By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Building permits issued in December totaled $109,800 in projects locally.
There were only four building permits issued. Larry Bryant is building a storage building at the corner of Hill and Grant streets for $25,000, and Splash Car Wash bought a permit for a sign valued at $9,300. There were two permits issued for private homes, including one new house and one repair job.
The December permits brought the total for 2002 to over $7.9 million. That figure is down from the $10.4 million in projects for which permits were issued in 2001.
There were also fewer permits issued in 2002 -- 155 compared to 173 in 2001.
The difference can partly be accounted for by the December figures in both years.
While the 2002 December figures were low, the 2001 building permit picture received a huge boost in December of that year. A $6 million permit was issued for the new Forrest City Junior High building. That not only gave December of 2001 the highest one-month total of the year, but also pushed the over-all total to the $10.4 million figure.
The building permit total for 2000 was $9.5 million, also more than 2002. However, 2000 benefited from some large projects, including $2.6 million for the Chapel Ridge Apartments and $1.2 million for the construction of Grace Plaza.
The year 2002 was not without its big projects. A permit for the second phase of the Chapel Ridge Apartments, at $3.2 million, was issued in October, bringing the total of that month's 12 permits to $3,255,235.
The totals of the other 10 months in 2002 were as follows:
January -- $347,161.70. Thirteen permits were issued, the largest being for a $270,000 new building at Forrest City Grocery.
February -- $368,670. There were 16 permits issued. The largest was issued for $175,000, for siding at Indian Hills Apartments.
March -- $171,800; Eight permits were issued and the largest was for $150,000. It was purchased for new apartments on North Izard by CCR.
April -- $297,700. There were no particularly large permits, but there were 22 issued, most of them for residential projects in the $50,000 and under range.
May -- $838,568. There were 11 permits issued. The permit for an addition at Boar's Head Provisions, valued at $462,000, was the largest. There was also a permit issued for $318,158 worth of work at East Arkansas Community College.
June -- $283,600. For once, the largest permit was for a house, valued at $165,0000. There were 12 permits issued.
July -- $271,467. Out of 20 permits issued, Calvary Christian School's new $80,000 office building was the largest.
August -- $848,190. There were 16 permits issued. Three were large, including one for the Splash Car Wash on North Washington, valued at $350,000, and two houses valued at $200,000 and $113,000.
September -- $491,000. Nine permits included a $266,000 remodeling project at Forrest Ridge Apartments on Hill Street. There was also a permit for $100,000, for the completion of a child support enforcement office.
November -- $721,100. The largest permit of the 12 issued was for the new Colvin's Country Carpet building, valued at $175,000.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The heavy rains of 2002 may have delayed work by area farmers, but according to St. Francis County Extension Agent Justin Hensley, the wet year didn't put much of a damper on crop production.
According to officials with the National Weather Service, 2002 went down as the third wettest year for the Memphis area, where 74.81 inches of precipitation was recorded. According to the NWS official, no specific totals for St. Francis County were available.
Hensley said heavy rain early in the year delayed some planting, but the overall effect was negligible, and added that although many areas of St. Francis County were hit with wet weather in July, land from Blackfish to Haynes experienced close to drought conditions.
"Early in the year we received a lot of rain, and that kept some of the farmers from getting their crops planted as soon as they'd liked to, but they were able to get the crops in without a whole lot of delays. Then when July rolled around and some places were getting a lot of rain, we had a strip of land from the Blackfish area all the way over to Haynes that didn't get any rain, and they really had some problems," Hensley said.
According to Hensley, the wet weather also caused some problems during harvest when farmers were forced to leave crops in the field due to the soaked ground.
"Around harvest, we really got a lot of rain, and the farmers just couldn't get in their fields to harvest their crops. It hurt the soybean yields and the rice yields some, but the one area we thought we'd really get hit was in our cotton quality. The quality of the cotton didn't drop off nearly as much as some people were predicting," he said.
For the year, Hensley said that county farmers had a good year overall when the early harvested crops, such as corn, are accounted for.
The St. Francis County Slimathon is back -- offering participants a chance to take off added holiday pounds, get in shape and develop a healthier lifestyle.
Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City and the St. Francis County Farm Bureau Women's Committee are teaming up once again in an effort to promote healthier lifestyles among county residents.
The event will kick off on Jan. 14, and last for eight weeks. The initial weigh-in will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at BMH-FC in the education classroom on the first floor.
Weigh-out will be at the same location on Tuesday, March 11, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Photo identification will be required for all participants at weigh in and weigh out, and all information will remain confidential, according to event organizers.
Optional weekly weigh-ins will be on Tuesdays, beginning on Jan. 21, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 3 to 5:30 p.m. Participants are urged to weigh each week near the same time with the same amount of clothing to get a more accurate account of weight loss. Participants may or may not choose to wear shoes during weigh-ins, but that choice must remain consistent throughout the competition.
The goal of the Slimathon is to promote optimal health and nutritional status among area residents, organizers said. Both sponsors encourage participants to lose weight through a balanced low-calorie diet and increased energy expenditure. It is also recommended that participants have a daily exercise plan and keep a food diary.
The weight lost during the event will be computed by percentage rather than by total pounds lost in order to keep the competition fair to all involved. Results of the contest will be announced after March 11.
Teams should consist of four to 10 people and descriptive names are encouraged. Each team member must pay $10. The total amount of money collected during the event will be divided equally among the winning team members.
A woman was arrested Thursday after her husband was found bleeding in the hallway of their home on North Washington.
When officers responded to a disturbance call, with weapons allegedly involved, they found Joseph Webb, 39, bleeding from the leg and head.
According to witnesses, Webb was allegedly inebriated and got into an altercation with his wife, Shirley McGaughy Webb, 44. Joseph Webb was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City where he was treated and released.
Shirley Webb was charged with third-degree domestic battery. She was also arrested for failure to appear on charges of public intoxication and violation of the Arkansas hot check law.