News from Nov. 13, 2003 issue



Chickens are gone, future is uncertain

It appears that B&G Broilers is out of the chicken business.

The local company, under fire since 1997 when it built 16 growing houses just outside the Marion city limits, is shut down.

Some local individuals who have worked for B&G in the past and others close to the company say the operation has ceased; others say they're surprised and did not know it was closing.

Bud Wardlaw, the owner, has gone to Texas where he has a home and was unable to be contacted. Family members confirmed that he was gone and would not be back.

The phone number at what was Wardlaw's home and office at the chicken facility is not in service. A recording says the line is being checked for trouble.

Attempts to gain confirmation from a Tyson spokesman Tuesday and Wednesday about the closing of the chicken houses and what might happen with the property in the future were unsuccessful.

Ed Nicholson, at Tyson's Arkansas headquarters, said he didn't have any information about the situation.
B&G attorney Marc Wells in Princeton said he knew nothing of the closing of the operation, but stressed that he had never discussed long-term business plans with Wardlaw. Wells defended Wardlaw in Crittenden District Court last spring when B&G and Tyson Foods were found guilty of causing a nuisance because of smells emitting from the chicken operation.

Marion resident Tina Rushing, who once managed the chicken facility, said she was "surprised" to learn that there are no chickens at the location and that there is no furniture or office equipment left in the main office, which doubled as the Wardlaw home.

Rushing said she has not spoken with Wardlaw or anyone else with the company in about a month. She was injured on the job in July and has not worked there since that time. She did not know how Wardlaw could be reached in Texas.

Of the 16 poultry houses on the approximately 104-acre site, eight have been empty for about two years. The other eight were housing chickens up until the last few days or weeks. It's unclear exactly when the houses underwent a final clean-out, but based on information from former contractors or employees, it must have been last week.

The property is deeded in separate tracts of roughly equal size ­ one half to Tyson and half to Wardlaw. Tyson assumed half of the debt on a mortgage held by John Hancock Life Insurance Company a couple of years ago, apparently when Wardlaw's partner got out of the business.

According to deed information at the Crittenden County Courthouse, the property and chicken houses were sold for $2.8 million when it changed hands from Hudson Foods to B&G Poultry in the late 1990s. Hudson Foods was the first company to start chicken operations in this area with a processing and rendering plant in Robards. Hudson sold out to Tyson Foods in 2000.

B&G Poultry had been under heavy scrutiny from area residents and local government since it first announced plans to build the chicken-growing facility just outside the city limits, next to Greenwood Heights, the town's largest residential subdivision.

A group of residents went to court trying to stop the operation from being built, but failed. In the summer of 2000, a handful of citizens filed criminal complaints against Tyson and B&G and won a guilty verdict last spring.

 

School board controversy draws big crowd

About 50 citizens attended the Crittenden County Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. The unusually large crowd was comprised of many first-time board meeting attendees, a couple of whom admitted the recent controversy surrounding Superintendent Fredericka Hargis' contract renewal lured them to the meeting.

Phyllis O'Neal, a former Crittenden County teacher, questioned the Board of Education's foresight in offering Hargis a new four-year contract in October, citing among other things fiscal responsibility at a time when projected state funding is uncertain.

O'Neal, principal of an elementary school in another county, and several others who addressed the board, observed a dozen presentations from students and administrators before being offered an opportunity to speak at 8:45 p.m. Board meetings begin at 7 p.m.

The unusually lengthy meeting resulted from an uncommon number of presentations, including one each from Crittenden County school principals on plans to improve CATS scores, as well as from the Crittenden Elementary student council, the high school landscaping class, the elementary technology club and a motivational presentation about the lessons geese can provide members of organizations or teams.

While she had the floor, O'Neal asked whether the board compared the terms of Hargis' contract ­ presented by Hargis to the board the night of the October meeting ­ with other school districts.

"This is a very important decision, and it should have been made with a full board here," O'Neal said, referring to the absence of Dr. Donald Wight when the contract was considered.

Wight, whose health has prevented him from attending several meetings in the last six months, was not at Tuesday's meeting, and attempts to contact him during the past week were unsuccessful.

When public comments were allowed near the end of the meeting, Larry Orr, the husband of board member Phyllis Orr, read a short statement related to a lawsuit reportedly being considered by the superintendent against his wife. Hargis has said she considered the suit as a result of "libelous" comments she said Orr made during her explanation to The Press for voting against Hargis' contract renewal last month.

"The two most important things in my life are God and my family, and my family has been threatened," Larry Orr told the board. "I want everyone to know that I will defend my family financially with all legal means possible, and that has already started."

Neither the board nor Hargis responded to O'Neal's or Orr's comments.

Two other citizens questioned a provision on the board agenda which prevents questions from the public while motions are being considered by the board. In October, the board began voting to "spread the superintendent's report on the record," which chairman Larry Threlkeld explained Tuesday night means that discussion is prohibited among anyone other than board members while motions are being considered.
Ronald Long, a resident attending the meeting, questioned the public's right to ask questions.

"I have a hard time understanding why we don't have the right to talk if we have a question," Long said. "We don't have the privilege to speak up if we don't understand?"

Others in the crowd quietly questioned the use of attending if they can't participate.

After the period for public comment ended, the board acted on several issues, including approving a walking schedule for the public at Rocket Arena.

Walking is now allowed Monday through Friday from 5-9 p.m., in the new gymnasium except on nights when there are organized school events, such as basketball games.

The board also approved several trip requests, approved a $1,000 donation to Project Graduation and voted to establish a new sixth-grade teaching position funded through a federal grant that will be used for gender-specific classes at the middle school.

Marion motel does't get state fundign
A proposed Marion motel was not among a dozen projects funded through Renaissance Kentucky this year.
A group of investors was seeking $250,000 from the state historic preservation and downtown revitalization agency to construct a motel at the corner of Bellville and Main streets in Marion.

A dozen communities in Kentucky were awarded grants, including Princeton and Cadiz who plan to construct visitors centers. Fifty-eight cities applied for a total of $13.3 million.
Charlie Hunt, spokesperson for the group wishing to build the motel, said local support for the project was phenomenal.

"We knew the need was there and we know the public would have gotten behind it," Hunt said. "We are looking at the project to see if it will work on its own merit, and if not, we'll try to address the need in another fashion."

Hunt still plans on obtaining final construction estimates and says the group may consider building overnight lodging elsewhere in the county.

The projected cost of the downtown motel would have been significantly greater than one built in another location, Hunt says, because of the high cost of the property and the need to bury utilities downtown.
"We still have other options and we're always open to suggestions," he said.

Marion Main Street director Rose Crider said the future of Renaissance Kentucky cannot be certain with the upcoming political changes in Frankfort.

"I'm very concerned to know whether Renaissance Kentucky will continue with the next administration," she said. "But I hope they will support it."

Community needs help for needy Christmas
Organizers of the annual Community Christmas event always get a little anxious this time of year, worrying that donations and sponsorships won't come together as usual.

But program veteran Mickey Myers says things always seem to work out.
Donations to the endeavor to provide Christmas gifts to the community's less fortunate are up slightly compared to a year ago, but organizers Mona Hodges and Belinda Campbell are eager for the pre-holiday, giving peak to begin.

Over 90 families are seeking sponsorship through Community Christmas this year. That number is down significantly from the 143 who sought assistance last year.
So far, the Community Christmas fund has about $2,000 in the bank compared to half that a year ago, Myers said.

While it's only six weeks until Christmas and four weeks until organizers need to package, organize and distribute gifts, Myers said it's usually mid- to late-November before churches, families and organizations begin getting serious about the holiday season.

Anyone wishing to sponsor families may obtain information from the mitten tree at Pamida. The tree contains the information for 50 individuals seeking sponsorship.

Families who do not receive sponsorship in the form of toys, clothes or food donations will receive food vouchers redeemable at Conrad's Food Store and Food Giant.

Other names or ideas for contributing to the community effort can be obtained by calling 965-5229.