Baxter Bulletin from Mountain Home, Arkansas • 3

THE BAXTER BULLETIN. Mountain Home. Ark. Page 3 Grant may lower Marion County ISO ratings By LINDA MASTERS Bulletin Correspondent ty Fire Chief Asociation, $15,000 in grant money has been received from Arkansas Research, Conservation and Development Council. The agency provides funding for improved water supplies which directly affect Insurance Services Office ratings.

Grant monies will be divided between rural departments with $7,500 going to departments in the north part of the county and a like amount to departments in the south part of the county. Monies will be used to etitabliah a water shuttle system which will help departments improve water supplies as required by ISO. "This grant doesn't mean much to cities that already have lower ISO ratings, but it means a lot to rural departments who have ratings of 9 or 10," President Keith Katcher explained. Other individual grants were awarded to Lazy Acres and Oakland departments. Dwayne McFarland discussed equipment needed for tankers and a minimum equipment list was distributed.

Dump and fill times for ISO rating credit were also discussed so they can be standardized among departments. Chiefs were informed of the progress of the E-911 system. Dispatching equipment has been ordered and partially received. Addressing is almost complete and the system should be hot tested sometime in March. Loss of electrical power during the recent ice storm was discussed as well as a forthcoming LP gas class scheduled for May.

The association will hold its next meeting Feb. 16. YELLVILLE Rural Marion County resident may soon have lower fire insurance premiums aa a result of a grant recently received by county fire departments. Fire chiefs were informed at a Jan. 19 meeting of the coun Monday, January 25.

1999 Coulter elected to Historic Preservation board Victims of recent tornadoes: By The Associated Preta and to promote and advocate the preservation of the state's heritage and the extended use of its historic architecture by individuals, organizations and all levels of government. The alliance assists any individual or group interested in preserving a historic structure or district. tion with the National Trust. The current goal is to enlist 2.000 members throughout the state by the year 2000. Those interested in membership and involvement in the organization, contact Coulter at ASUMH or the state office in Little Rock at (501) 372-4757.

Coulter, a professor of history at Arkansas State University Mountain Home, is active in several statewide organizations. She serves on the Arkansas Humanities Council, is past president of the board of the Arkansas Women's History Institute, is a member of the Dr. Fran Coulter has been elected to the board of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas. The board consists of 28 board members who work to support the organization's principal goals to foster an awareness and appreciation of the rich diversity of Arkansas's heritage, Arkansas Association of College Teachers of History and of the Arkansas Historical Association where she has served as chairperson of the awards committee for the outstanding papers on state or local history. The HPA is undertaking a revitalization effort in conjunc Tax issues to be w2ElT on legislative agenda LITTLE ROCK (AP) A state lawmaker says no consensus has been reached on what taxes to cut, but lawmakers have pretty much finished feeling each other out on the issue.

"Generally, we think the tax burden on Arkansas families is too high, said state Rep. Ted Thomas, R-Little Rock. He said legislators know they have to do something about property taxes, but know there are other tax issues, too. Tax policy will be on the agenda Monday when the House and Senate revenue and taxation committees hold a joint meeting. There's been little significant action yet on more than 40 tax measures, and House Speaker Bob Johnson of Bigelow sayi that's no accident Members of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee are "trying to use some discipline in these fiscal issues," Johnson said.

Thomas said his Republican colleagues, many of whom ran on a "no tax increase" pledge, would have a hard time justifying any large tax increase, other than for a highway program. Even in that case, he said, the increase may have to be offset by a cut elsewhere. Attitudes in the Legislature about action on property taxes shifted last week, from urgency to restraint. Rep. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, says that has him puzzled.

"To be quite honest, I'm real, real disappointed right now that there's not a greater effort being made to deal directly with the relief of prop erty taxes," Glover said. He says across-the-board property tax cuts would be the best way to fend off another attempt to abolish them. Last year, a constitutional amendment to end property taxes in Arkansas was thrown off the November ballot because of petition fraud. "I thought when we came into this session that the focus point would be on what we could do to cut real estate and personal taxes, and to me it seems that it's taking second place," Glover said. "It looks like to me what the deal is that we can give off a little bit here, a little bit there, a little bit here, a little bit there on other issues and that's going to paci CARTIMountain Home, a cancer treatment center at Baxter County Regional Hospital, held a "Business After Hours" event Thursday for members of the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce.

Those attending got to tour the facility and view some of the state-of-the-art equipment CARTI has to offer cancer patients. fy the public. School uniforms in experimental stage in Arkansas People killed during Thurs day's outbreak of tornadoes in Arkansas: Robert E. Howard, 66, pharmacist at a Little Rock grocery store, dies after store wall falls on him. Funeral service scheduled for 2 p.m.

Monday at First United Methodist Church in North Little Rock. Lisa Jacko, 34, of Little Rock, killed when a tree falls on a car. James W. Looper, 63, of North Little Rock, killed when a tree falls on a trailer. Funeral service at 2 p.m.

Monday at the First Pentecostal Church of North Little Rock. Kirk McAfee, 2-month-old son of a Beebe firefighter, found dead outside his home. Graveside service at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Weir Cemetery by the Westbrook Funeral Home. Johnny Mitchell, 42, of rural White County south of Searcy, found dead in a field after a tornado destroys a mobile home.

Funeral service 1 p.m. Monday at Roller-Daniel Funeral Home. Flo Taylor, about 50, of Beebe, found dead at her home. Services by Westbrook Funeral Home are pending. Wanda Wilson, 66, of Cen ter Hill and a Searcy school board member, killed when a mobile home rolled over in the storm.

Funeral service sched uled for 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Roller-Daniel Chapel. "I don't want to get into a big fight with them," Smith says. "We have a responsibility to do more than just fund schools. I'm going to continue to work with principals and school board members on the bill." Venters says uniforms have merit but school districts would have to address some legal issues in any school-uniform policy.

"You can't kick a kid out of school for not having a uniform if they don't have the money to buy a uniform," Venters says. Rison School Superintendent Scotty Holderfield says about half of his student body would probably have a hard time paying for uniforms, which means the school district would have to provide uniforms or the money for them. He says the district could make uniforms voluntary but that would defeat the purpose. After some discussion, Rison school officials dropped the idea. Southwestern Bell Authorized Wireless Agent Bulletin Photo by Kvm Pmper His bill also would allow school patrons, after this year, to petition to put school uniforms to a vote.

Smith concedes that uniforms might not be right for every district. He also knows that school uniforms are not a proven measure for improving school safety, can be costly for some students, and may raise concerns about a student's individual expression. All those issues could be decided at the local level, he says. "My main goal is to get school districts and school boards to address this issue and not put it off. We have studied it to death," he says.

The Arkansas School Boards Association doesn't have a problem with school uniforms but isn't keen on Smith's bill. Association Director Tommy Venters, the former state Education Department director, says the association believes school uniforms are a local issue and the state shouldn't mandate a vote. CARTI After Hours drop in school crime, a record improvement in student attendance, fewer student suspensions and some increases in test scores. "Our schools are safer, better places because of the uniforms," Van Der Laan says. Smith has sons in second and third grades at Stuttgart, which doesn't use uniforms, and he is concerned about school safety.

The senator believes uniforms will help improve academic performance, beef up discipline, and eliminate gangs. "It (regular dress) still sets up sort of a real difference in class distinctions. It's just not necessary. I think we should stress to children that material goods and clothes are secondary, to say the least, to education," Smith says. His bill would require school districts to put the issue of school uniforms to a vote in this year's school elections.

Districts that already have uniforms would not have to have a vote. munity provide uniforms for children at Beryl Henry Elementary School. This fall, Watson Chapel School District will begin using school uniforms. Other districts have considered uniforms. The picture from the Long Beach, Calif, Unified School District the first public school district in the country to use uniforms in all its elementary and middle schools is rosy.

The district has 90,000 students and is the third-largest school district in California. "Youngsters are getting along better with one another," says district spokesman Richard Van Der Laan. "Kids from different backgrounds, they're not putting each other down or ridiculing you because of what you're wearing." Van Der Laan says that, since students from kindergarten through eighth grades began wearing uniforms in 1994, the district has seen a 91 percent By PEGGY HARRIS Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK (AP) Seated on the floor in a circle, fourth-graders at Bale Elementary School listen attentively to their teacher read "Sarah Plain and Tall." It's not an unusual scene, but there is a difference. This year, the students are all wearing uniforms navy or khaki pants or skirts and clean, white shirts, tucked in at the waist. The halls are quiet.

There's an air of order. The uniforms have made a big difference, says Principal Barbara Anderson. The 350 students from pre-kindergarten through the sixth grade seem to take school more seriously, she says. They realize their job is to learn. They take more pride in themselves.

They no longer come to school strutting their designer clothes and high tops. "It's amazing. It seems like kids respect each other more. It seems like it puts kids on an even keel," Anderson says. More and more school districts are requiring students to wear school uniforms, and state Sen.

Kevin Smith, D-Stuttgart, is proposing legislation that would require school districts to vote on the issue in school elections this year. The impetus comes from a wave of school violence in Arkansas and around the country. Last school year, 12 students and two teachers were killed and 50 others were injured in shootings at Pearl, West Paducah, Jones-boro; Edinboro, Fayetteville, and Springfield, Ore. President Clinton has urged school districts to use uniforms to increase discipline and improve security. In the Little Rock School District, students at more than two dozen schools wear uniforms.

At Hope, donations from the com Ives Flippo's Rehabilitation Center Dennis Cellular Mobility Phone-to-Phone $10.00 a month unlimited calls from SWB Mobile to SWB Mobile unlimited air time in your local calling area. Call for details. 406 Hwy. 62 East Suite 1 Mountain Home, AR 870-425-6726 lih 7 "Making The Difference" Dennis Ives, the Rehabilitation Director at Flippo's Rehabilitation Center loves working ith his staff and patients. Dennis graduated in 1984 with a B.S.

in Psychology. History English. In 1988 he received his M.S. Degree in CounselingEducational Psychology. He is experienced and trained in Hospital Social Work, Private Ministry and Counseling, Business Management, Financial Management, Public Relations, Marketing Sales.

Dennis has been married to his wife Kelly for 19 years and they have I son. Brandon 15. and I daughter, Brittany 10. Dennis enjoys soccer, snorts, woodworking, wild bird watching, reading, camping gardening. Over 86 of patients in Flippo's Rehabilitation Center have already returned home.

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