"In truth, there are few strangers around Mill Creek Mountain. Hardly anyone locks their doors in the tight-knit community of mostly ranchers and farmers. Outsiders are fodder for gossip-the sight of an unfamiliar truck could spur a street-wide plenary about who it might belong to. So when news hit Facebook the day before Halloween last year that the governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was planning to call into the local radio station, KDYN True Country, to make an announcement, speculation ran wild."
"The next afternoon, Don and Bo turned on their radio and listened in disbelief as Sanders announced that the state had bought an 815-acre ranch next door to them, and planned to build a 3,000-bed prison there. Sanders declared that the prison would be the "single largest economic investment in the history of Franklin County.""
Mill Creek Mountain is a tight-knit, mostly ranching and farming community where few strangers appear and neighbors rarely lock doors. Local residents learned via Facebook and a rare KDYN True Country radio call that the state purchased an 815-acre ranch adjacent to longtime properties and planned a 3,000-bed prison. The governor framed the project as the single largest economic investment in the county. An 83-year-old rancher, Don Sosebee, and his family reacted with disbelief after the announcement. The purchase and prison plan sparked strong local opposition rooted in fears of disruption to rural life and property.
Read at Esquire
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