By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With St. Francis County missing the brunt of the storms last week, the county road department should be running at full steam starting this week, according to County Judge Carl Cisco.
"We were pretty much ready for anything last Monday. We received a bulletin from Emergency Services up in Jonesboro warning us to be ready for large amounts of hail, severe storms and the works. What we actually got was more rain than anything, so it didn't hurt us as bad," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, Monday's rain, along with more that fell that night, will force the road department to go back and redo work they did recently.
"While the rain didn't hurt us a lot, we're going to have to go back out and do work that we already did recently so that we can get everything back to where we're looking to start from. We had the graders out on Saturday so that we could get everything ready for us to begin making repairs from the rain we've had over the last month. Now we're going to have to spend the early part of next week doing that work over and then we can get started," Cisco said.
During a tour of several county roads recently Cisco commented that the increased price of materials was going to make it difficult for him to stay within the $72,000 budget the road department has been working under since May. He reiterated that point last week saying, "Trying to get everything fixed, we've run out of RAP (recycled asphalt) and we've had to order more so that we can make our repairs. The biggest thing that this weather has done to us is been expensive so we're having to find ways to deal with everything."
Damage from rains over the past month forced closures on two county roads. According to Cisco, last week's rain did nor force any further closures. He estimated needing an additional $40,000 to $50,000 budgeted for this year in order to complete the necessary repairs.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Local law enforcement officers were kept busy this weekend with a drug arrests on Friday and Sunday.
According to a report from the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, First Judicial Drug Task Force officer executed a search warrant on Friday at the residence of Nickie Weatherford, 31, and Amy Mcentyre, 28, 1347 N. Izard St., Forrest City. According to the report from Investigator Gene Wingo with the Sheriff's Department, officers executed the warrant after investigating the couple for the past month. During the search, officers found approximately two grams of a white powder substance which field tested as methamphetamine along with a plastic baggy of marijuana. Both Weatherford and Mcentyre also have cases pending in Circuit Court for felony drug arrests in August of last year.
Both Mcentyre and Weatherford were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute (methamphetamine) and possession of a controlled substance, marijuana. A third person, Anita M. Smith, age 31 of Colt, who was also at the residence, was charged with possession of an instrument of crime after officers found a baggy containing narcotics residue in her purse. Mcentyre and Weatherford are both free on bond.
On Sunday, officers with the Forrest City Police Department were able to take guns and drugs off of the streets at the same time after an incident on West Broadway.
According to a report from the FCPD, officers arrested 19-year old Michael Sampson, 124 Stewart St., Forrest City, and Mario Etherly, 18, 124 Stewart St., Forrest City after officers found five individually wrapped bags of marijuana and two semi-automatic firearms during a routine traffic stop.
Officers reported that the vehicle the two men were traveling in was stopped after they pulled into the path of a patrol unit on West Broadway. According to the report officers stopped the vehicle in the parking lot of the Family Dollar store on West Broadway and were preparing to issue a citation for failure to yield when they received a call from dispatchers that the men in the vehicle might be armed.
Both men were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver near certain facilities, because the arrests took place within 500 feet of a church, and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms.
The Christmas holiday will make a normally full week of meetings a little more crammed as many area groups move their normally meeting date up a week.
Tonight at 6 p.m. at Palestine-Wheatley Junior High School in Wheatley, the Palestine-Wheatley School Board will hold its monthly meeting a week early. Also tonight, the Forrest City School Board will meet at 5:30 in the Administration Building. The Forrest City Civic Center Commission will also meet today with a 5 p.m. meeting scheduled at the Civic Center.
In Madison, council members will hold budget talks tonight at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Also at 7 tonight the Hughes City Council will hold its monthly meeting.
On Tuesday, the East Arkansas Enterprise Community will hold its annual meeting from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Forrest City Civic Center. The Advertising and Promotions Committee will meet at 2 p.m. at the Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce and the St. Francis County Museum Board will meet at 5 p.m. Also on Tuesday, the St. Francis County Quorum Court Budget Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the quorum court room at the St. Francis County Courthouse immediately followed by the monthly meeting of the full quorum court which normally meets on the third Tuesday of the month. Both meetings will follow the annual St. Francis County Extension Service presentation which will be held at 5 p.m.
Tuesday at 7 p.m., the Forrest City City Council will hold a called meeting at City Hall to discuss the 2005 budget along with the Multi-purpose facility. Also at 7 p.m. the Palestine City Council is scheduled to meet at Palestine City Hall.
The Delta Regional Airport Authority is also scheduled to meet this week with a Thursday meeting on tap at 6:30 at the Colt Community Center. Engineers are expected to present the first list of potential sites for the proposed airport.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A new office specializing in legal and financial matters has opened its doors to Forrest Citians.
On Friday, Dec. 17, the Michelle Wilson Legal and Financial Center will hold an open house to introduce the new business which features four independent offices under one roof. The center consists of Sharon Wilson CPA, which offers accounting services for personal and business interests; Wilson Law Firm, headed by Dion Wilson and focusing on criminal and civil law.
The center also features another pair of law offices with the Edwards Law Firm PA and Alexander Law Firm. According to Edwards her office will handle cases ranging from family law to immigration law.
"As president of this new firm, we will launch a law practice with an eclectic mix which ranges from family law to immigration law. Edwards Law Firm is equipped to handle both English and Spanish speaking clients," said Edwards in a press release.
Alexander's practice is a general practice and will cover family law along with civil and criminal law.
According to Sharon Wilson, the name of the center has drawn quite a bit of interest. Wilson said that the center is named after the sister of Dion Wilson.
"The center was in honor and memory of Dion's sister Michelle who passed from Lupus just after she finished law school," said Sharon Wilson.
"She was Dion's inspiration and she encouraged him and pushed in to stay in law school. She has been his inspiration and he always said that if he opened up another office he would honor her like this and we did," Wilson said.
Dion Wilson also has an office in Helena.
According to Edwards, the office will provide residents and businesses with a single location to take care of their legal and financial needs.
"The Michelle Wilson Legal and Financial Center which houses three independent law firms which practice civil, criminal and administration law and an accounting firm which provides accounting, auditing and tax services to non-profit organizations, private corporations and individuals is proud to operate as a one stop shop in the Delta," said Edwards.
A Texas man who was found passed out on an exit ramp on Interstate 40 on Friday afternoon, fell out of a moving Arkansas State Police vehicle after trying to escape.
According to a report on file at the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, Stanley Kesler, 59, Porter, Texas, was stopped on the west bound exit ramp at I-40 mile marker 233 passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle at about 1:30 p.m. last Friday. Kesler was found barefoot and was asked put on his shoes and exit the vehicle. He was given two field sobriety tests and after failing both, he was placed under arrest.
While traveling to the SFC jail, Kesler told the ASP officer that he was "getting out" and opened the passenger side door of the patrol unit. The officer drove into the median and stopped the vehicle. The report states that Kesler fell onto the ground while still in his seat belt and that the officer had to struggle with him to get him under control. The report also states that he refused a blood alcohol test at the jail. There was no injuries mentioned in the report.
Kesler is charged with first offense driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest, opening a door on a moving vehicle, refusal of a test and third-degree escape. He was scheduled to appear in District Court this afternoon.
A pedestrian was sent to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City after being hit at the corner of North Washington and Confederate streets at about noon on Friday.
A report on the incident at the Forrest City Police Department states that Dominick Whiteside, 19, 1421 North Division, Forrest City, was standing on the curb when he was allegedly struck by the right rear side of a vehicle driven by Charles Mathews, 79, Moro. The report goes on to state that Mathews made an improper right turn from Washington onto Confederate, but no citations were issued.
The Mathews vehicle received no damage and Whiteside was taken to BMH by ambulance and was treated and released.