Lynch at Large

School districts will soon be paying more into the state teacher retirement system. Starting July 1, the rate will increase one full percentage point to 15% of total payroll. That will bring in an additional $20 million each year.

Mayor Thomas Privett has called a special meeting of the Lonoke City Council for late this afternoon to discuss the arrests of himself and the chief of police earlier this week.

Conway’s City Council may consider “impact fees” to pay for expanding sewer service. Conway already uses those fees to pay for some street extensions.

A proposal to charge LeFlore County inmates for their time behind bars potentially will mean thousands of dollars for the new jail trust authority, but not enough to erase an expected $400,000 shortfall, officials say. The charge would be about $36 per day.

President Bush's budget proposal to dramatically cut funding for methamphetamine enforcement and lab clean-up threatens Arkansas' effort to combat the drug. Arkansas relies on federal grants to pay for 19 anti-drug task forces and receives about $3 million annually.

The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas reports that a little known Canadian firm = joined the growing list of drillers, independent producers and wildcatters snapping up leases in the Fayetteville Shale, the booming natural gas play that stretches across much of western Arkansas. Storm Cat Energy Corp., based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has entered an agreement with an unnamed "privately held company" to buy oil and gas leases in Van Buren, Searcy and Pope counties.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says he won't run for president in 2008 because his time is occupied with Hurricane Katrina recovery.

The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association has named sports columnist Harry King 2005 Arkansas sportswriter of the year. Paul Eells of KATV in Little Rock, the football play-by-play voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks, is the state's sportscaster of the year.

Linda Caillouette has this tid-bit in today’s Democrat-Gazette’s Paper Trails column. Singer, songwriter and pianist Patrick Hall of Gravette recently auditioned in Las Vegas before American Idol’s judges and he is one of 175 hopefuls going to Hollywood. No word yet on whether Hall is one of the final 24, but the Jan. 16 People magazine quotes Abdul as saying one of the strong male contenders is a guy named Patrick.