Does Polk County have a litter problem?

By Ethan Nahté

At the monthly Democratic Party of Polk County meeting held on Monday, Feb. 13, Cynthia Thanos-Wade informed the Polk County Pulse that the subject of Polk County’s litter problem was discussed. She said Don Marten brought up the subject and remarked it seems as though the problem has increased in the last three years. There seems to be less respect. Is there an element of anger? Hwy. 375 South is a particular problem.

The group discussed several items:

Adopting a piece of highway Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) states on idrivearkansas.com there are more than 100,000 acres of rightof-way to maintain along the state highway system, stretching almost 16,500 miles. For fiscal year202, ARDOT spent approximately $4.3 million picking up 46,854 cubic yards of litter. That’s equivalent to enough limestone to construct six Empire State Buildings plus a little extra.

Currently, more than 2,500 organizations have adopted a highway since 1987 in Arkansas. The program supplies trash bags, warning signs and safety, vests, helps with coordination of events, disposes of the litter and installs signs with an organization’s name for public recognition. Visit ardot.gov/programs and the first option is the Adopt-A-Highway link that has a very quick and simple form to request more information about the program.

State or county program assistance

There are state and federal programs and grants available to communities, cities, and nonprofit groups/organizations. Many are very specific on whether funds are to be used for water, roadways, forests and so forth.

A good starting place is https:// www.arkansaswater.org/23-uncategorised/204-for-groups/ which not only lists what they have to offer, but gives a good lists with links to several other sources such as the EPA, NRCS, USFS, AGFC and several others.

Keep Arkansas Beautiful

Keep Arkansas Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful Inc., is one of four state agencies that shares proceeds from the Amendment 71 1/8-cent Conservation Tax. The 15 of the 1/8-cent tax provides KAB with an annual budget of approximately $869,000 according to the site.

Only 13 Arkansas communities are currently involved in the program. Despite the high-volume of tourism and the natural beauty of the Ouachita Mountains, there is no community affiliate in or immediately around the Polk County area. The most recent Great American Cleanup in Arkansas opened for registration on Feb. 13 for events that must occur between March 1 and May 31. Several events are already listed on their calendar. The KeepArkansasBeautiful.com/ site also has many links to other resources and grants.

The Talimena Scenic Drive Association did have their second annual Beautify the Byway last October, which we reported on once again. 21 volunteers collected approximately 34 bags of trash, cleaned signs, trimmed hedge, tended flower beds along the 54-mile drive over the course of just a few hours for one day. Last year’s contacts: Mena, pashaross@yahoo.com , Talihina, crimsreno@gmail.com

Cigarettes are litter

Cigarette butts are possibly the source of most litter thrown from vehicles or dropped on the ground, consistently making up 30%-40% of litter since the 1980s. They pose a wildfire threat, clog sewage, take years to break down, and release toxic chemicals such as arsenic and lead into the soil and waterways.

Community service

A representative of the Arkansas Division of Community and Correction’s Probation and Parole office in Mena stated, “Our community service [adults] does pick up litter… but not on a regular schedule.” Their community service program is more designed around allowing parolees to get caught up on their probation and parole fees. They pick up litter every other week or so.

Comprehensive Juvenile Services does have the juveniles pick up litter alongside the roads, as well. At least once a month or more, they can be seen alongside highways such as 8 East with a car nearby supervising and transporting them.

As mentioned in an article about graffiti in the Oct. 12, 2022, issue of the Pulse, juveniles are prosecuted differently than adults and do not face the same penalties. Many times, instead of incarceration, some form of community service may be the sentence handed down by the judge.

The above information is not a comprehensive list, by far, but it is a good start.

Other groups, such as the state’s oldest and largest non-profit conservation group Arkansas Wildlife Federation, have helped pick up litter in various areas of the state. Once, in 2013, the organization, along with the help of the Little Rock Air Force Base, and students from Arkansas Tech University and University of the Ozarks picked up two dumpsters totaling 70 yards of garbage and 263 tires from all sizes of vehicles and trailers. Both Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and Regional Recycling and Waste Reduction District (RRWRD) were helpful to the organization in safely disposing of it all.

The Polk County Master Gardeners recently started a program to nominate Yard of the Month (see Polk County Pulse, Feb. 15, 2023), which is not only an initiative to get people planting flower gardens and other types of gardens, but to get Polk County residents to take some pride in their community and yards by cleaning them up and beautifying properties.

The issue isn’t just an eyesore, but it is a chain effect, which poses health and environmental risks to people, animals, water, soil and plants.

Thanos-Wade said, “[Democratic Party of Polk County] as a group would be willing to get out and help. We are lovingly calling this ‘Mr. Don’s Initiative’.”

The organization’s Steve Allen planned to contact Sen. Terry Rice in hopes to mention specific areas to Teague as well and perhaps get out the word to clean up the town.

Allen said, “So, what I have right now is Highway 71S, from Mena and going through Hatfield, Cove, Wickes, and Grannis. I have Northbound 71 as well. I have noticed rest areas on that side look fairly decent but they have trash containers. So maybe asking if we can have some community/county trash receptacles every ‘x’ number of miles. Are there any other areas I should mention? I’m thinking with Larry we should stick to more major routes but I’m open to ideas.”

Marten planned on bringing up the problem at the next Mena City Council meeting.

Thanos-Wade will be following up an email to Rep. John Maddox, hoping this could be a non-partisan way we can all work together and discovering how he can help.

The community should not rely on one organization to do it all. Each person and organization that does their part in preventing or cleaning up litter does help. Sign-up now for the Keep Arkansas Beautiful event that is beginning in March. Look into the other projects mentioned in the article.

If you see someone littering, call the hotline at 1-866-811-1222. You will be asked to provide the date, time and location. Also, the make, model, color of the vehicle and license plate of the vehicle. Take note of the item littered and which side of the road.

In the words of Aldo Leopold, considered by many as the father of wildlife ecology and the United States’ wilderness system, “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”

Hackers

continued from page 1 a friend’s birthday. During my nearly two years of corresponding with the real person, the email request did not sound like something she would ask me to do.

Instead of responding and interacting with the hacker, I had the victim’s phone number and was able to call and confirm the scam, letting her and her husband know she had been hacked.

Fortunately, the couple were already aware of the issue. Never assume someone you know is aware they have been hacked. Inform them just in case.

Victims of email hacks or the hijacking of phone numbers happens to people of all ages, races, etc. Some people lose their entire life savings. The Federal Trade Commission has very good advice on their site on how to avoid scams, ways to attempt preventing unwanted calls, texts and emails, identity theft and more. Visit consumer.ftc.gov/ to get started.

The same goes for those who get scammed: trying to help a friend in need of money, bailing a friend/relative out of jail, pay an imaginary overdue bill, pay a parking/speeding ticket so they won’t be arrested. The Expert Insights website reported in an article by Caitlin Jones on Jan. 27 that the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported a 34% increase in 2022 compared to 2021 with 323, 972 victims.

According to USA.gov, an official website of the United States government, “With so many kinds of scams, it’s hard to figure out where to report each type. Gather emails, receipts, and phone numbers so you’re prepared to complete your report. Start by reporting the scam to your state consumer protection office at https://www.usa.gov/state-consumer/ . If you lost money or other possessions in a scam, report it to your local police too.”

The link above will have a drop-down menu to select your state or territory. If you choose “Arkansas,” for instance, there are contacts for the state attorney general’s office, banking, utilities and more.

Federal contacts

The site goes on to say, “You can report scams to the federal government. Your report may keep others from experiencing a scam. Government agencies use reports of scams to track scam patterns. They may even take legal action against a company or industry based on the reports. However, agencies don’t follow up after you report, and can’t recover lost money.

“Do not use the contact information included in scam messages. Use verified contact information in USA.gov’s federal agency directory to report other government imposters.”

The federal agency list is quite lengthy but broken down into very specific organizations and administrations.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main agency that collects scam reports. Report the scam to the FTC online, or by phone at 1-877-3824357 (9:00 AM - 8:00 PM, ET).

The most common scams:

• Phone calls

• Emails

• Computer support scams

• Fake checks

• Demands to send money (e.g., check, wire scams, gift cards)

• Student loan or scholarship

• Prize, grants and sweepstakes offers

The FTC also collects reports of identity theft. Report identity theft online at IdentityTheft.gov or by phone at 1-877-438-4338 (9:00 AM - 8:00 PM, ET).

Other scams the site recommends reporting:

• Disaster and emergency calls

• Social security or IRS imposters

• Online and international scams (e.g., fake websites, malware, emails, etc.)

Report fake websites, emails, mal- ware, and other internet scams to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Some online scams start outside the United States. If you have been affected by an international scam, report it through econsumer.gov. Your report helps international consumer protection offices spot trends and prevent scams.

More scams

There are other subjects the site discusses, including reporting identity theft, scams to third parties and who to contact for suspected tax fraud.

Scammers don’t rely simply on technology either. It’s not uncommon for people to arrive at your front door trying to sell life or health insurance.

Some con people into improving things around the property such as the driveway, roofing or siding, taking the victim’s money up front and either never doing the job or doing such a poor job it takes a lot more money to repair the damaged property.

There are many other ways that con artists, scammers and hackers come up with on a regular basis. Do your research before committing to anything that seems to be too good of a bargain. Remember that the IRS, police and such offices will not contact you over the phone to demand money. If a phone call or email from a friend or family member seems fishy, don’t take the bait.

Make sure to not only report scams and hacks to authorities, but let your friends, family and social media contacts know so they can be aware. Many scam attempts happen in a large volume, with the thieves trying to hit as many people as they can in the shortest amount of time possible.

If you do get scammed, don’t be embarrassed. Contact the authorities at the very least so you can hopefully rectify the situation and perhaps even get your money back. Staying silent does no one but the scammer any good.