By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Arkansas State Police Troopers and National Guardsmen descended on St. Francis County yesterday as part of a statewide crackdown on marijuana.
Helicopters and Humvees loaded with the narcotic could be seen throughout the county as the marijuana eradication team harvested the crop. According to ASP Sgt. Robert York, yesterday's effort was part of a two- to three-day program to search the county for marijuana.
"This is a part of a statewide effort that we have from county to county hitting them hard for two or three days to find as many of the plants as we can," said York.
In searches yesterday, authorities netted over 100 plants from locations across the county as part of the sting, and two arrests were made near Palestine due to the investigations.
According to reports from the St. Francis County Sheriff's offices, troopers arrested 66-year old Jesse Allen, of Palestine, on a charge of manufacturing a controlled substance, marijuana, along with 53-year old Randy Reeves, of 2991 SFC 123, near Goodwin.
The First Judicial District Drug Task Force also netted several arrests Tuesday. Two Forrest City men were arrested on several charges involving marijuana and methamphetamine.
Richard A. Thomas, 39, 602 SFC 730, Forrest City and William E. Thomas, 44, Apt. 311, Chapel Ridge Apts., Forrest City, were arrested and charged with manufacturing of a controlled substance methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance methamphetamine, possession of ephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, possession anhydrous ammonia in an unlawful container, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms and possession of drug paraphernalia. Richard Thomas was also charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance marijuana.
Also on Tuesday, DTF members arrested Kenneth Dilks, 46, of
Colt, on charges of possession of a controlled substance, marijuana,
with the intent to distribute, simultaneous possession of drugs
and firearms and possession of drug paraphernalia. Another DTF
bust netted 26-year old Marcus Powell of Hughes who is charged
with delivery of a controlled substance, marijuana.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The 2003 Rumble on the Ridge basketball tournament and the upcoming Arkansas Delta Byways Annual Banquet topped the agenda at the Forrest City Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Bill Baxter, organizer of the Rumble on the Ridge, told the members what they could expect from the 2003 edition of the tournament.
"This year, the games held on Saturday, Nov. 29, will begin at 2 p.m. We will have several teams which are highly ranked and have won state championships, including two-year defending AAA champs Pulaski Academy. We will also have the Forrest City girls team play the Pulaski Academy girls team before the championship game. And, for the first time in a few years, we will produce a program for the event."
In an effort to promote the event, Baxter told commissioners that "Hawgs Illustrated, a magazine that features stories about the University of Arkansas' sports programs, had offered to sell Baxter a half-page ad in that publication for four issues. "They are only charging us $400 per week. The ads will run in the Oct. 18, Nov. 1, Nov. 15 and Nov. 22 editions. They will also do a story on the Rumble, which will appear in the Nov. 15 issue," Baxter said. "Also, I usually run an ad in the Gerald Snyder Recruiting Service newsletter that goes to college basketball coaches. The newsletter highlights high school basketball players and helps the coaches recruit. I usually run a full-page ad in that publication, and money from the event pays the $300 we pay for that. I am asking you for $1,600 to fund the ads in the Hawgs magazine. It has 19,000 subscribers, and I feel it targets the people we want to reach for the event. Also, if you would like to advertise in the newsletter, I need to check with them, but you could do that too."
Chairman Kem Merrill agreed, "I think its a good idea (advertising in the Hawgs magazine). Maybe we should advertise in the newsletter too. The people who read those publications are the people we should be targeting for the Rumble. If we advertise in the newsletter, I feel that it should be a list of places to stay and eat in Forrest City so that the coaches can have it right there in front of them; no need for them to call around. Also, if the Hawg magazine could highlight who these teams are and the highly-recruited players who play for them, more people will show up. Just to look at the schedule may not mean much to someone, but to hear that a team is a defending state champ or a player is one of the best in the country really helps to promote the event."
The commission voted unanimously to approve $1,900 to purchase the four ads in Hawgs Illustrated, and an ad in the newsletter.
St. Francis County Museum Director Laura Mazzanti asked the group to help fund the Arkansas Delta Byways Banquet scheduled to be held in Forrest City next month.
"The banquet will be Friday, Oct. 3, at the Forrest City Civic Center. We are asking if you can provide funding for music for the event. We have asked John Weston to provide the music. The cost will be $500 for Weston," Mazzanti said. "Also, we want to provide giveaway items to the 150 Byways officials and the tourism leaders in the area, door prizes and items for a silent auction."
She added that tickets to the event, which is open to the public, are $25 which is applied toward the purchase of the meals and the award plaque. All other money will go to the ADB. She said anyone interested in attending may contact the museum at 870-261-1744. After some discussion, the members agreed to provide $1,500 to fund the music, giveaways, door prizes and to pay the rent for the civic center.
In other news, Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce Executive
Director Danny Ferguson asked the commission to help pay a balance
of $3,273.85 for new computers that have been installed at the
Chamber. The members granted his request, and also will look into
donating the old computers to the museum.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Water Commission on Tuesday opened bids for replacing the roof on the Kittle Road ground storage facility, and found that one bid was much lower than the other two.
Evan Teague, with Garver Engineering, opened and read the bids and the commission voted to have the engineering firm check the bids to make sure the lowest bid meets specifications. Bidders were asked to submit bids on both steel and aluminum roofs.
The apparent low bidder was Brown-Minneapolis Tank of Tulsa, Okla., which bid $122,019 for steel and $143,602 for aluminum.
Also bidding was Gulf State Protective Coatings of La Porte, Texas, which bid $197,500 for steel and $201,000 for aluminum.
The third bid was from Advance Tank and Construction of Pell City, Ala., which bid 190,000 for steel and $192,000 for aluminum.
If the specifications work out, the commission will accept the low bid, probably for the aluminum roof. Jim Beazley, Water Utility manger, said the aluminum doesn't have to be painted. He also said the bid amount from Brown-Minneapolis was "about the range we were looking at."
The commission also gave Beazley permission to spend about $28,000 for a new grinder, to swap out with the grinder at the lift station at the federal prison. He said having a spare would keep them from having to shut down in case of a clog.
"You would be amazed at some of the stuff that comes through
a sewer," said Jimmy King, Water Commission chairman. The
commission allowed Beazley to make the purchase without seeking
bids because he said there was only one source from which to get
the equipment.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
While the actual ground work on the proposed St. Francis County Transportation Mall has yet to begin, background work is under way in earnest, according to Frederick Freeman, interim coordinator for the St. Francis County Transportation Committee.
Freeman told committee members Tuesday that representatives of the committee would be meeting in Little Rock today to receive a grant for the project from the Delta Regional Authority. Freeman also told the group that other funding sources would also be contacted while the group was in Little Rock.
"We have been setting meetings with potential funding sources for the project, and we will receive our grant from the Delta Regional Authority tomorrow. After that meeting we have another meeting scheduled with a possible funding source. We're working on three to five sources now, and there's the potential (for funding) from at least 10 that we're talking with," said Freeman.
He also told board members that they would receive monthly updates in the meeting packets on where the progress on the project is headed.
Committee members were also updated by Bobby May, a consultant to the committee. May told the committee that he is currently working on getting a large donation from an anonymous source for the project.
"I'm working on a donation right now, which would be a rather large sum of money for this project. The source involved wants to remain anonymous and is trying to make sure the project is for real before that type of funding is committed," said May.
According to May, a meeting may be scheduled as early as the end of this month.
In other business, board members were told that bylaws should
be completed as soon as the next monthly meeting of the committee.
The board also approved an organizational chart for committee
personnel.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
New Hughes Police Chief Timothy Sheets was introduced at the regular meeting of the Hughes City Council on Monday night. Sheets, an officer in Turrell before taking the Hughes position, wasted little time before he told the members of several issues that need to be addressed in the city's police department.
"I have spoken to the state about the jail," said Sheets. "They said that all we need to bring the jail up to code is to have more trained jailers and a written jail policy. The policy is written, and I am going to send our three dispatchers to a week-long jailer training course so that they will be certified. I also will send them for training to become auxiliary officers so that if a person comes in with a report, they can legally take it instead of having to call an officer that is on patrol back into the station and take the report.
"We (the HPD) will be passing out personal property identifier sheets to everyone in the city. Residents will be asked to fill out the sheets which will be held here at the department. We are asking that you list everything of monetary and personal value on the sheets. It will make it much easier to identify stolen property and to recover it from pawn shops in the area. We have a real problem with burglaries and thefts here, and this will help prevent some of that."
Sheets then addressed the issue of drug trafficking in Hughes. "Due to the drug trafficking in the city, I want to get a drug dog. A lot of drugs come through here from Little Rock to Memphis and West Memphis. A dog would help us catch some of this traffic coming through. Also, the city would get some of the forfeiture such as money and vehicles. That money will go to the city. The dog will pay for itself in a short amount of time, but to purchase one, I'm going to ask local businesses, churches and individuals to help with the purchase."
Sheets then told the council of the problems that the HPD is encountering with traffic stops. "We need to get ACIC (the Arkansas Criminal Information Center) access in Hughes. As it is now, we have to call the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department to get information on license plates on traffic stops. This takes time because the county dispatchers have to answer the county units. They get back to us, but it sometimes takes awhile. If we had the system here in Hughes, it would save time and improve safety for our officers. The system alerts them if a person is wanted, if the vehicle is stolen, if tags are valid, several things. It will cost $3,000 initially and a $200 annual fee. There is also a monthly fee of $258.50. It would be a great asset for the city. The ACIC system warns of storms in the area and all state activity in the areas of crime."
Also, Sheets requested that the city purchase three new bulletproof vests for the department at $300 each, and the members granted his request. All other issues brought to the council's attention by Sheets were tabled.
In other news, Mayor Donnie Mooney told the council that a new water department budget was due this month. "The budget ends in October," said Mooney. "It runs from October to October each year. I've drawn one up, and we need to discuss it and pass a budget so that we won't be behind for next year." The council unanimously adopted the budget for a total of $136,632. "If everything goes as planned, we should have $20,000 left in the account."
Before adjourning, the council approved a raise for its three
police dispatchers. Two of the three received a $1.35 raise per
hour. The third, who is the dispatcher with the most seniority,
received a $1.50 per hour raise.
Voters throughout St. Francis County have cast 171 votes so far in the early voting session for several school board races and millage requests in the Forrest City and Hughes school districts. After today, only three more days of early voting remain.
In Forrest City, the only contested race is between incumbent Wayne Jones, who is being challenged by Pat Flanagin for Position 2 on the Forrest City School Board.
Early voting is being held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the SFC County Clerk's office Monday through Friday, until Monday, Sept. 15. The election will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at various polling locations throughout the county.
Two changes need to be made in the schedule of events previously published for the Caldwell Cotton Pickin' Festival.
First, the Cotton Pickin' Contest will take place Saturday, Sept. 28, at 11 a.m., not 1 p.m.
Also, the deadline for entering the Cotton Pickin' King and Queen contest is Sept. 24.
The annual festival will be held on Sept. 26 and 27 at the Caldwell City Park.