A tale of two markets: Part II, Newton County, Arkansas

In my prior post about the farmers markets in Telluride and Mountain Village, Colorado, I promised to compare and contrast those markets with the one in Jasper, Arkansas, my home town.  Both places are similar in some ways, dramatically different in others.  First, both are rural/nonmetropolitan by most ecological measures, e.g., population density and size.  Indeed, both have similar total populations-- San Miguel County just over 7000, and Newton County just over 8000.  Both are also mountain towns (San Juans of the Rockies on one hand, Ozarks on the other), which benefit from ecotourism.  In fact, both are amenity rich in terms of scenic beauty and outdoor activities, but Telluride has many more "built" amenities, and is quite cosmopolitan culturally.  This distinction and the crowd each county attracts is reflected in the annual accommodation and food service sales for 2007:  $77 million in San Miguel County, $3.2 million in Newton County.  That and the relative affluence are also reflected in retail sales per capita in 2007:  $13,114 in San Miguel County, $1,596 in Newton County.

Tensions between old timers and newcomers are evident in both places.  In Telluride, those tensions often play out in planning battles, but presumably also in other ways.  Newton County does not engage in any planning or regulate building in any way, so these tensions are manifest in other ways.  In fact, my sense is that these conflicts have seemingly dissipated over the years, perhaps because long-time residents have come to see newcomers as a net gain to the community.

Beyond these similarities, the differences between the two places are more apparent.  Telluride is an extraordinary example of rural gentrification and is so obviously affluent, Newton County is a persistent poverty county, which means it is characterized by entrenched, inter-generational poverty.  I provided some socioeconomic data about Telluride and San Miguel County in my last post.  Here's some about Newton County:  Its poverty rate is 22.5%, and it's median household income is $27,441.  Whereas nearly half of San Miguel County residents have a bachelor's degree or greater, only 12.2% of Newton County residents do.  Newton County is a Federal/State Government dependent economy, while San Miguel County has a Service-dependent economy.

Tomatoes available July 6, 2012

How is this very different demographic profile reflected in the two places' farmers markets?  I already provided lots of information about the Telluride and Mountain Village markets, and at least the former is fairly long standing.  The Newton County farmers' market, in contrast, started only this year, with a push from the Newton County Agricultural Extension Office.  (I don't even recall much of a tradition of farm stands in Newton County--just neighbors sharing the fruits of their gardens with others).  Whereas the San Miguel County markets take place weekly, spring through fall, the Newton County market takes place only on one Friday evening a month, from 4 pm to 6 pm (aiming to catch people passing the courthouse square on their way home from work), with the last market of the season likely to be this week (though in future years it might be in August, absent present doubt conditions).  I don't know the cost of participating in the Telluride market, but participation in the Newton County market costs just $5/week, and the Extension Office is considering the option of an annual fee.  I'm not sure what participants get for that -- presumably the benefit of a sign announcing the market, which I saw in a newspaper story about it.

The vendors don't pay too much attention to presentation

While vendors at the Colorado markets were numerous, only five vendors showed up to participate in the Newton County market on the Friday in early July when my mom took these photos as my proxy.  She found four fruit and veg vendors and one craftsman.  One of the food vendors had not only fresh produce, but also home-baked goods and jams and relishes for $5 each.  That's less than half the $11/jar cost at Mountain Village.  Tomatoes were $6/lb in Colorado, but only $2.25 in Newton County (and my mom declared them the best she's ever eaten).  The selection wasn't extensive -- certainly none of the kohlrabi featured at the Mountain Village market--but it included some potatoes, peppers, and squash in addition to the items noted above.  I suspect most vendors simply brought excess bounty from their own gardens, and that they did not decide what to plant because of the existence of the market.  I don't believe any of the vendors are engaged in agritourism, but I suspect those selling jams and relishes don't also market those at the nearby gift shops on Scenic Highway 7 (see the figures below).  No one at this market is making a living off the market, which is quite different to what I learned about the Colorado markets.

All of the vendors at the Newton County market were from within the county, population 8,264.  I suppose it is not a sufficiently attractive market in terms of income potential to draw vendors from a wider area.  And I suspect most if not all vendors brought excess bounty from their own gardens, that they had not decided what to plant because of the existence of the market.  I don't believe any of the vendors are engaged in agritourism, but I'd be surprised if those selling jams and relishes don't also market those at the nearby gift shops on Scenic Highway 7.  Unlike in Telluride, none of the vendors had signs or brochures indicating their names or that of their farm; certainly, these Newton County farmers had not invested as much as the Telluride vendors in display aesthetics.

Meanwhile, I note that the USDA is supporting farmers' markets through the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, which is being administered in a nine-county area including Newton County by the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Arkansas.  The program provides a $50 coupon book to each eligible household with a senior adult 60 years of age or older.  The coupons can be used to purchase locally grown fresh vegetables, fruits, herbs and honey at "local farmer's markets from approved vendors."  Income eligibility is $1,723/month for a family of one, $2,333/month for a family of two, $2,994 for a family of three and so forth.  The Newton County Times story about this program does not indicate if any vendors at the Newton County Farmers' Market are "approved." 

I recently came across U.S. Government data on some of the very questions I was addressing.  Here's the county-to-county comparison on a range of agricultural data points, from the Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America:

• Principal Operator 10 years or more on same parcel:  San Miguel County, 87; Newton County,  439
• Principal Operator 2 years or less on same parcel:  San Miguel County, 1; Newton County, 35. 
• Number of farms:  San Miguel County, 123; Newton County, 636.
• Percentage of land being farmed:  San Miguel County, 18.3%; Newton County, 21.5%.
• Average market value of product sold:  San Miguel County, $27,235; Newton County $29,907.
• Percentage of farms with sales below $10K in 2007:  San Miguel County, 71%; Newton County,  68%.     
• Average government payment 2007:  San Miguel County, $9230; Newton County, $1756.
•  Percentage of farms with income from agritourism:  San Miguel County, 4.87%; Newton County, 0.47%.  
• Percentage of farms engaged in value-added production: San Miguel County, 8.9%; Newton County, 5.3%.
• Percentage of farms using CSA:  San Miguel County, 1.62%; Newton County, 0.
• Percentage of farms with high speed internet:  San Miguel County, 48%; Newton County, 24%.
• Percentage of operators working off farm:  San Miguel County, 38%; Newton County, 46%. 
• Percentage of farms with woman operator:  San Miguel County, 18%; Newton County, 14%. 

I acknowledge that this county-to-county comparison is a bit misleading about the markets because, as acknowledged in my earlier post, food at the Telluride area markets actually comes from many neighboring counties, not only from San Miguel County.  Nevertheless, I find it an interesting comparison. 

Note the small size of the market, which is held on the courthouse lawn.

Cross-posted to Agricultural Law Blog.

Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part CXI): Newton County joins the prison industrial complex

This is a post I have not been in a rush to write because I find the development more than a little depressing.  It's the story of the opening of Newton County's long-awaited jail.  My lack of enthusiasm for this project is suggested by the title of this post.  Read more here and here (embedding links to many prior posts) about Newton County's jail travails over the past 7-8 years.

You see, the only way Newton County was able ultimately to open the jail was through a contract with the State of Arkansas to house state prisoners--those state prisoners being in addition to whatever local riffraff might run afoul of the law and wind up in the local jail.  Following are some excerpts from the Newton County Times over recent months, including this report from October, 2014:

“I'm proud to say that things have gone better than what I have expected,” said Sheriff Keith Slape. “Our current census is 19. We have many active warrants that we are pursuing now and I'm sure the census will go up. “ He also said on Friday, Aug. 29, that the jail standards committee was at the facility at 10:30 a.m. to do its final inspection. This should lift the lawsuit against the county that the state attorney general filed when the old jail continually failed inspection, he noted. 

According to the first monthly report of operations, the jail had a total census of 34 with an average daily population of 21 inmates. 

The Arkansas Department of Corrections was assessed $14,700 for housing state prisoners. Other inmates were charged pay for stay for a total amount of $9,765. 

Total meals served daily totaled 63 with the month’s total oft 1,890 meals served. The average cost per meal is $1.01. The month’s total food cost was $2,216.32, according to the report. 

The quorum court [County Board of Supervisors] adopted a jail budget totaling $85,237.16 for the remainder of 2014. 

The jail’s budget was contingent upon receiving fees to house Arkansas Department of Corrections inmates due to overcrowding in state detention facilities. The General Assembly met in special session recently and released funds to help the department pay counties to house its prisoners and to make new spaces for additional beds. 

Slape had been waiting to open the jail until he received a written commitment from the department of corrections. He said he met with the corrections board and received that commitment. 

This editorial, which appeared in the Newton County Times on October 7, 2014, provides more information about the relationship between the State of Arkansas and counties across Arkansas:

When the Newton County Jail opened in September it was contingent upon an agreement from the state prison system that it would pay the county to house state prisoners. The state’s detention facilities are overcrowded. An agreement was reached, but the state is only paying the county $28 per prisoner per day. The state said they would pay for 15 beds, but would be willing to pay for more. Under the current agreement the state is paying the county $12,000 per month. This money is dedicated to the jail’s operation. Statewide, county jails estimate the reimbursement rate of $28 is well below the actual cost to counties, which is more like $45 per day. 

According to the Arkansas Association of Counties, there are about 2,300 state inmates being held in county jails throughout Arkansas. 

That is more than the largest state prison and this is despite the General Assembly appropriating in excess of $6 million to the Department of Corrections to hold more state prisoners during the Second Extraordinary Special Session of the 89th Arkansas General Assembly this summer. About 25 percent of county jail beds statewide are being used to hold state prisoners. 

At 2,300 state inmates, one year of reimbursements would be almost $24 million but the General Assembly appropriated only $16.5 million. Of this, $7 million is in category “B” funding, which will not be accessed until May/June 2015 and will actually manifest only if state revenues are better than projections. This means that the counties are owed from the state $1.95 million each month, but can only be paid, on average, about $750,000 each month to cover payments it owes to counties. 

The County Judges Association of Arkansas and the Arkansas Sheriff’s Association recently agreed to actively pursue a solution to a shortfall in state budgeting for county jail reimbursements for state inmates housed in county jails. They want the governor to call a Special Session of the General Assembly to amend the appropriation and funding of county jail reimbursement to provide for the prompt payment of the anticipated shortfall.

Both the sheriff’s and judges also feel that a1,600 prisoner threshold should be respected and adopted in budget recommendations by Gov. Beebe and the 89th General Assembly, and that the next governor of the state of Arkansas and 90th General Assembly duly provide for direct or indirect payment to private contractors for holding state inmates in excess of the 1,600 inmate threshold and to promptly appropriate, fund and pay the just debts of the state to the counties for holding state inmates for remainder of FY 2015 and FY 2016 at $45 dollars per day. 

Lawmakers will have to determine what is more cost efficient, building more and larger prisons or paying counties more for housing state prisoners. If it is the latter, we believe counties should be reimbursed for their actual costs. In some cases it may be less than $45 per day. In others it may be more.

You can see more clearly why I am thinking that this brings Newton County into the prison-industrial complex if you read this earlier post about the practice in Louisiana.

Here's more from the Newton County Times, starting with a January, 2014 Editorial, "Take Advantage of the Prisoner Boom":

During legislative budget hearings in preparation for the 2014 fiscal session, the governor presented a balanced budget proposal that projects more than $5 billion in general revenue spending. 

About $10 million in additional funding would go to the state Correction Department, which operates state prisons. About $7 million of that amount would be spent to reimburse county jails for costs incurred while holding state inmates.

Although the inmates are under the jurisdiction of the state, they are housed in county lockups because of a lack of space in state prison units. 

Newton County could receive some of that money if it’s [sic] jail gets up and running.
The Newton County Jail was dedicated in December 2011, but is still not housing prisoners. However, it may be open this spring thanks to an Arkansas Rural Development Commission Grant of $400,000. The grant comes from an appropriation made on behalf of the county by State Sen. Michael Lamoureux. The county’s cost of $1,050,000 and in-kind services used to build the facility serves as the local match. 

According to Newton County Sheriff Keith Slape, the grant will be presented to the county in two cycles. The county is receiving $219,004.31 in the grant’s first funding cycle. The second cycle goes from April through June and that is when the remainder of the grant is expected to be allocated. 

Slape said other sheriffs have told him the state has been about 100 days late in paying them for housing state prisoners, but the counties are being paid.

Presumably, the additional $7 million proposed for the state budget will get the state caught up with its commitments to the county jails. 

Newton County has also had to house its prisoners in other counties. A savings should be realized when the county can start housing its own prisoners. 

We also learned last week that the old jail, which is currently housing the Christian Food Room, will be reclaimed by the sheriff’s department for use as extra space for housing state prisoners. 

We should not consider this a long-term funding opportunity for Newton County. The increased funding for the Correction Department would bring the department’s annual operating budget to $316.1 million, and would also allow the department to open new prison units with capacity for about 300 inmates.

As for using the old jail to house state prisoners, that seems impossible—and certainly contrary to civil rights law and perhaps the U.S. Constitution.  You see, the state condemned the old jail several years ago, which is why the county embarked on this long quest for a new jail—the one just opened.

And to complete the economic picture, here is the text of the August 10, 2014, story titled, "Newton Jail hiring."

Newton County Sheriff Keith Slape said the budget for the Newton County Jail approved by the Newton County Quorum Court this week will undoubtedly help the county’s economy. 

* * *

The jail, having been inspected and meeting standards, is expected to open in about two weeks. Jailers and dispatchers are undergoing cross training so all staff will be certified in both areas, Slape told justices of the peace [Quorum Court]. 

* * * 

Slape has been waiting to open the jail until he received a written commitment from the Department of Correction. He said he met with the corrections board last week at England, [Arkansas] and received that commitment. 

“It’s taken a while to get done,” Slape told the Daily Times. 

* * *

The budget establishes employees’ compensation for the final five months of the year: An administrator, $9,240; a sergeant, $8,360; eight full-time jailers, $7,480 each; two part-time jailers, $5,984 each and a nurse, $3,960. Along with Social Security, retirement, health insurance, unemployment and other fringe benefits the total budget is $133,177.50. 

* * *

Slape said the department of corrections wants to transfer its first inmates to Newton County from Sebastian County on Monday, Aug. 25. Newton County District Judge Tommy Martin is also eager to begin sentencing jail time to defendants found guilty of committing certain crimes.

As far as I am concerned, this is all really bad news.  Newton County was better off without a jail—especially if the only thing that made the jail viable was incarceration of state prisoners.  No two ways about it:  Little ol' Newton County, Arkansas has become part of the prison industrial complex.

Rural Arkansas tells urban Arkansas to mind its own business

That's the gist of a resolution passed by a unanimous vote of the Newton County Quorum Court (equivalent to a Board of Supervisors) at its June 3, 2013 meeting. The Newton County resolution responded to resolution by the Fayetteville City Council, passed April 15, which "oppose[s] the permitting and operation of the concentrated hog farm along a major tributary of the Buffalo National River." The City Council indicated that its reason for weighing in was that the hog farm would hurt tourism in Fayetteville, as well as in Newton County.  Apparently, a protest demonstration and rally opposing the hog farm have occurred in Fayetteville.

The dueling resolutions, of course, refer to a controversial factory hog farm that just began operating in Mount Judea, Arkansas, which I have written about here, here, here and here.  That hog farm is in the watershed of the Buffalo National River, just a few miles upstream from the river which is a major draw for tourists to the Ozarks.  The Newton County resolution was proposed and pushed by farmer Tim Slape of Compton, who is quoted:

 What I'd like to ask the quorum court to do is consider drawing up a resolution that states we're against Bikes, Blues and Barbecue [an annual event in Fayetteville].  The reason is that the increase in motorcycle traffic that passes through Newton County puts an added stress on the county's law enforcement and first responders.   

We're going to have to fight back against these people.  If these boys lose that hog farm you can kiss your county good-bye. 

It's in your boys' hands.  We have to fight back.  These people need to know people live here.  

The resolution passed by the quorum court reads in part:

Whereas Newton County is dedicated to its environment, economics, and historical culture; and 

Whereas Newton County has historically depended on the timber industry and its family owned farms; and 

Whereas, a large multi-family owned hog farm having met or exceeded all state and federal regulations has been built providing much needed jobs and increasing the tax base for the county and schools, therefore helping to protect our environment, economic and historical culture. 

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Quorum Court of Newton County, Arkansas; that

The Quorum Court of Newton County, Arkansas, adamantly opposes the interference in the livelihoods of these families by the City of Fayetteville and other entities.

Let me put these competing resolutions in spatial and economic perspective.  Fayetteville lies about 70 miles to the west of Newton County, both in the northwest Arkansas quadrant.  Both feature lovely rolling Boston Mountains, but that is pretty much where the similarities end.  Fayetteville is the county seat of metropolitan Washington County, Arkansas, part of the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers conurbation that is Arkansas's second of two SMSAs.  Fayetteville is also the home of the University of Arkansas, the land grant university.  It is fair to say that Fayetteville is pocket of liberalism in an otherwise quite conservative state.  It is also relatively affluent, though not quite as affluent as neighboring Benton County, home of Wal-Mart.  Washington County's median household income is $35,900, but that for Benton County is higher, at nearly $42,000.  This probably reflects the fact that Fayetteville has a large student population, which means its poverty rate is also higher than that of the surrounding counties.  The median value of a home in Washington County is $153,700.

Newton County, on the other hand, is the state's least densely populated county, and it's entire population barely exceeds 8000. Its median household income is under $30,000, and the median home value is $76,400--just half of the Washington County figure.  Newton County is a persistent poverty county that relies greatly on ecotourism--but even more so on government employment.  It has 90 nonfarm establishments, and it issued one building permit in 2012.  The county has 636 farms with an average per farm market value of products sold (in 2007) at just below $30,000.

New Feature: Law and Order in the Ozarks

I don't really love that heading, but here's my idea for a new series on Legal Ruralism. I'm a long-time subscriber to The Newton County Times, the weekly newspaper for the county where I grew up in Arkansas. It's typically just 8 pages a week, sometimes more during fair season. There aren't a lot of ads (well, more during election season), and it's chock full of information about county happenings, including obituaries. I'll tell you more about the paper, of course, as this series develops.

Since I started writing about the intersection of law with rural livelihoods, I pay a lot more attention to the items about crime, policing, and such, and so I've decided to feature some story from the paper each week. I can't guarantee it'll always be directly related to law, but the idea is to use the paper's coverage of events there as a jumping off point to discuss my thoughts about, well, law and order in rural places. Unfortunately, very few stories in the paper get picked up on its website, and I've never seen a Newton County photo there. This is especially unfortunate for my purposes because there are some incredible photos I'd like to share with you here. (Photo above is of the Buffalo National River (BNR), which winds through the county; I posted it just for visual interest and to convey how scenic the county is; I won't go into the links between the BNR and law in this post).

Just a reminder of some basics about Newton County before we get started. It is, I believe, the least densely populated county in Arkansas, with about 10 persons/square mile. The total population in 2000 was 8,608, and the county seat, Jasper, has a population of 498. Newton County is one of two persistently poor counties in Northwest Arkansas, the other being Searcy County to the east. This means that more than 20% of the residents have been living below the poverty line in every decennial census since records were first kept in 1960. (There are other persistently poor counties in the state, but they are in the Mississippi Delta). Newton County has no industry. Sixty percent of the county is Ozark National Forest and BNR, so the county has a fair number of government employees. Otherwise, tourism, timber, and education (the county has four schools but, following consolidation, only two school districts) are the big employers. There are a lot of family farms, but few row crops -- mostly cattle and pigs.

So, now I'm looking at the August 7, 2008 edition of the Newton County Times, and four of the six stories on the front page have a legal angle. This seems extraordinary to me because my recollection of my childhood is that the law was largely irrelevant to the lives of most of the county's residents. That may still be the case, but here are the four headlines:

• Sales taxes asked for new jail -- I have blogged about this issue before; the 100+-year-old-jail has effectively been condemned, and two inmates committed suicide there in the late spring. This caused it to be closed for a while, with inmates taken to neighboring Carroll County. The latest is that Newton County's November ballot will seek a .5% sales and use tax to finance construction of a new jail and law enforcement complex, as well as a second .5% tax to pay for the maintenance and operation of that facility. I hope they pass -- the county needs this facility, and very little in federal grants is available to meet even such needs.
• Laverty earns praise of state prosecutors -- Laverty is the state senator for a district that includes Newton County and some some parts of neighboring counties. The story reports that he has just received the "Advocate for Justice" award from the Arkansas Prosecutors Association. Specifically, he is being praised for helping the county get money for a drug court and for an extra deputy prosecutor, as well as for his support of the association's 2007 legislative program. It isn't clear from the report whether the drug court is in Newton County or in nearby Carroll County, which is more populous (25,357). Wherever it is in the area, I'm pleased to hear about it. Such courts are an aspect of a mature criminal justice system.
  
• Murder suspect hospitalized -- this story reports that a woman who is accused of shooting her husband in the chest with a shotgun on Sunday night had to be hospitalized the next day after she passed out in the Newton County Jail (yep, the infamous one that was closed down in June after the inmate suicides). This is going to be an interesting story to follow -- a wife shooting her husband, both in their 30s. I'll hold my tongue about who the initial aggressor was until we know more, but bear in mind that I'm just finishing an article on domestic violence in rural places, and I've been thinking and writing about the particular character of rural patriarchy for about 18 months so . . . well, stay tuned.
  
• Police say dogs "tortured"--this is, I think, the saddest of all because it involves a juvenile. It reports that a 41-year-old man made a court appearance in late July for burglary and animal abuse. The man's accomplice was a 15-year-old, and a video tape showed him "severely abusing several small animals." More details of this abuse are given in the news report, but I'll spare you. The bond for the 41-year-old has been set at $25,000. The youth was "set to be in juvenile court in Harrison." Harrison is the micropolitan center in neighboring Boone County. This is not specified in the story, but I suspect that under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1980, the youth could only be held in Newton County's jail, an adult facility, for six hours, although 2-day extensions may be granted to rural facilities under "special circumstances."

Of the final two items on the front page, one is about repairs to two state highways that run through the county and the other is a photo taken by a Newton County resident. The caption is "Back yard drama," and the photo shows a Kingsnake eating a Copperhead. Now you know why I'm regretting that these photos aren't available online for me to share with you! This is quite a shot.

I'm looking forward to hearing your alternative suggestions for a heading for this series.

My Rural Travelogue (Part XI): Elkotourism flourishes

It was well over a decade ago when my mother first mentioned ecotourism as a path to jobs and economic growth for our home county, Newton County, Arkansas, population 8,608. Though I don't recall exactly when we had this conversation (I would guess the early-to-mid 1990s when I was living in Europe--which probably made Newton County seem even less attractive and interesting), I do recall my response: skepticism. Who, I wondered, would want to visit Newton County, other than those who already came to float the Buffalo National River? What could the county do to encourage visitors from near and far? I knew the natural landscapes across the county were attractive, but there were few places for people to dine, and even fewer salubrious places for people to lodge. Jasper, the county seat, had three little strip motels, but I didn't think they were very attractive. As for food, there was the Dairy Diner, the Ozark Cafe and a few more slightly upmarket places, including one several miles south of town overlooking "Arkansas's Grand Canyon."

While the population of neither Jasper (now 498) nor the county has grown much in the past few decades, the economic base of the county has, in fact, been altered by ecotourism. (I wrote an earlier post here about how ecotourism was developed in the county, including the use of federal grant money). Ecotourism has also re-made Newton County's social landscape, with many "newcomers" moving in to run tourism related businesses, and some oldtimers starting or enhancing businesses of their own. These include numerous cabins, the very salubrious Horseshoe Canyon Ranch, Arkansas House Inn and Restaurant, and the ever-popular, Ozark Cafe (photo above).

On a visit to Newton County a few weeks ago, I was struck more than ever by the success of Newton County's ecotourism efforts--which might also be referred to as elkotourism. About a decade ago, Jasper claimed the title "Elk Capital of Arkansas." That happened several years after a number of elk from the Rocky Mountains were transplanted to Newton County's Boxley Valley (between 1981 and 1985), replacing those that had become extinct over a century earlier. Read more about this re-introduction and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's Elk Education Center here (photo below).
I visited the Elk Education Center in Ponca (not a census designated place, but with a post office), on my recent visit to Newton County. During my hour or so there on a Monday morning in November, a couple of dozen people came and went. I checked the guest book to see where they were from --mostly Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The interpretive exhibits were really fantastic, with lots of hands-on items for kids: animal pelts of various types, a live preying mantis, animal scat (in jars, so not quite "hands on," thankfully), inter-active computer programs about animal habitats, and much more. My 5-year-old has been practicing his elk bugling ever since.

Later that day I visited the Jasper Chamber of Commerce, located in one of the historic stone buildings on the Newton County Courthouse square. There you can make reservations for a cabin or other lodging--or buy any of a wide array of locally made crafts, strictly from Newton County, in fact. I picked up several hand made wooden toys--a steal at between $3 and $25--some goats milk herb soap, soy candles, and nifty tie-dyed T-shirts. A tie-dyed bag by the same artist said "Elkstasy," and featured the silhouette of one of these marvelous animals.

We wrapped up the day with a meal at the updated Ozark Cafe--updated in the sense that it is owned my a newcomer, but he's been there long enough now to be considered "local." The extensive menu is printed on newsprint, a faux newspaper look. The place wasn't quite full during our early dinner, but it was hopping with both out-of-towners and residents (see photo of the latter below). Remarkably, the salad bar there is the only restaurant in northwest Arkansas or northeast Oklahoma (including restaurants in much, much larger cities) on this trip where I was served lovely dark, leafy lettuce in addition to the standard iceberg.
But it isn't just seeing the enhanced tourism infrastructure and out-of-towners (and out-of-staters) enjoying Newton County that lets me know it has arrived as a regional tourism destination. It's the fact that so many of my friends from around Arkansas now talk about their frequent visits to Newton County and all that's on offer there. In short, it's a far cry from the 1980s when I was in college in Fayetteville, just 80 miles away. Back then, Newton County was a place of intrigue because of its hillbilly associations, but it wasn't a place one visited except, perhaps, occasionally to float the Buffalo. Now, however, it's become an interesting and desirable week-end destination. Yep, elko/ecotourism is thriving, and it's bringing a tiny measure of prosperity to the county, even as the place retains much of its historic, rustic charm. That, after all, is surely its biggest attraction--an attraction that has grown stronger as we become more sentimental for our rural past, which is surely slipping away ... .

Coronavirus in rural America (Part LXXIV): Cases in my home county spike by 55 (out of 7,700 residents) in a single day

Jasper School employees May 2020 

My mom sent me a text message yesterday afternoon telling me that 50 folks at the Newton County nursing home had tested positive for the coronavirus.  I wasn't sure of her source, but today, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's main coronavirus story, which mentioned 990 new cases in the state, included this about Newton County, population 7,753:  "an increase of 55 in Newton County, representing a fivefold increase in the sparsely populated county."  According to the New York Times Tracker, the number of cases in the county went from 2.1 per 100,000 residents two weeks ago to 111 in 100,000 today.  This confuses me since the 111 figure would suggest a county population of 50,000, but perhaps I'm missing something here. 

Screenshot of New York Times coronavirus tracker 8 pm Pacific time, July 25, 2020
The northern part of Newton County is shown in red, just above the text box.

The story quotes Jan Larson, mayor of Jasper, the county seat:

It’s frightening.  We’re almost in shock to be honest with you.

The story then quotes Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who said the cases were

demographically elderly.  So we’re trying to determine if that’s a nursing home environment or some other facility.  

The report moves on to quote Health Department spokeswoman Danyelle McNeill:

We’re aware of roughly 50-60 cases [at the Newton County Nursing Home in Jasper] 

The Democrat-Gazette story continues:  

A Health Department report listed just three cases among residents, and four among staff members, on Friday. 

McNeill said the new cases had not yet been added to the totals in the report.
Rachel Bunch, executive director of the Arkansas Health Care Association, said the home “has received several positive tests for residents and staff.” 

Bunch wrote in an email: 

Newton County Nursing Home is doing everything they can to manage the situation and will continue to remain diligent in implementing containment measures.  As we know, the elderly are at the most risk for this disease.

The story notes that a nursing home staff member tested positive for the coronavirus in late March, at a time when there were only four cases in the county. 

The Arkansas Department of Health's map is shown here and in the screenshot below.  It is not as helpful as it might be because it depicts total cases as a raw number, not as a function of population density.  Thus Newton County appears in pale blue, two degrees more pale than the hardest hit counties shown in the darkest blue.

Newton County is in northwest Arkansas, three counties east of Oklahoma
and two counties south of Missouri. The pale blue doesn't look bad on a map
like this, but Friday's numbers mean the rate of infection is three quarters
of a hundredth,  which is a high rate of infection 
according to my infectious disease expert consultant. 

Back to the Democrat-Gazette story, which quotes Mayor Larson re: the governor's mask-wearing mandate:

We’re wearing masks  I did go into Harps [the grocery store in Jasper, previously Bob's AG] yesterday and I only saw one man not wearing a mask. … We’ve been doing well. People have stayed home, worn their masks.

As for Governor Hutchinson (R), he said that "the new cases in the county illustrate the virus’s reach."  I will add that if it has reached Newton County, it has reached the most remote parts of the state.  Hutchinson drives home the point after weeks of delaying the implementation of a mask order:

Everybody has to be mindful there’s not any area of the state’s that’s exempt.

The comments of Mayor Larson and Governor Hutchinson remind me of some photos my mom has sent me.  At the age of 76, she still works as non-certified personnel at the Jasper School.  She was going in a few days a week in May to be part of a team that accepted students' final homework assignments and shut down the building for the summer.  When I repeatedly admonished her then to wear a mask, she said everyone at the school was required to follow the CDC guidelines and wear masks and gloves.  They were also letting homework submitted by students sit for a few before touching it.  Yet when Mom sent me photos of what was happening at the school (which I solicited for use on the blog), no one pictured (in photo at top or the one below) was wearing a mask.

Picking up food for distribution to children who qualify for free lunches,
about 70% in this district.

My college friend, Bill Bowden, was one of the journalists who reported this COVID-19 story for the Democrat-Gazette, and he was kind enough to share some additional information about the outbreak in Newton County:

The Newton County Nursing Home is licensed for 70 beds.

At 2:45 p.m. on Friday, the Arkansas Department of Health’s website still listed Newton County with 18 total cases and seven active positive cases. Eleven people had recovered and 654 had tested negative.

An hour later, the updated website showed Newton County with 73 total cases, 61 active positive cases and 12 recoveries. A total of 676 people have tested negative in Newton County. There have been no deaths reported in Newton County because of covid-19.

Here's a post from early April about the coronavirus in Newton County, back when there was only a single reported case and the nearby Buffalo National River park was being closed as a result of the pandemic.

Back to the matter of masks, the Newton County Times published this interestingly equivocal statement by the Newton County Sheriff on July 22, 2020:

The [Governor's] mandate says that persons violating this mandate can be cited and, if convicted, receive a fine of $100.00, up to $500.00. However, first-time violators shall receive a verbal or written warning. Violators under 18 shall not be cited but only receive warnings. People cannot be jailed or detained for longer than it takes to issue a citation. It also says the mandate shall not prohibit law enforcement officers or local officials from enforcing trespassing laws or other applicable laws in removing violators at the request of businesses or other property owners. 

Sheriff Wheeler said "I feel like our citizens know when they should and should not wear masks and whether or not they fall into one of the categories that would exempt them from the mandate. If you see someone not wearing a mask, they may very well fall into one of the exempt categories and may not be required to wear one. Businesses may require patrons to wear a mask and, if customers refuse, the business is welcome to call us. But, citizens in public not wearing a mask may very well have a legitimate, exempted reason not to be. Please keep that in mind. We definitely don't want to cite citizens for this mandate and feel confident that the citizens and visitors of Newton County can make their own decision as to whether or not they fall under the mandate."

Finally, the Newton County Times this week also ran a press release from U.S. Senator John Bozeman (R) about CARES Act Funding to help rural hospitals. Here's an excerpt from the piece, titled "Covid-19 shows importance of rural health":

Unfortunately, COVID-19 is putting us in danger of an even larger urban-rural divide in the ability to access quality health care services. Hundreds of rural hospitals across the country could close as a result of the crisis. This means tens of thousands of rural patients could lose access to their nearest emergency room.

There was already a quiet storm brewing prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Nearly half of rural America’s hospitals had been operating at a loss and closure rates were escalating dramatically, hitting a record high last year. Closures in 2020 are on pace to eclipse that number.

These already financially-strapped hospitals now face catastrophic cash shortages as the inability to provide non-emergency care has led to an even larger loss of revenue. Many have furloughed staff, instituted massive cuts or are shuttering their doors.

My colleagues and I are working to address this fragile situation and ensure that the health care needs of rural America are not lost in the rush to tamp down urban hotspots. I recently joined a bipartisan, bicameral effort with over 45 of my colleagues to ask the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to dedicate a larger share of the Provider Relief Fund specifically for rural health providers.

Created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Provider Relief Fund was allocated $175 billion to distribute to hospitals and healthcare providers on the front lines of the coronavirus response. At the time of our inquiry, only $10 billion of that total amount has been disbursed specifically to rural health care providers.

* * *

We asked HHS Secretary Alex Azar to allocate at least 20 percent of the remaining funds to rural hospitals and providers. Priority should be granted to facilities significantly affected by COVID-19 preparation as well as those providing care for a disproportionally high percentage of Medicare and Medicaid patients or populations with above average senior populations or co-morbidities. Likewise, providers in areas with limited access to health infrastructure and high numbers of uninsured patients also deserve this particular consideration.

I note that Arkansas is one of few southern states that did expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, effective January 1, 2014.  This has no doubt helped the state's rural hospitals, as has been the case in other states that expanded Medicaid.  Undermining that expansion, however, is the fact that the State then imposed a work requirement for Medicaid, a requirement that has been struck down by a federal judge.

Arkansas's tiny persistent poverty counties carved up in re-districting

I arrived this week in my hometown, Jasper, Arkansas, to news that the surrounding county, Newton County, will soon be split between two (of the state's four) congressional districts, the 3d and the 4th. The map for this plan is shown above. Newton County has long been part of the 3d Congressional District, which includes booming Washington and Benton Counties in the state's northwest quadrant. The map below shows the current districts.

Admittedly, Newton County has little in common with the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers AR/MO Metropolitan Area (NWA), its 3d district companion until now. Newton County is one of the state's several persistent poverty counties, and one of only two (along with Searcy County to the east) such counties in the Ozarks plateau. Meanwhile, the NWA Metro area becomes more affluent by the day--as Wal-Mart, J.B. Hunt, Tyson Foods, and other corporate giants flourish there, along with their many vendors and well-compensated executives.

On the other hand, Newton County also has little in common with the 4th Congressional District, which until now has covered a full third of the state's land area, extending to Texarkana in Arkansas's far southwest corner. Further, the 4th has previously extended across the state's southern border with Louisiana, all the way to the Mississippi River and several counties deep from that southern state line. (see map below) Under the new proposal, the 4th won't extend all the way to the Mississippi River, stopping just one county short as you move north along the river, with Chicot and Desha County now moved into the 1st Congressional District. The 4th district will also not be quite as "deep" north to south as it currently is. These 4th District agriculture-oriented counties in the state's flat land arguably have even less in common with Newton County than the booming NWA Metro area that dominates the 3d District.

Bottom line: Newton County doesn't fit well in either district. Its physical geography is more like that of the 3d District in that it is on the Ozarks plateau; its political economy and culture may be slightly more similar to the 4th in the sense that it is poor and, like many counties in the 4th, sparsely populated.

What's really bugging me, I suppose, is that Newton County must be divided at all. With fewer than 8,000 residents, I find it odd that Newton County is one of only five counties in the entire state being divided between districts. Ditto regarding Searcy County, with about the same number of residents, which is being divided between the 1st and 3d districts. Not only are these two counties not in the same district, with just about 15,000 residents total, they are split--oddly--among three districts! More appropriate is the fact that the part of Newton County going to the 4th district will be accompanied by Madison, Johnson and Franklin counties, all of which feature somewhat similar economies and cultures (although Madison County is technically part of the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Area because it is within commuting range).

My annoyance about this redistricting outcome was enhanced when I learned that an earlier version of the redistricting plan split neither Newton nor Searcy counties. Instead, last month's proposed plan split Washington County, home of Fayetteville and the state's land grant University of Arkansas, between the 3d and 3th Districts. Read more about that here. With some 200,000 residents, I can see Washington County being the size of county that might need to be divided between two districts, given that the goal is for each of the four districts to have about 729,000 residents. But the powerful business interests in Washington County didn't like the proposed split, and they had the clout to send legislators back to the drawing board. The outcome: a new plan that instead splits two tiny counties (Newton and Searcy) and three somewhat more populous ones: Crawford(58,740), Sebastian (121,325), and Jefferson (79,698).

Read some stories about the redistricting here, here, here and here.

Coronavirus in rural America (Part LXXXVIII): update on my hometown

Screenshot from New York Times 7:12 am (PST) August 28, 2020

A month ago, I wrote about a coronavirus outbreak in the nursing home in Newton County, Arkansas, where I grew up. That story indicated a severe outbreak--very high incidence per capita--but/and centered at the county nursing home, which is owned by the county, an unusual arrangement.  Since then, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported on August 1 a follow up to its initial story: 

The nursing home accounts for 85% of all virus cases in the county, based on numbers released Friday by the Arkansas Department of Health. 

The Newton County Nursing Home is the only such facility in the county, which has a population of 8,330. 

A worker at the nursing home tested positive March 31, according to the Health Department, but that employee was sent home and the virus was kept at bay until last week, when the first patient tested positive. 

By July 24, the Health Department said, there were 50-60 positive cases at the nursing home, but exact numbers didn’t show up in the department’s “nursing homes and congregate settings” list until Thursday — 50 positive patients and 27 positive health care workers. However, two of those workers have recovered. 

[Rachel] Bunch [executive director of the Arkansas Health Care Association] said the number 50 for patients includes three people who had been living at the nursing home but died at hospitals.

Bunch's statement is a little confusing since the story doesn't specify the number of COVID-19 deaths at the nursing home, just other data points, e.g., 50-60 positive cases.  Also, Bunch says she doesn't now how many folks in the nursing home are symptomatic, nor how the "virus got in." 

Here's what the state's long-term care facility map and chart looks like currently

Screenshot from Arkansasonline.com 7:20 am (PST) August 28, 2020
Newton County is the county, three east of Oklahoma,
second south from Missouri, with the large dot indicating number of cases
in long-term care facilities.  

This chart shows 59 positive residents, 30 positive staff members, but no "resident deaths" at the Newton County nursing home.  This is in spite of that August 1 story from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette which alluded to three deaths, albeit occurring at a hospital after the patient was moved from the nursing home.  That story also includes this paragraph deeper in the report:

Late Friday [July 31], the Health Department updated its online coronavirus count to show 91 total positive cases in Newton County. Nineteen people had recovered and three died. That means 85% of the county’s total positive virus cases can be traced to the nursing home.

Were the three deaths nursing home deaths, I wondered?  It isn't clear from the story.

The chart above is also inconsistent with what I see reported in the Newton County Times.  The August 19, 2020 issue of that local paper shows two nursing home deaths in the obituaries section, Iva Jean Berry, 88, and Christine Robie, age 85.  The obituary for the former says she died at the Newton County Nursing Home on August 12, 2020, and the one for the latter says she died the day before, August 11, 2020, also at the Newton County Nursing Home in Jasper.  Meanwhile, the August 12, 2020, issue of the Newton County Times reports that 84-year-old Alice Tenison and 63-year-old Dale Rocole, died at the Newton County Nursing Home.  Both died on August 5, 2020.  The August 26, 2020 issue arrived today, and it reports no nursing home deaths. 

With all of these deaths, one can't help wonder if deaths were due to COVID, as has been reported in national media given the higher volume of deaths (than usual) in 2020.  Plus, nothing in the obituaries indicates cause of death, which is typical of obituaries in this newspaper, even if the cause of death is traumatic, like a car accident.  So, these four early August nursing home deaths may well be--are likely to be--COVID caused.  One thing I do find odd--especially if these are COVID deaths and therefore of patients known to have tested positive for COVID--is that the nursing home residents had not been transferred to area hospitals for treatment.  Why did they die at the nursing home, assuming that fact was reported accurately in the obituaries?

The August 19, 2020 issue of the Newton County Times also mentions on the cover page the death of a physician, 84-year-old Roy Lee, who lived in Newton County but worked in Boone County and southern Missouri.  This story is explicit about the cause of death:  COVID-19.  I'm not sure why the distinction unless his family wanted it that way.  Also, I guess because he is a physician--an important figure in the community?--his death runs as a front-page story, with a separate obituary for him also on the front page.  Or maybe it is the fact he died of COVID that caused the editor to run this as a front page story.  The story quotes

At the other end of the age spectrum, Arkansas has sent its public school students back to school.  Here's what the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported yesterday, on that front:

Yesterday, the Health Department released a report showing that 1,126 public school students and 356 employees at the schools had tested positive for the coronavirus since June 15.

Among students and employees, 411 of the infections remained active as of Thursday, meaning the person had not yet recovered.

At his briefing, Hutchinson presented a lower set of statewide school numbers that included only cases from districts with five or more active cases.

He said that “seems like a very modest number” relative to the state’s 480,000 public school students.

“Why it’s important for us to have this starting point, and that’s really what I’m most interested in, is that this is a number really before school activity has started,” Hutchinson said.

“If there was an infection, the students would have got that outside of the school activities to be a statistic right now, and so we’ll be able to measure from that two weeks from now, three weeks, four weeks from now, and I expect that number to go up, but we’ll see.”

Several weeks ago, the governor announced that the state would use a $10 million CARES Act grant to provide hot spots and other means of digital access for Arkansas's public school students. 

Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part CX): "Public defender comes calling"

That is part of the headline for the lead story in the Newton County Times' Dec 5 issue:  "Quorum Court:  Public defender comes calling."  The story's lede doesn't summarize the story well, but the caption under the photo does:

Tim Bunch, chief public defender for the 14th Judicial District that includes Baxter, Boone, Marion and Newton counties, visited the Newton County Quorum Court Monday night, Dec. 3, and asked the court to establish a public defender's account and refund the accrued surplus into that account.

The accompanying story explains that the state pays the fees of court-appointed attorneys who represent indigent defendants facing criminal charges.  The state raises funds for this purpose through bail bond fees, then forwards that "money to individual counties to budget for public defender services."  Newton County has received just more than $2,000/a year in such payments for each of the last seven fiscal years, from 2005-2006 to 2011-2012.  (Specifically,the county has received between $2,181.44 and $2,376.14 each year).  These funds are "earmarked for the public defender and appropriated ... into the county general operating budget."  

Remarkably, the story reports, "court cases in Newton County requiring the services of public defenders over the past seven years have not exceeded the approximately $16,000 the county received over that time and there should be a surplus of about $8500, according to Bunch."  Bunch therefore asked the Newton County Quorum Court to establish a public defender's account and refund the surplus into that account.  Bunch said that Newton County is the only county in the four-county district that does not have an account set up expressly for public defenders.  

[Bunch] explained the funding process and said the public defender's office needs to have access to that money to purchase new equipment and perhaps hire a part-time secretary.  

The story continues:  

It appears that any money for the public defender that remained in Newton County's general fund at the end of each year was reappropriated for other purposes.    

Money would have to be transferred out of other accounts to refund the surplus a public defender's account would have accrued.   

That would be hard to accomplish with money spread thin while officials are trying to come up with a balanced budget for 2013. 

Bunch said he came into this job about a year ago and discovered there was no instrument in place in Newton County to gain access to the surplus funds.  

He said he wanted the quorum court to be aware of the situation and take the steps to remedy the problem.   

Some JPs said they were not on the court seven years ago and were not made aware of the need to establish a fund for the public defender. 

The JPs legal counsel, deputy prosecutor Brad Brown, actually sided with Bunch agreeing that the money given to the county for public defenders belong entirely to the public defenders and if called upon, state officials would order the county to pay the money back in full.  

Oops.  

I guess these events reflects several issues about local governments in rural locales, especially those without professional leadership and without much knowledge passed down over the years.  It seems self evident that local officials  would not put funds earmarked for indigent defense into the county general fund--that these are special fund monies--but apparently not.  I have written about funding models for public defender services here, and the impact of those funding schemes on rural counties.  

What is most striking to me, however, about this news is its link to the fact that Newton County has just spent a lot of money on a new jail that it has no money to operate.  Read more here.  The county sheriff and county judge have said that the new jail is necessary because the volume of crime is so heavy in the county, and currently many outstanding warrants are not being served because the cost of housing the prisoners elsewhere is too high.  But if the volume of crime in the county is so high, how can it be that the county has spent less than $2K/year on indigent defense.  Bear in mind that this is a persistent poverty county with a poverty rate higher than 20% since as long as data has been kept.  Also bear in mind three high-profile murders that have occurred in the county during this time, each involving intimate partner murder.  Read more here, here and here.  While two of these three cases have ended with plea bargains, getting any murder case to even the plea bargain stage costs at least $2,000 in attorney fees, and none of those defendants seemed to have many assets.

Lawyers in rural Arkansas may work cheap, but they don't work that cheap.  This leads me to wonder if the county is scrimping on providing indigent defense to those for whom it is a constitutional right? 

Law and Order in the Ozarks (Part CXXX): Federal regulation of rural polling places

(c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2010
Murray Community Center, Newton County, Arkansas 
The sign on the post, facing the other direction, marks handicapped parking 

The June 9, 2021 issue of the Newton County Times features the headline, "Access to polls need addressed."  The story is about the interface of federal law and local government, specifically with regard to federal disability law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  In the course of reporting the matter, the writer tells us something about how elections are financed and run in a small, rural county in Arkansas, i.e., the state provided "new voting machines and other equipment" last year; the number of polling places shrunk in the last election, amidst the pandemic.  The story also tells us that the county does have a legal adviser to assist it in responding to a federal communication regarding compliance with federal law.    

The Newton County Quorum Court [like a County Board of Supervisors] met almost a week earlier than normal to take care of some important business Tuesday night, June 1. The items on the agenda were a resolution and an ordinance required to answer a US Department of Justice (DOJ) warning that deficiencies under the Americans with Disabilities Act existed at some voting locations in the county.

Brad Brown, the county's legal adviser, said the DOJ sent a list of deficiencies to the county election commission, but the election panel does not have budgeted funds to address the problems. Most of them concern adequate parking, level pads and specified ramps necessary to provide wheelchair-bound voters unimpeded access to the polls. Corrections have to be made by the next regular election in 2022. The county is also required to appoint an ADA coordinator to make sure polling locations are accessible under the law.

Last year, the county received new voting machines and other equipment from the state. The election commission consolidated the more than 20 polling locations into 11 voting centers. Voters could vote at any of the centers even if they're not located in their home precincts. Some of those locations were new and weren't selected until shortly before the election.

Brown said he spoke with DOJ officials and they are willing to work with the county and election commission to ensure changes are made by the next election.

County Clerk Donnie Davis told the justices of the peace [the five elected officials who make up the the Quorum Court) that the election commission doesn't want to close any more polling sites. If locations can not be brought into compliance other locations would have to be found.

County Judge Warren Campbell said a bonded contractor should be hired by the county to ensure that the ramps and other facility updates are built to exact ADA specifications. He did not know what the cost would be for the work, but added that it has to be done. Money would have to be appropriated from the county general fund. It would be transferred into an election commission line item. Davis did not know if the state would assist in the work's funding.

The quorum court then passed the resolution agreeing to meet the DOJ directions and meet the ADA mandates.

It also voted to amend the county's 2021 budget ordinance regarding employees and compensation adding an ADA coordinator position that will pay $12 per hour.

Here is a fall, 2020 story about the county's voting plan, using "voting centers."  

In somewhat related news, the New York Times reported today that the Arkansas legislature, like that of various other states, is making moves to assert greater control over local elections.  It's not clear what impact this would have in a place like Newton County, which has minimal bureaucracy (election board?) but plenty of concentrated power. 

P.S. I've belatedly been made aware of this June 17, 2021 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story about the Newton County voting matter.  It's written by Bill Bowden, who provides some helpful background not in the Newton County Times coverage, as well as an update on events:  The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with the county under Title II of the ADA:    

During election day on March 3, 2020, and early voting the previous day, inspectors from the federal government surveyed the county courthouse in Jasper, used during early voting, and all 18 of the county's polling places.

The settlement states: 

All of the polling places surveyed contained architectural barriers that rendered the facilities inaccessible to voters with disabilities, such as a lack of accessible parking areas and accessible routes due to gravel and grass ground surfaces; excessively sloped ramps, some without handrails and edge protection; numerous gaps and level changes along exterior routes; and protruding objects.

Bowden's story notes another important infirmity not noted in the local paper's story:  

Also, there was a lack of access to working voting machines at all polling places, according to the settlement.

[County Clerk Donnie] Davis said federal inspectors also determined that a wheelchair ramp at the county courthouse was too steep. He said they checked it with a level.

Here's a blog post I wrote 11 years ago about voting in Newton County.  Its focus was the rather more exciting topic of vote buying, which has a long history in Newton County.  Makes me wonder if that's what brought the DOJ inspectors to the county in March, 2020.  If so, I'm relieved that they found only ADA violations and no vote buying, though the malfunctioning voting machines are concerning, especially if they were new and recently provided by the State.