Voters in St. Francis County will decide school board races in the Forrest City, Palestine-Wheatley and Hughes school districts on Tuesday.
In the Forrest City School District, Rausch Hodges and Henry Peacock are running for Position 4. Peacock was appointed to serve on the school board when Board President Gordon McCoy was called to National Guard Duty. McCoy did not file for re-election.
Ronald Williams is unopposed for Position 3 in Forrest City.
In the Palestine-Wheatley School District, Donald Cagle and Donald Story are campaigning for the Zone 4 school board seat. John Henry Parker is unopposed for Zone 6.
In Hughes, Kuhron Meurrier and Irene Combs are running for the at-large Position 6. Dorothy Weems and Jimmy Bain are the candidates for Zone 5.
Early voting continues through today. At a little past 9 o'clock this morning, 781 people had voted and election officials stated they had 20 voters in the first hour and a steady stream thereafter.
On Tuesday, polls will open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.
Voting is not limited to the city limits of the towns for which the districts are named. This applies to all three districts, although the Forrest City District is the only one in which concerns have been voiced to the Times-Herald. Anyone registered to vote, who lives within the geographical boundaries of a school district, may vote in that district's school election. All three school districts are larger than the towns for which they are named. The voting locations for election day are as follows.
Ward 1 -- Christ Church.
Wards II, III and IV -- Forrest City Civic Center.
Courthouse East & West -- St. Francis County Courthouse.
Madison -- Madison Community Center.
Tuni & Bonair -- Fairgrounds.
Colt City & County -- Colt Community Center.
Parrott & Newcastle -- Wesley Methodist Church.Caldwell -- Caldwell Fire Station.
Widener City & County -- Widener Community Center.
Pine Tree -- Pine Tree Experiment Station.
Palestine -- Twin Assembly of God Church.
Wheatley -- Wheatley Civic Center.
Goodwin -- Baptist Church in Goodwin.
Hughes -- Hughes Community Center.
Blackfish & Heth -- Blackfish Community Center.
Horseshoe Lake -- Bond's Store.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The annual Cotton Pickin' Festival will be held Sept. 23-25 in Caldwell, with most of the activities taking place at the Caldwell City Park.
Gospel singing will be featured Thursday, Sept. 23. from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.
There will also be BINGO at 7 p.m. and a cake walk at 8 p.m.
On Friday, there will be Bluegrass 'pickin' and grinnin' beginning at 6 p.m. At 7 p.m., the Cotton Pickin' Queen Pageant will be held.
At 8 p.m. Friday, Sonny Burgess and the Pacers, a band whose recordings are considered landmarks of the early "rockabilly" style, will perform.
The group was formed in 1955 at Newport. They have traveled with the likes of Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and others.
Several years ago the band reformed. More recent albums include "They Came From The South" and "Still Rockin' n' Rollin.'"
For the kids, there will also be a Spacewalk and Giant Slide, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.
Saturday will have a full day of activity, starting with a pet show a 9 a.m. The auto show will also begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m.
Live music will begin at 11 a.m.
At 11 a.m. will come the event which gave the festival its name, the Cotton Pickin' Contest.
Kids' games and BINGO will start at 1 p.m.
At 6 p.m. Saturday, the United States Naval Band will perform, followed by a costume/impersonator contest at 7 p.m. and a cake walk at 7:45 p.m.
Saturday's main event will be an appearance by "Elvis" at 8 p.m.
Bluegrass music will take over at 9 p.m.
All-day activities both Friday and Saturday will include a silent auction and arts and crafts booth.
An annual charity rodeo, sponsored by the Forrest City Lions and the Crowley's Ridge Saddle Club, will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24 and 25, in the horse arena at the Wiley T. Jones Fairgrounds.
Gates will open for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event at 6 p.m., and the rodeo will begin at 8 p.m. on both nights.
Advance tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for ages 13 through 18. Tickets at the gate are $7 for adults and $6 for ages 13 through 18. Children 12 and under will be admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. There are also advance family tickets for $20.
Events will include saddle bronc, bareback, calf roping, steer wrestling, women's barrel racing and bull riding. Rockin' Bobby Hodges will be a featured clown.
Tickets are on sale at Express Cleaners, Honda of Forrest City, Machen Dodge and Bonanza. There will also be door prizes.
In addition to the rodeo, on Thursday night beginning at 7 p.m., will be the annual Miracle Rodeo, devoted to kids with special needs.
There is no admission charge for the Miracle Rodeo, and it is open to the public.
Volunteers are also welcome. Anyone interested in volunteering, or wanting more information about the rodeo, may call Shepherd at 633-5254 or 870-270-6032; Huckaba at 633-0145 or 501-940-4360; or Carolyn Stewart at 870-270-7820.
A Forrest City juvenile was arrested Friday on drug charges at the junior high school.
According to the police report, an officer and assistant principal were told that the individual had placed something in his right shoe prior to a safety check which was being conducted at the school.
The assistant principal asked the juvenile to come to the office and had him remove his shoes in the presence of an officer. When he removed his right shoe, the officer found four individual bags of marijuana, weighing a total of 4.5 grams.
The juvenile was charged with possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) with intent to deliver near a certain facility.
The Forrest City School Board will meet tonight following the district's annual report to the public.
The report will be presented at 5:30 p.m. in the library at the junior high school. Board members will then convene for their regular monthly meeting at 6 p.m. in the junior high library. Board members are expected to discuss the sale of the former Caldwell elementary school building on Highway 1 North, and the Evans school property on Highway 1 South.
Also tonight, the Widener City Council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. at city hall.
The Palestine-Wheatley School Board, which normally meets on the third Monday of each month, will not meet until Monday, Sept. 27. School officials said the meeting was postponed due to the annual school election set for Tuesday.
Appointments to the Forrest City Civic Center Commission will again be on the agenda when the city council meets on Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. at city hall.
Councilmen are also expected to discuss the city's curfew, and Joe King, of King Disposal, will address the council regarding a fuel surcharge.
Also on Tuesday, the St. Francis County Museum Board is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m., at the museum, and the Forrest City Water Commission is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. at the water department.
The St. Francis County Quorum Court is also slated to meet Tuesday. That meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
A Forrest City man was arrested Saturday after allegedly attempting to pass counterfeit money at a local grocery store.
The Forrest City Police Department was called to Harvest Foods at 412 N. Washington about 4:10 p.m. in reference to a man attempting to purchase items with a fake $100 bill. Police arrested Joe Louis Velma, 41, 317 N. Washington on one count of forgery.
Velma was released on his own recognizance and was scheduled
to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon.