By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Beauties of all ages, food, talent, exhibits, a midway and blue ribbons await fairgoers next week, at the 2003 St. Francis County Fair.
This Friday and Sunday, booth set-up will take place, and Sunday will also be a rehearsal day for the beauty pageants. The fair itself will be open from Monday, Sept. 8 through Saturday, Sept. 13.
As always, there are special activities throughout fair week.
The main exhibit building will be open throughout the fair, except when judging is going on. Judging will be done in Educational Exhibits, Art, Photography, Canned Foods, Baked Foods and Candies, clothing, Arts and Crafts, Household Arts, Knitting and Crocheting, Truck Crops, Field Crops, Livestock, Poultry, Rabbits, Swine and Goats/Sheep, Beef Cattle and the Flower Show. There will also be youth divisions for Beef Cattle, Horse, Pony and Mule and Heifers.
The ever-popular Kountry Kitchen will be open daily.
Monday there will be wrestling at 8 p.m.
Tuesday will feature the Wee Miss, Tiny Miss and Little Miss St. Francis County Fair pageants, at 7 p.m. Also featured will be chicken and dumplings night at the Kountry Kitchen.
On Wednesday, it will be the older girls' turn, with the Junior Miss, Senior Miss and Fairest of the Fair contests, also beginning at 7 p.m..
The Youth Talent Show will be on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Saturday will feature the Domino Contest, beginning at 2 p.m., along with border collie demonstrations.
The midway this year will be run by the PBJ Happy Days Show. There are three Armband Nights scheduled, for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Armband Night, $10 will include admission and unlimited riding on midway rides. There will also be a Security Officers Night, on Tuesday, with special passes for officers working the fair and their families. Saturday will be Kid's Day, when all rides will be for $1.
In addition, there have been two new events added just for kids. These are a pedal tractor race and a vegetable dress-up competition.
The pedal tractor preliminary races will be held from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday on the blacktop area. There will be races for 3-year-olds, 4-5-year-olds, 6-7-year- olds and 8-9-year-olds. First, second and third place ribbons will be given in each event first place winners will receive passes to the fair for the "grand championship" in their age groups, to be held at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The vegetable dress-up competition will have three divisions -- Super Hero, Storybook and Cartoon Characters. Any vegetable squash, cucumber, potato, etc. may be used. Entries may be taken to the table in the exhibit building from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Age groups at 5-7 and 8-10. The winner in each group will receive a ribbon, a cash award and a Saturday pass to the fair. The winners in the vegetable costume contest will be announced Thursday night.
There is no entry fee for either the pedal tractor event or the dress up vegetable event.
Regular admission throughout the fair will be $1 for children up to 12 years of age, $1 for those age 55 and older and $2 for all others.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A former Colt man accused of molesting two children was denied a direct verdict and acquittal this morning by Circuit Judge L.T. Simes III, after his defense attorney Randal Miller petitioned the court to drop both charges of rape against 73-year-old John Easley.
Miller requested the acquittal after the prosecution rested its case against Easley. Questions centered around the date of the second allegation, in which Easley was charged with assaulting a two-and-a-half-year-old girl. According to Miller, when charges were filed against Easley in the case involving the girl, it was asserted that the incident had happened in February of 2003 after Easley had been released on bond from the first charge involving a six-year-old boy.
"When Mr. Easley went for a bond hearing on the second charge, the allegation was that he committed this offense after he had been released on the first charge. So the information showed that this occurred earlier this year, but based on the evidence presented, there is no way that could have happened," said Miller.
Miller referred to testimony from the child's mother that stated that the child had not been in contact with Easley since 2000. According to her mother, contact with the Easley family ceased after allegations began in late 1999 and early 2000 against the defendant.
In testimony this morning, Easley took the stand in his defense and said that he did not know why either of the two families would have fabricated the stories against him. Easley also said that a feud between the mother of the girl and her father's family spilled over to him after he was asked to retrieve the child from a relative's home by the mother.
"The mother called me one night and asked me to go and get (the girl) from the family's home because she was washing dishes or something and couldn't get out. When I got over there, they refused to let me have her because they said that I had been seeing too much of her. I called (the mother) and told her what had happened and I left," Easley said.
According to Easley, all contact with the girl and her family stopped after that incident. In other testimony, Easley testified that prior to February of this year, he would visit with the boy at least once or twice a week, both in the presence of his parents and alone. According to Easley, the child would go hunting and fishing with his father and Easley, and at times, Easley said that he'd taken the boy to the store.
"I cared for the boy, he was my little buddy. He would go with me and his father hunting, and we'd take him fishing and such," he said.
When asked under cross examination from First Judicial District Prosecutor Fletcher Long if he took the child to the store for ice cream, Easley said, "No, I didn't take him for ice cream, he liked to play the game trying to win stuffed animals. His daddy would give him two dollars, and I'd give him a dollar, and we'd go and play the game."
In other testimony today, Easley's wife Velda testified that the couple had not been interested in intercourse for over a decade. Easley said, "It's been 10 or 11 years since I've been interested in sex. I don't even think about it. I'm more interested in hunting and fishing than sex."
On Thursday, Darla Thompson with the Arkansas State Police /Crimes Against Children Division, testified to drawings and a taped conversation with the female victim. Also testifying was Dr. Jerry Jones with Arkansas Children's House which is a division of Arkansas Children's Hospital that handles abuse cases. Jones testified that although no evidence of abuse could be found, in many cases of abuse of minors, the physical evidence can neither prove or disprove molestation.
Closing arguments were scheduled to begin this afternoon.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Incumbent Wayne Jones is being challenged by Pat Flanagin for Position 2 on the Forrest City School Board.
Wayne Jones lives at 1332 Highway 334. He and his wife, Aylene, have two married daughters and four grandchildren. Jones has a BA from the University of Maryland, a Masters in Education from the University of Southern Mississippi, an Education Specialist degree from the University of Mississippi and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Memphis. He is retired, serving on various boards and working as a volunteer counselor at First Baptist Church.
Pat Flanagin lives at 300 Lower Lake Road with is wife, Cathy. He has one daughter in school and three children who have graduated from local schools He attended Arkansas State University and the University of Mississippi. He has a Bachelor's degree, two graduate degrees and a year of doctoral study in education administra-tion. He is self employed in the planning and insurance business.
For this interview, each candidate was asked the same set of questions. Neither candidate received the questions beforehand.
1. What do you see as the largest issue facing public education in general today?
Jones: Certainly, it's all the fallout from the Lake View decision, being able to meet the requirements, whatever they may be, so we can develop a plan. Another thing that's heavy on the horizon is the No Child Left Behind Act, with a large number of requirements that must be met. Hopefully, all that will lead to better education for our children.
Flanagin: I think it's listing our priorities. We have to provide safe and well-disciplined environ-ments for learning. Those are the prerequisites for any meaningful teaching, learning experience to take place.
2. More specifically, what do you see as the biggest issue facing the Forrest City School District today:
Flanagin: Well, it's hard to pick any one. It's kind of like in your list of priorities, you have to have your essentials, and first is a safe and well-disciplined and well maintained working environment. And within that contest is how parents and teachers can join together and better motivate students to be turned on to learning.
Jones: Always a big issue, we have a number of facilities that need maintenance. We have too many buildings with flat roofs, so that's a concern. But more important is getting the best education for our children. That means, through the elementary grades, giving them the skills and learning techniques necessary to go farther. And then in higher grades, in high school, preparing them for life, both in work or to go on to further education.
3. Three schools in the Forrest City District -- Forrest Hills Elementary, Caldwell Elementary and the Junior High -- were recently included on a new, expended statewide list of schools in "academic distress." If elected/reelected, how would you work to remove those schools from that list?
Jones: Already we're working on that. This is fallout from the No Child Left Behind Act. They are rigorous standards and we're already looking to see exactly what is wrong there, what measures we need to take to bring those schools to where they should be. In most instances it's not a great, large thing, it's simply something we need to enhance.
Flanagin: I think we don't need to be just reactionary and wait on schools to get on lists like that. We need to have an overall positive instructional program effort that'll keep them from getting there to start with, or we're going to have other schools on it next time. To remediate the problems that currently exist, I think the key is to have good principals working with dedicated teachers and caring parents to know what the problems are on an individual child basis, and going from there to try to make a success out of each child. When you do that, your schools are going to be a success.
4. What other areas of improvement do you believe need to be made in the Forrest City School District?
Flanagin: Obviously, the test data and report cards show that we certainly don't need to be letting our guard down on academic performance. And some of the state's criteria in the past has focused only on the bottom quartile of performance. I think the way you have excellence is to help every child in every strata of ability to do their best. We want our top achievers to be achieving their best, and we want our lower level achievers to be moving up as well. And part of that is, if kids are properly disciplined and properly motivated, they're going to achieve more and it's going to show up on the test. But that's the key. I think sometimes we rely too much on what the test says, rather than what the students learn.
Jones: Facilities -- of course, I mentioned that. One of the biggest problems we have is that students come to us ready to learn. Certainly it's our responsibility to encourage and motivate them to learn. But unless they come to us with support from their family, ready to learn, wanting to learn, that is a big problem. That's one of the things we know where we have succeeded in a small measure -- the preschool program. Those students who have come through the preschool program have been tracked from the time they started. And their performance, even though they were originally at risk for various reasons, has been positive. The have remained in school and they've done well in school. It's just a thing of them being ready to learn.
5. Why do you believe the voters should elect/reelect you to this position?
Jones: I think I'm prepared. I have the educational background. I have experience. I worked 20 years in technical education in the Air Force, came to the school district here, worked at Lincoln and established the Cooperative Education Program, served as counselor for four years at the High School. After completing my doctorate I worked at East Arkansas Community College as director of counseling, vice president and interim president for about six months. I feel I'm well prepared. Also, during the nine years I have served on the board I have more than 50 hours of continuing education, training in how to serve on a school board. And finally, because my sole purpose in being on the board is to do everything I can to provide the students with a good education, a good environment for learning and everything to help the staff and teachers provide it for them. I want to be there to serve.
Flanagin: I can assure them that when it comes to the critical issues that affect our children and our schools, that I will take a stand. I will not be bashful about taking a stand. And I will listen to the views of parents, teachers and others in the district who are seriously interested in improving the quality of our education program here in Forrest City.
A former tenant of the St. Francis County Housing Authority was found guilty in St. Francis County District Court Wednesday of theft of public benefits.
A joint investigation of former tenant Rosie L. Williams, 48, of Madison, was carried out by special agents with the office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the First Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney's Office and the St. Francis County Housing Authority.
Williams was receiving housing assistance from the St. Francis County Housing Authority while being gainfully employed, according to SFCHA Executive Director Gary Chapman. Williams, along with family members, concealed their employment in order to continue receiving housing assistance, Chapman said.
Williams was sentenced to 90 days in jail and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $3,645 to the SFCHA. She was also ordered to pay a $300 fine. Her jail time was suspended pending timely restitution to the SFCHA.
Chapman said his agency would be working closely with the Inspector General's office and the prosecutor's office to prevent fraud and abuse among public housing participants. Chapman said more arrests could be forthcoming.
"The tenant integrity program aimed at preventing fraud and abuse among Section 8 participants is going well and has resulted in restitution of approximately 85 participants in the last four years, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars," Chapman said, adding that his organization will actively pursue any fraud or criminal activities in the Housing Authority's program.
Sixty-three St. Francis County voters have early voted in the annual school election.
Several School Board seats are up for election throughout the county, and millages will be decided in the Forrest City and Hughes school districts.
Early voting will continue through Monday, Sept. 15, from 8 a.m to 4:30 p.m. in the SFC County Clerk's office in the SFC Courthouse.
The election will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 16, with polls being open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The East Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees will not meet as scheduled on Sept. 11, 2003. In lieu of a formal Board meeting, the trustees will attend the Annual Joint Boards Meeting and Annual Trustee Training Conference sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. The conference will be held September 8, 2003 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The EACC Board of Trustees will meet at the regularly scheduled meeting on November 13, 2003.