Monticello Live

Bill Horn updated the Quorum Court on the Tornado Warning System Monday night.

The MEDC was to administer the grant for the warning system, but that grant has since been moved to SEAD, in Pine Bluff.

As a result, the grant application process is being reviewed. The grant must be turned in by September to the State, so that it can continue on to FEMA by October.

UAM has requested that a siren be placed on campus, and Bill Horn suggested that Monticello and Drew Central schools have one in place on their campuses as well. (more…)

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The Quorum Court, Monday, passed a resolution to allow Drew Memorial Hospital to go ahead with loans, made an adjustment to the number of days to make a referendum petition for or against an act of the court from 90 to 30 days, resolved to adjust the wording in Article 7 of the Library Ordinance from special to general election, and resolved to separate the Drew County Sheriff and the Drew County Tax Collector for efficiency of services to the people of Drew county. The Court also approved of Judge Lampkin’s request to pursue $150,000 for renovations of the west end of the county court house from Rural Services for community Enhancement.

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In the Hospital report, Mike Layfield, DMH CEO, was pleased to announce the roof was completed last week.

Layfield went on to mention his intention for a 1.2-1.4 million dollar electronic health record keeping system. The hospital is looking at $24 million in phase one renovations.

To be included in phase one renovations are relocation of the hospital drive, additional parking, Occupation/Physical Therapy, Hematology/Oncology Clinic, Sleep Center, New Central Plant, ICU renovations, and 49 additional beds.

Judge Lampkin smiled as he mentioned, “For $5 million, you can have this building named after you,” to some of the quorum court members

Executive Director Glenda Nichols gave the Chamber of Commerce report at the City Council meeting Thursday evening. People are already using the Appliance Rebate Program. There will be a Notary seminar March 29 and a city wide clean up on March 27. Nichols stressed the need for volunteers for ARMOM. She also mentioned there is a “great love for the community,” and “we just have to keep it on peoples minds.” (more…)

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The Quorum Court discussed Social Security and Supplemental Insurance Monday night. The court mentioned group insurance is not always the best because numerous claims can make rates skyrocket. One way to maintain the lower rates is to move people 65 and older from the group plan to Medicare.

There was a motion to cap the group rates at $350 since the average cost per person is $300. The motion was cancelled and a new motion was made to cap payments at$572, which is the current monthly insurance expense per employee, and that motion passed..

 The Drew County Conservation District on Beaver Management requested a renewal of funds at Monday night’s Quorum Court meeting.

The program has caught 393 beavers to date using 26 clients. The recent high water has slowed work but all is working well and with good results for farmers.

The Court again approved $3,000 in funds for this program.

At Monday night’s Drew County quorum court meeting, the Monticello Regional Library, represented by Kim Patterson, Director of the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library, made its case for a county library $5.5 million sales tax. (more…)

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Congressman Mike Ross held a meeting at the University of Arkansas at Monticello to discuss a few controversial issues with the people of Monticello and answer any questions people might have about these issues.

The first issue Ross discussed was the new healthcare plan that the congress is trying to pass. Ross thinks we need healthcare reform, but that we need to be sensible about the changes we make. Ross said that there are three parts to the reform. One part is ensuring that everyone has insurance. They want to help cover the uninsured. The second part is reforming health insurance. Ross said that it is wrong for insurance companies to exclude someone because they had an illness in the past. The last part is managing healthcare cost. According to Ross, healthcare has an inflation that is twice that of other businesses. He restated that we need healthcare reform; we just need to do it right. (more…)

The Drew County quorum court met in a budget session Monday night, to discuss fiscal year 2010′s finances. (more…)

This photo was submitted by Linda Gilliland.

It was taken at Lake Monticello, early in the morning, while the dew was still fresh.

Photos by Marilyn Patrick

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Anonymous supporters offered the Monticello School District the chance to have Hyatt Field dried out by having a helicopter hover over the muddy playing surface, Friday afternoon, at no expense to the district. (more…)

After the collapse of the building on the east side of  the square’s south side, a temporary repair was noticed that had recently been applied to the building on the west end of that same row of building.

The tape appears to be Duct Tape, a product that is usually made of aluminum, and used in the air conditioning and refrigeration industry, and not the standard grade of “duck tape.”

But it is still a shining example of a potential problem.

Click on the “cloverleaf” on the bottom of the video screen, to enlarge it to full screen view.

Drew County, Monticello, AR Fair Parade, 2009 from MonticelloLive on Vimeo.

Due to the recent concerns over light poles at the UAM stadium, UAM has closed the north entrance to the campus.

Please use the HWY 425 entrance by Drew Central, and enter the campus by the music building.

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he swimming pool hours are Monday thru Saturday, 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Any pool parties need to be booked thru City Hall, contact Andrea Chambers at 870-367-4400. (more…)

In an effort to keep up with web-site maintenance operations, MonticelloLive will be off of the net for a large portion of this weekend.  These upgrades are a part of upcoming improvements on MonticelloLive, which should soon be in place.

For any breaking news updates over the weekend, call the MonticelloLive info-line at 367-7777.

News updates will be listed on the opening messge, and tell what extension to dial for the full news story.

That’s right, MonticelloLive news, on the telephone, at 367-7777, this weekend

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A recent combined effort between the Arkansas State Police, the National Guard Counter Drug Unit, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, and the Drew County Sheriff’s Dept. performed a coumy-wide drug sweep through the air in Drew County.

According to Sgt. Randy York of the Arkansas State Police, around 25 officers took part, and at least 4 plots were located. 

Lt. Rick Rausch, of the Drew County Sheriff’s Dept. confirmed marijuana arrests the day of the sweep, with other cases possibly under investigation.

Dr. Ryan Collins, a well known Monticello Chiropractor, was appointed by the Drew County Quorum Court, as the newest member of the Drew Memorial Hospital Board, Monday night.

The Drew County Quorum Court met in it’s regular session Monday night. 

The recent property reappraisals have led to many phone calls being made to the assessor’s office and quorum court members.  Taxpayers have until August 18th to notify the assessor’s office of their intention to present their case to the Drew County equalization Board.

Justice of the peace, Danny Lloyd , presented photos of local deer camp.

The building is located out in the county, has an exterior made of galvanized tin, and has a concrete floor.  The photo to the left shows a window unit for air-conditioning, and a stove pipe.

The deer camp’s interior, as shown here, is made of particleboard.  The 60 x 30 foot building is located on one half acre of land.

This property now has an appraised value of $55,500.

Lloyd described the whole reappraisal project with the phrase, “It seems like a tax increase without giving the county  a chance to vote on it.”  He then added, “They can’t sell their property for what it’s assessed for.” 

County Attorney Cliff Gibson told the court that the objective of the reappraisal is to determine the “fair market value”, and then described that as, “What a willing buyer will give a willing seller for their property.”

Again it was pointed out that taxpayers have until August 18 to request a hearing with the equalization board, by contacting the assessor’s office.

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In other business, Judge Damon Lampkin told the court that he recently became aware that some county taxpayers who use CenturyTel telephone service have been having their taxes paid to Desha County, instead of Drew County, by CenturyTel.  CenturyTel has been contacted, but isn’t providing information due to “privacy issues”.  The court said the public needs to be aware of this problem, and Judge Lampkin told them that MonticelloLive published the story Monday morning, and KHBM radio broadcast it as a part of their morning newscasts.

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No one was injured Friday afternoon, as this Toyota Carola, which was travel turning off of the Wal-Mart Access Road, appears to have been turning into the back drive of Parkway Bank, and clipped the back bumper of the 18 wheeler, shown below.

 Monticello Police responded, and traffic on the HWY 425 was not effected.

Friday was the opening day of action in the 10 year old Southwest Regional Cal Ripken Tournament, being held at Hank Thompson Field, Jordan Park, Monticello, AR.

Final scores are:

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While waiting in line for Sunday lunch with my pastor and his wife at a local restaurant, I visited for a few minutes with Rick & Fran Haney.  After we had been seated, I noticed how many other people had stopped by their table to visit for a moment with the couple.  Over and over, people would pause just to say “high”.

“Burlington folks” will know Rick, while most people recognize Fran from her desk assisting customers at Union Bank’s main branch.  She has helped me many times by notarizing documents, and another time when a relative’s checks were stolen.  Both Rick and Fran are friendly, helpful people, and good selections for One Monticello Life.

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Selma’s Volunteer Fire Dept. responded to this house fire at 2835 HWY 138, east of Monticello.  The home belonged to the Pharr family.

The firefighters were gaining control of the blaze, until it appeared that they ran out of water.  Members of Monticello’s Fire Dept. also responded. 

After running out of water for a second time, the fire again gained force, completely destroying the structure.