By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Investigators are still searching for what caused a downtown building to collapse Tuesday night.
According to a Forrest City police report, at about 8:35 p.m. Lowery Astin, who is also a State Trooper, was at the stop sign at the corner of Izard and Front Streets, when he saw a brick come in front of his truck, as a prelude to the wall falling at 525 Front Street.
The building, which contained office space and upstairs apartments, was vacant.
Another eyewitness to the collapse was Tom Darnell, a coach for the Forrest City High School mock trial team. Mock trial practice was taking place at the St. Francis County Courthouse on Izard, and Darnell had stepped outside during a break with another coach.
"We were watching the lightning," said Darnell. "We had heard the weather was turning nasty, so we were checking to try and decide if we needed to send the kids home."
He said they were looking right over the building that collapsed.
"All of a sudden we heard some cracking noise, and saw the building, literally, collapse right in front of us. It just completely surprised us."
There were some confusing reports from area television stations Tuesday night, some of which said a tornado had touched down in Forrest City. There was no confirmed tornado. Jim Taylor of Little Rock, owner of the building, said that was how he found out the structure had collapsed.
"I was watching the news about the weather in Eastern Arkansas," said Taylor, who was in Forrest City this morning. "Someone called and said the tornado had torn down my building."
Taylor said the building was constructed around 1897. At different times it housed the post office, attorney's offices and a beauty shop. At one time it also housed the Times-Herald.
Not all the building collapsed, but Taylor said the building would probably have to be torn down.
"It's not safe, and it can't be fixed like it is," he said. He also said he wasn't sure what would be done with the lot.
Forrest City Building Inspector Chester Crossen said the collapse of the building points out a danger present in many older buildings downtown.
"Look at how clean the bricks are," Crossen said, pointing at the rubble. "The old mortar just turned into sand. If we ever have an earthquake, it will be bad on these old buildings."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A damage estimate is not yet available in areas where Tuesday night's severe thunderstorms hit hardest, but in many of those areas, the damage is obvious.
The majority of the damage was caused by hail that witnesses say ranged from pea-size to baseball-size in an area stretching from Colt to Hughes in St. Francis County.
Wayne Beene with Jackson Used Cars in Colt said this morning that all 33 cars on their lot were damaged by the hail storm that rolled in about 8:30 p.m.
"We've got damage to all of the vehicles ranging from damage to the body of the vehicles to a large number of damaged windshields. Most of our cars that were on the north side of the building had the rear windshield knocked out, and all of them had some damage to the windows," said Beene.
Les Rolland, an employee with Jackson, was traveling to his home in Colt last night when he said he drove into the storm.
"There wasn't anything falling until I got to the bottom of Jack Taylor Hill, and then I heard whackup and it was hail hitting my windshield. At first I thought someone had thrown something at me, but then I realized what it was. I pulled in here (Jackson's) and decided I would wait out the storm inside, but when I went to go into the building the alarms were going off, and I could see where the hail was knocking out the skylights. So, I went back to my truck which was under the shed," Rolland said.
Damages were also reported on Highway 306 where Barbara Milton said that she had all three of her vehicles damaged during the storm.
"We could hear the stuff hitting the house so we took cover. When it was all over we went to check on our vehicles and they were in pretty bad shape. The roof on my convertible was completely ripped up and the hood and windshields of both my daughter's and husband's trucks were damaged," she said.
St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman said several deputies were in their patrol cars following the storm and trying to keep up with the damage accounts. "There was mostly glass damage and damage to vehicles. There was also some damage to roofs," Parkman said. "It missed Forrest City. It went from Colt southeast through Madison, Widener and on over toward Hughes.
"It seems Colt was hit harder than any part of our county that I'm aware off. Fortunately, we don't know of any injuries that occurred during the storm," Parkman added.
Parkman said he was at home watching the weather reports and trying to keep his deputies posted on where the forecasters were predicting the storm to hit next.
Chief Deputy H.N. Green said the only damage reports he has received have been damages caused by hail. "I haven't heard of any wind damage reports," Green said.
An accident was reported on Highway 284 near County Road 418 about 10:20 p.m. after the highway flooded.
Reggie Beans, 26, 270 SFC 814, Forrest City, told police he drove through a large amount of water on Highway 284 and lost control of his 1996 Pontiac. Beans struck a large embankment south of the highway.
Shane Dallas, 25, Caldwell, told deputies his 1998 Chrysler caught on fire after he drove through the same floodwater on Highway 284. Dallas told police his vehicle quit, but a few minutes later was able to get the car to start up again and drove it to County Road 311 where it caught fire.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
By a one-vote margin, the Forrest City City Council on Tuesday failed to override Mayor Larry Bryant's veto of a recent council vote to move the location of a new senior citizens' center.
The center was originally to be located at the municipal ball park. However, at the last meeting, council member Cecil Twillie had said the center should be moved to downtown.
After Bryant announced his veto, Twillie moved to override. On the vote, John Gadberry, A.L. Harris, Richard Benson, Glenn Ford and Twillie voted yes. Mary Jeffers, Roy Hancock and Chris Oswalt voted no. The vote was 5-3, and for an override, six votes were needed, according to Bryant.
A large number of elderly people attended the meeting, and four had been put on the agenda to speak. Since they were there to speak on keeping the senior citizen's center at the ball complex, Twillie said he didn't see why they needed to speak.
"But if they want to talk, I don't have a problem."
Tempie Moorehead was the only person on the agenda who spoke. She only asked, "Do we have our complex, at the sports complex?" And when she was answered yes, she said, "We're happy, that's all we want," and there was general applause.
Later in the meeting, Twillie said there had been some misunderstanding over what he had said at the previous meeting. He said he did not give any false information on the senior citizen's center. He also said he was still against locating the center at the ball park, saying there were too many young people in the area during baseball season.
On another matter, the council gave preliminary approval to a plan to hook up city sewers to an area outside of town. The approval is contingent upon receiving a detailed, written plan.
Quorum Court member Sam Armstrong and Eddie Brawley of Brawley Consulting Engineers told the council that St. Francis County wants to apply for a grant to provide sewer hookups to an area which includes Patillo Acres, and which would provide 115 hookups. One of the requirements of the grant is to have a system to which the hookups can be connected.
James Beazley, head of the Forrest City Water Utility, was present and was asked if the department could handle the additional hookups. He said the present sewer capacity could handle the new prison addition plus the new hookups. He said the only problem might come if Thornapple Valley were ever reopened.
Beazley said if he had any reservations at all, it was that the city has always had a policy of not extending service to areas not within the city limits. He said it was possible that this was a special circumstance.
A final decision will not be made until the next council meeting. The grant application has to be turned in by the end of April.
On another matter, Bryant asked that the council members from each ward get together and decide which one of them should be on a city Beautification Committee. That would make four. Then one member of the general public would be chosen from each ward, and then the mayor would appoint one member, making a total of nine members.
In other action, the council voted to allow a council member to recognize a person from his or her ward to address the council, without that person being on the agenda. The person will be allowed to speak for up to three minutes.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The family of a slain Forrest City police officer was recognized Tuesday night before the regular city council meeting. Several plaques and awards were presented to the family.
Georgia Jones, the mother of Lewis Jones, received the honors. Lewis Jones was fatally shot on June 4 of last year, while moonlighting as a security guard at a nightclub. A suspect has been convicted in the shooting.
"We're here to honor one of our fallen comrades, one of Forrest City's finest," said Chief Clarence McNeary.
McNeary presented Mrs. Jones with a picture of her son with President Clinton, which was taken when Clinton was in the state last year. The photograph was signed by Clinton.
McNeary also presented Mrs. Jones with a badge from the American Police Hall of Fame.
In addition, McNeary and Janet Duncan, director of the Forrest City Housing Authority, presented an award. Jones patrolled the public housing. The award was a plaque from the Southwest Regional Council of the National Association of Housing Officials for meritorious service. There were two plaques presented, one is for Mrs. Jones.
The second plaque, according to McNeary, "This will hang in the police department in memory of your son and his faithful service to Forrest City. It'll hang there forever."
Lt. Eddie Adamson also made some presentations.
"Lewis is no longer with us but his memory will always be with us," said Adamson. "The legacy he left will always be with us, because he was a fine upstanding member of our community and we suffered a great loss when he left us on June 4 of last year."
In addition, Adamson presented a Medal of Honor, also from the from the American Police Hall of Fame. It is the highest award given by the Hall of Fame.
"He served with honor, he served with respect, he did his job," said Adamson. "We miss him dearly."
A plaque also came with the Medal of Honor award.
"And Lewis, also, on May 15 of this coming year, his name will be inscribed in the law enforcement officers Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.," Adamson continued, "just as a reminder for the generations to come, the story of Lewis. How he died and all the things he did during his time in law enforcement will be remembered forever. It will always be there. His story will always be told, not only to remember, but hopefully to inspire others."
Mayor Larry Bryant also had a presentation, a check from the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens, Inc., a check for $2,000.
"Lewis was one of my baseball players, and he was a policeman's policeman," said Bryant. "He was a good guy. He was a go-getter and he did his job. His life was lived in an upstanding manner.
Mrs. Jones was also presented some scholarship information for Lewis Jones' children.
"We want everyone to know that this is not where it ends, by any means," Adamson said. "It didn't end when Lewis died, it didn't end when we had the funeral. It didn't end when we gave these awards. There are things on-going even to this day, not only to honor Lewis but to make sure his children are taken care of."