December 4, 2019
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THE POLK COUNTY
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1168 Hwy 71 S ● Mena, AR 71953 ● 479.243.9600
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Judge Speaks to Local We the People TEA Party Body of Missing Judge Emily White was the guest speaker at the We the People TEA Party meeting recently. Judge White, who currently serves as District Court Judge in the 33rd State District Court which covers Hot Spring and Grant counties, is seeking the District 4 Position 2 Arkansas Court of Appeals position. The district covers 15 counties along the western part of the state from Fort Smith to Texarkana and includes Sebastian, Miller, Logan, Scott, Yell, Garland, Montgomery, Polk, Sevier, Howard, Pike, Clark, Hot Spring, Hempstead and Little River counties. Meredith Switzer who was appointed is currently holding the position. Switzer was to the position by Gov. Asa Hutchinson after the death of Judge David “Mac” Glover. Due to state law Switzer is prevented from running for the seat. When asked why she’s running, she said she thought being on the Court of Appeals would be the best way she could “serve the people of this state”.
TEA PARTY CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
Person Found
The body of the missing person, David Danley, was located in a wooded area near his home, according to Polk County Sheriff Scott Sawyer. Polk County launched a search early on the morning of Wednesday, November 27th for a missing Mena man. Authorities reported Danley had been missing since Monday night or Tuesday morning. Sheriff Sawyer reported the missing person was 76 year old, Danley. Danley resided on Polk County Road 76 East between Mena and Acorn. Search crews searched on foot, with ATVs and by airplane Wednesday morning.
Judge Emily White, center, is running for the position of District 4 Position 2 Arkansas Court of Appeals. White recently, spoke to the members of the We the People Tea Partin in Polk County. Submitted Photo.
Nation’s Report Card States Scores ‘Not Improving’ Fourth and eighth-graders in the state are not improving in math and reading that’s according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card. The report says the results from this year are just about the same as the results from 2015 and 2017. Fourth graders in Arkansas earned a reading score of 215, just one better than the 216 they earned in 2017. This year’s score is lower than the 219 national
average which was down from the 221 achieved just two years ago. Only Alabama and Louisiana scored lower than Arkansas fourth graders in reading. Eighth graders in the state scored an average score of 259 in reading which was down one from the 260 scored in 2017. However, the 259 this year was lower than the national average of 262 also down from two years ago when the national average was 265. The average reading score for eighth graders in reading
was better than the eighth graders average reading score in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama. In math, fourth graders in Arkansas had an average math score of 233 this year which was down from 234 in 2017 and down two points from 2015. The national average for eighth graders in math for this year was 240. Eighth graders scored 274 which remained unchanged from two years ago and below this year’s national average of 281.
December 11 • 10:30 am - 1:30 pm • Ouachita Center
Quorum Court Approves Budget The Polk County Quorum Court met Tuesday night for their regular monthly session with Judge Brandon Ellison presiding. All eleven Justices of The Peace were present, as other elected officials and guests. In addition to routine business, the JPs passed an ordinance to levy 2019 millage rates. The millage rates are voted on by voters, so the annual ordinance, while required, is more of a recognition of the rates by the Court than approval. There was also an ordinance approved that will allow the County to set up a special fund for accounting of BUDGET CONTINUED ON PAGE 15