By Donna Hilton

Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia was chosen Arkansas’ Business of the Year Thursday evening by Arkansas Business magazine.
The business won in category 3 of the competition, which is for businesses with 75 to 300 employees, Bill Wright, president of Elk Horn Bank and Trust, an affiliate of Southern Bancorp, said.

“People from every major business in Arkansas were there,” Wright said. “Over 900 business executives from all over the state attended.”

By Steve Fellers

Dr. Maya Angelou, considered one of the great voices of contemporary literature, shared her wit and wisdom with a capacity crowd Thursday at Henderson State University’s Arkansas Hall.

“I’m happy to be in Arkansas,” Angelou said. “You can never leave home. I found my great rainbows in the sky in Arkansas.”
Angelou often mentioned “rainbows in the clouds,” referring to the positive influences in her life.

By JOSH TROY

The people have spoken. History was made just before 10 p.m. Tuesday when the final results came in. On January 1, 2006, the cities of Helena and West Helena will become one.

Approximately 3,500 voters turned out and voted in favor of consolidation, making the unified community the 25th largest city in Arkansas with a population of approximately 15,000. The merged city’s name will be Helena-West Helena.

Still riding high after Tuesday’s vote of Helena and West Helena, consolidation supporters say they’re not worried about the next step in the process – redistricting – even through the responsibility falls on the fractious West Helena City Council.

A large rural community development bank in Arkadelphia fears it could lose a million dollars a year if some of President Bush’s budget proposals are carried out.

Officials at Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia said the elimination of new appropriations through the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and the Bank Enterprise Award would damage the bank’s plans.

Southern Development Bancorporation of Arkadelphia will receive a $1.8 million equity grant to help the bank acquire additional branches to provide housing, business and consumer lending in the Mississippi Delta region, the state’s Democratic Congressional delegation announced Thursday.

U.S. Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Reps. Mike Ross and Marion Berry announced more than $1.8 million in grants provided by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The money is aimed at providing assistance to low-income, rural areas of the state.