Top 10 stories of 2019
PART TWO: Numbers 1 through 5
As the new year begins, it is time to reflect on the top headlines of 2019. Siloam Springs experienced many changes that were exciting, fun, serious and sad.
While compiling the list of top news stories, the Herald-Leader staff considered not only community impact, but the amount of public interest and engagement the stories evoked. This is the second part of a series listing the top 10 stories of the year. Stories six through 10 were published on Sunday and stories one through five are listed below:
1 Two tornadoes and high winds hit
A storm with two tornadoes and strong straightline winds hit Siloam Springs during the early hours of Monday, Oct. 21.
An EF1 tornado touched down at midnight in Adair County, Okla., cutting a 9.5 mile path ending 2.5 miles southeast of Siloam Springs. The second tornado, an EF2, touched down at 12:08 a.m. on the north side of town and tracked for more than 31 miles across Benton County, ending in Rogers, according to the National Weather Service in Tulsa. Straight-line winds of 80 to 85 miles per hour also hit the area.
The storms toppled trees and power lines and damaged 236 residential structures and 27 non-residential buildings inside the city limits, according to city estimates. Two people were transported to the hospital with minor injuries after the semi-truck they were driving on Arkansas Highway 59 was blown over by the storm. The storm also caused extensive damage in rural areas of Benton County and killed one man in Rogers when a tree fell on his home.
About 1,000 electric customers inside city limits were left without power and uninsured losses for the city were estimated to be
$1.5 million.
During the storm, the city of Siloam Springs did not sound sirens until 12:13 a.m., more than five minutes after the second tornado touched down. In addition, two of the city’s eight sirens did not sound at all. The city received criticism on social media for not sounding sirens earlier and City Administrator Phillip Patterson issued a statement apologizing for the delay.
“It is now clear that we (city staff) failed the residents of Siloam Springs by not sounding the sirens earlier,” Patterson said. “We did not have the right people in the right place at the right time to make the correct decision. It is my promise to the residents of Siloam Springs that this will not happen again. We will revise our policies and procedures and will ensure that the appropriate staff have the proper training.”
The October storm was the second instance of severe weather to hit Siloam Springs in 2019. A severe storm on Wednesday, May 29, downed trees and power lines.
2 Memorial Park opening
Memorial Park and Chautauqua Amphitheater officially opened on Saturday, May 25.
The grand opening celebration included a ribbon cutting, ceremony, speeches and a music lineup that lasted all day. The celebration took place a little over a year after city officials broke ground on the project.
The five-acre park, located behind the Siloam Springs Public Library at the intersection of Jefferson and Mount Olive Streets, includes a splash pad, gazebo, farmers market area, Killed in Action Memorial and the Chautauqua Amphitheater and stage.
The park was funded by a 3/8cent quality of life sales tax that voters approved in November 2018, and a $300,000 Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Grant from the Walton Family Foundation. The total cost was $3.26 million.
3 Superintendent changeover
During a school board meeting on Jan. 10, Superintendent Ken Ramey announced his plans to retire on June 30. Ramey had worked for the Siloam Springs School District for 27 years and had served as superintendent since 2001.
In total, Ramey’s career in the education field spanned 52 years and he was named State Superintendent of the Year by the Arkansas Association of Education Administrators in 2017.
The announcement sparked a search for his replacement as school board members held a series of meetings to choose and then interview the top four candidates. In April, then Assistant Superintendent Jody Wiggins was hired to fill the top spot.
Wiggins has worked for the district for 17 years and held the position of assistant superintendent since January 2013. He also served as programs coordinator, vice principal, assistant principal and athletic director in Siloam Springs.
Although Ramey’s last day was officially June 30, about halfway through the board meeting on June 20, Ramey handed the keys to the Siloam Springs School District over to Wiggins and turned the meeting over to him.
4 JBU 100th anniversary
John Brown University held its 100th anniversary celebration during the week of Sept. 26-29.
JBU was founded in 1919 by John E. Brown Sr., a Methodist evangelist, educator and author. It began with just 70 students and now has more than 2,800.
The three-day celebration featured a time capsule opening, a celebration dinner, a Michael W. Smith concert, and a host of class reunions, sporting events and tours.
During the celebration dinner on Thursday, Jim Krall, vice president for university advancement, announced the Christian university exceeded its sevenyear fundraising goal of $125 million for the Campaign for the Next Century by $31 million. The resulting $156 million in gifts and pledges is believed to be the largest capital campaign for a private university in Arkansas.
5 Fire Station No. 2 complete; fire training tower opens
The Siloam Springs Fire Department completed renovations to Fire Station No. 2 and opened a new training tower in 2019.
Renovations to the historic building on North Mount Olive Street that houses Fire Station No. 2 began on Jan. 23. A grand opening for the station took place on Oct. 9 and featured a fire hose uncoupling and a pushing in ceremony, where firefighters manually push a fire engine into the truck bay.
The renovations to the building included the addition of semiprivate cubicles for sleeping, improvements to the plumbing, heating and air systems and a display area in the entryway for the department’s first motorized fire truck which dates back to 1921.
In June, the department also celebrated the opening of a newly constructed training tower at 1450 Cheri Whitlock Drive behind Fire Station No. 1.
The tower took about a year to construct at an estimated $800,000. The fourstory tower allows firefighters from Siloam Springs and across the region to practice techniques such as rappelling, maneuvering in confined spaces and working in a live fire in the two burn rooms. Stairs allow the firefighters to access the tower from the outside at any level.
The addition of the training tower was more than 20 years in the making, according to Fire Chief Jeremey Criner.