LITTLE ROCK ― The percentage of Arkansas public school students with a body mass index measurement in the obese range increased to a record level in the 2020-21 school year — results that coincide with the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic — according to a new ACHI report on childhood obesity.
Little Rock, Ark. – Every region in Arkansas is seeing an increase in the number of syphilis cases, especially among women. From 2017 to 2021, there was a 164% increase (from 562 to 1,482) overall in early syphilis cases and a 285% increase (from 155 to 597) among women of reproductive ages (15-44 years).
Sunshine Week, America’s celebration of the public’s right to know what its governments do, comes this year at a particularly sobering time. The annual event began Sunday and continues through the week, with media outlets throughout the country using the occasion to call attention to the laws that preserve public access to information and seek to keep federal, state and local governments transparent to the people they serve.
The Methodists of this place have decided to erect a new church house, and for this purpose they have started a subscription for funds headed with S500 by G.B. Oliver, which is a liberal contribution for Mr. Oliver. The old church house was built many years ago when Corning was quite a small place, when the church was weak numerically and financially; but now since the church and town have grown strong. and the old building is in a dilapidated condition. we need and deserve a comfortable up to date building worthy the advanced state of our town and the intelligence and liberality of our people. Some time ago the official reports from Washington, published broadcast in the newspapers, giving the census of the various towns of Arkansas as well as of other towns and states, gave the census of Corning at 784. The census of 1890 was 584. This showed the increase of only about 34 percent. Hon. C.R. Beloate, knowing that our town has made a steady growth for the past decade, was dissatisfied with the figures and wrote his grievances to the Director of the Census at Washington. He was informed that the population of the town of Corning is 1041 and that if the township outside of the town is 784, and that the figures will so appear in the final report. Chas. E. Rhea is the large new deputy marshal. He is big enough and we’ll bet he’ll be a good one. The ladies of the Christian church gave a big Thanksgiving dinner at the Harb Bros. vacant store room yesterday. Turkey, cranberry sauce, roast pork and numerous other meats and choice brands were served at 25 cents for a meal. A large sum of money was raised for the church.
I’ve written many times about the importance of newspapers to our democracy and communities. For centuries, newspapers have always been there to inform, educate, announce weddings, births, and deaths. An important role of newspapers is to protect citizens by supporting the public’s right to know what their local, state and federal government officials are doing, and the records kept.
A one vehicle crash near Corning in Clay County at 3 a.m. on Saturday, March 12 killed an Indiana woman and injured two men. According to an Arkansas State Police Report a 2008 Dodge Avenger driven by Jose Trevino Morales, 23, of Portland, Indiana was northbound on Hwy 67 near when it veered slightly left and crossed the north and southbound lanes leaving the southbound shoulder and traveled into a water-filled ditch before impacting a metal culvert at US Hwy 67 and County Road 1412. A passenger in the vehicle, Jessica Cruz, 37, of Portland, Indiana perished. The driver, Morales and a passenger, Jose Olvera Nequis, 32, were taken to an area hospital. The ASP report states the driver and passenger were taken to Regional One in Memphis and St. Bernard’s Hospital in Jonesboro.
March has certainly come in like a lion ushering in tornadoes and storms the first week and snow on Friday, March 11. These daffodils in a yard on Grigg’s Lane respond to the winter weather.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge hosted the 2021 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year awards and recognition luncheon at the Benton Event Center on March 1. Rutledge presented awards to Officers of the Year for the State, the Region, and from each county. Clay County Special Agent Mark Vavak of the Arkansas State Po-lice was designated Clay County Officer of the Year. During the award ceremony, Attorney General Rutledge said, “Arkansas is lucky to have men and women in blue who put their lives on the line to protect, often sacrificing so much for our communities.” In all, 45 of the 75 awards were given to troopers from the Arkansas State Police.
The Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting Monday, March 14, 2022, at Parkview Restaurant. Matt Miiller, Manager of Information Technology with Clay County Connect, was this month’s guest speaker. Clay County Connect (CCC), a local wholly owned subsidiary of Clay County Electric is building the future for broadband services with fiber to the location highspeed internet access. The broadband movement allows rural communities, such as Corning to survive now and into the future. Through this movement, our community and the surrounding communities will be more capable in offering the telecommunications we need to operate from a rural community.
CLAY COUNTY, AR - On March 8, 2022, at approximately 8:25 p.m., Clay County 911 received a phone call regarding an unresponsive male in the front yard at a residence located at 1479 Highway 49 just east of Rector. After deputies arrived, they located the deceased body of a thirty-five yearold white male identified as Matthew Hale, suffering from gunshot wounds. Hale was lying face down in the grass near the side entry of the home. Shell casings were also found near Hale’s body.