NEW WEED AND SEED AREA CLOSER TO REALITY

A new weed and seed site in the Central Park area of Pine Bluff is
closer to becoming a reality, the Rev. Jesse Turner, Weed and Seed
program coordinator, said Monday.

Turner said the Community Capacity Development Office in Washington,
D.C., informed him it may not be long before the site is approved.

"The new site boundaries are 10th Avenue on the north, 30th Avenue
to the south, Olive Street to the east and Hazel Street to the west," he said.

Weed and Seed is a multi-agency approach to addressing violent
crime, gang activity, drug use, and drug trafficking in communities
hardest hit by violence and eroding social and economic stability,
Turner said.

Interested Citizens for Voter Registration Inc. applied on behalf of
Central Park to give area residents immediate access to corporation,
foundation and other grant dollars while waiting for funds from the
U.S. Department of Justice after final approval of the site.

If approved, Turner said it would probably be the middle of 2007
before the weed and seed site receives money from the Justice Department.

The city of Pine Bluff, which is the fiscal agent for the Central
Park site, may receive approximately $1 million over a five year
period to be used to address crime and other social problems within
the site, if it is approved.

"This is certainly encouraging and good news for Pine Bluff," Turner
said. "We are excited to be at this stage. I am optimistic about our
chance to gain our second officially recognized site," he said.

Turner said the Central Park area was chosen because "there is a
high crime component over there" and "an eroding neighborhood that
could stand some stabilization."

"We have developed a strategy," Turner said, explaining that once
the site is approved there will be zero tolerance for crime, an
increased presence of police officers, neighborhood clean-up, and
"we will try and set up a couple of computer labs."

The Merrill and Chester Hynes community centers, operated by the
city Parks and Recreation Department, will be designated as "safe
havens," Turner said.

"Twenty five percent of all crime in Pine Bluff is happening in
those areas we outlined," Turner said.

The weed and seed strategy involves a two-prong approach, with law
enforcement agencies and prosecutors cooperating in "weeding out"
criminals who participate in violent crime and drug abuse,
attempting to prevent their return to the targeted area and
"seeding," which brings human services to the area.

A major six-month effort funded by the Justice Department and aimed
at identifying city code violations and nuisances and fighting crime
in the University Park Neighborhood recently wound up.

The project was aimed at working with residents to clean up the area
and remove "every haven for crime to thrive on the north side of
Pine Bluff," Turner said.