By TIMES-HERALD STAFF
Two students in the Palestine-Wheatley School District were critically injured this morning when their car was hit by a train at a dangerous railroad crossing in Palestine.
Angela Pate, 16, was driving a 1996 Chevrolet across the main railroad crossing in Palestine when her car was struck by a westbound Union Pacific train. Her nine-year-old brother, Billy Pate Jr., was a passenger in the vehicle.
Both students were airlifted from the scene to hospitals in Memphis. Angela is listed in critical condition at the Med Center, and Billy is in critical condition at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.
Palestine Police Chief Todd Baggett said Pate was stopped due to traffic on the tracks, and when she attempted to cross the tracks, was struck by the train.
The black box on the train showed it was traveling 49 miles per hour when it struck the car. The black box also revealed the engineer had been blowing the train's whistle for an estimated 3,668 feet before the train reached the crossing.
The engineer told police when Pate saw the train, she "punched it and the train caught the doors of her car."
Angela Pate is a 10th grader at PWHS, and Billy is in the fourth grade. School officials said a third child in the Pate family attends classes at the junior high campus in Wheatley, and was already at that school when the accident occurred.
The last accident in which a car was struck by a train at this same crossing was in 1997. The crossing does not have arms that descend when a train is about to pass, only flashing lights.
A 20-year-old Colt man was stabbed Saturday during an altercation at the corner of Gorman and Franklin streets in Forrest City.
According to a report from the Forrest City Police Department, Gregory L. Hamilton, 20, of Colt, was stabbed after he attempted to break up an argument between a group of people Saturday night. Police reported Hamilton was stabbed on the back of his left shoulder by an unknown assailant after the suspect took out a knife during the argument.
According to the report, Hamilton described his attacker as a black male, 28 to 29 years of age, and weighing around 150 pounds with short hair and a mustache. He was last seen wearing a red checkered coat. Hamilton was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City where he was treated and released.
Two Harrisburg children were airlifted to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center Thursday after both fell from a motor home traveling on Kittle Road.
According to a report from the Forrest City Police Department, six-year-old Morgan Marquis and his three-year-old brother Matthew, were injured Thursday when the door to a motor home being driven by their mother, Shannon D. Greenhaw, 25, of Harrisburg, opened, throwing both boys from the vehicle.
According to the report, Greenhaw was traveling south on Kittle Road when a door to the vehicle opened and Matthew Marquis fell from the RV. According to the report, as Matthew fell, Morgan attempted to catch and restrain him, but both were ejected.
Police reported the vehicle then rolled over both boys, causing internal injuries to both, and Morgan suffered a broken leg. According to officials with Le Bonheur, Morgan was released Sunday. Le Bonheur officials had no information on Matthew's condition.
A man who escaped from a prison facility in Washington was captured Saturday afternoon after he allegedly started a fight on a Greyhound Bus traveling through Forrest City.
Arkansas State Police Corporal Kelvin Stewart said Harvey Meshon, 24, of Federal Way, Wash., was taken into custody when state police responded to a disturbance that had caused the eastbound bus to stop near the 250 mile marker.
Stewart said Meshon had been drinking on the bus and was threatening to harm other passengers, one of which was a female, Julie Gammon, 44, of Memphis, who Stewart said had apparently had been talking with Meshon during the ride.
"We got a call from Greyhound that they were having a fight on a bus that had stopped on the Interstate, and we got them, Meshon and Gammon, off the bus," Stewart said. "A routine background check on Meshon found that he was wanted on a felony escape warrant through the King County Sheriff's Department." "He walked away from some type of jail facility where he was being held because of a protection order against him for harassment. Apparently he had been convicted for stalking some female," Stewart said. "He told us he was on his way to Pennsylvania because he was in the Marines and was getting ready to be deployed."
In addition to escape, Meshon is charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct. According to his arrest record, he is scheduled to be appear in St. Francis County District Court and be extradited today.
Gammon was charged with possession of a controlled substance, marijuana, public intoxication and disorderly conduct.
The Forrest City Education Association's Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration as a part of Read Across America will be held at 6 tonight at the Forrest City Civic Center.
The event was originally scheduled for Monday, March 3, but was rescheduled due to inclement weather.
Community leaders and volunteers will read and entertain families during the annual event.
The deadline to sign up for the Forrest City Recreation Department's youth softball and baseball summer leagues has been extended by one day until Tuesday, March 11.
Youth league fees before Tuesday's 5 p.m. deadline, are $15 for youths living inside the Forrest City city limits and $25 for those living outside the city limits.
After Tuesday, the fees increase by $5 and youths will be placed on teams at random.
The Recreation office, located in Forrest City City Hall, will be open each day this week until 5 p.m., to accommodate those who haven't signed up.
For more information contact Kenneth Taylor at (870) 633-3667.
Two kilos of cocaine were found during a routine traffic stop in Forrest City Sunday afternoon.
Arkansas State Police Troop D reported a 1993 Chrysler van driven by Matilde Zarate Montiel, 31, of Austin, Texas, was stopped at McDonald's on North Washington about 4:30 p.m.
Montiel consented to a search of her vehicle where troopers found the cocaine, with an estimated street value of $200,000, hidden inside a laundry detergent box.
Troopers reported Montiel is an illegal alien and is being held for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.