By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Recent hot, dry weather has many Arkansas peach growers looking forward to a productive and profitable season and a rebound from last year.
According to an Associated Press story, if projections hold true, it could be one of the best seasons ever for Arkansas growers, who lead surrounding states in the volume of peaches sold.
Locally the picking is pretty good in St. Francis County this year, although peaches have been a mixed bag -- some doing well, some not so well, and some producers hardly producing at all.
Linda Jones of Jones Orchard said things have been going fairly well.
"We're into Lorings, and I was telling them (indicating some customers and baskets of peaches) about the no-names," she said, laughing. "We don't know what variety they are!
"But the Albertas should be ready in 10 days to two weeks. We're not going to have as many Albertas as we've had the other varieties, but what we've got looks really good."
Fred Spann is one example of a producer who has had both good and bad luck this year.
"We don't have a large crop, but our quality of crop is all right," said Spann, whose orchards are about three miles east of Colt. "We had a hail storm that came through, and it hit us in the middle of the night sometime and we have an awful lot of hail damage. But it's streaky. Some parts of the orchard were hit really hard. And that's pretty much our story at this stage."
The John McDaniel peach operation is near the Forrest City airport. He reported that his crops didn't have the hail damage that some folks farther north did.
However, he said some varieties have not done as well as others, such as Topaz and Lorings. Red Haven has done well.
Most Arkansas peaches remain in the state, because most growers sell their fruit at roadside stands or by inviting customers to pick their own.
A few, like Larry Holben of Johnson County sells to grocers in cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Wichita, Kan.
According to reports, Arkansas growers are expected to yield 18 million pounds of peaches for sale this season, up 80 percent from last season's 10 million pounds. Cold, wet weather hurt last year's crop.
In this area, Missouri is second to Arkansas, with 9.5 million pounds.
However, Arkansas' yield is small compared to the peach powerhouses. California is the country's leading producer of peaches, with 1.8 billion pounds. South Carolina is expected to be second, with 130 million pounds, followed by the "Peach State," Georgia, with 92 million pounds.
"Georgia and California kill us," Holben said. "I
don't know how they can grow cheaper than I can, but they do.
If it was easy, everybody wold be growing them."
By SHANNON NICKS
T-H Staff Writer
The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) on Thursday met with county and city officials to continue discussing the area's disaster response plan.
The LEPC, which is in the process of updating the 1997 disaster response plan, reviewed the results of questionnaires that were recently mailed to county and city officials. The questionnaires were to be used to gather information about each community in the county, including a list of all the available resources in the communities. Upon reviewing the results, it was determined that the information was a good beginning, but still inconclusive.
To resolve this issue, the committee determined that a more direct approach would allow faster progress. The committee agreed to develop subcommittees to gather the information necessary to update the plan
Each subcommittee will be in charge of updating one annex of the original plan. Annexes of the original plan include direction and control, communication and warning, emergency public information, law enforcement, fire rescue, engineering, shelter and evacuation, health and medical, radiological protection, damage assessment and resources and supplies.
The annexes will then be compiled into one document and distributed as booklets. The booklets will follow the format of the Arkansas Emergency Disaster Plan, which has been sent to the committee on a compact disc to serve as a template. Booklets will be located at major facilities throughout the county.
The LEPC will meet in September to review the project's progress.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
A new report shows that St. Francis County recorded a 1.5 percent increase in housing units during a two-year period from July 1, 2000 to July 1, 2002.
According to estimates provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, SFC ranked 20th out of the 75 counties in Arkansas in growth in housing. The housing unit designation includes residences, such as houses or apartments, that have been built in an area. Most areas with a large increase in new housing units have also experienced a larger population increase.
SFC was tied with Scott, Cleveland, Sebastian, Pike, Calhoun, Hot Spring and Fulton counties. The report shows that as of July 1, 2000, SFC had 11,276 housing units countywide. That number increased to 11,447 between then and July 1, 2002.
St. Francis County ranked ahead of neighboring counties Monroe, which was in a five-way tie for 21st at 1.4 percent and Woodruff, in a four-way tie for 26th with a 0.9 increase. Three counties in the immediate region scored higher than SFC, according to the USCB. Of those, Crittenden reported the highest increase with a 2.7 hike over the two-year period, placing it ninth statewide. Cross County came in 14th place with a 2.1 percent increase, and Lee ended in a tie with Crawford for 15th place, having a 2.0 increase.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said. "I imagine that figure would be about right. We have several people who live here and go to Wynne or Memphis to work. We also have many people who live outside of the county and work here. But, I think we can do better. We have lost several plants in the past few years, and that hurts. We would attract more people if we attracted more industry. If we create the jobs, people will come and fill them."
While no county in Arkansas had a decrease in housing units, Bradley County had no change, remaining at a 5,931 figure both in 2000 and 2002. Benton County saw the largest increase with a 5.7 percent increase from 64,625 to 68,335.
Forrest City High School has announced registration for the 2003-04 school year.
The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, Aug. 6, grades 10-12, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 7, grades 11-12, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 8, grades 11-12, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
All students must pay a $5 registration fee at the time of registration. A late registration fee of $10 will be assessed to students registering after Aug. 8. All fines must be paid prior to registration.
All 10th grade students should come prepared to have student identification pictures made on Wednesday, Aug. 6.
A town meeting will be held Monday, Aug. 11, to discuss the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which was completed in the fall of 2002 and spring of 2003 with schools in St. Francis County.
The meeting will be held from 6:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Learning Resource Center at East Arkansas Community College.
The survey covers issues facing those ages 13 to 18 in St. Francis County. Those attending the meeting will have the opportunity to participate in the formation of the St. Francis County Youth Council.
"It is our vision to bring together the diverse groups who work with youth in St. Francis County," a press release states. "By coming together, we can focus our programs in a united effort to address the issues that our youth feel are troubling them."
People wanting more information may call Deborah Miller at 870-633-1315 or Lt. Eddie Adamson at 870-633-3434.