By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The first "Cotton Pickin' Festival," held Friday and Saturday at Caldwell, was a success, according to Caldwell Mayor Gary Hughes.
"We had a great time, we had a huge crowd," said Hughes. "We were expecting a good crowd, but we were really amazed at how good a crowd we did have. People just seemed to enjoy themselves, old and young alike."
Beautiful weather helped.
"The weather being on our side definitely didn't hurt us," said Hughes.
He said people enjoyed the "Cotton Pickin' Contest," and said many people commented that the Elvis impersonator, Ben Robertson of Fort Smith, was the best they had ever seen.
While final numbers weren't in yet, Hughes said a substantial amount of money was raised for the volunteer fire department through a silent auction with items donated by local businesses.
"All the credit goes to the committee that worked so hard on this," said Hughes. "It took a lot of people working together to pull this off."
Hughes continued, "Definitely, there will be a second annual Cotton Pickin' Festival. We're already talking about it. It will probably be the same week of the year in 2002."
Members of the Arkansas Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry, 39th Infantry Brigade, which includes Forrest City's Company C, are preparing to be called up for active duty, according to a press release from the Office of the Adjutant General of the Military Department of Arkansas.
According to Maj. Cary Shillcut, state public affairs officer, Second Battalion units have been calling members to notify them of the possible activation. Shillcut, a former company commander with Charlie Company, also said that orders could be received soon.
"Although we haven't received orders, we have been alerted that we could be activated and are expecting to receive orders in the next couple of days. We fully expect members of the unit will be going to Sinai soon," said Shillcut.
According to the release, Arkansas Army National Guard members received word Friday that the unit might be called upon to serve with the Multinational Force and Observers, Sinai, in Egypt. U.S. forces have been stationed in the area since 1982.
According to the release Arkansas units could join Infantry units from Colombia and Fiji as well as an Italian coastal patrol unit, French aviators, Hungarian military police and contingents from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Norway and Uruguay.
"This is a mission that's been in existence for some time," Maj. General Don Morrow, adjutant general of Arkansas, said in a statement.
"Obviously, with the current developments in the Middle East, the mission will take on a much stronger intensity. If our troops are called to go, I am confident they are ready and will do a good job," Morrow added.
The Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion is comprised of the Headquarters in Searcy; Detachment 1, Headquarters in Wynne; Company A in Walnut Ridge; Detachment 1, Company A in Harrisburg; Company B in Batesville; Detachment Company B in Augusta; Company C in Forrest City; Detachment Company C in Brinkley and Company D in Newport.
The unit's last overseas deployment was June- October 1999 when Company B deployed to Kuwait.
Although road work on Interstate-40 near Forrest City may have recently been completed, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department still has plenty of work left for the remainder of this year and into next, according to Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department District Engineer Ray Woodruff.
Paving work which extended from Goodwin to Forrest City on I-40 was recently completed, and according to Woodruff, the work was just one stage in the increasing effort statewide to improve Arkansas interstates. Paving work is currently under way between Brinkley and Goodwin on I-40.
"Overall the project went well. This is just a portion of the work that the Highway Department is doing statewide. Next spring, we expect to let bids on work which will pave a section of I-40 from Widener to Shearerville," said Woodruff.
Also in the spring or summer, Woodruff said that bids should be let on a project which would widen Arkansas Highway 1 from Wynne to Colt. According to Woodruff, the project would complete the widening of Highway 1 from Wynne to Forrest City.
Highway 1 is also undergoing construction throughout the district with work in Cross County from Wynne to Cherry Valley. According to Woodruff, a passing lane is being added to help ease traffic congestion.
"The project that we're working on in Cross County will essentially add a passing lane in certain sections of the highway. We're not going to add the additional lane the entire length but in four sections, each about a mile and a half long. I'm not sure because it's out of my district, but I also think that there may be additional work in Poinsett and Craighead counties to widen Highway 1," Woodruff said.
Woodruff also said that work on the Highway 1 bypass at Forrest City is moving along as scheduled.
"In my opinion, we're never ahead of schedule, but work is going pretty good. The good weather has allowed us to go at a pretty good pace," said Woodruff.
Construction staying on pace will also be determined by the weather as winter comes along.
"With this type of work we will have some slow down due to winter weather. The dirt work will face the biggest challenges. We can continue to work on the bridge structures when it gets cold just as long as we don't have a lot of days under freezing," said Woodruff.
Construction on the bypass is expected to be completed in 2003.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ten years after Time magazine ran an award-winning article portraying the Church of Scientology as a greedy cult, the Supreme Court refused Monday to consider reinstating the church's libel case.
Time Warner Inc. had steadfastly defended the 10-page article and said it refused to be ''intimidated by the church's apparently limitless legal resources.''
The church contended that the writer was biased and only interviewed critics.
Scientology, founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, requires members to take classes and counseling that can cost thousands of dollars.
The May 1991 article entitled, ''Scientology: The Cult of Greed,'' said that the so-called religion is ''really a ruthless global scam.''
Time said the cover story was awarded the Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished business and financial journalism, the Worth Bingham Prize and the Conscience in Media Awards from the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
The church had said the story had multiple defamatory comments.
The Forrest City City Council will meet in regular session on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m.
Prior to the council meeting, at 6 p.m. there will be a public hearing regarding a Local Law Enforcement Block Grant.
Agenda items for the regular meeting, include bid openings for the fire department roof, third reading of an ordinance requiring uniformed emergency personnel to reside within city limits, and third reading of an ordinance to prohibit increases in charges or fees for use of city facilities without city council approval.
The deadline for applying for a homestead tax credit under Amendment 79 is Oct. 31, according to St. Francis County Assessor Craig Jones.
The form used to apply for the credit is available at the assessor's office in the county courthouse.
He said the credit does not apply to rental property or property deeded to one's children.
Jones said the sooner people applied, the better off they would be.
"Layoffs have affected the assessor's office and the collector's office," he said. "So far everything has been running efficiently. But any large number of people at one time could cause problems."
He said anyone with questions may call him at 261-1710 or 1-800-203-0211. He said people in other counties should contact their assessors.
Sales tax revenue figures for St. Francis County and its cities during August have been released by the Arkansas Municipal League.
In August, St. Francis County received $148,345.60 from the county-wide two-cent sales tax. Also from this tax, the cities and the amount they received include: Forrest City, $232,660.06; Hughes, $29,401.40; Wheatley, $5,858.24; Palestine, $11,669.22; Madison, $15,543.22; Caldwell, $7,322.80; Colt, $5,795.24 and Widener, $5,275.55.
Several cities also have one-cent sales taxes. The amount received from these taxes includes: Forrest City, $160,790.52; Hughes, $9,260.07; Madison, $2,265.64; Palestine, $6,280.52 and Wheatley, $3,786.73.