By TAMARA JOHNSON
& CRYSTAL HOLLIS
Times-Herald Staff
Three men plunged to their deaths Thursday afternoon when a rope hoisting them up a tower broke.
The accident occurred just before 4 p.m. when the one-inch rope carrying the three men up the communications tower snapped, causing them to plummet 100 feet to their deaths.
The men and a foreman, Foster Barnes, 50, of Muskogee, Okla., were changing guylines on an Alltel tower located on County Road 409, about three miles northeast of Highway 284. "The tower has been up for a substantial amount of time. They were just going back now and putting new guylines on and making the tower stronger around the base," said St. Francis County Chief Investigator Glenn Ramsey.
Ramsey identified the three victims as Brian Barnes, 23, and John Seabolt, 26, both of Muskogee, Okla., and Jamie Anders, 27, of Hattiesburg, Miss.
The crew worked for All State Steel Erectors of Wagoner, Okla., according to David Bates, assistant area director with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in Little Rock. Bates said OSHA investigators were enroute to the accident site this morning where they would process the scene and review the equipment and tower.
"We're still in the preliminary stages of our investigation," Bates said. "We'll make contact with the company. If during our investigation we find out any codes were violated, any OSHA codes, there is the possibility of citations.
Ramsey said based on the information he received, the rope hoisting the three victims up the 250-foot tower was reportedly tied to the front of a pickup truck being backed up by Barnes.
"That is how they get them up there," said Ramsey "Then they were to get to their destination and attach their safety belts to the tower, but the rope broke at approximately 100 feet, and they fell." He added that it is unknown at this point how far the men were going up before beginning work. "According to Mr. Barnes, it's a standard operating method to use a rope for hoisting guys up the tower," Ramsey added.
"We do have some regulations on fall protection and personnel hoists," Bates said, but added his office would have to find out what occurred before commenting on which code would be applicable in this situation.
Ramsey said the sheriff's office was notified of the accident by Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City just before 4 p.m. Barnes had notified the hospital of the accident prior to that.
Ramsey said the bodies of the three men have been sent to the State Medical Examiner's office in Little Rock for autopsies, but said he feels the rope was the main factor in the accident. "I don't think in this case, based on preliminary investigations, that an autopsy will find a cause of the accident, other than the rope breaking. I think we know the fall killed them, but are there other factors that we need to know? Ramsey said. "I'm sure they'll (medical examiner) do a full autopsy which includes toxicology."
No charges have been filed in the accident, according to Ramsey.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The first of January brought about some sweeping changes in the court system in Arkansas -- mainly the combining of circuit and chancery judges, who will now all be referred to as circuit judges, and will now be able to hear all cases.
Amendment 80 to the state constitution has brought this about.
"What Amendment 80 did was, it merged law and equity," said (now) Circuit Judge Bentley Story, "equity primarily being domestic relations, mortgage foreclosures, boundary line disputes, things of that nature; and law being tort actions, contract actions and criminal matters."
The distinction between chancery judges and circuit judges has been abolished he said. Before this went into effect, there were two circuit judges in the six-county First Judicial District, L.T. Simes II and Harvey L. Yates. Story and Kathleen Bell were chancery judges. Baird Kinney was a circuit/chancery judge, juvenile division, which means there were already some judges who did both kinds of work.
Story explained. "We started with circuit judges when we became a state. Then we added chancery judges, and those were the two types of judges for many decades. Then the legislature created a hybrid, a circuit/chancery judge, who could everything. And in that process they kind of created another division for juvenile judges. So throughout the state we had circuit/chancery judges who could do everything, but it was kind of a hodgepodge, put-together method. So with the passage of Amendment 80, we all became circuit judges."
There is going to be a transition period, Story said, during which the judges will continue to hear, primarily, the types of cases they have been accustomed to hearing. For instance, Judges Simes and Yates will continue to hear mostly criminal and civil matters. However, they will hear all types of cases as time and caseloads permit.
"While it's true that Judge Bell and I, at least in the beginning, will focus on equity matters (civil, probate, domestic relations), and Judge Simes and Judge Yates will focus on law matters (and Kinney will focus on juvenile matters), at the end of that period, we will be given every kind of case."
He said he has already done some criminal plea bargaining and extradition matters, and said he believed Simes has done some uncontested divorce cases, and Kinney has done some criminal matters.
"Our focus in this transitional period is to do what we've been doing, but we will gradually start to do more and more other things," he said.
He said the benefit will be that there will be more judges available.
"I'll give you a practical benefit," he said. "Under the old system, there were no circuit judges up here in St. Francis County. Judge Kinney was here but he was a Circuit/Chancery judge. In the past, if Judge Kinney was out of town, the prosecutor or sheriff might have to go to Helena to find a circuit judge to sign an arrest warrant. This allows them to come to me and I can look at the search warrant and decide whether or not it should be issued."
He said there is also a benefit to Woodruff County, which has no sitting circuit judges. He said if he is in Woodruff County he can hear a criminal matter, or if Yates is there he can hear an uncontested divorce.
During the transitional period, according to Story, the judges will be going to classes to refresh themselves on the areas in which they have not been focusing.
"The Supreme Court required us to submit a plan -- all the districts in the state -- as to what the judges' caseloads would be," he said. "And we're already starting to do some of those things and there are being set up some classes to re-learn things we were taught early on in law school but haven't done for many years. Like on Jan. 10 and 11, I'm going to Little Rock for a course in criminal law. And they will have a course on domestic relations...so we can relearn what we haven't used."
He said this new way for Arkansas is already being done almost everywhere else.
"It is the trend -- trend may not be the right word -- it is the overwhelming authority of the way things are done throughout the United States. Everyone has a circuit court or a supreme court -- they're called different things in different states. But the vast majority of states have a one-court system. We (in Arkansas) specialized for many, many years in a particular area of law, and now we will be doing everything, eventually," Story said.
He gave what he called a prime example of how the new system will work better -- a boundary line dispute involving timber cutting. "When you get into timber cutting, you're into triple damages and that's a law issue and you're entitled to a jury trial."
In the past, a chancery judge could hear the boundary case, but could not assess triple damages, which is the penalty for cutting someone else's timber. A circuit judge had to do that.
"Amendment 80 eliminated those problems where one judge couldn't do every thing, and you'd have to say, 'Okay, I can try part of it, but the rest of it will have to go to circuit court.' That won't happen."
The St. Francis County Slimathon will be held again this year, sponsored by Baptist Memorial Hospital and the St. Francis County Farm Bureau Women's Committee.
"This is your chance to take off added holiday pounds, get in shape, and develop a healthier lifestyle while exercising your competitive spirit," said BMH-FC spokesperson Tiffany Billingsley.
The object of the Slimathon is to promote healthier lifestyles among county residents. The event will kick off on Jan. 15 and last for eight weeks. The initial weigh-in will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at BMH-FC in the first floor lobby. Weigh-out will be at the same location on Tuesday, March 12, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Photo identification will be required for all participants at weigh in and weigh out. All information will remain confidential.
Optional weekly weigh-ins will be on Tuesdays, beginning on January 22, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. Partici-pants are urged to weigh each week near the same time with the same amount of clothing to get a more accurate account of weight loss. Participants may or may not choose to wear shoes during weigh-ins, but that choice must remain consistent throughout the competition.
According to Billingsley, "The goal of the Slimathon is to promote optimal health and nutritional status among area residents."
Both sponsors encourage weight loss through a balanced low-calorie diet and increased energy expenditure. It is recommended that participants have a daily exercise plan and keep a food diary.
The weight lost during the event will be computed by percentage rather than by total pounds lost in order to keep the competition fair to all involved. Results of the contest will be announced after March 12.
Teams should consist of four to 10 people and descriptive names are encouraged. Each team member must pay $10. The total amount of money collected during the event will be divided equally among the winning team members.
State Farm Insurance agents Al Miller and Mike Lawyer of Forrest City are now able to assist customers with their banking needs through State Farm Bank, it has been announced.
The bank's focus is on deposit and loan products that complement State Farm's insurance business. The bank is a direct subsidiary of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Com.
State Farm Bank does not have retail branch offices. Customers can access the bank's products and services through participating State Farm agents, statefarm.com, by mail and by telephone.