First Steel Horse Motorcycle Rally Draws Thousands

According to organizers of the Steel Horse Motorcycle Rally, there were at least 3,000 bikers at the event.  It began at Harry E. Kelly Park downtown at noon on Friday, with live music as well as vendors selling biker items.  On Saturday at 5 p.m., there was a motorcycle proces- sion that started from the Ft. Smith Park and wound up onto Garrison.

A 'Biker Sunday' was hosted by the Fort City Day Star Riders #378.  Also a worship service was held in the parking lot on the corner of 12th & Garrison by the local members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association.

City Directors were approached at the beginning of the year to help fund the event.  Dennis Snow, director of the Steel Horse Rally, asked the city for $84,000.  The Board of Directors approved the money on January 20.  However, Mayor Sandy Sanders vetoed it on January 26, stating he could not justify using tax dollars on what he feels should be a private-sector event.

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Housing Authority Buys Red Barn Steakhouse Land

The 10-acre property in the 3700 block of Newlon Road in Ft. Smith, on which the Red Barn Steakhouse was located, has been sold.  It has been purchased by the Ft. Smith Housing Authority.  According to Mitch Minnick, development officer for the Housing Authority, the purchase price was $110,000.  Minnick stated that they were approached close to Christmas time by the landowners regarding the site.

The Authority Board believes the land will be good for owner property or a rental property.  Minnick also said it will probably be close to the end of 2016 before anything is done toward development of the land.

The Red Barn Steakhouse was destroyed by fire on July 23 of last year.  The restaurant has three previous owners since its beginning in the 1940's.

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Local Waitress Receives $2,000 Tip

A customer at Logan's Roadhouse, located at 6201 Rogers Ave in Ft. Smith, gave a waitress quite a shock Tuesday, a very pleasant shock.  Waitress Loran Lopez said when the receipt was handed to her, she didn't really look at it.  However, when she did, she said "I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor and my heart stopped."  The very generous patron had given Lopez a $2,000 tip.  She said another employee received a tip of $700 and each cook received a $100 tip.

According to Lopez, she had heard of the customer before, but this was the first time she had served the woman.  Lopez said the customer knew she didn't have to, but wanted to tip everyone who served her while she was there.

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SUV Crashes Into Child's Bedroom

Thursday morning at approximately 6:50 a.m., an SUV crashed into the side of a house on Roosevelt Road in Ft. Smith.  The vehicle hit the side of the residence where a child's bed- room was located.  A child was in the bedroom at the time of the incident, getting ready for school.  By the time he went to find his mother and they went outside, the driver had left the vehicle and got away on foot.

Upon arriving a few minutes after it happened, Ft. Smith Police searched the area, but were unable to find the driver.  After running the tag on the SUV, police discovered it belonged to someone in Broken Arrow.  The owner told investigators he had loaned a man named Terr- ance Washington, the vehicle.  Washington is described as a black male around 40 years-old.

If you have any information on Washington, you are asked to call the Ft. Smith Police De- partment at 479-785-4221 or Crimestoppers at 479-78-CRIME.  Officers say the driver is facing several charges, which include leaving the scene of an accident.

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Alma Man Pleads Not Guilty To Kidnapping/Burglary/Theft Charges

Terry Lee Blackshear of Alma has pleaded not guilty to residential burglary, theft of proper- ty and kidnapping.  Ft. Smith Police were informed by Deanna Sharum, Blackshear's ex-girl- friend, that on April 25 Blackshear, 32, broke into her house.  Sharum and Brittany Cole, a friend, had been asleep when he entered the residence.  Blackshear refused to leave.  However, after taking cellphones and keys belonging to the women, he left, driving off in Sharum's car.

After making a police report, Sharum and Cole were walking, heading to Van Buren, when they stopped on Midland Blvd at a store and used the phone to call Blackshear.  The police report states that she told him she wouldn't press charges if he would return her car.  He refused.  Later, as the women were walking on Midland Bridge, Blackshear, holding a screwdriver, pulled up and told them to get into the vehicle.  Sharum refused to until he returned her keys and phone and discarded the screwdriver.  She drove him to his mother's house and dropped him off.

Blackshear faces 5-20 years in prison for residential burglary, a Class B felony.  Theft of property is a Class D felony punishable by a prison term of up to six years.

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Grant Available For Ft. Smith Regional Airport

The Arkansas Aeronautics Commission has a grant for a maximum amount of $500,000 available for the Ft. Smith Regional Airport.  The money would be used to repair four areas on the north side of the airport, near hangars, which are highly-traveled areas.  According to John Parker, Director of the airport, the concrete in these locations has collapsed and degra- ded to the point of causing what is known as "foreign object damage".

Concrete pads used by U. S. Forest Service "slurry bombers" are also some of the areas that are damaged.  Parker said they were not constructed to standards of the Federal Aviation Administration and were not able to withstand the weight of the fire fighting airplanes.

Having knowledge of the grant, the Ft. Smith Airport Commission approved an engineering contract with Morrison Shipley Engineers.  It is expected by Parker that the concrete work bids will be in by the middle of May and be ready for approval at the Commission's May 26 meeting.  The deadline in which to apply for the grant is in July.

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Car Hits Traffic Signal, Street Light, Then Barrier

At approximately 3 a.m. Wednesday morning First Responders were called to a car crash at the intersection of Garrison Ave & 11th Street in front of Riverfront Inn.  Bryan Loston, 46, was driving northbound on Towson when he crashed into a traffic light, then a street light and proceeded to run into a barrier.

The jaws of life were used to free Loston from his vehicle.  He was taken to Sparks Hospital by ambulance and is expected to be ok.  Traffic was delayed due to the traffic light was not operational for several hours.  Corporal Kyle Story said a witness told them the driver was only going 20-25 mph when he took out the signal light.

It is believed by the fire crews at the scene, that Loston could have been under the influence of alcohol or suffering from a medical condition at the time of the accident.  The incident is still under investigation.  No charge have been filed against the driver at this time, police said.

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