By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco was elected to his 10th term in Tuesday's primary election as St. Francis County voters handed him 72 percent of the vote in his race against Quorum Court Justice Author Witherspoon.
Figures provided by the St. Francis County Election Commission gave Cisco 3,751 votes to Witherspoon's 1,480 votes in Tuesday's Democratic Primary.
According to Cisco, getting the election behind him will now give him the opportunity to get on with the business of the county.
"It feels good to have the support of the people of St. Francis County, and I would like to thank all of the voters and especially my friends that have helped in all the ways that they could. Now we can try to get on with the business of the county, and hopefully we will have some real good things to announce soon that will benefit the citizens of St. Francis County," Cisco said.
Witherspoon also thanked his supporters last night, and hinted at a possible run n Woodruff County.
There were no results for Phillips County which was handcounting ballots this morning due to malfunctions with the voting tabulators. Neither candidate was available this morning for comment on the race.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Tuesday's election gave St. Francis County Sheriff and Collector Dave Parkman his 10th consecutive term in office. Parkman won reelection by getting 3,648 votes. His opponent, George Cochran Sr., received 1,693 votes.
With 5,341 ballots cast, Parkman was able to take 68 percent of the vote in the win. Parkman expressed his gratitude to the voters last night at the courthouse after the official results were announced.
"It's just a great feeling to get a win, and it's always a great feeling to win. We've been successful through the last nine elections, and this was another great effort. I'd like to thank all of my supporters for getting out and working for me, and for their support both financially and physically by distributing literature and putting out signs for me. I'd also like to thank my family and friends for the support that they've given me during this campaign. We're going to continue to do the job that we've been doing, and we hope to continue to serve the citizens of St. Francis County," Parkman said.
Parkman's opponent, Forrest City Animal Control Officer George Cochran Sr., was somber but enthusiastic last night after the results were announced.
Cochran thanked his supporters and hinted at another run for the office. "I'd like to thank everyone that went out and voted for me today. This shows that we did some things in the right direction, and we put up a good fight. I'd just like to thank those folks that helped me through the campaign, and hopefully we can do better next time," Cochran said.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
By an unofficial 111-vote margin, St. Francis County Treasurer Ann Harbin won reelection to the office in Tuesday's Democratic primary. She does not face a Republican opponent in November.
The unofficial total was 2,736 to 2,625.
"First of all, I'd just like to thank the Lord Jesus Christ my Savior, for being with me," said an emotional Harbin. "If it weren't for Him, I wouldn't have made it through this election, and I give Him the honor, the praise and the glory for the victory."
She continued, "I want to thank my family, my husband, my children, my mom and dad and all my supporters here in St. Francis County for supporting me. It was a tough race. And I make a pledge to them that I promise to be the county treasurer I have been in the past and will continue to be."
Talley was upbeat in spite of Harbin's apparent victory.
"I want to thank everybody for their help and their support, and there are so many that helped me that I hate to start naming them, because I'd leave somebody off," she said.
"I feel that I'm still a winner," Talley continued, "because I've gained so many new friends and had a great time, and I'll continue to stay at it. It's not over yet."
When asked if that meant she might challenge the outcome of the election, she would only say, "I'm not able to comment on it at this time."
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Elizabeth Smith kept her office as St. Francis County Clerk in Tuesday's Democratic Primary, winning over her opponent Dick Krablin by an unofficial count of 3,226 to 2,026.
Smith said it was a good race.
"It was a clean race," said Smith. "And I appreciate my opponent for running a clean race."
She also thanked her supporters.
"I want to work hard to try to do the best job I can for St. Francis County.
When asked if she was happy with the margin of victory (she received about 61 percent of the vote), Smith said she was concerned with winning more than with margins.
"I don't guess I really ever put any figures to it. I just wanted to win," she said.
Krablin, the former county clerk who was unseated by Smith two years ago, said he was upbeat about the election results.
"I got over 2,000 people who supported me, and I'm most appreciative of that," Krablin said. "And as I've said before, if at first you don't succeed, you try and you try again. And that's probably what I'm going to do. I won't give up this easy."
Krablin said he was encouraged by the turnout and would seek the office again.
"It's encouragement. And trying to be involved with people is the way to do it," he said. "And I'll be putting forth the effort I think it takes to get this job back."
Because no Republican filed for the office, Smith is declared the winner by the Democratic Primary.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
One county race will require a runoff election, and one incumbent justice of the peace was defeated Tuesday in the Democratic primary election.
Former Forrest City High School Principal Charles Jones of Hughes defeated Justice of the Peace Cliff Wise, also of Hughes, 331 to 184 to take the JP race in District 1.
In District 2, JP B. McCollum Jr., held off challenger T.J. McCrary 368 to 119 giving McCollum the opportunity to have served for 50 years as a Quorum Court Justice.
In the only other JP race, incumbent Donald Cagle of Palestine defeated Lure "Boo" Darnell Jr., 461 to 102, taking 82 percent of the vote.
In the Madison Township Constable's race, which boasted five candidates, a runoff election will be needed to determine the winner.
Robert Smith, who received 929 votes, which was 38 percent, will face off against Billy Gene Ray who finished second with 717 votes, which totaled 30 percent of the available vote. Finishing third in the race was Calvin Chism with 569, followed by Johnny Ruffin with 149 and Lowel Best with 53.
In other Constable races, James L. Thomas defeated Murry Walls 215 to 180 to take the Telico Township position.
Close to 30 percent of the registered voters in St. Francis County went to the polls Tuesday, according to County Clerk Elizabeth Smith.
Widener Mayor Dot Halford withstood an attempt to unseat her by Arvin Billingsley, with a 56 to 41 victory, during Tuesday's Democratic Primary.
Halford said there is still a lot she wants to do as mayor.
"I'm just glad that I won, because I've still got a lot of things to do that I want to get accomplished for Widener," Halford said. "And it will take another four years to see them through -- and who knows, maybe more after that."
She said the community center and police department are just the beginning.
"I'm still working on our park behind the community center," she said. "And I want to work on a senior citizens' complex. That will be a big thing."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
In a tight race for the District 16 State Senate race where incumbent Alvin Simes of Helena is facing off against Marianna farmer Steve Higginbotham and Forrest City banker Gordon McCoy, a runoff election may be on the horizon as the candidates wait for results from Phillips County to be announced.
With the results from three counties, St. Francis, Crittenden and Lee, Higginbotham holds a 974 vote edge over Simes. Higginbotham is ahead with 48 percent of the vote to Simes' 36 percent while McCoy holds on with just 16 percent of the vote.
In St. Francis County, Higginbotham outdistanced Simes and McCoy taking 2,354 votes while Simes pulled in 1,536 votes, and McCoy picked up 778 in his home county.
In Lee County, from which Higginbotham hails, the advantage also went to Higginbotham who took 1,216 votes to Simes' 734, while McCoy finished with only 162.
Simes bounced back in Crittenden County where he took 649 votes while Higginbotham took 323 and McCoy took 312.
Problems with the voting machines in Phillips County, which is the home county for Simes, are causing ballots to be hand counted this morning. No results were available as of press time. Officials in Phillips County have seven tables set up with four people counting ballots at each table. Results may be available from that county this evening.
According to St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, 50.1 percent of the vote is required for a candidate to be named the winner.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With boxes in five counties completed, District 1 Division 5 Circuit Judge Baird Kinney holds a 6,124 vote lead over Helena Deputy Prosecutor Todd Hughes Murray in the race for the District 1 Division 5 seat.
Unofficial results in the six counties making up the first judicial district gave Kinney a commanding 11,045 to 4,941 vote lead.
The results in each county are as follows:
St. Francis County, Kinney, 3,921 to Murray's 1,199; Cross County, Kinney, 2,815 to 1,431 for Murray; Lee County, Kinney, 1,755 to Murray's, 798; Monroe County, Kinney, 1,263 to 547 for Murray, and 1,311 for Kinney to 966 for Murray in two years.
"I want to thank all of my supporters and my family and friends for sticking with me and being on my team through this campaign. We did everything that we set out to do, and we were able to see what support we had and what we might be able to do better. And, who knows, we may do this again in two years," Witherspoon said.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City City Council on Tuesday adopted an ordinance providing for the issuing of water and sewer bonds to refund an existing bond issue, in order to save money.
The bond sale, of about $1,705,000, will save the city about $159,000 in lower interest over the life of the bonds, council members were told.
After the lengthy ordinance was read once in its entirety, the council voted to suspend the rules and hear the second and third required readings by title only.
In other business, the council heard second reading of an ordinance to tighten the requirements on itinerant vendors. During a discussion of the ordinance, County Clerk Marie Todd said she has gotten numerous complaints from established businesses in town, because itinerant vendors can set up for any length of time they wish, paying less for a permit than an established business pays for its operating license. The ordinance if passed, will limit the amount of time an itinerant vendor can set up, and also require a state sales tax certificate.
"We have a $50 fee, and there is no limit as to how many sales they could have," said Todd. "It was a lot less than a lot of our local citizens pay, with no restrictions on where they could sell, how long they could sell...I've had more complaints about the itinerant vendors ordinance than any other ordinance."
There is one reading remaining on the ordinance.
There was also a brief discussion on a suggestion made by the mayor about establishing a place and time where itinerant vendors could have their sales, like a flea market. He said that would also help guarantee that the city would get its sales tax.
"The city lives and dies with sales tax, not property tax," said Mayor Larry Bryant.
The council also passed a resolution making some changes in the city's personnel policy handbook. This included an e-mail and Internet policy which had not been in the handbook before. Also included was a new provision of harassment allegations.