By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Arkansas State Police officers were busy over the weekend, making more than 950 contacts with motorists in the Troop D area, which includes St. Francis, Crittenden, Phillips, Lee, Cross, Woodruff, Monroe and Prairie counties.
There was one fatality in the Troop D area which actually took place several hours before the official holiday saturation period began at 6 p.m. Friday.
The fatality occurred at about 2:23 Friday morning, according to Lt. Tommy Wicker of Troop D Headquarters in Forrest City. A 1995 Peterbilt tractor-trailer was headed northbound on U.S. Highway 49 in the Fair Oaks area. The driver, James Morgan, 60, of Harrison, apparently lost control of the vehicle.
The tractor trailer crossed into the southbound lane and left the pavement. Apparently, when Morgan tried to regain control of the vehicle, it turned over and came to rest in a ditch.
For the purposes of reporting, the holiday weekend officially began for the ASP at 6 p.m. Friday and continued until midnight Monday.
During that time there were 236 speeding citations issued. There were 18 DWI arrests. There were also 59 seat belt violations and 14 child restraint violations.
There were 27 hazardous citations (following too close, etc.) and 100 non-hazardous citations (tail light out, etc.). There were 59 criminal arrests. The rest of the officer-vehicle contacts were either warnings or assists.
Troopers worked 10 accidents. There were no fatals in Troop D during the official holiday period.
However, while the holiday weekend may be over, the emphasis on drinking and driving is still going on, in the form of the "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose" campaign, which coincides with the weekend.
"That is still going on," said Wicker. "It began
on the 27th of August, and it goes through Sept. 11. So we're
still going to be working on the DWI campaign."
The Arkansas State Conference of Branches of the NAACP will hold its 59th annual Convention on Friday, Sept. 10, and Saturday, Sept. 11, at the Forrest City Civic Center.
The two-day event begins Friday morning with workshops throughout the day as well as on Saturday. Workshops scheduled to be offered during this event include voter empowerment, housing, health, prisons, education, EEOC, economic development and women in the NAACP (WIN).
Forrest City Mayor Larry Bryant will also be in attendance, addressing members at the annual membership breakfast on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m.
At the noon luncheon, the guest speaker will be former state representative Jimmie L. Wilson, president of the Phillips County Branch of the NAACP. Wilson was one of the attorneys who successfully brought the Lakeview lawsuit against the state of Arkansas, forcing education reform in the state.
On Friday evening at 7 p.m., there will be a gospel extravaganza held at the Civic Center.
The convention concludes on Saturday night with the Dr. Jerry D. Jewell Freedom Fund Banquet. The banquet speaker is Joye Carter, MD, FCAP of Memphis. Carter, the only African-American board certified forensic pathologist, will also hold a book-signing event the evening of the banquet.
Also, during the banquet, the NAACP will have a special ceremony
to honor Arkansas families, or their representative, who have
lost loved ones in the Iraq war.
A traffic stop in Interstate 40 Friday resulted in one arrest and the seizure of almost $200,000 of cocaine.
One person was arrested and another is being sought after a chase.
The incident began, according to the report, at about 1:25 p.m. An officer pulled over a rental car for weaving in and out of a lane. The stop was made at about the 246 mile marker. A man and woman were in the car.
After being refused permission to search the car, the trooper called for assistance with a dog to come to the scene. While they were waiting for the canine unit to arrive, the man reportedly jumped back into the car and sped away.
He was chased by the trooper who was coming with the dog. The suspect-driven car left the interstate at the Widener exit, turned west onto U.S. Highway 70, and then turned into a bean field. From the bean field the subject drove the car into a wooded area, where it struck a tree.
The man jumped out and ran, and he is still at large.
In the back seat of the car police found five kilos of cocaine, valued at about $35,000 a kilo. There was also a small amount of marijuana.
Arrested at the scene of the traffic stop was Lakeisha Darnetta Adams, 27, of Roanoke Va. She is charged with driving on a suspended driver's license and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
Also sought is the man who fled in the vehicle, Wendell Antonio Johnson, 32, also of Roanoke.
Law enforcement officials in three counties came one step closer this past weekend to solving a crime in which area farmers were targeted.
Investigators with the St. Francis County Sheriff's Department on Saturday charged Kevin Wilson, 40, of Searcy, with 12 counts of theft of property over $500, a Class C felony. Wilson is originally from the Forrest City area.
Wilson is accused of stealing numerous electric starters from irrigation wells located throughout St. Francis County.
SFCSD Investigator Herbert Neighbors said the starters are believed to have been stolen during the off-season for farmers, and were reported stolen when farmers started trying to water their crops this summer.
In addition, Neighbors said officials in Cross and Woodruff counties are also investigating similar cases involving irrigation wells.
According to Neighbors, the suspect allegedly cut the electric wires to obtain access to the starters which he is believed to have sold for the copper each contained. None of the starters have been recovered, Neighbors said.
Considering the number of upsets in the high school schedule of games last Friday night, the first week of the Professor Pigskin looked like an accountant's nightmare.
There were a lot of red marks on the entry forms.
That is, except for one. Ron Ellis of West Memphis missed just three of the selected high school and college games to win the $50 cash prize to begin the 2004 Pigskin season.
Ellis missed three of the high school games, but was perfect in the college picks.
This week's list of games can be found inside today's Times-Herald.
Building permits were issued in Forrest City for projects valued at a total of $278,500 during August, with only one commercial project reported.
Counseling Consultants received a permit for a building at 1770 Lindauer, valued at $84,900.
The rest of the projects were for private residences. That included two new houses, two siding projects, a storage building, one new roof, two roof repair projects, one deck reflooring, one remodeling and one renovation.
The total value of projects in the city for the year to date is $3,893,435.
New appointments to the Forrest City Civic Center Commission will be among the agenda items when the City Council meets in regular session tonight.
The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in city hall.
The Civic Center Commission's membership has been the subject of discussions over several months, and at the last council meeting, Mayor Larry Bryant said there would be some new recommendations.
Other business includes a resolution to accept a grant from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics to remodel the Forrest City Airport terminal facility. The council will also be asked to pass a resolution allowing the mayor to apply for a matching outdoor grant from the state Department of Parks and Tourism.
Also this week, the Colt City Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday. That meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at city hall.
The St. Francis County Food Pantry has released its report for August by Lula Clay, pantry representative.
During August, the total number of families served was 405, with the total number of adults 498 and the total number of children 369.
The total number of meals served was 17,340.