By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
County residents are still being passed over or missed when it comes to garbage pickup, and a change could be on the horizon.
Complaints regarding county trash pickup conducted by B&B Garbage Disposal were expected to decline after a threat to cancel the contract with the company in August from St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco was rescinded two weeks later. However, according to Cisco, the number of complaints have remained steady.
"We're attempting to deal with the problem right now, but we're continuing to get a lot of complaints from residents and the number may actually be increasing since Christmas. We're going to try to talk to them again to see if we can get something done," Cisco said.
For one St. Francis County resident, the problems with B&B never got better and have actually been worse since August. According to Mary Ann Carter, who lives in the Barrow Hill Road area, near Hughes Cemetery, the service from B&B has been on a steady decline since August.
"The service was bad before August, but now it's gotten worse. Until Sunday, they hadn't picked up trash at my home in three weeks. I wasn't home at Christmas, so I don't know if they picked up then or not. So it may have actually been four weeks since they came by. When they do come by, it's a day or two later than they're supposed to be. Only about once a month, when the service is average, do they actually come when they're supposed to be here," Carter said.
According to Carter, the county NEARCO center has actually handled some of the trash duties.
"J.D. (Sharp) with NEARCO has really been very nice and professional. He's sent people out to get my garbage on a couple of occasions, and this past weekend, it may actually have been his people that finally got my trash," Carter said.
According to Cisco, NEARCO has been assisting B&B, but those efforts have not helped with the problem.
"We've had to go out and assist them a few times because it's not just single homes that are being skipped. There are entire roads that have been missed, and that's just not cutting it. We've gone out, but it's not getting the job done, and that's why further discussions are coming on this," Cisco said.
Officials with B&B could not be reached for comment this morning.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The adoption of a 2003 budget highlighted a brief meeting of the Wheatley City Council last week.
Mayor Larry Nash presented council members with the proposed budget, stating that it could be revised at the end of the year.
"We tried to accurately predict the expenses for the year, but we can always make changes at the end of the year," said Nash, who then proceeded to explain to the council most of the items listed on the budget and what they fund. After the explanation, the council adopted the 2003 budget unanimously with little discussion.
Nash then discussed the mowing of vacant lots with councilmen.
"We have been charging $30 per lot for the city to mow them. I want to know if maybe you want to increase that charge a few dollars. I think if we charge too much, some of the lots will stop paying us, and we will have to mow them and get into the mess of trying to get them to pay."
The matter was tabled.
Councilmen then discussed the construction of sidewalks in the city. Nash told the group that the recent bidding process did not go as well as the city would have liked.
"We opened the bidding on the sidewalk project. The lowest bid was $98,000, and the highest was around $200,000. We have $66,000 for the project, $55,000 from the state and $11,000 we matched.
"The project also includes eight lights to be placed at the park," Nash added. "The company that gave the lowest bid says that they can work with us, if the council approves, to get the cost between $66,000 and $74,000."
The council voted unanimously to go with the MAPCO General Contractors, Inc. and Monticello Aluminum Company, Inc. of Monticello to begin work on the sidewalks and pay whatever difference within the $66,000 to $74,000 range.
A lawsuit has been filed claiming that negligence caused the death of a Forrest City woman in an accident last spring on the interstate.
Angela Duff, 30, was killed in the accident, which took place May 15, 2002, near the 260 mile marker on Interstate 40 near Forrest City.
The suit claims that Duff was forced off the roadway by a tractor trailer owned by Frontier Express, which changed lanes to avoid a collision with a Big Lake Transport truck, which was attempting to merge onto the interstate from an entrance ramp, according to the lawsuit. This activity allegedly caused Duff to lose control of her vehicle.
The suit contends that after Duff lost control of her vehicle, the vehicle went airborne for about 38 feet before striking a ditch embankment. She died as a result of injuries. Named as defendants are Big Lake Transport Inc., and driver Jose A. Rangel, of Texas and Frontier Express and driver Randy Stokes, of Oklahoma. Rufus Duff, Jr., administrator of the estate of Angela Duff, is the plaintiff.
The lawsuit, filed in St. Francis County Circuit Court, Civil Division, claims that both drivers were negligent. The suit is asking for a sum in excess of $75,000, for costs incurred by the plaintiff, and "all other proper relief."
Several meetings are on tap for this week throughout St. Francis County.
At 5 this evening, the Forrest City Civic Center Commission is scheduled to meet at the civic center. Also tonight, the Widener City Council will meet at 6 o'clock in the Widener City Hall. Also tonight, the regular meetings of the Madison and Hughes city councils are scheduled at 7 at each city's city hall.
On Tuesday, the Forrest City Advertising and Promotions Commission is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. at the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce office.
The St. Francis County Quorum Court's budget committee will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the courthouse. Also on Tuesday, the Caldwell City Council will hold its regular meeting at 7 p.m. The Palestine City Council is also scheduled for a meeting at 7 p.m. at city hall. The Hughes School Board's regular meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
A St. Francis County native was killed Friday afternoon in a single vehicle accident in Lafayette County, Miss.
Michael Lynn Stevenson, 37, of Oxford, Miss., and formerly of St. Francis County, was killed when the 2002 Pontiac in which he was a passenger, went out of control and ran into a tree on County Road 415 outside of Oxford, according to Det. Terry Prestage, with the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department.
"There were three occupants in the vehicle, and it appears the driver just lost control. The impact of the accident killed Mr. Stevenson and sent the other two occupants to the hospital where they were both admitted," Prestage said.
The driver, Elbert Pearson, 40, and Robert Paul Bailey, 48, were both Arkansas natives, according to Prestage. Prestage also said that the accident was still under investigation to see if alcohol or drugs were involved. Condition reports on Pearson and Bailey were not available at press time.