By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The proposed Forrest City budget for 2003 got a preliminary look Tuesday night. The proposal includes a 3 percent across-the-board raise for city employees.
There is not a total of expenditures yet, Mayor Larry Bryant told the council members present -- Cecil Twillie, Chris Oswalt, A.L. Harris, John Gadberry and Richard Benson. However, he said that the budget would require some requests.
These include adding one officer to the police department at a cost of $23,000 to $26,000 in salary, and purchasing three cars at a total of about $75,000. Also, depending on when a new fire truck arrives, a transfer of $148,467 may have to be made from this year's budget to next.
Bryant also said the Animal Control department needs a new truck, and he also wanted to set aside $60,000 for a new shelter. He also said that about $25,000 will be set aside for a new sign at the Civic Center.
Solid Waste also needs a new pickup truck, he said, and the Street Department needs a tractor and mower. A larger expense for the Street Department is its request for a new street sweeper. The one the city has at present has been causing problems for the last couple of years, Bryant said.
"It's been broke more than its been up," he told the committee members.
In addition, $40,000 is being set aside for a parking lot at the new Senior Citizens Center.
There was also some discussion of grants to the St. SFrancis County Food Pantry, the St. Francis County CARE Center and the St. Francis County Museum.
Bryant reported that the museum had requested $12,000 for the year.
"What we don't want to do is get into a situation were we can't give a raise to our employees," Bryant said about the grant requests.
Several of those present said they would like to see the museum get more money. However, Twillie seemed to speak for the group when he said, "I don't have a problem with them getting more, but I wouldn't like to see them get any more than the Food Pantry."
In the end, those present agreed on $10,000 to the Food Pantry and Care Center, $9,000 to the museum and $7,000 to Community Voices.
There was also some discussion of possibly increasing the expenditure to the Chamber of Commerce for industrial development.
"I don't have a problem with giving them more money," said Bryant. "But we'll want them to give us a report on how it's spent."
There will be another budget meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 6:30 p.m., before the regular council meeting at 7 p.m.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
A group of Russian business people are in Forrest City for a week, learning about business practices in the United States, and meeting people.
They are special guests of the Forrest City Rotary Club.
At Tuesday's Rotary Club meeting, member Jan Haven gave an explanation of the PEP Program, which brought the visitors to this country.
"It's a non-profit program with a a two-decade history of linking Americans and former Russians for cooperation on issues of mutual concern," Haven said.
PEP is an acronym for "Productivity Enhancement Program."
She said the program brings private Russian entrepreneurs from various industries to the United States for management training in business.
Svetlana Vasilieva is the facilitator for the group, and spoke briefly.
She thanked everyone for their hospitality and talked about the visit they have had, in West Memphis, then Wynne and now in Forrest City.
She said that so far, about 3,000 people have come through the PEP program and visited this country.
"We think we are really fortunate to be here," she said.
She allowed each of the visitors to speak, and translated for those who couldn't speak English.
They revealed a wide range of businesses, including general retail, home appliances, clothing for men, women and children, manufacturing, shoe stores and construction.
The visitors were each given gifts from the local Farm Bureau, including rice and a booklet on agriculture.
So far, they have visited Central Elementary School, Forrest City High School, Woodruff Electric, Floyd Printing, East Arkansas Community College and Wal-Mart. They still have a farm tour and a visit to Sanyo.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The state is terminating its contract with a local businessman after a series of extensions for the completion of a regional child support building have been missed.
The latest deadline of Oct. 31 for the completion of the building on Highway 1 South, which was given early in September, was the last one issued to Scott and Johnnie Nell Carroll, who are representing the estate of Herman Young.
Ann Laidlaw with the Arkansas State Building Services Department said today that officials recently met with Johnnie Nell Carroll, daughter of Herman Young and executor of the estate, on plans to terminate the contract. According to Laidlaw, during the meeting, Carroll informed her that the estate was attempting to sell the property to another family.
"We recently visited with Johnnie Nell Carroll on the issue of the building, and we informed her that we had no other choice but to issue a 30-day notice of termination on our contract for the building. They are currently attempting to sell the building to another family entity, but there is a court matter involving that. We did leave one matter in the proceedings, that if the judge ruled that they could sell the property then we would offer the new owners an opportunity to complete the project," Laidlaw said.
According to Laidlaw, if the contract is terminated, the project would not have to be rebid. Laidlaw said that under state guidelines, they can approach the second lowest bidder giving them the opportunity to construct the building. Laidlaw also said that the state has no intentions of moving the building out of Forrest City.
"If the contract is terminated, our guidelines will allow us to approach the next bidder and offer them the chance to handle the project. The project would still take place in Forrest City and there have been no talks regarding changing the location," Laidlaw said.
Scott Carroll, said this morning that he had no comment on the matter, but did say that he felt confident that the project would be completed.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A suspect in four murders was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday after a suspended sentence on an unrelated charge was revoked. He will still stand trial for the murders.
Jimmy Mills, 31, is a suspect in the Dec. 7 murders of Dylan A. Boyd, 31, Carl Boyd, 21, and Dewayne Stewart, 27, at the Boyd residence in Crow Creek. He is also charged with the Dec. 28 murder of Voltaurus Parchman, 22, at Parchman's home in Forrest City.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chris Morledge explained that Mills was actually serving two five-year suspended sentences, one stemming from an arrest for battery in 1992 and the other on a 1998 drug charge, when he was arrested on the murder charges.
Because of the four counts of capital murder, Mills' two suspended sentences were revoked, and he received a 20-year prison sentence on each previous charge. Those sentences are scheduled to run consecutively, making his prison term on the revocations a total of 40 years, according to Morledge.
"We had him on paper for 40 years on the suspended sentences, and those were revoked based upon his arrest in the four homicides the triple at Crow Creek and the second case on Inglewood Drive," Morledge said.
Tuesday's sentencing process for Mills did not involve the capital murder charges. "This has nothing to do with the murders," Morledge said. A trial date for these cases has not yet been set.
A third suspect in the Crow Creek murders, Steven Dewayne Neal, 36, testified against Mills during the revocation hearing, but Morledge said that testimony was not involved with the case against Mills on the murder charges. "Neal's testimony yesterday was not part of any plea bargain," Morledge said.
Neal's case is still pending, and a date for that trial has not been set.
Kevin Mosby, 31, the third suspect in the triple murder, pled guilty last week and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
In other circuit court proceedings, a man who stabbed a friend 13 times over a blind date was fined $750.
Michael Peer, 23, of Hughes, was arrested for first-degree battery in July after stabbing Daniel Breeding, 24, at Breeding's home on Highway 70 at Heth. The two men were reportedly watching television together when Peer went into the kitchen and got a steak knife that he used to stab Breeding in his neck, chest, back and arms. He fled Breeding's home and into a nearby field where he threatened to commit suicide.
According to police reports, Peer said he believed he had contracted the AIDS virus from a blind date set up by Breeding.
Peer told deputies Breeding had pressured him to date a girl about six years ago, and he thinks he contracted the virus from that relationship. Because Breeding reportedly set Peer up with the girl, the suspect told police at the time of his arrest, "I was going to take him with me." He had reportedly not been tested for the virus prior to the stabbing.
Morledge said Breeding testified in court Wednesday that the dispute was a family matter and that he did not want Peer sentenced to prison.