By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City School District will have a new member for their next monthly meeting after Rausch Hodges defeated Henry Peacock Tuesday by a 324 vote margin.
More than 2,700 voters turned out for the annual school election casting 1,536 ballots for Hodges and 1,212 ballots for Peacock. Hodges said this morning that he was happy with the turnout for Tuesday's election and also happy with the way that the race was run.
"I think that it was a wonderful turnout for a school election, and I am happy to see that the public took an interest in this election and came out to the polls," Hodges said.
Hodges also thanked Peacock for running a fair race. "Henry and I both ran a good race, and it was a fair race. I've said before that Henry and I were friends before this and I hope that we can continue to be friends after the race," he said.
Hodges also thanked his supporters. "I appreciate those people who came out in support of me and I look forward to working with the administration and the school board," he said.
Peacock also thanked his supporters for their efforts and said that he had no intentions of asking for a recount at this time. Peacock was appointed to the school board earlier this year to fill the position of former board president Gordon McCoy after McCoy was called to active duty with the National Guard in Iraq.
While there may be no recount in the Forrest City School District race, election commission officials are expecting challenges in races in the Hughes and Palestine-Wheatley School districts.
In the PWSD race for the Zone 4 position which was held by Ronnie Crider, Donald Cagle was defeated by Donald L. Story, by a single vote, 30 to 29.
In Hughes, former board member Kuhron Meurrier defeated Irene Combs by a 317 to 185 count in the bid for the Position 6, at-large seat. "I just want to thank the folks that came out and supported me in this," Meurrier said last night.
In the race for the Zone 5 seat in Hughes, Dorothy Weems fell to Jimmy Bain by a 24-vote margin.
Questions regarding the race were raised Tuesday when Weems brought people to the polls to vote, but those individuals could not be located in the voter registry.
"We just had a big mess over there in Hughes, and it took us awhile to get is straightened out, and we're still working on it," said St. Francis County Election Commissioner Bettye Proctor.
A total of 2,903 St. Francis County voters turned out for Tuesday's election with more than 900 casting ballots during early voting. Several ballots had to be counted by hand last night after the commission encountered problems with the vote tabulator.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
What was expected to be a smooth election Tuesday, was anything but smooth as members of the St. Francis County Election Commission found themselves finishing the vote tallying after 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Problems began early when voters in several Forrest City Wards had to wait for additional ballots to be printed. According to Judy Armstrong, election coordinator, a total of 2,500 ballots were printed for the Forrest City School District election. The total vote surpassed that number by 248 ballots. One of the problems that Armstrong mentioned dealt with the number of ballots placed in boxes that went to the different precincts in the election.
"There were some boxes that just didn't have enough ballots. We ran out at the Civic Center, and in Colt and in Parrot-Newcastle. I don't know how many ballots went in those boxes because I wasn't called when the ballot material was separated to be sent to the different polling locations. Horace (Horace Proctor) and Ed Chauvin did that," a somewhat disgruntled Armstrong said.
According to Armstrong, officials ordered the number of ballots that Forrest City School District Superintendent Lee Vent requested.
"Mr. Vent asked us to order 2,500 ballots, and that's what we did. We just had a really large voter turnout here in Forrest City," she said.
According to St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith, 750 ballots were printed for the Forrest City election in her office Tuesday afternoon.
Allegations of ballot hiding by Smith could be overheard last night as votes were tallied. This morning Smith responded to those rumors.
"That's just ridiculous. I have no desire to hide any of the commission's information, and I didn't even have access to those ballots. The ballots were locked in the election commission's office, and I don't have a key to that office. As a matter of fact, during early voting, anytime they ran out of ballots during voting, I had to call a commission member to come and get them more ballots," Smith said.
Smith was involved with more election issues after problems arose concerning the voter books for the Hughes School District Election. Last night, election commission chairman Joe Young told the audience at the courthouse for the election that a recount may be called for in the Hughes election due to problems with the books.
"We had some problems over in Hughes with the books, and we may end up with a recount problem over in Hughes. We had a few people that were on a list that were supposed to vote in one of the races in Hughes, but when we checked the books those folks were in there. I think that the books were prepared for the general election, but we were holding a school election. We'll just have to see what happens," Young said.
According to Smith, the problems may have occurred due to confusion over who was to vote in which election. The HSD races included one race specifically for a designated zone and one at-large race.
"I don't know what happened, but we ran a book specifically for Zone 5 and then a book for the at-large race. Those people that live in Zone 5 were supposed to vote in both races and the problem may have come from people that lived outside of Zone 5 getting Zone 5 ballots. I received a call from one lady who told me that she knew she wasn't supposed to vote in Zone 5 but did because they gave her the ballot and told her that was the one she was supposed to vote on," Smith said.
At a meeting with the State Board of Election Commissioners earlier this month, the county commission was found in violation of several state election laws including one concerning precinct-by-precinct totals for elections. The commission could once again be in violation of state laws after failing to give the individual precinct vote counts, but State Board of Election Commissioner's Director Susie Stormes said that she would have to research the matter before giving an answer.
"I would think that the school election would fall under the same laws, but I will have to consult our legal department and find out for sure," Stormes said this morning.
On Tuesday night, Young gave those in attendance totals as to where the election stood following each precinct but said that precinct totals were not available. The commission once again failed to provide the precinct breakdowns and said that they were doing so at the request of Vent and due to the format of the chip provided for the tabulating machine.
"We were asked by Superintendent Vent to only worry about the grand totals and that's what we're doing," Young said last night. "Because that's what was requested, our tabulator is set up only for grand totals and not by precinct."
In the Monday, Aug. 16, edition of the Times-Herald, it was printed that there was some discussion of whether there should be precinct-by-precinct returns, and Vent said he was only interested in the overall totals in this particular race. Representatives from the Palestine-Wheatley and Hughes school districts were not present for the meeting.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Questions over problems in the Hughes School District election Tuesday may have led to the removal of all of the St. Francis County Election Commission's material from the vault in St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith's office this morning.
According to Smith, election officials accused her of wanting to destroy the voter books from the Hughes election.
"Last night, after the voting was tabulated, I asked the commissioners for the voter books and I was told that I could not have them. I told them that the books were the property of clerk's office and that they were to be returned. At that point, I was accused of wanting to destroy the Hughes books or zap them or something to that effect," Smith said.
"One thing led to another, and the decision was made to move their material out of the vault," she said.
According to Election Commission member Bettye Proctor, there was no accusation levied last night, but a misunderstanding may have come from a comment made by commission chair Joe Young.
"Joe and Elizabeth got into it because Joe wanted to keep the books until we could find out what happened over in Hughes with the problems that we had over there. We told her that we wanted to keep the books and didn't want them torn down, which occurs when they take everything out to prepare for the next election, before we could get this taken care of. She may have misunderstood," Proctor said this morning.
Young said this morning that he still had questions over the books.
"I told Elizabeth that I wanted to keep the books until we had a chance to go over everything to try to sort out what happened in Hughes. I may have said something last night, and it still looks suspicious to me that she didn't want us to hold on to the books," Young said.
Young also said that he was not bothered by the removal of the material from the clerk's office. "It doesn't bother me at all that she asked us to be moved. It suits me just fine," Young said.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The Forrest City City Council on Tuesday voted to study a request from the city's solid waste hauler for an increase in payments.
According to an example provided by King Disposal, Inc., the contract between the company and the city allows for fuel cost adjustments. The example provided stated that there had been a fuel cost increase of $15,200 a month. However, Tommy Martin, sales manager for King Disposal, said the company was only asking for a fraction of that -- more like $2,000 a month.
City Attorney Alan Cline said he was confused by the math used to ask for the increase. After some more discussion, Alderman Roger Breeding moved that the council wait until its next meeting, and that meanwhile Cline study the contract and the request from King Disposal. The motion passed, with Alderman Cecil Twillie abstaining.
On another matter, Mayor Larry Bryant recommended that Glenn Shepherd be appointed to the Civic Center Commission and the appointment was approved. He will replace Margaret Campbell.
Bryant also told the council that he would have a proposal concerning the city's curfew at the next meeting. He said small children are out roaming too late at night.
"We've been getting complaints about young people all over town," he said.
On another subject, Twillie gave a report from a recent meeting of the real estate committee. He said the committee recommended that the city ask the state Department of Environmental Quality to have someone make a study of the 501 Logistics and Snyder's properties, to see if there might be any prohibitive cleanup costs involved should the city buy the property. Snyder's is a scrap metal business, and 501 Logistics has a large building on the property.
Bryant has said he would be opposed to purchasing the land if there was a big environmental problem. "The city could be liable," he said.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
If all goes as planned, the Forrest City Water Commission will ask for a rate increase in November, with the first bills reflecting the new rates coming in January.
That was the assessment of Water Utility director Jim Beazley after Tuesday's commission meeting.
"I would hope that in our October meeting, we will come up with a concrete proposal to present to the city council in November," said Beazley.
During the meeting, Beazley told commissioners that by the year 2005, the utility would be losing money. He gave out several pages of informational material, one of which stated that the projected income for 2005 would be $2,880,000. The total projected funds required would be $3,065,000. That is a $295,000 shortfall.
Another piece of information stated that the number of residential customers in Forrest City has held fairly steady since 1980, and usage has actually declined. Commercial usage has increased with the addition of Boar's Head and the Federal Correctional Institution. However, that has leveled off, while water use for most of the commercial customers has actually declined some.
At the same time, besides the expected shortfall, there may be some extra expenses in the next few years. Charles Hilsdon, a consulting engineer, talked to the commissioners about some needs.
Both Hilsdon and Beazley said that the existing wells are pumping too much water, creating "cones of depression" in the Alluvial Aquifer from which the city gets its water.
Hilsdon said the city should get its water from the Alluvial Aquifer for as long as it can, because all though there is a lot of water in other, deeper strata, test wells have shown the water from those deeper strata to contain iron and manganese, which would have to be removed. Although Forrest City's current water supply is "hard," it doesn't contain iron and manganese in amounts that require removal.
"The object is to stay in the Alluvial Aquifer for as long as we can," Beazley agreed. He also said he would like to stay in the Alluvial Aquifer at least until 2012, when the current bonds pay out.
Hilsdon is suggesting that pumping be reduced at the existing wells, and that other sites be tested for new wells, which would take up the slack. The idea is to spread out the depletion of the aquifer.
Beazley said it isn't known how much usable water is left in the Alluvial Aquifer.
"Forty years from now, whoever is here may be talking about the same thing," he said. "But we want to be flexible, so we can move in some direction if we have to."
Hilsdon agreed. "Brace yourself and be ready," he advised.
He said there should be a study to locate some test wells sites.
"I think we ought to look west and south," he said. Another suggestion is to run a water main from the south to the north.
Two possible scenarios were discussed as far as rates are concerned. One would increase most residential rates by an estimated $5 to $9.50 a month. The other would increase those rates from $2.50 to $5.50.
It was mentioned that many water customers will be unhappy. However, it was also pointed out by Danielle Deere, a water utility employee, that "Most of our customers spend more on their phone bills and their cable bills than they do on water. And water is a necessity."
By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Over $10 million in drugs were confiscated during a routine traffic stop Tuesday near Forrest City, resulting in about the third largest drug bust in state history.
Arkansas State Police Troop D reported the stop occurred just after 1 p.m. at the 246 eastbound mile marker, near the Widener exit. According to the state police, the trooper stopped a U-Haul being driven by Macs Ray Priddy, 34, of Orange Grove, Texas, after he saw the truck cross the fog line on the shoulder of the roadway.
After issuing Priddy a warning for driving right of the fog line, the trooper obtained permission from Priddy to search the U-Haul and its contents. Inside the truck the trooper found a couch loaded with 197 kilos of cocaine, along with one kilo of methamphetamine and one kilo of ice, the purest form of methamphetamine, according to state police. Priddy told police he was headed to Patterson, N.J. In addition to the drugs found in the back of the U-Haul, state police also discovered several "small personal bags" of methamphetamine.
Priddy is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. He was scheduled to be arraigned in St. Francis County District Court this afternoon.
Officials at Troop D said the drug bust is the third largest by state police in the state's history.
So far this year, officers in Troop D have seized about 4,000 pounds of illegal drugs through traffic stops on Interstate 40. Troop D covers an eight-county area taking in St. Francis, Lee, Cross, Woodruff, Monroe, Prairie, Crittenden and Phillips counties.
By ALAN SMITH
T-H Staff Writer
St. Francis County Farm Bureau members were reminded Tuesday night about the importance of moving forward and changing with the times.
Ewell Welch, executive vice president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, spoke to the large crowd attending the St. Francis County Farm Bureau convention at the Civic Center. Welch discussed the organization's opinions on several topics.
"Farm Bureau has a long history of representing our member families," began Welch.
"And this year, Arkansas voters have several choices on issues when they head to the polls in November. There are three amendments that the bureau has stated its position on.
"The first is the issue of term limits. Our state has the most restrictive term limits on state senators and representatives of any state. Proposed Amendment 1 states that both House and Senate terms would be extended to 12 years apiece. Currently, House terms are limited to three, two-year terms and the Senate is limited to two, four-year terms. We feel the term limits impede the system and hurt member families. We felt it was time to address this issue and support Amendment 1.
"Another proposed amendment is Amendment 2," stated Welch. "It allows general obligation bonds for 'super projects' like for the auto plant (in Marion) to be financed. We are at a disadvantage to other states around the area because they already have similar programs. This amendment will allow Arkansas to be more competitive for these projects. It would provide $500 million in funds for projects that will bring in 500 jobs or more. We support this as well."
Welch also addressed a national issue that has been a source of much controversy. "There is a Constitutional Amendment that would define marriage as being between a man and a woman. It allows the legislature to recognize common law marriages from other states between a man and a woman. It also provides the legislature the ability to determine the capacity of persons to marry. Some people feel that this is a confusing piece of legislation, but we are in support of it passing.
"No matter what your opinion is on any of these issues, get out and vote so that your opinion can be heard," added Welch.
He then added that other issues including school consolidation and funding and environmental issues face voters. "You can rest assured that the Bureau will represent its members in these issues for the good of the members."
Welch then spoke about the future of Farm Bureau. He began with an example from an old television program.
"How many of you remember the TV show 'The Real McCoys'?," asked Welch. "In almost every episode, Grandpa would say that he would have to go to a meeting of the Grange. The Grange was a farm organization. When was the last time that you heard about Grange? They don't exist anymore, they are only a memory in some people's past.
"A challenge for us is to keep Farm Bureau a relevant organization to our young people," continued Welch. "Years down the road, we want these young people involved to keep the Bureau a viable group.
"There is a college in Wisconsin, Beloit College. They made what is called a 'mindset list' of what the graduating class of 2007 lives have been like. Most were born in 1985, so for them, Iraq has always been a problem country. Pete Rose is a gambler, not a baseball player. They have seen a First Lady wear a fur coat. Directory assistance on the telephone has never been free. There has always been unleaded gasoline. Other things, they have never heard Howard Cosell call a football game and they have never seen a 'return' key on a keyboard. Lastly, they have never gotten excited about a long distance phone call and the Jaycees have always welcomed women members. They have grown up very differently, the world has changed. As an organization, Farm Bureau must find a way to be relevant to these young people. Get them active and involved in the organization while remaining true to our core mission."
Welch then outlined a new mission statement that the Bureau hopes will provide them long-term relevancy. "First off, the Bureau will continue to advocate the interests of agriculture in public policy. Our staff works daily on behalf of members to implement policy that will benefit them. We also have the relationship of county leaders with elected representatives. It is central to the organization's strength. Farm Bureau will disseminate information regarding the value and importance of agriculture. Arkansas is still basically a rural state, yet the majority of the population is two or more generations removed from the farm. Agriculture provides over 22 percent of the state's economy. Consumers don't realize this, but they enjoy the safest, most abundant, most affordable food supply in the world. We must be more effective in telling this to the public, more effective in telling agriculture's story."