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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2010
The
Daily Citizen www.thedailycitizen.com
Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854
BISONS PLAY HOST TO WEST ALABAMA
The HU football team hosted West Alabama Saturday night in conference action. — PAGE 1B
US-CHINA TIES STRAINED BY DISSIDENT
Obama’s push for China to release an imprisoned Nobel laureate could disrupt relations. — PAGE 2A
Candidates explain platforms
LAFORCE
MORRIS
REEVES
By Warren Watkins warren@thedailycitizen.com The three candidates in the Searcy mayor’s race were asked by The Daily Citizen to elaborate on remarks they made previously about their platforms this week. Because a poll taken by The Daily Citizen, published Oct. 3, showed almost 40 percent of registered voters who intended to vote in the election and who were contacted in the poll had yet to make up their mind, the candidates were asked how they would appeal to
undecided voters. The race is non-partisan, meaning none of the three have party affiliations on the Nov. 2 general election ballot. Discussions of issues in the race has included revenue from the Searcy Advertising and Tourism Promotion (A&P) tax, which was begun and ended last year. In a special election this year, voters declined to reinstate the tax. Currently there is just over $450,000 in revenue from the tax waiting to be spent.
Belinda LaForce
The Daily Citizen: Mayor, you have said in discussing the A&P tax that the city still had “multiple needs present.” What in your opinion is going to be the best way, specifically to spend the A&P revenue now on hand? LaForce: “With my previous discussions with the Searcy Parks Advisory Board it is my understanding that their position is that the most pressing need is to purchase property for the future expanCONTINUED ON PAGE 2A
Lilia Rowley holds a prized possession — a U.S. flag presented to her at a city council meeting by Higginson Mayor Randall Homsley — as she sits in the Higginson City Park Thursday. Rowley was born in the Philippines and has recently become a U.S. citizen. Warren Watkins/ warren@thedailycitizen.com
Philippines native first visited US in 2005
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CITIZENSHIP QUESTIONS
1. What does the U.S. Constitution do? 2. What are the rights in the Declaration of Independence? 3. Where is the U.S. Capitol? 4. What is the promise you make when you become a U.S. Citizen? [Answers in Page 3A.]
After six years of correspondence, the pair finally met when Lilia came to Arkansas on a fiancé visa in 2005. The two married in
2006. After a three-year wait as a permanent resident and $4,000 in red-tape costs, Lilia was able to complete the requirements to become a U.S. citizen, including a face-to-face interview in Memphis, Tenn., having biometric tests done consisting of fingerprinting and photographing, studying for two months and then taking a test. “One thing they asked me in the interview and on the test was, ‘Who is the president now?’” Lilia said with her characteristic giggle. The study material consisted of 100 questions but only 10 were
on the test. Needing to answer six correctly to pass, Lilia got a perfect 10. “‘That was easy,’ I told the lady,” Lilia said. “It was just basic.” The “easy” questions Lilia correctly answered included, “What does the U.S. Constitution do?” and “What are the rights in the Declaration of Independence?” and “Where is the U.S. Capitol?” Then came the big question. “What is the promise you make when you become a U.S. Citizen?” CONTINUED ON PAGE 3A
Obama hits GOP education spending cut proposal
By Darlene Superville The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Offering voters a reason to keep Democrats in power on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama says Republicans would cut education spending and put the country's economic future at risk if they had their way. A quality education is paramount, Obama said. He suggested
that federal spending on education is one area where he would not compromise. "What I'm not prepared to do is shortchange our children's education," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. Obama has spent much of the past two weeks contrasting a GOP proposal to cut spending, presumably including on education, with
WEATHER
Today: Sunny. Highs in the lower 90s. West winds 5 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 50s. Southwest winds 5 mph. Vol. 156, No. 242 ©2010 The Daily Citizen
the billions of dollars he's investing to improve learning from kindergarten through college. That includes money for public schools, community colleges and to help make it cheaper and easier for families to afford higher education for their children. This week, Obama announced a new public-private sector partnership to help match community
college graduates and businesses with jobs to fill. The White House also held its first-ever summit on the state of community colleges. In his weekly message, Obama acknowledged that the country faces tight fiscal times, but he said a good education is too important to the country's future prosperity to do it on the cheap.
INDEX NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5A CALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B
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Judsonia homes Capacity: Eight Optimum number: Six or seven Staying period: 30-90 days
Foster homes needed Many children, families struggling
HIGGINSON RESIDENT BECOMES U.S. CITIZEN
By Warren Watkins warren@thedailycitizen.com IGGINSON — Liberty might be a byword for some or part of a slogan for others, but for Lilia Rowley, 38, freedom is as real as life gets. Born in Binalonan, Pangasinan, Republic of the Philippines, Rowley was working as a housemaid in Hong Kong in 1998, sending badlyneeded money home to her parents, when she was contacted by Dan Rowley. Using the “Heart of Asia” paid website, Rowley had obtained Lilia’s address, written an introductory letter, put a stamp on it and sent it off.
ARKANSAS BAPTIST CHILDREN’S HOMES
By Luke Jones ljones@thedailycitizen.com JUDSONIA — Many children are finding themselves in need of new families and resources are running thin, according to Ken Russell, a foster parent with Arkansas Baptist Children’s Home (ABC) in Judsonia. “The need is very great,” said Russell. “We need more, we need people to step up to the plate and get these kids a place to stay.” Russell began foster parenting about seven years ago, soon after his youngest child left home. “My wife, Vanessa, had empty nest syndrome,” Russell said. “She was about to go nuts because she had nobody to take care of.” Thinking that foster care would be a phase, Russell agreed to start taking in children. “But once we got into it, I guess the good Lord put it in my heart also,” Russell said. For six years, Russell and his wife hosted children in their own home. Then, they found out the previous host parents at ABC, Don and Juanita Gay, wanted to retire, and the Russells decided to take over for them. “Since October, we’ve had 80 kids run through here,” Russell said. “That’s a tremendous amount of children.” The home works as a kind CONTINUED ON PAGE 3A
Not-guilty plea entered in 4-person car fatality
The Associated Press CONWAY — A not-guilty plea has been entered by one of two men charged with firstdegree murder as a result of a road-rage chase that ended with the deaths of four family members in a car struck by one of the vehicles involved in the chase. Bail for 38-year-old James Holian was set at $500,000 after he entered his plea Friday at Conway before Faulkner County Circuit Judge Charles E. Clawson. Holian, who lives at Cabot, faces four counts of firstdegree murder, along with the man police identify as the other driver involved in the road-rage chase — 29-year-old Russell Johnston of Vilonia.
In a world of inhumanity, war and terrorism, American citizenship is a very precious possession. PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY American activist, 1924
Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277
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