The 2002 St. Francis County Fair will be held Monday, Sept. 9 through Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Wiley T. Jones Fairgrounds.
Some activities will actually begin Friday, Sept. 6, with commercial and educational booth set-up from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 8, setup will continue for the commercial and educational booths. At 2 p.m. there will be rehearsal for the Tiny Miss, Little Miss, Junior Miss and St. Francis County Fairest of the Fair pageants.
Throughout the Fair, general admission will be $1 for children up to 12 years, $1 for those 55 and older and $2 for all others. There will also be three Armband Nights and one Kids Day.
On Monday, Sept. 9, the Main Exhibit Building will open at noon, and the Fair will officially be underway. The highlight of Monday will be the new Happee Day Shows midway, and an Armband Night. On Armband Night, $10, which includes admission, allows people to ride all midway rides as many times as they want. There will be wrestling at 8 p.m.
Tuesday will be Security Officers Night, during which special passes are given for officers working at the Fair and their families.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday Sept. 10, the first round of pageants will take place, including the Wee Miss, Tiny Miss and Little Miss St. Francis County Fair contests.
Wednesday, Sept. 11 will see another Armband Night, beginning at 5 p.m., with $10 allowing people to ride as many midway rides as many times as they wish.
Another highlight of Wednesday will be at 7 p.m., when the Junior Miss Senior Miss and Fairest of the Fair contests will be held.
Another Armband Night will be held Thursday, Sept. 12, with the same provisions as the other Armband Nights.
Thursday's big highlight will be the annual Youth Talent Show, which begins at 7 p.m.
On Friday, along with regular admission and the midway, there will be entertainment (to be announced) beginning at 6 p.m.
Saturday will feature Kids' Day from noon until 5 p.m., with all rides costing $1. Saturday will also have the domino contest and 4-H activities.
Another special treat Saturday will be Border Collie demonstrations by Jim Geurin, starting at 2 p.m.
There will also be entertainment (to be announced) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
With a noon Friday deadline approaching, people are being allowed to submit their petitions for Forrest City municipal offices in the November election.
This action is in spite of a city ordinance setting the filing deadline at noon the day before the preferential primary.
Clifton Avant came into the County Clerk's office recently to file for Ward 1, Position 1 on the Forrest City City Council. County Clerk Elizabeth Smith said that at first she would not let him file.
"I said the time is up," she said. "Somebody called back and said there is an attorney general's opinion that he could file until Sept. 6."
That is the deadline for all independent filings, except for towns which have passed the ordinance setting a different date.
Smith said she contacted the Secretary of State's office and it was confirmed that there was an Attorney General's opinion that people could file.
"In my position, all I can do is accept the petitions, and the Election Commission will have to deal with it," Smith said. "We shall see what happens."
No one else had filed for a Forrest City office before this morning.
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant said he was aware of the Attorney General's opinion.
In other filings, Mayor Willetta Carroll of Palestine filed for re-election. She will face a challenge by Henry Kimble.
In Widener, Terri R. Billingsley and Lillian P. Williams have filed for city clerk. Also in Widener, three council races have developed. One is between George Danner and Carl Winters for position 1, one is between Versie Pitts and Harvey Busby for position 4, and the third is John Henry Wilson vs Brenda D. White for position 2.
Other Widener filings include Ronald Barnett for alderman, position 3, and Felicia A. Watson for alderman, position 5.
Other filings so far include the following.
In Palestine, Bobbie Boileau has filed for the city council from ward 2, position 1.
In Colt, Virgil Wayne Keeler has filed for mayor. Also in Colt, three independent candidates for city council have filed. Charles J. Ward has filed for ward 1, position 1; Joe Kerr has filed for ward 2, position 2; and Randy Hefner has filed for ward 2, position 1. Cheryl T. Neely has filed for city clerk in Colt.
Gary Hughes has filed for reelection as mayor of Caldwell. Other Caldwell filings include Jenny Lindsey for clerk/treasurer;Thomas E. Hughes as town marshal; Frank Killingsworth as alderman, position 1; Grover Gunn for alderman, position 2; Hayward Gowen for , alderman, position 3; John P. Clark for alderman, position 4; Bob Mosley for alderman, position 5.
In Madison, Gail Patsy Graham has filed for alderman from ward 3, position 1.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Apparent abuse of dumping privileges at one of the county's six dumpsites is forcing the Caldwell dumpsite to be closed.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said complaints from residents living near the two dumpsters at Caldwell, as well as the number of times the dumpsters are having to be carted to the landfill, have forced his hand in the decision to remove the containers. The dumpsters will be removed Monday.
"We've had several complaints from residents out there and from farmers because there are people who go out there and abuse the containers, leaving garbage wherever they can. They leave it on the ground or overstuff the dumpster, and then the trash ends up blowing in a farmer's field or in someone's yard, and it's just a nuisance," Cisco said.
Cisco also said that the effort to keep the area clean and dumped is a problem for county employees.
"Last month we dumped the containers 21 times, and at least 11 or 12 of those came from the Caldwell site. Every Monday morning, we have to send a crew out to that site just to clean it up from the weekend. People are abusing their privilege, and this is the only way to put a stop to it," he said.
According to Cisco, the site is also causing problems due to illegal dumping that takes place there. According to Cisco, on a recent clean up visit, county crews found 70 tires that had been dumped at the location. Cisco also noted the threat of other hazardous materials that have been found at the location which can be used to produce methamphetamine.
"When you go out and there are materials that aren't supposed to be dumped at the site it causes a number of problems. When we go to the landfill and dump and they find tires, it costs the county and the taxpayers $5 per tire. It's also hazardous because we find materials that we know can be used to make drugs and that causes us a whole other set of problems," Cisco added.
The Caldwell containers are being moved to NEARCO in Madison. The other dump sites in St. Francis County are located at Tuni, Blackfish, the county shop and Goodwin. Cisco said there are no plans to remove any other dumpsters, and he credited area constables for helping keep those sites under control.
Building permits for projects valued at just over $848,000 were issued by Forrest City during August, according to a report from the mayor's office.
Commercial projects led the way during August, led by the new Splash car wash at 1911 N. Washington, with a price tag of $350,000.
Next was the senior citizens facility at the Municipal Sports Complex on Ark. Highway 1 S, costing $273,000.
Houser Limited Partnership is spending $40,000 for a fence at 640 Village. A burnout at Chapel Ridge Apartments, 108 Holiday Drive, will take $22,000 for repairs. A new roof for Stewart Elementary at 400 Dawson Road will cost $12,000. Lytle Construction at 317 Trenton is doing $5,000 worth of remodeling. The Flower Box at 305 Turner Road is spending $4,000 for a sign.
Residential building permits included two new houses, one addition, two decks, one storage building, two remodelings, and one fence repair project.
A rape was reported to the Forrest City Police Department Wednesday.
The victim alleged that she was asleep in her bedroom when she was attacked and forcibly raped. She described the suspect as skinny and tall.
Officers found a screen torn out and the window open.
A Brinkley man was sentenced to the Arkansas Department of Corrections on Wednesday.
Marvin Sparkman, 22, was sentenced to five years with credit for time served for residential burglary and theft.
A man has reportedly been arrested in Hughes for first-degree murder.
According to the police report, Chris Johnson, 22, no address given, was arrested on the charge Wednesday.
The arrest report did not say who the victim was or when the alleged murder occurred. The arresting Hughes officer was in court this morning, and could not be reached for details.