By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
With no business to transact, the Forrest City Airport Commission had an informational meeting at Monday's regular meeting.
Among items discussed was a big improvement project. The Federal Aviation Administration requires that an electrical engineer evaluate the site before the improvements are made, chairman Bill Hays informed the board. He said that is already happening, adding that Dan Clinton of Grimes Consulting Engineers had been at the airport with an electrical engineer.
The improvement project, being paid for with a $225,000 grant from the FAA, is actually several projects, designed to improve the safety and security of the airport.
One project is the installation of runway end identifier lights (REILS). These help a pilot spot the ends of the runway easier. Another project is the installation of a PAPI, or precision approach path indicator. A PAPI system helps a pilot determine if an airplane is on the correct approach path to the airport.
For security, the airport's existing four-foot, barbed wire fence will be replaced with a seven-foot, chain link fence with a three-strand barbed wire arm at the top. There will also be electronically-operated security gates.
Hays said he will also ask the city for a purchase order number to replace the airport's non-directional beacon, or instrument approach system, which helps pilots find the airport.
Commissioner Joe Williams asked what progress had been made on a lighted sign for the airport, and was told the project had been inadvertently sidetracked with all the other activity, but that it would be brought back onto the front burner soon.
The commission members were also informed that a paving job for a parking area is almost finished, and that there were no new hangar rentals in the past month.
Hays also reminded commissioners of the airport's winter hours, which began Monday. 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.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
"What was that rumble last night?"
That was the question on the minds of residents from West Helena to Jonesboro this morning after an object allegedly fell from the sky at close to 10 p.m. Monday.
St. Francis County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy H.N. Green, who witnessed a bright blue light flashing late last night, said several reports have been made about the object which could be seen, heard and felt. According to several individuals, about 10 p.m., a loud boom shook several area homes.
"Me and Bette were visiting with some folks, and as I was starting the car, this blue light flashed across the sky. Bette told me that I had my blue lights on and I told her that I didn't. I actually thought that a transformer had blown somewhere, and we went looking for it, but we couldn't find anything," Green said.
A student on her way home from Jonesboro also witnessed the bright blue sky. Sam Ethridge and a friend were traveling on Highway 1 when she said the sky lit up.
"We were just driving along and the sky just turned an electric blue. I didn't actually see what was falling, but my friend said that it was a light that just kept on falling. We stopped at a convenience store, and that's when we heard about the sonic boom," Ethridge said.
Others in the sheriff's department also witnessed the event. "Me and my wife heard the boom and felt the house shake. We thought my grandson had fallen out of his bed," said Deputy Joy Lee Hancock.
The Forrest City Police Department also received its fair share of calls, according to Det. John Riggins. "We got several calls, and I actually felt the boom at my house. It shook the house for a second and was gone," Riggins said.
One Forrest City citizen said the rumble actually shook her out of her bed.
"I was in bed watching television when it happened, and it shook our house so bad that we thought it was an earthquake. I jumped up and ran in to where my husband was watching TV and he asked me what it was," said Elizabeth Loeb.
That question remains on the mind of many people, and authorities have yet to confirm what actually happened.
Officials with the Jonesboro Aviation Center said they have received several telephone calls from concerned citizens, but have not been able to confirm what type of object actually fell, although they thought it was probably a meteor.
At the Regional Aviation Center in Irving, Texas, officials were familiar with the incident, but could only say that they had no reports of any airplane accidents or any other aerial accidents.
Geologists with the University of Memphis Center for Research Information are also looking into last night's events, and according to Gary Patterson, with UofM, the object was probably a meteor.
"We're looking into this, and it was probably a meteor, but we're not certain at this point. It was a pervasive object that entered the atmosphere, and we're trying to pinpoint where it may have landed," Patterson said.
"The sonic boom may have been caused if the meteor exploded just before it impacted with the earth. Once we're able to pinpoint the actual site where it landed, we'll be able to gather more information. This was pretty big because the impact registered on our scales," he said.
Last week several huge solar flares erupted from the sun during what scientists called one of the most turbulent periods in solar observations since 1940, according to the Associated Press. On Sunday and Monday, at least three more salvos of highly charged particles were sent toward Earth. Scientists said more explosions from the sun's surface are likely.
The latest solar eruptions brought to six the number of huge flares noted since last Wednesday. The sunspots that have been generating the flares probably will rotate out of view in the next day or so, according to scientists. That would offer Earth a respite from the eruptions and the geomagnetic storms they trigger in the atmosphere, according to the Space Environment Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The speedy particles colliding with the upper atmosphere could generate colorful aurora displays in the night sky as far south as Colorado.
A father and son duo was arrested on drug charges near Colt Saturday after one of them was caught tampering with a church van.
Jerry Clegg, 56, and Jesse Clegg, 22, both of 1025 Highway 306 West in Colt, were arrested by St. Francis County Sheriff's deputies following up on a tip from a minister who had reportedly observed the son tampering with the gas tank on the van.
Rev. Connie Moore, the pastor of the Mt. Moriah M.B. Church west of Colt, said he went outside about 10 p.m. to retrieve something from the van when he heard a tapping noise near the church and saw a male subject near the van. He went back into his home and called deputies who found one of the van's windows broken.
Based on Moore's description of the suspect, deputies went to the Clegg home where they identified the suspect and also found several marijuana plants growing on the property.
Jesse Clegg is charged with breaking and entering, theft of
property under $500, criminal mischief, possession of a firearm
by a certain person and manufacturing a controlled substance near
a certain facility. His father is also charged with manufacturing
a controlled substance near a certain facility.
Kristin Casbeer held off several potential threats in last week's Professor Pigskin football contest to walk away with the $50 cash prize after missing just two of the 20 selected games.
Casbeer's closest rivals in the balloting were Eugene Pryor of Forrest City and Elisha Green of Widener. Both missed three of the 20 games.
Casbeer, of Forrest City, missed the Star City-Fordyce high school game and the Carolina Panthers-Houston Texans NFL game played Sunday.
Casbeer becomes the sixth female Pigskin winner this season in nine weeks of competition.
This week's schedule of Pigskin games can be found inside today's Times-Herald.
Projects valued at $122,740 received building permits in Forrest City during October, according to figures from the mayor's office.
Most of the projects were commercial. The largest was a building, valued at $68,000, being constructed by Larry Bryant at 114 N. Grant. Other commercial projects and their value included: Repairs by Randy Pearson at 106 N. Washington, $12,145; A canopy by Sanford Ray at 301 E. Broadway, $1,000; a sign by Dave Grundfest at 120 Holiday Drive, $18,795; and remodeling at Holiday Inn/Denny's at 200 Holiday Drive.
Private home projects included three remodeling and one siding project.
A Heth woman told police Friday that a man who had been shooting a gun outside her home earlier in the evening raped her after she took the gun away from him and they visited on her front porch.
The St. Francis County Sheriff's Department is investigating the charge filed by a 21-year-old Heth woman.
According to the report, the victim told police the suspect had been shooting the gun when he walked to the steps of her house, asking for a drink of water.
After getting him a drink of water, the victim told police she was able to get the gun away from the suspect and place it under a seat in his car. She reported the man asked to see her underwear, and after telling him no, she went into the house and was followed by the suspect who allegedly raped her.