By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
An elderly St. Francis County man was found dead inside his rural home Monday afternoon after worried neighbors told police they had not seen him in several days.
The St. Francis County Sheriff's Department reported William J. Poland, 82, was found on the living room floor of his home located just south of Forrest City on County Road 750, near the fairgrounds.
Some residents in that area know officers with the Forrest City Police Department, and first contacted them to report their concerns, according to SFCSD Chief Criminal Investigator Glenn Ramsey. The FCPD then notified the sheriff's department.
"The neighbors called police because they hadn't seen Mr. Poland for two or three days, which they thought was unusual," Ramsey said.
"When we got to the house, it was completely locked. We checked around the outside of the house, and inside by looking through the windows. We saw signs of what we believed to be foul play inside the house," Ramsey said. "We forced our way into the home and found Mr. Poland dead in the living room."
Based on the initial investigation, Ramsey said Poland apparently suffered trauma to the head. However, Poland's body was sent to the morgue at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City from where it was expected to be transported to the State Crime Lab in Little Rock for an autopsy.
Ramsey said investigators are interviewing several suspects in the case today, one of which is Poland's son, Robert Poland, 36, 750 SFC 325, Forrest City, who had been living with his father since he was released from prison earlier this year.
Robert Poland is currently being held in the St. Francis County Jail, after being arrested Monday afternoon on a parole violation.
This is the first homicide reported in the county since December 2001, when three people were killed in Madison.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Members of the Palestine-Wheatley School Board have just under a month to act on a settlement of a lawsuit offered by the Forrest City School District.
PWSD Superintendent John Manning told board members Monday night, that district officials had signed a settlement with the FCSD which was agreed upon during last month's meeting of each district's school board. In July, board members in Palestine-Wheatley agreed to an $80,000 settlement in the lawsuit over students who actually lived in the FCSD, but were were attending PWSD in violation of state law. According to Manning, the district now has until Sept. 14, to comply with the settlement agreement.
"I signed the settlement agreement on Aug. 14, and by law, we have 30 days to comply. I thought that I needed to notify you of that," said Manning.
No other action was taken on the issue.
In other business, Manning also told board members that projected revenues for this year may be more than $100,000 less than revenues last year.
"We received the first of our payments from the state this month, and if it's any indication of what we have to look forward to this year, then we will function with a budget of $127,000 less than last year. The bottom line is money's tight," Manning said.
The positions of several employees were also adjusted during the meeting.
According to Manning, three employees who had been designated as certified employees were being transferred to the classified payroll pending their certification later this year. School board members accepted the resignations of Heather Hawk, Chris Kennon and Ebony Stanford, all of whom were hired into the district as certified employees. Board members than re-hired Hawk and Kennon, along with Beth Vaccaro, as classified employees.
In other personnel matters, the board approved the hiring of David Watts as a certified employee at P-W High School. Melinda Barnes, Rene Ferebee, Vera Hill and Mark Main were also hired. Main was hired as a permanent substitute at the junior high and high school; Hill will be an elementary custodian; Ferebee will work as a para pro with the pre-kindergarten program and Barnes was hired as a middle school cook. The board also accepted the transfers of Tijuana Williams to the computer lab at the elementary school and Tenesha Brown to the physical education program at PWES.
The board then accepted the fuel bid for 2003/2004 of $1.219 per gallon from Clark Oil Co., the only bidder, and board members voted unanimously to approve the 2003/04 school budget.
Board members were also notified last night that the Junior High School in Wheatley would no longer have a school resource officer. According to Rodney Hicks, who serves on both the school board and the Wheatley City Council, Wheatley Police Chief Bill Talley will no longer hold the same responsibilities to the school district after a grant which provided for the position at the school ran out.
According to Hicks, Talley will still be available to PWJHS and the district for emergency purposes and he also said the city is seeking another grant which might fund the position.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Kaleidoscope Outlet and Thrift Store will be relocating in mid-September to a larger facility and will expand its operations.
The store is owned and operated by the St. Francis Area Developmental Center, which is a non-profit organization founded in 1974.
The store will move from its 423 Front St. location to a new, larger location at 101 South Rosser Street on Sunday, Sept. 14.
SFADC Executive Director Joey Astin discussed the plans for the new location. "The store was set up in the early 80's and is currently set up to take donations," said Astin. "We want to expand the operations to become more of an outlet store and to handle consignment sales. Another thing we will be doing is selling the brooms and mops for the Lions Club at the store."
Astin says the SFADC clients will be more involved in the daily operations of the Kaleidoscope when it is moved into the building. "Some Developmental Center clients will work for us. The Kaleidoscope is part of the Center, so we want to provide work for our clients so that they can gain experience in the work force.
"Some of our clients will work in sales, running registers and some in maintenance. Others will work with the donated merchandise. They will do cleaning and repair to the items if necessary. They will also do the pricing."
According to Astin, all of the proceeds collected from sales are applied toward overhead of the store, which includes the clients' salaries. Astin also thanked all customers and contributors for their patience during the upcoming move and their past patronage.
For more information on the Kaleidoscope Outlet and Thrift Store, or to make a donation, contact Pam at 870-633-5270.
The Arkansas Municipal League has released the county and city tax receipts for the month of July.
According to the report, St. Francis County received $128,101.63 in tax receipts. The sales tax receipts received by each city includes: Forrest City, $200,910.13; Hughes, $25,389.14; Madison, $13, 422.12; Palestine, $10,076.78; Wheatley $5,058.80; Caldwell, $6,323.48; Colt, $5,004.40 and Widener, $4,555.63.
The cities that levy their own taxes received the following amounts in July: Forrest City, $151,192.13; Hughes, $9,411.26; Madison, $2,195.08; Palestine, $6,387.29 and Wheatley, $5,140.58.