By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
All signs are pointing toward arson in the fire that damaged the northern section of the St. Francis County Courthouse Tuesday.
St. Francis County Sheriff's Department Chief Investigator Glenn Ramsey today said certain causes of the fire were ruled out during a cause and origin investigation Wednesday morning.
"Equipment failure and electrical causes have been ruled out. It's being investigated now as an arson," Ramsey said.
The sheriff's department is investigating the fire along with the Forrest City Police Department and Arkansas State Police.
A damage estimate has not yet been determined.
In the meantime, county officials are trying to determine where to hold chancery and circuit court.
A group including Chancery Judge Ben Story, Circuit Court Judge Harvey Yates, Municipal Court Judge Steve Routon and Chancery Judge Kathleen Bell met with County Judge Carl Cisco this morning to discuss alternative locations to hear chancery and circuit court proceedings.
According to Cisco, portions of the courthouse that were damaged Tuesday may be available for use by May or June.
"The chancery courtroom may be ready by May, and it could be used until the circuit courtroom is available. We're in the process of moving some of the offices from the upstairs and trying to find locations in the courthouse for those offices being moved," said Cisco.
Non-jury criminal cases for Friday, which were to be held in the circuit courtroom, will still be held, according to Circuit Court Clerk Bette Green. The cases will be heard in the municipal courtroom beginning at 1 p.m.
"We've made arrangements to hear cases tomorrow. This will eliminate any excuses we might hear as far as 'the courthouse burned so I didn't think there would be court.' We're moving on business as usual as much as we can," said Green.
Judges agreed to share the municipal courtroom during the rebuilding process with chancery court being held on Thursday, juvenile court on Tuesday. Municipal court will still be held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In May, circuit court will be held in the municipal courtroom the week of May 14. Municipal court will meet the afternoon of Monday, May 14, and the circuit courtroom will hopefully be used the remainder of that week.
The community multipurpose room at Union Planters Bank is also being considered for use by the chancery court for hearings set for next week. That move, according to Green, would be a matter of history repeating itself.
"When the courthouse was being built back in the '70's, Union Planters was used because they had the most space and were handicapped and wheelchair accessible. In this situation, it's a matter of history repeating itself with them helping us, and it's basically because of the same reasons we used then," said Green.
The Civic Center is also being considered as an alternate location, and Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant was on-hand for this morning's meeting. Bryant assured county officials that any proceedings would not affect the regularly scheduled meetings at the civic center.
"We don't normally have both the Ferguson and the Henley rooms being used at the same time, so I don't see where that would be a problem. We will help out with this in any way that we can. Just contact my office and we'll help work this out. We also have the small conference room available for small proceedings, and we can sit people in the lobby and close off the other portion of the building so that we don't have anything being interfered with," said Bryant.
The St. Francis County Museum will also be used for office space for chancery court judges and officers. Circuit court coordinator Shannon Bonds, Green and Municipal Court Clerk Neva Vance said they will coordinate the effort to keep things running smoothly.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
The Tuesday fire that destroyed a large portion of the north wing at the St. Francis County Courthouse could have been worse.
There were no county records destroyed in the blaze that investigators believe was intentionally set in a jury room on the second floor of the courthouse.
Two vaults, which were built as fire-proof, contain the most valuable records at the courthouse. Those vaults are located in the offices of the circuit court clerk and the county clerk.
Circuit Court Clerk Bette Green said the fire may help her office move forward with digital imaging of all records contained in her vault.
The money for digital imaging for all counties in Arkansas has been set aside through Act 768 of 1995. "I hope, on the heels of the fire, we will be doing this," Green said.
"Right now, the only back up we have of our records is with the Forrest City Abstract Company. They record our records on a daily basis, and those items are at their office. If we had to reconstruct what we have, we probably could, but the fire this week is just another reason why we should take means of our own to be self-reliant of our own records," Green said.
"We've been taking bids on the digital recording of our records and the money is set aside through this legislation," Green said. "The money is there to pay for the process. We're not asking taxpayers for any additional funding to do this."
County Clerk Elizabeth Smith also was pleased that no records were lost in her office.
Legislation similar to Act 768 is being considered during this year's legislative session to provide money to county clerks for digital imaging of records. Smith said she also supports this move.
Although county records were kept safe during the fire, the older law books stored in the upstairs jury room were not as lucky.
Law books dating back to the late 1800's were destroyed, according to St. Francis County Courthouse Law Librarian Ree Routon.
"Most of the books were volumes we no longer subscribe to," Routon said. "The ones stored upstairs were some of the overflow books from the main law library located downstairs. The most commonly used volumes were still downstairs."
A value has not yet been determined for the books, nor has a decision been made on an attempt to replace those books that were lost. "I have no idea on the value of those books. I'm sure it was in the thousands of dollars. Each volume of our current books costs between $60 and $100."
Routon added that the destruction in that room is unbelievable. "It's just sad to walk in and see how much damage can be done in such a short period of time. I first thought some of the books could be cleaned up and salvaged, but they are just too charred," she said.
Green said she was also saddened by the loss of the books. "It's just sickening. Absolutely sickening," Green said. "A lot of people have used that room for jury duty and enjoyed looking at those books. They weren't current law books that had any impact on the cases they were hearing. They were just old history books and that room was a good place to store them after the courthouse offices moved into this building."
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
A test of a tornado alarm system on Tuesday may show the wave of the future in Forrest City, but city council members on Tuesday night weren't ready to call it a done deal.
Whelan Engineering of North Little Rock, through Safety Com, also of North Little Rock, submitted the next-to-lowest bid in February to install the system. The bid was $85,292.78. Coast to Coast Communications of Norman, Okla. submitted a bid of $65,500. The council agreed that the specifications on the two lowest bidders should be checked.
Council members also wanted a test. On Tuesday, a representative of Safety Com, the firm which installs alarm systems for Whelan, was on hand to test the system. The alarm was sounded at two locations. The first test was done near the intersection of Broadway and Lindauer. The spot was deliberately chosen because it is fairly low, which reduces the distance the sirens can be heard. If and when they are installed, the alarms will be on high ground whenever possible. Bryant said the second test would be in a hilly area, where hills might cut off low-lying areas from the sound.
"Hopefully, it will reach out to 5,200 to 6,000 feet," said Mayor Larry Bryant.
One siren was brought for Tuesday's test. Plans call for six to be used over the city to provide coverage.
City council members and others were asked to fan out over the area which was supposed to be covered by a single siren.
David Miller, a representative of Safety Com, said atmospheric conditions can also play a role, as well as terrain, in how well a sound will travel.
"Barometric pressure has a lot to do with it, and cloud cover today is going to help us a little," said. "Typically in a storm system you're going to have the same conditions, where you have a heavy wall cover of clouds. That actually helps keep the sound down in on you."
The system tested has several different sounds, such as a high-low sound, a straight tone and a wail. Voice transmission is also possible.
Bryant said in large manufacturing plants, where sirens would probably not be heard, the city will work with the companies to install warnings which can be triggered when the outside sirens go off. He said the cost to industries would be about $1,000 each.
At Tuesday night's council meeting, Bryant said he thought it was a good test, but he said it might be necessary to install some additional, smaller sirens to reach hard-to-get areas.
"We have some difficult areas to get warnings to, and we're working on that," he said.
However, several council members were concerned that the bid specifications, and more importantly the bid price, should be met.
"To me, that sounds like their problem," said council member Cecil Twillie. "If they're trying to sell us something, they need to sell us something that's adequate and effective."
They were also concerned that people in well-insulated houses might not hear the alarm.
Bryant agreed that some other type systems might be better, such as a system which actually warns people automatically over their telephones. However, after studying such a system, he said he found the cost was prohibitive.
"That was one of the reasons I really didn't want to go to that (a siren system). I wanted to go to something else, but it cost $400,000 to put a personal unit in everybody's house. It would have been much more effective."
Twillie persisted. "I would hate to buy something today, knowing it's not taking care of all our residents," he said.
Bryant said he thought it would be more effective than Twillie thought.
"We used (for the test) a worst-case scenario," he said. "It was in a valley, and (extended) up in the air only 35 feet. And when it's installed, it will be 55 feet in the air, and up on a hill. You won't have any of the obstructions you had down in the hole."
After lengthy discussion, the council still wanted to negotiate more with the company. No final decision was reached on the system.
A large amount of money was taken during an armed robbery at a local convenience store Wednesday night.
The Forrest City Police Department reported the Fina Gas Station at 1221 N. Washington was robbed about 9:30 p.m.
According to police, two black males in their early 20s entered the business and jumped over the counter. They then forced the employee to walk to the back of the store. The suspects returned to the counter and removed money from the cash register.
The investigation is continuing.