By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Officers of Arkansas State Police Troop D, headquartered in Forrest City, were kept busy over the weekend, but their work was rewarded by a a holiday period with no fatalities.
According to Capt. Nathaniel Jackson, troop commander, eight accidents were investigated by troopers during the weekend and none of them were fatal.
"That was really good," said Jackson.
Troop D includes Crittenden, Phillips, Lee, St. Francis, Cross, Woodruff, Monroe and Prairie counties. The official holiday weekend, for ASP purposes began one minute after midnight on Friday morning, May 23, and ended at the stroke of midnight last night.
There were extra patrols on the highways, and officers were also taking part in the "Click It Or Ticket" program, which focuses on safety belt use and child restraint usage. There was also a special emphasis on drinking and driving. Sobriety checkpoints were set up, and other violations were sometimes found when people were stopped.
Also of concern was the construction under way on interstate highways across the state.
There were a total of 1,142 officer-violator contacts, according to Jackson.
"For the troop, we had 269 speeding arrests and 24 DWI arrests," he said. "We also had 107 safety belt arrests and 30 child restraint arrests."
There were 29 hazardous violation arrests and 136 non-hazardous violation arrests. Non-hazardous could be a tail light not working or no proof of insurance. Hazardous violations could include following too closely or reckless driving.
There were also 186 speed warnings issued, along with numerous other warnings.
There were 52 stops to assist motorists.
Three duffel bags full of marijuana were confiscated during a routine traffic stop Friday afternoon on Interstate 40 near Forrest City.
Arkansas State Police reported an eastbound 1994 Toyota 4-Runner was stopped for a traffic violation about 2:30 p.m., and the vehicle was searched after the trooper obtained permission to look inside the vehicle from its passengers. In the rear of the SUV, the trooper found an estimated 250 pounds of marijuana inside the bags.
According to the police report, neither of the two occupants had a driver's license.
The owner of the vehicle, Leticia Castellano, 22, and the driver, Gabriel Rojas Contreras, 27, both of San Diego, Calif., were arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Castellano was also charged with allowing an unauthorized person to drive. Contreras was also charged with criminal impersonation and driving on a suspended driver's license.
Both suspects are scheduled to appear in St. Francis County District Court Wednesday afternoon.
The East Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees has approved a new program to be added to EACCs offering for students.
In response to requests from area healthcare centers, EACC plans to offer an Associate of Applied Science degree in Radiologic Technology. If approved by the Department of Higher Education and the Arkansas Coordinating Board of Higher Education, the program is expected to begin in the spring semester 2004.
The 24-month program will require 73 credit hours designed to train entry-level X-ray technologists for the practice of diagnostic imaging. Students will be required to participate in both classroom and clinical settings during the course of the program. After graduation, the students will be eligible to take the national credentialing examination offered through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologies.
"There is a documented need at both the local and area levels for qualified radiologic technologists", said Jan Haven, EACC Vice President for Academic Affairs. "This program will open doors for students into an interesting and lucrative career in health care. At present, the Arkansas Department of Employment Security lists 15 health professions on the Demand Occupation List where community colleges can identify and provide educational programs that will help ensure a student's employability."
Radiologic technologists are the medical personnel who perform diagnostic imaging examinations and administer radiation therapy treatments. They are educated in anatomy, patient positioning, examination techniques, equipment protocols, radiation safety, radiation protection and basic patient care. With additional training or degrees students may specialize in a specific imaging technique, such as bone densitometry, cardiovascular-interventional technology, computed tomography, mammography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, quality management, sonography or general radiography. Radiologic technologists can also specialize in radiation therapy, which is the delivery of high doses of radiation to treat cancer and other diseases.
"It's an exciting and personally rewarding profession," said Haven.
Haven further stated that statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor support the claim that job opportunities for radiologic technologists and technicians are expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2010, as the population grows and ages.
"Hospitals are traditionally the main source of employment for radiologic technologists but a growing number of new jobs will be found in clinical settings such as doctors offices because of the strong shift in demand for outpatient care. Some employers currently report shortages of qualified workers and this is sparking a demand for these workers in this field", said Haven.
For more information about the future EACC Radiologic Program, please contact the EACC Department of Allied Health at 870-633-4480 ext. 270 or the EACC Office of Academic Affairs at ext. 328.
A Palestine man was uninjured when his cropduster slid across a field on its belly Sunday afternoon.
Terry R. Haynes, 34, a pilot for Chism Flying Service in Brinkley, told St. Francis County Sheriff's Deputy Donald Parkman that he was making a "turn out" when the engine on his aircraft quit.
Haynes was spraying a field located off County Road 115 just north of Palestine when the plane crashed about 1 p.m. Haynes said the plane first struck a rice levee, then traveled through a fence row before coming to rest on an embankment about 150 feet from where it first struck the ground, according to the sheriff's department report.
Even though Haynes was not hurt, Parkman said the aircraft suffered major damage in the crash.
"If the engine had quit a few seconds later, he could have set the plane down in an open field," Parkman said. "But, it nipped the rice levee and that threw it all out of kilter."
The Crowley's Ridge Development Council Inc., will hold a Delta Summit and Prevention Luncheon on Thursday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Forrest City Civic Center.
According to a press release from the CRDC, the summit will focus on education and the development and linking of resources to provide greater self-empowerment within each of the six PRC Region 7 counties.
Representatives from several agencies will be on-hand to discuss services offered by their agencies and Cindi Prince, CRDC Director of Substance Abuse Prevention will give a short session on prevention strategies.
For more information call 870-343-2887. The six counties in PRC Region 7 are Crittenden, Cross, Lee, Monroe, Phillips and St. Francis.