By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A budget crunch at the county level is forcing some employees to be temporarily laid off at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
Elected officials received a letter from County Judge Carl Cisco last week asking them to consider operating their offices with fewer employees. So far, three people have been laid off. Two were laid off in the county clerk's office and one was laid off in the assessor's office.
"We've been trying to tighten down on general funds," Cisco said. "Elected officials were told if they could get by with a little less, it would help. Each office is allowed to decide if it can spare someone or not."
The county has been suffering financial problems for several months. During a special budget committee meeting on March 1, Cisco said the county could be looking at layoffs "somewhere in the future."
Cisco said the layoffs are temporary. "There are times at the courthouse, and all offices, when things are slow. Over the years, people were brought in and kept on permanently even though there were times when things were slack. So, we end up with people sitting around for two or three months."
According to Cisco, those being laid off will have their insurance paid for 60 days, and that person's retirement benefits will stop at the point of being laid off and pick back up when that person is rehired.
The budget problems are expected to be discussed further during a meeting of he Quorum Court's budget committee. That meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the courthouse. The budget meeting will be followed by a QC personnel committee meeting.
Cisco said layoffs will basically affect only the courthouse personnel. The solid waste and road departments are separate entities, and according to Cisco, those budgets are in good shape. Money cannot be transferred from the road department or the solid waste accounts into county general, Cisco said.
Cisco blames the county's problems on $71,000 that had to be given to area schools and cities because of an error in the final tax settlement for 1999 along with a tax shortfall of $112,000.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco on Monday night gave the Widener City Council an outline of a proposed travel center for trucks, which would be located in the Widener area.
Cisco said it is still only in the study phase.
"We were looking at the Interstate and all the trucks out there on the Interstate," said Cisco. "You all know what it's like. That's an asset, if you look at it. A lot of people complain about them, but they really are an asset. The truckers don't have anything. There are a bunch of little truck stops around but nothing major."
He said after looking at the situation, the county got a grant from the state for $100,000, and the county is now looking for a $300,000 grant from the Department of Commerce for more study.
"It's major. The idea was if we could get it over here and located near the Interstate, Widener could provide a lot of the services that are going to be needed...And the taxes that are generated would also benefit Widener. It's not something you're going to do overnight. It takes a lot of work, a lot of planning," said Cisco.
"So far, it's been very well received. It's located close enough to Memphis that the truckers like that.. They've expressed that they want to be close to Memphis but not in Memphis. There are 17,000 trucks a day going down the Interstate, and if we can just capture a part of that --"
The travel center would have places to eat, a motel, a truck washing facility, fuel and parking for many trucks.
"I know there are some people who said we should locate it on the other side of the ridge, but I think there are some things that should be brought over to this side," he said.
He said it was difficult to give a time line, but he said it would probably be a year at the minimum before ground breaking could start.
On another matter, City Attorney Bill Snowden informed the council of action that can be taken to collect water bills after people have moved away.
"We've had problems with people moving off and not paying their water bill, or having a water bill that is more than the deposit. And them somebody kin to them comes back and rents the same place and runs up a big water bill and then they move off, or at least change the name of the account, and so on and so forth."
He said there was a way to handle the problem.
"There is a statute which deals with theft of services," he said. "It is drafted almost exclusively to benefit municipalities, for people who steal water or gas or whatever it might be."
He said some affidavits would be worked up against people who have moved away leaving bills. There will be an attempt to find them and prosecute them criminally.
"I'm sure some of these people will leave the country or move to Chicago or wherever and we'll never see them again. But at least for those who stay around and get someone else in the family to run up another water bill, this should help. We'll try to collect some money for you."
On another matter, the council heard second reading on an ordinance restricting the storage of abandoned vehicles on private property.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Forrest City Civic Center commissioners and civic center caterer Jim Hitchcock continued to discuss their disagreements during Monday's commission meeting.
Commissioners covered a number of issues that were to be worked on following a Feb. 15 meeting at city hall between commissioners, Hitchcock, city council members and Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant.
Hitchcock agreed after much discussion to present a quarterly report on civic center business to commissioners. The report will include the number of events that Hitchcock caters, his sales from the events, his expenses for civic center business as well as food and labor costs. Hitchcock questioned the need for the information but was willing to give the reports.
"I don't know why you need to see anything other than the number of events and the sales from those events. In my opinion my profit is none of your business and that's what you're asking me to see. But, I will give you the information that you need," he said.
Questions regarding a telephone and listing for Colby's Custom Catering were also resolved during last night's meeting. At the meeting in February Hitchcock agreed to remove the phone at the request of the commission. When asked last night Hitchcock responded saying, "I'll take the phone out if the commission asks me to but I don't see why it should have to come out."
Commissioner Shirley Harvell questioned the need for the phone saying that the civic center and Hitchcock's personal business should be separate entities. Commissioners voted 3-2 to defeat a motion to ask Hitchcock to remove the telephone.
Also during the meeting commissioners received a schedule of prices from Hitchcock and he agreed to compile an inventory list of kitchen items to be presented at the April meeting of the commission.
Bryant was on hand briefly to speak to commissioners about funding that he has received from the A and P Commission to make upgrades at the civic center.
According to Bryant the A and P Commission agreed to up to $10,000 in funding to be reimbursed to the city for the purchase of a sound system for theat the civic center. The money will also be used for the purchase of a projection screen for the large room and a big screen television for the civic center.
"This funding will help us upgrade our facility greatly. The projection screen will be great for corporate meetings and for family reunions. The sound system that we're purchasing will give speakers the ability to move around a room as they speak instead of being stationary and those type of upgrades are what this facility needs to attract more events," said Bryant.
The commissioners also agreed to attempt to formulate a safety plan in case of inclement weather.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Several people who worked the 2000 census reacted angrily to remarks made by Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant Monday about how hard they worked.
Bryant said he believed the population was undercounted and said workers should have cooperated more with mayors. He said the city offered to open city hall on weekends and was rebuffed, stating, "I think they were working from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, rather than working when you can find people home."
Harry Wilson was one of the census workers.
"We worked from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.," he said. "We beat the bushes as hard as we could to get as many people as accurately as possible. We weren't supposed to work for the mayor. We were not part of city government. We asked him for help and he did provide us with some, but it was our job to count the people, not the mayor's, and we did as good a job as could be done."
He said he not only worked in Forrest City, but out in the county.
"I went out looking for people under overpasses," he said. "We went down dirt roads and found houses that had been burned down and ramshackle for years...It just sticks in my craw. They were long hours and long miles on country roads, and some of the places were really tough to find."
Lois Taylor also was upset.
"We worked after dark," she said. "We worked on Saturdays. We worked on Sunday sometimes -- not every Sunday but some Sundays. And some people went out early in the morning before people went to work."
She said they were not supposed to work after dark, but some census workers did anyway.
"(Census) Officials insisted we not work after dark because they didn't think it was safe. But sometimes we would get someone to go with us and we would work after dark. And I worked almost every Saturday and some Sundays."
Rosemary Kirkpatrick was also a census worker.
"We worked on weekends, we worked until 9 o'clock at night many times," she said. "We went everywhere. I even went to a homeless man who lived by a lake in the woods and had a tent, and I hung the census form on a tree limb."
According to Kirkpatrick they were supposed to try six times to reach a person individually, before they tried the telephone.
"At the very end, if people would not cooperate, we went back again and said, 'Just tell us how many are in the house, period.' And we usually could get an answer for that, but it was not always correct because people would not admit they lived there."
She said she does not believe it is the fault of the census takers if there are undercounts.
"I've never seen such a hard bunch of workers in my life. Trying to get this information was just impossible sometimes. And if someone said, 'I don't live here,' we had to believe them."
Mayor Dot Halford of Widener was also critical of census workers.
However, at least one mayor was pleased with the poll workers.
"One thing we watched for, we weren't sure our (city limits) were correct," said Gary Hughes, mayor of Caldwell. "But we worked with them, and an area that had not been included in Caldwell got included this year and it helped us by, probably, 20 to 25 people. That was one thing that helped us quite a bit. Of course, we also have an area that has seen a substantial amount of growth."
According to the census figures, Forrest City had a population increase of 6.7 percent. Widener had a decrease of 7.2 percent. Caldwell had an increase of 18.3 percent. However, Hughes said he believed the 1990 figure of 393 was actually too high, meaning the actual increase was even more.
One of four people caught with the remains of a Forrest City man in October 1999 has pled guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree murder.
Corey Lee Williams, 23, 125 E. St. Andrews, Forrest City, was given 18 years in prison Monday for the murder of Jose Rooks. However, Williams is currently serving 20 years in prison on drug charges. The sentence Williams received on Monday is to run concurrently with his drug sentence, according to First Judicial District Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gary Mitchusson.
Mitchusson said Williams would have been eligible for parole in about three years on the drug charges, but will have to serve about 70 percent of his time on the murder conviction.
Rooks' decomposed body was discovered in the trunk of a car occupied by Williams and four others in October 1999. Police believe Rooks was killed outside of Forrest City and buried in a shallow grave for several months before his body was dug up and discovered in the car's trunk during a traffic stop.
Otis Mason, who was also involved in Rooks' case, turned state's evidence against Williams and received a five-year suspended imposition of sentence after his original charge of capital murder was reduced to second-degree murder.
"The facts are that he (Williams) was the only one who killed the guy. The statements indicate that after Cory killed him, he handed the gun to the other guys and told them to shoot the body because they were all in it together," Mitchusson said.
Mason, however, is currently in prison serving five years on a drug conviction.
A charge of capital murder was nolle prosequi against Jason Ray Austin, 18, Rockford, Ill. "Basically, there was not enough evidence to convict him," Mitchusson said. Austin is also in state prison serving five years on a drug charge.
A fourth defendant, Cedric Flenoy, 21, is scheduled to appear in court later this week on his involvement in Rooks' murder. He is also serving a prison sentence on a drug charge.