By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant won a second term in office Tuesday, defeating challenger Bill Baxter in a runoff election taking in just over 55 percent of the vote.
The unofficial vote count was 1,886 to 1,498.
Bryant and Baxter were in a runoff after two other challengers, Chris Oswalt and Frederick Freeman, were eliminated in the Nov. 5 general election.
During the race, Bryant had run on his record, while Baxter had insisted a change was needed. The men had differed on some subjects, notably the number of jobs lost or gained in Forrest City over the last four years.
As the final official votes were announced, both candidates were present at the St. Francis County Courthouse with supporters. As Bryant's victory was announced, a celebration broke out among the Bryant supporters.
Bryant, who also won his first term in a runoff, was elated by his win.
"The election was well fought," said Bryant. "I tried to run a positive campaign, and good always rises to the top. Hopefully, some of the ideas from all the candidates can be melted into one, and we can truly be one Forrest City. And that's what I ran on. Life is good. God truly blessed tonight."
Baxter congratulated Bryant on his victory.
"I just congratulate Mayor Bryant," he said. "It was a hard fought race. I know I gave my best shot and I know he did, too. I just congratulate him and wish the best for Forrest City."
In the unofficial count, Bryant took the absentee voting by 137 to 284. He also took Ward 1, by 664 to 40 and Ward 2, by 516 to 164.
That created too much of a margin for Baxter to overcome. Baxter took Ward 3, 631 to 168 and Ward 4, 526 to 254.
(In the numbers announced as the votes were tallied Tuesday night, Bryant took the early vote, unofficially, by 624 to 554. However, the early voting was figured into the totals for each ward in the figures released this morning.)
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Travelers in Eastern Arkansas will see an increased police presence for the rest of the week, as members of Arkansas State Police Troop D hit the roads in full force.
Although the holiday period for the state police began Tuesday at midnight, according to ASP Lt. Tommy Wicker, troopers began their two-fold crackdown Sunday in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies as part of a campaign to increase seat belt usage.
"We actually started saturating the area on Sunday as part of the Click It or Ticket campaign, and we started our holiday period yesterday at midnight. Although we are short-staffed, we'll be out in force this week, emphasizing child restraints and safety belt usage," Wicker said.
According to Wicker, troopers will also be on the look out for drunk drivers. "The sergeants are already turning in their plans for sobriety checkpoints, and we will have several of those out this weekend. At those checkpoints, we'll also check for seat belts and child safety seats," Wicker said.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
A variance request for the placement of a sign at a new car wash was denied Tuesday during a meeting of the Forrest City Planning Commission.
Perry Oldner, a representative of Condray Sign Co., asked commissioners for permission to place the sign for Super Splash Carwash at 1911 N. Washington, 12 and a half feet from Highway 1 instead of the 25 feet required by ordinance.
Oldner cited concerns about traffic in and out of the business as reasons for the request.
"The vacuum pumps that will be placed at the front of the business are in the same area that the sign would have to be if we are not granted a variance," explained Oldner. "We are requesting the variance because I feel that there will be conflicts with cars using the vacuum pumps. Pushing the sign to 25 feet will hinder the traffic."
Commission Chairman Danny Capps asked Oldner if he had any other options for the sign placement. According to Oldner, the only other option would be to move the sign to a distance of eight feet from the road if they could protect the sign from projecting over North Washington.
The commission voted to deny the request. Oldner did not comment on whether or not he would take the request directly to the Forrest City City Council.
Next on the agenda, Scott Vandiver asked commissioners for permission to replace an exiting building at 120 North West Street with a metal building.
"The building will be used mostly as a warehouse," Vandiver said. "There will be parking in front, and the building will be comparable in size to the metal building next to it. We'd also like to expand the building's length about 20 feet."
The members voted to approve the tearing down the old building and the construction of the metal building, but restricted the dimensions of the new building to not exceed those of the old building. Capps told Vandiver that he could request any further expansion at the next city council meeting.
A woman whose name on the ballot was mistakenly replaced by another person's was the loser in one of two runoffs for alderman positions in Hughes.
In the race for Ward 3, Position 1, Gary G. Barkley received 54 votes, to 32 for Irene Combs. Combs' name had inadvertently been left off and the name of one of the losers in the general election, Joyce Long, was put on the ballot. Long had come in third out of five candidates for that position, while Barkley and Combs were supposed to be in the runoff.
The mistake was discovered before the election, and St. Francis County Election Commission members marked through Long's name and wrote in Combs'.
In the other Hughes runoff, for Ward 3, Position 2, Ray Charles Robinson defeated Jon E. Tate by an unofficial vote of 137-65.
The offices of the Times-Herald will be closed Thursday, Nov. 28, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Many other businesses and government offices will also be closed.
The Times-Herald will be open for business Friday.
In addition, King Disposal will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. The normal Thursday trash route will be picked up on Friday.