One hundred and twenty-one votes were cast Monday, May 9, as early voting in the preferential primary began in Drew County. Early voting will run through Election Day, May 24, announced County Clerk Nancy White at the regularly scheduled Drew County Quorum Court meeting Monday, May 9.
Early voting, which takes place in the Club Room of the Drew County Court house, will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday, May 20. Early voting will also be available Saturdays, May 14 and 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Monday, May 23 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Election Day, eight voting centers will be open for voting: Ethel Hawkins Life Center, First Assembly of God Church, First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, Shady Grove Baptist Church, Tillar City Library, Wilmar School and Monticello Church of Christ. Voters may chose to vote and any of the vote centers. The Vote Centers will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. To see your sample ballot before going to case your vote, visit www.voterview.ar-nova.org/. Enter your name and birthdate and you will be shown a sample ballot for your specific precinct.
A county road department position moved from a part-time position to a full-time position when the Court voted unanimously to make position #22 of the Road Department a full-time maintenance position to have the salary of $29,547.36 with the Court appropriating $32,994.81 for eight months to fund the position. The larger amount includes the full cost of the position for the next eight months, including benefits. County Judge Robert Akin asked the Court to fund the position for $13.50 per hour to give room for a raise in the future. The position will currently pay $13 per hour. According to Akin, the position fulfills more of a maintenance role across the County. Due to this, the positions salary will be taken from budgets across the County 2% will be paid by Drew County Office of Emergency Management, 5% from District Court, 20% from the Health Department, 33% from Courthouse Maintenance, with the remaining 40% coming from the Road Department.
Also in the meeting, Scott Barrilleaux, Drew Memorial Health System Chief Executive Officer, briefed the court on hospital affairs. April was slower than expected in the clinics and labor costs are still the biggest worry for the health system. The Administration continues to work with outside agencies to help the hospital with strategies to staff the hospital. A sub-variant of the Omicron variant is emerging across the country, according to Barrilleaux, who reported while the variant is more contagious, it is not a potent and is currently leading to less hospitalizations than earlier variants.
The County Collector, Tonya Loveless and her staff will be in classes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, June 6,7 and 8. The department’s part-time employee will be filling in at the time.
