By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The board of Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute agreed Thursday to hear from technical school officials who have been through mergers before accepting an invitation to visit on the subject with the board at East Arkansas Community College.
The discussion was prompted by a letter from the EACC board, suggesting such a meeting.
Board chairperson Glenda Caldwell said that she has already asked President Burl Lieblong to contact people who have been through the process of merging with community colleges.
"To my knowledge, we are not under any guidelines, not mandated," said Caldwell. "And I don't want us to jump off into something that we don't research and get with both sides on. Vocational education is entirely different from academic education. You've got to have both, but it is very different. It's a different ball game."
She said it is her opinion that meeting with the EACC board would be premature.
Lieblong said he believes the only true merger that has been accomplished was between Garland County Community College and Quapaw Technical Institute.
"They took the two schools and put them together. And they retained the membership of boards. Over a period of five years, it will go back to a nine-member board. They changed the name. It's now National Park Community College."
He said the staff and curriculum of CRTI had to be protected.
Board member Odell McCallum said he saw no reason to fix something that wasn't broken. And he said he didn't see the need for asking others.
"We've got good things going on at EACC and good things going on here," McCallum said. "And if they're working, why upset something. The bottom line is the students. We have to enhance this area. And if we're going to do that, we can't look over there, I'm looking at what we have going for our students in this area and go from there. We're going to get into something here that's going to affect our area. Being a former educator, I know there is a need for a technical institution as well as the community college, and if it's working for us, we need to do things that will enhance EACC and enhance CRTI."
After some more discussion, a motion was made to ask some people with experience in mergers to visit and talk to the board about it. The vote was 3-1, with members Mike Lawyer, Ken Patterson and J.B. Smith voting yes and McCallum voting no.
In other action, officers were elected. Caldwell was reelected chairman, McCallum will be vice chair and Patterson will be the secretary.
Lieblong reported that the school had received a good report from the Council on Occupational Education (COE) team which recently visited the college. He said the final report won't be ready until this fall.
Lieblong also reported that there was some damage done on campus during the recent wind storm. A canopy was destroyed, and a tree fell on a barbecue pavilion. Lieblong said the pavilion saved one of the computer vans from being completely destroyed. He said only one computer out of 16 in the van would not come up. The van has been repaired and is ready for the equipment to be installed, and the pavilion is being rebuilt, he said.
He reminded everyone that the school's annual barbecue will be Oct. 3.
He also reported that there are currently about 317 day and night students, with registration going on through Monday.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
After months of waiting, Forrest City senior citizens may soon see the doors to the new Forrest City Senior Center at the Municipal Sports Complex finally open.
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant said the last hurdle before opening the building, the final inspection, could occur as early as the first week in September.
"The people that gave the grant to the city haven't had their final inspection of the building yet, and that's the only holdup before the keys can be turned over to the city," said Bryant.
According to Bryant, the delays in opening the building have centered around minor adjustments that the contractor had to make to meet certain specifications from the grant organizations.
"There were some minor changes that the contractor had to make before the building could be inspected, and those have all been done. We've been ready to move in for a while, but we can't until the keys have been turned over to us. We've got chairs and tables in storage at the complex right now, and we're ready to go," Bryant said.
"Hopefully, once this final inspection is done we'll be able to move in," he said.
Work began on the center last year.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
Teamwork was the basis of a five hour S.A.F.E. (Support, Abatement, Fines and Enforcement) Team presentation given to area officials on Thursday at the Forrest City Civic Center.
Officials from cities in St. Francis and Lee Counties attended the event, which was designed to help police, fire, housing authority, code enforcers and other city officials work together to target properties that are havens of criminal activity.
Paul Suskie, the North Little Rock City Attorney, and North Little Rock Police Department Investigator Andrew Miles, conducted the seminar. The program originated in North Little Rock in 1999, and is also called the NLR Criminal Nuisance Abatement program.
Suskie opened the meeting by talking about the changes he feels law enforcement as a whole should make in their thoughts on crimes. "No longer can law enforcers look at a crime as an arrest, conviction and jail time," said Suskie. "Our concept views crime from an overall, neighborhood perspective, not just the impact on one individual."
Miles added some clarification, "An example, a child grows up with a crack addict as a mother. She sells herself to support her habit. When that child grows up, it will most likely become a criminal because of the environment he grew up in. If you can change the environment of the child, he will have a better chance. This program helps clean up neighborhoods so that his influences will be better outside of the home and hers will be too."
Suskie then talked about the importance of interagency support. "If you, as a code enforcer, saw a dead body, what would you do? You would call the police. Now, if a police officer responds to a call, and he finds a home with a hole in the roof and people living in it, wouldn't it be nice if he could declare the residence non suitable for human occupancy?" Suskie asked.
"Communication is also key," continued Suskie. "In North Little Rock, we found that our fire department had responded to fires at suspected meth labs. They did not know that the police were watching the houses but did not have enough evidence to make arrests. The firefighters then could investigate the fires as a meth fire. But the communication came after the fact. The S.A.F.E. program emphasizes team work."
Miles continued, "Each department has its area of knowledge. Does your housing inspector know how to identify a meth lab? That is the type of thing that each person should know so that areas of crime can be better identified and steps taken to remove the element."
"Landlords are also good partners in this effort," added Suskie. "They should run background checks on their potential tenants and have them pay the fee for them. If they don't pass the check, don't rent to them. If they refuse the check, don't rent to them. Find out who the landlords are in the area and have them meet with the police. Show the landlords the offenses that are occurring in their properties, and try to find a way to evict the criminals in their area. Some of the obvious ways is to evict them if they are caught dealing drugs or for violent crimes. Other ways are non-payment of rent. It is a criminal offense to not pay your rent in Arkansas. They can be evicted on that.
"Some property owners are not receptive to us telling them to evict these people. Most of the time, landlords are happy to get rid of them and to clean-up their property with our support. But sometimes they aren't," Suskie said. The city attorney can sue them for not maintaining their properties, but most times they handle it themselves. If they refuse to handle the situation, 95 percent of the time when we sue, they change their tune. If they comply with the eviction requests, they benefit because their property value will rise because of the improved environment."
Miles then turned the attention to a common problem that they have encountered in the past. "Some of these criminals, especially the drug dealers, have several girlfriends that they live with in one area. If we catch them in one house, they move to another. Many of these girlfriends are on assisted housing. Once we find the drug dealer there, we can take that assistance away for three years. He may move, but once word gets around, it will be harder and harder for him to find another women willing to take him in."
Miles ended with his feelings on how the program ultimately works, "We want them to leave our towns, we want them unwelcome here. We want to frustrate them so that they move and never come back because if they do, they won't have a place to live or people who will support them."
A 27-year tradition is taking a break this year, as the Forrest City Junior Auxiliary announced there would be no Shops of La Petite held in Forrest City next month.
The event is an arts and crafts fair that is normally held the third weekend in September at the Forrest City Civic Center. "The last couple of years, we have seen a drop in participation from vendors, and this year was no exception," said FCJA President Stephanie Davis. "We felt that we shouldn't put on the show if we didn't have enough vendors to fill the civic center. It wouldn't be fair to our community, nor our vendors.
"We're going to postpone it this year and revisit it next year," Davis said.
The crafts fair was the group's largest fundraiser. "This decision leaves us with a large hole in our budget, but we're pursing other avenues. We have come up with some great ideas. We know the community will participate and support us as they always do," Davis said.
The FCJA also sponsors the Angel Tree, Discovery room, RIF, Extra Special Person, Clothes Closet and supports the developmental center.
The Department of Arkansas Heritage's Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is looking for information on eight schools built by the Rosenwald Fund between 1917 and 1930.
Ken Grunewald, director of the AHPP, stated that details on the eight schools are almost unknown. "We have not been able to find any clues to the location of several schools, including: The Cross Roads Schools, a one-room school built in 1920-1921; Bolden School, a one-room building erected between 1917 and 1920 that received a one-room addition in 1929-1930; the Lincoln School in Forrest City built in 1926-1927; the two-room McNeil School built in 1923-1924; the Darrow School built in 1917 and 1920; the District #15 School, a two-room school built between 1924 and 1925; the Scott Bond School erected in 1925-1926; and the Wolfe School, a two-room building also constructed in 1922-1923. We are asking anyone who knows where these schools are located, or even if they are no longer standing, to contact us."
The Rosenwald Fund was named after Julius Rosenwald, CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company. According to the National Trust for Historic Prevention, he became interested in Booker T. Washington's efforts to improve education of rural African Americans. In 1913, Rosenwald teamed with the Institute in Alabama to design and construct 15 southern and southwestern schools.
Anyone with information on the St. Francis County schools may write the AHPP at 1500 Tower Building, 323 Center St., Little Rock, Ark. 72201; call the agency at 501-324-9880 (TDD 501-324-9811), or send an e-mail message to info@arkansaspreservation.org.
Parents of Forrest City Junior High School students will get their first opportunity to view the new facility with a Parent Visitation Day, scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 28., from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
According to a release from FCJHS, although the day will not be the official open house for the building, it will give parents an opportunity to meet with instructors and view the new building. Anyone attending the Parent Visitation Day should use the west entrance to the building which faces the football field.
Several organizations will come together Saturday in an attempt to bring cancer awareness to the citizens of Eastern Arkansas.
The St. Francis County Cancer Awareness Expo will be held tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Salem M.B. Church Family Life Center at 105 Haven St. According to a press release from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Expo will offer free mammograms, prostrate screenings and other tests to residents of St. Francis and the surrounding counties.
The Expo is a collaborative effort between UAMS and several other entities, including, the St. Francis County Cancer Council, the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, the city of Forrest City; the Lee County Cooperative Extension Clinic; Breast Care of St. Francis County, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City, the Arkansas Department of Health Hometown Health Initiative, the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation and the East Arkansas Enterprise Community Health Outreach.
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant will preside over the opening festivities. Participants will receive a Cancer Awareness Expo Passport and be able to sign a Cancer Wellness Pledge.
"This is a prime occasion for those citizens who might not be able to afford the services that are being offered to get screenings that might save someone's life," said Bryant.