Metroplan needs your voice. Be a part of Central Arkansas’ Future.

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Metroplan is restructuring the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC). The new structure provides a broader insight and representation of the various elements of our community, our population and our economy.

There are 24 available positions in Pulaski County, 12 organization positions and 12 individual positions.  Organization areas of interest are environmental, senior citizen, youth, bicycle & pedestrian, labor & workforce and other areas. Individual areas of interest are neighborhoods, public health & safety, education, parks & trails, infrastructure, and other areas. Other areas are listed in the application.

Metroplan is committed to filling these positions and the opportunity to broaden the participation in regional planning efforts.  If you or your organization is interested, please follow the link to access more information or for questions, call La’Kesha Stewart at 501-372-3300. Applications must be completed and submitted by December 31, 2018.

http://www.metroplan.org/content/regional-advisory-committees

Counties Seek Public Input at Meetings about the Southwest Trail Connecting Hot Springs and Little Rock

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Pulaski, Saline, and Garland Counties, in coordination with the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), will hold three public involvement meetings to present and discuss location alternatives for the Southwest Trail (bicycle and pedestrian path) connecting the City of Hot Springs with the City of Little Rock.

The meetings will be identical in content and held in Little Rock, Benton, and Hot Springs. The public is invited to visit any time during the scheduled hours to view displays, ask questions and offer comments. The meetings will follow an open house format and be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Saline County
November 13, 2018
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Benton High School Campus (Professional Develop. Center)
211 North Border Street Benton, AR

Garland County
November 14, 2018
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Embassy Suites by Hilton (Grand Salon)
400 Convention Boulevard Hot Springs, AR

Pulaski County
November 15, 2018
4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
The Centre At University Park (Banquet Hall)
6401 West 12th Street Little Rock AR

For more information, contact Garver Project Manager Wallace Smith at 501‐376‐3633 or WCSmith@GarverUSA.com. For inquiries about agency notices of nondiscrimination, please contact JDHetzel@GarverUSA.com.  Free language assistance for Limited English Proficient individuals is available upon request.

Early Voting Starts Today

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MEDIA RELEASE

DATE: October 22, 2018

TO: Media and Pulaski County Voters

FROM: Bryan Poe, Director of Elections

Early Voting for the General Election begins on Monday, October 22, 2018.  Pulaski County voters can cast their ballots at any of the nine early voting locations in the county.  Early voting at our eight off site locations will begin on October 22nd and continue until Saturday, November 3, 2018.  Main Site early voting will begin on October 22nd and continue until Monday, November 5, 2018.  Early voting is not available on Sundays, in accordance with Arkansas election law.

Please see the following schedule for the dates and times of early voting in Pulaski County:

 

MAIN SITE EARLY VOTING

Pulaski County Regional Building, 501 W. Markham, Little Rock

Monday, October 22nd – Saturday, November 3rd

8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Weekdays

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays

Monday, November 5th

8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

 

OFF SITE EARLY VOTING

Sue Cowan Williams Library                 1800 S. Chester                        Little Rock

Dee Brown Library                                6325 Baseline Road                 Little Rock

Roosevelt Thompson Library                 38 Rahling Circle                      Little Rock

William F. Laman Library                      2801 Orange Street                  N. Little Rock

Jacksonville Community Center            5 Municipal Drive                     Jacksonville

Jess Odom Community Center              1100 Edgewood Drive             Maumelle

First Christian Church of Sherwood      2803 Kiehl Ave                        Sherwood

McMath Branch Library                        2100 John Barrow Rd.             Little Rock

Monday, October 22nd – Saturday, November 3rd

10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Weekdays

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays

Sherwood Early Voting Location Moved

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MEDIA RELEASE

DATE: October 18, 2018

TO: Media and Pulaski County Voters

FROM: Bryan Poe, Director of Elections

Early voting for the November 6, 2018 General Election starts on October 22, 2018.  The Pulaski County Election Commission has moved the Sherwood Early Voting Location from the Jack Evans Senior Center to the First Christian Church of Sherwood, located on 2803 E. Kiehl Avenue in Sherwood, for this upcoming General Election.

The early voting site in Sherwood was changed to First Christian Church of Sherwood by a decision of the Pulaski County Board of Election Commissioners on the recommendation of the board’s professional staff.  The staff suggested changing the early voting site previously located at the Jack Evans Senior Center, for several reasons:

  1. The First Christian Church of Sherwood is located on Kiehl Avenue and is therefore more prominent and accessible to the average voter in the Sherwood area.
  2. The First Christian Church will provide a larger voting area than the Senior Center, which allows us to add additional voting machines and process voters more quickly and efficiently.
  3. The First Christian Church provides better parking for voters than the Senior Center, with a parking lot that is exclusively used by the church and fully available during early voting days. The Senior Center parking lot is shared with several additional facilities, including the Amy Sanders Library, Sherwood City Hall, and the Sherwood Police Department.

Early voting will be available at First Christian Church of Sherwood starting on October 22, 2018 and continuing until November 3, 2018.  The hours for early voting at the site will be from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on weekdays.  The site will also be open on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.  There is no early voting on Sundays.

For further information, please contact the Pulaski County Election Commission at pcec@votepulaski.net.

Pulaski County to Host Veterans Benefits Fair October 27

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Pulaski County Community Services will host a free Veterans Benefits Fair, Saturday, October 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at UA-Little Rock, Donaghey Student Center. Vendors will share information, answer questions regarding healthcare needs and perform wellness checks. Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and Department of Veterans Affairs will assist veterans in signing up for benefits and making claims. Veterans are asked to bring their DD214. Spouses are also encouraged to attend. Vendors are listed below:

AR Work Force
Arkansas Hospice
ASBTDC
CapTel
Central AR Veteran Healthcare System
Disability Rights Arkansas
Gary Jones Insurance
GRECC
Humana
National Guard
Suicide Prevention
Treasurer
UALR-Office of Military Student Success
UALR-Trio
VA CBO
VA Center
VA Regional
Veteran Affairs
Volunteer Services
Webster University
Wellcare Health Plans

Arkansas is home to more than 225,000 Veterans with 30,934 in Pulaski County. The estimated total Arkansas economic impact is $4.5 billion to $5 billion, making them, if they were an industry, the fourth largest in the state.

For more information, call Carlos Cervantes at 501-340-6157.

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Election Commission Informs Citizens of Voter ID Changes

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MEDIA RELEASE

DATE: October 11, 2018

TO: Media and Pulaski County Voters

FROM: Bryan Poe, Director of Elections

SUBJECT: November 6, 2018 General Election

The November 6, 2018 General Election is quickly approaching.  Early Voting starts on October 22, 2018, and we wanted to provide information about some important aspects of election procedure to inform the voting public about changes that have occurred since the 2016 General Election.  The Arkansas General Assembly passed Act 633 of 2017, which requires voters to provide Verification of Voter Registration to cast a regular ballot when presenting themselves to vote.

  • Verification of Voter Registration (VVR)
    • An acceptable ID must be issued by the state of Arkansas, federal government, an accredited, post-secondary educational institution located in the state of Arkansas, or the County Clerk, and
    • must contain the name and photograph of the voter.
    • If you do not have a Photo ID, and cannot afford one, you can obtain a free Voter Identification Card at the Voter Registration Office in the Pulaski County Courthouse.
    • In response to multiple inquiries, we would like to clarify that photo identification cards issued by municipalities are not accepted for the purpose of voting under Arkansas Law. This includes:
      • municipal employee ID cards,
      • Rock Region Metro cards, and
      • Identification cards issued by municipalities to their citizens
  • Examples of Acceptable Photo ID include:
    • Arkansas Driver’s License
    • US Passport
    • State or Federal Employee ID
    • Arkansas Concealed Carry Permit
    • US Military Identification Card
    • Arkansas Identification Card
    • Voter Identification Card issued by the Pulaski County Clerk.
    • Employee ID or Student ID issued by an accredited post-secondary educational institution located in Arkansas.
  • Voters residing in long term care or assisted living facilities may obtain a Documentation of Residency form from the Secretary of State’s office. When completed by the administrator of the facility in which the voter resides, the Documentation of Residency serves as a substitute for a Photo ID, for the purposes of voting.
  • For further information, please visit www.votepulaski.net.

Champions of Youth to Spotlight Heroes of the Community

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Pulaski County Youth Services will host ‘Heroes of the Community,’ the 5th Annual Champions of Youth Awards Gala on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Masonic Center located at 712 Scott Street in downtown Little Rock.

Proceeds from the dinner benefit the afterschool and out-of-school programs provided free-of-charge in underserved communities by Pulaski County Youth Services. This year’s award recipients are Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, C. J. Duvall; Advocate for Youth Award honorees, The Little Rock Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.; Visionary Award honoree, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola; and Directors Choice Award honoree Eve Jorgensen.

Speakers include County Judge Barry Hyde, event co-chair Judge Paula Juels Jones, event co-chair Theresa Timmons Shamberger, Little Rock Vice Mayor Kathy Webb, Rick Fleetwood, and Pulaski County Sheriff – Elect Eric Higgins. Youth Services board member, KTHV’s Dawn Scott will emcee the gala.

Donations to Youth Services are tax-deductible and go directly to programs focused on improving academic performance while keeping kids off the street and out of trouble. Support the youth of Pulaski County by joining the ‘Champions League.’

Tickets are $75 each and available online: https://donorbox.org/community-heroes

Pulaski County Youth Services provides year-round afterschool and out-of-school programs for students age 5 – 19. All Youth Services’ programs are free-of-charge; helping hardworking Pulaski County families save an average of $5,000 a year on childcare. In communities all over the County, our programs are keeping kids off the street and out of trouble. Annually, thousands of young people improve test scores, increase financial literacy, develop job skills, and build self-esteem in more than twenty Youth Services programs.

About Pulaski County Youth Services
Pulaski County Youth Services works to encourage and inspire the youth of Pulaski County. In collaboration with community partners, we seek to encourage academic achievement, build character, and refine healthy habits in our county’s youth.

For More Information and Buy Tickets

Pulaski County Quorum Court Member Appointed to National Steering Committee for Public Safety

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Pulaski County Justice of the Peace, Paul Elliott has been appointed to the National Association of Counties’ Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee. Elliott was appointed to the committee to serve a one-year term by the Arkansas Association of Counties and NACo’s President Greg Cox.

NACo’s Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee has jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the judicial system and public safety. For justice, the committee focuses on policy impacting juvenile justice and delinquency, substance abuse, mental health, and other issues that impact county judicial systems.

For public safety, the committee’s focus includes policy related to comprehensive emergency management, first responders (Fire, Police, EMS), Homeland Security, and more. Elliott will focus on public safety, specifically, Homeland Security.

As a member of the Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee, Elliott will have the opportunity to introduce policy resolutions and platform changes before both the Legislative and Annual Conferences.

“This is an honor for me to be appointed to the Justice and Public Safety Steering,” Elliott said. “I’m anxious to begin working with my colleagues to draft policy that will improve public safety in Pulaski County and across the country.”

Learn more about the National Association of Counties at https://www.naco.org/what-we-do/about-naco.