No charges to be filed in Baxter County shooting Wednesday
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery says the Sheriffs Office was called to investigate a shooting incident that took place Wednesday afternoon at a residence on Baxter County Road 1101, east of Mountain Home. At approximately 4:02, the Sheriffs Office was notified a man who had sustained a gunshot wound to his neck was being transported to Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home by private vehicle.
Deputies responded to both the Hospital Emergency Room to make contact with the man, who had been shot, and also to the house on County Road 1101 to make contact with the person who discharged the weapon. Initial indications from the preliminary investigation were the 58-year-old male victim, Brian Scott Hand, of Baxter County, had gone to the residence in question and was knocking on the front door. Some kind of altercation had taken place the prior evening at the same residence, and Hand was told not to come back.
The homeowner, 65-year-old Arthur Macleod, and his wife told Hand to leave the property, but he refused to leave and began making threats against them. As Macleod began to close the door, Hand allegedly placed his foot in the doorway to keep the door from closing. At this point, Macleod retrieved a .22 caliber rifle, which he said he thought was unloaded, to convince Hand to leave. Hand backed out into the yard, with Macleod following.
According to Macleod, the rifle accidentally discharged, and one round struck Hand in the neck. Hand left the property and walked to a neighbors house. He was taken from there to the hospital and was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Sheriffs Investigators met Thursday with the Deputy Prosecuting Attorney to determine what charges, if any, would be filed against the Macleod. At the conclusion of that meeting, and after reviewing evidence and formal statements provided by all the parties involved, it was decided that no criminal charges will be filed in the matter.
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Sisk adds more cases to his growing criminal records
The criminal record of Christian Blake Sisk of rural Mountain Home grows longer with each passing year. Electronic court records show the 26-year-old Sisk has been charged with various crimes in 12 criminal cases dating back to 2010 when he was a teenager.
Sisk appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and entered not guilty pleas to his newest cases both filed last month.
In the older of his active cases, Sisk is charged with stealing a riverboat with its 20-horsepower outboard motor and a trailer in mid-May last year. The items were valued at almost $10,000. The boat was eventually located at a residence on Dolph Road in Izard County. Baxter County Sheriff’s Office investigators were able to recover the boat and return it to its rightful owner.
In questioning one of the residents of the home, who was in the Izard County jail on unrelated charges, the Baxter County investigators were told that Sisk, who was a relative of the people living in the home, had been the person who brought the boat and left it on their property.
In another case from last year, Sisk is charged with multiple break-ins and the theft of various items at the Cranfield Marina, including a 2015 pickup truck valued at $50,000. The thefts from the marina were reported in mid-June last year.
The pickup’s owner was able to trace the truck using its On-Star system to the Bass Pro Shop parking lot in Springfield. The Baxter County Sheriff’s Office notified Springfield police and they set up surveillance on the parked truck. According to the probable cause affidavit, Sisk returned to the vehicle and Springfield police officers moved in on him. When Sisk saw them, he began running through the parking lot. SPD officers apprehended him as he was entering a room at a nearby motel.
Sisk is alleged to have admitted to Springfield Police Department detectives that he had taken the truck from the marina property in Baxter County.
According to a news release from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, the two newest cases against Sisk filed this year are related to a break-in at a land company building in Henderson where a hammer was used to beat the doorknob off a door to allow entry to the building. A crossbow and a knife collection valued at $1,200 were reported taken. The break-in at the land company building was reported February 14th.
Sisk was also identified as a suspect in an attempted break-in at the Car-Mart office on U.S. Highway 62 East February 16th. Sisk was captured on video surveillance cameras trying to break open the door to the building by throwing a concrete block at it. When the alarm activated, he fled.
Sisk has been in and out of the Baxter County jail on numerous occasions and has also served several stints in the state prison system.
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Baxter County welcomes new safety coordinator and 9-1-1 supervisor
Baxter County Office of Emergency Management Director Jim Szierchula says he’s pleased to introduce the county’s new 9-1-1 Coordinator Mike Shetrompf and the new county Safety Coordinator David Stults. Shetrompf is taking the place of Shannon Chapman, who served in the position for nearly one year. Stults replaces Will Syfrett, who serves as the chief of the Buford Volunteer Fire Department. Both Shetrompf and Stults have served as dispatchers for the Emergency Enhanced 9-1-1 Operations Center.
Shetrompf has been a 9-1-1 dispatcher for approximately 10 years. His duties now include ensuring the operations center runs smoothly. The job entails making sure dispatchers have the tools they need to efficiently accomplish their tasks and the 9-1-1 system is functioning as it should.
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The current enhanced 9-1-1 system automatically retrieves a name, address and phone number for landlines only. A call from a cell phone retrieves the cell phone number and what tower the signal is coming from.
Shetrompf says on rare occasions the cell phone signal may ping to an exact location. This presents a challenge for dispatchers who have to obtain the information, then manually enter it into the system.
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Stults has worked as a dispatcher for about three years. He started his position last week and says he’s just now getting his feet wet. He says he looks forward to “hitting the ground running.”
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Szierchula says duties for the Baxter County Safety Coordinator include developing and implementing county-wide safety programs, drug and alcohol testing, workers compensation and assisting the OEM Director.
Stults is a 2011 graduate of Mountain Home High School. He was an intern for KTLO, Classic Hits 101.7 and The Boot his senior year.
Szierchula says he’s confident in the abilities both Stults and Shetrompf bring to the table.
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Governor’s conference on tourism begins Sunday
Tourism partners from across the state will meet at the 44th Arkansas Governors Conference on Tourism Sunday through next Wednesday at Southland Park Gaming & Racing in West Memphis. This years theme is Natural Connections. The annual gathering of Arkansass tourism industry offers sessions on a variety of topics such as musical heritage, marketing to a diverse audience, social media and more. The early bird party will include Arkansas musicians Amy Garland, Greg Spradlin, and deFrance.
Mountain Home resident Brandy Jordan has been nominated for the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award for her work with the 2017 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series. The event was successful enough to return to the Twin Lakes Area this year. Jordan is the World Series Chair, President and Event Coordinator who worked alongside Mountain Home Youth Baseball League President Tom Czanstkowski and several volunteers.
The nomination Jordan received is for the Parks and Tourism’s 2018 Henry Awards. The Outstanding Volunteer Service Award recognizes a community, individual or organization that makes a substantial contribution to Arkansas’s tourism industry.
The winners from seven different categories will be revealed.
The opening keynote speaker for the event is former Austin, Texas, Mayor Will Wynn. Governor Asa Hutchinson will present the Tourism Hall of Fame Awards to Cathy Drew and Mike Mills during a luncheon Monday.
Also speaking during the conference will be Aubrey Preston, founder of the nonprofit Americana Music Triangle Project; Cliff Jones, a native of the Arkansas Delta who has explored the regions rich musical legacy; Jay Salyers, senior vice president at Miles Partnership; Lyn Pilch and Susanne Thiede-Barnet, founders of public relations firm Pilch & Barnet; and Mark Peterson, professor of community and economic development with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
The conference will culminate with the presentation of the 2018 Henry Awards.
Other conference topics include:
– How Communities are Using Music as a Tourism Driver
– Destination Selling for Everyone
– Mississippi River Country for the Entire State
– The U.S. Civil Rights Trail
– Co-op Marketing
– Enhancing Tourism Through Walking Trails
The Arkansas Tourism Development Foundations annual auction will take place Monday night. The money raised from the silent and live auctions funds scholarships for individuals seeking careers in the hospitality and tourism industries.
The Arkansas Governors Conference on Tourism was first held in 1975 at Dogpatch, U.S.A.
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Local eatery sees a record amount of customers “paying it forward”
It all started with a kind act Thursday morning, at around 7:00, at the local Hardee’s on 500 Highway 62 East in Mountain Home. A person purchasing two sausage egg biscuits and a medium drink decided they would also pay for the meal of the vehicle behind them.
Local Hardee’s manager Kim Phares says that one act turned into the largest amount of people returning the favor and “paying it forward” than she has ever seen. The random act of kindness continued until 10:45 Thursday morning after 85 people had paid for another’s meal. Phares recounts “this type of thing happens occasionally, but never to this extent.”
She says with all the negative things that can happen in a day, she was amazed and pleasantly surprised how much one good act could have such a positive impact.
She goes on to say she feels happy and blessed to know there are still good people in the world, especially across the Twin Lakes Area.
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