By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The last of the filings for city council positions in Caldwell, Madison, Hughes, Colt and Palestine were submitted to the St. Francis County Clerk's office on Wednesday. With the closing of this filing period, the city council races are set for the all eight incorporated cities in the county. Listed below are all filings for all eight cities.
Seven out of eight seats on the Forrest City City Council will be contested in the general election in November.
For the Ward 1 Position 1 race, incumbent Roy Hancock will face Henry Peacock. Cecil Twillie, incumbent for the Ward 1 Position 2 seat, will face off against Clifton Avant. George Wise will challenge incumbent Mary Jeffers in the contest for the Ward 2 Position 1 seat. Louise Fields who current holds the Ward 2 Position 2 seat will be challenged by Glenn Ford. Danny Capps will seek to unseat Steve Hollowell, the incumbent for Ward 3 Position 1. Incumbent Roger Breeding will face Bobby Woodard for the Ward 4 Position 1 seat. John Gadberry, incumbent for the Ward 4 Position 2 seat, will face Chris Oswalt. The only seat that is not contested is the Ward 3 Position 2 seat held by Brent Ponder.
Three positions in Palestine could see changes in 2005. Janell French, who is not an incumbent, will take the Ward 1 Position 2 seat. Tony Burdett, another candidate, will now serve as the Ward 1 Position 1 alderman. Incumbent Gary Park will continue on the council in the Ward 3 Position 2 seat. Bobbie Boileau will retain her Ward 2 Position 1 seat. Bryan Harris will again serve the residents for Ward 2 Position 2. Charles Maness is being challenged for the city treasurer/recorder position by Cappi Vaughn.
Levi Glasper will be the new alderman for the Ward 3 Position 2 seat on the Hughes City Council. Glasper is not an incumbent, but he faces no opposition in the fall. Rev. Malcolm Curne Sr. will be the Ward 1 at-large seat holder again. Rudolph Robinson will retain his Ward 1 Position 2 seat on the council. Magnolia Blackshear will once again fill the Ward 2 Position 1 seat.
The Position 5 seat on the Caldwell City Council will be contested between Barbara Posey and Isaac Wilburn III. Neither are incumbents. Frank Killingsworth is running unopposed for his Position 3 seat on the council. Bob Mosley will keep the Position 2 seat. Grover Gunn will again fill the Position 1 seat. Thomas Hughes will run for Marshall. Jenny Lindsey will again serve as city clerk/treasurer.
There will be a new alderman in the Position 4 seat on the Colt City Council. Ronnie Jarrett is running unopposed for the seat. Incumbent Charles Ward has filed unopposed for the Ward 1 Position 1 seat. Joe Kerr will retain his Ward 2 Position 2 seat. Randy Hefner will again serve on the council in the Ward 2 position 1 seat.
Arvin Billingsley will be the new clerk/recorder for Widener. Billingsley is not an incumbent, but is running unopposed. Ronnie Barnett will hold the Position 3 seat on the council. Versie Pitts will retain her position 4 seat. Lillian Williams will hold the Position 1 seat, and Felicia Watson will again serve in the Position 5 seat.
All incumbents will remain in place in Wheatley. John Clifton will hold the Position 3 seat. Rodney Hicks will again serve as the Position 2 alderman. James Smith will hold the Position 5 seat. David Lee will be the alderman for Position 4. Robbie Horton will retain his Position 1 seat, and Melvina Hickman will again be the city treasurer/recorder.
There are no contested races for the Madison City Council. Christal Taylor has filed to retain the Ward 2 Position 1 seat. Janice Whitaker will run unopposed for her Ward 3 Position 2 seat. Ocie Williams Sr. will again serve Ward 2 Position 2 on the council. Sandra Smith will serve on the council in the Ward 1 Position 1 seat. Lindsey Cowins will retain the Ward 1 position 2 seat. Ennie Hardrick will again be the recorder/treasurer.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A Hughes woman is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly setting her boyfriend on fire after dousing him with lighter fluid.
Loretta Woods, 26, was arrested Wednesday following an investigation into the incident which occurred in May.
In the early morning hours on May 6, the Hughes Police Department reported Melvin Powell, 22, had been burned "by a suspicious nature." Powell suffered severe burns to his chest area and was hospitalized at the Med Center in Memphis before being transferred to the University of Tennessee hospital, according to police records. Powell died at UT on June 7 from pneumonia caused by complications of his burns, according to St. Francis County Sheriff's Department Criminal Investigator Herbert Neighbors.
The police investigation revealed Woods and Powell, who had been dating, were arguing on May 6. A few hours before the incident, police records show Woods had called officers to her home in a public housing area regarding Powell who allegedly been beating on her windows, asking her to let him inside the house.
About 4 a.m., police said Woods allowed Powell to enter her home where they continued arguing.
Powell told police Woods had threatened him with a butcher knife and told him she was going to burn him before she allegedly threw the lighter fluid on him and set him on fire.
Woods' story to police differs from the one reported by Powell. According to the affidavit for her
arrest, Woods told police Powell poured the lighter fluid onto the top of his head and then lit the cuff on his pants.
Because the investigation supports Powell's claim of the incident, Woods was arrested Wednesday on the murder charge. She was scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon. Her bond has been set at $75,000.
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Parents wanting to become more involved in the education of their children turned out in droves Wednesday for the first of several parent orientation meetings planned in the Forrest City School District.
The district's board this summer voted to require parents or guardians of any child attending classes in the FCSD this fall to attend an orientation session prior to the first day of school on Aug. 19, or the student would not be allowed to enroll.
The board's move was in support of a new state law that requires more parental involvement in school districts throughout the state. Act 603, passed by the Arkansas Legislature in March, requires "all public schools to create a parental involvement plan which allows and encourages parents to assist and make a difference in their child's education."
FCSD Parent Involvement Educator Allison Fogg presided over Wednesday's sessions, which began at 8 a.m., and continued at the top of each hour with the last session beginning at 6 p.m.
This morning, Fogg said about 2,000 parents attended the orientation, with most people attending either the early morning meetings or the evening sessions. According to Fogg, the FCSD has just under 4,000 students.
"The turnout has been awesome," Fogg said. "It's been just great."
Each session lasted about 15 minutes as Fogg, assisted by an overhead projector, walked parents through the changes in the law that require the sessions, along with suggestions on how parents can better help their children succeed in school. She also touched briefly on various sections in the student handbooks and reminded parents of the district's policies on discipline, attendance, bullying, weapons, electronic communication devices, drugs and alcohol and homework.
Each student will be given a handbook at the beginning of the school year, and that handbook must be taken to the parent or guardian. A return slip containing the parent's signature, along with that of the student and building principal, will be included in each handbook and must be returned to the child's school for placement in that student's file.
Following each presentation, parents were asked to update information on each child in the district and to sign a list so that the student would be given credit for the parent attending the orientation. This also provides the district with updated information on each student and their parents or guardian.
Parents who failed to attend the Wednesday meetings have other chances. Orientation sessions will also be held at each school in the district at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Aug. 12, 13, 16, 17 and 18.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
What began as a traffic stop Wednesday turned into a chase and warrants sought for endangering the welfare of minors.
According to the report by Arkansas State Police Cpl. Mike Kennedy, at about 5:35 p.m. Wednesday, he stopped two ATV's on SFC 313. One, a three-wheeler, was driven by John Stidham, 25, and had a small child on the back. The other, a four-wheeler, driven by Larry Lewis Jr., 24, had two small children on the back. According to the report, all the children belonged to Lewis.
Kennedy said he was issuing Stidham a citation for operating an ATV on the highway, when Lewis allegedly loaded the three children onto the four-wheeler and sped off across the front yard of a house. Kennedy said Lewis was driving at a high rate of speed with the children being nearly bounced off the rear of the ATV.
Kennedy said he did not want to pursue Lewis while there were three children on the back of the ATV. Being familiar with the area, Kennedy drove to a place where a gravel drive comes out onto Highway 284, to cut Lewis off. He said when Lewis arrived, Lewis tried to climb up a steep dirt embankment with the three children still on the ATV, and the ATV flipped over onto the driver's door of the car Kennedy was driving.
All three were ejected from the ATV, with two of the children landing on the hood of the car and a third one being pinned under the ATV.
Kennedy said Lewis got to his feet and fled. He said that once he was able to get out of his car, he attended to the children and found that none of them were injured, just scared, but Lewis escaped.
Stidham, of 540 SFC 361, Forrest City, was charged with operating an ATV on the highway.
Warrants are being sought for Lewis, of Wynne, for three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, a class D felony, and one count of felony fleeing.
Four juveniles were arrested early today after a concerned citizen called police when he saw them carrying boxes along Dillard Street about 3:30 a.m.
Forrest City Police Department Criminal Investigation Division Lt. Dwight Duch said the four suspects ran when they saw police, but one was caught and led officers to the home shared by the other three suspects.
When the juveniles, ages 12, 13, 14 and 16, ran, they dropped one of the boxes, which contained video games and accessories from Game Trader, located in the Cleveland Street shopping center, Duch said. After talking with the four suspects, police returned to the business where they found the front window had been broken out and the security bars had been pried from the windows.
Also during the investigation, police found several boxes containing many of the stolen items from the store inside the home shared by three of the juveniles and in yards located along Lindauer Road and Dillard and McClusky streets. However, Duch said some items are still missing from the store, and asks that anyone finding video games, cords, game consoles, or other related items to call the police department for pickup.
Duch said over $2,200 in stolen merchandise was recovered, and the four are each charged with commercial burglary. Their cases were referred to the juvenile intake officer.
According to Abby Robinson, principal of Forrest City High School, all high school students may register tomorrow from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., and also at the open house scheduled Aug. 18 from 4 to 6 p.m.
"They can pick up their schedules without their parents going to orientation," said Robinson, even though they cannot start class until their parents have attended a session.
PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- A port terminal for a Disney cruise ship was briefly evacuated Thursday after a bomb-sniffing dog gave an alert while inspecting supplies being loaded aboard.
About 330 passengers were aboard Disney Wonder when the terminal at Port Canaveral was ordered closed at 9:25 a.m., Disney spokeswoman Rena Langley said. Passengers aboard the ship were asked to stay on the 964-foot vessel while those in the terminal were moved to a parking lot.
The Brevard County Sheriff Department's bomb squad inspected a stack of mattresses on a pallet, and declared the area secure about 80 minutes later.
There was no indication why the dog, part of a private security firm contracted by the Canaveral Port Authority, gave the false positive.