By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
St. Francis County employees will be a little happier during the holiday season this year after receiving incentive bonus checks this week, although some of those checks were not for the amount promised by the quorum court.
On Monday, the county issued over $106,000 in incentive bonuses to employees who received checks in amounts ranging from $166.67 to $1,000. According to a list of employees paid, several employees who did not have one full year of employment did not receive the full $1,000 payment outlined in a recent ordinance appropriating funds to pay the bonuses.
In August, justices voted to give the $1,000 incentive pay to all full-time employees with at least six-months of employment, while giving part-time employees and full-time employees with less than six months service $500 each. According to county records, $5,758.34 in funds were paid to 13 employees in amounts ranging from $166.67 to $916.67 for workers who had less than one year of employment with the county.
County Clerk Elizabeth Smith said that although the ordinance specified paying employees on a $1,000 or $500 scale, the decision was made to pro-rate the bonus for those employees with less than one year of service.
"In the past, we've always paid the bonuses on a pro-rated schedule. Employees with less than one year of employment were paid based on 1/12 of their service time with the county. I called the judge (St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco) and he agreed that we should pay the bonuses how we always had," Smith said.
According to Cisco, he instructed Smith to pay the bonuses in that manner to follow what the county had always done and to be fair to all employees with less than one year of service.
"We've always paid the bonus to employees who have been here for under a year by prorating the scale. If we hadn't, then an employee who started over the last couple of weeks would have received the same bonus as someone who has been working for the county for five months, and that doesn't seem fair," Cisco said.
According to quorum court and budget committee member Regan Hill, the ordinance was probably supposed to have been written up the same as it had in the past, but the issue might have to be revisited.
"It was my understanding that the ordinance that was drawn up was just like those in the past with new figures installed. If the ordinance read differently, then if any employee questions their bonuses, we will have to revisit the issue," said Hill.
In August, justices appropriated $108,000 to cover the cost of the incentive bonus. A total of $106,258.34 in checks were issued Monday.
Other questions were raised with St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman regarding some auxiliary deputies who received bonuses while the majority did not.
According to the records from the Clerk's office seven out of the 22 auxiliary deputies received $500 incentive bonuses for part-time employment. According to Parkman, the auxiliary deputies who received the bonus are employees which receive a monthly stipend of $250 from the Department.
The bonuses were also awarded to elected officials. Each of the six main elected officials at the courthouse received $1,000 each, and each quorum court justice received a $500 bonus check.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
With most rice farmers around the state pleased with this year's crop, St. Francis County producers are no exception.
"Some of our rice specialists are thinking they may have had a yield record," said Mitch Crow with the local University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension office. "All our final numbers aren't in, but we've had a very good year."
According to an Associated Press story, the average yield per acre in Arkansas this year was 6,600 pounds, while cash prices hovered just below $7 per 100 pounds, and futures prices were near $8. That price level hadn't been seen since 1998, when the average yield per acre in Arkansas was 5,800 pounds.
"The price has been good, too," Crow said. "It's just been one of those ideal years, when the price and the yield have come together."
According to Crow, a lot of St. Francis County rice farmers had good luck with a new variety, Francis, from the U of A.
"Several of our producers have grown it this year, and it's probably going to increase," he said. The Wells variety has been popular, but may be replaced.
"I know some of our producers are saying it's likely a large percentage of their rice next year will be Francis, and Wells may be phased out over the next few years."
In the AP story, Chick Wilson, a rice expert with the Cooperative Extension Service, said that the Wells variety had also had a strong performance this year state-wide. He also said yields were helped by a mild summer growing season and relatively few insect problems.
Arkansas grows more rice than any other state, accounting for about 46 percent of this year's expected crop.
Rice was harvested this year from 1.45 million acres in Arkansas. The only row crop in Arkansas exceeding that acreage is soybeans, planted on nearly 3 million acres in Arkansas this year.
According to Crow, St. Francis County had about 60,000 to 70,000 acres in rice.
Keith Glover, president of the Producers Rice Mill Inc. cooperative at Stuttgart, said the relatively good prices stemmed from strong exports, in part to Brazil.
''So far, they've purchased (about) 230,000 tons, and its believed that there's additional purchases that have yet to be reported,'' he said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With plenty of area to utilize and funds to make it happen, the Forrest City Municipal Complex is changing shape.
Work is currently underway at the complex to add a road surrounding the municipal park in addition to adding a two-acre pond at the facility. According to Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant, the work is being done to give Forrest Citians access to new things with space available to the city.
"The pond is something that people young and old will be able to enjoy. It is going to be close to the new Senior Citizens Center as well as the baseball fields, which will make it easy for folks to access. If parents or grandparents are taking their children out to the complex for practice, then this will give them a place to go and relax and throw a stone or a line in the water," said Bryant.
Bryant also said that the new additions might include a second pavilion near the pond.
"This is something that I've been wanting to do for quite a while, and now it's coming to fruition. It would be nice if people in Forrest City had a place to go here in town for their family reunions and gatherings instead of having to drive 20 miles to get to a nice facility," Bryant said. "It will also help local businesses, because if you're having a gettogether or a reunion and you run out of something, all you have to do is drive back into town. We're just wanting to utilize the complex as much as possible, and to make it as good as we can to make Forrest City a first-class city in this part of the state," he said.
Safety issues were also taken into consideration in the construction of the pond. According to Bryant, city officials built the pond on a grade to insure that there are no steep drop-offs. Also, an area of the property that could not be used for much else was chosen.
"We're going to stock the pond, and we've built it without any real steep drop-offs. You would have to wade out 10 feet before you'd even get to a 3-foot drop," Bryant said. "The area that we used really couldn't be used for much of anything else because it was very low. Now we'll be able to use it, plus we've added a road all the way around the complex so that folks can enjoy the entire facility."
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
Several issues were approved during a brief meeting of the Wheatley City Council Thursday evening.
Mayor Larry Nash introduced a proposed budget for 2004. "We do this very year," said Nash. "We try to get this done so we can pass the budget in January." Councilmen offered no discussion on the budget before unanimously passing the proposal.
Nash also told the council of an effort to clean out the old fire station. "The city has been storing city files at the old fire station. When we were cleaning the station out, we found a lot of old records. We sorted the records out, and we are planning on keeping the records from 1994 and up. The state requires we keep records seven years back. We need the council's permission to destroy the old records before 1994." The council unanimously voted to allow the files to be destroyed.
City attorney Marshall Wright read the third and final reading of an amendment to the ordinance outlining Wheatley zoning regulations. The change restricts mobile homes that are used as residences to be in a mobile home park. Those used for storage or businesses are exempt. After the reading, the council approved the amendment to the ordinance.
In other news, Wheatley Police Chief Bill Talley announced that he will be retiring in two weeks. A reception was held after the meeting for Talley, and Nash presented him with a plaque of appreciation for his service to the city.
A Forrest City man who had just a few months left on a five-year suspended sentence had that sentence revoked on Wednesday, and is now on his way to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Eric Fenner Wright, 26, 1648 SFC 224, was sentenced to the three years in the ADC following his January arrest on drug charges. Wright was originally charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver near certain facilities (marijuana), simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms and possession of firearms by certain persons.
The two possession charges were nolle prosequi, and Wright plead guilty to the charge of simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms.
In September 1998, Wright was given a suspended sentence on previous drug convictions. That SIS would have expired in September this year.
Two suspects in a home-invasion armed robbery have been arrested by the Forrest City Police Department.
Tremaine Thomas, 18, of 822 Oakland in Forrest City, and Arizona Logan, 31, of 1903 Haywood in Forrest City, were charged in the incident, which took place Tuesday night.
According to the police report, Kim Lamb, of 1516 E. Broadway, was at home playing a video game with an acquaintance, when two masked men burst into his house and demanded money. One of the men had a pistol. Lamb was beaten before the two men fled with an estimated $2,500.
Thomas was arrested Wednesday at Rosser and St. Andrews. Logan was arrested Thursday at 225 N. Rosser. Both are charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. Thomas is additionally charged with resisting arrest and fleeing.
Both have been bound over to circuit court. Bond for Thomas was set at $25,000; while bond for Logan was set at $100,000.