Author

Ellen Kreth, The Madison County Record

Ellen Kreth, The Madison County Record

Ellen Kreth is the publisher of The Madison County Record in Huntsville, Arkansas. She and her newspaper won the 2022 Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky and the 2022 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard for their coverage of officials' failure to act promptly on allegations of sexual abuse among basketball players in the Huntsville School District.

Part of the crowd of nearly 1,200 that filled the Jasper High School auditorium on Oct. 26, 2023, to discuss a group's efforts to re-designate the Buffalo National River as a national park preserve. (Ellen Kreth/The Madison County Record)

Proponents of Buffalo River re-designation say they’ve halted effort, but opponents remain wary
By: - November 1, 2023

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story first appeared in The Madison County Record on Nov. 1, 2023, and is republished here by permission.) JASPER — After a town hall meeting last Thursday, proponents of turning public land around the Buffalo National River into a national park preserve said they would step back from the idea. The following […]

An upper portion of the Buffalo River with Big Bluff in the background. (National Park Service photo)

Group pulls back on push to change Buffalo National River designation, lawmaker says
By: - October 26, 2023

(This story appeared first in The Madison County Record and is republished here by permission.) The Runway Group of Bentonville is “retracting” the idea of turning federal land around the Buffalo National River into a national park preserve, according to state Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, whose District 28 includes Madison County. After meeting last […]

A person paddles a canoe on the Buffalo River as trees display fall colors. (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)

Arkansas group floats idea of Buffalo National River into national park preserve
By: - October 16, 2023

This article was first published in The Madison County Record in Huntsville, Arkansas, and is republished here by permission. A coalition floating the idea of making federal lands near the Buffalo National River a national park preserve says the designation would make the area the “most active-use National Park in the country for outdoor recreation.” […]

Pen of goats in a tent at a fair. (Getty Images)

Arkansas county fair funding becomes hot-button issue for legislators, fair leaders
By: - August 28, 2023

EDITOR’S NOTE: On Aug. 25, the Arkansas Legislative Council restored funds for county fairs to last year’s levels after some lawmakers expressed anger and surprise last month about cuts made by the state Department of Agriculture. Some legislators also questioned the appropriateness of spending taxpayer funds on a private livestock show. The Madison County Record […]

Citations issued in Huntsville School District abuse case
By: - September 28, 2022

Audra Kimball, former Huntsville School District superintendent and current personnel and program compliance director, and former junior high school basketball coach Kaleb Houston have been summoned to appear for charges of failure to notify by mandated reporters in the first degree, according to Fourth Judicial Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett. “These are the initial summons and […]

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