By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Several students involved in a gun incident last month at the Forrest City High School were expelled after much deliberation by board members Tuesday night.
During the open student disciplinary hearings requested by the parents of two of the students involved, board members heard testimony from FCHS Principal Abby Robinson and the parents.
The father of two students in the incident, the one who brought the gun to school and the one who ended up with it, along with the parents of a female student who handled the gun as it was being passed around the campus, asked that alternative discipline be considered for each student. The father of the two boys was only representing one son as the other son's case is still in the preliminary hearing stage.
Based on the information presented during the hearing, a male student brought the gun to school after threats were allegedly made toward him over a basketball game between Forrest City and Hughes. The loaded .22 caliber weapon was passed among three other students before it was taken to the male student's brother where police recovered the gun less than an hour after it was reported to be on campus.
Federal law requires that students involved with weapons on a school campus be expelled. The expulsion could be as long as one calendar year or as minor as the school board deems necessary. Some board members suggested the possibility of suspension for those not directly involved with the gun. Superintendent Lee Vent recommended the students be expelled for the spring semester only.
Because the incident occurred in December, the students could have suffered punishment that extended over three semesters. However, the students involved were allowed to take semester tests, and will be allowed to return to classes this fall.
The parents asked that the students be allowed to enroll in the alternative school setting.
The mother of the female student involved told board members her daughter was afraid when the gun was placed in her pocket. "She has not been in trouble before. You're putting a good kid in the streets. I'm not asking that you not punish her, just don't make the punishment so harsh."
"She didn't ask for the gun. She made the mistake of not reporting it," the girl's father said.
"It is heavy on my heart to have to put any child out. But, how many kids were exposed unknowingly? I grieve for any child who cannot learn when they want to learn," board member Sandra Taylor said.
"We've had them (students in other cases) here before and we've followed certain procedures. I hate to see us treat these students differently when the law tells us otherwise," board member Mallory Nimocks said.
"I think what we need to consider is the potential danger of the situation," said board president Dr. Wayne Jones. "What message are we sending in the decision that we make to other students who may be placed in similar circumstances?"
On the vote to expel the female student, board members Nimocks, Jones, Taylor and Aubrey Jayroe voted in favor of expulsion. Board members Gordon McCoy and Ronald Williams voted against the expulsion.
The motions to expel the brother of the student who brought the weapon and another female student involved were unanimous for expulsion. The remaining two students involved in the gun incident are still in the hearing process.
In other business, the board reviewed change orders for the remodeling project in the north wing of the junior high school. Board members learned that structural engineers have been looking at the gym trying to determine if it is structurally sound for remodeling. Board members Jayroe and Nimocks toured that facility this morning with engineers to discuss options on the project.
"We need to make sure that when we're through with this project we don't end up with a gym there that's inferior," Nimocks told board members Tuesday night.
The board also learned that is its property insurance rate would increase by $29,648 for the February 2002 to February 2003 period. According to Flanagin, the jump is not unexpected, but the district should consider other options for the 2003-2004 period.
On April 8, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will host Florida State Football Coach Bobby Bowden at Mustang arena. Student athletes from 13 school districts in the area will be invited to attend.
Following an executive session, the board voted to extend Vent's contract for one year.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The rezoning of a piece of land on Dawson Road from residential to commercial was approved by the Forrest City City Council on Tuesday.
The passage of the ordinance opens the way for Bennie Crawford to build a convenience store at the site.
There has been opposition to the rezoning from some residents of the area. However, on Tuesday only one of several speakers was against the request. Dorothy Rolfe, who lives on Victor Street, said residents were told years ago that the area would stay residential. She also expressed concern over power outages in that area, and wondered if a convenience store would make the condition worse. She also wondered about interference with power lines in the area.
Others spoke in favor, saying mostly that a store at that location -- between the Area IX Health Office and the electric substation on Dawson -- would be convenient to the people, many of them elderly, who live nearby. They said it might also create some jobs.
Crawford also spoke, and said he had a drawing to scale made by a certified surveyor, in answer to one question which had been raised in a previous meeting. He showed the drawing and said it showed that his business would abide by setback and buffer zone regulations.
He also said that if the property remained residential, there were several unsavory possibilities for development, such as "clubs" and manufactured housing.
"I think that (manufactured housing) would bring property values down quicker than a store built from the ground up," he said. "People talk about property values. That property is already zoned for mobile homes. I don't think anybody wants to see three or four raggedy mobile homes go in that property, that you can see from the interstate."
Attorney Brad Beavers, representing Crawford, also spoke in favor of the rezoning, and said that was one area of Forrest City which has seen almost no development in the past 20 years. He also said he doubted anyone was interested in building a house between the Health office and the substation.
As time for the vote approached, Alderman Glenn Ford said he realized there were strong feelings on both sides.
"I've always taken the position that any time we have a certain area zoned a certain way, and someone wants to change it, they need to at least have a pretty good argument," said Ford. "I think Mr. Crawford has done that...The vote I make will not be a haphazard vote. I really put some thought into it. I've studied it, and talked to people. I think we're going to have some people not satisfied any way we do it."
On the vote, Ford, Richard Benson, Cecil Twillie, Roy Hancock and Mary Jeffers voted yes. Chris Oswalt voted no, and John Gadberry abstained. A.L. Harris was absent.
In other action, the council heard final reading and passed an ordinance to require a wrecker service to have trucks located within a seven and one-half mile radius of the intersection of Washington and Broadway in order to be included on the wrecker rotation in Forrest City. This vote was also split, with Twillie, Jeffers, Hancock and Benson voting yes, and Gadberry, Ford and Oswalt voting no.
The council also passed an ordinance to change the fire department's mutual aid agreement contract with other towns to include reimbursement for the cost of damage "hazmat" uniforms, and passed an ordinance adopting new ward boundaries to be in compliance with the 2000 census.
The council also passed the 2002 budget, calling for expenditures of just over $7.9 million.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Members of the St. Francis County Quorum Court voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt the budget agreed upon last week by justices.
By an 10-0 margin, justices approved the two-month budget of $560,000 for January and February with an outline also agreed upon for a budget in March and April. Justices also approved the appropriation of $2,843,889.70 to the county's non-general departments.
According to St. Francis County Clerk Ann Harbin, the county had $91,267.96 in the county general account as of Tuesday. That amount is expected to cover the costs of the next county payroll, which is $81,500, and the expenses for the remainder of the month. Harbin also told justices that the county should be receiving state turnback funds of close to $14,000 which Harbin said should have been direct deposited on Jan. 10, and she said that a $50,000 deposit will be made close to the end of the month.
Harbin also explained to justices how the carryover funding for the year will be distributed over the next four months.
"The way the plan is set up, you're going to use $70,000 of the carryover in January; $50,000 in February and March and $30,000 in April. In order that you don't use up that $200,000 carryover right off the bat in January, I set up a county general carryover account which has the remaining $130,000 in that account," said Harbin.
Justice Regan Hill, who voted for the measure, voiced some concerns. "I've never found anything good to come out of taking borrowed money from a savings account or a trust, like we're doing, because our expenditures are greater than what our current income is. I fully do believe that we will be back here making some decisions that we're not making here tonight and didn't make last week, but we'll be making those without our reserve."
Hill also asked justices to consider attempting to rebuild the reserve accounts if any unexpected funding comes in.
"I've always tried to protect the reserves, but I also know there are times you have to use the money even though you may not want to. I would like this court to commit to, if the situation allows and the county comes into any money that we're not expecting, such as money for the state prisoners or the bond forfeiture money that we've been talking about for a couple of years, that at that time those funds be placed back into the reserves so that we can begin to build that back up," said Hill.
In other business, justices heard an update from St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman over the issue of state funding for state inmates being held in the county jail. According to Parkman, the Arkansas Sheriff's Association recently was told that Gov. Mike Huckabee was willing to give a letter of intent to paying the accounts if a special session of the legislature is called, otherwise counties will have to wait until the 2003 legislative session.
According to Parkman, the ASA asked sheriff's offices statewide to ask each quorum court for a resolution asking for a special session of the legislature to attempt to get funding freed up. The total owed to St. Francis County for housing state inmates was $103,650 at the end of December.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Palestine Mayor Willetta Carroll addressed the members of the St. Francis County Quorum Court Tuesday night over the issue of the paving of the Old River Road, otherwise known as SFC 815, in Palestine.
In a sometimes heated confrontation between Carroll and St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the question of who should pay for the paving of Old River Road went before justices.
According to Carroll, an agreement with Cisco from 1999 would have seen the federal government pay 18 percent of the costs of paving the road, the state would pay 80 percent and the city of Palestine would pay 2 percent. Carroll told justices that she had talked with a representative of the state aid department who told her that Cisco had not requested any state aid or federal funding for road repair in Palestine during 2001.
"I talked to Mr. Winston, who is the state aid engineer, and he said that you had not asked for any aid for Old River Road last year, and he said that it had been on the agenda for several years. I don't know if you're going to stick to your agreement but it has been approved," said Carroll.
In a letter to Carroll dated March 13, 2001, Cisco spelled out for the mayor the work that the county would do on SFC 815.
The letter states, "Please accept this letter as formal notification of the following: Regarding St. Francis County Road 815, St. Francis County will provide pavement on SFC 815 up to the city limits of Palestine. The city of Palestine would be responsible for matching state aid funds in order to complete the paving of SFC 815 to Highway 70."
Carroll argued that any attempts to simply pave the road would not be sufficient because of water damage that would happen if the road was not built up.
According to Cisco, the improvements to SFC 815 will include building the road up to Arkansas state aid requirements prior to paving but that work on SFC 815 would not go inside the city limits of Palestine, leaving close to a mile of road unpaved.
Carroll commented after the meeting. "He (Cisco) once again lied tonight. What he said tonight was not his campaign promise. He went up and down the Old River Road telling those people the same thing. He didn't ask the state for anything. I also expect our quorum court representative to stand up and support all of us. He isn't saying anything. If you lay asphalt over that gravel without building up those roads or building ditches, you may as well not do anything."
Cisco said that the county is limited in what it can do inside the city limits of a municipality. He also said that Palestine could get the contractors to do the paving inside the city limits at a lower cost if the job is let when they are working on SFC 815, but Cisco added that the road hasn't been built up and lines have yet to be moved for work to begin on the road.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Two suspects in a triple homicide in Crow Creek were arraigned this afternoon on charges unrelated to the murders.
Kevin L. Mosby, 30, 111 Vernon St., Forrest City, and Jimmy Lee Mills, 30, 255 Poplar St., Forrest City, were scheduled to appear in Forrest City District Court this afternoon after they were extradited this week from Wisconsin.
The two men are being held in a jail outside St. Francis County as a safety precaution, according to Sheriff Dave Parkman.
The two are suspects in the Dec. 7 shooting deaths of Dylan A. Boyd, 31, Carl Boyd, 21 and Dewayne Stewart, 27. Mosby and Mills, along with a third suspect in the shootings, allegedly fled to Wisconsin in a van reported stolen from a local car rental business. Mosby and Mills were caught last Wednesday in Hudson, Wisc., The other suspect, Steven Dewayne Neal, 35, of Marianna, has still not been caught.
This afternoon, Mosby was being arraigned on charges of rape, kidnapping, aggravated assault on a family or household member, theft of property over $2,500 and a parole violation.
Mills was arraigned on capital murder in connection with the Dec. 28 death of Voltaurus Parchman, and theft over $2,500.
Four local law enforcement officers, two county deputies and two Forrest City Police Department officers, drove to Wisconsin this week to take custody of the suspects, according to Parkman. The men arrived back in Eastern Arkansas late Tuesday night.