News from July 21, 2005 issue



County okays 10 Commandments
Despite an almost certain probability of creating a legal quagmire for the county, the Crittenden County Fiscal Court on Tuesday voted unanimously to allow local churches to construct a large monument depicting the 10 Commandments on the courthouse lawn.

Tony Alexander, minister of Glendale Baptist Church in rural Crittenden County, is spearheading the effort to raise enough money from local churches to have the monument installed.

Alexander told county magistrates during their meeting that he has the blessing of the Crittenden County Ministerial Association and several other individual churches. He hopes to raise less than $50 from each church in order to pay for the monument.

Plans are to erect an eight-foot tall granite tablet with the 10 Commandments etched into the stone. The monument would be surrounded by a concrete patio and two benches.

The cost of the entire project would be about $3,000. Alexander said the tablet with the Commandments would run about $1,200 from Henry and Henry Monument Company in Marion.

It will take about six weeks to have the granite structure delivered. Alexander said the monument would be ordered within a week.

Although some magistrates questioned the legality of approving the plan, all of them voted to allow it. Magistrate Curt Buntin was not at the meeting.

Crittenden County Attorney Alan Stout was asked by the magistrates about the legal ramifications of allowing the churches to erect the monument.

Stout said that it was a "very significant issue" and made it clear that approving the measure could very likely lead to a court battle.

"I have to put my personal feelings aside and advise you that what you are doing may be creating litigation for this court," Stout said.

"I want you to know that and if this fiscal court wants to move ahead with the idea while knowing that, then so be it."

Crittenden County Judge-Executive Fred Brown said he supported the idea and if it creates a legal stumbling block somewhere down the road, then the county would cross that bridge when it gets there.
"I think it's worth doing," Brown said. "If someone makes an issue out of it then we will let this court or another court decide what will happen."

A sharply divided Supreme Court recently issued a split decision on the public display of the 10 Commandments on government property, forbidding framed copies on the walls of two rural Kentucky court houses while approving a six-foot-tall granite monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol in Austin.

Ironically, a framed 8x10-inch copy of the 10 Commandments has been hanging in the Crittenden County Courthouse meeting room for years. It hangs on the east wall of the concrete room, partially blocked by a microwave oven. It's been there for a long time, county officials said.

Magistrate Greg West, who is also a minister, said he was proud of the county court's decision to allow the monument. He said the Supreme Court's recent rulings made conflicting arguments and he thinks the courtyard monument is okay.

Magistrates Dan Wood and Percy Cook introduced a motion to have the county attorney research the legal issues before allowing the monument to be built. However, that motion failed in a 3-2 vote with the other magistrates present voting against it.

When the final vote was taken, each of the five county magistrates in attendance voted in favor of allowing the 10 Commandments in the courtyard.

 

Nasseri is new CCHS principal
Crittenden County High School has a new principal, and now the search begins for a new vice principal for Crittenden County Elementary School.

Effective Wednesday, July 20, Karen Nasseri, vice principal of CCES for three years, has assumed the position of high school principal after being recommended for the job by the CCHS Site-Based, Decision-Making (SBDM) Council and approved by Superintendent John Belt.

The site-based council met for nearly two hours in closed session Monday while interviewing some of the nine applicants for the principal position. The SBDM made its recommendation to the superintendent who confirmed that Nasseri would get the job.

The new principal said that although she loved her last school, she thought it was time to make a change and advance on to a higher position in the school system.

Nasseri said she also wanted the job to give the students a little stability after a recent revolving door of principals. CCHS has had a half dozen principals over the last decade.

"I live in Crittenden County, my kids go to Crittenden County schools, and I have no intention of leaving," she said.

While at the high school, Nasseri said, she hopes to pull everyone together to create the best environment for the students.

The elementary school is now looking for a new