Baxter County to consider one-year ban on crypto ATMs as scam losses climb

The Baxter County Quorum Court will take up an ordinance Tuesday that would shut down every cryptocurrency kiosk in the unincorporated parts of the county for one year. The court meets at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in the second-floor courtroom of the courthouse, with County Judge Kevin Litty presiding. The ordinance is scheduled for its…

ByChris FultonOctober 1, 20260Comments

Events Government News

Quorum Court to hear coroner’s building pitch, weigh $250,000 fuel appropriation Tuesday

The Baxter County Quorum Court will hear a presentation on a new coroner's building and consider moving $250,000 into the county maintenance shop's fuel budget when it meets Tuesday. The court meets at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in the second-floor courtroom of the courthouse, with County Judge Kevin Litty presiding. The agenda lists a presentation…

ByChris FultonOctober 1, 20260Comments

Business Events Feature Government News

Airport grant spending tops $2.1 million as county fronts the cash

Baxter County is about to authorize its second large round of airport spending in two months, and in both cases the county pays the bills before the money comes back. An ordinance on the Quorum Court's Sept. 1 agenda would appropriate $1,493,557.63 in state and federal grant funds for the Baxter County Airport. Added to…

ByChris FultonAugust 28, 20260Comments

Crime Events Feature Government News

County moves to buy the coroner’s underwater body locator

Baxter County is set to buy the handheld sonar device the coroner's office spent the summer testing. An ordinance on the Quorum Court's Sept. 1 agenda would move $18,000 out of the county general revenue fund and into the coroner's 2026 budget. The ordinance says the money is for purchasing an AquaEye underwater body locating…

ByChris FultonAugust 27, 20260Comments

Events Government News

Quorum Court to move health building sale money into coroner’s project

Money from the sale of the old Baxter County Health Department building is headed into the county's coroner's building project. An ordinance on the Quorum Court's Sept. 1 agenda would appropriate $215,000 from the Coroner's Building Revenue Fund into the project's 2026 budget, all of it listed as construction in progress. The ordinance says the…

ByChris FultonAugust 27, 20260Comments

Education Government News

Your city and your county are not the same government. Here is how Arkansas keeps them apart.

The Baxter County Coroner's Office asked the county's Quorum Court this month to buy a handheld device that helps locate bodies underwater. Within hours of the Observer's story, readers had a suggestion. Sell the license plate cameras in Mountain Home and use the money. It is a reasonable-sounding idea that cannot happen. The cameras belong…

ByChris FultonAugust 12, 20260Comments

Crime Events Feature Government News

Coroner’s office tests sonar device that hunts for bodies underwater

The Baxter County Coroner's Office is testing a handheld sonar device that uses artificial intelligence to find human bodies underwater, and it wants the county's help paying for one. Coroner Sam Seamans brought the device to the Baxter County Quorum Court on Aug. 4 and spent much of the meeting explaining what it does. The…

ByChris FultonAugust 11, 20260Comments

Crime Events Government News

Quorum Court approves $1.3 million, with most of it going to hangars and the coroner’s building

The Baxter County Quorum Court approved about $1.3 million in appropriations Aug. 4, moving money into the airport, the coroner's building project, the sheriff's office, road work and the circuit court. Every ordinance and resolution on the agenda passed 9-0. County Judge Kevin Litty presided. The largest single item was $632,973.52 for the Baxter County…

ByChris FultonAugust 11, 20260Comments

Events Government News

Quorum Court to weigh $1.3 million in appropriations, hear pitch for underwater body locator

The Baxter County Quorum Court will consider more than $1.3 million in appropriations Tuesday, with the largest shares going to airport hangar work and the coroner's building project. The court meets at 5:30 p.m. in the second-floor courtroom of the Baxter County Courthouse. County Judge Kevin Litty will preside. The largest item is an ordinance…

ByChris FultonAugust 4, 20260Comments

Business Events Feature Government News

Quorum Court honors Rock Steady Boxing, approves grant money for Casey House and roads

The Baxter County Quorum Court set aside a day for a boxing program that helps people fight Parkinson's disease, part of a short Tuesday evening meeting last week in which justices of the peace approved every item in front of them unanimously. The ordinance established Rock Steady Boxing Day in Baxter County. The program marked…

ByChris FultonJuly 16, 20260Comments