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February 18, 2015
THE POLK COUNTY
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1168 Hwy 71 S • Mena, AR 71953 • 479-243-9600
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Riner’s Call to Legislators Heard; Bell Files Bill to Clarify ‘Person’ in Arkansas Law
BY MELANIE BUCK A bill has been filed in the Arkansas House of Representatives to clarify the definition of ‘person’ in Arkansas law. The bill was filed on the heels of a landmark conviction, won by Prosecuting Attorney Andy Riner, on January 13, 2014, in which Melissa McCann-Arms was convicted of one count of Introduction of a Controlled Substance into the Body of Another Person and was sentenced to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Arms’ newborn baby was born at Mena Regional Health System addicted to methamphetamine. Being the first case of its kind in Arkansas, upon conviction, Riner said, “This case was about bringing attention to [the baby] and other babies who are being born addicted to controlled substances, and it was an important one. It seems that nothing is being done by the legislature to address this problem, and having begun to poke around the edges of the problem we have realized that it is much more common than we suspected.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
City to Save Thousands on KCS Depot Roof Repairs
BY MELANIE BUCK The City of Mena has approved Covington Roofing Company of Conway to replace the roof of the historic 1920 Kansas City-Southern Depot in Mena. Nabholz Construction Services is the construction management company for design services and assists the city in coordinating plans and specifications to identify contractors familiar with and experienced in repair and renovation work on historic buildings. Nabholz had predicted the cost of the depot roof project to be $268,000, assuming all worst-case scenarios. However, after further examination of the building, the original cost was lowered by a significant amount. Executing a Change Order at February’s City Council meeting, Resolution 1315 passed CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Airport Receives $246,890 Grant from Arkansas Department of Aeronautics
BY MELANIE BUCK Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport was awarded a $246,890.80 grant by the state to replace the lighting system on runway 17-35 and to purchase a new regulator. Will Robbins, manager of the airport, traveled to Little Rock on Wednesday to present the grant paperwork to the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics. The grant is an 80/20 grant, meaning that the state will pay 80 percent of the total estimated cost, while the owners (the City of Mena) will be responsible for the remaining 20 percent. During discussion of the project during the January meeting of CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
Octavia Blows Through County
Power outages were minimal according to Rich Mountain Electric Cooperatives Manager Leon Philpot, following the well-predicted winter storm that hit Polk County in the early hours of Monday. Philpot said that power outages began being reported at 2:30 a.m. but said all power had been restored by 8:00 a.m. “We essentially dodged the bullet on this one,” said Philpot as other areas both north and east of the county received much more ice accumulation on roadways and powerlines. A multi-vehicle accident was reported north of Wickes on U.S. Hwy 71, however no additional details were available at press time. Public school students were already out of school on Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday so traffic was minimal as residents heeded advice to limit travel to only what would be deemed necessary. This same front, now called ‘Octavia,’ is continuing to trek east and is expected to dump additional snow on areas already seeing record amounts of snowfall this winter season.
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