By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A decision by Circuit Judge Harvey Yates last week has cleared the way for over $5 million in construction and renovation to begin at the Baptist Memorial Hospital complex, while also boosting St. Francis County's general account.
On Thursday, Yates approved a decree filed in a lawsuit between the county and BMH-FC against the trustees of the trust fund for medically indigent residents of St. Francis County. The decree, which settled the lawsuit, will allow the county to turn over the property that the BMH-FC complex now sits on. It frees Baptist to continue with upgrades and renovations -- including a new physicians office building, a state of the art women's center and a magnetic resonance imaging center.
The decision will also allot $1 million in funds from the Indigent Care Board Trust to the county general account with a portion of the money being reserved by the county to be used to provide medical care to indigent residents of St. Francis County.
"This was really a win, win situation for everyone," said St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco. "This decision will allow Baptist to increase their care in our county while also helping the county's financial situation. It will also continue to help the Indigent Care Trust because Baptist will continue to pay interest on the $1 million to the Trust."
According to the agreement, the trust fund will continue to receive interest payments on the $1 million which is going to the county even though the funds won't be in the account.
The $1 million payment to the county are interest funds which have accrued over the lifetime of the original $2 million trust payment. A stipulation in the decree also guarantees that if BMHFC were to close it's doors, the hospital and property ownership would transfer back to the hands of St. Francis County.
A Memphis man was arrested Saturday for allegedly stealing cash from two businesses.
One instance took place at the Ole South Pancake House on North Washington. An employee stated that a customer asked her for change. After she gave the customer change, she turned to wait on another customer and heard the cash register open and close. The suspect then pushed her out of the way and ran out the door. A relative of the employee chased and detained the suspect.
A report had also been made at the Texaco station on N. Washington. A man had allegedly asked for change but had left with too much money.
In both cases, the man was identified as Lawrence Buford, 52, of Memphis. He has been charged with one count of theft of property under $500, and one count of robbery.
St. Francis County is one of 15 counties in Arkansas to receive authorization for federal disaster funds.
The announcement was made Friday afternoon. President Bush declared that a major disaster exists in the state, an ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.
The beneficiary of the federal funding will be areas struck by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding which began on May 2.
This morning, St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said assessments are being made of damage done during the storms.
"We're doing an assessment of all the damages we received during that period," said Cisco. "The preliminary estimate is between $80,000 and $100,000. We've been replacing pipe and fixing roads and so forth. We should have more precise figures in the next few days."
Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for the repair or replacement of public facilities damaged by the severe weather.
Along with St. Francis County, the eligible counties include Chicot, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Cross, Independence, Jackson, Madison, Newton, Perry, Poinsett, Van Buren, White and Woodruff counties.
Michael D. Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and under secretary of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, said the President authorized the aid following a review of FEMA's analysis of the state's request for relief.
Brown said the declaration also makes cost-shared funding available for approved projects that reduce future disaster risks.
According to a press release, damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and more counties may be named later.
The press release further stated that procedures for requesting assistance will be explained at a series of briefings, to be announced shortly in the affected areas.
St. Francis County received $128,682 in sales tax receipts during April, according to the Arkansas Municipal League.
In addition, prorated amounts were received by towns in the county, as follows: Hughes, $25,504.17; Forrest City, $201,820.36; Wheatley, $5,081; Palestine, $10,122.44; Madison, $13,482.92; Caldwell, $4,352.14; Colt, $5,027.06; Widener, $4,476.28.
Several towns in St. Francis County also have their own sales taxes, and they received the following: Forrest City, $140,434,77; Hughes, $8,378.47; Madison, $2,013.75; Palestine, $6,376.11; Wheatley, $1,380.72.
Two blood drives have been scheduled at the Forrest City McDonald's, to help two local men.
The first will be Tuesday, June 10, from noon until 4 p.m. The second will be Monday, June 16, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Both draws are to replace blood for Steve Harris or Mike Miller, both of whom have needed transfusions. Anyone wishing to sign up for a specific time should contact Martha Gandy at 633-1165.
Three meetings will take place tonight around St. Francis County.
The Widener City Council will meet at 6 p.m. At 7 p.m., the Madison City Council will meet. The Hughes City Council will meet at 7:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, the St. Francis County Quorum Court personnel committee meets at 4:30 p.m., the budget committee meets at 5:30 p.m., and the full Quorum Court meets at 6 p.m.