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Alfreda Bruen
TUESDAY, May 26, 2020 / Vol. 6 Issue 21 / 75 cents
Ozark Health seeks sales tax vote Ozark Health CEO David Deaton asked the Quorum Court on Thursday to allow a special election to finance the hospital. Deaton is seeking a half-cent sales tax. Estimates are that the tax would generate about $1 million annually for Ozark Health. The current 1 cent sales tax dedicated to Ozark Health expires in November. Deaton would like the special election to be held Sept. 8. In exchange for the tax, Deaton dangled images of a memory care unit for
dementia and Alzheimer’s patients as well as possibly a dialysis center. Voters rejected a quarter-cent sales tax for Ozark Health in March. Asked why the vote couldn’t wait until the November General Election, Deaton said a special election would put the focus on one issue. Politics are involved in the General Election and this is not a political issue, he said. The cost of a special election would be $20,000 to $30,000, according to County Clerk Pam Bradford.
Deaton said Ozark Health would reimburse the county. Ozark Health has received revenue from a 1-cent sales tax since 2000. The facility is leased from the county at a minimal cost. That lease expires in 2034. Deaton said the tax money would be used for capital improvements, expansions, renovations, replacing equipment, maintenance and whatever is needed. He noted that Ozark Health employs more than 300 people, including nurses, technicians, ther-
apists, specialty sports staff and others. Wages and benefits are $16 million annually, he said. Deaton’s own salary is $180,775; Larry Green, head of rehab, makes $131,731; and pharmacy manager Misti Johnson is paid $112,894, according to Ozark Health’s non-profit filing for 2018. In the ordinance proposal Deaton handed out to justices of the peace, there appeared to be no sunset clause for the tax. Asked if that was the case, Deaton said he was “not for sure.”
Ozark Health CEO David Deaton addresses the Quorum Court last week.
Reopening Scotland center serving lunch The former Scotland Senior Center was scheduled to reopen Tuesday, May 26, under a new name - the Scotland Community Center. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday with lunch served at 11:45 a.m. for $4 per plate. State guidelines now in place will be observed. Providing and wearing your own mask and social distancing are mandatory. All ages are welcome. Daily, monthly and quarterly activities will resume.
Park opening some areas Parking is now more
readily available at Clinton City Park. Fishing in the pond also is again allowed. Basketball goals have been put back up as well.
Sunrise on Memorial Day. (Photo by Robert Snyder)
Museum to open doors soon The Van Buren County Muse-
um will be open beginning June 2 with some restrictions -- only three visitors at a time in the building and other state coronavirus guidelines. The hours open will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Ranges reopened Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Shooting ranges at Dr. James E. Moore Jr. Camp Robinson Firing Range in Mayflower have reopened for the first time in more than a month. The unmanned Jack Cox Range at W.E. Brewer Scatter Creek WMA and Rick Evans Grandview Prairie Conservation Education Center have opened as well. The ranges are the first public buildings owned by the AGFC that have been reopened to the public since the beginning of COVID-19 precautions were implemented.
Coronavirus Man accused of By the numbers/May 23 using dog in attack Van Buren County
• 0 cases • 2 deaths
Arkansas • 5,775 cases • 86 hospitalized • 17 on ventilators • 115 deaths • 4,096 recoveries
Governor: We know there's a risk
This pretty pit is owned by Penny Burris. Read about SNYP Arkansas' recent decision about pit bulls and surrendered strays on Page 2.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson defended the steps his state has taken to reopen even as it saw its largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases last Thursday. “We have to manage the risk,” Hutchinson said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We take the virus very seriously, it’s a risk, it causes death, but you can’t cloister yourself at home, that is just contrary to the American spirit.” Hutchinson compared social dis-
tancing and wearing masks to driving while wearing a seatbelt. "You can be in an automobile and that is very risky, but you can manage the risk by wearing a seatbelt,” he told Chris Wallace. Hutchinson also said Arkansas’ cases were on the rise because the state had increased testing. “We see it because we’re testing more and we’re following and testing where they’ve been coming from.”
A Scotland man has been accused of using his dog to attack his parents earlier this month. Jonathan Hamilton, 36, refused to let his parents leave the house, according to an affidavit for arrest. When they tried to leave, Hamilton ordered his dog to “get” them, the affidavit states. Hamilton refused to come out of the residence on Foster Cemetery Road, but allowed Animal Control Officer Tim Pike to come inside and get the dog. Pike reported that when he went into the bedroom to get the dog, he was unaware there was a woman under the dog. Pike used a pole catcher to remove the dog.
Hamilton’s mother, Linda, appeared to have serious lacerations on her face and mouth, according to the affidavit. She and her husband were flown to UAMS for their injuries. Hamilton has been charged with domestic first-degree battery, a Class B felony; domestic second-degree battery, a Class C felony; and false imprisonment, a Class C felony. David Glenn Christen, 41, of Clinton has been charged with non-financial identity fraud. Christen used the name of his son, David Dylan Christen, to set up a cell phone account, according to an affidavit for arrest. The crime is a Class D felony.