warren watkins portfolio
DESCRIPTION
The Daily CitizenTRANSCRIPT
I N D E XNATION & STATE, 3A OPINIONS, 4A
CALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 5ALIFESTYLES, 6A SPORTS, 1B
CLASSIFIEDS, 5B
CitizenDailyThe
W E A T H E RToday: Partly sunny. Highsin lower 90s. Southeastwinds 5-10 mph.Tonight: Mostly cloudy.Lows in mid 70s. Southeastwinds 5-10 mph.
Vol. 156, No. 160©2010 The Daily Citizen
“ ”That which is not goodfor the bee-hive cannotbe good for the bees.
MARCUS AURELIUSRoman soldier, 121-180
Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277
TUESDAY, JULY 6, 2010 50¢
RESIDENTS LEAVING ALEXANDER CENTERResidents have started moving away from a facility inLittle Rock after officials decided to close it.— PAGE 3A
Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854 www.thedailycitizen.com
SEARCY TEAMSWANT TO FINISH STRONGThe Land O' Frost and Crain Automotive teamslook for strong tournament finishes.— PAGE 1B
Soldier tells of military life
By Warren [email protected] Brooks, 59, has thou-
sands of friends who areconstantly bringing him
something sweet.An amateur beekeeper, Brooks
has five beehives behind his homeon Mitchell Road north of Searcy.Brooks was raised around bees
— his father was a beekeeper,too — and about seven years agodecided he’s get back into thehobby himself. A hive and theminimum equipment, includinga bee suit, headgear and smoker,costs about $500, Brooks said.“They don’t like stormy days
and they don’t like you messingwith them at night,” Brooks saidMonday as he put smoke near theentrance of a hive, then opened it.“When they’ve got a good nectarflow with lots of honey they don’tpay much attention to me.”Smoke calms the hive, making
the bees go deeper into the boxand gorge on honey, a reactionBrooks attributes to a God-giveninstinct getting the bees ready toabandon the hive in the face of anintruder. With swollen abdomens,the bees find it harder to curl theirtails and sting, making it easierfor beekeepers to raid the hive forhoney, something done once ortwice a year in the summer or fall.Bees usually roam about two
miles from their hive, Brookssaid, making a bee’s normal rangeabout 16 square miles, but under
stress they can go about fourmiles out.The females are the worker
bees and become housekeepersafter they are born, then baby-sit-ters, then either guards or nectar-gatherers. Worker bees have dif-ferent jobs, Brooks said.“They’ve got guards at the
front door. That’s their job,”Brooks said, explaining whyhe puts the smoke there first.“Worker bees only live about five
weeks during the honey season.They work themselves to death.Their wings wear out and theybecome tattered on the ends, sothe worker bees drop into thegrass to be eaten by birds or liz-ards.”The male bees are drones,
and while their job of just eatingand mating might sound good tosome at first, that must be weighedagainst their eventual end, Brookssaid. In preparation for winter, the
drones are literally shown the doorin the fall and either made to leaveor stung to death by the workerbees.Queens can be spotted because
they are long and slim, Brookssaid, and are surrounded by her“court,” an entourage of attendantbees facing her.Each spring, bees divide and
swarm, and beekeepers can cap-
A drop of pure honey hangs from a beekeeper’s tool held by Rick Brooks of Searcy. The raw honey contains pollen from local plants thatsome with allergies feel helps them develop resistance. Warren Watkins/[email protected]
BEE-LIEVING IN THE SWEETNESS OF LIFE
Pastor blessed in church and hive
By Luke [email protected] Southerland, a Signal Corps.
Communication Major in the U.S.Army, constantly hears the question,“What’s the military doing overseas?”During his leave, Southerland vis-
ited his parents’ hometown of Searcyand tried to answer that and otherquestions at lastweek’sKiwanismeet-ing.Southerland is preparing to travel
to Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman,United Arab Emirates and more, andhas already traveled all over theworld.He loves his job in the military.He spent time going to college
in Arizona, where he received an
ROTC scholarship.“Iwent to collegebecause I thought
that’s what I was supposed to do,” hesaid.Soonenough,Southerlandendedup
in the army. His father had previouslyspent 30 years in the service doing thesame job. But Southerland stressedthat his choice was not planned.Once there, he felt he knew his
Events, timesoverseas related
DAVID SOUTHERLANDDesignation:Signal Corps.CommunicationMajorTheater:Afghanistan,othersPrevious job:Military recruiter
MissiontoMobileto provideuniforms
By Warren [email protected] Harding Academy
Wildcat football team islooking for partners — notto block, tackle, run or passbut to help them on theirmission trip to Mobile, Ala.July 22-23.The Wildcat football mis-
sion statement, taken fromthe Bible, speaks of serv-ing “with the strength thatGod provides,” and whilethe squad does off-seasonstrength training, what theyneed for the summer missiontrip is the power of dona-tions, according to CoachRoddy Mote.The team will work
with the Mobile Inner CityChurch of Christ in an out-reach effort within the RVTaylor community, an innercity community withinMobile that has a popula-tion of 198,000, Mote said.Members at the church havean average annual house-hold income of $8,000 andthe annual contribution at
MISSION TRIP TOMOBILE, ALA.Date: July 22-23Who: Harding AcademyWildcatsElementary schooluniforms: $54Middle schooluniforms: $65
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2A
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2A
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2A
The Associated PressTONTITOWN—Officials
say construction on a north-west Arkansas power plantthat will be fueled by methanecollected from a landfill willbe complete by this fall.The $8 million, four-mega-
watt plant will be located atWaste Management's Eco-Vista landfill in Tontitown.Projections call for it to pro-duce enough electricity topower about 4,000 homes.Jay Maruska, the proj-
ect manager for WasteManagement's renewableresources division, says thecompany has to destruct themethane anyway and usingit to generate power is oneway to make money off ofthat process. He says it makesmore sense than burning offthe gas.The power will be sold to
utility companies to be sentinto the region's electrical dis-tribution grid.Maruska says when the
Tontitown facility goes online,it will join about 60 similargenerators on other WasteManagement landfills.
Methanepower plantnearing
completion
SOUTHERLAND
These worker bees were too busy making honey Monday to worry about a photographer gettingtoo close. The bees were in a beehive belonging to beekeeper Rick Brooks. Warren Watkins/[email protected]
