By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The St. Francis County Farm Bureau held its annual meeting Tuesday, passing resolutions, electing its first woman president and hearing from the state president on agriculture issues.
Stanley Reed, vice president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said the state organization is trying to fend off attempts to amend the current federal farm bill.
"We do not want anyone tinkering with the farm bill," he said. "The farm bill is working."
He also said that the Farm Bureau was instrumental in defeating two referendums. One was the so-called "animal cruelty act," which many producers feared would severely hinder farmers. The other was a proposal to remove the sales tax from food and medicine. He said that amendment would have cut sharply into revenues at a time when more revenue was needed.
The county election of officers was held, and Denelda Michaelis was named the first woman president of the county's Farm Bureau. Terry McGraw is vice president and Judy Jayroe is secretary/treasurer.
The board of directors is Charles Adamson, Margy Cannon, Brent Howton, Henry Dale Jayroe, John McDaniel, J.C. Rice, Billy Sweet, Richard Blaylock, John Horton, Billy Jayroe, Luther Lieblong, Morris O'Quin, John Stipe and Rusty Trail.
Voting delegates to the state convention will be Denelda Michaelis, Judy Jayroe, Terry McGraw and Billy Jayroe.
Several other special guests were recognized, including the Darrell Gore family, this year's county Farm Family of the Year.
Amanda Ramsey, this year's Miss St. Francis County Rice, spoke briefly.
Brief talks were also given by young people who had participated in Farm Bureau-sponsored activities throughout the year. These included: Meghan Huett, on the M*A*S*H Camp; Doug Drake on the Leadership Forum; and Chelsea Jumper and Brittney Lindsey on Teen Challenge.
Outgoing president Billy Jayroe spoke, and Denelda Michaelis and Judy Jayroe gave a report on the Women's committee. Ron Killingsworth, agency manager, gave a report on insurance services and finances.
After all business had been transacted and Reed had spoken about state agricultural issues, Jim McInturff, a member of the English faculty at East Arkansas Community College, gave a humorous talk on what political correctness is doing to the English language.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The incumbent was re-elected to the Forrest City School Board, and voters in the Forrest City and Hughes school districts approved a pair of requests for millage increases in school elections Tuesday night.
In Forrest City, voters approved the district's 1.5 millage proposal by an 820 vote margin with 1097 votes for the increase and 277 against. Over 900 registered voters turned out Tuesday in Forrest City, which reported a total of 1,374 ballots cast. According to totals from last night, 80 ballots were cast absentee and close to 400 early votes were tallied.
According to FCSD Superintendent Lee Vent, last night's vote will bring the district into compliance with Amendment 74.
"I am very pleased with the outcome of the election and with the turnout. This will now allow us to come into compliance with Amendment 74, and we now have 25 mills in maintenance and operation," Vent said.
In the only other election in the FCSD, Dr. Wayne Jones held on to his spot on the Forrest City School Board with a 732-to-650 win over Pat Flanagin. Jones said that he was happy with the win.
Flanagin said, "I want to congratulate Dr. Jones, not only for his victory but also for running a good, clean race. I would also like to thank all of those who came out and supported me."
In Hughes, a .73 mill increase was approved by voters who cast 340 votes for the millage and 125 against. In the HSD school board races, Melinda Patrick outpaced Edward Watt by 256 votes taking the Position 6 at-large spot and Charles Smith defeated Hudie Hardaway in the Position 7 at-large race, 328 to 132.
In the only contested race in the Palestine-Wheatley School District, Vickie Hawk was defeated by Randall Holman, 34 to 15, in the race for the Zone 3 seat on the school board. Voters in the Palestine-Wheatley School District voted in May to approve a measure which re-allocated 13.1 debt service mills to maintenance and operations.
Voters in each school district voted to approve increases or transfers which, if they had failed would have increased the maintenance and operations mills in each district. In Forrest City, the increase would have been seven mills, and in Hughes, a 1.22-mill increase would have been incurred.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The 2001 audit conducted by the Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee was presented to Forrest City councilmen Tuesday night, and it was revealed that the city was in "substantial compliance."
Mayor Larry Bryant told the council the audit report "says we are in compliance with Arkansas fiscal and financial laws. But on the other hand, it states that we need to improve the recording of our finances. Each time, we get a different auditor and they never find anyone stealing or anything. They just need to find something to write about in the reports."
According to a copy of the audit summary, "The city had inadequate control over cash transactions because of insufficient segregation of duties." City Clerk Marie Todd, after the meeting, said of the comment on the city financial recording, "In a city our size, it is hard to have just one person assigned a duty. Due to lack of manpower, vacations and sick days, we all have to share duties. I believe that what they were talking about in the audit was that not just one person will be listed in the receipt books."
Councilman Cecil Twillie then asked Bryant about the progress on Ophelia Street. "People are always asking me if the street will be finished every week. They are asking because we voted to complete it."
According to Bryant, city attorney Alan Cline is looking into the situation. Bryant stated that the land that the city thought they had for the completion of the street was not the actual land that the city has. The land the city has is across a ditch east of the existing road. Bryant asked Cline to look into the legal issues in regards to the land and finishing the road.
Also, the council gave Bryant a unanimous vote for permission to start bidding out dirt work at the Forrest City Sports Complex.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Leaks on the roofs at the St. Francis County Courthouse and the county jail may soon be repaired, following approval of a bid Tuesday night by the county's quorum court.
In a meeting of the courthouse building and improvements committee prior to the court meeting, justices agreed to accept a bid from Jonesboro Roofing Co., Inc., for repairs to the courthouse roof and the jail roof. The lump sum bid for the jail was $122,745 and for the courthouse, $108,329. The company also bid on several items including the price for deteriorated wood nailers, wet or damaged tapered roof insulation at the jail, the cost to replace or repair existing damaged roof drains, if any, and the cost to provide a crane and labor to remove old air conditioning units from the courthouse roof.
Justices agreed to meet with representatives from Jonesboro Roofing next week so that the company can answer any questions that justices might have. The funding for the project was turned over the to the budget committee.
In other business the court agreed to allow the building and improvements committee to spend up to $5,000 for work at the house on Cross Street and for continuing work to the courthouse parking area at the intersection of Cross and Forrest Streets. The work at the house will include the demolition of the carport area and the uprooting of several trees surrounding the house. Justices were also told of problems with the contractor building the new facility at the Northeast Arkansas Recycling Corporation in Madison. In May, Bri-My construction began work on the building, which is planned to house a new baler for the county recycling center. According to NEARCO manager J.D. Sharp, minor problems with the building are the only matters holding up the completion of the building.
"We're still waiting for the doors to go up and the trim and interior walls. When Brian (Long, company co-owner) is out there, we don't have any problems. The guys work and they work hard. But just as soon as he leaves, it's like the work stops," Sharp said.
Justices agreed to send a letter to Bri-My requesting that the job be completed by Oct. 1.
In other business, justices approved a pair of ordinances which will give grant money to a pair of local fire departments. The first ordinance passed appropriates $277,351.19 to the Forrest City Fire Department, HASMAT Response Team. According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the funding was from a State Homeland Security Grant received from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. The second ordinance appropriated $2,600 to Rural Fire Protection Program for the Colt Fire Department.
A lawsuit has been filed in Circuit Court, seeking unspecified amounts, in connection with an accident which took place in June, injuring a 6-year-old child.
The incident occurred on June 2, according to the lawsuit.
The child, Jarvis Lay, was struck by a van as he crossed the four-lane Highway 1 near the Village Gate mobile home park and the Kids for the Future facility. The accident occurred after Lay had gotten off a Forrest City school bus.
According to news reports at the time, it was also the last day of school.
Lay was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City, and then transferred by helicopter to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, where he spent time in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Listed as defendants are: Forrest City School Superintendent Lee Vent, the bus driver, listed as John Doe, Michael Raymond Thomas, who was driving the van, and Emkay Inc. Trust, the employer of Thomas.
The suit claims that the driver should have known that a four-lane highway was dangerous for a child to cross, and that no signal light or apparatus was used to warn oncoming traffic. The suit also claims that parents of students who rode the bus on which Lay was a passenger had previously complained that letting children off the bus on the west side of the highway was dangerous, and also said the driver was not waiting until the children crossed over before taking off.
The suit also accuses Thomas, the van driver, of driving too fast for conditions, failing to maintain control of his vehicle and failure to maintain proper lookout.
The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages, damages for pain and suffering, Damages for past, present and future medical expenses and other relief deemed "just and proper."
Forrest City High School students that are interested in continuing their education after graduation will get an opportunity to do some shopping around at the FCHS annual College Night.
College Night will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 23, from 5 to 7 p.m., on the FCHS campus. According to a release, many college and universities from Arkansas and from surrounding states will be on hand at the program to answer questions that students or parents may have.
The program is geared towards seniors, but juniors and sophomores are also encouraged to attend as are the parents of the students.
Also, the FCHS annual report to the public will be given at 4:45 p.m. at the school prior to the event.
Construction on Madison's new community center has begun, and according to Mayor James Brooks, the building may be completed as early as next month.
Brooks delivered that news to members of the city council on Monday, during the group's monthly meeting at Madison City Hall. According to Brooks, wet weather temporarily delayed construction.
"The work on the community center was delayed due to rain, but contractors said the building would be completed by October," he said.
Council members questioned Brooks on what rules and regulations would be involved in operating the building, saying they wished to avoid issues such as whether or not to allow alcohol at the center and catering problems.
"The council will have to set the fees for the building and the rules and regulations," Brooks said.