By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
East Arkansas Community College was recently recognized nationally for the amount of growth it has shown.
In its size category (2,500 or fewer students), EACC ranked 28th in a list of the 50 fastest growing community colleges in the country.
The news was originally announced in Community College Week, the nation's weekly newspaper covering two-year colleges, in the Dec. 8 edition.
"Naturally, we're very pleased," said Dr. Coy Grace, president of EACC. "We think that by adding the new programs that we've added, and by trying to reach out in our service area to offer new courses and making them more available in the outlying area, we've helped our growth."
The report covered enrollment from fall 2001 to fall 2002.
This year in Arkansas, almost 43 percent of entering college freshmen are attending two-year colleges. Almost 40 percent of all students now enrolled in higher education are attending two-year institutions.
"This is a tribute to the two-year college system in Arkansas," Dr. Ed Franklin was quoted as saying in a press release. He is executive director of the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges.
Several other Arkansas two-year colleges were included on the top 50 list. In the 2,500 and fewer size category, Ozarka College ranked fifth with 36.8 percent growth; Ouachita Technical College was 11th with 29.6 percent; Arkansas State University-Newport was 23rd with 23 percent; Southern Arkansas University Tech was 26th with 21.4 percent; and University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton was 49th with 15.9 percent growth.
Making the list of the top 50 fastest growing public two-year colleges with 2,500 to 4,000 enrollments was National Park Community College, formerly Garland County Community college, which was 11th on that list and had growth of 21.5 percent.
According to the Community College Week article, 958 public, two-year institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia were included in the report. All the institutions in the report are accredited by one of the six regional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
"The two-year colleges are making a difference in Arkansas," Franklin said. "They are teaching more students and making an economic impact in our state. The two-year college system in Arkansas is still in its infancy, so it is extremely encouraging to see this growth."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With 2003 coming to a close, St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said that the year over all has been fair for county government.
In 2001 and 2002, county finances received the most interest as payments from the state were reduced and the county's general account suffered, but according to Cisco, 2003 brought a slight rebound to the financial situation.
"We've really improved considerably from last year and the year before financially. We've been able to increase our reserves and right now, we're just waiting on our final statement to see how we've done over all for the year," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, while the road department had a few major repairs, the major area of interest for the year was replacing many of the county's bridges with pipes.
"We got some roads fixed this year and we paved a couple, but we really concentrated on trying to replace as many of our bridges with pipes as we could. We're making the change because using the pipes is more cost effective and it's actually a little safer. With a wooden bridge, you get five to 10 years out of it before it has to be replaced. When we install the pipes, we get 15 to 25 years before we will have to go back in on most of them."
Over all, Cisco said that the road department also did fairly well for the year and part of that was due to a decrease in weather damage from last year.
"We didn't have quite as much weather damage this year as we did last year. We did have some flooding, but for the most part the weather was good to us. Last year, the ice storm hit us pretty hard and kept us going for awhile, but we were able to avoid those type of problems this year."
As far as work at the St. Francis County Courthouse, parking continues to be a concern at the facility and Cisco said that the issues with the roof will be addressed in the spring.
"We're going to try to keep the roof patched until spring, and then we'll ask for new bids on that project. Parking up here is still a problem though, and when you've got all of the courtrooms going at once, it's almost impossible to find parking at the courthouse. We've got the base down on the new parking lot and we'll also get that completely ready in the spring, but we will also continue to try to improve on our parking situation," Cisco said.
With 2004 being an election year, Cisco also hinted at a re-election bid. "I do plan to run again and will make it official early next year. I would like to finish up some of the projects that we have underway like the transportation mall," he said.
On the transportation mall project, Cisco said that officials are currently in the process of raising funds to purchase the property. He also commented on the recent announcement of a possible retirement community for the Newcastle area.
"With the transportation mall and this latest push, looking into the retirement community, the county is not only trying to help increase our tax base, but also to help create jobs for the county," he said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Farmers across St. Francis County and throughout the state are reporting bumper crops this year, according to officials with the St. Francis County Extension Service in Forrest City.
Extension Agent Justin Hensley said the three major crops -- cotton, rice and soybeans -- all expect to record some of the highest yields on record.
"We don't have the final numbers yet, but this has really been a good year for farmers as a whole. We're expecting for all of the major crops to really give us record yields for the county. The projections actually are for the final reports to show record or near record yields for the entire state," Hensley said.
According to Hensley, good weather for the year was the primary contributing factor for the increased yields.
"The weather really helped us out this year. Over the past few years, it either got really hot or we had a rough winter, but we just didn't have that this year. The rain came in at the right times and the intense heat never did really set in," he said.
"Rice can't really stand for it to get real hot, and there is about a three-week window during the flowering period where we've run into some problems in the past. This year, we never did get the heat, and the rice yield was really good."
Hensley said the weather was also optimal for cotton growth. "With cotton, it likes it pretty hot, but it can't stand for it to get too hot either, and the weather just stayed good for all our crops," Hensley said.
Hensley also said that other normal problems such as high winds were down this year, all contributing to the good year for farmers. According to Hensley, higher prices also helped with a successful 2003 for county farmers.
"Overall this was just a pretty good year. We had a couple of wind storms, but nothing major and the crops withstood what bad weather we did have. It's just really nice to say that we finally had a favorable year for our farmers," Hensley said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A lawsuit filed by a former Palestine-Wheatley High School principal against six current and former members of the Palestine-Wheatley School Board was recently dropped in First Judicial Circuit Court.
In July of 2002, Jeff Cagle, former PWHS principal, filed a complaint in the circuit clerk's office that his firing in April of 2002 constituted a material breach of his contract by the district. The suit was filed against current board members Bill Ray, Dorothy Smith, Ronnie Crider and Rodney Hicks and former members Gale Gardner and Stan Siler, along with retired PWSD Superintendent Jimmy Allen.
According to PWSD Superintendent John Manning, the matter being dropped allows the district to move on. "Now the district can move on from this unfortunate incident. The incident is now behind us, and the district can begin to move ahead with the new administration," Manning said.
In January of 2002, Cagle allegedly strip searched several students at the Palestine-Wheatley Junior High School over missing money. In February of 2002, he was placed on 30-day suspension with pay by then-superintendent Allen. On April 21, 2002, Cagle was terminated by the district after the school board voted to fire him following a hearing. Board members met in the junior high school building on the Wheatley campus for almost six hours before deciding to fire Cagle for the incident.
Board members voted by a 6-1 margin, with current board member John Henry Parker being the lone dissenting vote, to accept the recommendation of Allen to fire Cagle. The vote came after a six-hour hearing and executive session.
Parker was not named as a defendant in Cagle's lawsuit.
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) has issued a reminder to holiday travelers that 14 Interstate miles are expected to be reduced to one lane in one or both directions between today and Sunday, Jan. 4. Nine of the 14 miles are on I-40.
In St. Francis County, between mile marker 253 and 254 near Forrest City, one mile will be reduced to one lane in both directions. Also on I-40 in Johnson County, east of Clarksville between mile marker 64 and 72, eight miles will be reduced to one lane in both directions.
Other areas that will be reduced to one lane in the state are four miles between the 0 and 4 mile marker on I-55 in Crittenden County at West Memphis. Those four miles are one lane in both directions. Also, a one mile section of I-30 in Miller County at Texarkana, between mile markers 6 and 7 will be closed to one lane on the eastbound lane.
The new Physician Office Building, located across from Baptist Memorial Hospital's Emergency Room entrance, is nearing completion.
Dr. Sudesh Banaji and the staff of Internal Medicine of Forrest City have already made the move to the new office suite, and Dr. David Coss of Crowley's Ridge Family Practice is scheduled to open his office there in early January.
Two additional suites were included in the design to enable Baptist-Forrest City to grow the local medical staff through physician recruitment. The building will be owned and operated by Baptist Memorial Hospital - Forrest City. Physicians will occupy the facility under a long-term agreement with the hospital.
"We are excited about this expansion because it allows us to bring more physicians here to serve our community," said Paul Cade, CEO and administrator of Baptist Forrest City. "Our physicians must have the facilities to care for the increasing number of eastern Arkansas residents who are seeking health care closer to home."
In addition to the new Physician Office Building, Baptist is currently in the process of renovating the hospital's women's center to include new labor, delivery and recovery rooms, an evaluation-triage area, a level II nursery and women's health education classrooms.
According to a press release, the Baptist women's center is being developed to meet the needs of all women through every stage of life, and promote family centered care in Eastern Arkansas.