By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Business was back to normal this morning at the St. Francis County Courthouse following Friday's evacuation and Monday's delayed reopening.
James Oliver with Metro Cleaning said Friday's evacuation should be the only evacuation that should occur in the building.
The cleaning is necessary in order to rebuild the northern wing of the facility that was damaged by fire on March 20. The fire has been ruled an arson, and a teenager is charged with the crime.
"We had to have everyone leave the building Friday, but we're hoping that will be an isolated incident. We will have to fumigate this portion of the building from time to time, but we will do that without interrupting activities throughout the courthouse," said Oliver.
According to Oliver, the cleanup process is going well, and the next stage of cleaning should begin later this week.
"We've been debrising the building since we got here, and we should be able to really begin to clean later in the week. We've been cleaning all of the rafters and steel and getting the smoke and soot off of everything so that we can move forward. We're the first and the last phase of the project, and once we've completed our work then the construction crews and everyone else can get in here. Once we've finished with debrising then we can come in here with Purple (a cleaning agent) and really start to clean," Oliver said.
The courthouse reopened Monday in stages as employees aired the building out. According to County Sheriff Dave Parkman, the offices planned to reopen yesterday at 9 a.m. but the fumes were still too strong.
"When we got here yesterday morning, the odor was still too strong so we decided that it would be best if we reopened at noon. We had a few people that came in to get their taxes assessed but otherwise everything moved smoothly yesterday morning. We came back in at noon and everything has been business as usual since then," he said.
For County Assessor Craig Jones, the evacuation came during one of the busiest times of the month, but overall everything is normal in his office.
"It was the end of the month and we always see an increase in activity as folks come in to get their tags renewed, so the evacuation came at a bad time. Once we got back in here yesterday, we still had some odor to deal with, but it wasn't nearly as bad. We just opened a couple of windows and let it air out and everything has been going well," said Jones.
Offices on the south end of the building reopened yesterday at 9 a.m., according to Tracy Hodges in the county judge's office.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
The manager of a local restaurant was treated for shock after she and an employee were allegedly robbed inside the business just after midnight today.
The Forrest City Police Department reported the robbery occurred at Wendy's, 3302 N. Washington, Forrest City, at 12:45 a.m. According to police, an employee at the business, James Bond, said he and the manager, Louis Marie McCraw, were closing up when the business was robbed.
Police arriving at the scene found Bond using a telephone outside the business. Bond told police the suspect, described as a black male, is believed to have been in the bathrooms inside the restaurant when the outside doors were locked.
Bond told police he was talking with McCraw in the kitchen area when he saw the suspect, armed with what appeared to be a 9mm pistol, jump over the front counter and demand the money from the safe. After McCraw opened the safe, the suspect reportedly forced McCraw and Bond into the freezer and shut the door. However, the freezer failed to lock, and the couple escaped after the suspect fled the restaurant, police reported.
Police found McCraw on the floor of the restaurant's office "in what appeared to be shock," according to the police report. She was taken by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City where she was treated and released.
The suspect is described as a black male, six feet tall and weighing about 160 pounds. At the time of the robbery, the suspect was wearing blue jeans, a blue coat, a green baseball cap and a mask covering the bottom portion of his face.
Police were unable to get statements regarding the robbery from Bond or McCraw.
The investigation is continuing.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Tickets are still available for this year's Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce banquet, to be held Thursday, April 19 at the Civic Center.
Dinner will start at 6:30 p.m. and the dress is "business casual," according to Niki Jones, director of community relations for the Chamber.
Richard Benson will be the master of ceremonies. One highlight of the banquet will be the introduction of the Chamber's new website, by the Chamber's executive director, Danny Ferguson.
"It will have new features for members that we think will be useful," said Jones.
There will also be presentations to outgoing board members and officers, and a presentation to the St. Francis county Farm Family of the Year, the Steve Bernard family of Hughes.
A special feature will be an appearance by Miss Arkansas Sara Harris, who will sing.
"We're really excited about the banquet this year," said Jones. "We're really trying to focus on Forrest City. "We think Forrest City has a lot to be proud of. If you look were we were a few years ago, and how far we've come, I think people can tell a huge difference."
She said that a few years ago the Chamber decided to become more involved in economic development, resulting in the location of some major industries here.
"Unemployment is way down from where it was in the mid-80s, which was terrible," Jones continued. "We really need to be proud of how far we've come, but we really need to be looking to the future as well."
Jones also said the banquet would not be over-long.
"We try to keep the banquet a good length. We know people like to go home," she said. "We know everybody has someplace to be the next day. And we try to keep that in mind."
The banquet will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person. Also available are corporate sponsorships for $200, which reserves a table for eight. The names of businesses purchasing corporate sponsorships will be included in the program.
Tickets may be picked up at the Chamber office. For more information, call the Chamber at 633-1651.
Sales tax figures for February have been reported by the Arkansas Municipal League.
On the county tax, St. Francis County government received $157,830.81. Of the other entities, Hughes received $28,996.52; Forrest City received $214,093.68; Wheatley received $7,177.04; Palestine, $11,390.34; Madison, $20,233.48; Caldwell, $5,350.74; Colt, $5,350.74; Widener, $6,103.70.
In the cities with their own sales taxes, the following revenues were received: Forrest City, $173,451.68; Hughes, $7,633.26; Madison, $1,694.10; Palestine, $4,943.80; Wheatley, $5,970.40.
The Forrest City School District will have its pre-K and kindergarten registration for all students who will be attending school this fall. Registration will be held on Thursday, April 5, in the Mustang Arena, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A child must be five-years-old on or before Sept. 15, 2001 to register for kindergarten and four-years-old on or before Sept. 15, 2001, to register for ABC and Madison preschool.
Parents must have the following documents for registration purposes: birth certificate, immunization record, Social Security card and physical exam, dated within the last six months of registration.
Prizes will be given to all children whose parents complete and return applications on the day of kindergarten registration.
The St. Francis County Health Unit, located on Division Street in Forrest City, will be open to administer immunizations to children on Thursday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Forrest City City Council will meet at 7 tonight at city hall.
Several senior citizens are expected to discuss a proposed senior center with councilmen.