Fort Smith Metro News Briefs: Coach Curry race complaint, Fort Smith hires engineering director
Following are news brief items from the Fort Smith metro.
Race Complaint
Through attorney Joey McCutchen, former Northside High School head football coach Felix Curry has filed an amended lawsuit claiming he was reassigned because of his race.
Curry was named the head football coach at Northside in 2022 after the retirement of Mike Falluer. He was told on or about Nov. 22, 2024, that his contract was not being renewed and was told on Dec. 4, 2024, he was being reassigned to the Student Detention Center (SDC). The district did not provide a reason for the action.
The Fort Smith Public School District has agreed to a consent judgment that Curry’s reassignment was done in violation of Arkansas law. The amended complaint adds the race component to the case, with Curry alleging that his treatment was different than white coaches with similar or worse win-loss records.
“Similarly situated coaches outside Plaintiff’s protected class were treated more favorably,” noted an excerpt from the amended filing. “As set forth above, non-black coaches within the District were retained, or offered alternative employment within the District, and were permitted to continue coaching for substantially longer periods despite having comparable or inferior win–loss records.”
The school district declined to comment about the amended complaint. McCutchen said in a statement the comparison with other coaches shows a clear reason for Curry’s reassignment.
“Coach Curry’s coaching record was virtually identical to the white Southside High School head football coach during a 3-year period and better than other white head coaches in the district who remain employed,” McCutchen said. “Unfortunately, the inescapable conclusion is that Coach Curry was non-renewed because of the color of his skin.”
Fort Smith Engineering Director
The city of Fort Smith has hired Todd Mittge as director of engineering, with an official start date of Jan. 5. Mittge brings more than 21 years of civil engineering experience in transportation, drainage, utilities, and construction management, according to a city statement.
Mittge began his career with the Washington State Department of Transportation, where he worked on major paving, bridge construction, and flood response projects across southwest Washington. He later was WSDOT’s State Materials Quality Assurance Engineer before transitioning into municipal service, most recently as city engineer for Paris, Texas.
“We are excited to add Todd to our team,” said Acting City Administrator Jeff Dingman. “He is an experienced professional engineer with a background in managing municipal infrastructure projects, and we have plenty of those. We look forward to his input as we plan our future capital projects. He isn’t afraid of work or a challenge, as having a variety of challenging projects ahead of us attracted him to Fort Smith. Todd will have his fingerprints on how we organize our city engineering department going forward, and we are eager to have him on board.”
Baptist Wound Care
Jennifer Williams, APRN, is now accepting new patients and referrals at the Baptist Health Wound and Hyperbaric Center in Fort Smith, according to the hospital system.
Treatment at the center, part of the Baptist Health-Fort Smith system, includes chronic wounds that have not healed within the expected timeframe, pressure injuries, neuropathic and diabetic foot ulcers, burns, skin tears, traumatic wounds and post-surgical or medical procedure wounds.
“I care deeply about the community I serve and the impact quality healthcare can have on individuals and their families,” Williams said in a statement. “My goal is to help patients heal while feeling confident and empowered in their care plan.”
Williams earned a master’s degree in nursing from Carson-Newman University in August 2022 and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Western Governors University in October 2016. Baptist Health Wound and Hyperbaric Center-Fort Smith is located at 1001 Towson Ave.
Consent Decree Project Completed
The city of Fort Smith recently announced completion of work in two sewer system basin areas. The work is in an area of Old Greenwood Road that includes the Kelley Park Ballfields, Hunts Park, and Girls Inc.
Work on the project included realigning approximately 1,300 linear feet of sanitary sewer main, increasing the pipe size from 12 inches to 24 inches, and installing seven manholes, according to the city.
The design engineer was Hawkins-Weir Engineering, Inc., and the contractor was Crawford Construction Company. The work cost $4.908 million, and was 3.7% below the original contract amount, according to the city.
The work is targeted toward addressing a federal mandate to fix the city’s sewer system. After decades of failing to maintain the sewer system, officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a consent decree in 2014 with the city of Fort Smith that required certain improvements to the city’s sewer system.