By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The wait on a Farm Bill from legislators in Washington, D.C. has area farmers, and businesses that work primarily with farmers, stalled as they attempt to make plans for 2002.
Congress is currently working on a bill to extend the current Farm Bill, which ends in 2002, for either five years, according to a plan before the Senate, or 10 years, according to the House plan.
Mitch Crow with the St. Francis County Extension Service said the waiting game that farmers are enduring is forcing some area farmers to begin seeking loans so they can plan for the future.
"Right now many of the farmers in the area are spending this period where they can't do much, going to banks. They have been waiting for a while now on Congress to get this passed, but it hasn't moved as quickly as many want it to," Crow said.
Tony Wilkie, who operates Wilkie Farms east of Crowley's Ridge, said the delay area farmers are facing not only affects the farmers, but it also affects many area businesses that depend on the farming industry.
"This hurts me, but it also hurts the local tractor companies and the county co-op and a variety of companies that work closely with farming."
"I've got a couple of tractors that right now are close to having their lease come up, and right now I've got to make a decision on whether I'm going to buy those tractors, lease new ones or just purchase new tractors. Without the Farm Bill, and without knowing what financing is out there and for how long, makes it difficult to determine what to do long term. I can't make any decisions right now, and that includes on what to plant. Indecision would really be the word to use for this situation," said Wilkie.
According to Wilkie, short term numbers for farmers are available due to the ending bill, but without knowing where funding is coming from, farmers can't put accurate cash flow charts together and don't know how much support to seek from lending institutions.
Scott McKinnon with Farm Credit Services of Eastern Arkansas echoed Wilkie's sentiments saying, "The cash flow charts for Delta framers just aren't there right now, and they can't be put together until they know what's going to happen with the Farm Bill. It's very critical that a bill can be passed in the next couple of weeks, and it is critical that a second AMPTA payment is approved for 2002. The second payment came last year and there was one in 2000, and we also received one in 1999. That is critical for the farmers so that they can make all of the different payments to implement companies and seed companies and all of the different companies they do business with.
Ron Killingsworth with Farm Bureau Insurance in Forrest City also said that he has seen the impact of the lack of a new bill.
"In our aspect of the industry, we're seeing a lot of farmers who are holding off on renewing their insurance until they know what's going on with the Farm Bill. They can't plan or make estimates because they just don't know how much and how long the bill will be for," said Killingsworth.
In a recent letter to President George Bush, Congressman Marion Berry wrote, "You certainly are aware of the desperate situation American agriculture finds itself in today. Freedom to farm has failed. The government has provided $30 billion in ad hoc spending to shore up the short comings of the current 1996 bill. I feel strongly that no American can avoid the devastating impact of a collapsed farm economy. Twenty-five percent of our nation's economy is connected to agriculture. Lack of support for this American back-bone would produce an economic and social collapse comparable only to the Great Depression.
"This legislation is the Economic Stimulus for Rural America. Do not allow our national security to be compromised by the loss of production agriculture on a competitive basis. Give the American farmer and rancher equal footing to compete on the global economy," Berry added.
The Farm Security Act of 2001 was passed in late 2001 but has not been scheduled for a vote in the Senate yet.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual banquet Feb. 28 at the Forest City Civic Center.
The dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for Chamber members and $20 for non-Chamber members. Corporate sponsorships are available for $200, which includes eight tickets, a sponsor's table and a listing in the program.
The guest speaker this year will be Beth A. Higgs, Ph.D., of Rhinocerology Connection. Higgs, of Springdale, is an independent consultant and is also known as the "Rhino Lady."
Rhinocerology has been defined as, "The study of how to make it through the jungle of life without being eaten alive."
Higgs holds two Masters degrees, one in family and consumer science and one in human resource development. Her doctoral degree, received in 1997, is in education philosophy. Her professional background includes 13 years as a high school home economics instructor, four years as a training specialist with the Arkansas Department of Education, and three years as an education supervisor with a Private Industry Counsel in Arkansas. For the past seven years, she has been self employed as CEO of Rhinocerology Connection.
She travels the nation conducting keynote addresses and training sessions, as well as consulting.
In addition, new Chamber Board of Directors will be introduced and outgoing members will be recognized. In addition, the current Farm Family of the Year, the Terry McGraw family of Palestine, will be honored.
Tickets may be purchased by calling the Chamber office at 633-1651.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Widener City Council adopted a budget for 2002 on Thursday night, reflecting a loss of revenue due to the results of the latest census.
"It's going to be a little bit tighter this year," said Mayor Dot Halford. "They cut us over $1,000 a month on the census."
According to the 2000 census, Widener's population was 335, down from the 381 figure recorded in the 1990 census.
The city's general fund will operate on anticipated revenues of $45,430. Some of the revenue sources include state turnback, $4,854; property taxes, 3,000; franchise tax, $6,900; and sales tax, $29,075.
The street fund's anticipated revenue is $14,218, with all but $100 of that coming from the state.
The sanitation fund will operate on anticipated revenue of $27,225.48. Again, all but $100 of that will come from the state.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
A judge this week found in favor of a contractor who sued the City of Caldwell for payment on a pavilion built for the city's new park.
Circuit Judge Harvey Yates ruled that Brian Long, doing business as Bri-My Construction Inc., is entitled to $24,467 for the construction of the pavilion, plus attorney's fees.
The disagreement between the city and Long came about over the style of the roof. Caldwell wanted a so-called "hipped roof" and included that in the specifications for the bidding process. Long claimed that the pavilion he constructed was according to the bid he submitted, and which the Caldwell City Council accepted, at its meeting on June 13, 2000.
Eventually, the city council refused payment on the pavilion, claiming it had not been completed according to specifications. Long filed suit on Feb. 8, 2001.
Speaking earlier this week, Long claimed he had offered to let Caldwell have the building at cost, which would have saved the city some money.
"I offered to settle it but they wouldn't have it, so we did it the other way," said Long. "Fact is, that's not (Mayor) Gary Hughes' money he's spending out there."
Hughes issued a statement in which he expressed disappointment and said a decision on whether or not to appeal has not been made.
"Obviously, the town of Caldwell is disappointed in the judge's decision," Hughes' statement read. "The plans and specifications called for a building with a hipped roof. Both parties agreed to this in court."
Hughes also stated that the city had no regrets about having a judge review the claims.
"We hold high standards in Caldwell to maintain the public's trust. The Mayor and City Council felt it was our responsibility to the citizens as well as other bidders to require the contractor to build the building that was specified in the plans.
"Now that this is behind us, we want to focus on the fact that we have a first-class city park that our community is very proud of. The decision on whether to appeal this case will be reserved for the city council at their February meeting."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Motorists traveling on South Washington Street should use caution when crossing the railroad tracks.
Several people have complained that the railroad crossing there is much rougher than it was before Union Pacific began work to upgrade the crossing.
An official with Union Pacific Railroad, who refused to be identified, said the crossing has not been completed, and only one stage of the work has been finished.
"The crews will be back in to finish this work, but right now they've only put the cold patch in. They've got to come back and dig that out, put in hot patch and install the cement pads. Once that work has been done then the crossing will be as smooth as can be," the official said.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said city streets aren't the only places where rough crossings can be found. According to Cisco, several of the county crossings are also in rough shape, although he says that may not necessarily be a bad thing.
"We've got some rough crossings in the county, but that's not the worst thing in the world. I know that since the work was done near my house, all it took was one time for me to go flying over the crossing and see how rough it was, and it slowed me down. In the city, where there are lights and crossing gates, it's different, but for some of us in the county, there may be a need for a reminder to slow down at the crossings," Cisco said.
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant had no comment, and officials at UP headquarters in Memphis were unavailable for comment on the crossing.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The nearly-deserted Yale Hoists building was the scene Thursday of an unusual gift -- more than $15,000 worth of office furniture and equipment to the Forrest City Education Foundation, which will ultimately benefit the Forrest City School District.
General Manager Hubert Shackleford, said the owner of Yale Hoists, Columbus McKinnon, headquartered in Amherst, N.Y., was proud to make the donation.
"Yale Hoists has been established here since 1957," said Shackleford. "It's seen the community grow by leaps and bounds. And we want to try to help the school system to do that, even though we're leaving the area."
Columbus McKinnon last year announced it was closing the Forrest City plant.
Forrest City Superintendent Lee Vent expressed pleasure at the gift.
"We're very pleased that Mr. Shackleford and Ms. Martha Lucas (human resources mangers) saw fit to donate the office equipment and a lot of other smaller items that will help us out immensely," Vent said. "There are desks, credenzas, filing cabinets, things of that nature -- very expensive equipment. We're very pleased that they saw fit to donate that to the Forrest City Education Foundation. It's really good that we have a foundation in place to receive massive gifts such as this."
He said Shackleford saw a need for the local school system, "and let us, more or less, have carte blanche when we came in, to get the equipment we wanted."
The equipment will definitely be used, according to Vent.
"This equipment will be used throughout the district, to upgrade our existing furnishings and our offices and classrooms," he said. "Some of it will be used in the central office as well. Everybody will be impacted by it, from the bus shop and the maintenance shop, all the way up to our offices. We hope to utilize every piece of it. This is a major contribution, and we will use it very wisely."
Also on hand for the presentation was Victor Vaccaro, president of the Forrest City Education Foundation.
A business expansion in the Forrest City Industrial Park lead the way for building permits issued by the city in January.
Forrest City Grocery Company at 3550 Commerce Rd., is making a $270,000 addition to its current facility. According to David Cohn with Forrest City Grocery, the 4,000-square-foot addition will house the corporate facilities for the Tobacco Superstore franchise.
New construction projects for January totaled $347,151.70, according to a press release from the Forrest City Building Inspector's office.
The second largest permit for January was for the construction of a sign for the BP Oil Market Group at 3300 N. Washington. The sign is valued at $22,000. Permits were also issued to Denny's at 200 Holiday Drive for a $9,765 sign, and at Rent-A-Center, at 210 Deaderick Suite 600, for a sign valued at $5,330.70. Forrest City Bank at 713 N. Rosser also purchased a permit for $5,000 in remodeling work.
There were also permits issued for $35,056 in non-commercial work. Also included in the list of permits were three remodeling jobs totaling $14,500; a $6,000 room addition; a new fence valued at $8,956 and a storage building valued at $1,500.
The Forrest City City Council is scheduled to meet in regular session at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at city hall.
The council will open bids on replacing a fence at the sports complex and the placement of a fence at Southside Park. Fire department officials will request that councilmen allow the department to seek bids on airpacks and cylinders for firemen.
Councilmen will consider an ordinance to waive bid requirements for the city to purchase a used bucket truck.
Paul Gunn, representing Di-Com of America, will request the council grant preliminary plat approval for Downs Village Subdivision to be located on Highway 70 East at Day Street.