By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City City Council had its first meeting of 2003 Tuesday.
The only business item on the agenda was the opening of a bid from JMW Engineering of Memphis, the only bid received, concerning work on the heating and air conditioning system at the Civic Center. The bid did not have a monetary amount, but instead gave the company's qualifications.
Mayor Larry Bryant said the qualifications would be studied, to see if the company could contract with the city to replace the system.
In other business, the constitutional office holders -- with the exception of Bryant, who was sworn in on Jan. 1 -- received the oath of office from Judge Steve Routon.
Those sworn in included a new city attorney, Alan Cline. He is taking over from Christopher Morledge, who acted as interim city attorney when Knox Kinney resigned after many years of service.
There were also four new city council members, including Louise Fields from Ward 2, Steve Hollowell and Brent Ponder from Ward 3, and Roger Breeding from Ward 4.
Bryant also announced several commission assignments. The council members will meet with commissions as non-voting members, and may also meet with department heads. The council members will then act as liaisons with the city council.
The assignments are as follows: Council president pro-tem, (conducts council meetings in the absence of the mayor) Cecil Twillie; Airport Commission, Roger Breeding; A&P Commission, Louise Fields and Steve Hollowell; Water Commission, John Gadberry; Civic Center Commission, Louise Fields.
Other assignments included: Fire Department, Steve Hollowell; Forrest City Housing Authority, Mary Jeffers; Library Board, Brent Ponder; Parks and Recreation, Roy Hancock; Planning Commission, Roger Breeding; Police Department, Mary Jeffers.
Other appointments included: Personnel Policy Committee, Cecil Twillie, Louise Fields, John Gadberry and Steve Hollowell; Finance Committee, Roy Hancock, Mary Jeffers, Brent Ponder and Roger Breeding.
A special meeting will be held Thursday to discuss the concept of a regional airport between Forrest City and Wynne.
The meeting will be held in the Quorum Court meeting room of the St. Francis County Courthouse at 9 a.m., and will be hosted by the St. Francis County Transportation Commission. Invited guests include the Cross County Transportation Commission and the Forrest City Airport Commission.
"The commissions want to discuss the regional airport concept," said St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco. "The Cross County Commission wanted to meet with us and talk about some things that are available, and whether they even want to pursue it."
The idea of a regional airport isn't new. However, locally the idea has been before the public more since an attempt to expand the Forrest City Airport encountered vocal opposition by landowners in the area of the airport.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Quorum Court welcomed two new members and formed committees for 2003, while also leaving the meeting times as they were for the new year.
In their first meeting of 2003, justices on Monday voted to keep their meeting times at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. The quorum court budget committee will continue meeting on the second Tuesday of each month.
In other business, justices Leodis Williams of Forrest City and Charles Jones of Hughes each attended their first meeting.
Williams was appointed to the budget committee where he will join Henry Wilkinson, chairman; Donald Cagle, O.J. Gandy Jr., Regan Hill, Evans Seawood and B. McCollum Jr.
Jones, in his first term on the court, will serve on the personnel committee, which meets when needed for personnel matters. Jones joins committee chairperson Earlene Smith and justices Sam Armstrong, Jack Crumbly and B. McCollum Jr.
Justices also approved the members of the building and courthouse improvements committee, which is chaired by Armstrong, and consists of Williams, Hill and Crumbly.
Three students -- two at Central Elementary and one at Lincoln Middle School -- were sent home Tuesday and may face further disciplinary action after an incident involving weapons at school.
According to a Forrest City Police Department report, a fourth grade teacher discovered that a 10-year-old student had a piece of iron pipe just as school was beginning. The student said he had brought the pipe to fight another student who had threatened him with a knife.
When the student who allegedly had the knife was questioned, he said he did not have a knife, but said he had given the knife to another student, who attended Lincoln Middle School.
The name of the student who had allegedly received the knife was given, and the knife in question was found in the possession of a 13-year old student at the middle school.
According to Willie Doby, the principal of Central Elementary, the two students involved in the incident at that school are being given home suspensions for a week. He said that was the decision made after a meeting with both sets of parents.
According to the police report, the student at the middle school has been recommended for expulsion for possessing a knife on school property. That student's principal, Marshall James, did not return phone calls seeking comments this morning.
Drugs and money were seized when local police searched a residence on Gorman Street Tuesday night.
Officers with the Forrest City Police Department, acting on tips from area residents, searched the home of Jack Dent, 26, at 604 N. Gorman, Tuesday night, and found 2.2 ounces of marijuana along with over $2,800 in cash. The marijuana has a street value of about $300.
Dent was at home with a small child when police raided the residence.
According to a press release, the FCPD had received complaints from residents about possible drug activity at the Dent residence, and as the result of an investigation into the claims, police obtained a search warrant.
Dent was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver near certain facilities in addition to an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.
FCPD Criminal Investigation Division Lt. Dwight Duch said Dent's residence is located within 1,000 feet of a church, which is defined as a certain facility in the Arkansas Criminal Code. Dent also has previous drug convictions, and is also being charged as a habitual offender, which is an enhancement in sentencing, Duch said.
The possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver marijuana has a sentencing range of three to 10 years in prison. The certain facility phrase adds up to an additional 10 years in prison, according to Duch, who added, that the habitual offender phrase authorizes the court to double the time that could be sentenced in the case.
"The case has been turned over the prosecuting attorney's office for formal charges and disposition," Duch said. Dent was scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon.
Police remind residents to continue reporting suspicious activity to the FCPD. "Calls can remain anonymous at the caller's request. The Forrest City Crime Stoppers also offers rewards up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects involved in criminal activity. The Crime Stoppers telephone number is 261-1499. All Crime Stopper calls are confidential," Duch said.
A man placed on suicide watch at the St. Francis County Jail following his arrest in a domestic dispute reportedly tried to hang himself inside his jail cell Tuesday night.
The St. Francis County Sheriff's Department reports Louis Moore, 24, was found on the floor inside his cell about 9 p.m. when a cellmate alerted jailers to the alleged suicide attempt.
Moore was arrested Sunday evening after allegedly kidnapping his wife and threatening to kill her and himself.
According to the report, jailers said Moore had allegedly braided a piece of blanket, tied one end around his neck and attached the other end to a television stand. Jailers found a note to Moore's wife and children inside his pocket. Jail officials said Moore was not injured in the incident.
However, the subject was transported to the holding cell at the jail so his activity could be more closely monitored.
St. Francis County Sheriff's Deputies assisted the Crittenden County Sheriff's Department Tuesday morning in the search for a woman who reportedly jumped from the Hernando Desoto Bridge spanning the Mississippi River at Memphis.
According to a report from the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, a truck driver from California was westbound on Interstate 40 at the bridge when he saw a silver luxury car parked on the bridge. According to the report, the man said he then saw a white female in a large coat exit the vehicle and jump over the railing on the north side of the bridge.
Deputies reported the truck driver called 911 to report the incident after he was unsuccessful in his attempt to get assistance at a Crittenden County weigh station. After entering St. Francis County, the trucker stopped two deputies at the Truckstops of America truckstop at Shell Lake.
No other information on the suicide was available this morning. Crittenden County officials said they do not comment on suicides.