Health Department urges safety as storm brings flood risk
Downed trees has forced at least one road closure in Drew County from Hurricane Laura, according to a press release from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management at 5:27 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26. Trees down on some vehicles and houses have also been reported by residents. State School Road was briefly closed but was reported by residents to be cleared and back open by 6 p.m.
Damage in other Arkansas counties as reported by the ADEM:
Bradley County – Three homes and 70 utilities were...
As Hurricane Laura moves inland and brings heavy rain to much of Arkansas, it’s important to be aware of the health risks associated with floods. Flood water and sewer overflows can contain bacteria, viruses and other organisms that cause disease.
Basic Precautions
These basic precautions and cleaning tips for your home can help to keep you safe and healthy:
Avoid skin contact with flood water, and keep cuts and sores clean and covered.
Do not allow children to play in flood water.
Do...
Members of Entergy's storm team are assessing damages and restoring power where it is safe to do so after Hurricane Laura made landfall early Thursday morning near Cameron as a catastrophic Category 4 hurricane, causing widespread damage to Entergy's electrical system and knocking out power to customers across Louisiana and east Texas.
As of 11 a.m. Thursday, approximately 360,000 customers throughout Entergy's service territories were without power; 17,706 customers in Arkansas, down from a...
Farmers have more time to apply for aid under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program after the U.S. Department of Agriculture extended the deadline to Sept. 11.
The original program application deadline was Aug. 28.
Scott Stiles, extension economist with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said that through Aug. 17, Arkansas farmers had received nearly $127 million in payments through CFAP from more than 16,400 applications.
“Payments totaled $90.8 million to...
Growing rice may provide some insulation from the economic impacts of COVID-19 for Arkansas farms, but cotton growers are likely to be harder hit through 2023, according to a model run by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The study did have an upside: the negative effects from COVID-19 on 2019 commodity prices will likely be offset by payments from the Coronavirus Food Assistance program, or CFAP. Since program enrollment began in late May, Arkansas ag producers have...
Owners of hooved animals are being urged by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture to closely monitor their animals and comply with all animal movement restrictions issued in response to the recent confirmed finding of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus infection in three horses on a premise in Benton County. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture issued an alert and implemented animal movement restrictions immediately after federal confirmation of the VSV infection on Monday, July 27.
The viral...
Monticello residents may have noticed
smoke coming from the ground,
pipes and houses around town on and
off since August as Monticello Water
Works and the Arkansas Rural Water
Association were busy searching for
defects in the sewer lines in town with
a smoke machine that would show
them where the defects were.
Arkansas Rural Water Association,
with help from money provided by the
United Stated Department of Agriculture,
provides free technical assistance
to help public utilities cut down on...
The Monticello City Council upgraded
their technology for the Tuesday, July
28, regularly scheduled board meeting in
the Sadie Johnson Building with the room
equipped with microphones for each member
and speakers so members of the public
could better hear and understand what was
being discussed during the meeting.
The new setup saw the council spread
out, as it has been since resuming in-face
meetings. The public area had less chairs,
spaced farther apart than before. With the
new equipment the...
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will reopen its doors to public access for the first time since March beginning Wednesday, July 15. All buildings will have limited public access as part of the state’s reopening process.
“We’ve been working diligently to address the safety of our staff and the public as we begin the reopening process,” AGFC Director Pat Fitts said. “This will mean some changes from what we were used to, but with the right precautions in place we feel that we can reopen...
An executive order mandating the use of face masks in all public places where physical distancing is not possible will go into effect Monday, July 20, according to Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson during his daily Coronavirus briefing, Thursday July 16.
Violations to the mandate will be charged as misdemeanors and will carry a fine between $100 and $500, Hutchinson stated, however first-time violators will be given a verbal and written warning.
The mandate excludes children younger than...
A stolen truck and violence has kept Monticello Police Department busy in the passed week.
Within minutes of a Monticello City employee’s truck being stolen near McCloy Park inside a gated area, an arrest of a Pine Bluff man was made.
Larry Peifer, 50, of Pine Bluff, was arrested after a MPD Detective observed the stolen vehicle parked roughly a mile away at a local business during a search for the vehicle. After speaking with citizens at the business, the detective identified the last...
Two Dermott residents are behind bars and facing charges after the shooting death of a 49-year-old man last week.
According to Arkansas State Police, 27-year-old Mario Milton has been charged with first degree murder, terroristic threatening and first degree battery. Alicia King, 24, is charged with hindering apprehension/prosecution.
Arkansas State Police said Dermott Police were called to 925 Skipper Bridge Road around 12:22 a.m. Friday morning. Just 45 minutes earlier, officers had...
Cases continue to rise in the United States, as well as in Arkansas and in Drew County.
As of Tuesday, July 14 Arkansas had a total cumulative case count of 29,733 with 6,558 active recoveries.
Drew County in the past week had a rise of 16 cases. Five new cases were reported on Thursday, July 9, the biggest increase of the week with the rest of the days ranging from no positive cases reported Friday, July 10, four reported Saturday, July 11, three cases reported for each day Sunday and...
In an effort to quiet rumors surrounding the ongoing investigation in the death of Wilmar resident Marquis Martin, the Tenth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office released the official cause of death in the case.
According to the State Crime Lab medical examiner report, the cause of death was a gunshot wound with the manner being listed as a homicide. As rumors took over social media, speculation over the cause of death, along with suspects in the case grew.
“A lot was put out...
Two Monticello residents have been charged with breaking or entering and theft of property from the Drew Central Concession stand during a basketball tournament held at the end of February. Drew Central employee, April Irons, 35, and parent volunteer Steven Stain, 50, have been charged separately, in unrelated incidents that occurred the same nights.
According to documents from the Arkansas State Police and Drew County Sheriff’s Department, a surveillance video camera was placed in the...
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