By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A local preacher has been arrested for rape.
John Gregory Speed, 32, 347 Hwy. 306, Colt, was arrested Friday on a charge of rape involving minors, according to Special Agent Dale Arnold with Arkansas State Police Troop D in Forrest City.
Speed, who is pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Colt, was arrested without incident Friday afternoon. He spent Friday night in the St. Francis County Jail where his bond was set at $150,000. He was released on bond Saturday, according to Arnold.
Speed was scheduled to be arraigned in Forrest City Municipal Court this afternoon.
Arnold said the rapes involve boys between the ages of 12 and 14, and the incidents had been going on for several months until one of the boys reported the incidents.
According to Arnold, Speed admitted to the molestations during an interview on Friday.
The investigation was conducted by the Family Protection Unit of the Arkansas State Police in Little Rock. Arnold also noted that the investigation is continuing in the case.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The main issue in this year's Arkansas legislative session was the budget, or lack thereof. However, according to Rep. Danny Ferguson, D-Forrest City, it was a busy session.
"There were about 2,700 bills filed in the legislature this time," he said. "Around half of those will become law."
The session may not be over, at that.
"Right now, we're in recess until May 14, because of a mandatory waiting period, so if the governor vetoes any bills that the legislature may want to override or if we need to go back and correct any errors that may have occurred," according to Ferguson.
The biggest issue that might bring legislators back to Little Rock is the Lakeview school district lawsuit which concerns the school funding formula.
"One of the three constitutional amendments is sort of a shell bill concerning the constitutionality of the state's funding formula. If the judge comes back with a bad decision for the state, we'll have to go back in and take up the issue. Nobody knows what the judge is going to do. We've heard everything from the state winning the lawsuit so there will be no impact, to $500 million. It's all just anybody's guess."
As for the session itself, Ferguson said one bill of his that passed did not get a lot of statewide press, but was important locally. The state gives certain physicians and dentists, such as those in the military, exemptions from having to seek a state license. Ferguson's bill adds physicians and dentists in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He said these people transfer in and out, and the licensing procedure is costly. The bill will exempt physicians and dentists with the Federal Correctional Institution at Forrest City, provided they are licensed in another state.
The Fine Arts Building at East Arkansas Community College did not get the $5.4 million Ferguson requested. However, the project did get $725,000, which he said could be used to secure matching funds. Ferguson said the House had $35 million in capital programs to divide among 100 members. He said he had hoped to get some additional money from the governor, but it didn't happen.
The legislature adopted a tax on beer to replace money that would have been lost to Arkansas Best Chance, or ABC schools, due to budget cuts.
Also adopted was a measure to reduce the blood alcohol rating from .10 to .08 for DWI convictions. Ferguson said this was under pressure from the federal government, and the state could have lost highway funding.
However, Ferguson said the biggest problem remained the budget.
"One of the major issues...was that the rate of growth projections were overly optimistic," he said. "And so we had to come in the last two weeks of the session and deal with a big decrease in the projected revenue over the next two years. Of course, we're one of the few states left in the nation that meets just once every two years. So the critical part about that is we're setting budgets for two years, not one year like most states do."
He said the sudden budget shortfall of about $133 million, combined with about $122 million in new expenditures for teacher raises (the money for which was supposed to come from simple revenue growth), legislators were sent scrambling.
The teachers are to receive a $1,000 raise this fiscal year and $2,000 next fiscal year. But even that isn't settled, he said.
"Built into the law is, that for the teachers to get the full pay raise, the state's revenues must meet projections," he said. "So if the economy slows down even worse...then there could be some downward revisions in those raises."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Plans for a special millage election were finalized in a meeting this morning between members of the county's election commission and representatives of the Forrest City School District.
June 5 is the date set for the vote on a proposed millage increase of 2.5 mills to finance the construction of a new junior high school.
Voting locations for the election were also finalized, and some of the county boxes that normally vote at the courthouse will be voting in the Forrest City Civic Center. The polling locations will be Newcastle, Colt, Caldwell, Madison, Christ Church and the Civic Center with absentee and early voting taking place in the courthouse.
Those voting in Pine Tree will be combined with the Colt boxes and will vote in Colt. Voters in Widener will vote at the Madison polling location, and according to election commission secretary, William Traylor, all other locations will be included at the Civic Center.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the changes in location for the courthouse boxes are due to the damages suffered to the north end of the courthouse in a March fire.
A decision was also made regarding the counting of the ballots so that officials could see the results by precinct in the election. Martha Couchman with the school district questioned whether the boxes would be separated.
"Last year we had it printed out to us by box and that's always helpful," said Couchman.
The commission agreed to provide the information to the school district with commission chairman Joe Young saying, "It may take us a little while, but we'll get it to you. A lot of people like to know what their box or their zone did in all of the elections. People like to know how everyone voted for or against in an election."
See VOTE on Page 2
A continuance has been granted in the case of a teenager charged in the March 20 fire at the St. Francis County courthouse.
Immanuel Bonner-Bey, the 15-year old Forrest City youth arrested for arson last month appeared during circuit court pre-trial hearings this morning at the courthouse. Circuit Court Judge Harvey Yates granted the continuance.
Yates assigned public defender Ray Waters to Bonner-Bey's case, and set a trial date of May 14. Bonner-Bey is currently being held in the St. Francis County Jail.
Local authorities are investigating the possibility that illegal drugs may have played a role in a fire that destroyed a Colt residence Saturday morning.
James D. Ponder, 33, Colt, is in critical condition today at The Med Center in Memphis recovering from burns he suffered when his mobile home caught fire Saturday morning.
According to a report at the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, Lola Ponder notified authorities about 6:40 a.m. that Mr. Ponder was screaming outside her home, saying that he and his house trailer were on fire. She asked that officials send a fire truck to the residence.
However, a few minutes later, Lola Ponder called 911 again and told police to disregard the first call because the fire was under control.
Ponder was transported by Lola Ponder to Cross County Hospital where he was airlifted to the Memphis hospital.
Sheriff's deputies visited the fire scene Saturday afternoon where they found the trailer was a total loss, and in the debris were several items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
According to the report, the cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but the investigation is continuing.
The Palestine-Wheatley School Board will meet at 6:30 tonight in the high school cafetorium.
The meeting is open to the public.