You know crypto exists in the world, but it may not be part of your world. Unless fraudster Sam Friedman's arrest is on every news source, all matters crypto are completely off my radar.

This was the case for Tami Hornbeck of DeWitt, a small town in the Arkansas Delta, a rice-farming community where people like to fish and hunt, especially for ducks. I have a friend who loves to hunt there. When he's in DeWitt he visits 420 and Turnrow Coffee on the downtown square in a renovated historic building owned by Ms. Hornbeck.

Her family has lived in DeWitt for generations, running Hornbeck Seed Company, started in 1981, which they sold in 2011. Her two sons are in agriculture. The family owns a lodge for duck hunting and guiding.

In late September 2023 Jeremy Cox, a friend of Tami's, posted a video to Facebook of what a crypto site is. He's a neighbor to the crypto mine coming into DeWitt. The video was alarming. Tami began to hear more about the crypto mine from others. Apparently the county judge and quorum court learned about it in the summer. They were told it would boost the local economy, provide jobs, and stabilize the electric grid and they believed this, so they agreed to it. Vague certified letters went out to nearby landowners that informed them of the impending construction.

As townspeople became worried, a meeting was called to discuss what was happening. DeWittians packed the courthouse. Tami and others had done research and asked a lot of questions. But there didn't appear to be many answers. The whole thing seemed shrouded in secrecy.

There had been a county ordinance passed in July--at the recommendation of the Arkansas Association of Counties--to abate the noise a crypto mine causes. Everyone hoped that would be enough to protect landowners and wildlife, but it did nothing to heal the eyesore now forming on the drive into town.

When groundwork started for the mine,........

© El Dorado News Times