Editor's note: This article, published in October 2021, features a 96-year-old Charlie Payne while on the golf course with a group of friends. Payne celebrated his 101st birthday on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. The article won a first place award in the Features category by the Society of Professional Journalists. We are resurfacing this story as it originally appeared, and wish Mr. Payne a very Happy Birthday. By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com GURDON, Arkansas — With the sun gradually rising above the tops of loblolly pines that skirt the perimeter of Red Martin Country Club, Charlie Payne has just finished…
Clark County real estate transactions recorded Aug. 28 through Sept. 10, 2026, having a value of $100,000 or greater. Information is gathered from public records held by the Clark County Circuit Clerk, online real estate records via actdatascout.com and the Arkansas Secretary of State. The Arkadelphian includes names of grantees, grantors, transaction price and property description available, and does not withhold names. A variety of factors, including improvements made to a home or property, are considered in real estate prices that may increase from when the seller bought the property. The top property transaction in the past two weeks is the $375,000…
The prisoner who escaped the Clark County Detention Center is set to spend the next several years in a state penitentiary after pleading guilty Thursday to multiple felonies, 9E Prosecuting Attorney Dan Turner announced. Sean Anthony Bright, 31, of Arkadelphia, entered guilty pleas in two separate incidents, including the case for which he was incarcerated when he walked away from the jail on Easter Sunday. Bright appeared with his attorney, Winston C. Mathis, before Circuit Judge Blake Batson. For the 2025 fleeing case, Bright was sentenced to a total of 11 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. The sentence…
Clark County’s unemployment rate for July 2026, not seasonally adjusted, was at 5.4%, according to a preliminary county-by-county report released by the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services. According to the report, Clark County had a labor force of 9,628 persons with 9,111 employed and 517 unemployed. The unemployment rate rose one-tenths of a percentage point since June’s report of 5.3%. The labor force fell by 272 persons from 9,900. Clark County held the second-highest unemployment rate of its neighboring counties, second to Nevada County. The unemployment rate for the neighboring counties surveyed from June to July are listed with their…
The AAUP survey polls faculty at schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia
Jeff Wadlin, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, will be in Arkadelphia on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, for a one-hour candidate meet-and-greet
The grant supports ongoing projects ranging from rice quality and brewing applications to water stewardship and crop management
A proposal by President Donald Trump to give $5,000 to each American adult if Republicans retain control of the U.S. House and Senate in November would “explode” the national deficit and worsen inflation, according to an analysis issued Thursday by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
Arkansas’ soybean harvest is moving at a record pace for this time of year
Hutchinson, a former two-term Republican governor, had a front-row seat to the changes the U.S. went through in the months following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people
The Trump administration wants to overhaul the U.S. census to exclude noncitizens who don’t have a green card from the country’s next population count in 2030
In 2019, Henderson State University in Arkadelphia was within a week of having no cash on hand. Today, its finances have recovered, its enrollment is up, and it’s looking for ways to distinguish itself from other schools. But it won’t be paying anyone to play football.
The University of Central Arkansas conferred about 450 undergraduate and graduate degrees
The ruling did not affect Arkansas, which has a waiver prohibiting SNAP recipients from using their electronic benefits cards to purchase candy, soda and certain other items
The following people have recently been booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Crittenden Street in Arkadelphia
The Literacy Council of the Ouachitas is making its free adult literacy services more accessible in Clark County with new weekly office hours at the Clark County Library
Recently, I have seen questions raised on social media regarding city government, our budget, and how decisions are made. I would like to provide some clarification.
There was a time when Arkansas called the Cardinals and Arkansas State University cheered on the Gorillas
It took the Arkadelphia Board of Directors nearly three hours to rate City Manager Gary Brinkley’s job performance as “between good and excellent.”
The following people have recently been booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Crittenden Street in Arkadelphia
Twin Rivers Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center will host a Candlelight Vigil on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, beginning at 7:30 p.m., on the grounds of the Clark County Courthouse
The Clark County Historical Association announces the publication of a new book, Clark County Notables: Pioneers, Businessmen, Builders, Farmers, Politicians, Historians, Soldiers, Outlaws, Crooks, Rascals, and Other Memorable Characters of Yesteryear by Wendy Richter
Effective 11:17 a.m. Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, Okolona Waterworks was placed under a boil order by the Arkansas Department of Health
Sen. Tom Cotton and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders are definitely still the favorites to win in November. But the election just got more interesting.
The current hot weather pattern in Arkansas is not driven by El Niño; however, it may bring much-needed precipitation at the end of the year.
James Virgil Parks, 39, was sentenced Monday to 80 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for 25 counts of possession of child sexual assault material
Then there’s Charlie Payne who, at 96 years old, makes this morning ritual of put-downs a daily routine. The longtime Arkadelphia resident has lived through the Great Depression, served the country during World War II, lettered in five college sports and made a career out of teaching, coaching and leading schools in capacities as both principal and superintendent.
The following incidents were gathered from reports filed Sept. 7-13, 2026, at the Arkadelphia Police Department and Clark County Sheriff’s Office
Cal Marie was a dedicated public servant, with a career that included being a deputy sheriff and a welfare fraud investigator
Clark County had Arkansas Scholarship Lottery ticket sales totaling $444,281 in August 2026, according to a report released by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration — Office of the Arkansas Lottery
