Monday, July 24, 2006
First of the week!
Gov. Mike Huckabee says that he’ll review the law on filling the lieutenant governor’s office vacancy created by the death of Win Rockefeller but is in no rush to do it. “There’s no urgency that I can see about a special election,” the governor said.
The Episcopal bishop of Arkansas, the Right Reverend Larry Maze, has given the green light to congregations that want to explore offering blessing ceremonies for gay couples and has notified clergymen in the diocese that some congregations are ready to do that.
Central Business Improvement District commissioners on Thursday unanimously voted to recommend the Fort Smith Board of Directors support the United Keetoowah Band’s effort to build a casino and hotel along the Arkansas River.
Arkansas Times blog reports that Representative John Boozman will announce today that Fort Smith is one of two finalists for the United States Marshall Service museum.
Arkansas' unemployment rate fell slightly in June, but remained above the national rate, the state reported Friday. Arkansas' jobless rate stood at 5.2 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month. The national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in June, unchanged from May.
A hearing is set this week on a $90 million class-action settlement between Internet leader Google Inc. and advertisers who say they were victims of “click fraud.” Miller County Circuit Judge Joe Griffin has given preliminary approval to the settlement in the case against the search engine company, but at least 51 objections have been lodged
A medical malpractice trial in Fort Smith was disrupted last week when an audience member experienced a medical emergency and the defendant, along with an expert witness for the plaintiff, rushed to her aid. Both sides agreed that the jury had been tainted.
Kimberly Mitchell of Jonesboro stands accused of killing her 3-year-old son and her sister, who were passengers in a car she was driving. Mitchell faces manslaughter charges in Craighead County Circuit Court. Witnesses report that she was driving recklessly and at a high rate of speed. The child was not restrained in a safety seat.
A Paragould woman has been charged with five felonies in the death of a Greene County official and the injury of four people in a traffic accident in the spring. Prosecutors filed one count of manslaughter and four counts of second-degree battery against 48 year old Judy Cozart, who was driving a sports utility vehicle on Highway 49 when police say the vehicle crossed the center line and hit an oncoming vehicle.
Because he did not have “the benefit of constructive, forthright guidance and positive supervision by his parents,” U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. gave reputed gang leader and drug dealer Bobby Banks, who will turn 31 in September, a 55-year prison sentence on Friday, instead of life.There is no parole in the federal system.
Former Republican Congressman Tommy Robinson says that he and his son had decided not to appeal the five-day jail sentences imposed on them a day earlier because they didn’t want to “overload an already overloaded” court system.
In Saturday’s Pine Bluff Commercial it was reported that Jefferson County Election Commission Chairman Trey Ashcraft says there have not been any developments regarding the commission’s request that the prosecutor’s office look into allegations that four convicted felons voted in the June 13 Democratic Primary runoff. Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple says he has not received any complaints from the commission.
State wildlife officials will be working late nights counting deer in the capitol city. The Game and Fish Commission findings will guide the city government in deciding whether to schedule a hunt to thin the herd.
Forrest City officials are dealing with the growing problem of trespassing in the Beach Grove area of the city. At a special city council meeting last week, it was reported that many people are taking short-cuts across people’s yards while walking to the nearby Wal Mart.
The Episcopal bishop of Arkansas, the Right Reverend Larry Maze, has given the green light to congregations that want to explore offering blessing ceremonies for gay couples and has notified clergymen in the diocese that some congregations are ready to do that.
Central Business Improvement District commissioners on Thursday unanimously voted to recommend the Fort Smith Board of Directors support the United Keetoowah Band’s effort to build a casino and hotel along the Arkansas River.
Arkansas Times blog reports that Representative John Boozman will announce today that Fort Smith is one of two finalists for the United States Marshall Service museum.
Arkansas' unemployment rate fell slightly in June, but remained above the national rate, the state reported Friday. Arkansas' jobless rate stood at 5.2 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from the previous month. The national unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in June, unchanged from May.
A hearing is set this week on a $90 million class-action settlement between Internet leader Google Inc. and advertisers who say they were victims of “click fraud.” Miller County Circuit Judge Joe Griffin has given preliminary approval to the settlement in the case against the search engine company, but at least 51 objections have been lodged
A medical malpractice trial in Fort Smith was disrupted last week when an audience member experienced a medical emergency and the defendant, along with an expert witness for the plaintiff, rushed to her aid. Both sides agreed that the jury had been tainted.
Kimberly Mitchell of Jonesboro stands accused of killing her 3-year-old son and her sister, who were passengers in a car she was driving. Mitchell faces manslaughter charges in Craighead County Circuit Court. Witnesses report that she was driving recklessly and at a high rate of speed. The child was not restrained in a safety seat.
A Paragould woman has been charged with five felonies in the death of a Greene County official and the injury of four people in a traffic accident in the spring. Prosecutors filed one count of manslaughter and four counts of second-degree battery against 48 year old Judy Cozart, who was driving a sports utility vehicle on Highway 49 when police say the vehicle crossed the center line and hit an oncoming vehicle.
Because he did not have “the benefit of constructive, forthright guidance and positive supervision by his parents,” U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. gave reputed gang leader and drug dealer Bobby Banks, who will turn 31 in September, a 55-year prison sentence on Friday, instead of life.There is no parole in the federal system.
Former Republican Congressman Tommy Robinson says that he and his son had decided not to appeal the five-day jail sentences imposed on them a day earlier because they didn’t want to “overload an already overloaded” court system.
In Saturday’s Pine Bluff Commercial it was reported that Jefferson County Election Commission Chairman Trey Ashcraft says there have not been any developments regarding the commission’s request that the prosecutor’s office look into allegations that four convicted felons voted in the June 13 Democratic Primary runoff. Prosecuting Attorney Steve Dalrymple says he has not received any complaints from the commission.
State wildlife officials will be working late nights counting deer in the capitol city. The Game and Fish Commission findings will guide the city government in deciding whether to schedule a hunt to thin the herd.
Forrest City officials are dealing with the growing problem of trespassing in the Beach Grove area of the city. At a special city council meeting last week, it was reported that many people are taking short-cuts across people’s yards while walking to the nearby Wal Mart.
