By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The new Forrest City Junior High building may not be completely finished, but students will be able to attend when school starts next week.
The school board heard an update on the school at its regular meeting Monday. Billy Ferguson, principal of the school, said things would be ready.
"The parts that are finished are in pretty good shape," Ferguson said. "We've got, probably, 98 percent of the furniture put together and in its place. Some that goes into the south end is not complete yet."
He said there is still some cleanup that needs to be done, and also said the telephones should be working Tuesday.
"We're ready to go," he said. "It'll be a little confusing at first. It always is at the beginning of a school year, and it'll be a little bit more where we are. But the teachers are working on it."
He was asked about possible problems with keeping students away from areas where construction is still going on. He said students will be instructed on how to stay clear of those areas. There will also be barriers put up. Since the cafeteria is one of the areas still not finished, kids will have sack lunches for a while.
"We will take the children to the gym and feed them in there, so I don't think we're going to have any problems there. We've done these types of things before," he said.
Architect Bob Beavers told the board that the work is about 98 percent finished. The auditorium will probably be ready around the middle of October. The band and choral rooms are still being worked on. Beavers also had some change orders for the gym and cafeteria. This included the suspension system for the ceiling in the cafeteria and kitchen. Some of the other changes included replacing the carpet on the steps at the outside entrances to the gym, replacing heaters in the gym and properly venting them, sanding and refinishing the gym floor, acoustic ceilings in the dressing areas, and others. The total came to around $40,000, and the changes were approved.
There was also a brief discussion on whether the spectator seats in the gym should be made handicapped accessible. It isn't sure that there will be any spectator events in the gym.
On another matter, attorney Brad Beavers said a settlement was close in a suit between the Forrest City and Palestine-Wheatley school districts.
He said the Palestine-Wheatley board recently voted to settle.
The suit concerned residents in the Forrest City district who were attending Palestine-Wheatley paying the Forrest City district that amount.
In other business, the board voted to award the milk contract to Turner Dairy, and the bread contract to Interstate Brands, for the coming school year.
Superintendent Lee Vent also told the board that several school buildings recently received storm damage, particularly to roofs. He said those buildings included Central Elementary, the high school band hall, Stewart Elementary, the cottage at Lincoln Middle School, and Caldwell Elementary.
He said because of age depreciation on the roofs, the estimated insurance payment on the damage would be around $34,000, while the estimated cost would be around $87,000.
He said there might be a possibility of totally replacing some of the roofs.
In other matters, it was reported that Woodruff Electric Cooperative is going to help with the transmission of Mustang 17. Also, the school district has received an $85,000 Enhancing Education Through Technology Grant.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The open position of police chief in Hughes ignited a heated discussion among some council members about a possible replacement at the Hughes City Council meeting held Monday night. Chief James Wilson was recently demoted to an officer, leaving the position vacant.
When the meeting was called to order, councilmen Ray Charles Robinson and Rev. Malcolm Curne both stated that they would not sit at the meeting, but would rather stand.
Curne began the discussion. "I have heard that Joe Stone (a former police chief in Hughes and Wilson's predecessor) has been considered for the chief position, is that true?," asked Curne of Mayor Donnie Mooney. "He has reapplied, yes," said Mooney, "what is your feeling on it?."
"I would say no (to rehiring him)," replied Curne. Member Rudolph Robinson then spoke. "I have talked to several people in my area and in the city, and not one person had one good thing to say about him. Most of the people who live here only sleep here; they work some where else. He will be in the black community harassing us. We will not stand for this here. We don't need that kind of (stuff) here again."
Curne then continued, "If we need to, we will gather citizens to protest this. We need more police and we need to be protected. We are law abiding citizens and we want to be protected. We want law, but at the same time we want fairness."
Mooney then responded by commenting on the high over-turn in the police department. "One of the reasons we lost one of our best officers is that we need a retirement system. If we had one for the officers, we could get good officers to stay."
Curne echoed the mayor's opinion saying, "Anything can happen out there and we need to compensate them. Other (law enforcement) organizations are reaching for what we have. If we could compensate them correctly, we could start reaching for what they have and bring them to Hughes."
"I feel that the first step is to pass the LOPFI (a state system pension plan for fire fighters and police) system tonight. Also we must find some trained officers and a new chief." Following Mooney's suggestion, the council passed the LOPFI system for the police.
Councilmen Ray Charles Robinson then asked if he could rejoin the police department. "I was wondering if the council could pass an ordinance to allow me to rejoin the police. I talked to them in Little Rock and they said it was O.K. if the council passed an ordinance. I can't vote on raises for police and a position just for me can't be created, but I think we should give people in town a chance (to become officers). We hire so many people from out of town here, we train them and they stay a year and they leave. Local people have more of an interest in the city." Mooney stated that he would have the city attorney look into rehiring Robinson and he would also try to find local citizens who are interested in becoming police officers.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Questions over part-time Madison Police Officer James Donaldson again was the hot topic at the monthly meeting of the Madison City Council, Monday.
Madison Mayor James Brooks fielded several questions from council member Annie Winfrey over Donaldson, including one asking whether the city was paying for gas that Donaldson uses in his personal vehicle. According to Brooks, Donaldson uses his personal vehicle for patrols, but Brooks told the council that he monitors the situation closely.
"He does use his personal vehicle when he patrols, but we're not paying for gas for his travel. His vehicle doesn't have the protective bar, so if he needs to transport someone, according to who the person is and what they're charged with, he will either get one of the city vehicles or he will have another officer carry them over," Brooks said.
"As of this point, I haven't found anything out of the norm in dealing with Officer Donaldson. I come in from time to time at varying hours of the night and I haven't seen any evidence of him going home while he's supposed to be on duty or anything like that. I'm not saying it can't happen. I'm just saying we haven't seen any instances of it," he said.
Council members also questioned Brooks of the status of several of the city's dilapidated homes and vacant lots. Brooks told the council that the city has been following the ordinances and contacting property owners and notifying them of any problems. According to Brooks, the primary issue with property owners has been with them beginning work to alleviate the problem, but then stopping work and having the process begin all over.
"Most of the people either contact us or begin fixing the problem. They get the job started and then for one reason or another, they stop. Then we have to give them more days and the process has to start all over. The same thing happens on the vacant lots. The city has been cutting some of them, but then the owner will come in and say that they're going to take them over but they don't and we have to go back out in a month or so and cut them again," Brooks said.
In other business, Brooks told the council that the city has hired a new employee to fill a vacant spot on the city works department and also updated the council on the search for a new police officer. According to Brooks, the city recently re-hired former Madison employee Rufus Ellis for the city works department. Brooks told council members that Ellis was re-hired due to his prior experience with the city.
"We advertised for the position and after looking over all the applications, we decided to bring Mr. Rufus Ellis back in. We brought him back because we found out that some new information on the situation with his prior employment that cleared things up. He has experience with the city and that was a huge plus for us," Brooks said.
The search for a new police officer for the city is going slowly, according to Brooks, but he did tell the council that the city is currently looking at a few officers who are in the process of getting their part two certification. According to Brooks, the officers would be a level above auxiliary officers, but would lack the complete certification needed by the state.
"It's just hard for us to find certified officers because they can generally make more money working at another department," Brooks said.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
A brief meeting of the Forrest City Library Board covered the topic of a new parking lot, which is planned for the building. The new lot will be south of the building and across Davis Street and will add 30 spaces.
Member Brad Beavers gave the board an update on the project. "The city takes bids on paving and they have agreed to bid the paving for the project for us. We will get the city rate from M&T Paving and the city has agreed to clear the land." It was also brought up that the board would like to look into having a sidewalk placed on the south side of the building that would lead to the door. "I make a motion that we give our consent to move along with the parking lot project and that we talk to the mayor about having a sidewalk placed instead of the round stones we have now." The board voted unanimously to approve the motion.
Beavers then presented new findings in the library's effort to place documents on micro-film to compact disc. "Some time ago, we talked about switching from microfilm to disc. I found that the Times-Herald and the (East Arkansas Community) college had the same problem. Tamara Johnson (managing editor of the Times-Herald) has been looking into it and found a company that will do what we need for between $55,000 and $60,000. We also talked to the paper about splitting the cost. EACC may also sign on, but they haven't yet. I suggest that we make a motion to pay up to half of the cost for the project. If EACC signs on, it will be a third, but right now it is half." The members voted unanimously to fund the project.
The Forrest City Library Board meets the second Monday of each month at 4 p.m. in the Forrest City Public Library.
One person was seriously injured Monday night in an accident which occurred after two vehicles apparently were racing.
According to the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, the accident took place at about 10:30 p.m., on SFC 226. A vehicle driven by Brandon Camper, 19 apparently went out of control, traveled about 610 feet and landed upside down.
John Ellis Cureton, 18, was ejected from the vehicle, and the vehicle came to rest on top of him.
According to witnesses, Camper was racing another vehicle when the accident occurred.
Cureton was flown to the Med in Memphis, and there was reported in satisfactory condition this morning. Camper was charged with racing on the highway. The driver of the other vehicle said she had stopped and Camper had continued, and a passenger said the same thing. The driver of the other vehicle was not charged.