The southernmost window at the Banner-News’ 130 S. Washington offices in Magnolia was shattered early Saturday morning as observed windspeeds reached between 22 and 39 mph in southwest Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service of Shreveport.
An officer from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident and found no signs of vandalism. A nearby, portable “road work” sign at the corner of E. Calhoun S. Washington — which was still swaying in the milder, post-storm winds Saturday afternoon — may have also been a culprit, along with the harsh winds, in the property damage.
The roughly half-inch thick window was part of the former Office Outfitters business that closed in March and occupied a section of the newspaper’s two-sided building complex. Plywood was applied to the vacant space Saturday afternoon and the untempered glass shards were cleared away.
Sign damage was also seen in the direct vicinity of the Banner-News after the Jan. 19 storm front that brought freezing or near freezing temperatures and rain to parts of the region, along with snow and ice to the more northern reaches of the state.