By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Three St. Francis County roads are being looked at by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department for improvements, but a fourth, Shady Grove Road, may cost too much to pave.
According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, AHTD officials were in St. Francis County Thursday inspecting roads as part of the state aid program. Cisco said he and Jacob Weston with the AHTD inspected a total of four roads with Weston informing him that three were feasible for improvements.
"We looked at three roads yesterday that were basically approved for work. Two of those won't cost much to get ready for work, and the third will cost a little bit more, but will be in our range," Cisco said, adding that he is unable right now to name the roads slated for improvements. He did, however, say that some work on the roads would begin soon.
"I can't name the roads that will be paved just yet, but work will begin on those soon to shore them up because we hope to let bids on them in the spring," Cisco said.
The fourth road toured yesterday, was a one mile portion of Shady Grove Road in southern St. Francis County. Cisco said he received a letter from Weston recently telling him that the cost for paving the one mile portion of road would be $450,000.
"We have yet to determine how we're going to attack working on Shady Grove Road. The cost right now would mean that we would have to dedicate two years of state funding to one stretch of road. We understand that something needs to be done to the road, but we have to come up with a way of funding the project or lowering the costs." Cisco said.
St. Francis County was also the recipient this week of a grant, not to exceed $200,000, from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. Cisco said the grant was received to help cover costs for the study being conducted on the proposed transportation mall and to help hire a coordinator for the project.
"Arkansas State University is working on a feasibility study for us, and we should have the final results of that study soon. This grant will help fund that study and will also help hire a coordinator for the project. The coordinator's duties will basically be to help work on getting grants for the project as well as working with the various organizations involved in this project," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, the county's involvement in the East Arkansas Planning and Development District also helped the county secure $25,000 as part of the grant for being involved with economic development.
The administrator of the state Office of Child Support Enforcement told lawmakers Thursday that major delays have stopped.
However, while things have improved, there are still some problems locally, according to the St. Francis County circuit clerk.
Dan McDonald, administrator for the enforcement office, was quoted after a meeting with members of a legislative committee as saying, "There's still going to be some individual cases out there that need some special attention. But our job is to make sure if a payment comes in and if it has sufficient information, that we get it that day and turn it over within two business days and get it in the mail. And we're doing that."
Circuit Clerk Betty Green said this morning that in St. Francis County, there are still some problems.
"They're not of the magnitude they were in July, but we still have some people coming and calling with concerns, and we're trying to assist them," said Green. "It's much better than it was, but there are still problems that need to be worked through."
State Rep. Danny Ferguson of Forrest City said he has not received many calls, but he also said he knew there had been problems.
"Apparently the state thought it was ready, and obviously they weren't," said Ferguson. "Reports we're getting from the state is that they're pretty well caught up."
Problems began occurring when the state took over the processing of child support payments from circuit clerks on July 1. Delays were blamed on missing information, caused in part by a lack of communication between state and county officials.
This resulted in many checks not getting to custodial parents on time. Some parents were late in paying bills, had to pay bank fees for insufficient funds and had other financial difficulties. At one point, Gov. Mike Huckabee labeled it as "one massive screw-up."
The state is being sued by Theresa Caldwell, an attorney in Little Rock, on behalf of custodial parents whose checks were delayed.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Removal of asbestos from the Forrest City Junior High School could begin as early as next Friday, and demolition of the building could follow the next week, according to Pat Flanagin, fiscal officer for the Forrest City School District.
"There is a required 10-day waiting period for the asbestos removal and that period will be up next Thursday. We're expecting the removal to begin the next day. It is very likely that some parts of the demolition can begin the next week. There has to be an agreement between the contractor removing the asbestos and the demolition contractor. Both of our contractors have worked together before and both feel like they can be on-site working at the same time," Flanagin said.
Some work in the building has already been taking place, according to Flanagin. Seats in the balcony at the auditorium and lockers were removed earlier this week by district employees, and the district is salvaging ceiling tile, metal doors and furnishings.
"Some of the materials we're removing from the building that we can't use are being given away. A church and a hunting club took many of the seats from the auditorium balcony. The county was interested in getting some of the windows which aren't very old. If someone can use it, we're not going to let it go to waste," Flanagin said.
Water-cooled air-conditioning units were also removed from the building this week, and those will be used at the Forrest City High School. According to Flanagin, the units can be used in the high school because both buildings used the same type of boiler unit for heating and cooling.
The demolition of the building is expected to be completed by late November, according to Flanagin. That should coincide with the letting of bids on construction for the new building.
Flanagin said the district is also interested in receiving input from parents and students regarding one facet of the new junior high school.
"We're wanting to get input from as many people as we can on the issue of lockers in the new junior high school. For not much money we can place an extra set of textbooks in the classroom so that students can take a set home. The cost factor isn't the only thing that we're looking at. We're also looking at the safety factor. "
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
The annual Yale fundraiser for the American Cancer Society will get under way tomorrow from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Yale parking lot, with vendors and crafters from all over the area, as well as music, food, clowns, silent auctions and much more.
Yale Hoist has been the leading fundraiser for the Relay for Life in the past, in part, because of this event, according to Phyllis Autry, chairman of the ACS's Relay for Life.
Autry said this year's event should be another success with something for everyone due to the generosity of those helping with donations and donating their spare time . "We have had so much help from people in the community donating items to help us," she said. "Oral Edwards has donated a $100 voucher for us to buy food at Food Giant, Wayne Huckaba, manager of Pepsi has donated soft drinks, Burns Electric is donating a generator, and the friends of the relay are helping us out a lot with donations," said Autry.
Relay co-chair, Martha Lucas of Yale, said this should be the biggest flea market fundraiser yet. "So far, we have reserved 66 booths," said Lucas. "Last year, we had 40 booths reserved, and that was the most until this year," she said.
This year's booth rentals are comprised of many arts and crafts, furniture and patriotic items as well. "A lot of booths will sell patriotic items such as T-shirts and caps. One vendor is bringing a generator just so she can press T-shirts on site," said Lucas.
"There will also be booths with brand-name clothes, caps and windsuits and there will be a booth with name brand sportswear," she said.
Lucas said Yale has donated eight hoists, ranging from three-fourths to four-and-a-half ton hoisting capacities, to be auctioned in a silent auction at the event.
She also said the employees of Yale had a 'bring a six pack to work day' in order to provide soft drinks to sell.
Live music will be provided for free by the East Arkansas Gospel Music Association, starting at 12:30 p.m. The chairwomen encouraged those attending to bring lawn chairs to enjoy the music.
Those wishing to eat at the event will also have plenty to choose from, according to Autry, "We will have funnel cakes, pastries and other sweets to sell for breakfast and for lunch, we'll have hamburgers, hot dogs, smoked sausages, soft drinks, cakes and pies. Most of the team captains for the Relay for Life will be doing the cooking.
A lawsuit has been filed by Flippo Motors Inc., and others, seeking escrow funds that were deposited when Richard W. Ross was in the process of purchasing Flippo Motors.
In the suit, other plaintiffs besides Flippo Motors, located in Forrest City, are Dick Jarboe and Jane Jarboe; Jerry L. Flippo and Margaret Flippo; and Jim Penn and Cindy Penn, all of Lawrence County. Defendants are Richard W. Ross of Phillips County and Forrest City Bank.
The suit claims that under terms of an agreement, $150,000 was deposited in escrow with Forrest City Bank acting as escrow agent. It claims that a demand was made to release the escrow funds to the plaintiff, but this was not done. The suit also claims that Ross failed to apply to General Motors in a timely manner to get approval for the sale of the franchises owned by Flippo Motors.
The suit further claims that at the time of the agreement, Ross had been charged with a felony regarding the operation of a dealership in Helena, in which he was a part owner. It claims that Ross did not disclose that information to the plaintiffs, because he could not be approved by General Motors with a felony charge pending.
The suit asks that the escrow funds plus accrued said he has not received many calls, but he also said he knew there had been problems.
"Apparently the state thought it was ready, and obviously they weren't," said Ferguson. "Reports we're getting from the state is that they're pretty well caught up."
Problems began occurring when the state took over the processing of child support payments from circuit clerks on July 1. Delays were blamed on missing information, caused in part by a lack of communication between state and county officials.
This resulted in many checks not getting to custodial parents on time. Some parents were late in paying bills, had to pay bank fees for insufficient funds and had other financial difficulties. At one point, Gov. Mike Huckabee labeled it as "one massive screw-up."
The state is being sued by Theresa Caldwell, an attorney in Little Rock, on behalf of custodial parents whose checks were delayed.
The St. Francis County Courthouse will join federal offices by closing its doors Monday in celebration of Columbus Day.
The Courthouse will be the only local government agency to close Monday. Forrest City city offices will be open for their regular hours, and state agencies will also be open for business. The Forrest City Public Schools, East Arkansas Community College and Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute will also be open.
In addition to the courthouse, all area banks and post offices will be closed.