From KARK TV Channel 4 A WEEK INTO THE NEW YEAR AND SOME OF THE STATE'S SMALLER COUNTIES ARE FINDING OUT THAT THEIR COMPUTERS ARE NOT READY FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM. AND IT COULD AFFECT HOW HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ARE PAID WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

BEVERLY PALADINO SAYS THERE ARE SOME COMPUTER PROBLEMS AT THE CONWAY COUNTY COURTHOUSE. CLERKS ARE WORKING WITH SOFTWARE DESIGNED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS. IN ORDER TO WORK NOW- THEY'VE TURNED BACK THE COMPUTER CALENDAR TO DECEMBER 31, 1999. THAT'S BECAUSE IT WON'T WORK IN THE YEAR 2000.

CONWAY COUNTY IS NOT ALONE. THEY ARE PART OF THE COUNTY MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS ASSOCIATION. 22 COUNTIES HAVE THE SAME SYSTEM. ALL REPORT SOME TYPE OF PROBLEM THEY HOPE TO HAVE FIXED IN TIME FOR PAYROLL. AND THEY'VE BEEN ASSURED BY THEIR VENDOR THAT THEY'LL BE "READY TO GO."

THAT VENDOR IS RELATIONAL MANAGEMENT SEVICES OF DALLAS WITH AN OFFICE IN CONWAY. JACK McCOWN IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL 22 COUNTIES...AND McCOWN SAYS HE'S DOING ALL HE CAN TO CORRECT THE DATA. HE SAYS IT'S A "MASSIVE PROJECT.

McCOWN ASSURES THE COUNTIES THAT ALL PAYROLL WILL BE MADE. HE SAYS THAT MOST OF THE PROBLEMS CAN BE FIXED WITH A SIMPLE PATCH THAT CAN BE DOWNLOADED ON A MODEM. BUT ALL OF THAT TAKES TIME.

MANY OF THE COUNTIES SAY THEY WILL ISSUE CHECKS BY HAND, WHICH WILL BE VERY TIME CONSUMING. THAT'S NOT THE ONLY AREA AFFECTED. SOME COUNTIES SAY THEY ARE HAVING PROBLEMS ISSUING CHILD SUPPORT AND SETTLEMENT CHECKS THAT WOULD ORDINARILY COME OUT OF THE COUNTY TREASURY OFFICE. THEY'RE HOPING THINGS ARE REPAIRED SOON.

WATCH NEWS 4 FOR MORE ON THIS STORY TONIGHT AT 5:00, 6:00 AND 10:00.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), January 07, 2000

Answers

And they said they would never be reported...thank you for an informed post.

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), January 07, 2000.

http://www.kark.com/story5x.html

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), January 07, 2000.

There is a previous thread on this from last night. The story broke on Thursday. Why was it not reported on Monday? Is it in the states largest newspaper today (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)? Not my copy nor the online version.

-- Lisa (lisadawn@yahoo.com), January 07, 2000.

The other thread about this is at:

http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=002FVF

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), January 07, 2000.