Several sources have informed the Arkansas Times that Department of Arkansas Heritage Director Stacy Hurst traveled to Helena yesterday to fire Katie Harrington, the director and long-time employee of the Delta Cultural Center.

A request to DAH to confirm has not been answered. We have not been able to contact Harrington. The Delta Cultural Center plays a significant role in Helena/West Helena’s fragile economy; instability there is not a good thing for the fortunes of the city.

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Last week, the director of the Arkansas Arts Council, Joy Pennington, resigned the job she’d held for 16 years. Pennington will work part time for Arkansans for the Arts. In January, Sericia Cole resigned as head of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

The department has had quite a turnover since the new administration took charge. Hurst fired deputies Kathy Holt and Marynell Branch in August of last year. She hired Rebecca Burkes, wife of Arkansas Development and Finance Authority director Aaron Burkes, as her deputy. 

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