By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A Lee County woman is in good condition today at a Memphis hospital after she was hit by a vehicle in downtown Forrest City Friday afternoon.
The Forrest City Police Department reported Katherine Eddleman, 66, of Marianna, was struck when she walked between two vehicles on South Izard Street near the East Broadway intersection about 1:15 p.m.
Eddleman was hit by a 1997 Toyota Four-Runner driven by Samantha Simes, 34, of Cordova, Tenn. Simes was not reported injured, and no damage was reported to her vehicle.
Simes told police she was traveling north on Izard Street, sitting at the red light near the East Broadway intersection, waiting for the light to change to green when she noticed Eddleman talking to a subject at a store located on a corner of the intersection. Simes said that after the light turned green, she proceeded to drive forward, but as she drove away, Eddleman stepped between her vehicle and another vehicle in front of her and was struck by her SUV.
Downtown traffic was halted for about an hour while emergency personnel with Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City treated Eddleman and waited for Med Flight from the Med Center in Memphis to arrive.
Eddleman remains hospitalized in Memphis. Police are waiting on a statement from the victim before completing the accident report.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Friday afternoon, many Forrest Citians witnessed a sight which may become rare unless the Regional Medical Center in Memphis can get out of a financial bind.
According to figures from the Med, over $10 million in charity care was provided by the hospital to Arkansas residents in the 2002 fiscal year. Losses from 2002 stood at $10,165,242 for care to Medicaid and uninsured patients at the hospital. Officials with Shelby County and the Med are now looking to the states of Arkansas and Mississippi for assistance with their budget woes.
Shelby County Commissioner Joyce Avery, an eastern Arkansas native, said officials are looking for help from any place they can find it.
"The Med is a real asset to the entire region. It services patients from the Boothill of Missouri, down into Eastern Arkansas and over into Northern Mississippi. Right now, the Med is facing some financial woes, and we're looking to the those areas for assistance in whatever ways we can. In the future, we'll be talking to community leaders to see if we can to emphasize the importance of having a level-one trauma center in the area, and to find out how the cities in the area can all help out to continue to benefit from the Med," said Avery.
As officials go to municipal and county governments in the area, questions are also being asked at the state level.
In 2001, the state of Arkansas paid $44,000 to the Med according to information from Medicaid, and paid nothing in 2002. During the same time period, the state of Mississippi sent the hospital $16 million in state and federal funds and has committed up to $500,000 from its state trauma program. Officials with the hospital have proposed becoming a part of a state program which consists of state money and federal matching funds. Under the program, the hospital would pay Arkansas' $1 to qualify for $3 in matching funds from the federal government. The proposal has run into problems on the state level due to the exchange of funds across state lines.
In 2002, the MED admitted 1,084 Arkansans and treated close to 1,900. According to figures from the hospital, close to 500 patient discharges during that same time period were along the Interstate 40 corridor between West Memphis and Brinkley. West Memphis led the way with 281 patient discharges between July 1, 2002 and June 30, 2002, with Forrest City second along Interstate 40, with 55 patients.
The numbers then fall to Earle with 42; Crawfordsville and Hughes with 24; Marianna 20; Wynne 18; 16 from Proctor; 12 from Parkin, and Brinkley with 10. Other communities listed were Edmondson with four patients; Caldwell and Palestine with three each; Colt with two patients and Haynes and Wheatley with one each.
Forrest City was third statewide, behind only West Memphis and Blytheville, which sent 67 patients to the MED for the year.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Some state legislators, looking at Gov. Mike Huckabee's proposal for public school reform, have suggested that the governor may be getting ready for a possible ballot initiative, but the governor's office isn't confirming or denying that that is his plan.
Rep. Danny Ferguson said last week he's hoping it can be worked out by lawmakers.
"I think the best-case scenario is if the Legislature can address this," Ferguson said.
"It's tricky," Ferguson said of the idea of an initiative. "In the first place, he'll miss the January deadline (set by the Arkansas Supreme Court for having a plan in place). Second, what if he floats an initiative and it fails? What then?"
There has been some concern voiced that if the governor's plan comes to a vote, only those opposed to it -- such as people in small school districts facing possible consolidation -- will feel strongly enough to vote, while people whose school districts won't be affected will stay home from the polls.
The state Supreme Court declared the state's public education system unconstitutional in November and gave the state until next Jan. 1 to develop remedies.
Ferguson admitted that getting the Legislature to agree on a plan will be difficult if a special session is called for Dec. 8.
"At this point, I don't know that anyone has the perfect issue," he said. "I understand there are some talks going on and I'm hopeful there'll be some compromising. Any bill that passes is going to be a compromise on everybody's part."
He even said the timing of the special session, if it's held at all, might add to the problem.
"It's going to be throwing them (legislators) all over there (in Little Rock) in the middle of the holidays," Ferguson said.
"From what I've heard, the date itself has created a little aggravation in the Legislature...They're human beings, with families and home lives. And to be stuck over there on an issue as complicated as this and emotional as this, something that's absolutely going to revolutionize the state, and to be dealing with it during the Christmas season, that's tough. It makes it a little tougher personally, when people are wanting to be home with their families."
He said the best idea might be the one which suggests that the Legislature ask the Supreme Court for a little more time.
"I would personally love to see the Supreme Court kind of give a blessing to our coming in early in January, if we come in and really knuckle down," he said. There might be some leniency on the Jan. 1 deadline.
During months of inertia after a 94-day regular session produced no major education reforms this year, the governor said he was fully prepared to lead a drive to put his education agenda before voters in 2004 if the Legislature did not get behind it in a special session this fall.
After Huckabee presented his new plan Thursday, a spokesman would not say whether the presentation would fuel an initiative drive.
Huckabee said he was out of time and patience for continued negotiations in an attempt to develop a plan agreeable to all parties.
The governor expressed similar frustration in announcing his
new education reform plan Thursday, although the announcement
gave legislators 60 days to reach consensus before the special
session that Huckabee has tentatively set to begin Dec. 8. He
also pledged to meet with small groups of lawmakers between now
and then.
Several meetings are scheduled throughout the county tonight and Tuesday.
The Forrest City School Board meets tonight at 5:30 at Lincoln Middle School.
School board members will hear an update on the construction of the junior high school, and discuss a legislative joint audit report. They will also hear a salary proposal for certified and classified personnel.
The Widener City Council meets at 6 p.m., and the Madison City Council meets at 7 p.m. The Hughes City Council will meet at 7:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, the Advertising and Promotion Commission meets at 7 p.m., as do the Palestine and Caldwell City Councils. The Hughes School Board will meet at 7:30 p.m.
A local teenager was the victim of an attempted rape late Saturday night while babysitting in a local housing project.
The 15-year-old girl told police she was babysitting for the 34-year-old male suspect who attempted to rape her when he returned to his home in the Rice and Mann public housing area just after midnight.
According to a report at the Forrest City Police Department, the girl said when the suspect came home, he forced her into a bedroom where he grabbed a knife and forcefully removed her clothing and attempted to have sex with her, but she kept fighting him. The suspect then placed his knife on the bed, and after threatening her if she told what had happened, let her leave.
The teen ran to a neighbor's house and called police.
No charges have yet been filed.