By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Airport Commission took little action Monday, but spent considerable time discussing the regional airport concept recently endorsed by the city council.
Members also discussed a still hoped-for meeting with Federal Aviation Administration officials, to receive assurances about the fate of an expansion project at the local airport.
The Forrest City City Council recently passed a resolution favoring, in principle, the concept of a regional airport somewhere between Forrest City and Wynne. The Airport Commission had requested that the council wait until the meeting between the commission and the FAA had been held.
At Monday's meeting, the commission's chairman, Bill Hays, showed a copy of a fax he had sent to Ed Agnew of the FAA, and a reply he said he received via e-mail.
The e-mail stated that the FAA is operating under a continuing resolution. "Simply put, we remain in a very conservative position regarding travel expenditures."
The e-mail invites commission members to come to Fort Worth, Texas, for a meeting.
Hays told the other commission members that he still didn't have an answer to his questions.
"Since the city council voted to proceed with the regional airport concept, we still don't know where we stand, if we stand," Hays said. "And it could very well be a possibility that somewhere along the line, this airport might be closed or sold."
Hays said there were still plans to extend the existing airport's runway, and said he thought they would have been approved by now.
"We do need to have as safe an airport as we can possibly have until such time as the new airport opens," he said.
It was stated that the FAA would probably not require the closing of Forrest City's airport until such time as there was a regional airport ready.
Commission member Vester Wroten expressed some disillusion with the FAA.
"Looks to me like the FAA has done told us, 'We aren't interested in fooling with you guys.' They ain't coming over, they ain't got the money," he said. "We can drive down there to meet them. I wouldn't drive across town to meet them."
Hays said he didn't feel the FAA meant it that way.
Member Joe Williams asked if the Airport Commission had an actual authority over anything.
"It seems like we should be more involved in the decision-making process," Williams said. "The reason I'm asking these questions -- citizens of Forrest City are asking me, and I don't have any answers for them."
Wroten asked if the commission might want to endorse the idea of a regional airport.
"In our case, everybody has gone for it, except us," he said (that includes the St. Francis County Quorum Court, the Wynne City Council and the Cross County Quorum Court and the transportation commissions from each county).
"Rather than have it in the paper tomorrow that the Airport Commission is still not supporting a regional airport..." Wroten continued.
"That's a dead issue," said Hays, explaining that the commission has no say, one way or another, now that the city council has acted.
Commission member Homer Jacobs agreed with Hays.
"They just disregarded us completely, never gave us a moment to have this consultation with the FAA," Jacobs said. "And they went ahead and took action without us."
Hays said the commission is in favor of a regional airport, but "we just want to wait and find out if it's going to interfere with our present plans."
On another matter, Gil Gilbreath of Hutcherson Flying Service, the firm that manages the airport, presented a plan for enlarging the terminal.
"We have a need right now for this airport being nice," he said. He passed out some architectural drawings of how the enlarged terminal might look. He also said that, if the airport is sold in the future, they might consider whether any money spent by Hutcherson Flying Service on improvements might be applied toward a purchase price.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A Colt man accused of raping a five-year-old girl while he was out of jail on bond from a previous rape charge, this one also involving a child, is currently behind bars.
John D. Easley, 72, was arrested Friday on the second rape charge, and his bond was set at $50,000. He was free on bond until Monday when he appeared in St. Francis County District Court where his bond was changed to a $25,000 cash bond. He is now being held in the St. Francis County Jail.
According to court records, Easley allegedly forced the girl to have sexual intercourse with him at his home in February. He was out of jail on a $35,000 bond from an incident reported to police in late January.
In January, a six-year-old boy told his mother of two incidents that had occurred during which Easley had allegedly forced the child to perform oral sex. Easley was arrested on the first rape charge on Jan. 31.
Easley is a family acquaintance of both victims, according to reports.
The boy reportedly told his mother that one of the incidents had occurred at Easley's home in the Colt area while he was visiting there. According to court records, Easley's wife is believed to have been at home watching television in another room when this attack occurred. The first incident reportedly occurred in a truck belonging to Easley while he and the boy were on an outing to buy ice cream.
The investigation into these allegations is being conducted by the Family Protection Unit of the Arkansas State Police. The investigator in charge of the cases could not be reached for comment.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
County residents will continue to pay a family usage fee at the Forrest City Public Library.
The matter was discussed during the board's regular monthly meeting Monday afternoon after board member Brad Beavers said he had been questioned about the charge by a former city resident who now lives in the county.
Beavers said the woman, who still owns property inside the city limits, but now lives in the county, asked whether or not the annual fee could be waived.
The annual $15 fee is charged for each family that chooses to use the library either for its computers or to check out books.
A library ordinance states that non-city residents are allowed to read books at the library and use most of the facility's resources, but are not allowed to check out books or use the computers without paying the annual membership fee.
"I received a call from a county resident that had at one time been a city resident. She had lost her card, and when they ran her new address outside of the city limits, it came up that she owed the $15 fee," Beavers said. "She brought up what I think is a valid argument that since she still owned two houses in the city and pays the millage each year, that she shouldn't have to pay the fee. It had never occurred to me about non-residents paying taxes on property in the city.
"The statute, which is in line with the state, says the board may extend the library's services how we see fit, which means we can charge a fee, set that fee and set conditions of that fee. We can also choose not to charge. I am not in favor, or opposed, to the changing the ordinance, but I feel the problem with her argument is that if we base the charge on owning property and not on residency, that may lead to abuse," Beavers said.
Board member Alice Barnes said that she felt that county residents had made the choice for the board.
"I feel that those living outside the city limits don't pay the taxes like residents do and should pay that $15 fee," said Barnes. "Those people voted down the proposal to support the library with their tax money, so I feel the fee of $15 per year, per family is not unfair."
The board agreed that the current ordinance would stand and even be more strongly enforced.
In other news, the board decided to adopt a new inclement weather policy. The policy will be that the library will follow the lead of city hall and the judgment of the library directors in severe weather situations.
A man who admitted to police that he had been having sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl was sentenced to prison Monday during circuit court proceedings at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
Adrian Greer, 20, 501 Murray St., Forrest City, was sentenced to 10 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections for sexual assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Greer was originally charged with rape during an arrest last August when police found a 12-year-old runaway girl inside his home.
According to court records, at the time of his arrest, Greer was serving a five-year suspended imposition of sentence with one year of supervised probation that had been levied against him in March for theft of property. That sentence was revoked, resulting in Monday's 10-year sentence on his current charges.
Paul Chism, 29, 154 SFC 712, Forrest City, was also sentenced to 10 years in state prison on Monday after his suspended sentence was revoked.
Chism was sentenced to two five-year suspended imposition of sentences, accompanied by a year of supervised probation for each, on a variety of drug charges in October 2000. However, a recent arrest on drug charges caused the previous sentences to be revoked, according to court records.
His revocation included two 10-year prison sentences on the charges from June of 2000, but those sentences are to run concurrently.
The St. Francis County Indigent Care Board will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 5, in the board room at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City.
The purpose of the meeting is for board members to continue discussing legal filings that would provide for the transfer of funds to the county.