February 2024

Early voting for the 2024 Preferential Primary began Tuesday, Feb. 20, at the M.B. Ainley, Jr. Community Center and the Piggott Community Center. Voting hours will be 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday Feb. 24 and Saturday March 2 voting hours will be 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 4. Regular voting will be Tuesday, March 5 from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. at the M.B. Ainley, Jr. Community Center and the Piggott Community Center. Absentee ballots are available at the Clay County Clerk’s office. For more information, call the Corning office at 870-857-3480 or the Piggott office at 870-598-2813.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A federal court in Arizona has overturned the 2020 dicamba registrations that allowed over-thetop applications of three dicamba products, XtendiMax, Engenia and Tavium, leaving a cloud of uncertainty for farmers long legal back-andforth over the availability and use of dicamba. In an order from the U.S. District Court of Arizona, the court concluded that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to comply with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA’s, public notice-and-comment requirements when approving a “new use” of dicamba. The court order is available online at https://nationalaglawcenter. org/wp-content/ uploads/2024/02/ FILE_3676.pdf Dicamba is an herbicide that targets broad-leafed plants and is used to combat weeds that have grown resistant to glyphosate, including palmer amaranth, commonly known as pigweed. Prior to 2016, dicamba has been used as a pre-emergent, meaning that it was applied to the ground in late winter or early spring before crops were planted. Older forms of dicamba were prone to volatility causing the pesticide to move off target and damage nearby fields. By applying dicamba as a pre-emergent, risk of off-target damage was greatly reduced. However, in 2015, Monsanto Co., which is now part of Bayer, released a line of soybean and cotton seeds engineered to be resistant to dicamba. The following year, EPA approved over-the-top use of dicamba for the first time. Several companies brought dicamba products to market.

By PAM LOWE Clay County Courier The city’s pool, lawn mowing, loan discussions and ambulance service were some of the topics of the February Corning City Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m.

The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas was awarded a $25,000 grant by Farm Credit Mid-America to provide fresh produce in the 12 counties served by the Food Bank. The USDA recently named Arkansas as the nation’s most food insecure state with 16.6% of Arkansans reporting low or very low food security. While fresh produce is an important part of a healthy, balanced diet, it is often too expensive for families with limited resources to purchase on a regular basis. The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas is committed to making nutritious food available to people facing hunger.