By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A controversial stretch of road in Palestine may finally be getting a much-needed facelift after officials with St. Francis County and the business most affected by the road's condition have agreed to make repairs.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said the county has struck a deal with Love's Country Store for repairs. The business will provide the materials to repair a series of holes in the road, and the county will provide the labor and equipment to remedy the on-going problem, according to Cisco.
Cisco said that the repairs will be made even though the county has no responsibility to repair the road due to its location inside the city limits of Palestine.
"What we've done is, we've made an arrangement where we'll go in and do the work using our labor and equipment, and Love's will provide all the necessary material. We're doing this for the safety of the public because if nothing is done that road is just going to continue to deteriorate, and we're going to have a major accident out there, and someone is going to be seriously hurt or killed," Cisco said.
The portion of roadway, which is located close to the Interstate 40 interchange in Palestine, has been a sore spot for officials with the county, Love's and the city of Palestine for close to a year.
Late last year, a letter was sent to Palestine Mayor Willetta Carroll from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department informing her that no repairs would be made by the state due to the roadway being located inside the city limits. That letter was followed up by a letter from Cisco to Carroll which stated that the county would not make any further repairs to road. In March, after several citizen complaints, county road crews patched up several spots in the road which were damaged by the heavy truck traffic in the area.
In April, Love's officials paid to make repairs to the area after the holes reopened. According to Cisco, the work being performed now is an attempt to remedy and repair the problems, and he said it will be the county's final work at the location.
"We're going to go in and dig that area out and try to fix it right. Once the work is done, we're through. That area is inside the city limits of Palestine, and we don't have to do the work, but nothing is getting done over there. We're only doing this because it is a hazard to the people who live in that area and use that road, and it is a hazard to the truck drivers and travelers that stop at the truckstop. Once this is finished, any further repairs or any upkeep at that site will be the responsibility of the city of Palestine," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, members of the road department were in Palestine Wednesday evaluating what needs to be done.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
"It is easier to build a child than to repair an adult," is the motto of the Arkansas Sheriff's Youth Ranches, a statewide organization that is dedicated to helping at-risk and troubled children succeed in life despite their problems.
JaNoel Bess, the Northeast Arkansas director of development for the organization, recently spoke about the program and plans for locating a new campus in the area.
"The ranches were founded 28 years ago by concerned sheriffs in the state," said Bess. "They were concerned because more and more children were ending up in court in front of judges for acts of their own and acts of their parents. They saw that there needed to be a place outside of jail for some of these children. Many were in trouble because of what their parents were involved in, and there needed to be a place that they could go to outside of that situation. Other times, a child would be brought before a judge and given a choice of a juvenile facility or the ranch."
According to Bess, facing jail time or having a bad living condition at home is not the only ways that children find their way to the youth ranches.
"We have children whose guardians request that they be considered for the ranch," said Bess. "They can't handle the children and they are getting into trouble. Another story is about a women who was traveling on Interstate 40. She was recently divorced and put her two teenage daughters that were with her out of the car. The mother left her daughters and didn't return. Both came to the ranch and graduated high school. That is want we are trying to do, help these children get past their problems and help them be as successful as they can be."
Bess described the services that the ranches offer.
"We offer both counseling and residential services. With our residential services, the children live in cottages with house parents. They do everything a regular parent would do, they go to meetings with teachers, take the children to doctor's appointments and pick them up from extracurricular activities. The children work with their relief parents to develop a loving, but structured home. They are expected to do their homework and chores. One of the most impressive statistics that I have is that we have a 100 percent high school graduation rate. Of that 100 percent, 80 percent go on to attend college or vocational training. We have had children who lived at the ranch who have become lawyers and other professionals. Some even come back to work with the ranch."
The chores for the children might be a different experience for them. Bess stated that each campus has an "agricultural theme." That means chores will be more than taking out the trash at the ranches.
"On the Hardy campus, they have to take care of cows," commented Bess. "And at the Batesville campus, they have a full horse program. They have all of the chores that come with caring for the animals."
Bess stated that 3,000 children are enrolled at the four ranch location across the state. In addition to Hardy, Batesville, ranches are located at Lake DeGray and Alma. Bess also stated that 1,200 of those children come from the Northeast Arkansas area, of which St. Francis County is a part.
"Our long-range plans are to locate a campus in Wynne," continued Bess. "That way we will have a campus within two hours driving distance from every major city in the state. We feel that will provide the proper geographic placement of the campuses. It also makes visitation from parents easier while the children are here. We place children in the campus location that is closest to their families."
Funding for the program is provided for the most part by private donations, added Bess. "Around 95 percent of our funding is provided by private donations. The other 5 percent is federally funded, mostly from insurance programs that the children qualify for, like ARKids."
The Arkansas Sheriff's Youth Ranches are co-ed. For more information on the ranches, contact Bess at 870-761-7455 or e-mail her at janoel@bessx.com, or visit the ranch website at www.sheriffsranch.com.
The official filing period for six positions on the three area school boards opened Wednesday.
According to St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, the filing period will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday through Monday, Aug. 9.
Smith also stated that early voting for the Tuesday, Sept. 21, election is expected to begin on Tuesday, Sept. 7, and will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for two weeks.
In Forrest City, the terms expire for two school board members. Gordon McCoy's Position 4 seat and Ronald Williams' Position 3 seat will be elected.
In the Palestine-Wheatley School District will see both Zone 4 representative Ronnie Crider and Zone 6 representative John Henry Parker are both up for reelection.
In Hughes, Jimmy Bain, who holds the Zone 5 seat, and Melinda Burch Patrick, who holds the Position 6 seat, will see their positions up for reelection.
Members of both the Forrest City and Palestine-Wheatley school boards are elected to three-year terms. Members of the Hughes School Board are elected to five-year terms.
As of early this morning no one had filed in any of the positions.
Volunteers are still being sought for this Saturday's beautification project for the Forrest City Junior High School campus.
The volunteers will work with the Forrest City Wal-Mart Supercenter, beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday, June 26.
"We've had some to contact us, but we're still trying to get more volunteers," said Chaney Murray, one of the contact people for the junior high.
Work will begin in the school's two courtyards. Wal-Mart is providing many of the flowers and furniture that will be used in the project.
Both courtyards will have themes. One will have a Japanese theme, and input is being sought on a theme for the other courtyard.
Participants will be served hot dogs and soft drinks. There will also be live music and a concession stand.
Anyone wanting more information may call Wal-Mart at 870-633-0021,
or the junior high at 633-3230.
A Palestine man is charged with aggravated assault after allegedly threatening Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant Wednesday evening.
Bryant requested a police officer at 308 Hill Street just after 5 p.m. after Waymon Willford Banks, 53, allegedly pulled a knife on him as the result of an earlier confrontation.
According to the report on file at the Forrest City Police Department, police had been called to Hill Street earlier in the day regarding some stolen equipment that Banks was allegedly attempting to sell to workers at that location.
Bryant, 52, 428 A Ave., told police that Banks, who had threatened him once previously, had approached him "in an angry manner with a knife in his hand questioning (Bryant) as to why he had called the police department on him," police reported.
The knife was taken into evidence along with the plumbing equipment Banks was allegedly trying to sell.
Banks is charged with carrying a knife as a weapon, aggravated assault and criminal trespassing.
A man posing as a police officer robbed a Texas family of more than $2,000 early today at a motel in Heth.
Criselda Garcia, 64, of Robstown, Texas, told deputies with the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department that she was staying at the Super 8 Motel with her husband and two grown children when a black male subject knocked on their motel door about 2 a.m., saying he was a policeman.
Garcia said when she answered the door, the suspect was wearing a police badge around his neck and was armed with a handgun.
According to the report, the subject told the family he had made a bust in the motel room next to theirs and asked if they had any money in their room.
He asked Garcia's son, Jesus Equia, for his identification, and after handing it to the suspect, Equia laid his wallet on the dresser just before the man asked him and his mother to step outside. After luring the pair out of the room, the suspect returned and reportedly took about $2,000 from Equia's wallet. He also reportedly took an unknown amount of money from Garcia.
Garcia's daughter, Elizabeth Garcia, told police she saw the suspect take the money from the wallet and told him to leave it alone. The suspect allegedly told her that he had her brother in his car and for her to stay in the room.
The suspect, described as about six feet tall and weighing about 225 pounds, then left the area in a maroon van with a second subject, according to police.