By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Questions continue to be raised regarding the spending of administrative funds by the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corporation during the time in which the ALFDC served as fiscal agent for the East Arkansas Enterprise Community.
According to financial reports from the EAEC, $287,617.92 was spent while the EAEC was under the jurisdiction of the ALFDC.
On Wednesday, officials with the ALFDC offices in Fargo could not provide documentation to support proposed and actual budgets for the EAEC for that organization's four years as fiscal agent. A Times-Herald reporter also asked for copies of the rental or leasing agreement for office space occupied by the EAEC at 1000 Airport Road in Forrest City; copies of the bank accounts or statements showing the locations of banks that EAEC accounts are located in, both local and out of state, and information on the miscellaneous account held by the EAEC at Union Planters National Bank in Forrest City. None of those documents were made available to the media at the time of the request.
ALFDC executive director Dr. Calvin King Sr., could not be reached for comment. According to his secretary Carolyn Watson, King would be busy for the remainder of the week and an appointment would have to be set to speak with him. She later stated that she would have King contact the newspaper, but as of press time today, King had not called.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said the ALFDC served as fiscal agent for 17 months without an agreement and was paid for their services when an agreement with the Arkansas Department of Human Services was reached. Financial records show two payments from the administration accounts totaling $89,993.18 paid in February of 1999.
With all funding depleted, the county, which is serving as the new fiscal agent has contacted DHS regarding additional funding for the program. Cisco said that DHS has decided that it will supply some funding from money that was set aside for auditing purposes at the beginning of the program.
"We've been told by DHS that they will give us $48,000 for the two years that we'll have the program, which will give us $24,000 in administration that we know about. This money was supposed to go to an audit of the program once it was finished and they had $96,000 for that, so they're basically giving us half of that money. We also have money from a Kellogg grant which will give us around $28,000 for three years for administration. There were questions at the meeting Tuesday regarding that money and we found out that it's not $28,000 annually but $28,000 for the three years of the grant program," Cisco said.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
A Warren teenager was killed and his mother critically wounded in a wreck on Interstate 40 near Palestine in which an 18-wheeler rolled onto their car and caught fire.
The accident occurred about 12:40 Wednesday afternoon near the 233 mile marker about eight miles west of Forrest City.
Quick action by truck drivers who witnessed the crash may have helped save the mother's life, according to Arkansas State Police and firefighters.
Arkansas State Police Troop D Trooper Mike Kennedy identified the victim as Danny McCoy, 16. He said McCoy was killed instantly when the 1994 Mazda caught fire after being struck by a Freightliner driven by Richard Layton, 49, Olive Branch, Miss.
The Mazda was stopped in traffic that was backed up due to construction in the Palestine area of Interstate 40.
McCoy's mother, Mary McCoy, 42, was injured and taken by helicopter from the crash scene to The Med Center in Memphis. A hospital spokesperson said she is listed in critical condition there today.
Layton was taken by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City where he was treated and released.
Kennedy said Layton were and three other vehicles were traveling eastbound when Layton got distracted. "When Layton looked up, traffic had stopped due to the construction taking place and he hit the 1994 Mazda occupied by the McCoys, causing that car to hit a 1998 Cadillac. The Cadillac was occupied by Richard Manning, 59 and Jean Manning, 62, both of Dallas. The impact caused the Cadillac to run into the median and onto the westbound lane.
The fourth vehicle, a 2000 Mercury occupied by Robert Hutchinson, 81, and Dolly Hutchinson, 77, both of Oklahoma, told state police they were aware of what was happening behind them and drove into another lane to avoid being hit. However, at that point, the Freightliner skid on its side, trapping the Mazda underneath it and also struck the Hutchinson vehicle. Upon impact, the truck burst into flames, officials at the scene reported.
Palestine Fire Department Chief Jimmy Dale Poe said that when firemen arrived on the scene, truck drivers had already used chains and trucks to pull the trapped Mazda out from under Layton's burning truck.
"The boy was apparently already dead and the mother was trapped. If it wasn't for the truck drivers pulling the car out from under the truck, we (the fire department) never could have rescued the mother," said Dale. "By the time we arrived they had pulled the car out and onto the westbound lane," he added.
Danny Taylor, a paramedic with Baptist Memorial Hospital, said the car had been pulled out by the time he arrived, but said he had also heard the story.
"Now, who those people are, I have no idea," Taylor said.
Jeremy Sharp with the Forrest City Fire Department also said the car had been dragged out by the time he got there. He said the situation was a bad one, although the car was no longer burning.
"When we pulled up, the 18-wheeler was the only thing on fire," Sharp said. "The Palestine Fire Department had put out the car and had water on it."
Kennedy said when he arrived at the scene, the heat was unbearable. "I parked my unit 40 yards away and when I got out, it felt like the heat from the fire would burn me from even that far away," he said. "It is amazing the truck drivers were able to withstand the heat and pull the car out."
Jean Manning, an occupant of the third vehicle, said she was in shock with what had happened. "I couldn't believe it when we were hit from out of nowhere. Even when we were off the highway, I was still afraid we would be hit again by other vehicles not seeing the accident in time," she said.
Kennedy agreed, "It is amazing there were not more vehicles involved in the accident."
As for Layton, Kennedy said he now faces charges of careless driving and negligent homicide.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Details are being finalized for the 18th installment of the annual Mightymite Triathlon. Race director Rich Trail says that things are going well, and this year's event will hopefully be the start of better things to come for the race.
Trail said the race hasn't yet reached its goal of 300 participants. "Right now we're at almost 300 people registered for the race, and we're hopeful that we can fill it before Saturday. If everything goes well, we're hoping that we can make this event bigger and better for years to come," he said.
The course for this year will primarily stay the same, with the race starting promptly at 8 a.m. at Lake Dunn where the 4/10ths of a mile swim will kick off the event. The swim will be followed by a 13-mile bike race that will finish on the campus of East Arkansas Community College. Following the bicycle portion of the race, competitors will then begin the last leg of the race with a 3-mile run to Sam Smith Stadium.
Although the course won't change, changes will be seen in the overall event. The biggest change will be the addition of Best Times, a company that specializes in timing events such as the Mightymite.
"This may be the best thing that we could have done because one of the biggest complaints we've heard from the competitive racers over the years is a problem with getting their times turned in so that they can get points for the race. We've had people sign up this year that weren't planning to race in the Mightymite but signed up after I told them that Best Times was going to do our timing. They get the results in as soon as the race is finished using computers and that guarantees the racers are going to get the points for the race. A lot of the competitors don't race in events like these for the trophy as much as they do for the points they can accumulate in the national competition," said Trail.
Another change will be the absence of the pre-race dinner, normally held at the Forrest City Civic Center the night before the race. This year racers will again get together at the Civic Center on Friday night to pick up race packets and have a short meeting. Racers can pick up their packets from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the meeting will begin at 7:30.
Trail also said that organizers still are looking for volunteers for Saturday's race but the need for more boats and motorcycles has dropped due to people stepping up.
"You can always use more boats, but right now we've got plenty of people signed up to do the boats and motorcycles. We're taking all of the volunteers that we can get so that everything runs smoothly," Trail said.
Individuals interested in racing in the Mightymite or volunteering for the event can reach Trail at 633-1651 or 494-4814.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
People calling the St. Francis County Museum may have had a hard time getting an answer recently.
Museum director Laura Mazzanti said a recent lightning storm destroyed the phone system's programming and damaged a digital thermostat.
Mazzanti told board members at this week's meeting that she is negotiating with the insurance company for the replacement of the phone system and thermostat.
"They say it couldn't have been from lightning, but the Methodist Church right here had the same problem, so we are going to keep after them about it," said Mazzanti.
Currently, there is only one phone line at the museum instead of the nine lines it had at one time. Mazzanti said it would cost an estimated $2,100 to replace the phone system with what it had but was hoping to go for less expensive system this time.
The thermostat has already been repaired.
Mazzanti also announced future exhibits.
"The next exhibit to come to the museum will be photographs by photographer Curtis Duncan of old courthouses in the ArkansasDelta. The exhibit will be on display during September," said Mazzanti.
Also planned for the facility in August is the Forrest City Junior Auxiliary's annual Discovery Room planned for the first three days in August, from 10 a.m. to noon. Mazzanti said the theme will be 'Visual and Performing Arts.'
The director also announced that Madison is in the process of starting a community museum at the former Eldridge Butler School, and urged board members to contact Annie Winfrey if they have any information or photographs about Madison's history. "It is so important to our county because Madison was at one time our county seat," Mazzanti said.