News

Another Carroll County resident has died in the past week from complications related to COVID-19. The additional death — included in the July 22 report from the Arkansas Department of Health — raised the local death toll to 106 since the pandemic began.

Five people were transported by helicopter to area hospitals Saturday morning after exhibiting symptoms of possible carbon monoxide poisoning at a Eureka Springs hotel. Gary Inman, assistant chief for Eureka Springs Fire & EMS, said a total of 24 patients were treated after the incident at Stonegate Lodge on East Van Buren Avenue.

A former Eureka Springs city employee filed a civil lawsuit last month against Mayor Butch Berry, finance director Lonnie Clark and human resources coordinator Jerry King, alleging that she was subjected to a hostile and abusive work environment.

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County and across the state continue to climb, according to a report issued by the Arkansas Department of Health on Friday, July 15. On July 8, the ADH reported 112 active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County, the first time in months the number of active cases had topped 100.

Students in the Eureka Springs School District will once again have to pay for meals after a vote by the district board during its meeting on July 11. “Meals have been free the past couple of years,” said district superintendent Bryan Pruitt, “and now we’re going back.

The Eureka Springs Parks and Recreation Commission has taken the first step in repairing and refurbishing historic Basin Spring Park. At a July 12 special meeting, the commission approved a contract with McClelland Engineering for the initial surveying and analysis of the structural issues at the park.

An update on Omicron COVID-19 still includes my original recommendations. Be assured, I am vigilantly keeping up on the recently released COVID-19 information.

Former Eureka Springs fire marshal and assistant fire chief Jim Kelley retired earlier this year, criticizing what he described as the “Downfall of the Fire Department” in a letter to fire chief Nick Samac.

Eureka Springs Hospital will host its next COVID-19 vaccine clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, July 29, at the Eureka Springs Hospital Clinic across the street from the hospital. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be available.

The shelves at the Flint Street Food Pantry in Eureka Springs are becoming quite bare and director Kathy Barnes is hoping the public can help fill them back up. “Prices have gone up and the numbers have gone up of people we are serving,” Barnes said.