A special election could be held this fall in Mississippi County concerning a new sales tax for the Blytheville and Osceola hospitals. The Mississippi County Quorum Court Finance Commission recommended the proposal to go to the full quorum court after hospital administrators explained details of the new tax last night. KAIT reports the Mississippi County Hospital System is proposing a special election would take place October 14th for voters to decide on a half-cent sales tax. The tax would reportedly raise about three million dollars annually and would not be extended past five years. The revenue from the tax would be used for upgrades to the Blytheville and Osceola hospitals and would be used in recruiting physicians. If it is approved, the tax would be implemented starting January first. The quorum court is expected to vote Tuesday night on whether to approve a special election.
Johnathan Reaves is the News Director for KASU Public Radio. As part of an Air Force Family, he moved to Arkansas from Minot, North Dakota in 1986. He was first bitten by the radio bug after he graduated from Gosnell High School in 1992. While working on his undergraduate degree, he worked at KOSE, a small 1,000 watt AM commercial station in Osceola, Arkansas. Upon graduation from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcast News, he decided that he wanted to stay in radio news. He moved to Stuttgart, Arkansas and worked for East Arkansas Broadcasters as news director and was there for 16 years.