A Hughes farmer was recently fined and placed on a year's probation for "placing or directing the placement of bait" for the purpose of dove hunting.
U.S. District Judge Susan Weber Wright ordered Peyton Upton to pay a $5,000 fine. Upton's probationary period prohibits him from dove hunting for one year.
The sentencing was the result of a cooperative investigation by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The investigation alleged that in August of 2002, Upton directed his employees to distribute milo grains on a plowed field on his farm. In September of 2002, Upton allegedly invited 35 hunters to hunt mourning doves on the baited field. On the day of the hunt, law enforcement officers found wheat, corn and sunflower seeds, in addition to the milo seeds, on top of the ground in the field.
"Hunting mourning doves over lands that have been baited with salt, grain or other feed, is a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," said Thomas R. Riley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service senior agent in charge of law enforcement in the Southeast Region. "However, nothing prohibits hunting in areas where grains are found scattered as a result of normal agricultural planting or harvest."
Each of the 35 hunters involved in the September 2002 hunting incident received a $300 fine because of the obvious presence of the grains in Upton's field, a press release stated. In 1998 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was amended to make it illegal to hunt in a baited area if the hunter "knows or reasonably should know" that the area is baited.
The names of the 35 hunters have not yet been released; although, the Times-Herald this morning filed a Freedom of Information request for those names with the Central Violations Bureau in San Antonio, Texas.
Following the joint state and federal investigation, Bud Cummins, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, filed a one count criminal information charging Upton with the violation, and Upton entered a guilty plea.
For more information on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and baiting, hunters should contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 501-324-5643 or the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission at 501-223-6300.
A van stolen from the Harvest Foods parking lot just after midnight today was recovered minutes later when the suspect stopped at an area convenience store.
Robert Poland, 35, 1168 Hwy. 1 South, Forrest City, told police he had stopped at Harvest Foods to use the pay phone about midnight, but had parked near the front of the building before realizing the phones were located closer to Washington Street. Poland said he left his 1991 Plymouth Voyager and walked toward the phones when he saw a black male suspect jump into the van and drive west on Dillard Street.
When Poland dialed 911, a police officer was driving past Harvest Foods and saw him on the telephone. The officer broadcast a description of the vehicle, and an officer on West Broadway saw the suspect drive onto the Shell Superstop parking lot.
According to police, the suspect, Rodrick D. Williams, 16, 146 W. Franklin, Forrest City, was arrested after police saw him get out of the vehicle and walk into the store. The arresting officer also reported observing Williams throwing something under the van, which after further investigation, turned out to be a plastic bag containing 23 individually wrapped bags of crack cocaine weighing about five grams.
Williams is being charged as adult for theft of property, auto;
possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, crack
and no driver's license.
A toddler trying to get to his mother was hit by a car Tuesday afternoon at a local bank branch.
The Forrest City Police Department reported two-year-old Spenser Lewis, 413 E. St. Andrews, Forrest City, had been left inside his mother's vehicle just before 2 p.m. while she walked to a nearby ATM at the First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas branch at 2217 North Washington.
According to the police report, the child's mother, Valyria Lewis, told police she was standing at the ATM when she heard a child scream, and as she turned around, saw the rear left tire of a 1994 Ford Tempo rolling over her child. When the mother yelled, the driver of the car, Vera M. Seawood, 58, 417 Sunrise Dr., Forrest City, stopped her car.
Seawood told police she was trying to leave the bank's parking lot and drove between the ATM and the vehicle parked away from it. Seawood said she heard a child scream as she drove past the ATM, and when she stopped, saw the child on the ground behind her car.
The child was taken by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest
City where he was treated and released.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Two additions to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City are in the works, one under construction and one awaiting state approval.
According to Paul Cade, hospital administrator, the newest Physician Office Building is being built, and the Women's Center is still in the architectural stages.
"The architects have finished their designs for all four suites for the physicians, and it is under construction," said Cade. "They've finished the groundwork, the footings have been poured, and they're in the process of pouring slabs right now."
The office building will be located next to the two physicians buildings already on the hospital property.
The Women's Center is something for which Cade said there is a need, and work is under way to get the project approved.
"Last week we had a mechanical engineer and an electrical engineer down, so the architect can get through with their plans," said Cade. "They should be finished in about 60 days with complete plans."
He said the Women's Center has received verbal approval, although that is extremely informal.
"Once the final plans are completed, we'll work with the architect and complete a narrative to explain what's going to be in each room."
According to Cade, the Women's Center should be a welcome addition.
"One thing I saw when I first got here, is the number of babies we deliver. We deliver between 600 and 700 a year," he said.
"And what we wanted to do is provide a service and model it closely after the Baptist Women's Hospital in Memphis," he continued. "We've found that mothers really prefer that they have LDR's."
The acronym LDR refers to Labor, Delivery and Recovery.
"The mothers want to have their labor, delivery and recovery in one room," he said, "instead of having to go from one room to another. It's very modern."
With less than a week remaining before the last bell rings, administrators in the Forrest City School District have announced their final day plans.
Monday June 2, is scheduled as the last day of school for area students. School will be dismissed at 2 p.m.
The last day was originally scheduled for Thursday, May 29, but the year was extended by one day to account for snow days earlier this year.