Baxter Bulletin from Mountain Home, Arkansas • 1

Order declared war on federal government Cards' McGee named National League MVP Pago 1 Tuesday Pago 3A Mi setter PRICE 25C A Multimedia Newspaper VOL. 84 NO. 258 Member of Associated Press MOUNTAIN HOME, ARKANSAS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19. 1985 Tornado touches down in parts of city Mayor Ron Pierce went out about 1 a.m. to make a preliminary survey of the damage.

Disaster struck about 9: 20 p.m. Monday as a fast-moving thunderstorm blew into the Baxter County seat. Power throughout the city was knocked out at that time. Shortly afterwards, the first report of the tornado came in to the Mountain Home Police Department from the Tipton Drive area. Ommel Cross said he saw a funnel cloud after the twister passed over his home on Cone Street.

Cross, a former Mountain Home policeman, said he and his family were sitting in their house watching a movie on television when lightning knocked the lights out. He said he went to the door to check outside and heard a roar. Cross said he told his family and a boy who was visiting to get under cover. The roar got louder, "like a freight train," said Cross. He said the doors to the house were open and they suddenly slammed shut and the windows in the house blew out.

Cross said he rushed to the door and could see the tail of a funnel going up into the clouds, then swing back toward Highway 5. Mark Long's home on East 13th Street across from the junior high also was hit by the twister. Long, a city patrolman, said about 9:20 it was raining hard. He said he had just gotten windows closed when glass started breaking. The patrolman said he got his wife and children under a bed and heard a sound like a train.

Long said he had been through two tornadoes before and knew what it was. "It was kind of frightening," he said. Long said after the tornado passed, there was debris in the house, including a piece of wood where only seconds before his wife had been standing. He said part of his roof was missing, as was a shed which had been attached to the house, and his car was damaged. Mountain Home.

Mountain Home Fire Chief Jim Ball said the area from Highway 201 South to Ninth Street on toward 15th Street received the brunt of the storm. The Mountain Home Junior High School and kindergarten were heavily damaged, as was the Baxter County Fairgrounds and the Foremost plant next to the fairgrounds. Power lines were down throughout the southeastern area of Mountain Home. Arkansas Power Light crews along with workers from North Arkansas Electric Cooperative were called out to help restore power. Jim Flippin of said shortly before 1 a.m.

probably three-fourths of the power was back on in the city and they were trying to get power restored in Indian Creek. He doubted that all power would be restored during the night. He said had three line crews out and other personnel checking the lines. By THOMAS GARRETT Associate Editor In a matter of minutes Monday night, Mountain Home was turned upside down as a tornado bounced through the southeastern part of the city, ripping off roofs, tearing trees from the ground and overturning mobile homes. At least three persons were reported treated for injuries at Baxter County Regional Hospital and released.

Three persons were reported killed in Marion County by the storm which earlier in the evening had wreaked havoc as it blew across Arkansas. Marion County Sheriff Roger Edmonson confirmed that there had been three fatalities south of Yellville near Highway 14. Two tornadoes were sighted south of Yellville and south of Flip-pin. A woman who lives off Highway 5 South near Cardinal Drive reported that it was a tornado which tore through that part of He also said his trees were blown down. "I feel real lucky," said Long.

Heavy damage was reported at the Mountain Home Junior High School on Highway 201 South and at the kindergarten. Superintendent Al Hunter canceled school today. "It doesn't look very good," said Hunter. Three classrooms in the kindergarten were "totally wiped out," he said, and the cafeteria had heavy damage, the hallway into the main area at the kindergarten was damaged, "lots of metal, like sheet metal" was around. The trailer at the construction site at the kindergarten was blown over, added Hunter.

At the junior high, "the roof is gone" from the gym and there were two inches of water in it, said Hunter. At the south end of the gym, an annex with a weight room was gone, he said. The east wall of the eighth-grade wing was extensively damaged and the windows were out, according to Hunter. Light poles at the junior high bal-lfield were down, as were the bleachers, said the superintendent. Hunter said he had been in every building of every school, but there were no problems other than some water inside the structures.

Throughout the southeastern part of town, houses were heavily damaged by the twister. Roofs and parts of roofs were torn from houses. There were reports of walls being knocked out at some locations. A customer at the E-Z Mart store on Highway 5 South said it became "gray and foggy," then suddenly windows in the store were knocked out, the gas pumps blew out and a tree across the highway crashed to the ground. Highway 5 was blocked for a couple of hours by the large tree.

Just down the road, the tornado ripped through Oak Tree Trailer Park. At least two trailers were reported blown over and several others were damaged. Mountain Home Patrolman Carry Manuel reported two trailers were blown together with a car between them. He said the propane tanks in the trailer park had to be shut off. Houses on Kathleen Street also were struck by the storm.

At least two houses had parts of their roofs blown away. Dorene Burnett said it just roared across her house and took off part of the roof over one bedroom. Insulation and roofing material covered the bedroom floor and rain poured through the gaping hole. A residence two doors down from Mrs. Burnett's home had a large portion of its roof (See TORNADO on Page 8A) ffc.

'Avjf ft i -t I r- 1 i 'it r- Mountain Home student dies in automobile crash MAYFLOWER, Ark. (AP) State police say a young Mountain Home man was killed and three people were injured about 2:30 p.m. Monday in a three-car accident on Interstate 40. Killed in the accident near the Faulkner County line between North Little Rock and Conway, police said, was Paul A. Tipton, 18.

Tipton was a Mountain Home High School senior and a member of the cheerleading team. State police said Tipton was the driver of an eastbound car that crossed the median into the westbound lanes and collided with a car driven by Jesse F. Cooley, 26, of Benton. Another westbound car, driven by S.L. Hipp, 63, of Quitman, then struck the rear of Cooley's car, state police said.

In addition to the drivers of the two eastbound cars who were injured, police said, a passenger in Hipp's car Opal Hipp, 59, also of Quitman was also hurt. The Eastside Baptist Church was one of the buildings most ripped the roof off of this building next to the main sanctuary, heavily damaged in Monday night's storm as the high winds BulletinBarham School administrators, teachers support Hunter, criticize board By LINDA LEICHT Feature Editor Administrators, teachers and staff signed two letters that were presented to the Mountain Home School Board at a special meeting Monday night, but the board voted to take the letters and their recommendations under advisement until its next meeting. No meeting date was set, but the board's next regular meeting will be Dec. 12. Both letters, one from faculty and staff, and the other from the administrators, state support for Al Hunter, ho resigned Thursday as superintendent of Mountain Home Schools, criticize the board and call for unity.

Board president Pete Stovall, after Monday's meeting was adjourned, stated that he takes "strong exception" to the letter and said he was "hurt" by its accusations that Hunter left "largely due to lack of support from the board." Stovall said he has worked with the administration. Several board members standing nearby told Stovall that his comments did not represent their feelings, adding that he was not abiding by an agreement the board had made, apparently to refrain from making any public comments on the matter. Judy Strother, during the meet ing, pointed out that one of the let-ters requested that "representatives from the community, from the faculty, and from the administration" be included on a "search committee for a new superintendent." Mrs. Strother, who said she was "favorably disposed to that request," asked that the board consider it while getting guidance from other communities which have used this method. Theo Rowe made a motion to take the letters and their requests under advisement in order for all board members to read the letters.

Mickey Pendergrass seconded the motion. Elton Kirby told the rest of the board that he was interested in considering "input from the community" whether they are in or out of education. "We need all the support we can get." he added. Kirby also asked if a representative of the group hich presented the letters could speak. Stovall suggested that it would be a "more worthwhile use of time" if a speaker would address the board at its next meeting.

No one spoke as a leader of the large group of teachers and administrators present at the meeting, but teacher Susan Bergman stated after the meeting that the letters "grew out of concern from the faculty and the administration. These are the results of that concern." The faculty-staff letter points to the board's "lack of support" as the reason "qualified educators, both faculty and administrators, have left the school system." "This posture by the school board," the letter states, "not only affects individuals adversely; it hurts the entire system by undermining the leadership and confidence that has made the Mountain Home School District one of the top districts in the state." The letter calls for "a radical change in attitude, if not in makeup, of the school board." In the administrators' letter, signed by 100 percent of the district's administrators, states "the board has contravened the established roles of good boardsman-ship and jeopardized our administrative positions." "As trained educators and community members," the letter goes on, "we express our strong disappointment with the practices of the present school board in its lack of needed support for Mr. Hunter." Both letters express support of Hunter and his decision to resign. "We continue to support Mr. Hunter," the administrators' letter states, "both in his rejection of an aberrant board and in his desire to see the schools continue toward excellence." The teacher-staff letter had 116 signatures, all gathered Monday, according to Mrs.

Bergman. There are 171 teachers in the Mountain Home system. Monday's meeting of the board was set to establish a deadline for applications for the position of superintendent. The position, which will be vacated by Hunter on Dec. (See SCHOOL on Page 8A) I Inside Ann landers 6-A Businws News 7-A CisMrfted 5 6-B Comics 6-A Editorials 4-A Obituaries 5-A Sports 1-B Waether 2-A TODAY'S WEATHER: A 30 percent chance of thunder-showers early in the morning, then decreasing cloudiness.

High in the mid 60s. West wind at 10 to 15 mph. Service Center, was blown onto its side and into the middle of Wade Street during Monday night's storm. BulletinBarham This trailer, donated by McBride Distibuting Co. of Fayetteville to be used as an aluminum recycling center for the Baxter County Day.