Pulse THE POLK COUNTY
April 7, 2021
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Mena Water
FREE WEEKLY 1168 Hwy 71 S Mena, AR 71953 479.243.9600
INSIDE:
Elk’s Easter
Child Abuse Awareness
Clear Well leak maybe addressed with grant funding; billing concerns addressed
Page 11
By Jeri Pearson
Photo by Trey Youngdahl
Artists at DAR
Cossatot Soccer
Community rallies to prevent child abuse Page 17
By Justin Richmond On Thursday April 1, Mayor Seth Smith signed a Proclamation declaring April Child Abuse Prevention Month. Each year, nearly 424,000 children in the United States experience abuse or neglect, ushering them into the dependency court and foster care systems. A child in foster care, on average, will move into multiple homes and attend multiple schools. All this chaos and inconsistency has long-term effects. With schools closing across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders, mandated reporters are not able to view children in person. As a result, some children may have been increasingly exposed to child abuse and neglect, parental intimate partner violence at home, and sexual violence. With numbers of child abuse cases rising, and with a certain level of selective ignorance still weaved into society, the Court Appointed Special Ad-
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SALUTE YOUR
Graduate 2021
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Pulse THE POLK COUNTY
A several-year battle with a water holding tank may be remedied with assistance from federal and state grants, without which additional band-aids may be necessary. “This is essentially what holds Mena Utilities drinking water, and if it were to collapse the result would be water rationing for customers,” Charles Pitman, utility director, said. The Clear Well Project has been an ongoing issue with numerous attempts to address the problem resulting in what amounts to temporary fixes. “We have been band-aiding it for years,” Pitman explained. “That part of the plant is almost 40 years old.” Mena Water Utility, under the umbrella of the City of Mena, applied for grants from both the federal and state government, asking for a total of $15 million for a new water plant.
MAY 19TH GRADUATION ISSUE
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