By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
An Octoberfest celebration, hosted by the Forrest City Police Department, will be held this Saturday, Oct. 5, offering something for everyone.
The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on North Rosser from Broadway north to Garland. In case of rain, the festival will be held on Saturday, Oct. 19. All proceeds go toward funding of the Police Banquet.
Octoberfest will feature a talent show, a dunking booth and a three-on-three basketball tournament.
The basketball tournament was a must, explained Sharon Johnson, Criminal Investigations Secretary, one of the organizers of the event along with Jennifer King and Sgt. Debra A. Ford.
"We have several athletes in the city that like to play basketball," said Johnson. " We had a tournament last time we held an event, and it went really well."
Ford said the event fills a void that has been left for some time.
"We want to bring an event to downtown," commented Ford. " When we had Harvestfest a few years ago, we had more fellowship within the local community and the surrounding areas that day. We hope to make this an annual event, something to look forward to each fall."
Events for children of all ages will be offered, according to Ford.
"We will have a moonwalk, face painting, and a talent show," added Ford. "We will hold a drawing for prizes ranging from dinner coupons to a DVD player. Tickets will be $2 for the larger items and $1 for the smaller ones. We will also have a Coke walk -- it's like a cake walk, but you can win two-liter Coca-Cola products."
Area businesses and groups such as the St. Francis County Health Department, Community Voices Center and Baptist Memorial Hospital will sponsor booths. In addition, all mayoral candidates have been invited to attend in booths to meet with citizens.
There is no charge for this event. However, participation in the basketball tournament requires a $30 per-team fee, and talent show entrants must pay a $20 fee per individual or group.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Building permits for over $491,000 in work in Forrest City were issued last month, including a $100,000 permit for the completion of a building on Highway 1 South which might house a regional child support enforcement office.
According to a monthly report from the Forrest City Building Inspector's office, a permit was issued in September to Scott Carroll-Young Enterprises for the completion of the building.
Early last month, state officials issued an extension until Oct. 31 to the Estate of Herman Young to allow for the completion of the building. According to Carroll, work could begin as early as next week on the project.
A permit was also issued for remodeling at the Forrest Ridge Apartments on Hill Street. According to the report, a permit for $266,000 in work was issued. The Church of Christ on Roosevelt Street also purchased a permit for $5,000 for the addition of siding.
Six residential permits were issued last month totaling $120,000, including a new home on Maple Road.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
Parents looking for an after-school opportunity for their children to learn useful, technical skills may be interested in the Youthtech After School Program, a new service being offered by the St. Francis County Workforce Alliance.
The Youthtech program is designed to provide young people aged 10 through 14 with a working knowledge of computers and the Internet.
"Our goal was to create a quality after-school program that would get kids acquainted with the Internet and computers in general," said Nicole Williams with the Alliance. "Near the end of the eight- week course, each student will create a digital story, kind of like a mini-movie. They will write a script for it, pick the pictures and music, they will make it from scratch.
"In addition to the stories, they will learn, hands-on, how a computer works. We hope to give children in the community the chance to learn these things and not be left behind in the classroom or the job market."
This is not a totally new program for the Workforce Alliance. It has offered the program before to persons aged 16 to 21.
Space is limited, according to Williams. "Only 20 spots are available for this program. Orientation will be held on Monday, Oct. 14, and you can call the office at 630-9131 or pick up an application at the Forrest City Cyber Cafe, where the program will be held."
The program is for children ages 10 to 14 from the hours of 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday in groups of ten. For more information, call Williams at 870-630-9131 or come by the Cyber Cafe at 500 South Rosser.
St. Francis County had an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent in August, down from 9.3 percent in July, and also down from the 8.3 percent recorded in August of 2001.
The figure puts St. Francis County in a five-way tie with Woodruff, Polk, Ouachita and Izard counties for the ninth highest unemployment out of Arkansas' 75 counties.
According to the information provided by the Arkansas Employment Security Department, during August St. Francis County had a civilian workforce of 12,150, with 11,225 working and 925 not working.
The highest unemployment was 11.4 percent, recorded in Mississippi County. There were two other counties with unemployment at 10 percent or higher -- Chicot with 10.7 percent and Phillips with 10 percent.
The lowest unemployment was 2 percent, recorded in Benton County. Three other counties had unemployment under 3 percent -- Washington with 2.4 percent, Madison with 2.5 percent and Carroll with 3.2 percent.
The unemployment rates in surrounding counties were as follows: Cross, 6 percent; Crittenden, 6.4 percent; Lee, 6.8 percent; Philips, 10 percent; Monroe, 7.1 percent; Woodruff, 7.6 percent.
Statewide the unemployment stood at 5 percent in August, down from 5.2 percent in July.