By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
A group of about 30 people gathered at the Forrest City Veteran's Memorial at the Forrest City Civic Center Monday morning to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Area veterans of World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War were all in attendance on Monday and to show their respect to those who have died in service to the United States. One of those who led the proceedings was Ed Chauvin, Senior Vice-Commander of the local VFW 2869. Representatives of the local American Legion Post 4 were also in attendance.
According to Chauvin, he was 17 when he joined the United States Marine Corp., just in time to be sent to the Korean War. He earned the rank of Major and served 22 years. Chauvin talked about the importance of Memorial Day.
"As long as two members (of the VFW and American Legion) are alive, we will meet and remember those who have fought and died for our country," Chauvin said at the proceedings. "Over 1,000 veterans of World War II die each day. Most of them are in their upper 70's and are dying of old age. We will continue to honor them and what they have done for our country."
Part of that remembrance is the tradition of placing American flags at the graves of local veterans. Chauvin stated that while the two groups do place the flags at some graves, help is needed.
"We purchase the flags ourselves," said Chauvin. "Our income is kind of low, and we can't purchase all of the flags needed. We get Forrest Park Cemetery and part of Hughes Cemetery each year, but we hope to include all of the cemeteries in the area. We just can't afford it.
"We are going to ask some of the larger companies in the area for help in purchasing the flags," continued Chauvin. "With their help, we hope to provide flags for all the graves in the larger cemeteries. We have had one person pledge support. The minister of the Caldwell Baptist Church said after the Memorial Day observance that he thought he could help. Also, each year we need volunteers to place the flags. Any help will be appreciated."
Chauvin also thanked everyone who attended the ceremony. "I want to thank our volunteers this year who placed the flags on the graves and all of those who came out to honor our veterans," added Chauvin. "We had a larger crowd this year than last year, and we hope to have the crowd grow each year."
Anyone who would like to help the VFW and American Legion honor veterans next year by volunteering time or donating money for the purchase of flags, may contact Chauvin at 870-633-5818.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Law enforcement officers kept busy over the Memorial Day weekend, with one result being that there were no fatalities in this immediate area.
According to Captain Nathaniel Jackson, commander of Arkansas State Police Troop D Headquarters in Forrest City, including warnings, there were a total of 1,213 officer-violator contacts. Troop D includes St. Francis, Crittenden, Phillips, Lee, Cross, Woodruff, Monroe and Prairie counties.
For the ASP, the "official" holiday weekend began May 28 and continued through midnight Monday, May 31.
During that time, troop wide, there were 265 speeding citations issued. In addition, there were 22 DWI arrests and one DUI arrest.
Over the holiday, troopers wrote 105 tickets for safety belt violations and 29 tickets for child restraint violations.
There were also 61 criminal arrests, and various tickets written for hazardous (tailgating, etc.) and non-hazardous (tail light out, etc.) incidents.
Troop wide, 17 accidents were investigated, none of them involving fatalities.
In Forrest City, officers joined with the ASP in the national "Click It Or Ticket" campaign, which emphasizes zero tolerance on all violations with special attention to seat belt and child restraint usage.
The holiday period for the Forrest City Police Department began at 6 p.m. Friday and continued until midnight Monday. During that time, Forrest City officers conducted special patrols in addition to routine police patrols, according to Lt. Eddie Adamson.
The special patrols netted 49 citations for seat belt violations and nine citations for child restraint violations.
The following contacts, resulting in either an arrest or a citation, were also made by the special patrols: Fifteen for driving on a suspended driver's license, three for no driver's license, 20 for no vehicle insurance, one for criminal impersonation, one for disregarding a traffic control device, one for possession of an instrument of a crime, two loud music violations, one disorderly conduct and one for an expired driver's license.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City Regional Office of Child Support Enforcement will finally make a move later this month that has been over two years in the making.
Ann Laidlaw, with the Arkansas Department of Building Services in Little Rock, said this morning that the lease for the new facility on North Washington Street began this morning.
"We inspected the facility on Thursday of last week and everything was in order. The lease began this morning, and officials with the Forrest City Regional Office can begin moving in now," Laidlaw said.
According to Laidlaw, the new office is expected to open on Monday, June 14. The state has a 10-year lease for the facility which ends on May 31, 2014. Laidlaw also said that the state is very pleased with the facility.
"We're extremely happy to be getting this completed, and Jim Frazier and his partner Cotton Roberts have done just a wonderful job with the new building. We're very pleased with the work that they've done, and they did a very nice job with the building. I was extremely happy with the results of their work when I did the walk through and inspection on Thursday," Laidlaw said.
Construction on the new facility began in December of last year when the City of Forrest City issued a building permit for $619,000 to Frazier Construction based in Helena, for the building.
In December of 2002, officials with the state severed ties on a new building which was being constructed on South Washington Street, when the owners, Scott and Johnnie Nell Carroll, failed to complete the project, which was let in 2001.
The new facility is expected to serve St. Francis, Cross, Lee, Woodruff and Monroe counties.
It may go down as one of the easiest DWI arrests on record for the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department.
Just before 3 a.m. Saturday, Angela Robinson, 25, 944 Hickey St., Forrest City, reported to deputies that she was traveling west on County Road 738, near the Shady Grove M.B. Church, when a vehicle headed toward her began flashing its lights.
Robinson told police she did not stop because of the time and because she was alone in a remote area of the county, and that the car continued traveling east until it struck the driver's door of her 1992 Ford Escort. Robinson was able to drive her vehicle to the St. Francis County Jail where she reported the incident.
According to the report on file at the SFCSD, after taking the report, a deputy drove to the area where the accident had reportedly occurred and found the vehicle, a 1993 Chevrolet Corsica, sitting in the road with damage to the right front fender and driver's door along with blue paint that appeared to have come from Robinson's vehicle.
The deputy found the driver, Clarence E. Hall, 43, 2051 SFC 742, Forrest City, asleep behind the wheel, and after waking him, Hall failed field sobriety tests, according to the arrest report.
Hall is charged with his third offense of driving while intoxicated along with refusing a test, fictitious tags, no insurance, driving left of center and driving on a suspended driver's license.
He is scheduled to appear in St. Francis County District Court Wednesday afternoon.