By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Dry, warm weather is giving both city and county road crews an opportunity to catch up after an unusually wet summer.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said county crews are using the unseasonably warm weather over the past few weeks to get ready for the winter months.
"We've really been working to get ourselves prepared for the winter, and the weather has really been cooperating with us," said Cisco.
County crews have been busy installing and repairing bridges and maintaining many of the county's ditches.
"Our main concern right now is making sure that we've got all of our bridges and ditches in good shape so that when the weather does come in, we'll be ready. Our guys have installed a couple of new bridges, and they are working to repair quite a few bridges. We're constantly trying to keep the roads in good shape, and right now we're doing pretty well," he said.
Cisco also said that the Northeast Arkansas Recycling Corporation (NEARCO) is running smoothly with the addition of its new building and baler.
"Things out at NEARCO are running pretty well right now. Our construction is finally completed, and the baler is up and running and everything is going pretty smoothly. We're getting in a lot of material so our crews have been going strong and everything is just really running well," Cisco said.
According to Clovis Macon, Forrest City Sanitation Department manager, city crews are already prepared for rough winter weather and have been using this warm spat to work to maintain ditches and make repairs to several city streets.
"We constantly work to make sure that we're ready in case of rough weather, so right now we're basically working on maintenance. We've been working on our ditches and fixing potholes so we're still pretty busy," said Macon.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
With just two months before the passing of a state Supreme Court deadline ordering legislators to reform the state's failing public school system, it appears four distinct approaches to overhauling education have emerged.
Responding to an Associated Press story to that effect, however, Rep. Danny Ferguson, D-Forrest City, said he can't be sure those are the only plans.
"Two of those have been in the news a lot," said Ferguson. "I'm assuming that someone is working on a draft of a bill."
He said he has seen Gov. Mike Huckabee's proposal, as well as a proposal by Sen. Paul Miller, D-Melbourne, and Rep. Paul Weaver, D-Violet Hill.
"I've heard that there is another proposal in the works," said Ferguson. "Whether it's going to be four or seven, I don't know. But I've heard that there are multiple choices."
The four reform proposals vary in major areas including the amount and implementation of teacher salary increases, mandatory maximum class sizes, whether or not to consolidate schools, deadlines for schools to meet academic and efficiency standards and whether to include preschool programs in the reforms.
The four proposals mentioned in the AP story are the Huckabee plan, the Weaver-Miller plan, a proposal by a California based consulting firm and Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.
"I just hope the public realizes this is an extremely complicated issue -- by far the most complicated issue we've had to deal with during my tenure in the Legislature," said Ferguson. "I think everyone is being cautious. No one wants to make a mistake. No one wants to go in and raise a bunch of taxes and then spend them on something that does not improve the quality of education in Arkansas."
He said it's a hard subject on which to get an absolute answer.
"This is not a hard science," he said. "Two atoms of oxygen and one of hydrogen make water, every time. But education reform is not a hard science. You can have studies made by different experts and you'll get different findings.
It's going to be a difficult issue, and a terribly emotional one," Ferguson continued. "You're talking about not only raising taxes, but altering the way people have done public education for years, and also he possible altering of the way small schools have existed. You can talk to people and people will give you their opinion. But I don't believe anyone thinks they have an automatic mathematical formula."
Legislators have five weeks remaining before Huckabee is expected to call them into a special session Dec. 8 to determine an education-reform plan and how to fund it.
Some who are involved in or closely following the reform process say that the final package will likely include ideas from each of the four proposals offered to date.
''Progress has been going on and you are seeing that play out in the committee meetings,'' said Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, who said he supports an amended version of Huckabee's $362 million plan.
The proposal, which Bisbee and other senators have said they have votes to pass in the Senate, would change Huckabee's 425-minimum high school size cutoff to a 500-student district size.
Under Huckabee's plan, high schools with fewer than 425 students could face possible consolidation if they cannot meet academic standards in an economically efficient way.
The McCollum family marks its 60th year as owners of the Times-Herald as the newspaper observes its 133rd year of continuous publication today.
The Times-Herald is the oldest established business in St. Francis County, and one of only a few daily newspapers not only in Arkansas, but throughout the nation, which continue to be family-owned businesses.
"Most newspapers today are being absorbed by large chains, but we are proud that our newspaper is operated by people who work and live in this area not by people who are transferred in and out via a corporate revolving door," said Publisher Weston McCollum Lewey. "By keeping this newspaper locally-owned, we're able to better serve our readers and the public."
The Times-Herald also strives to be a good community neighbor through participation in, and support of, various community projects, Lewey added.
The newspaper is printed Monday through Friday at its plant located on Izard Street in downtown Forrest City.
The Forrest City City Council will meet in regular session on Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. at city hall.
Agenda items include a request for a variance to place a sign at Counseling Services of Eastern Arkansas, a request for final plat approval on a subdivision on U.S. Highway 70 E., and a request for preliminary plat approval of a subdivision on Ark. Highway 1 N. The Planning Commission has given a do-pass recommendation to all three requests.
The Forrest City Airport will begin observing its winter hours today.
Hours will be 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The office will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
People to contact for fuel during non office hours include John Harris, 633-7865; Jerry King, 633-5573; Jason Garner, 261-2594; Gil Gilbreath, 633-0554; or Cory Amos, 519-1082.
After hours, there will be a $20 service charge.
Pancakes will dominate the menu tomorrow as the Forrest City Kiwanis Club holds its annual Pancake Day.
The all-you-can eat festivities will be held from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at First Baptist Church on Rosser Street. Tickets for Pancake Day can be purchased from any Kiwanis member, from participating businesses or by calling the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce. Tickets are $5 in advance and $6 at the door with proceeds benefiting area youth and community activities.