Polk County News

The Mena Commercial Historic District in Polk County has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the countrya s official list of historically significant properties, the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program has announced.

A couple of downtown businesses, including a pizza restaurant, and several homes sustained minor flooding Tuesday morning after a storm dropped nearly 4 inches of rain over the Polk County city, officials said.

The fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old Mena man happened after a night of heavy drinking and was the result of "stupid drunks" getting mad, the Polk County sheriff said Tuesday.

A house fire kills two in Polk County. A house fire at Old Cove Road, in Cove was reported at 4:28 Friday morning.

A pilot had to make an emergency landing in Polk County late Wednesday afternoon.

State Police and Polk County Sheriff's officers confirm the pilot of a private plane was having engine troubles when he was forced to bring the plane down on County Road 401 in Mena around 8 o'clock Wednesday night.

MENA / WALDRON - A local county is looking to house their prisoners at a jail that hasn't opened yet.

Gov. Mike Beebe sought a federal disaster declaration Tuesday for three storm-ravaged Arkansas counties.

The tornado, which killed three people, damaged Mena Middle School so severely that it will have to be condemned, school officials and Polk County Judge Ray B. Stanley said Monday.

The morning sun has given Polk County officials and residents the chance to assess damages in the area, after a tornado and apple-sized hail ripped through the town of Mena Thursday night.

Benjamin Wesley Lee, 26, of Emmet was struck and killed by a 2000 GMC Yukon, driven by Issa Johnson, 36, of Florence, Ala., in the predawn hours Sunday morning, according to a report by the Arkansas State Police.

U.S. Representative Mike Ross issued the following statement today in response the damage caused by a devasting tornado that hit the town of Mena on April 9, 2009.

The National Weather Service confirms that two tornadoes struck Polk County as part of a storm system that killed three people.

Even in the darkness, there was little doubt the small town of Mena, Arkansas was in trouble.

Polk County Sheriff Mike Oglesby says last night's tornado did severe damage to the jail in Mena and that the inmates have to be moved.

MENA a ' The Salvation Army is responding to the tornadoes that hit the western and southwestern parts of Arkansas Thursday night.

Emergency management officials in Polk County said about 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed during the tornadoes that ripped through the county Thursday.

The National Weather Service says the NOAA weather radio broadcast is off the air in Mena.