HOROSCOPE

2018: The Year

A look at the stories that made headlines in the Times in the year that was

By the Evening Times News Staff

news@theeveningtimes.com

It was an eventful year in Crittenden County, with major events taking place that made headlines and will have an impact on the community for years to come.

• Baptist-Crittenden opens its doors For the first time in four years, patients in Crittenden County won’t have to come to Memphis for hospital care. The new Baptist Memorial Hospital Crittenden officially opened its doors at 7 a.m.

on Thursday, Dec. 13.

Under construction for the past two years, the 65,000-square-foot facility on North 7th Street will offer vital medical services to communities like West Memphis, Marion and Earle. The hospital has a 10-room ER and will soon open a surgery department and cancer center.

This is also the first time Crittenden County has had an emergency room since Crittenden Regional Hospital closed back in 2014.

For the last four years patients had to be transported across the the river to Memphis for emergency medical care.

The new hospital was built using money collected from a special sales tax that was approved by voters.

On Facebook, Crittenden County judge Woody Wheeless thanked citizens for their support.

“I’m so proud of our community,” said Wheeless.

“The hospital is officially open and the staff began treating their first patient just a few minutes after 7 a.m. Eve dreamed of this day for over four years and today that dream is reality.

The journey is complete.

Thank you, Crittenden County!”

• There’s a new mayor in town Perhaps no other news item took up space on the front page of the Times more than the 2018 election season, and with good reason. With West Memphis mayor Bill Johnson declining the opportunity to seek a sixth term, the mayor’s race became a sixway affair with a half-dozen hopefuls looking to fill Johnson’s shoes.

West Memphis voters, spurred by concerns over crime, community blight and economic growth, stood in long lines at polls all across the city to cast their votes on Nov. 4.

in Local News

However, it would take one more round of voting to elect a candidate.

In a crowded field, City Councilman Wayne Croom amassed 1,494 votes, or 27 percent of the total vote, while fellow City Councilman Marco McClendon placed second with 1,312 votes, or 24 percent. With also-rans Ramona Taylor, Eric Johnson, Lorenzo Parker and Fred Leonard off the ballot, it was time for a runoff, which was set for Dec. 4.

In the runoff, McClendon outpaced Croom by 326 votes, winning by the tally of 2,471 to 2,145.

The veteran 16-year city councilman McClendon said, “First off, thank God because he did it. He told me the only thing I had to do was to claim it and believe it. I want everyone to know I am going to be a mayor that is West Memphis’s mayor. It does not matter if you are black, white, male or female, I will be the mayor for all West Memphis. I am going to work with everyone I can to move this forward.

I thank you all for the opportunity. This has been a dream and I will keep you all first while working tirelessly with city council.”

“I congratulate Marco on a job well done,” said Croom. “I will continue to work for the people of our city through the city council. Thanks to all those who supported and believed in me through a very well run campaign. Thanks to everyone. Let’s move West Memphis forward.”

On Jan. 1, 2019, McClendon succeeded Johnson, who served as Mayor since 1999.

• Much ado about Magnet Schools When Dr. Glen Fenter became Superintendent of the Marion School District, he immediately set about making big changes. Perhaps no change was bigger than the move to a magnet school format for elementary students district-wide.

In March, the school board approved three new K-6 Magnet Schools for the 2018-2019 school year.

“We looked for a model that would allow us to move to a different level and improve on the inefficiency,” said Fenter.

“We settled on the magnet school system and discovered the best magnet school transition was at Jonesboro 12 years ago.”

Avondale was converted to the Visual and Performing Arts Magnet, where students are encouraged to express creativity through a variety of energizing

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platforms that foster the development of critical and innovative thinking skills through plays, art exhibits, drama and musical productions while the rich history of the Arkansas Delta art, music and dance will be emphasized.

Marion Elementary became the Herbert Carter Global Community Magnet, where young scholars are shaped into future leaders by integrating rigorous

academics with high

expectations in an environment rooted in global awareness and competence. Students will learn Spanish as a second language beginning in Kindergarten.

And the former Marion Intermediate became the Marion Math, Science and Technology Magners, where math, science and technology are he focus and students use innovative strategies to engage inquisitive children and will offer hands-on learning experience involving both math and science labs.

Fenter pointed out the change would be better for parents and the district since the new school year will herald three campuses scheduled to house grades K-6 and give parents more educational options for their children.

“Now parents will have one option for their children in those grades, not three campuses,” he said.

• Southland set for massive expansion During the midterm elections, voters across Arkansas decided on a number of ballot measures, including an amendment to legalize casinos in four counties, including Crittenden County. And, with that, West Memphis is expected see a new hotel and convention center at Southland Park Gaming & Racing.

The measure, officially called the “The Arkansas Casino Gaming Amendment

of 2018,” will now

allow casinos in four Arkansas counties: Crittenden, Garland, Pope, and Jefferson. For the initiative, casino gaming is defined as dealing, operating, carrying on, conducting, maintaining, or exposing for play any game played with cards, dice, equipment, or any mechanical, electromechanical or electronic device, or machine for money.”

According to reports, the parent company of West Memphis’ Southland Park Gaming & Racing will build a $200 million hotel and convention center, likely on its current campus.

“It would be a priority of the company to get it up and get it going,” Delaware North senior vice president Jack McNeill told the publication.

Arkansas expanded legalized gambling in 2005, when “Games of Skill” legislation was enacted. It provided for certain versions of casino games — those that don’t rest solely on luck — at the state’s horse racing and greyhound racing facilities.

Southland currently employs about 800 employees and has almost 2,000 gaming machines, 10 table games, and three poker tables. That number is expected to grow exponentially if plans come to fruition.

• ASU Mid-South turns 25 Founded in 1992 as Mid-South Community College and now shaping futures as Arkansas State University Mid-South, the West Memphis institution has played a part in furthering the education for thousands of area students.

As part of the commemoration, school officials launched a year-long series of events in late 2017 that capped with a special Night on Broadway gala this past October.

With credit enrollment of nearly 2,000 students, recently-established programs in Hospitality ASU Management and Digital Media, and an FAA-approved Aviation Maintenance Technology program in partnership with FedEx Express, ASU Mid-South continues to blaze a trail in meeting regional higher education needs.

ASU Mid-South has enjoyed phenomenal growth and local support in its 25 years. Starting as a vocational school with only 136 students in August 1992, the institution has become one of the most evolutionary and forward-looking community colleges in the state and region.

While the number of students has risen dramatically, the College’s focus remains the same – to provide accessible, affordable, employment-relevant, world-class education.

In conjunction with the award-winning Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium (ADTEC), ASU Mid-South has established a “career pathways” model that offers a series of logical employment “stopout points” along a comprehensive training continuum. ASU Mid-South remains aggressive and determined in its efforts to meet the current and future employment needs of the region so that students will be prepared for the jobs of today.

• County poised for boom with Mega-Site The Arkansas Economic Development Commission, along with local government and Entergy officials, celebrated the Interstate-40 industrial Mega-site as ready for industrial recruitment at the West Memphis Civic Center back in November.

The land, located in western parts of both West Memphis and Marion, bounded by the Interstate on the south and Highway 147 on the west, received Select Site certification as a result of a comprehensive review and documentation process for its 1,800-acre shovel-ready industrial site.

Officials underscored the real estate maxim, location, location, location pointing to access to transportation for manufactured products. The flat Delta farm land presented readied green fields with interstate frontage, nestled adjacent to the Union Pacific intermodal yard, just three miles to Interstate 55 and five miles to the river port.

Infrastructure plans included power by Entergy, water and sewer by West Memphis Utilities, natural gas through Center Point and AT& T fiber optics.

The mega-site came together as part of a cooperative effort by leaders from Marion, West Memphis and the Crittenden County government.

• Sky Cops keep watch over West Memphis One of the last major initiatives now-retired West Memphis Police Chief Donald Oakes championed was the move to install more Sky Cop camera systems on city streets.

Stories of Sky Cops success eliminating crime and identifying the bad guys had organizations lining up at the door of the West Memphis Police Foundation to fund cameras to watch over their buildings and sutToundings. Oakes told city council he expected as many as 50 cameras in service in the city by the end of 2018.

According to the Oakes, surveillance drastically curtails criminal activity.

Demand for the cameras continued to rise.

The city started with a handful of cameras last year and entered the year with the Advertising and Promotions Commission providing seed money for more eyes in the sky in tourist areas around hotels and restaurants. Then the housing authority sprung for three more pole mounted cameras. Now private apartment complexes have heard the good results and have approached police about getting some placed around buildings.

The pole-mounted cameras cost $6,500 each. The utility department mounts each box with a simple bracket and the Sky Cop Company works out the aim on each lens. Multiple cameras cover a wide field of view. License plate numbers can be blown up and become legible to police at great distances when looking for get away vehicles.

Southland Park Gaming & Racing funded 10 Sky Cops for all West Memphis School District campuses.

Businesses and organizations may donate and designate funds for a camera in their area. Oakes said interest is up because the cameras work.

“They have paid for themselves repeatedly,” said Oakes. “We have pulled evidence in three homicides this year. People want these.”

• End of an era in West Memphis With the end of 2018 came the end of the tenures of some long-time leaders in West Memphis. Mayor Bill Johnson said farewell after half-a-century of public service and 20 years an leader of the city. With his stepping down came news that Police Chief Donald Oakes would be retiting from that position as well, with Assistant Chief Eddie West being appointed to the job by new mayor Marco McClendon. Division Commander Joe Baker also stepped down to take a position outside of the public sector. Also ending his tenure would be Fire Chief Wayne Gately. Under Gately’s guidance, the WMFD rose to an ISO-1 rating, the highest rating available to any fire department in the country. Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Jones also left the department. Dennis Brewer was named the new Fire Chief, with DeWayne Rose being appointed as his assistant.

• Big River success in second year The Big River Crossing and Big River Trail saw more visitors in 2018 than in 2017, with the second year for the attraction hosting a number of events, including the “Left Bank Festival” this fall and the future looks even brighter with folks on both sides of the river taking part in events and tourists from all around the Mid-South and beyond coming to make the trip across the Mighty Mississippi.

• Water tower art progress stalls There were plenty of folks up in anus after the City of West Memphis agreed to fund a project to turn the old Cotton Compress historic water tower into an art project to the tune of nearly a quarter-of-amillion dollars in 2017. As 2018 came to a close with still no completion date in sight (and multiple deadlines already missed), there was plenty of sounding off in the “Text the Times” section of the paper.

• County offcials feud Members of the Crittenden County Quorum Court and the Election Commission butted heads for months over particulars surrounding the mid-term elections, budgeting for election workers and a number of other small items that blew up into threats of a county-wide government shutdown. The primary feud was between Quorum Court Justice Stacy Allen and Election Commissioner Dixie Carlson, with party politics and racial overtones marking the spat.

• Uncle John’s burns to the ground The popular Crawfordsville eatery Uncle John’s was destroyed in a fire this past summer. Residents from around the city gathered to watch firefighters battle the blaze. Ultimately, the structure was a total loss. In it’s wake, Wyatt’s Cafe opened in another part of town. In more positive news, long-time Marion eatery Big John’s Shake Shack is in the midst of an expansion and renovation.

All smiles as County Judge Woody Wheeless and the staff at the new Baptist-Crittenden hospital celebrate the facility’s opening on Dec. 13.

Photo courtesy of Facebook

McClendon supporters erupted with adulation after all the votes posted in the Dec. 4 West Memphis mayoral runoff. McClendon, right, received congratulations. Well wishers jumped for joy and posed for photos with the mayor elect for about 30 minutes and some drove away from the civic center honking horns.

Photo by John Rech

Sky Cop camera systems like this one that went up over Bragg Elementary School last fall are all over West Memphis as part of a crime prevention and reduction program.

Photo by John Rech