By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
An anthrax scare in Hughes Saturday turned out to be nothing more than flour in an envelope.
The St. Francis County Sheriff's Office received a call Saturday morning telling deputies that an envelope containing a white powdery substance had been mailed to a Hughes resident.
Ramsey, along with the Hughes Police and Fire departments and the Forrest City Fire Department's Haz-Mat team responded to the call.
According to St. Francis County Sheriff's Department Chief Criminal Investigator Glenn Ramsey, Deloris Smith received a letter through the post office that contained a white powdery substance and disposed of it behind a store in Hughes.
"The complainant and another female placed the envelope in a plastic bag and placed it behind the J.R. Express store in Hughes. They then contacted the Hughes Police and they contacted me," said Ramsey. "The Hughes Fire Department was called out and they called the Haz-mat team at the Forrest City Fire Department."
Ramsey said the clothing being worn by both women was taken by police and placed in a metal container. They envelope was taken to the State Health Department in Little Rock where it was tested and found to be only flour.
However, Ramsey cautions anyone who might be considering playing a prank such as this on someone.
"Even though the substance turned out to be plain flour, we are still going to apprehend the suspects involved, and hopefully they will be charged with terroristic threatening in state or federal court," said Ramsey.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Questions regarding the contracted work between a St. Francis County employee and the county did not cause the employee to resign, according to County Judge Carl Cisco.
The resignation of W.L. Laws as coordinator of the St. Francis County Office of Emergency Services was going to happen no matter what action was taken by the Quorum Court, Cisco said this morning.
Cisco said questions raised by quorum court members during last week's regular meeting may have affected the timing, but he believes Laws would have resigned anyway.
"It maybe moved it up about three weeks," said Cisco.
At last week's meeting, justices tabled action on an ordinance to allow Laws to continue in his OES position while still doing contract work for the county.
Quorum court members were told that state law prohibits county employees from doing contracted work for the county. An exception can be made in an emergency situation, if the quorum court passes an ordinance.
During the meeting, Cisco said Laws, along with Joe Young, who is a member of county Election Commission, have both been used for contract work due to a lack of available contractors.
Laws has been used for road work in the county, according to Cisco, because there are only two companies in the county qualified to do asphalt work. The other company, M&T, is tied up with work on the interstate.
Young owns a gravel pit which the county uses, Cisco said.
This morning, however, Cisco said Laws told him his work obligations would make it difficult to do the OES job.
"He was going to be out of the county quite a bit," said Cisco. "We do need somebody who's fairly convenient and nearby.
"There are occasionally going to be times when anybody is going to be out of the county," he added.
Cisco was asked this morning if a full-time OES coordinator would be feasible. He answered that a county the size of St. Francis cannot afford to have a full-time OES coordinator.
"In fact, most counties have part-time Emergency Services coordinators," he said.
Cisco said a new OES coordinator would be announced soon.
Laws could not be reached for comment this morning.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Extension office has added a pair of new employees to its staff.
Mitchell Crow of Clarendon has been named as staff chairman for the Extension Service. Crow, who was serving as staff chair for Monroe County, replaces Margy Cannon. As staff chair, Crow will supervise service employees and will primarily work with agricultural producers and 4-H youth.
According to Crow, his first job in St. Francis County will to be to build a relationship with area producers.
"I want to be able to meet the needs of the area producers and help them as I can. I'm not much of an office guy so that should help. I like to do a lot of work in the field and have a lot of demonstrations with the producers," said Crow.
Crow, a Cardwell, Mo. native, received both his bachelor's degree in agronomy and his master's degree in agriculture from Arkansas State University.
Another new employee is Kevin Norton, a Warren native. Norton, a graduate of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La., will work with area livestock producers in animal science.
According to Norton, his focus right now is getting to know all of the area producers.
"I haven't been in the area long enough to get to know all of our producers so that's one of the things that I'm working on right now. I'm here to help give advice to producers and help them implement new programs," said Norton.
Norton also will work with the 4-H program and said that he wants to try to update the image that children get of farming.
"A lot of kids see farmers as the guys with the overalls and beat up trucks and the stuff you see on TV, but that's just not right. Farming has come a long way and I would like to help kids understand that," Norton said.
A Forrest City woman was killed Sunday after being thrown from her vehicle during an accident in Lee County.
Arkansas State Police Troop D in Forrest City reported Wanda Sain, 48, 9 SFC 22, was found at the accident scene near Rondo Sunday morning.
According to the report, filed by Trooper Franklin McMillion, Sain's vehicle is believed to have been traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Highway 121 near Rondo when she lost control of her car, struck an embankment, became airborne and landed in a field. The vehicle traveled 376 feet from where she is believed to have lost control of the car, McMillion's report stated. Sain was thrown from the vehicle.
The exact time of the accident is unknown, according to McMillion, who said state police were notified of the wreck about 7:22 a.m.
Village Creek State Park will host a horse camp from Friday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 11. Participants will bring their own horses and will be treated to two nights of camping and three days of riding on the park's new proposed trails.
There will be entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights and three catered meals.
The fee is $60 per person for the weekend or $35 for Saturday only (includes two catered meals and entertainment).
Space is limited. To obtain a registration form, or for more information, call Village Creek State Park at 870-238-9406.
Two meetings are scheduled for this week in St. Francis County.
The St. Francis County Quorum Court's Personnel Committee will meet at 6 tonight at the courthouse to hear from an employee whose position was recently terminated.
The Forrest City Planning Commission is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m Tuesday at city hall.