July 1, 2020
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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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Trial Date Set in Howard County Circuit Court for Mena Resident
Bond has been reduced on a Polk County man charged locally with Negligent Homicide & First Degree Battery. 22 year old Chance Manasco of Mena is awaiting trial on the charges and has a July 29th pre-trial date scheduled in Howard County Circuit Court. Previous bond reduction requests have been denied, but Wednesday, Manasco's bond was reduced from 50 thousand to 30 thousand dollars. The charges stem from a February 2019 accident near Umpire that claimed one life & resulted in four other people being injured. According to the Arkansas State Police report Manasco was driving a Chevrolet Traverse on Highway 84 outside of Umpire, where he lost control of the vehicle. 19 year old Rachel Norman of Wickes, a passenger in the Traverse, died at the scene from her injuries. Manasco and three minors in the vehicle were injured. Further in their report, Arkansas State troopers said they detected the smell of
Mena Resident Dies in House Fire Chance Manasco
alcohol from Manasco. During testing the state crime lab found that Manasco had a blood alcohol level above the legal limit for operating a motor vehicle. In their investigation Arkansas State Police determined that Manasco was travelling nearly 90 miles an hour before the fatal accident which claimed Norman’s life.
Mena Fire Chief Steve Egger released the folllowing statement concerning a fire with fatality in Mena om Thursday, June 25th. On Thursday June 25th, 2020 at 11:57 a.m. the Mena Fire Department was dispatched for a passerby reporting smoke showing from roof of a residence located at 1107 9th Street. Upon arrival at 12:02 firefighters forced entry to the structure, located a small fire confined to a bedroom then extinguished the flames and discov-
ered the body of Leonid (Leo) Avram Yuspeh age 69 of the home. Mr. Yuspeh had died from smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire is believed to have been related to several appliances plugged into a multiplug extension cord. The fire department responded with three apparatus and 16 personnel. Mena Police Department, Southwest EMS, and Polk County Coroner assisted. The fire department cleared the scene at 1:35p.m."
Mena Grandmother finds Diamond in Murfreesboro
Beatrice Watkins
The summer of 2020 started with a sparkling surprise for one western Arkansas woman. Fifty-six-year-old Beatrice Watkins, of Mena, visited Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park, in Murfreesboro, on Saturday, June 20, with her daughter and granddaughters. Within 30 minutes of arriving, she had unknowingly picked up the largest diamond found there, so far this year. Visitors to the park search for diamonds in a 37.5-acre plowed field atop the eroded surface of an extinct, diamond-bearing volcanic pipe. More than 33,000 diamonds have been found since the Crater of Diamonds opened as an Arkansas State Park in 1972. Typically, one or two diamonds are found there each day. According to Watkins, she was dry sift-
ing soil on the north end of a culvert near the center of the park’s diamond search area when she discovered her gem. “I was searching with my daughter and granddaughters when I picked it up. I thought it was shiny but had no idea it was a diamond!” Watkins said, “My daughter googled similar-looking stones and thought it might have been iron pyrite, so I stuck it in my sack and kept sifting.” After about an hour, Watkins and her family walked to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center to take a break. At that time, park staff identified Watkins’s finds and informed her that her “iron pyrite” was actually a brown diamond weighing more than two carats. “I was so excited, I just couldn’t believe it,” Watkins said. “I still can’t believe it!”
Watkins noted, “While we were still searching, I told my granddaughters that their future husbands would have to bring them here to find diamonds for their wedding rings. All that time I had one in my pocket!” According to Park Interpreter Waymon Cox, “Ms. Watkins’s diamond is about the size of an English pea, with an oblong shape and a metallic luster. The surface is smooth and rounded, a characteristic shared by most Crater diamonds. It has a dark brown shade similar to iced tea.” Watkins’s gem is the largest found at the park since Pat Choate, of Jacksonville, Arkansas, found a 3.29-carat brown gem in October 2019. DIAMOND CONTINUED ON PAGE 15