Jefferson County's garbage fees rise
Garbage collection fees for Jefferson County residents increased by 15 percent, going from $16.60 per month to $19.10.
Quorum Court members unanimously approved the increase -- which went into effect immediately -- at its regular meeting earlier this month. Waste Management, the trash-collection provider, was required to submit a report showing proof that the cost of living and operations cost increased to a level that justified the rate increase.
County hires must use direct-deposit
All newly hired Jefferson County employees are now required to have their paychecks directly deposited.
Initially, a proposed ordinance mandated direct deposit for all existing employees by Feb. 13, but Quorum Court members amended and approved the ordinance that day to allow current employees to continue to receive paper checks if they choose.
County Clerk Shawndra Taggart told the court that about 303 county employees signed up for direct deposit and 89 are paid by paper check. According to Taggart, the county spends about $900 annually for checks, $45.39 per pay period for envelopes and postage and $132 for ink cartridges to print checks.
LR native to lead arsenal division
A Little Rock native was selected recently to lead the Pine Bluff Arsenal's directorate of chemical and biologic defense operations.
As director, John Burkhead, who has been with the Pine Bluff Arsenal since 2003, will be responsible for planning, organizing, hiring and will be an integral part of the senior leadership team.
He replaces Phillip Vick, who retired from the position in December. Burkhead served under Vick as quality management division chief.
"As a chief, I went from managing about 50 people and just over 10 programs," Burkhead said. "Now, I'm managing over 100 people and 30 programs. With all the meetings, my schedule has filled up very quickly. I'm excited about the job."
Burkhead, the son of Joyce and Fred Burkhead, grew up in Pine Bluff and graduated from Pine Bluff High School in 1994. He has a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Ex-lawmen to get accrued sick pay
Pine Bluff will shell out nearly $80,000 to pay accrued sick-leave time for two retiring Police Department officials.
Former Pine Bluff Police Chief Jeff Eubanks retired Jan. 31 with 600 hours of sick leave and another police lieutenant retired with 720 hours of sick leave. The payout of $79,872, was unanimously approved by the City Council at its regular meeting in February.
City calls for U.S. to keep health law
Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington and Pine Bluff City Council members passed a resolution earlier this month calling on President Donald Trump and House and Senate leaders to protect the health-insurance coverage of Pine Bluff citizens by keeping the Affordable Care Act intact.
More than 10,000 Jefferson County residents received health-insurance coverage through the Private Option as of Dec. 2016. A repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would mean that the residents would lose about $43 million in health coverage per year, the resolution stated.
The loss of health coverage would "weaken the local economy, and increase the amount of uncompensated care at Jefferson Regional Medical Center," the resolution said.
Uber ride-sharing now offered in PB
Ride-sharing company Uber is rolling into Pine Bluff, the company announced last week.
Starting Thursday, people in Pine Bluff can log into the Uber app and either request a ride or put their personal vehicles to use by accepting trip requests.
The company is offering the first ride for free by applying the promotion code PINEBLUFF.
Board to buy land for a new library
The Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library board will purchase downtown property at 618 Main St. as the site for construction of the new main library.
Library Board President Tommy Brown and Main Street Development LLC member Lloyd Lee signed the contract Feb. 6 for the sum of $385,000. The property was appraised for $410,000.
Pine Bluff voters approved in November a 3.0-mill tax increase to raise $14 million for the library project.
State Desk on 02/21/2017