Proposed Ordinance Passes 1st Reading In Sebastian Co

Earlier last week, the first reading of an emergency ordinance was passed by the Sebastian County Quorum Court with an 8-5 vote.  The ordinance is to update a no smoking, no tobac- co policy for county-owned property.  The original ordinance was created in 1991.  It would be adapted to the changes made in state and federal smoking laws since that time.

The banning of all tobacco products would include cigars, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, pipes, smokeless tobacco and vapor products.  The ordinance proposes that these products be banned in and around any county-owned buildings, offices and recreational facilities.

There would be fines implemented against anyone violating the non-smoking/no tobacco policy.  For the first offense, the fine would be a maximum of $25, $50 for the second and a $100 for the third offense.  It would be $250 for any subsequent offense.

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Fall Cleanup Campaign In Sebastian County

The Sebastian County Fall Cleanup Campaign is set to begin Saturday, September 19 and will continue every Saturday thru October 24.  The purpose of the campaign is to help stop illegal dump sites from being created by placing dumpsters at various locations throughout the cou- nty.

Items that will not be accepted are:  cleaning chemicals, herbicides, tires, used oil and yard waste.  The dumpsters will be staffed to ensure that the landfill regulations are followed.  Sebastian County Judge David Hudson is asking for volunteers to participate in the Cleanup Campaign for litter pickup.  For more information, call the Sebastian County Coordinator at 479-452-4104 or the County Judge's Office at 479-783-6139.

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Suspects Sought In Walmart Robbery

Three men who are suspects in a robbery of a Ft. Smith Walmart, are being sought by police.  The suspects, who appear to be between  20 and 30 years-old, entered the Wal- mart located at 2425 Zero Street and took $6,655 worth of jewelry.  According to an inci- dent report, they used a tool to pry open two jewelry cases.  The incident happened be- tween 10:04 p.m.-10:24 p.m. on August 27th.

The Police Department stated the suspects were shown on surveillance footage, leaving the parking lot in a white 4-door older model Mercedes with Oklahoma tags.  Anyone with any information regarding the crime is asked to call the Ft. Smith Police Department at 479-709- 5100 or 78-CRIME.

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Car Collides With Semi On Bridge

Tuesday evening on the Garrison Ave bridge on Highway 64, a car collided with a tractor-trailer.  According to Moffett Police Chief Riley Brooks, the driver of a Pontiac Sunfire had to be extracted by the "jaws of life" after the driver of a Hiland Dairy truck crashed into him.  It crushed the back of the car.

The driver of the Pontiac was transported to Sparks Regional Medical Center.  Brooks said the driver's injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.  The semi driver was not in- jured.

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Woman Arrested After Asking Police For A Ride

Ft. Smith Police were patrolling the area of N. 9th Street when they were approached by Sasha F. Riddle.  According to an arrest report, Riddle 24, of the 300 block of N. 11th  Street, told the officers that a man that was walking with her began to scare her.  She     told them she had just met the man at a convenience store and they were on their way       to get a motel room together.

Riddle asked the police officers if they would give her a ride.  They responded that they would.  However, for safety measures, they needed to check her purse first.  The report stated upon searching the purse, they found $108 in counterfeit money, marijuana, meth- amphetamine, more than twelve drug paraphernalia items, along with nine unidentified pills.

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Woman Discovers Man Sitting In Her Car

Joshua Holder of Ft. Smith was arrested after a woman discovered him sitting in her car at her Ft. Smith residence.  According to the police report, when the woman and her father went to approach Holder, they saw her wallet underneath his shirt.  They also observed items strewn about inside the vehicle, along with pills on the back floorboard.  The woman's pre- scription medication bottle was missing, as well as some coins and miscellaneous items.

Holder, 26, told an officer that he had gotten into the car to rest.  He then decided to take some things.  After searching Holder's pockets, police found the stolen items.  He was trans- ported to jail.

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School Board Concerned About Impact Of Charter School

At the Ft. Smith School Board meeting held Monday, September 14th, Trish Flanagan, founder of a proposed charter school, was asked questions by Board members.  There is a concern by members of the loss of state funding due to the loss of students to the charter school.  Potentially, they could experience a loss of up to $1 million.

The Future School of Ft. Smith is proposed as a tuition-free, open enrollment charter school for grades 10-12.  An application has been filed with the Arkansas Department of Educa- tion.  Pending their approval, the school would open with 150 tenth grade students, adding 150 per year until grades 10-12 are filled, according to Flanagan.

Benny Gooden, Superintendent, stated that the School Board has the option to support, oppose or take no stance regarding the charter school.  The members of the School Board opted to make their decision on September 28, which is the Board's next monthly meeting.

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Update: Greenwood Woman Sentenced

Brooke Floyd of Greenwood was sentenced to ten years probation Friday, September 11th after pleading guilty to felony manslaughter.  Floyd was accused in the death of her 10 month-old son, Harper Alexander Floyd in July of last year.

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Good Samaritan Helps Deputy

A LeFlore County Sheriff's Deputy received a pleasant surprise while attempting to fuel his vehicle.  According to a LeFlore County Sheriff Department Facebook post, a man paid for the deputy's fuel after noticing that the deputy had issues with his fuel card.  The man, a biker who came for the H.O.G. bike rally, said paying for the patrol unit's fuel was just a thank you to the deputy for doing his job and serving the county.  He declined to give his name.

The deputy would have had to call his supervisor to bring him another card and then wait for someone to bring it to the gas station.  Sheriff Rob Seale said that the gas station clerk also reported that the man was a veteran.  However, without a name that could not be confirm- ed.  Seale also said this kind of support means a lot to him and his deputies.

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Amber Alert Issued On False Report

An Amber Alert was issued Sunday, September 13th in Ft. Smith when David Castillo-Mauricio, 2 years-old, went missing.  The child's mother told police he disappeared while he was playing in his front yard at 3606 Marshall Drive.

Several hours were spent trying to locate 29 year-old Raul Mauricio-Parga, the boy's father, who was identified as a suspect in the case.  According to Ft. Smith Police Detective Michael McCoy, at approximately 1:20 a.m. Monday, September 14th, the Amber Alert was inactiva- ted due to it being discovered that the child and his father were in Mexico and had not been in Ft. Smith.  The missing child report was false.

McCoy said the child had been in the father's custody for at least two months.  He also said it will be up to the prosecuting attorney to decide if charges will be filed against the mother.

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Former U. S. Attorney To Run For Senate

On September 9th, Conner Eldridge, former U. S. Attorney, announced that he will be seeking the Democratic nomination for the U. S. Senate seat in the 2016 election.          John Boozman, Republican, currently holds the position.  In a news release, Eldridge said "Washington is broken.  I'm running for the Senate because I'm committed to doing every- thing I can to fix it for Arkansas and for our country."

Eldridge resigned on August 21st after serving almost five years as U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.  He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, have three sons, Will 8, Henry 4 and Tull 3.  They moved from Arkadelphia to Ft. Smith.  Then after becoming U. S. Attorney, they moved to Fayetteville.

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Rheem Celebrates 45 Years In Ft. Smith

On September 10th, employees at the Rheem facility celebrated being in Ft. Smith for 45 years.  Rheem is a heating and air conditioning company.

Mike Branson, Vice President and General Manager of Rheem's air conditioning division, said that millions of dollars are being invested in the facility by the company to make changes.  Included in those is the re-designing of the inside.  Also, Branson said they are working on re-designing every product manufactured in Ft. Smith.

Rheem started in business ninety years ago.

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Associate Pastor Pleaded Guilty Of Fraud

Thomas Edward James, a part-time associate pastor at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Ft. Smith, has pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of making a false tax return.  A release from Kenneth Elser, acting U. S. Attorney of the Western District of Arkansas, stated that James, 34, pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding investors of appro- ximately $200,000.

According to the release, James approached potential investors, a majority of whom were retired and members of St. James, with proposals to make investments through him.  He then fraudulently induced investors to invest funds through false representations that their funds would be invested in a U. S. Treasury Bond, which were insured and guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.

The release also stated he admitted to filing false tax returns from 2008-2012 and owing the U. S. additional taxes totaling $205,566.46.

James was previously terminated from Merrill Lynch as a broker.

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Plans To Build New Greenwood EMS Facility

The Emergency Medical Services in Greenwood has been operating out of its present facility since the 1970's.  It has become nonfunctional and crowded.  Not only does the EMS staff perform their duties there, but ambulances and EMS equipment are stored in the building.  There are plans by the Sebastian County government to construct a new one.

Emergency medical response for all residents outside the cities of Barling and Ft. Smith is the responsibility of the Sebastian County EMS.  Over the years the service has grown from one unit and crew to two units, seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.  With the growth came more staff and more equipment to house.  According to Sebastian County Judge David Hudson, there is a budget of $1.2 million for the project and it will be built in collaboration with an outside professional.  No start date has been scheduled.

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Police Say Many Burglaries Avoidable

Thirty-five residential burglaries have been reported to the Ft. Smith Police Department since the middle of August this year.  Police say many are avoidable.  Police Sargent Daniel Grubbs states that an area less visible from the public view is the most common entry point for a burglary.  30% of burglars will enter a residence thru an unlocked door or window or other opening, using no force.

You can decrease your risk of a burglary.  Grubbs said lock all your windows and doors when you are gone, leave a radio or television on so that it will appear someone is home and ask neighbors to keep watch for you.  Also, to keep your possessions from being seen, close the blinds and curtains.

Ft. Smith is high on the charts for burglaries per capit, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations and city-data.com. 

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Southside Mascot Committee Formed

A committee has been formed to come up with a new mascot for the Southside High School.  It consists of Principal Wayne Haver as the chairman and twenty-eight other members made up of alumni, faculty and students.

A school district news release stated the work of the committee may be done by the begin- ning of the 2016-2017 school year.

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Human Remains Found In Sebastian Co Identified

On August 26, human remains were discovered in Sebastian County.  The body was found by a man who was brush hogging a field between Highway 45 and Highway 253.  According to Ft. Smith Police Sargent Daniel Grubbs, the body has been identified as William Buchanan, who has been reported missing since June of this year.

Public Information officer of the Sebastian County Sheriff's Office, Lieutenant Phillip Peve- house said no foul play was suspected.

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Partial Gag Order Granted In Murder Case

Circuit Court Judge Stephen Tabor granted a partial gag order in the first degree murder case of John Paul Suleski.  Tabor granted a defense motion to prohibit defense counsel, the prosecutor's office, law enforcement, state medical examiner and personnel from the Arkan- sas Crime Lab from commenting on the subject matter of the case to any media outlet while the case is ongoing.  The defense motion asking portions of the investigative file to be seal- ed was denied by Tabor.

Suleski, 25, is charged in the shooting death of 44 year-old Brent Allen of Ft. Smith on July 11th of this year.  In a police report it was stated that Suleski said he drove to Wells Lake Road and was initially going to shoot himself, but couldn't.  He saw Allen jogging by and fired one round.  In the report, Suleski stated he then proceeded to fire several more times.  The incident took place between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Suleski faces charges of first degree murder and unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle. 

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Ft. Smith Wholesale Water Customers Discussed

A discussion regarding contracts with wholesale customers was held by the Ft. Smith Board of Directors early last week.  At present there are thirteen wholesale water customers.  One of them is negotiating a new contract.  Six of them have contracts that have lapsed, with the remaining six customers having current contracts.  Ft. Chaffee, Mountainburg and Van Buren are some of the City's customers.

The debate is whether or not the City should push for contract renewals.  To encourage con- tracts, some of the directors want to charge those who opt out, more.  Kevin Settle, At- Large Director, asked the question of why is water supplied to cities who do not have a con- tract.  At-Large Director Tracy Pennartz said she thinks that as a regional city, they have a responsibility to their sister cities.  She also said, in some sense, there is nothing ethically wrong with charging somebody at cost, rather than making a net profit margin on the sale of the water.  Keith Lau, Ward 1 Director, said he did not see a benefit to service contracts.

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Memorial To Be Held For Ft. Smith Homicide Victim

On September 13th, a memorial service will be held in Ft. Smith.  It is in memory of Briana Jane Ault.  Ault, 22, was a homicide victim in 2010.  According to a police report, her body was discovered on September 13, 2010 in a pond located in Pocola.  Her throat had been cut.  Johnathen Don Thacker and Elvis Aaron Thacker, both of Cedarville, are charged with Ault's murder.

The event was organized by Briana's mother, Bethany Ault-Pyle.  She said she is doing it because she believes her daughter has gotten lost due to too much attention toward the Thacker brothers.  Ault-Pyle also said it was part of the healing process for her.  The service will be held from 3-4 p.m. at Central Christian Church located at 400 N. Waldron Road.

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