Robyn Schotzman has been hired on as the new principal of Holly Harshman Elementary School.
The hiring of Robyn Schotzman as Holly Harshman Elementary principal was approved last Thursday by the Mena School Board, bringing her on to fill the void left recently by Megan Witonski following her hiring as Wickes superintendent.
With the hiring of Schotzman, Mena High School and Holly Harshman both have their new principals in place, and are set to take on their positions July 1. MHS Principal Mark Shumate, as well as Schotzman, are both in town ready to being their new duties.
In other business on the evening, the board approved the recommendation to change the Mena Middle School mascot name from the Mena Bearkittens to the Mena Junior Bearcats and Junior Ladycats. The change was supported by coaching staffs at both high school and middle school, as well as MMS Principal Mike Hobson, who was in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.
Mena Superintendent Diann Gathright reported that dirtwork officially began on the property for the new Mena High School last week, and she shared that any topsoil that is removed from the site will be reused at another location as needed. Gathright also spoke that the bid opening for the high school construction will take place on July 2, and it had been receiving a lot of response through last week.
The school board approved a price increase on school meals following an increase that took place last year. With the approval, student lunches will go from $2.00 to $2.25, and breakfast will go from $.75 to $1.00 per day. The change will go into effect with the beginning of the 2009-10 school year. All school systems have seen an increase in the cost of food and delivery charges over the past few years.
In other personnel business, the board approved the hiring of Beverly Wiles as 6th grade teacher to fill the void left by the retirement of Laughter Spencer, and Monica Griffin was hired on as Vocational Teacher to fill the void left by Lee Smith’s departure. Jun 25, 2009, 09:18
The changing of the Arches
After being damaged during the April tornado, the Golden Arches at McDonald's were brought down for the first time since their original installation in 1986. One consistent factor that was involved in the changing out from the old sign to the new sign that was put up last Thursday was Mike Coldiron.
Coldiron was involved with the original sign installation in 1986, and now having his own sign company, was again involved with the Arches. Coldiron’s crew safely removed the original sign, which required the assistance of a cutting torch to remove the nuts from the bolts. Once removed and lowered by crane, the crew spent the rest of the day constructing and installing the new sign, having it glowing by nightfall.
The original Golden Arches sign was 21-feet tall, while the new sign is 17-feet tall. The new sign features less red, and is also less wind resistant. The new sign is more energy efficient, and no longer feature the “billions served” slogan.
With pole and sign, the prominent symbol towers into the air 65 feet.
Jun 25, 2009, 10:14
IRS concludes $103,000 owed by Mena Chamber in taxes, penalties, interest
After a approximately a year of collecting figures and organizing information, the Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce has learned that the IRS is requesting $103,000 from the Chamber from combined unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest. The figure stems from ten years of unpaid taxes of the Chamber Executive Director position that was determined last year, and efforts were put forth by the Chamber Board to discover the extent of the financial state in efforts to keep the Chamber moving forward.
The Chamber has hired Walter M. “Skip” Ebel, III, as the organization’s tax attorney in efforts to determine appropriate measures and actions to best resolve this financial burden that must be handled. Ebel is part of the Eldredge and Clark group, based out of Little Rock. Ebel was hired on as the Chamber’s attorney last week, as actions will now begin to face this financial challenge.
After facing an IRS initiated deadline of last Friday to begin a resolution, the Chamber received an extension to July 14. The IRS has the authority to levy the Chamber’s account at any time despite the extended deadline.
For the remainder of the story, please read the June 25th edition of The Mena Star.
