By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Airport Commission on Monday discussed the direction they want to go in now, since the airport fencing project is almost complete and the installation of new safety equipment is waiting for the arrival of parts.
The extension and widening of the runway is a major project the commission has been wanting to do.
In April, the Federal Aviation Administration informed the commission that if an extension was built, the airport would have to secure easements for runway protection zones, or RPZs. This is a zone in which a landowner is paid a one-time fee and agrees, simply put, not to place any buildings in that area. Other uses, such as farming, can continue.
The costs associated with getting the easements are reimbursable from the FAA, provided the easements are secured.
"It's now time for us to look ahead and think seriously of another project," said Bill Hays, commission chairman, referring to the runway project.
The current runway is 3,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. The commission wants to extend the runway to 3,800 feet and widen the runway to 75 feet. There are also plans for constructing a parallel taxiway.
It was mentioned that 3,800 feet is recommended for airplanes like the King Air, which is becoming popular.
"So there's a reason for going to that length," said Hays. "It's not whimsical. We didn't just pick a number out of the air."
Dan Clinton, with Grimes Consulting Engineers, told the commissioners that even with a regional airport on the verge of becoming even more of a reality, the existing airport needs to be improved.
"There is going to be enough money and interest to make a regional airport happen," Clinton said at one point. However, he added, "We might as well think about the political aspects of this. No matter what happens with the regional airport, we need to put this airport in as good a shape as we can...I think that our collective thoughts should be that we work towards doing it (making improvements)."
Clinton also said there was an idea on the part of some that no more money should be spent on the Forrest City airport, since a regional airport is going in.
He also said that if the easements cannot be obtained, there were still internal improvements that could be made.
"We are kind of at a crossroads," he said. "It behooves all of us to work toward trying to make this as safe and as usable an airport as we can until and even after (a regional airport) happens. But this feeling that 'Let's don't spend any more money down there' is not exactly right. Because it (the money appropriated to the local airport) goes right back to the FAA if it's not used. It does not go to anybody else. And it goes right back to the fact that this is one of the shortest airports in the state."
Hays asked if it was the desire of the commission to try to get the runway extension, and the consensus of the commission was that it should be pursued.
"If we do that, then we do need to follow through and try to get these easements," Hays said.
There was also some discussion of an offer made by the Master Gardener's program to beautify the airport's entrance. Hutcherson Flying service has offered to pay some of the costs, and a grant application has been made for other funding. Hays said he thought the project would be a success.
"The airport beautification project is on schedule, and I have no doubt that funding will be available for this work," he said.
The commission also gave Clinton permission to have the airport's
beacon repaired for $1,498.
The Forrest City Education Association officially awarded its 2004 Fall Teacher Grants Monday at the Forrest City Junior High Auditorium.
It was the seventh annual such ceremony, and $20,658.31 in grants were given out.
Forrest City School Superintendent Lee Vent offered the welcome, and Tom Machen, president of the Education Association, spoke briefly before he and Executive Director Sonya Fletcher presented the grants.
The grantees, and the amounts of their grants, are as follows:
Vivian Ryan, director, $1,000 for classroom reading materials.
Susan Wheeler, fifth grade science, $997.40 for chemistry videos, periodic tables, models and experiments.
Bonita Poe, library, $500 for Rolling Reader Shelf-character education, values and self esteem.
Meredith Reeves, art, $796.90 for The Character Education visual art set.
Juanita McNutt/Betty Culley, kindergarten, $1,000 for listening centers.
Christine Moore, kindergarten, $1,028.27 for non-fiction science books.
Kristen Casbeer, first grade, $1,000 for multi-cultural book sets.
Glennis McGhehey, second grade, $900 for world and U.S. maps, wall, floor, globe and atlas set.
Joyce Ann Cottrell, second grade, $500 for hands-on reading kits and projection screen.
Terry Isringhouse, fourth grade, $2,000 for Dr. Griffith's Pacing Guide and the Math Investigations program.
Dan Burdette/Evelyn Turner, Music Department, $800 for three Yamaha portable keyboards, CD/tape players, surge protectors, etc.
Katie Jones, assistant principal, $708 for Benchmark-aligned classroom manipulatives and instructional aids.
Dan Burdette/Will Harris, Music Department, $755 for site license for Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory, computers.
Carla Busby, sixth grade, $500 for resource books to improve writing for the Benchmark test.
Kris Renigar, library, $154.33 for five cassette player/recorders.
Ron Pratt, band, $693 .91 for Peavey MP 400 powered mixer, stand, cables, microphones.
Julee George, seventh grade/English, $675 for 30 American Heritage student dictionaries.
Judy Watlington, sixth grade, $1,000 for supplies to improve Benchmark scores in reading and writing.
Ennie Hardrick, kindergarten, $500 for literacy and math learning centers.
Delois Morgan, first grade, $500 for reading materials.
Stella Jones, first grade, $500 for vocabulary manipulatives.
Teresa Cantrell, pre-K, $500 for core knowledge supplies.
Angela Poindexter, kindergarten, $1,000 for two listening center tables, headphones and read-along books.
Robin Williams, library, $1,000 for library books and videos.
Karen Busby, 10th grade/math, $300 for supplies for after-exam exit project, duct tape, dowel rods.
Mildred Allen, fifth grade, $129 for teaching easel for math investigations and literacy.
Shantil Newmon/Sharon Miller, kindergarten, $600 for Math Corners.
Shantil Newmon/Sharon Miller, Kindergarten, $600 for Literacy Corners.
Robin Williams, library, $500 for accelerated reading books.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
An accident behind a local grocery store left some businesses on the north end of Forrest City without power for close to eight hours Monday.
According to a report from the Forrest City Police Department, the power outage was caused when a delivery truck driven by Edmund Tabb, 50, of Nesbit, Miss., snagged a guy wire as he was backing up and broke an Entergy electric pole.
"A truck was making a delivery and turned there across from Wal-Mart at Jackson's Used Cars and was backing in when he caught the wire and ended up pulling down a pretty significant pole and breaking another pole. That caused a pretty big outage on the north side of town," said Mike Davis with Entergy.
According to Davis, 425 customers were without power with the majority of the customers coming back on line within an hour. The location of the damaged poles, along with repairs, left other customers waiting until almost 5:30 p.m. to have their electricity restored.
"The total number of customers we had down was 425, but we were able to get most of them back up after about an hour. As I said, the pole that went out was a pretty significant one, and it was in a location that made it difficult for us to get our crews in there to get to work. The outage happened at about 9:30 yesterday morning, and the last business was back up and running at 5:20 yesterday afternoon," Davis said.
According to Davis, three businesses, Fred's Discount Store, Food Giant and Dollar General, were the ones mostly affected by the power outage.
"The three businesses that are right there in that area
were really the only customers that suffered an extended outage.
They were all out for pretty much the same amount of time. I don't
know if they were all able to stay open during the outage, but
I do know that Food Giant was able to remain open because they
have a generator," said Davis.
Boy Scout Troops 202 and 122 and the Forrest City Toys for Tots Committee are sponsoring the 2004 Toys for Tots campaign which is in need of toys.
The Forrest City Boy Scout Toys for Tots program is locally operated, and all toys are distributed to local children. Last year, toys were provided to over 600 needy children from the St. Francis County area.
Toys, new and old, that are in working order and in a clean condition are accepted as well as monetary donations. Toys and monetary donations may be dropped off at: The Forrest City Public Library, 421 South Washington Street; Sharpe, Beavers and Cline, 117 South Washington Street; and the St. Francis County Museum, 419 Front Street. Monetary donations maybe also be sent to Boy Scout Troop 122, c/o Brad J. Beavers, P.O. Box 924, Forrest City, AR 72336-0924. Checks should be payable to Boy Scout Troop 122/Toys for Tots.
For more information, contact Brad Beavers at 870-633-3141
or Glenn Patterson at 870-633-2140.
St. Francis County had an unemployment rate of 7.7 percent during October, according to figures from the Arkansas Employment Security Department.
That is down from 8.4 percent in September, and also down from 9.5 percent in October of 2003. It gave St. Francis the 11th highest unemployment in the state.
During October, the county had a civilian labor force of 12,400, with 11,450 working and 950 not working.
The state's highest unemployment was 10.1 percent, recorded in Woodruff County. Woodruff was the only county with unemployment at 10 percent or higher, although Chicot county came close, with 9.9 percent.
The state's lowest unemployment was 2 percent in Madison County. Twenty counties had unemployment of 4 percent or less in October. Thirty-six had unemployment at 5 percent or below.
Unemployment in surrounding counties was as follows: Cross, 8.9 percent; Crittenden, 6.6 percent, Lee, 7.8 percent; Phillips, 9.3 percent, Monroe, 6.5 percent; Woodruff, 10.1 percent.
Statewide, the unemployment rate rose from 5.5 percent in September
to 5.7 percent, even though 67 percent of the state's 75 counties
actually had lower unemployment in October.
Only five building permits were issued in Forrest City during an extremely wet November, according to the mayor's office.
The only commercial permit was issued to the East Arkansas Enterprise Community at 1000 Airport Road, for a $20,000 remodeling project.
Other projects included one new house, an addition, a remodeling and a fence.
The total value of the projects receiving building permits during November was $94,700 bringing the year-to-date total to $6,688,032. That is already ahead of all of last year's total, of $4,766,340.99.
Bob's Meat Market, located at 1132 North Washington, will open this Friday, and will offer quality meats of different varieties to customers, according to owner Bob Huddleston.
Huddleston, a resident of Wynne, recently discussed what the new store will offer to its customers. "We will only carry choice beef," stated Huddleston. "We will also sell pork chops, chicken and deli sliced meats. Nothing is pre-packed here. It will be like shopping was in the old times; we will fill orders as they come in, you can call orders in and even pick them up through our drive-through window."
Huddleston said Bob's Meat Market will be committed to its customers. "We are based on quality and service," commented Huddleston. "We will have quality products, and we will do whatever we can to serve our customers. We care about our customers and we care about their business with us. We invite everyone to stop by, look around and see what we have to offer."
Bob's Meat Market will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. The business will be closed on Sundays.
City leaders in Madison spent Saturday crunching numbers in an attempt to complete the city's sewer, street and general budgets for next year.
According to Madison Mayor James Brooks, council members were able to reach an agreement on the city's sewer and street budgets, but more work is needed to compromise on the general budget.
"We really had a good and productive meeting Saturday morning, and we were able to work through some things. Everyone was pretty much in agreement on the sewer budget and the street department budget. The general budget is always our hardest, and there is still work to be done on it, but we'll get there," Brooks said.
The next meeting of the city council will be held on Monday, Dec. 13, at 7 p.m. at Madison City Hall. The sewer and street budgets are expected to be presented at that time.