Stories from Friday, October 14, 2022

The lack of rainfall across the entirety of the Mississippi River basin since mid-August has caused the river levels from Missouri to the Gulf of Mexico to drop. The Mississippi River had fallen to -8.65 feet on the gauge at Memphis Wednesday. The near record low water levels have disrupted the loading of barges at riverports up and down the river...

According to the Arkansas Department of Health, the number of COVID-19 deaths in Mississippi County increased by three this week. Also, the number of active cases in Arkansas increased to 3,042 this week even though the number of new cases dipped slightly to 386...

Early voting for the November election is set to begin on Oct. 24 and continue through Nov.7. In addition to the local races, four statewide issues will be listed on the ballot for Arkansas residents to vote upon. Issue number one would give state legislators the authority to call special meetings of the legislature at any time. ...

The Blytheville Finance Committee sent an ordinance to the full council approving a solar array project with Crooked Lake Solar in their Tuesday meeting. Project manager Syed Rizvi was in attendance to revisit with the committee. In their February meeting, he spoke with the committee seeking the conditional use permit for this same project which was granted unanimously...

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 8.7 percent in 2023, the Social Security Administration announced this week. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January...

The Arkansas Public Service Commission approved a general rate increase for Black Hills Energy to reflect critical infrastructure investments that meet the growing demand for energy and continued resilience of the safe delivery of natural gas to more than 180,000 homes and businesses in 100 Arkansas communities...

Craighead County has received a $750,000 BJA Adult Drug Court Discretionary federal grant to help enrich its county mental health court program, Craighead County Judge Marvin Day announced on Oct. 11. “This grant will provide alternatives to incarceration for individuals with behavioral health issues,” said Craighead County Judge Marvin Day...

LaRay White, Farmers Bank and Trust vice president of Community and Business Development, was named 2022 Outstanding Arkansas Northeastern College Alumni Honoree by the Arkansas Community Colleges. White, of Blytheville, is a 1999 graduate of ANC. She serves as the vice president of Community and business development where she improves the financial awareness of people throughout Mississippi County. ...

The Arkansas Community Colleges has announced Maddie Treece was named the 2022 Academic All-Star for Arkansas Northeastern College. Treece has a 3.89 grade point average while serving the college as a student ambassador. She has assisted many departments throughout the campus, including student activities, and volunteered to work for foundation events. ...