June 5, 2019

JUNE 5, 2019

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THE POLK COUNTY 1168 Hwy 71 S • Mena, AR 71953 • 479-243-9600

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Mena School District Underbudget on LDES Project (MENA) Members of the Mena School Board heard from Superintendent Benny Weston on various updates that the district has been involved with. The meeting got underway with “deepest regrets” from the school district on the loss of two longtime educators that served Mena Schools for a longtime. Mary Margaret Fassler and Bill Abernathy. Fassler was a teacher for 43 years, many of which was spent at Mena. . Abernathy was a Superintendent for the school district from 1972 to 1987, when he left the district to become the President of then Rich Mountain Community College, later on becoming a State Representative for three terms. The board approved renewals on various contracts. Their approval with Aramark on the school breakfast and lunch programs, came with a ten cent across

the board increase in ticket prices. That increase came as a result of minimum wage increases that have taken effect. The new prices for lunch will be $2.75 for students and $3.70 for adults; while breakfast will go to $1.70 for students and $2.35 for adults. In that same area, the board approved a renewal with Verizon Software on the districts food service collection software program. The board also approved purchasing a 2016 School Bus for $60,500, that comfortably seats 72 passengers. The district is also being pro–active on the attracting of potential new students and how they will deal with that process. Weston mentioned that the district will have two ways of accepting new students. The first way is by allowing a two-week

-See Project, continued pg. 8

Mena School District Superinterdent, Benny Westin was presented a refund check from Phil Jones and Scott Stokenbeder of the CR Crawford Construction Company. Submitted photo.

Dale ‘DC’ Spencer Way Dedicated Monday Morning

Scotty Jenkins presented Lorrain Timmerman with an award for scenery painting during the recent Benson Award Ceremony. See page 8 for complete story.

RIBFEST

(MENA) The roadway leading into Aubrey Tapley Park in Mena now has a new name. The roadway has been known as RECREATION LANE and on Monday morning, members of Mena City Council and family members of the late Dale Spencer, were on hand for the rededication of that lane that was renamed DALE DC SPENCER LANE. This comes after council approved at their May Council meeting to rename the roadway after longtime area resident and engineer whom provided a lot of guidance and assistance on area projects. Spencer passed away earlier this year and formerly worked for the Arkansas Highway Department and was the architect for the Talimena Scenic Byway, that starts in downtown Mena.

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-See Davis, continued pg. 3

Picture shows the family members of the late Dale DC Spencer on Monday, June 3, 2019.

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