commission. Sharon joins him in the family business. The couple met in December 1985 while students at Dardanelle and Atkins high schools. She studied drafting and surveying in school while he studied carpentry. Together, they honed their skills creating their dream home. With the help of family members — both immediate and extended — as well as friends, the Collinses constructed the 4,200-square-foot home. - Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Crabtree honored by governor for excellence in regionalism

BY ANNETTE BEARD Times Editor annetteb@nwanews.com

As the first and only chairman of the Missouri-Arkansas Partnership, Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree was honored as an integral part to Benton County being named an Arkansas Community of Excellence. Crabtree was honored Tuesday, along with Benton County Judge Gary Black, for their work in meeting the criteria for the certification. Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe certified Benton County as an “Arkansas Community of Excellence.” “MAP was the organization they worked through,” Crabtree said, explaining that members of MAP served as the lead for the ACE certification. MAP, begun in 2005, has about 120 members from the region. “The Regional Chamber of Commerce serving southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas, was begun in 2004 and MAP in 2005,” Crabtree said. MAP meets once a month in various locales throughout the region. Benton County is the latest county in Arkansas to receive state approval for an economic development plan that reaches across state lines. MAP was created by leaders in Benton County along with Mc-Do - Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Fire chief seeks increase to fund capital improvements

BY ANNETTE BEARD Times Editor annetteb@nwanews.com

Options for increasing the income of the Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department were to be presented to the Pea Ridge City Council Tuesday night during the regular council meeting. Fire Chief Frank Rizzio said the current rate for city customers on city water is $2 a month, a rate that was established in 1986 and has not increased. He prepared several alternatives to the department’s budget, showing the budget with no increase, with a $1 per month increase and with a $2 per month increase. This past year, Rizzio said, the department began paying two firefighters to staff the station from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the weekdays. The money for those salaries is depleting the savings accounts which are set aside for capital improvement funds, he said. In the Nov. 4 general election voters in the fire service district defeated a request to change the $25 voluntary dues in the county to a $50 mandatory payment. Rizzio said more than 300 people paid the voluntary tax this past year, compared to approximately 100 before l - Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Thanksgiving dinner for seniors set for Saturday

Beta Alpha will have their Thanksgiving dinner for senior citizens at noon, Saturday, Nov. 22. The dinner will be at the First Baptist Church in Pea Ridge on Slack Street. For more information, contact Eula Landis at 451-1305 or Ruth Talburt at 451-4638. - Wednesday, November 19, 2008