By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Forrest City police are investigating two unrelated incidents that occurred early Saturday in which one man was stabbed and another was shot.
Brian Patin, 26, was leaving a party at a residence on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., about 3:30 a.m. when he was shot at least once in the chest. The shooting followed a stabbing that occurred about two hours earlier inside the Coconut Lounge on East Broadway where Fitzpatrick Williams, 29, of 142 Gregory St., Forrest City, was stabbed in the chest.
According to reports on file at the Forrest City Police Department, officers and an ambulance were called to the Marsalena Hancock residence in reference to a subject having been shot. When police arrived, Patin first told them his name was Allen Morgan, and then at the hospital, while refusing to cooperate with medical personnel, said his name was Antonio, according to the police report.
After being treated at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City, Patin was flown to the Med Center in Memphis where he was listed in critical condition upon his arrival there, but his condition has been upgraded to good today.
During the investigation, police discovered Patin was sitting in the passenger seat of a rental car on the driveway of Hancock's residence when he was shot. A second shot was fired at the victim as he attempted to make it into the home. Officers found two large caliber bullet casings, one under the front passenger seat of the vehicle and the other in an adjacent vacant house.
After receiving consent to search the premises, officers found an estimated 52.2 grams of marijuana inside the trunk and the passenger area of the rental car and inside luggage owned by Ralph Walker that was found inside a closet of the Hancock residence. Also during a search of the home, police located a .357 revolver in the closet where the suitcase containing the marijuana was found.
Walker, who originally told police his name was Tyrone Jones, was arrested in connection with the drugs. He is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver near certain facilities, possession of firearms by certain persons, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing governmental operations.
Kerry Perkins, 18, who lives at 527 MLK Dr., was also arrested. He is charged with theft by receiving of a firearm in connection with a Starr 9mm pistol police found inside the home. A check on the gun discovered it had been stolen from Missouri.
Police are also searching for a suspect involved in the stabbing of Williams which occurred just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
Williams was stabbed on the right side of his chest and was taken to BMH-FC where he was treated and transferred to the Med Center in Memphis for further treatment. Officials at the Med today said they are not showing Williams as a patient there.
According to the police report, Williams told officers he went into the bar to pick up some keys from his brother and while he was inside the club he got into an argument with an unknown black male. That argument escalated into a fist fight during which Williams was stabbed.
No arrests have been made in either case, and both are still under investigation.
Police ask that anyone with information concerning either of these incidents to call the FCPD at 870-633-3434 or the Forrest City Crime Stoppers number at 870-261-1499.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
In a special ceremony held in the parking lot of Forrest City Junior High School on Friday, a math teacher at the junior high received something everyone dreams about -- a parking place of her very own.
Pam England, recently named Arkansas Teacher of the Year, was presented with the parking space as a surprise. She will have only a short walk from her car to the building for the rest of the school year.
Billy Ferguson, FCJHS principal, said the entire community is proud of England.
"From this point forward, she will be going to the national competition. She will go to Dallas in January, where at that time the final four will be named, and in April she'll be going to Washington, D.C. to meet with the President of the United States," said Ferguson. "We have every confidence that she's going to be number one."
Forrest City Alderman Mary Jeffers, representing Mayor Larry Bryant, presented a plaque naming Dec. 17 as Pam England Day in Forrest City. She also recited a quote by William Arthur Ward: "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
Trenton Ware, a student representing the Warriors Team at the junior high, brought tears to England's eyes when he made his presentation. He talked about how outstanding a teacher he believes she is.
"She has helped me personally in so many ways," said Ware. "One thing I can say about Mrs. England, is that she doesn't care if you're black or white, if you're a boy or girl, if you're tall or short, if you're a fast learner or a slow learner, G.T. or in special services, or if you're rich or poor. She just cares for all children.
"She loves to teach. Seeing her break something down that looked complicated and make it look so simple, is just amazing."
Rae-Marie Busby made a presentation on behalf of St. Francis County Jude Carl E. Cisco, in which he also named Dec. 17 as Pam England Day in the county.
Sara Cate Lewey, daughter of Times-Herald publisher Weston Lewey, presented a replica of the front page which told of England being named Teacher of the Year.
School Superintendent Lee Vent said. "I want to tell you how proud we are of you. I want you to know I didn't have a button left on my shirt, from swelling with pride."
He also introduced Billy Harrison, who happens to be a native of Wister, Okla., where England attended high school.
"He showed me his report card from the early 1940s and he has all A's in math. So there must be something in the water in Wister, Okla. It's a small world," Vent said.
Vent then told England that it was his pleasure to present her "a very special place -- a place to park your car every morning, so you won't have to go around and find a place to park."
England thanked everyone and said, "I would like all of you to look at these students. They're the reason why we teach. And they're a big part of this."
As she stood there, her name was stenciled onto her parking space, and a sign was also hung, proclaiming that the parking space was hers.
After the ceremony, there was a reception in the school cafeteria.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The future of an organization created to help poor communities across the Delta is teetering unsteadily after only five years in existence due to a lack in funding on the federal level.
The Delta Regional Authority, which was created five years ago by then-President Bill Clinton, may be close to a breaking point after never receiving the funding promised during the agency's creation. The DRA was created with the purpose of distributing millions of dollars annually throughout eight states and 240 counties across the Delta region. The funding was to train workers, repair roads and fund infrastructure upgrades. The DRA was originally scheduled to receive $30 million annually. While the DRA has received funding, it has never received the $30 million annual budget.
According to Dr. Robert Cole with the East Arkansas Enterprise Community, the DRA has seen its funding cut drastically since the inception of the project.
"When the idea for the DRA was first tossed around, we at the EC (EAEC) were asked by President Clinton, Congressman Berry (Marion Berry, Representative for the First District) and Senator (Blanche) Lincoln to provide a format for creation of the DRA. We did that and the DRA was supposed to have received $30 million, but they never have. The first year, I think they received $20 million, then that was cut to $6 million and now the President (current President George Bush) only wanted to allocate $2 million in funding," Cole said.
Cole said that the lack of funding will affect the Delta drastically due to the programs that the DRA could possibly assist.
"We received funding from them this year for the first time, but it will affect us more through the people that we have partnerships with than it will directly affect us. We've worked to partner with several entities, but many of them haven't been around as long as we have and have the number of sources that we do. Those organizations assist clients not only in our enterprise zone, but in other places and could be hurt by the loss of funding from DRA. If they have to cut back on what they do or close their doors then St. Francis County and all of the counties of the Delta will be affected," Cole said.
The EAEC received $75,000 in funding this year for equipment.
Another entity receiving funding was the St. Francis County Transportation Committee which received a $100,000 grant last year for the transportation mall project. According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the cuts could have far-reaching effects in the county.
"I really hate to see the cuts to their funding because they can assist in so many different areas. We received the grant from them last year and were hoping to receive other grants for different projects in the future," Cisco said.
"While I hope they can continue to operate, we'll continue to look to them and to other avenues for assistance with projects to help the people of St. Francis County," he added.
With funding shrinking and the Congress preparing to determine whether to reauthorize the law that established the authority, some are questioning whether it should be maintained. Diane Norman, community development consultant with the East Arkansas Planning and Development District in Jonesboro, questioned whether the organization could remain viable if the funding was cut to the $2 million proposed by President Bush.
"From the first year that they were giving out grants, they really didn't have a lot of funding. We've worked as a facilitator on some of the grants and have helped cities seek grants. If we lose the DRA, then it will be just another funding source that we once had that won't be around. All of my cities are poor and we need as much help as we can find but if the DRA's budget is cut to $2 million then they couldn't provide grants to anyone, and they would barely be able to keep the doors open to their offices in Clarksdale (Miss.)," said Norman.
The EAPDD received a $24,000 technical assistance grant from the DRA in 2002 and has worked on several other projects in with cities including the airport expansion project, also in 2002 in Lee County, where the DRA provided $249,000 in funding.
Along with regular crimes, citizens and Forrest City police are facing criminals who apparently want to be the Grinch who stole Christmas.
Two thefts of Christmas presents were reported over the weekend, along with one daring but failed attempt to snatch a purse.
In one incident, Stephanie Morrow of 219 W. Buford reported that she had left her house and that all of her children's Christmas presents were under the tree. She reported that her door was locked.
She said when she returned some time later, she found the door open, and all her children's presents were gone. Along with numerous toys, a checkbook was taken and the door was damaged.
In the other incident, Angela Wilburn of 818 Oakland reported that a man had broken the rear window of her van and did some damage, then stole presents from under the seat, carrying them away in a white bag.
According to the police report, the bag and presents were found and returned.
No arrests were made in either incident, but police have suspects in each.
The attempted purse snatching took place in the parking lot of Wal-Mart on Sunday. Pamela Smith of Marianna said she had left the store and was on her way to her car, when two males came toward her on bicycles. One grabbed her purse, but she managed to keep hold of it. She said a man jumped out of his truck and chased the two away.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
There is a new effort beginning in Widener to help senior citizens get out of the house and socialize. For the past two months, Mayor Dot Halford and Widener Police Chief Shelly Bieber have been hosting the Senior Citizens Luncheon, a chance for seniors in the city to eat, socialize and play games.
"We did this for the first time on Thanksgiving this year," said Bieber. "We are doing it for Christmas today. We have had a good turn out so far and we want to try and do this once each month, maybe more than that if it catches on.
"Having the luncheons are a good way for us to give seniors in Widener a place to go to talk to friends and meet other seniors," stated Bieber. "It gets them out of the house, gives them a good meal and a helps them meet their neighbors. We also provide games like Bingo for them to play."
And what about the food? "Mayor Halford does a lot of the cooking," added Bieber. "And I have four men that do some cooking and smoke and prepare the meat. We call them the 'Widener Police Department Cooking Squad.' They make the food for all of our benefits, so it is good food."
At last Friday's event, those present were treated to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, homemade rolls and bags of fresh fruit. Each month the luncheons will be held in the Widener Community Center.
"We are hoping for big turnouts and want to invite all seniors in Widener to come out," said Bieber. "If you are a senior or know a senior that is unable to make it here for the luncheons, give the Widener Police Department a call for 633-1705. We will get you here and give you a ride back home."
St. Francis County had sales tax receipts of $131,219.08 during November, according to the Arkansas Municipal League.
Towns in the county also received the following amounts from the county sales tax: Hughes, $26,007.01; Forrest City, $205,799.44; Wheatley, $5,181.90; Palestine, $10,322.02; Madison, $13,748.76; Caldwell, $6,477.38; Colt, $5,126.18; Widener, $4,666.48.
In addition, towns with their own sales taxes had the following sales tax receipts for November: Forrest City, $146,324.02; Hughes, $10,145.15; Madison, $1,076.04; Palestine, $5,501.71; Wheatley, $4,048.39.
One man has been arrested and another is being sought in connection with prohibited items delivered to a cell in the St. Francis County Jail.
According to the report, a jailer received word from an informant who was not in the jail, that some prohibited items had been taken to an upstairs cell.
A search was conducted of the cell, and items of food and liquor, as well as a lighter and cell phone were recovered.
Arrested in connection with the incident was Jason Foster, 34, no address given. Another man is also being sought.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush pointedly acknowledged Monday that U.S.-trained Iraqi troops are not ready to take over their country's security, and cautioned that next month's elections there are only the beginning of a long process toward democracy.
''I certainly don't expect the process to be trouble-free,'' Bush said at a year-end news conference in which he signaled tough spending cuts to come and declined to offer specific solutions to Social Security's solvency.
Bush also gave a fresh vote of confidence to embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. ''He's doing a very fine job,'' the president said.
The 55-minute session, the 17th solo news conference of his presidency, was part of Bush's effort to seize the momentum from his re-election victory and push several ambitious domestic and foreign policy priorities in his second term.
On Iraq, Bush accused insurgents there of trying to ''disrupt the democratic process'' and urged the American people to remain patient well beyond the Jan. 30 elections as Iraqis craft a constitution and strengthen their security forces.
''The elections in January are the beginning of a process and it is important for the American people to understand that,'' he said.