By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Several St. Francis County residents learned about a project Wednesday night which could affect the future success of St. Francis County.
Dr. Beverly Divers-Smith with the Foundation for the Mid-South spoke to the crowd of over 50 last night on the newly-formed Community of Opportunity initiative which will work to transform distressed areas into healthy communities. According to Divers-Smith, the Foundation was approached about a year ago by the Walton Foundation which was seeking to invest in communities in the Delta.
"About a year ago, the foundation was approached by the Walton Foundation about long-term investing in communities in the Delta to effect change. The real purpose of the initiative is to work with communities to come together as a whole to work and rise together. The ultimate goal is to transform this community into a viable, sustainable community," Divers-Smith said.
Divers-Smith said that high poverty rates and the disparity in education of children who are poor and children of color are among the reasons for the initiative. She also said that racial and class barriers remain issues that must be addressed. Divers-Smith also stated that if the problems of race and class become too large an issue, funding could be immediately withdrawn.
"We understand that we have high poverty rates and that there is a great disparity in the Delta in education for children who are poor and children of color. We're looking to change that through your communities. We also understand that racial and class barriers remain an issue, and that there will be some arguments as this all comes together. This initiative is here for the long haul. It won't be like traditional grants with three or five year time limits. The commitment is here for 10 to 15 years and possibly 20 years. But if turfism over racial and social lines begin to get in the way of change, we won't hesitate to withdraw our funding," Divers-Smith said.
Divers-Smith also said that the entire initiative will be community driven with the establishment of resident councils and a village council which will link business, non-profit, faith-based and public based sectors together.
"Most of the time, grants come under what the funder wants. This time, there will be several different funders over the life of the initiative working for growth in this community. Whatever happens in St. Francis County will be community driven as the initiative goes forward," Divers-Smith said.
Also on-hand were representatives from Grassroots Leadership who began the process by identifying several communities and leaders in the county for the first resident council meetings, which are planned to begin early next year.
André Stephens with the Workforce Alliance said this morning that he was excited by the turnout at last night's event.
"I thought the meeting went well as a whole, and I was really surprised at the high turnout that we had," Stephens said. "We're still seeking more participation from the white community, but we feel that will come. I was really excited with the fact that we had people from throughout the county and not just Forrest City. I was also pleased with the support staff that came for the event because it showed this is an overall effort for improvement for St. Francis County."
St. Francis County is one of two Arkansas counties which will be involved in the Communities of Opportunity program. Phillips County is also slated to be a Community of Opportunity with their funding coming originally from Southern Bancorporation.
A fire earlier this month that gutted a local nightclub has been ruled accidental.
The fire occurred in the early-morning hours on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the Player's Palace on County Road 206 (Turner Road). The entire building suffered smoke damage, and fire damaged about 70 percent of the structure.
Forrest City Fire Chief Dan Curtner said he had talked with the department's fire marshal who reported nothing suspicious about the fire. "As far as we're concerned, it's been ruled accidental," Curtner said.
A dog running loose at a local apartment complex was shot in the head Wednesday afternoon after it tried to attack a police officer.
Ruben Llanas, 51, a maintenance worker at Chapel Ridge Apartments, 1085 Holiday Dr., contacted the Forrest City Police Department at 4:20 p.m., regarding a vicious dog that had reportedly bitten two children at the complex.
Neither the children, nor their injuries, were identified. FCPD Chief Clarence McNeary said he had not seen any corresponding reports today at the police department regarding children being bitten.
When police arrived at Chapel Ridge, Llanas told them the dog was inside the fence surrounding the swimming pool. Llanas told police the dog could stay in the fence until Animal Control Officer George Cochran had been contacted, according to the report.
However, the police officer who first responded to the call reported he returned to the apartments about 10 minutes later and found the animal, described as a pit bull and boxer mix, running after more children, trying to bite them.
The officer reportedly got out of his patrol unit and began yelling at the dog, who then ran at the officer, almost knocking him down. The officer sprayed the animal twice with pepper spray, but said the dog continued trying to bite him. At this point, the officer pulled his handgun and shot the dog twice in the head, according to the report. Police said the dog was brown in color and did not have a collar or name tag around his neck.
Chapel Ridge Security officials and the officer's supervisor were notified of the incident because a weapon had been fired. McNeary upheld the officer's actions, saying it is his job to protect the people, and if the dog was vicious and attacking children, the officer did the right thing.
With the holiday bustle hitting many area businesses, post offices have also geared up for the Christmas rush.
Forrest City Postmaster Normal Gilchrest said people with packages to send for Christmas have a little under a week to get them in the mail without using Priority or Express Mail designations.
"Our busiest mailing day of the year will probably be Monday, with the following Monday being our busiest delivery date. If people can get their packages in as early as possible, everything should get to its destination before Christmas. By next week, though, we'll start telling everyone to send everything Priority. Packages sent the following Monday will have to be sent Express Mail, just to ensure that they're there by Christmas, and that's if you're sending them inside the state of Arkansas."
While some federal agencies will get an extended weekend over the Christmas holiday, the Post Office will be up and running the Friday following Christmas. According to Gilchrest, the only day that the Post Office will be closed will be on Christmas Day.
"We are a federal agency, but we're more independent, like the banks. We're also bound by some of the same mandates, and we can't be closed for three consecutive days, just like with the banks. So, we'll be back in that Friday," he said.