Two St. Francis County cities are receiving grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
One grant will benefit the Widener Police Department, while the other grant will go to the Madison Fire Department.
Widener will be receiving a $10,980 USDA grant to better equip the city's recently-formed police force and city court system.
According to City Court Clerk Liz Lopez, the funds were much needed.
"I am so excited. We are a new police force and we have three cars but one of them doesn't have all the equipment necessary," Lopez said. "This will better enable us to equip our police cars with radios, antennas, radar, breathalyzer and radio scanners."
The grant money won't just be for police car equipment, according to Lopez. She said part of the funds will go toward the purchase of computers and software for the town's new traffic court.
"Right now I am doing everything by hand and this will help us to keep more current and accurate records in our court," said Lopez.
According to U.S. Representative Marion Berry, D-Ark., the grant will help Widener to provide more dependable services to the community.
In addition, the fire department in Madison will benefit from a $25,000 grant, to go toward the purchase of a firefighting vehicle.
"This USDA grant will be used along with funds provided by the Office of Rural Services and the City of Madison to purchase a late-model fire truck," Berry was quoted as saying in a press release. "This will allow the Fire Department to provide better protection for the community."
The funding for both grants will be provided through a Community Facility Grant administered by the USDA Rural Development Agency.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A pair of Saturday afternoon accidents had eastbound Interstate 40 traffic flowing through Palestine and Forrest City for close to three hours Saturday night.
Lt. Tommy Wicker with Arkansas State Police Troop D in Forrest City said officers with the ASP were first called to an accident five miles west of Palestine at 5:39 p.m. According to Wicker, no accident report was available on the first accident.
The second accident occurred 20 minutes following the first, three miles east of Palestine when a tractor trailer, driven by 69-year old Myron Helms, of Jacksonville, rear ended a tractor trailer driven by Valerijus Spikalovas, 53, of Philadelphia, Pa. The impact caused Spikalovas to rear end a Chevrolet Suburban driven by 22-year-old Jason Qualls, of Paul's Valley, Okla.
According to Wicker, the report showed that it appeared that the Spikalovas and Qualls vehicles may have been stopped or attempting to stop due to traffic when Helms rearended them. Wicker said that the report showed skid marks at the scene where Helms apparently attempted to stop but could not.
Officials with the Forrest City Fire Department responded to the accident and had to extract Helms from his vehicle. Helms was airlifted to the Elvis Presley Regional Trauma Center in Memphis where he is listed in critical condition. No other injuries were reported.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
Seven structures have been condemned inside the Wheatley city limits.
The city council voted during its recent meeting to condemn the properties after determining they are unsightly and unsafe for the community.
The properties are located on Highway 70 west, Highway 78 south, Dennis Street, East Side Drive, Oak Street and two properties off Broad Street.
Property owners will be given 30 days notice to remove the condemned property before the city steps in. Property owners will be responsible for the city's costs in removing the structures.
"They (owners or surviving relatives) will have to pay the city for the tearing down and hauling off the materials. Hauling the materials is where the real cost lies," said Wheatley Mayor Larry Nash.
According to the ordinance, if the existing owners sell the condemned properties, all proceeds from the sale of the structure or materials from the building and all fines collected will be paid by the person or persons collecting the money from the sale to the city treasurer. However, if the sale of the property exceeds all the cost of the fines, tearing down and removal, the city treasurer will then give the balance to the former owner.
The ordinance also states that if the city incurs any net cost for the removal of the building, then the city will impose a lien on the property.
Nash also persuaded the council to pass a motion to pay B and B Disposal more money for the disposal of the city's garbage. Wheatley had been paying $9 and now will be paying a $10 tipping fee. The garbage will also now be picked up on Thursday instead of Friday.
The reason for the change in pickup days, according to Nash, is to allow the company more time to gather up the garbage without the risk of working the employees on overtime on Saturdays, if the company falls behind.
"They said that when they do the pickups on Friday, they sometimes fall behind and their tipping fees have risen to the point that the company can't afford to work employees on overtime on Saturday, so the pickup was sometimes a lot later than just a day," Nash said.
According to city attorney Bill Snowden, the city has a stipulation in the contract with B and B to charge the company $250 for every day missed.
Nash told council members to inform residents that if B and B misses a pickup day to call city hall immediately so the city will start imposing the fine on B and B, which it had not done previously.
The Times-Herald came away with five awards, including two first places in sports coverage, at the Arkansas Press Association Better Newspaper contest. The awards were given Saturday during the APA convention in Eureka Springs.
Sports Editor Fred Conley took first place in the Sports Story category for small dailies. He also took first place in the Sports Photo category.
Staff writer David Nichol took second place awards in the News Story and Humorous Column categories for small dailies.
Managing Editor Tamara Johnson received a third place in Page One Design.
Two school boards are scheduled to meet this evening in St. Francis County.
The Forrest City School Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the administration building. The board will discuss the junior high construction project along with placement of students while the construction is done.
Under new business, board members will review bread and milk bids, students activity insurance, a nurse salary schedule and stipend for Special Olympics. The board will also be presented the district's annual accreditation status report.
The Palestine-Wheatley School Board will meet at 6:30 in the junior high school library on the Wheatley campus.
Board members are expected to discuss several personnel issues including resignations, employment and transfers.
The Hughes City Council is also scheduled to meet tonight. That meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at city hall.
On Tuesday, the Forrest City Water Commission is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. at the water department.
At 5 p.m., the St. Francis County Museum Board will meet at the museum.
At 7 p.m., the Forrest City City Council will hear second reading of an ordinance designed to get property owners to cut their grass. Councilmen will also hear a report on the multi-purpose facility.
The St. Francis County Quorum Court is also scheduled to meet Tuesday. That meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the courthouse.