A problem with standing water at the St. Francis County Courthouse is continuing to cause issues for St. Francis County Circuit Clerk Bette Green's office, but some relief may be in sight according to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco.
According to Cisco, officials have been seeking advice from roofing contractors and expect to have the problem, which is being attributed to the building's flat roof, solved shortly.
"We've been talking to different roofing contractors and so forth, and we hope to be asking for bids soon to get the work done. It's a problem for the clerk's office, and we've had to move equipment, but it doesn't matter where we move it until we've got the leak fixed. We hope to have it under control shortly," said Cisco.
According to St. Francis County Quorum Court member Regan Hill, who is also a member of the courthouse building and improvement committee, the problem will be addressed at the next meeting of the committee, which is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 12.
"We met on this a few weeks ago, and we've had someone come in to give us advice on the best ways to handle this. This will be addressed at our next building and improvement committee meeting, and hopefully we'll be able to get the bidding process going and get this problem taken care of," said Hill.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Community leaders from six counties, including St. Francis County, will meet on Thursday, Aug. 14, at the Forrest City Civic Center in a continuing effort to combat methamphetamine.
According to a press release from the Crowley's Ridge Development Council Prevention Resource Centers, the summit, which will be from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., is a follow up to the 2002 Governor's Methamphetamine Summit. Dewayne Alcorn with the CRDCPRC said that meeting is an opportunity for community leaders to come together to discuss the growing problem of methamphetamine use and plan ways to fight the drug.
"What we're doing is trying to get together with community leaders so that we can create a consistent and science-based approach to fighting methamphetamine," said Alcorn.
The summit, which will include individuals from St. Francis, Cross, Lee, Monroe, Phillips and Woodruff counties, will be open to leaders from throughout the community.
"We'll have law enforcement officials and people from the health community and a number of other people there, but we also want leaders from the communities because that's where most of our work will be done. We'll have educators there and we want people from the various youth groups and so forth there because their input will be vital to our success," Alcorn said.
The meeting is being conducted in partnership with the First Judicial District Task Force and CRDC PRC and is supported by funds from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Division of Behavioral Health and the Department of Human Services. The event is free to the public and lunch will be provided. For more information or to register, call (870)343-2887.
Employees at Fred's Discount Store on North Washington arrived to work Saturday morning to find the store had been broken into overnight.
The report at the Forrest City Police Department revealed that when employees arrived at 8 a.m., they found the back door from the loading dock to the stockroom was open.
According to the report, the suspect(s) had attempted to pry open the pharmacy but no entry was made. Also, a cash register was pried open, but no cash was inside to be taken. The phone lines were cut, an electric meter was cut and all of the circuit breakers were turned off, police reported.
According to the report, two DVD players valued at $100 and three compact disc players valued at $240 were stolen from the store. A black t-shirt that was also missing was recovered behind Jackson's Used Cars.
Anyone with information on this or any crime, may contact Forrest City Crime Stoppers at 261-1499.
Two Forrest City minors' impatience to go to the store resulted in unauthorized use of vehicle charges for both on Sunday.
According to the police report, the pair of 12-year-old males allegedly took the vehicle of Bernice Bobo, 35, 204 East South, Forrest City, when Bobo's daughter Carla went inside the house. The two had previously asked if they could go to the store with Carla and she said 'yes,' police reported.
The Forrest City Police Department responded at 12:27 p.m. when a report of a vehicle matching the description of Bobo's vehicle was reported to be driving recklessly near Southside Trailer Park. The officer reported that he passed the vehicle while it was going eastbound on Martin Luther King Drive and noticed that the driver could barely see over the dashboard. The two then parked the car on Gregory Street were they we caught leaving the vehicle, police said.
Both minors were charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle. The minor who was driving was also charged with having no driver's license and no proof of insurance. Both were released to their parents.
Two fatalities were reported in Troop D Sunday night.
A late night accident on Interstate 40 near Forrest City took the life of a 20-year old Kansas woman Sunday.
According to a report from Arkansas State Police Troop D, Meleah Harmon, 20, of Wichita, Kan., was traveling west on I-40 in a 1996 Chevrolet Lumina when she lost control of her vehicle and crossed the median into the eastbound lanes where she was struck by a 2003 Lincoln driven by 52-year old Rudy Rutter.
According to the report, Harmon was killed on impact. The collision also sent Rutter and a passenger in his vehicle, 51-year-old Penny Bates, to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City. Rutter was transferred to the Med in Memphis, and according to officials with BMH-FC, Bates is scheduled to be transferred to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock later today.
An accident just after 8:40 last night in Augusta took the life of a 17-year-old Mt. Vernon girl, and sent a 19-year old Rose Bud girl to White County Hospital in Searcy.
According to a report from the ASP, Melody Ann Darby, was traveling southbound on Highway 33 in a 1994 Nissan when she failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of U.S. Highway 64.
According to the report, the Darby vehicle was struck by a 1998 International truck driven by Harold Roetzel, 56, of Russell. Angel E. Fortner, of Rose Bud, a passenger in the Darby vehicle was injured and transported to White County Medical Center in Searcy. Condition reports on Fortner were not available this morning.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A seven-year-old Madison boy received a scare Friday after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle.
According to an accident report from the Madison Police Department, Latterius Allen, 7, was riding his bicycle on Second Street in Madison just before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, when he rode into the path of Jessica Chante Lewis, 16, also of Madison. Lewis was driving westbound on Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., in a Toyota Corolla.
Members of the Forrest City Fire Department, along with paramedics with Baptist Memorial Hospital Forrest City responded to the accident. Allen was transported to BMHFC for observation and was treated and released.
Three people filed Friday for school board positions in St. Francis County with the deadline to file at 4:30 today.
The St. Francis County Clerk's office reported two people filed for positions in the Palestine-Wheatley School District, and one filed for a position in the Hughes School District.
In the Palestine-Wheatley District 23, Vickie Hawk has joined the race for the Zone 3 position, currently held by Gail Gardner. Randall Holman has also filed for that position. Incumbent Rodney Hicks has filed for reelection for the Zone 2 position.
Another new filing was in the Hughes School District 27. Ernestine Jackson has filed for re-election in Hughes' Zone 3. Melinda Patrick and Edward Watt are running for the Position 6 (at large) slot. Also in Hughes, Incumbent Hudie Hardaway has filed for re-election for Position 7 (at large).
In Forrest City, Aubrey Jayroe, the incumbent for Forrest City School District 7, Position 1 has filed. For Position 2, Dr. Wayne Jones and Pat Flanagin both have filed.
The election will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
The Arkansas Municipal League has released the county and city tax receipts for the month of June.
According to numbers, St. Francis County as a whole received $129,629.02 in tax receipts. The breakdown of the amounts allotted to each city are: Forrest City, $203,305.66; Hughes, $25,691.86; Madison, $13, 582.14; Palestine, $10,196.94; Wheatley $5,119.10; Caldwell, $6,398.88; Colt, $5,064.06 and Widener, $4,609.98.
The cities that levy their own taxes received the following amounts: Forrest City, $148,000.35; Hughes, $7,176.94; Madison, $2,120.77; Palestine, $5,760.14 and Wheatley, $3,334.16.