Of the people, By the people, For the people
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Mary Ruth Webb
TUESDAY, September 22, 2020 / Vol. 6 Issue 38 / 75 cents
Quorum Court hears from Deaton Ozark Health CEO David Deaton presented a testimonial video on behalf of the hospital at Thursday night’s Van Buren County Quorum Court meeting. Ozark Health is asking voters to approve a 1/2-cent sales tax on the Nov. 3 ballot. A similar request failed in March but the Quorum Court allowed it to be put on the ballot again for November. A couple of speakers had questions and comments for Deaton but got few answers. Johnathan Jackson renewed his question asking what Ozark Health needs the money for. Asking for more money without providing “real numbers” is like “salt in the wound,” he said. Adam Kuipers wanted to know what happened to promises for town hall meetings. Deaton had said he had met with groups to discuss the tax, but Kuipers called the lack of public meetings “disrespectful” and showed Ozark Health’s “contempt” for residents. Kuipers told the justices of the peace that they had “agreed to let them have a tax on the ballot. You took them on good faith on their promise to
Sarah Brown
The hospice staff for her grandfather “made a terrible situation as bearable as it could possibly be.” Ozark Health CEO David Deaton presented a testimonial video to the Quorum Court last week. (Photos by Warren Johnson)
Brian Tatum
When his father was there you “couldn’t ask for better care.” hold these meetings and you agreed to put a tax on the ballot,” he continued. “They have squandered the last several months,” showing a “blatant disregard for what they said they would do.” Deaton had al-
ready left the meeting before Kuipers spoke. A few JPs spoke about their good experiences at Ozark Health, including Sarah Brown who related her grandfather’s hospice experience there and Nickie Brown who praised her grandmother’s care while there. Some hospital data Deaton provided included: Ozark Health has tested about 750 people for Covid-19. ER visits declined 40 percent in April but were back up to 80 percent of the previous number. There have been 7,295 ER visits, down 3 percent from a year ago. Outpatient visits
New mayor for FFB
Adam Kuipers
Ozark Health is showing “contempt” for residents. The department is short-handed because one employee has coronavirus and two others have been quarantined because of their proximity to the stricken worker. The JPs also approved by an 8-1 vote an ordinance spelling out what constitutes
Man faces charge of false imprisonment
The City Council has spoken and the new mayor of Fairfield Bay is Linda Moore-Duncan. The council went into executive session Sept. 14 to select the new mayor to fulfill the two years still left when Paul Wellenberger resigned over the summer. Wellenberger said he wanted to spend more time with his wife who has been ill. Moore-Duncan was a member of the City Council before her selection as mayor.
Marshall
Deadlines
Monday, Oct. 5, is the last day to register to vote Ark.Code 7-5-201(a); Monday, Oct .19, Early Voting begins; Ark.Code 7-5-418 (a)(1); Tuesday, Oct 27, is the last day for the County Clerk's Voter Registration to receive absentee applications by mail/fax /email Ark.Code 7-5404 (a)(3)(A)(ii) and (vi)(a); Friday, Oct 30, is the last day for the County Clerk's Voter Registration to receive County to County transfers of Registered Voters Ark Constitution, Amend 51 10(b)(2)(A); Monday, Nov 2, Early Voting closes at 5 p.m. Ark. Code 7-5-418(a)(1)(A) and the last day for the County Clerk's Voter Registration to receive ballot applications in person Ark.Code 7-5-404(3)(A)(i),(iii) and (v); and the last day for voters to personally deliver absentee ballots to the County Clerk's Voter Registration Ark.Code 7-5-411(a)(3); Tuesday, Nov. 3, is Election Day - 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Ark.Code 7-5-102; 7-5304(a); 6-14-102(a)(1)(A)(ii).
are down 1-5 percent this year. Other volume is about the same. There have been no layoffs and no critical supply shortages. The number of nursing home residents was dow to 75, down from 85 the year before. 88 percent of those going through Ozark Health’s ER are either released to home or go into the hospital here; only 12 percent are sent to other hospitals. In the Road Department report, County Judge Dale James said work has begun on Archey Road and on Payton Mountain. He said bridge work continues and crews are “mowing as fast as we can.”
Whopper of a melon - Thelma Murray grew a 50 pound watermelon in her Shirley garden earlier this summer. She says she was surprised by its size and had to have help picking it up. She reports that it was tasty.
Coronavirus By the numbers - Sep. 20 Arkansas
• New cases: 549 • Hospitalized: 421
Van Buren County
• Active positive: 16
• Ventilators: 81
• Total positive: 169
• Deaths: 1,033
• Recovered: 151
• Active cases: 6,256
• Deaths: 2
A Bee Branch man has been arrested after a 911 call to his residence Sept. 14. A woman was found hiding under a blanket. She was cut and bruised and told deputies she had tried to escape several times during the two months she was held at the residence. She said her captor caught her and dragged her back each time. A search of the residence turned up items used to ingest methamphetamine as well as a bag contained 4 grams of a green leafy substance. Jerrod Lee Marshall, 30, has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, a Class C felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class B felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class D felony; false imprisonment, a Class C felony; aggravated assault on a household or family member, a Class D felony; domestic battering-second degree,
a Class C felony; misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance; and misdemeanor interference with emergency communications.
Shotgun blast brings charges
A dispute that began as a civil matter turned criminal after the suspect fired a shotgun last week. Sandra Battaglia asked Danyell Ketchum to open a shed so she could retrieve her belongs but Ketchum told her to leave the property, according to an affidavit for arrest. Deputy Breezie Merriott told the women the matter was something that needed to be worked out in court and left only to be called back in a few minutes after a 911 report that a shot or shots had been fired, according to court documents. After securing the weapon, Ketchum, 33, of Clinton was placed under arrest on charges of aggravated assault on a household or family member, a Class D felony.
Police pursuit ends in man’s capture
A Damascus man
Nickie Brown
Since her grandmother’s heart attack, she is “very much reminded how good it is to have this hospital this close.” an Election Commission meeting. Ester Bass voted no on the ordinance. Budget committee Chairman Brian Tatum said there will be a budget meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 29. It is open to the public. faces several charges after a police pursuit on Sept. 14. Van Buren County Deputy David Perkey reported that he observed a small red passenger car breaking a number of traffic laws on Highway 9 West. When he tried to stop the car, the driver sped away with Perkey in pursuit. The pursuit hit speeds of 75 mph on Highway 336 West into some S-curves on Grassy Hollow Road. Once out of the S-curves, the driver slammed on his brakes and Perkey had to take evasive action to keep from rear-ending the car, the report states. The pursuit continued down Grassy Hollow Road until the driver stopped in the middle of the road and fled on foot, the report states. Inside the vehicle, deputies found a machete, smoking device, small bag with about 1.4 grams of what is believed to be methamphetamine and a second bag with about 1.5 grams, the report states. James Moss III, 33, has been charged with possession of methamphetamine, a Class B felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class D felony; fleeing, a Class D felony; and traffic offenses of speeding and reckless driving.