By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Airport Commission is one step closer to receiving over $225,000 for improvements from the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to FCAC Chairman Bill Hays, the funding is on the road to being approved, but one item the commission was seeking has been removed from the request.
Hays told commission members Monday night that the request for $10,000 in repairs to the Non-Directional Beacon at the airport was removed from the request by FAA officials. Hays said the adjustment was due in part to more up-to-date equipment being used by pilots.
"Lana Logan (Program Manager Arkansas Airports Development Office) with the FAA told me that they were not going to fund the repairs to the beacon due to the fact that most pilots now use GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) instead of the NDB system. Now, that doesn't mean that we're going to lose that funding. It will now just be applied to the security fencing that we'll be getting," said Hays.
Hays also told board members that the NDB could possibly be repaired through city funds along with possible state grants. In an e-mail to Hays, Logan said that the commission could reapply for the NDB funds in fiscal year 2004, but she also said that all FAA-owned NDB equipment is currently being decommissioned when it breaks.
Commission members were also presented a breakdown of the possible spending of the federal funds with $6,000 going to the replacement of the rotating beacon; $32,000 for the runway end identifier light system; $30,000 being allocated to the precision approach path indicator; $162,043 going to installing a 7-foot chain link fence around the facility and $20,000 going to a new electric gate system. The total of $250,043 in spending will see $225,038 from the FAA, $12,502 from the state and $12,503 coming from the city.
"These things are needed and necessary, and they will add to our airport. We want to keep this facility as safe an airport as possible and as secure as possible because it will be at best, several years before the regional airport is built. We need to keep this airport as functional as possible," Hays said.
In other business, commission secretary Homer Jacobs updated the group on a number of projects currently under way at the airport. According to Jacobs, the repaving project for the facility will take place, once the weather has dried out enough for the city's contractor to do the work.
"I've spoken with the city, and they've told me that they have a contractor to do the work and he just has to wait on the weather to break long enough for the ground to get a little harder. If he doesn't, then we'll have a mess because the pavement will be wavy because the ground will allow the pavement to sink in spots," Jacobs said.
Jacobs also told board members that city officials will be
working to make improvements to a ditch on the property to allow
it to flow better.
It's that time of year again, when children and college students are getting ready to leave the lazy days of summer behind for a new school year.
The Forrest City School District and East Arkansas Community College have set dates for student registration for the 2003-2004 school year. Listed below are the registration schedules that have been provided by each school.
The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, Aug. 6, sixth grade schedules available, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7, seventh grade schedules available, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 8, new students, all grades, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Current immunization will be needed on all students.
Any new students should also bring a birth certificate and proof of grade placement.
The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, Aug. 6, ninth grade, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7, new students, all grades, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Registration will be held at the north end of the new building located at the corner of Division and Victoria streets.
All students must pay $7 for P.E. shorts and a $5 locker fee.
New students must bring current immunization records.
All fines, including lost book fines, must be paid before a student can register.
Due to construction, no students or parents will be allowed to tour the new facilities.
Eighth graders registered today (Tuesday).
The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, Aug. 6, grades 10-12, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7, grades 11-12, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 8, grades 11-12, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
All students must pay a $5 registration fee at the time of registration. A late registration fee of $10 will be assessed to students registering after Aug. 8.
All fines must be paid prior to registration.
All 10th grade students should come prepared to have student identification pictures made on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
The schedule for registration is as follows:
Thursday, Aug. 14, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 15, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 18, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 19, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The schedule for late registration is as follows:
Wednesday, Aug. 20, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 21, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 22, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Monday, Aug. 25, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
First-time students should meet with a counselor in the Student Services Complex of the Hodges Building before beginning the enrollment process.
Continuing students may make appointments to meet with their advisors during regular office hours.
Students who register late will be charged an additional fee.
If you register for classes and then decide not to attend, you need to officially drop prior to the first day of classes.
Students who drop their classes before the first day of classes will not be assessed tuition and fees.
Contact the Registrars Office at 870-633-4480 ext. 300 or toll-free
at 877-797-EACC.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A capital murder warrant has been issued for a suspect police believe shot and killed a Marianna man on a convenience store parking lot in Forrest City last month.
Willie Antonio Jones Jr., 24, is being sought by the Forrest City Police Department in connection with a July 6 shooting on the Shell Superstop parking lot at the intersection of Broadway and Division streets.
Witnesses told police a black male approached the victims while they were standing outside the convenience store and started shooting at them.
Preston Weeams, 21, was reportedly shot at least six times in his arms and upper torso, following an altercation earlier in the evening at the Player's Club located on SFC 206, just west of Forrest City.
Weeams was transferred to the Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock where he died from his injuries on July 18.
Also injured in the shooting was Weeams brother, Waymon Weeams, 22, also of Marianna. He was shot once in his lower right arm, and was treated and released at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City. Police have also issued a first-degree battery warrant for Jones in connection with the shooting of Waymon Weeams.
Jones is described as a black male, five feet, nine inches tall, and weighing 150 pounds.
FCPD Criminal Investigation Division Sgt. Brian Davis said Jones is originally from Forrest City, but his last known address is in Jonesboro.
Forrest City Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward
for information leading to the capture of this suspect. All calls
will remain anonymous. Anyone with information may contact Forrest
City Crime Stoppers at 870-261-1499, or the FCPD's CID at 870-633-3434.
Only one seat on the Forrest City School Board is being contested as the filing period for board hopefuls ended Monday afternoon.
FCSB incumbent Dr. Wayne Jones is being opposed in his reelection bid for the Position 2 seat by Pat Flanagin. Incumbent Aubrey Jayroe will run unopposed for the Position 1 seat.
The Forrest City race is only one of three seats being contested in the annual Sept. 16 school election.
In the Palestine-Wheatley School District, Zone 3 incumbent Gail Gardner did not file for reelection. Voters will decide between Randall Holman and Vickie Hawk for that seat. In Zone 2, the incumbent Rodney Hicks was the only candidate to file.
In Hughes District 27, Position 6 (at large) will receive a new representative. The incumbent, Betty McGruder, recently moved, vacating the position. Edward Watt, Melinda Patrick and Norris Latham Jr., have all filed as candidates to complete McGruder's term. Both Hudie Hardaway, Position 7 (at large), and Ernestine Jackson, Zone 3, both incumbents for their respective positions, will run unopposed.
An ordinance which will authorize over $2 million in spending for several items in Forrest City, including a multi-purpose center, will receive new life tonight at a meeting of the Forrest City City Council.
The ordinance, which will appropriate $2.1 million for several projects in Forrest City, was amended last month after the council heard third reading of its original form. The ordinance was tabled until this month and the council will take up the matter again tonight. The new version of the ordinance requires three more readings.
In other business, council members will hear the third reading of an ordinance which will vacate an alley located at 510 E. Cross St., and aldermen will hear the second reading of an ordinance which will prohibit driving, parking or maintaining tractor/trailer trucks on certain streets inside the city limits.