By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
With the Highway 1 bypass in its second week of being open, most drivers have had time to become adjusted to the new route, but some questions still remain about the thoroughfare.
An absence of signage along the northern and middle sections of the bypass has left some motorists with questions as they approach three separate intersections, one at Eldridge Road, another to the south of Interstate 40 at L'Anguille Road and the third at Turner Road.
According to Ray Woodruff, district engineer with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, those three intersections may remain unmarked for some time.
"The decision on signs for any roadway is made by another branch of the highway department, and I'm not sure what they're going to do. I do know that those intersections may be difficult to see, but each of them has a stop sign which should stop any crossing traffic," said Woodruff.
"When motorists come to those intersections, as long as they come to a stop and check both ways before either crossing the intersection or getting onto the bypass, they should be fine," Woodruff said.
Drivers can take some comfort in the fact that the county may have plans to add street signs at the three intersections. According to County Judge Carl Cisco, the signs would give motorists some notification.
"About the only thing that we can do is have road signs put at each of the intersections of county roads on the bypass. That way, drivers will be able to at least see those and know that they're approaching an intersection. Those three places just come up on you when you're driving so the signs may give enough warning that people on the bypass know to keep an eye out," Cisco said.
While signs may not go up warning of the impending intersections from the state, Woodruff did say that he expects speed limit signs to go up soon.
"It's not marked right now on the northern section and the middle, but the signage will be going up when the sign crews are back in this area," said Woodruff.
With the majority of the bypass located in St. Francis County and not inside the city limits of Forrest City, the roadway is listed as a 55 mile per hour zone.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The newest and still only member of the St. Francis County Election Commission, with a little assistance from two former members of the commission, certified the 54-52 results from last week's runoff election in the Palestine-Wheatley School District.
Frederick Freeman, who replaced Bettye Proctor on the county commission last week, signed off of the results of Tuesday's election which saw Donald Cagle defeat Donald Story by a two-vote margin. Freeman and Proctor, along with Joe Young, who also resigned from the commission at the same time as Proctor, certified the vote during a brief meeting Friday.
According to Proctor, she and Young signed off on the certification due to the absence of any other actively serving commissioners. Tim Humphries with the Arkansas Secretary of State's office said this morning he could not comment on the action because there are no provisions governing the situation in state election laws.
On Tuesday, Cagle defeated Story in a runoff after the two men were deadlocked after the final results from the Sept. 12, school elections. The runoff was held after Story first took home a one-vote win on election night. After Cagle requested a recount, election officials found a 30-30 tie which led to last week's runoff election.
The runoff election appeared headed again for a tie after balloting ended at 51 votes each for Cagle and Story, but four provisional ballots which had not been counted gave Cagle the 54-52 edge. Provisional ballots are ballots which commissioners question regarding legalities.
The new Women's Center at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City will have its official grand opening ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 19.
There will be a ribbon cutting at 4 p.m., and an open house will be held from 4-6 p.m.
The center features new, private labor, delivery and recovery suites equipped with advanced technology, evaluation-triage areas. There is also a level II nursery with a high-quality security system, new fetal monitoring equipment, warmers for close observation of newborn and sick babies, infant cardiac monitors and special equipment for premature babies.
Women of all ages can receive gynecological care, diagnostic and surgical services in the center.
The center also offers prenatal care, prepared childbirth classes, infant safety/CPR classes, breast feeding classes and support and the Beautiful Beginnings continuing education program.
"This amazing facility will allow us to better meet the needs of women of all ages and to promote family-centered care in Eastern Arkansas," said Jerry Pope, administrator and CEO at Baptist Forrest City, in a recent press release. "Much careful preparation and planning have gone into this center with the hope that all women will have positive experiences in this comfortable environment."
St. Francis County had sales tax receipts totaling $140,991.47 in August
In addition, the cities inside St. Francis County received the following prorated amounts: Hughes, $27,943.85; Forrest City, $221,126.11; Wheatley, $5,567.82; Palestine, $11,090.73; Madison, $14,772.68; Caldwell, $6,959.77; Colt, $5,507.94; Widener, $5,014.02.
Cities inside the county which have their own sales taxes also had the following receipts during August: Forrest City, $153,023.49; Hughes, $9,203.64; Madison, $2,055.10; Palestine, $5,375.21; Wheatley, $4,677.24.
Forrest City police captured a burglar inside a local business early Saturday morning.
Officers responding to an alarm at Hess Shoes, 2010 N. Washington, about 2:11 a.m., discovered the siding on the back of the building had been cut to gain access to the building.
While waiting for the store's owners to arrive, police said Larry Jones, 38, 128 E. Sharp St., Forrest City, walked to the front doors of the business to surrender to police. Two officers entered the building through the opening which Jones had allegedly created, and he was arrested without incident.
Jones is charged with commercial burglary, and was scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis District Court this afternoon.
A Forrest City man was arrested early Sunday on two counts of drug violations, after an officers saw him allegedly trying to roll a marijuana cigar at a local nightclub.
According to the police report, an officer was performing a walk-through at the Coconut Lounge at 219 E. Broadway, at about 2 a.m. Sunday. The officer reported that he walked to the area of the building where the bathrooms are located and saw Brian Golatt, 22, of 413 Martin Luther King Drive, rolling something in his hands.
The report stated that Golatt was taken into custody. When Golatt was searched, police allegedly found 6.1 grams of marijuana (plus the cigar, which weighted 2.5 grams, including the paper) and five rocks of crack cocaine weighing 2.1 grams. The crack cocaine was allegedly packaged for sale.
Golatt was charged with possession of marijuana, second offense, and also possession of crack cocaine.