The Clay County Quorum Court met in regular session on Monday, March 18 at the courthouse in Piggott with Justices Patrick Patterson, Dennis Haines, David Hatcher, David Cagle, Brad Green, George Lowe, and Randy Kingston present and Justices Jody Henderson and Neal Smith absent.
On March18, 2024 at approximately 4:30 a.m. an officer with the Corning Police Department attempted to make a traffic stop on a speeding vehicle coming into the city of Corning at 90 mph. The vehicle failed to stop for the officer and then led the officer on a high speed pursuit in excess of 130 mph. At times during the pursuit the suspect vehicle would turn off the headlights to attempt to lose the officer. The pursuit ended in Poplar Bluff MO, when the suspect turned off his head lights and attempted to make a U-turn on PP Hwy. The suspect vehicle and the officer’s vehicle then collided with one another. Three suspects then fled on foot from the Corning officer. Approximately 4.5 pounds of marijuana, LT 2 grams of a schedule 2 controlled substance and two loaded firearms were recovered from the suspect vehicle, along with $5,580 cash.
On March 15, 2024, the Clay County Sheriff’s Department conducted a probation search at 5275 Hwy 141 Corning. The Sheriff’s Department came in contact with 26-yearold Walter Russom of the residence. Mr. Russom is on Felony Probation with a search waiver on file. After the search of his bedroom, Russom was taken into custody and transported to the Clay County Detention Center. He was booked in on the following charges. Possession of Drug Paraphernalia- Misdemeanor, and Possession of Schedule I or or II LT 2GM Meth.
Buster Griggs, former resident of Corning, was commissioned to do the official portrait of his friend, the late Alaska US Congressman Don Young. The portrait was unveiled at the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 18, 2024.
Carson Dowdy gets on base. Photo/Jimmy Leach .
Mayor Greg Ahrent, the city council, as well as area citizens, have been concerned about securing an ambulance service for area residents for the past few months and a tentative agreement was reached during a public meeting on Monday night, March 11 between the city and Medic One. On March 7, Medic One, headquartered in Jonesboro, submitted a bid proposal received by the mayor’s office. The city came to a verbal agreement to sign a five year contract with Medic One to serve as the ambulance service for Corning during the public meeting. The specific details are to be worked out in an official contract.
Senior Jayce Couch had quite a basketball season. He has been selected All State for the second year in a row and to the All State Tournament Team.
The Bobcats suffered their first losses of the season on March 11 during their first conference matchups of the season. On Monday, March 11, Corning traveled to Gosnell to play a doubleheader that resulted in two losses that brought the Bobcats to a 3-2 record. The Bobcats battled through some challenging situations in the first five innings holding the Pirates to a score of 5-0. Circumstances shifted in the sixth inning when the Pirates cut loose and defeated the Bobcats by a score of 10-0.
Pre-fiscal session budget hearings took place at the Capitol last week. The hearings began with the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) presenting the Governor’s recommendation for a balanced budget.
In the previous column, I discussed the alarming growth of “ambulance deserts” across Arkansas. As we observe a decline in the availability of ambulance services, there is a concurrent increase in both the demand for these services and the cost of private ambulance services. In Arkansas, 15% of emergency medical services (EMS) are fire-based, 12% are hospital-based, 10% are public but not fire-related, and a staggering 63% are privately operated.