By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Although it happened back in the dead of winter, the Ice Storm of 2000 continues to haunt the forests of Arkansas.
A fire in St. Francis County on Thursday is a case in point. A trash fire got out of control on Highway 70 East, and ended up burning an estimated three acres.
The fire was helped by storm debris.
In most residential areas, broken limbs have been dragged out to curbs and hauled off. In heavily forested areas, however, the debris is difficult to get to, so it generally stays put.
Combine the dead wood with the type of summers this region has been having, and it's a recipe for trouble, according to Alan Bostick, a Ranger II with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, who fought Thursday's fire.
"If we have a dry summer like we've had the last two years, it could be a serious problem," he said. "It could make our fires a lot worse."
Bostick continued, "It's all just laying there, waiting. It's stacked up on the forest floor -- all the limbs that have broken off. It makes for a worse fire, a harder fire, harder to put out."
The fire was reported at about 4:15 p.m. The Madison and Forrest City fire departments battled the blaze along with Forestry Commission personnel. One Palestine fireman also came upon the fire and assisted.
One Forrest City fireman, Samuel Pettus, agreed with Bostick's assessment.
"If we have a dry summer, we're looking for a hard summer," he said. "From what the Forestry Commission has said, we can expect this to be the worst year in a long time for forest fires, brush fires and grass fires, because of all the downed limbs and hanging limbs -- leftover debris that can also make access more and more difficult."
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Some businesses and independent business people have failed to pay their occupational license fees for this year.
According to Forrest City City Clerk Marie Todd, occupational licenses are renewable each January.
The city's occupational licenses have been in existence many years, but were last revised in January of 2000.
Todd said there may be some new businesses in town for which the owners are not aware of the requirements for occupational licenses.
"There could be businesses out there that are not even aware of the law," she said. "This is kind of a reminder to people."
Todd said the city sends out notices to known businesses, and some have not paid. There may be some the city doesn't know about, but all have to get occupational licenses to do business within the city limits.
The city issues three types of licenses that are loosely related. One is the occupational license, which is for every permanent business in town.
The second license is an itinerant vender license, issued to vendors who are in town on a temporary basis.
"We also have rummage sale permits," said Todd. "There is no cost, but anyone having a rummage sale is required to pick one up."
The requirement on rummage sales is to keep them under control. Residents may hold up to three rummage sales a year, or one every three months. New merchandise cannot be sold at a rummage sale.
The Forrest City Junior Auxiliary will host its biannual Children's Health Carnival Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The event is being co-sponsored by the Southeast Regional Health Office. Mayor Larry Bryant has proclaimed the week of April 23-28 as Children's Health Week in Forrest City.
The carnival will be held in the Forrest City Junior High cafeteria. Admission will be free.
The purpose of the carnival is to promote good health among children and their parents. The focus will be on children up to 12 years old. Parents and children are encouraged to attend together.
There will be booths set up in the cafeteria, along with a carnival-like atmosphere complete with clowns and balloons.
Some of the booths include: Weighing and measuring children by the Arkansas Department of Health; speech and hearing checks with the Southeast Regional Health Office; development screenings with the St. Francis Area Development Center; a Fitness Quiz Bowl with the Forrest City Community Voices; bicycle safety by Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City; and spinal screening with Thrash Chiropractic Clinic.
Special booths on issues such as tobacco prevention, nutrition, self-esteem, stress and mental health will be sponsored by the Tobacco Prevention Education Coalition of Forrest City, DHEC, Counseling Services of Eastern Arkansas, CRDC Prevention Resource Center and the Forrest City Library.
Pickles the Clown will be present, along with other clowns and popular children's characters. There will be free face painting for the children.
Winning entries of a clown coloring contest will be announced, with all winners receiving prizes. The top prize will be a new bicycle. Many door prizes will also be available. There will be free refreshments, consisting of snacks and drinks.
The St. Francis County NAACP has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the Forrest City Wal-Mart store, branch president Frank L. Shaw announced Friday.
Shaw said in a news release that the complaint was filed on behalf of 15 black employees of the Forrest City store. It alleges that Wal-Mart unfairly discriminated against black employees in hiring, promotion and transfer decisions.
The complaint alleges that a new manager at the store ''unilaterally demoted'' black customer service managers and replaced longtime black workers with new white hires.
Bill Wertz, a spokesman for the Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Wal-Mart takes such allegations seriously.
''Wal-Mart as a company certainly opposes discrimination. Any of our associates guilty of practicing it would be disciplined and probably terminated,'' Wertz said. ''This is certainly not condoned by the company. We will certainly look into this allegation.''
Wertz said Wal-Mart was the leading employer of minorities in the country, employing more than 140,000 blacks and about 87,000 Hispanics from its total workforce of about 900,000.
The Forrest City City Council will open bids for asphalt and a traffic signal for the intersection Buford and Division Streets at its regular meeting Tuesday, May 1.
The council will meet at 7 p.m. at the city hall.
Other agenda items include appointments to a Beautification Committee, first reading of an ordinance to waive bid requirements for a video projection system at the Civic Center, a representative of the Arkansas Municipal League to discuss a deferred compensation plan and a discussion of a contract for housing rehabilitation.
There will also be a public hearing before the meeting -- at 6:30 p.m. -- regarding the proposed Patillo annexation.
A come-and-go public meeting to discuss a proposed improvement of Arkansas Highway 1 at Marianna will be held Tuesday, May 15, from 4-7 p.m. at the Marianna City Hall, located at 45 W. Mississippi Street.
This is a follow-up to a similar meeting held in July of 2000. As a result of comments received at the earlier meeting, additional information will be presented by personnel of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department.
People may visit any time during the scheduled hours to offer comments on the proposal.