By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
There may be more talent at this year's Forrest City Grocery/Rumble on the Ridge basketball tournament than in any of the past seven tournaments. That talent includes three players who have been named to Street and Smith's First team All-American squad.
Arkansas Razorback basketball coach Stan Heath certainly believes in the talent prospects. Heath is scheduled to be at the Rumble Thursday.
The tournament, in its eighth year, begins Thursday, Nov. 25, at 3:30 p.m. at Mustang Arena, and the eight-team field may be the best Rumble field ever.
All eight of the teams have started strong and most will enter the Rumble undefeated -- including the host team Forrest City Mustangs, who are off to a 2-0 season start. It is the first time the Mustangs have opened in the tournament with an unblemished mark.
Returning to the Rumble this year is last year's runner-up, Denham Springs, La. Denham lost to Pulaski Academy, Ark. 50-48 last year in the closest championship game since the tournament began in 1997.
The Yellow Jackets are led by first team All-American Tasmin Mitchell and will face Poplar Bluff, Mo., led by first team All-American Tyler Hansbrough in the 8 p.m. game Thanksgiving Day.
Forrest City will open against Lanier High School, from Jackson, Miss. in the 6:30 p.m. game, which has become the tournament's "showcase" game in past years.
Lanier features first-team All-American Monta Ellis, who has signed with Mississippi State.
Buffalo Island Central, the other Arkansas representative from Monette, is making its first appearance in the Rumble, and is led by Brandon Ballard, who has signed with Arkansas State University and Brooks Taylor, one of the state's top juniors.
Bolivar, Tenn. features the talented trio of Wayne Chism, Willie Kemp and Olajuwon Kemp while Richwood High School from Monroe, La., may be one of the best small schools to come to the Rumble. Reserve Christian School, from Reserve, La., rounds out the 2004 field and is led by top-ranked junior Demond Carter. Bolivar, Tenn. and Reserve Christian will kick off the eighth Rumble Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Most of the teams are expected to arrive Wednesday for the traditional pre-tournament banquet at the Forrest City Civic Center at 6 p.m.
Following the meal, the teams will head to Mustang Arena for the Synergy Gas Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk competitions which have become fan favorites.
The admission to that, which will start about 7 p.m., will be a can of food to help the St. Francis County Food Pantry or a $1 donation to benefit the Forrest City Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The tournament will conclude Saturday with the championship round games. Four games will be played each day and admission is $15 for all three days.
Concessions will be available each day at the Rumble sponsored by the Forrest City Athletic Booster Club.
Fellowship of Christian Athlete members will be selling the
official tournament programs and action photos will be taken of
the games and other activities during the three-day tournament.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
An outstanding bill for $8,000 from transportation commission coordinator Frederick Freeman was one of several topics discussed Monday during a meeting of the St. Francis County Transportation Commission.
The bill is for two separate items stemming from work Freeman performed for the commission in September of 2003. According to a list of unpaid bills, the charges are $3,000 for salary dated Sept. 30, 2003 and $5,000 for fundraising activities in connection with the Delta Regional Authority grant for $100,000 dated Oct. 1, 2003. Commissioners questioned whether the county or the commission would be liable for the bill.
"I have always worked on this project while under a contract. The one that I had with the county was from Jan. 1, 2003 to May 30, 2003. Then I had two separate contracts, one that went from June 1, 2003 to Sept. 30, of 2003, and the most recent contract, which was with the commission that began on Oct. 1, 2003, and is still current," said Freeman.
Commission member Regan Hill told commissioners that he and Freeman had met and discussed the payment issues and it was his understanding that Freeman would be taking the issue up with St. Francis County officials. Freeman told commissioners last night that he would be seeking the funding from both entities in order to receive payment. This morning, Freeman said that the contract dated June 1, 2003 to Sept. 30, 2003, was with the commission.
In other business, commissioners have until Dec. 13 to determine how $9,200 in DRA grant funding, which was allocated for equipment expenses, will be spent. At their last meeting, commissioners agreed to move the funding designation from equipment to travel. According to commission accountant Ebony Mills, the $9,200 must be spent within 90 days of its drawdown date which expires on Dec. 13. Commissioners asked Mills to compose a letter which will change the funding, but commissioners did not set an area where the funding will be used.
According to a financial statement presented by Mills, the commission currently has $22,914.33 in assets. The total in the checking account is $10,202.33 with accounts receivable of $12,712 remaining to be drawn down from the DRA grant. The expenses for the commission stand at $23,763.17. If the $8,000 in payments to Freeman are removed from the commission expenses, the balance is $15,763.17.
Mills also updated the commission on efforts to get not-for-profit status for the commission. According to Mills, amendments to the commission bylaws will be necessary. Hill told the commission that he had reservations regarding receiving the 501(c)(3) status.
"First off, I don't remember voting on this, but if we've got records where we did, then so be it. In the interim, I have looked into this and I see some positives to getting the status, but I have some really big questions that are going to have to be raised. If this goes through, then this commission will become its own separate entity which does not fall under the jurisdiction of the quorum court, which actually created the commission, and I have a problem with that as a quorum court justice," Hill said.
According to Freeman, the commission would join the St. Francis County Housing Authority and the St. Francis County Museum as entity's created by the court which have 501(c)(3) status and are not governed by the court. Freeman also said that the commission would be able to seek broader funding once not-for-profit status was received.
"There are certain foundations that because they are charitable agencies and have 501(c)(3) status can only give funds to other 501(c)(3) entities. Achieving that status would open more doors to the commission as you move forward with this project," Freeman said.
Hill also told commissioners that the recent groundbreaking of a local travel plaza has caused questions from the public regarding the county's ability to support more than one facility.
"Since Mr. Bell (Ellis Bell) held his groundbreaking, I have been approached by several people who have asked me if this county can support two facilities. I think it's about time that we did a story, basically like we had in the beginning of this, explaining what we're trying to accomplish. We hope Mr. Bell is successful in his venture and will assist him in any way we can, but we're not talking apples-to-apples as far as the scope of the two projects. Mr. Bell is working on a travel plaza, which will span 70 to 80 acres, and we're looking at a project which will be between 200 and 300 acres. This county can definitely support both facilities, and we can support his efforts while still moving forward with ours," Hill said.
Commissioner Rujay Burke told board members that he recently
had a "good" meeting with Bell regarding the two facilities.
The commission also agreed to attempt to set a regular schedule
for meetings beginning in January of 2005.
A corporal with Arkansas State Troop D based in Forrest City was one of several officers recently honored for his work during a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda in Little Rock.
According to a press release from the Arkansas State Police, Cpl. Lowry Astin was recognized for his efforts to seize illegal drug shipments along Interstate 40. Between January and June of this year, Astin is credited with seizing more than 2,000 pounds of narcotics passing through the state.
In February, Astin was involved in one of the largest cocaine busts in the state's history. According to police, more than 600 pounds in cocaine was placed inside 12 boxes, each containing about 25 kilos. The total weight of the drugs was estimated at 300 kilos, or 660 pounds. The search was conducted after the truck's driver was cited for driving on a suspended driver's license. The trooper reported the driver and a passenger appeared nervous during the traffic stop, which lead him to ask for permission to search the truck. The truck's trailer was loaded with boxes of toys and the boxes of cocaine were placed among the toy boxes.
Widener native and Trooper First Class Elvis Mull of Little Rock was also recognized. Mull was the recipient of a commendation for his compassion of life due to the successful intervention on his part to prevent a man from taking his life during an April 21 incident along Interstate 630 in Little Rock.
In other action, two new troopers will soon be patrolling Eastern Arkansas as part of Troop D.
According to the press release, Walter E. McCord, 26, of Southaven, Miss., and Andrew M. Rhew, 25, of Kennett, Mo., were members of a class of 26 State Police Academy recruits who recently graduated from the Black River Technical College in Pocahontas.
Rhew, a graduate of Kennett High School and Three Rivers Community
College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., has been assigned to Monroe County,
and McCord, a graduate of Southaven High School and Arkansas State
University, has been assigned to Phillips County.
A Forrest City School Board retreat Monday night provided board members with some insight into a new program for faculty development.
Called the Teach Advancement Program, or TAP, it is funded by the Milken Family Foundation in conjunction with the Walton Foundation, according to Aubrey Jayroe, school board president.
"This is a very unique and exciting program," said Jayroe. "The Milken Foundation started this in Colorado, and that's where it's based. But there is an Arkansas Group."
The TAP program was introduced to the board members by Dr. Donna Gordy, director of the program in Arkansas.
"A considerable amount of money will come into our schools to provide teacher training and to provide help for classroom teachers," Jayroe said. "This is an awesome project because very few schools get selected for this."
Quoting from material provided by the program, Jayroe said TAP "is a bold new strategy to obtain, retain, motivate and develop talented people to the teaching profession. TAP's goal is to draw talented people into the teaching profession and keep them there, by making it more attractive and rewarding to be a teacher."
He continued, "Under the TAP program, good teachers can earn higher salaries and advance professionally, just as in other careers...It will give them the opportunity to learn better teaching strategies and hold them accountable for their performance. "That's basically it in a nutshell," Jayroe said. "Dr. Gordy is very talented. She was superintendent of Van Buren schools for eight years, before she did this. She is both a teacher and an administrator."
According to Jayroe, "The program has been endorsed by Ron Paige, U.S. Secretary of Education, John Boozman, congressman from Arkansas, and Governor Mike Huckabee, along with many other educators and people in the education professions over the country."
Jayroe said that was the main topic of the retreat. He said
there was also some discussion of a program with Entergy, to help
reduce energy costs at the schools. "It will be presented
at the January board meeting," he said.
A Forrest City man was sentenced to the Arkansas Department of Corrections during circuit court activity Monday at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
Joel Bradley, 25, of 315 C St., Forrest City, was given eight years in the ADC on a driving while intoxicated-drugs charge into which several other minor traffic offenses were merged. Bradley also received six years in the ADC on a terroristic threatening charge which also included other merged charges. Bradley was ordered to serve the two sentences concurrently, meaning the maximum time he would spend in jail would be eight years.
Bradley is a convicted felon, having served a six-year sentence in the Tennessee Department of Corrections for aggravated burglary and two counts of felony theft.
Finally, the spell has been broken. Stuart Schneideier of Maumelle held off Beth Clem of Jonesboro to win last week's Professor Pigskin Football Contest.
Schneideier and Clem each missed just one of the selected 22 games but it was Schneideier who was closest to the actual final score of the Arkansas-Mississippi State game played Saturday, which served as the tie-breaker game.
Schneideier got within 18 points of the final while Clem was 22 points from being the closest.
Schneideier's win gives him the $50 cash prize and breaks a season-long stranglehold on the Pigskin contest by the female readers who have won nine of the 12 weeks, including the last eight straight contests.
Both Schneideier and Clem missed the Florida-Florida State game.
Several readers missed just two games while many missed only three.
The final 2004 Pigskin Contest entries can be found inside today's Times-Herald.
With Thanksgiving only a couple of days away, the founder of the St. Francis County Food Pantry said things are getting desperate for the organization which provides food for the needy.
"We are completely broke," said Catherine Freeman.
She added that the holidays are a time of especially severe needs.
"With the holidays coming up, we need more than ever," she said.
The Food Pantry is located at 122 S. Water Street in Forrest City.
A Forrest City woman told police she was watching television at her home Monday night when someone fired a gun into one of her bedrooms.
Bernice Bobo, 36, who lives at 204 East South Street, told officers with the Forrest City Police Department that she heard a "loud bang" about 11:35 p.m., and when she went into the bedroom, she noticed a "big hole" in the wall.
Officers responding to the call recovered what appeared to be a .12 gauge slug from the bedroom wall.
According to police, there are no suspects at this time.
The St. Francis County Quorum Court will reconvene this evening to continue their regular monthly meeting that was recessed last Tuesday.
Justices are expected to levy taxes and discuss the county's 2005 budget.