Week in Review 12-4 to 12-10

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Eaton found not fit to proceed



    Shawn Douglas Eaton of Mountain Home, who is charged with a number of offenses having to do with inappropriate contact with young girls, has been found unfit to proceed in the cases filed against him, according to an announcement made during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.

    The finding was based on a forensic evaluation done by Dr. Stephen P. Nicholas.

    Eaton faced charges of sexual indecency with a child and two counts of 2nd degree sexual assault. He was originally arrested in July after Mountain Home Police were called to the Donald W. Reynolds Library. The victim in that case was an 11-year-old female who told police that a man identified as Eaton came up to her in the library and touched her inappropriately. She said she pushed his arm and that he stepped away a short distance and then exposed himself.

    According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, Eaton is alleged to have told investigators that he engaged in such behavior frequently.

    Eaton was also involved in another incident that took place in July at a retail store on State Highway 5 South. Investigators said the second incident also involved an 11-year old girl. She reported being groped in her “private area” and Eaton is said to have admitted to approaching the girl and touching her inappropriately.

    The next incident took place in late August when Eaton is alleged to have exposed himself to a 10-year-old girl. The girl told investigators that Eaton was outside her mother’s home when the girl went outside to ride her bicycle and that he had exposed himself.

    Neither the state nor the defense objected to the findings of the forensic evaluation. Proceedings in the cases filed against the 20-year-old Eaton will be suspended and he is being committed to the custody of the Department of Human Services for detention, care and treatment.

    DHS was ordered to report back to the court within 10 months.

    According to court records in a guardianship case filed in late 2013, Eaton was described by a local medical doctor as bipolar. A guardian was appointed for him due to his condition.



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Local veterans remember attack on Pearl Harbor



     Commemorating the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941 Tokyo Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he would have a summit meeting with President Barack Obama in Hawaii and visit Pearl Harbor. He will be the first Japanese leader to go to the site of the Japanese attack which took place 75 years ago and propelled the United States into World War II.

     The visit to Pearl Harbor comes six months after President Obama became the first American president to visit Hiroshima since World War II. Prime Minister Abe says he would like to send a commitment to the United States to never repeat the tragedy of war and a message of reconciliation between Japan and the U.S.

     Local Veteran and retired Air Force Master Sergeant Jessie Milford, served in the military for over 23 years in locations around the world and says the visit by the Prime Minister is good news.


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     Milford, who was recently honored at the Annual Freedom Is Not Free event at Mountain Home High School with the Quilt of Honor, says he remembers where he was when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened at the age of 13.


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     Another local Quilt of Honor recipient, Charles Jackson, says he was working as a tool-and-die apprentice at a munitions plant in Georgia when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He decided not long after to join the navy.

     Jackson worked on the U.S.S. Leedstown as part of the ship’s radar crew. In January 1943 the ship sailed for the invasion of the Marshall islands, a major step in the Navy’s island hopping campaign which ultimately pushed Japan backed and contributed to their defeat.


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     Jackson recalled the U.S.S. Leedstown was part of a convoy when a Japanese Kamikaze plane crashed into the ship next to them. Jackson says he returned to the United States after the final invasion of Iwo Jima. He is now one of two combat veterans from a group of the Leedstown who used to meet regularly. Most of the group has since died.

     According to a spokesperson from the American Legion in Mountain Home, the last local survivor of the Pearl Harbor bombing died two years ago.



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Mtn. Home woman remembers attack on Pearl Harbor



     Seventy-five years ago Wednesday, the day then President Franklin D. Roosevelt said would go down in infamy, when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, Polly Millhouser of Mountain Home was a 21 year old girl living in Honolulu with her sister. She remembers that morning being at church when she learned of the attack.


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     She says they didn’t realize at first what had happened.


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     After Pearl Harbor, Millhouser went to work at the naval base where she met her future husband, Charles, a Marine stationed at Pearl Harbor during the attack. She says he never talked about what happened on the day we now call Pearl Harbor Day.


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     Millhouser’s husband died more than 20 years ago. Today she resides on her own in Mountain Home where she is a longtime volunteer and member of the Baxter County Friends of the Library.



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Bass Cat founder and former Mtn. Home Mayor Ron Pierce remembered



     A former Mountain Home mayor, business leader, outdoors man and Chairman of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission board of directors, Ron Pierce has died at the age of 81. Pierce served as mayor of Mountain Home from 1977 to 1985 during a period when Mountain Home’s current mayor, Joe Dillard, was Baxter County’s judge. Dillard, who calls Pierce a great leader, says they worked together on many projects.

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Pierce

…the loss.

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     An entrepreneur, Pierce and his wife Jan began Bass Cat Boats, considered one of the industry’s highest quality bass fishing boats in their two car garage. Today the company, run by Pierce’s son Rick, is located in a Midway industrial park with over 100 employees. Dillard speaks of that business’s success.


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     In 2006, Pierce was selected by then Governor Mike Huckabee to serve a seven year term on the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission. Loren Hitchcock, a former director of the commission, recalls his first meeting with Pierce in the early 1990’s. At the time, Hitchcock was chief of the commission’s enforcement division. He says he went to Pierce to inquire about purchasing Bass Cat Boats for wildlife enforcement officers to use while on patrol in the field.


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     Hitchcock says Pierce brought his wealth of knowledge as a businessman to the commission, which has over 600 employees and a multimillion dollar budget.


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     Hitchcock calls Pierce a great man and says it was an honor and pleasure to work with him. He remembers Pierce as a family man who loved his children, grandchildren and especially his wife, Jan.


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     A memorial service for Ron Pierce will be Sunday afternoon at three at First Baptist Church in Mountain Home. The family will begin visiting with friends one hour prior to the service. Arrangements are by Roller Funeral Home.



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Baxter County Sheriff seeks Reserve Deputy position



     The Baxter County Sheriff’s Department is now accepting applications for Reserve Deputy Sheriff. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Reserve Deputies serve in a support role on a volunteer basis and are unpaid.

     Reserve Deputies must meet all of the same minimum qualifications that full time certified law enforcement officers must meet, as set out by Arkansas State Law. These minimum qualifications are outlined in detail on the employment tab of the Sheriff’s Office website at baxtercountysheriff.com.

     Applicants who appear, on paper, to meet all of the minimum qualifications will be the only ones considered for an interview. A thorough background check will be conducted on any applicant following an interview. Minimum qualifications should be read carefully before applying.

     Applicants are required to attend 100+ hours of evening and weekend training classes beginning at the end of February, 2017. Only those who can commit to attending all of the training sessions should submit an application.

     Reserve Deputies must donate at least eight hours of their personal time per month to the Sheriff’s Office and attend one meeting per month in order to remain active and certified. In addition, a minimum of sixteen hours of continuing education per year will be required.

     Applications are available at the Sheriff’s Administration Offices during normal business office hours. The deadline for applying will be Friday, January 20, 2017 at 4:30 in the afternoon.




   

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