By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The 15-year old Forrest City teen charged in the March fire at the St. Francis County Courthouse was remanded to juvenile court Monday.
The order transferring the case from circuit to juvenile court was entered by First Judicial District Circuit Court Judge L.T. Simes III after Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Morledge suggested that all circuit court charges be nolle prosequi.
According to Simes, the State approached him with the offer, and it was his decision to allow the charges to be dismissed. Simes said that one of the major determining factors in his decision was the defendant's age at the time of the incident.
"The age of the defendant was one, probably the biggest, factor in making my decision. It's difficult to look past the fact that this young man was barely 15 when this incident occurred," said Simes.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco commented on Monday's decision saying, "This was the court's decision. I wasn't in the courtroom, and I don't know what was said, but I don't think that with the amount of damage that was done to this facility... although I understand that he is a juvenile, I do think that he was aware of what he was doing.
"I think that this is an area that our system needs to look at more because there are juvenile offenses and there are adult offenses. But, we seem to have a gray area in there as to what crime a person has to commit before they're placed in one or the other. We see this happen all over the country, and that's just an area that needs to be looked into," Cisco added.
According to Cisco, the damages to the courthouse will be between $500,000 and $600,000.
Although the circuit court charges against the teen were dismissed, according to Morledge, he still faces a single count of arson and 34 counts of aggravated assault in juvenile court.
Had he been tried in circuit court, the teenager would have faced 10 to 40 years or life in prison on the Class Y felony arson charge and zero to six years in prison for the Class D felony assault charges.
According to reports from the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, the 15-year old admitted to setting March 20 fire which damaged the upstairs jury room and the circuit court room as well as causing extensive damage to the roof of the courthouse. He has been held in the St. Francis County Jail since his March 28 arrest.
Historians with the Arkansas Historic Preservation program will be in St. Francis County this week, searching for historic properties reflecting the activities of minority groups in the county, and also the influence of the automobile on Arkansas.
According to AHPP Director Ken Grunewald, "We are looking for any sites or structures directly associated with the experiences of minority groups in Arkansas, as well as historic gas stations, tourist courts, motels, tourist attractions, automobile dealerships and other properties that were built to serve the automobile industry and the traveling public."
Grunewald continued, "with the permission of the owners, we will nominate eligible structures to the national Register of Historic Places, the country's official list of historically significant properties."
The historians will photograph the structures and document them on architectural resource forms which will later be used to determine which properties may be eligible for National Register recognition. According to a press release, St. Francis County was selected because relatively few properties in the county are listed on the National Register.
Anyone wanting more information may write the AHPP at 1500 Tower Building, 323 Center Street, Little Rock, Ark. 72201; call 501-324-9880 or send an e-mail to info@arkansaspreservation.org.
The Forrest City School District is receiving a grant of $250,000, from the Federal Utilities Service Agency. The funds will be spent at four of the district's schools which qualified for the grant.
Pat Flanagin, finances and resources director said the most money will be spent in distance learning labs for Caldwell Elementary and Forrest City Junior High.
Priced at $65,000 each, the two labs will enable teachers and students to interact through sound and large-screen media with teachers and students in other school districts.
"One possible application would be that with teacher shortages looming in the future, we may someday need to share a physics or foreign language teacher with Helena or Barton for instance, or with a community college," said Flanagin. "The distance learning lab would enable our students to be in the other district's class or vice-versa."
Also included in the grant will be computer labs with "filtered" Internet access at the junior high, middle school, Caldwell and Madison.
"These labs will greatly enhance the learning and research opportunities at each school and additionally enable individualized links to the distance learning labs," said Flanagin.
In a press release, Superintendent Lee Vent was quoted as saying he was elated with the news of the grant.
"We have been wanting a distance learning lab for our district for some time," he said. "Now we are getting two labs plus four computer labs in one grant. That's great news, and I commend our staff for their efforts in this successful grant application. Technology is a tremendous educational asset, but it comes at tremendous financial cost for schools with limited budgets. We are indeed fortunate to obtain this outside funding."
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Firefighters from several towns were helping the Wynne Fire Department contain a fire at the Mueller plant (formerly Halstead), which began early this morning.
According to unconfirmed reports, the fire started in "A" Bay of the plant, when a spark ignited some flammable liquid.
At one time this morning, Wynne Mayor Paul Nichols said, "The fire is contained, but they're having problems actually getting to the fire."
A spokesman for the Wynne Fire Department said the Jonesboro and West Memphis fire departments had been asked to provide extra foam to fight the fire, although those departments were not asked to participate in the fire fighting.
The Forrest City Fire Department sent men and two trucks. Other fire departments which were called in to battle the blaze included those from Palestine, Cherry Valley, Bay Village and Fair Oaks.
There were no reports of injuries at press time.
The plant manufactures copper tubing.
Several people have been sentenced to time in the Arkansas Department of Corrections in St. Francis County Circuit Court.
Melvin Lee Lockhart, 19, of 405 St. Andrews, Forrest City, was sentenced to 20 years with credit for time served for a reduced charge of second-degree murder. He was originally charged with first-degree murder last November in the Sept. 14 death of Arthur Gregory Robinson, 24.
The shooting occurred at 729 Dangeau Road in Forrest City. Robinson was reportedly shot in the neck and face, according to his file at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
Thabiti Steward, 33, 1011 Truman, Forrest City, was given 15 years with credit for time served for aggravated robbery and reduced robbery.
Harold Shannon, 20, of 723 Dangeau, Forrest City, was given 12 years for aggravated robbery and fleeing.
David Terry, 18, of 461 Sunrise, Forrest City, was given five years with credit for time served for possession of a controlled substance (crack cocaine) near certain facilities.
Larry Wayne Lewis, 24, of 3287 SFC 735, Forrest City, was given five years, with credit for time served and five years suspended sentence after his release, for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Diabre McGraw, 18, of Hughes, was given 5 years with 5 years suspended imposition of sentence after his release from the ADC and credit for time served, for residential burglary, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Three members of a Texas family were hurt when their van nosedived off an overpass near Parkin this morning.
Arkansas State Police Trooper David West said the 1994 Dodge Caravan was being driven by Melissa Eckert, 48, of Kyle, Texas, when it wrecked near the 255 mile marker just after 8 a.m.
West said based on witnesses and evidence at the accident scene, he believes Eckert fell asleep as her van was approaching the overpass. The westbound vehicle went off the north side of the overpass and traveled about 465 feet before it went over the overpass embankment and nosedived into a gravel road below the overpass and overturned.
Eckert and her daughter, Michelle Eckert, 19, along with her granddaughter, Brooklyn Beltran, six months, were all injured in the accident.
West said the infant was being held by her mother who was breastfeeding her in the backseat when both fell asleep just prior to the accident.
The baby was airlifted from the accident scene to LeBonheur Children's Medical Center in Memphis where hospital officials said she would be admitted in serious condition with a skull fracture and broken arm.
Melissa Eckert was taken by ambulance to Crittenden Memorial Hospital in West Memphis. A hospital spokesperson said she was being transferred to the Med Center in Memphis, but had not arrived there at press time.
Michelle was being treated in the emergency room at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City at press time.
The driver faces a charge of careless driving, according to West.