By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Several Forrest City School District teachers received grants Monday, during the Forrest City Education Foundation's fall grant ceremony held at the Forrest City High School Lecture Hall.
The Foundation handed out over $30,000 in grants to teachers at eight of the district's nine schools during the ceremony. According to FCEF board president Tom Machen, the grants will assist teachers and administrators by helping implement new programs and helping to improve district resources. Machen also commented on the importance of teachers to the success of Forrest City.
"For every success, you can find a teacher that influenced that success. I know that some of you may think that you miss out on more students than you touch, but you have to remember that Babe Ruth struck out a whole lot more times than he hit home runs, but he did hit an awful lot of home runs. You're doing the same thing, because there are students, who like me, will remember their teachers long after they've finished school and remember the impact those teachers had on their lives," Machen said.
According to Machen, the $30,091 in grants distributed Monday put the Foundation's total at over $500,000 over the past five years.
The fall grants recipients are:
* Central Elementary: Sandra Burke, $300 for an overhead projector; Susan Wheeler, $128 for dissecting kits; Meredith Reeves, $750 for art supplies; Victor Fertha, $100 for math videos; Bonita Poe, $1,800 for a Rolling Readers shelf; Robin Williams, $685 for economic education materials; Claudia Brown and Willie Doby, $390 for six VCR's for the library; Ann Morocco, $340 for math supplies; Betty Culley, Christine Moore and Juanita McNutt, $1,000 for literacy center supplies; Butch Murray, $500 for reading materials; Shannon Williams, $800 for math manipulatives and Janice Buford, $400 for educational tapes and CDs.
*ABC School: Vivian Ryan, $500 for a copier; Margaret Williams, $500 for math curriculum; Denise Watson, $500 for the science center and Lisa Batt, $500 for seven learning centers.
* Forrest Hills Elementary: Terry Isringhouse, $875 for measurement materials; Kerri Gray, $225 for math manipulatives; Linda Luke and Linda Cagle, $490 for reading theme boxes and Bertha Rogers, $70 for student clocks.
* Caldwell Elementary: Lisa Morgan and De,Etta Houston, $700 for reading and math materials.
* Madison Elementary: Angela Poindexter and Ennie Hardrick, $700 for reading language and math skills materials.
* Lincoln Middle School: Carla Busby, $106 for social studies materials and Mary Allen, $413 for writing materials and educational games.
* Forrest City Junior High School: Peter Shirley, $250 for Chess timers and Frank Shaw, $50 for a competition at East Arkansas Community College.
* Forrest City High School: Abbie Robinson, $3,120 for a risograph and bell system; Barbie James, $2,835 for overhead projectors; Steve Murray, $4,750 for a microphone system; Janice Palmer, $150 for self-defense videos; Barbara Parks, $2,000 for science department supplies; Gayle Haynes, $1,000 for science supplies and Vicky Timmons, $2,500 for science lab supplies.
According to Pat Flanagin, secretary and former executive director of the FCEF, a second grant ceremony is expected during the spring semester.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Members of the Madison City Council voted unanimously Monday night to eliminate a part-time position in the city's sewer department, leaving only one employee to handle the city's sewer repairs.
Councilmen voted to eliminate the part-time position from the sewer budget which had an anticipated salary of $17,992 for 2003. According to Madison Mayor James Brooks, the position has been filled when needed in the past.
"We have one full-time employee, and we've been giving him a part-time employee when he's needed one, and that's what we wanted to do again this year. We fill this position primarily during the summer months when the sewer problems are at their worst, but we may need the extra help at any time," Brooks said.
Council member Annie Winfrey, who proposed eliminating the position, argued first that the salary of the full-time employee should be cut, or the hours for the employee should be cut to six hours per day. According to Brooks, due to the nature of the job, it would be impossible to cut the hours.
"With his job, it's hard to limit the hours that he works because of the on-call nature of his job. Earlier tonight, he was called out because of a problem at the school, and he had to come right out and get on it or the school would have had to shut down," Brooks said.
The move to eliminate the position will allow part-time help to be used in cases of emergency, but no amount was budgeted by the council. The move decreased the budget for the sewer department to $62,292.71 for next year.
Senator Steve Higginbothom of Marianna was recently named chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Transportation during the 84th General Assembly, which convenes in regular session on Jan. 13.
Higginbothom will also serve on the Senate Committee on Insurance and Commerce, the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth.
"I couldn't be more pleased with my committee assignments," Higginbothom said. "This is good news for the people of District 16 because I will be in a better position to represent their interests."
As chairman of Transportation, Higginbothom will preside over the committee that reviews legislation affecting roads, highways, airports, air transportation, railroads and common carriers.
The Insurance and Commerce Committee is one of the most influential in the legislature, according to a press release. It handles bills that affect banking, savings and loans, investment banks, stocks, bonds, securities dealers, the insurance industry, utilities, partnerships, corporations and mortgage financing.
The Children and Youth Committee works on issues affecting the juvenile justice system and the child welfare system, such as conditions in juvenile detention facilities and the placement of children in foster care.
"It will mean a lot of long hours and a lot of hard work next session, but I'm looking forward to it," Higginbothom said.
Higginbothom was elected in November and will be 22nd in seniority in the 35-member Senate. He chose his committee assignments during the Senate's organizational meeting. All 35 senators drew lots to determine whether they would serve a two-year or a four-year term. Higginbothom drew a four-year term.
Higginbothom represents Senate District 16, which includes Forrest City and eastern St. Francis County.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The town's new civic center took up most of the discussion at Monday night's meeting of the Widener City Council.
After hearing from Anita Hancock, with the local HIPPY program, the council agreed to allow the organization to use the center at no charge.
HIPPY stands for Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters. Hancock told the council that once a month, a meeting is held with parents of children in the HIPPY program, and she asked that the meeting be held at the center.
"This is a community service," said Mayor Dot Halford, referring to the HIPPY program. The council members agreed unanimously.
On another matter, Halford said there have been complaints about the civic center's no alcohol policy. There have also been complaints over the rental price and the deposit requirement.
Halford said the council might want to reconsider some of the rules. However, she added, "I don't want us to take any action until our attorney is back."
The city attorney, Marshall Wright, could not be at Monday's meeting.
At the November meeting, a fee of $75 had been tentatively set for the building without the kitchen, with $25 more if the kitchen is added. A refundable deposit of $100 was suggested.
At that meeting the council had voted to ban alcohol from the building.
On another matter, Halford gave the council a proposed budget for 2003. No action was taken. Halford said she only wanted council members to look over the budget and be ready for discussion in January.
The proposed budget calls for total expenditures of $103,554, with anticipated income of $104,500.
Some of the expenses include: Maintenance and Operation, $12,000; Salaries, $28,000; Bond and Interest Payment, $15,804; Purchased Water, $20,000.
In addition, expenses of $27,035 are expected for sanitation.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Hughes City Council Monday night agreed to cut Christmas bonuses for city employees.
The council voted unanimously to reduce bonuses from last year's payment of a week's salary for full-time employees to a flat $150. The bonus for part-time employees was reduced from a half a week's pay to $75.
Mayor Donnie Mooney told councilmen the move was necessary.
"With the economy the way it is and low tax revenue in the city, we had to," said Mooney. "We hate to, but we just had to do it."
Mooney then updated the council on a problem with the city audit for 2001.
"We are done with the audit for 2001, and we got written up for a problem," Mooney said. "We did not have a computer disk with all the assets of the city listed, so we got written up.
"We also had a problem with a check for $40 to the police department that we couldn't account for, but that wasn't written up. The biggest thing is the disk problem. We may have to go to Little Rock about that," Mooney added.
Next on the agenda was discussion of the fire department's payroll. Mooney told members that the payroll was down significantly from last year's numbers.
"This year is down by about $7,000 from last year's $18,000 to about $11,000. I think it's due to less fires this year," explained Mooney. The council voted unanimously to pass the payroll with no changes.
Acting Chief of Police James Wilson presented a hand-out to council members that asked for a "decent" retirement system for the police.
The release read in part, "Under the current retirement system (Policeman's Benefit Fund), a full-time police officer is eligible to draw $100 a month after 20 years of service, and after 25 years, a maximum amount of $125 a month." The release went on to request raises for both police officers and dispatchers. No discussion was offered on the retirement system, but Mooney offered comments on the raises.
"I agree the police don't get paid enough. I'd like to see us address that and maybe a new patrol car in the next budget," stated Mooney.
Kenneth Davis of Forrest City walked away with the $50 cash prize in the final Times-Herald Professor Pigskin Contest for 2002.
Agnew missed just three of last week's selected games -- all NFL contests -- to out-distance the Pigskin field.
In the holiday spirit, the Forrest City Post Office announced today that office hours will be extended for the next two Saturdays.
According to officials with the Post Office, on Saturday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 21, office hours will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to help with the holiday rush.