By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The faces on the St. Francis County Election Commission will change for the November General Election, which is only three weeks away, after the remaining two members of the commission resigned Wednesday night during a meeting of the Democratic Central Committee.
Election Commission Chairman Joe Young and Bettye Proctor, the Democratic representative to the commission, both tendered their resignations last night during a sometimes emotional meeting of the DCC. According to Young, both resigned after much thought and with regrets.
"This is a hard thing for Bettye and I, and especially Bettye, but I feel that this committee is going to be better off in the long run if we step down. This is a difficult job to do and it requires a lot of your time, and with the other things that I'm involved in, I really didn't have the time to always do the job as well as I would have liked to," said Young.
Young also commented on the commission's recent issues with the State Board of Election Commissioners in Little Rock.
"I want to thank you all again for the wonderful support that you gave us with the issues that we faced in Little Rock. Many of you made the trip over there and were very supportive of us when we had to meet with the state. At least two of the allegations against me were totally untrue. But as a whole, most of the allegations were trivial. We didn't cost anyone their right to vote, and we didn't cost anyone who was running for an office an election. We tried to be fair to everyone, and we tried to do what was right," said Young.
Young also read a letter of resignation to the DCC from Proctor, which stated, "With regrets, I am resigning from the St. Francis County Election Commission due to the continuous inconsistency of some St. Francis County officials to work toward the goal of honest and impartial elections. I also wish to convey my sincere gratitude to the many friends and supporters who have assisted me with honesty and fair play over the years. The voluntary position has been very gratifying, and I appreciate that I had the opportunity to serve the voters of St. Francis County for such a long time."
A tearful Proctor thanked the members of the DCC for their continued support and said, "I've been involved with elections in St. Francis County for a long time, and I really regret stepping down, but this has been a very difficult time. Looking back on this, there were times when me and Joe have sat back and said nothing, and we should have stood up and fought for ourselves. We felt that if we kept quiet a lot of this stuff would just back off, but it hasn't," she said.
Proctor also stepped down as chairman of the county DCC.
Vice-chairman Frederick Freeman, who was elected to replace Proctor, said, "It's a thankless job, and you all are to be commended for the job that you have done. When you have to endure the things that you have, on a job that you don't get paid for, it is remarkable."
Proctor also told committee members that most of the work for the upcoming general election has been completed. Early voting is scheduled to begin Monday in the St. Francis County Clerk's Office.
"We've gotten all of the information that we were supposed to, to the newspaper, and ES&S has told us that the ballots will be here Friday morning. We weren't going to leave the county in a lurch, and we got everything ready to go for this election and it will be ready to go for Frederick," she said.
The election commission currently consists only of Freeman. A second commissioner will have to be selected from a list of five names submitted to the State Election Commission earlier this year. That list included the names of both Young and Freeman, along with Dexter Freeman, Maceo Hawkins and Ed Chauvin. The third member of the commission will be either the chairman of the county Republican party or a representative of that party.
Committee members also voted to elect Ernestine Weaver as the vice-chair, succeeding Freeman. Freeman was unsure whether DCC elections could be held at that time, and the vote was held pending notification as to whether it was legal.
State Health Department officials have indicated they will have the flu vaccine in limited supply only for this flu season.
Locally, Bonnie Dodson of the St. Francis County Health Unit said the local unit has no vaccine at this time, and has no firm date as to when vaccine may be available.
According to a press release from the AHD, when local health units have vaccine available for use, they will notify the local media to publicize dates and times when immunizations will be available. It is expected that the vaccine will be distributed around the first week of November.
As a result of a national vaccine shortage, the local health units will be giving the flu shots to high-risk groups only. People not included in the high-risk categories will not be eligible to receive the vaccine.
The high-risk categories include the following:
*People 65 years of age and older.
*Children ages six months to 23 months.
*Adults and children 2 years of age and older with chronic metabolic diseases including diabetes, kidney disease, blood disorders (such a sickle cell anemia), or weakened immune systems, including people with HIV/AIDS.
*Residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
*Children and teenagers, six months to 18 years of age who take aspirin daily.
*Health care workers involved in direct, hands-on care to patients.
*Household members and out-of-home caregivers of infants under the age of six months (children under the age of six months cannot be vaccinated).
Some persons should not receive an influenza vaccine, including persons with a sever allergy (anaphylactic allergic reaction) to hen's eggs, and persons who previously had onset of Guillain-Barre syndrome during the six weeks after receiving the flu vaccine.
Also, according to the press release, people may take actions to help prevent the spread of influenza by avoiding close contact with people who are sick. People who are sick should keep their distance from others, and stay home from work, school or errands.
People should also cover their mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing. They should also wash their hands with soap often.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
A request to fund several improvement projects at the Forrest City Civic Center was tabled Tuesday during a meeting of the Forrest City Advertising and Promotions Commission after members agreed more information is needed.
The request was made in the form of a memo from Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant to city councilmen Cecil Twillie and Steve Hollowell, who both serve on the A&P Commission.
In the memo, Bryant asks the commission to purchase a video camera system, a laptop computer, wiring for high speed Internet and video surveillance, recording devices and an alarm system. The memo also requests that a "wish list" compiled by the Forrest City Civic Center Commission be funded as well. That list includes tables, name plaques, two table caddies, two mobile beverage bars, beautification enhancements and a new sign. According to Bryant's memo, the upgrades should cost below $50,000.
"The Forrest City Civic Center is the number one tourist attraction/advertisement for the City of Forrest City and is used by the local community for a variety of functions. The Civic Center is also used by many other organizations from around the country to have business workshops, all-school reunions and social events," Bryant wrote in the memo. "Indeed, the Forrest City Civic Center helps Forrest City attract thousands of visitors to our city each year; therefore, I am requesting that you, the representatives for the City of Forrest City on the A&P Commission, request the funding for the Forrest City Civic Center to help upgrade the civic center." The memo also refers to heating and air conditioning improvements made at the facility during the past year that cost over $100,000 and was paid for by the city. The mayor said, in the memo, that he feels the A&P, "which gets its money from our citizens should support this request."
Chairman Kem Merrell responded to the request. "I feel strange about doing more things over there when we have no say in anything that goes on over there. I feel like we should be doing something, but I don't know what we can do. It is discouraging because we made, what I think was a nice gesture on our part, a request to help with the operations of the center. We don't want to run the center, we just want to be allowed to know about the booking of the center so that we can book events.
"We may be way off base here," continued Merrell, "but we need more information on the center before we can fund this request. We need revenue numbers and booking information. Both Sheila (Lieblong, the secretary of the A and P) and I requested this information. When I went to the mayor's office to get the information, I was told that I could look at the information, but could not get a copy. I feel we need to make a request to both the mayor and city council for more information about what is going on over there."
Commissioner Matt Townsend added, "Before we do anything (about the funding request), we need to find out how the center is being handled."
The commission agreed to draft a letter requesting information on bookings for the past five years and the next 12 months, rental rates, and several other points of interest.
In other news, commissioners approved $1,600 for advertising the Rumble on The Ridge basketball tournament in Hogs Illustrated magazine, and $2,500 for the annual Forrest City Christmas Parade.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
The Palestine City Council achieved a quorum this month for the first time since May. While the meeting was brief, several issues were discussed, including an increase in water rates.
"We have received a letter from the USDA," said Palestine Mayor Willetta Carroll. "The water department is operating at a deficit. What has been suggested to us by Rural Development is that we raise the water rates on people on city water being used outside of the city limits. But we do need to raise the rates."
The issue was tabled.
City attorney Jerry Roberts was asked about the possibility of establishing a vicious animal ordinance. "The problem that we have is that the city doesn't have anywhere to dispose of these animals," said Roberts. "We don't have a humane society here, and the cities that do have societies are not accepting animals from outside. Does that mean that we shouldn't adopt an ordinance? No, but we need to be careful about how it reads."
Councilman Bryan Harris asked for permission to speak to the Forrest City Animal Control Officer about the situation. The council and Roberts agreed that Harris could speak to the officer, and it was also agreed that Roberts would look more closely at an existing leash ordinance in Palestine.
Harris offered two other topics for council discussion. The first regarded the Palestine Fire Department. "The fire department has been responding to a lot of accidents on the Interstate," said Harris. "They have been doing extractions from vehicles and giving mutual aid. We are going to start gathering insurance information at the (accident) scenes and will bill them for our services."
The other issue addressed by Harris was raises for city employees. "I have been approached by some city employees about a raise. I feel that we should look into giving some of our employees a raise."
Carroll said that she would research a raise that might work in the city's budget.
In other news, the first reading of an ordinance that would charge residents for not maintaining clean ditches was read and then tabled.
Carroll also told the council that a loan of $20,066 was applied for to purchase another police vehicle for the city.
An Alabama family of four traveling to Texas was killed early Wednesday morning after an accident near the border of St. Francis and Woodruff counties.
According to a report from Arkansas State Police Troop D in Forrest City, 41-year old Andrew Welch, his wife, Joyce Meier Welch, age unknown, and their children, 10-month-old Samuel Welch and six-year-old Maddison Welch, all of Grant, Ala., were killed when the 1991 Ford Explorer, which was driven by Andrew Welch, struck a 1992 Kenworth driven by Daniel L. Lawson, 24, of Lexa.
According to the report, the Welch family was traveling north on U.S. Highway 49 when they collided with the truck driven by Lawson at the intersection of Arkansas Highway 306 after Lawson failed to stop at the intersection.
Lawson was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City where he was treated and released. Officials with the Troop D said they are unsure at this time whether charges would be filed in connection with the accident.
The Associated Press reported that the family was traveling to Texas and were preparing to go to Africa to perform missionary work.
The Indigent Care Board met at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City Wednesday and discussed the possibility of more diversification in its investments.
Attorney Brad Beavers said that at one time, the board was limited to direct government investments.
He said that has changed, and according to law, the investments can be diversified, provided the board uses the so-called "prudent investor rule." This rule, simply put, "leaves it to you and your sound discretion," said Beavers. He said the board members could use their best judgment and do what they feel is proper.
In other words, as member Ed Chauvin put it, "Make as much money as we can, safely."
The next investment comes due Nov. 30, and the board decided to have a committee study the possibilities until that time.
"It's going to be what's available when our money is available," said Beavers.
On another matter, the board voted to pay $7,929.41 to the hospital for indigent payments. Beavers explained that the board can pay up to 85 percent of the interest it receives on investments.
Village Creek State Park will host a horse camp from Friday, Oct. 15, until Sunday, Oct. 17. There are no stalls or pickets, you must bring you own high lines.
Negative Coggins required, no copies. Space is limited. To register or for more information call VCSP at 870-238-9406.