By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Officials with St. Francis and Cross counties, as well as the cities of Forrest City and Wynne, met Thursday to discuss the possibility of the two communities joining together in the quest for a regional airport.
Dr. John Kerr, of the Wynne Airport Commission and the Cross County Transportation Committee, said the idea of a regional airport for the counties could bring economic development opportunities to both.
"This project will not only be good for both counties, but for the entire Delta region. I don't want to talk particularly about the counties as individuals, because for this to work, it will take the cooperation of both county governments, as well as the cities of Wynne and Forrest City. City and county boundaries will have to be laid aside, and we will have to look at the bigger picture of advancement for both of our communities," Kerr said.
According to Kerr, conversations with officials of the Federal Aviation Administration have led him to believe that the FAA would endorse the idea of a regional airport, while also continuing to fund projects at each city's current airports. Kerr did say that action on the idea was needed soon in order to pursue funding that might not be available in the future.
"If this is going to be a realization, then now is the time. There are Airport Improvement Funds available now, that won't be available in the future, and the FAA thinks this project can happen, and they want to see it happen in the Delta. They are currently funding projects in Conway which will move the airport, and also projects in Saline County. They are pumping money into Arkansas as a whole. If we stumble and stagger, someone else will get this funding, and it may never be available for this project again," Kerr said.
Not all of the conversation at the meeting necessarily endorsed the project, as Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant argued that he felt Forrest City had been left out of the loop in conversations on the project.
"There are a lot of things that seem to have been happening that my office has been left out of. We're now talking about a project where Forrest City's airport could be sold, and the county government is being included in this and they don't pay a penny in connection with the airport. If it's something that's beneficial to Forrest City, I can get behind it and endorse it. I just don't want our airport commission and our city to be left out," Bryant said.
According to Kerr, members of both commissions met with Bryant in the fall and were directed to meet with the Forrest City Airport Commission.
"In October, we were referred by your office to meet with the airport commission, and I came over here from Wynne and met with the Airport Commission. If you've been left out of the loop, I apologize, but we followed the chain of command we were given by your office," Kerr said.
Bryant also said that he felt current discussions on the size of the regional airport should be expanded. According to Kerr, questions over commercial airlines and possible Federal Express service would not be feasible due to the close proximity to Memphis International Airport.
"I think that we need to go as big as we can when we look at this. We may not be able to get a Northwest to come in, but we should look at some of the smaller commuter airlines and not close our options. We need to look outside of just Forrest City and Wynne and Lee County and look at reaching out to parts of Mississippi and Tennessee," Bryant said.
Kerr responded to Bryant saying, "With Memphis as close to us as it is, I don't know of a commercial flight that would drop from a 9,000-foot level to land here instead of Memphis," Kerr said.
Right now, both the Forrest City and Wynne Airports are petitioning the FAA for funding for expansions at each airport, and according to Kerr the regional airport won't effect the funding immediately. Kerr said once construction of the regional airport begins, the funding would not be eliminated, but cut for maintenance of the airports solely. According to Kerr, while both airports would have to be sold, the funds from the sell would go towards meeting the matching funds and would not close either airport before the new airport was functional.
All four government entities agreed to present resolutions supporting the project at their next meetings.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
At first mention, it doesn't sound like that much -- the Forrest City School District officially has 44 more students than it did this time last year.
However, when one considers how long it has been since an enrollment increase has been reported, and what those 44 students could mean financially, it becomes cause for celebration.
"We're very happy," reported Dr. Alice Barnes, assistant superintendent.
"We have lost students over the last 10 years," she said. "I would estimate this is the first time in about 10 years that we have actually seen an increase."
She said the school district's enrollment currently stands at 4,061.
"That doesn't include pre-schoolers, which are not included in our school population," said Barnes.
And Barnes said that with around $5,000 coming for each student, that could mean a decent increase in state funding, if the increase holds.
Although she's happy, she admitted she can't point to any single cause for the higher student population.
"I'm not really sure," said Barnes. "It's not the economy. Maybe it's more housing. Maybe more people are moving to town."
However, she said she did have another, optimistic idea on the matter.
"I would hope that, just possibly, people's perception of us has changed a little," she said, "and people have gained more faith in public education and are coming back to public schools. I don't have any data on that, but I hope that."
One possible cause for that change of perception could be the new junior high school being built on Division Street.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a judge in St. Francis County violated court procedure when he changed the sentence he had given to a defendant, without giving the defendant a chance to withdraw his guilty plea.
The high court sent the case of Rex E. Bradford back to St. Francis County Circuit Court. Bradford had pled guilty in February of 2002 under a plea agreement, to two counts of possession of methamphetamine and one count of possessing and manufacturing marijuana.
In open court, Circuit Judge L.T. Simes II initially sentenced Bradford to five three-year prison terms, to be served concurrently (at the same time).
Eight days later, Simes ordered Bradford back to court for resentencing and made the prison terms consecutive, meaning the defendant would serve three separate terms for a total of 15 years. The judge said the change was based on testimony at Bradford's resentencing hearing.
In appeal, a Supreme Court majority accepted Bradford's argument that he should have been allowed to withdraw his negotiated plea and that he was not advised that he could do so.
The majority said the judge was within his authority to modify a sentence stipulated in a plea agreement, so long as the change complied with other pertinent criminal rules.
But the court said Simes failed to comply with mandatory requirements that a defendant be advised of his right to affirm or withdraw his plea, and call for him to do so in open court.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Police Department has a new tool to help locate missing children.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has provided the FCPD with the new LOCATER system free of charge to the FCPD. The system is designed to alert all agencies on a nationwide network in the event of a missing child. This new system includes a new computer, printer, scanner and customized software that covers most aspects of finding a missing child.
The advantage of the system, according to Lt. Eddie Adamson of the FCPD, is the rapid exchange of missing child information through the LOCATER national data bank.
"With this new system, we can locate lost or missing children much faster," said Adamson. "With this national link, we can alert other agencies linked into the system to help us find missing children in the area, and we can help other cities find their missing children if they are in the area. It can also print posters to alert the public of the situation."
According to a news release, the system can rapidly download photos and vital descriptive information about missing children, or their abductors, so that information can be presented to the public.
The system can also provide information on missing adults, wanted persons and crime alerts, which according to FCPD Chief Clarence McNeary, will prove useful.
"This is going to help us as a law enforcement agency," commented McNeary. "Not only will it help us find missing children, but it's a tool we can utilize to provide us with valuable information in other areas as well."
The NCMEC is the national resource center and clearinghouse for missing and exploited child cases. They work closely with the United States Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and offer several free services to law enforcement personnel.
For more information regarding the LOCATER system, call 1-877-446-2632 ext. 6389 or visit their website at www.locaterposters.org.
St. Francis County had an unemployment rate in November of 7.1 percent, up from 6.6 percent in October and also slightly higher than the 7 percent figure recorded in November of 2002.
According to the figures from the state Employment Security Department, St. Francis County was 11th from the top in unemployment for November. The county had a civilian labor force of 11,800 during November, with 10,975 working and 825 not working.
The state's highest unemployment rate was 10 percent, in Mississippi County, which has had the highest county rate for some time. It was the only county with unemployment at or above 10 percent. There were 13 counties with unemployment at or above 7 percent.
The lowest unemployment in the state was 2 percent, recorded in both Madison and Washington counties. Twenty-one counties had unemployment rates of 4 percent or less.
November unemployment rates in surrounding counties were as follows: Cross, 6.2 percent; Crittenden, 5.8 percent; Lee, 5.1 percent; Phillips, 7.2 percent; Monroe, 6.7 percent; Woodruff, 6.7 percent.