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25th Annual Depot Days
Aug 22, 2023
25th Annual Depot Days
25th Annual Depot Days
All Types of Southern Music at Its Best
September 16th in Downtown Newport, Arkansas
For Immediate Release
August 18, 2023
Newport, Arkansas
(870) 523-3618
The 25th Annual Depot Days on September 16th features its most diverse range of southern heritage music yet! The festival will open with Crutchfield, a contemporary Christian music band from Malvern, Arkansas. Crutchfield has opened for well-know Christian groups like Crowder and Skillet and will bring their blend of a little rock, a little country, a little pop and a whole lot of faith to the Terry Scoggins Memorial Stage in the Front Street Park in downtown Newport.
Following Crutchfield, the ShotGunBillys will have the stage rocking with their high energy blend of southern rock and Memphis blues. Fresh from entertaining 15,000 people at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, ShotGunBillys is coming to rock northeast Arkansas. You won’t be disappointed if you like rock and roll! Over the last 20, years the ShotGunBillys have played across the nation delivering the same doubled-barrel thrills to a sleepy Arkansas Roadhouse, the Daytona Bike Week or in Sturgis.
Next up, two gifted musicians Cameron Kimbrough and Damion “Yella P” Pearson, better known as the Memphissippi Sounds bring their custom blend of urban Memphis hip-hop and north Mississippi hill country blues to the stage. The blues will reach right into you as you hear Yella P on the harmonica or listen to the two riff on their guitars. It will be clear why their debut album received a Blues Award nomination for Best Emerging Artist Album. You’ll see for yourself why they are a King Biscuit Blues Festival favorite.
Kish and Pamela will bring their rocking contemporary country sound to the stage and be sure to entertain you. Kish Moody and Pamela Hopkins, who returns from tour the week before Depot Days, will play many of your favorites and some original music currently on country radio! Get ready for a fun show full of energy and sing along with your favorites.
At this point in the evening, you’ll want to trade your lawn chair for a set of dancing shoes as the Big Dam Horns play your favorite party and dance tunes from the 1960’s through today. Taking their name from Little Rock’s iconic bridge, the 12-member group brings its horn infused one-two punch of jazz, blues, soul and R&B with a little rock and roll thrown in for good measure. They will have you stomping your feet, clapping your hands and dancing the night away.
Headlining the festival will be Chapel Hart, a trio of Mississippi women who sing pure country music the way it was meant to be sung. The group was a huge hit when they competed on America’s Got Talent and their talent propelled them to a spot on the 2023 CMA Television Awards show with their original hit, “You Can Have Him, Jolene.” Danica and Devynn Hart and their cousin Trea Swindale combine their Mississippi roots with Louisiana spunk to put on a high energy show that will show you why they were inducted into CMT’s Next Women of Country in 2021.
Not sure you’ve heard songs by all of these acts? Each of the groups has a Facebook page and website with music online, but be careful, if you listen to them, you might just be hooked! Come to Depot Days and enjoy the best that southern music has to offer from Christian to blues to rock to country to soul to R&B there is music that will delight everyone.
Depot Days will have its 25th Annual festival in downtown Newport, Arkansas on September 16th. Vendors and Food Trucks open at 1 pm and great music will play until 9 pm. Come out and enjoy it all! For more information, contact the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce at (870) 523-3618 or visit Depot Days on Facebook.
Jackson County Community Theatre!
There's No Place Like Local This Holiday!
Newport Christmas Parade The Newport Christmas parade will be held Thursday, December 14, 2023 beginning at 6 p.m. Entries are now being accepted at the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce for business and nonprofit organization floats, walking groups, antique vehicles, beauty queens, horseback riders, school clubs and organizations, etc. Participants will be traveling down Hwy. 69 to Malcolm Avenue then down to Village Mall parking lot. Awards will be given for first, second and third place for both the commercial and non-commercial categories. Entry is free, and participants may choose their own holiday theme. However, Santa Claus will be flying in early from the North Pole as the last entry in the parade, so please do not plan a “fake” Santa on your float. Float judging will begin no later than 5:30 p.m. Please include the name of your business or organization somewhere on your float for faster judging. Line up will be held in the parking lot across from Riceland Foods no sooner than 5 p.m. (McLain and Hwy. 69). Walkers and dance groups should line up on the Riceland side of Hwy. 69. Vehicles that are entered in the parade are to enter the parking lot from McLain Street and face toward Hwy. 69. There will be a line up crew on hand. The line up area will be very crowded. Those who are driving vehicles that will not be in the parade are asked to find parking on the Riceland side of Hwy. 69 and walk across to the line up area. If dropping off a parade participant, please do not enter the parking lot. If you are planning to watch the parade along the route with children, please make sure that they stay by the street curbs and not in the road for safety purposes. Immediately following the parade, there will be a drive-by Christmas display event at the home of Dr. Patti Mullins, 4 Sue Circle. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there. Enter by clicking the link below. Entry forms are also available at the Chamber office, 201 Hazel Street. Completed forms may be faxed to 523-1055, dropped off at the Chamber at 201 Hazel Street, or emailed to director@newportarchamber.org . In the event of inclement weather, parade participants will be notified of an alternate date. Parade Entry Form
Mary Alice Holden Conner Memorial Park Closed For Maintenance
Public Notice for KOKR Radio
Public Notice for KNBY Radio
18th New Vision Newport Leadership class now accepting applications!!
Newport Alumni Hall of Fame Banquet Thursday, August 10, 2023
NEDC Wins Settlement Worth $2.5 Million in Medical Marijuana Lawsuits For Immediate Release Newport Economic Development Commission Newport, Arkansas director@newportaredc.org The Newport Economic Development Commission won a settlement with a value of $2,518,015.00 yesterday in two separate lawsuits concerning the relocation of a medical marijuana cultivator previously located in Newport, Arkansas. In November of 2020, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission approved a transfer of Natural State Wellness, LLC’s license to Good Day Farms, LLC. At that same meeting, the Commission also approved a transfer of location, allowing the facility to move from Newport, Arkansas to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Jon Chadwell, Executive Director of the Newport Economic Development Commission made a formal request to the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission to reverse the decision to move the facility. That request was denied. In April of 2021, Attorney David Couch, a Newport native, filed a lawsuit for plaintiffs the Newport Economic Development Commission; the City of Newport; the Newport Charitable Foundation and the Newport-Jackson County Industrial Development Bond Board against the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission; the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division; Good Day Farm, LLC; Natural State Wellness, LLC and Harvest Health and Recreation, Inc. in Circuit Court of Jackson County. The suit was to recoup economic damages caused by the relocation of the facility. That lawsuit was followed by another lawsuit in October of 2021 by Couch for the Newport-Jackson County Industrial Development Bond Board to recapture possession of the property sold to Natural State Wellness with all improvements, including the building constructed on the property by Natural State Wellness. The lawsuit against the property owner BLRS was moved to federal court. On February 22, 2023, a mediation process was held with Couch and Chadwell representing the plaintiffs and individuals and attorneys representing Harvest Health and Recreation, Inc. and Good Day Farms, LLC. Through the process, the defendants agreed to a settlement which returned the building and land to the Newport-Jackson County Industrial Development Bond Board, awarded $1,000,000 in cash restitution to the community and covered the legal fees and costs. The total value of the settlement is $2,518,015.00 which is being paid through a negotiated agreement between Harvest Health and Recreation, Inc. and Good Day Farms, LLC and a transfer of property from BRLS to the Newport-Jackson County Industrial Development Bond Board. “We feel vindicated to receive this settlement from Harvest Health and Good Day Farms on behalf of Newport,” stated Jon Chadwell. “We have many exceptional businesses in Newport that are significant partners in growing the community. However, when a business does not live up to its commitments, we feel obligated to take action behalf of the community.” Newport Mayor Derrick Ratliffe said, “The City of Newport has established a very pro-business environment and we are excited to have this building back under local control so we can use it to recruit another company to our community.” This settlement brings an end to the two-year process of seeking restitution for Newport and Jackson County.
2023 Chamber Banquet is February 3
