Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Top of Wednesday
Attorneys for murder defendant Kevin Jones are accusing Pope County prosecutors of being slow to hand over evidence which might implicate another suspect in the December homicide of Russellville beauty queen Nona Dirksmeyer.
Entergy Mississippi will be lowering rates for the third time this year when an 18 percent drop begins in October. The decrease will mean an average residential bill will fall from $107 per thousand kilowatt hours to about $88. arolyn Shanks, president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi, credited the lower prices and Entergy's efforts to diversify its sources of energy. Natural gas sold this month for $4.55 per 1,000 cubic feet, compared with $15 last December.
The incoming speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives told business officials Tuesday that he wants to earmark some corporate taxes to help low-income residents. Rep. Benny Petrus, of Stuttgart, speaking to a meeting of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas, said he wants to help cut taxes for business, but only to a point. He said he’s ready to cut but not eliminate the state sales tax on energy used by manufacturers.
The state Health Division is expecting to receive more than 238,000 doses of influenza vaccine this year, health officials told state legislators Tuesday. That’s about 25,000 more doses than the state had ordered this time last year. The state expects to spend about $2.86 million on the vaccine.
Arkansans are increasingly anxious about what they see as a lack of progress in Iraq and about the unremitting violence there, Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation said Tuesday. The delegation’s lone Republican, Rep. John Boozman, told the Democrat-Gazette that his constituents, while wanting “the troops home as soon as possible,” still “understand this thing is important and would like to see it through.”
Farm-state Democrats tried to bypass House Republican leaders Tuesday and force a vote on a controversial disaster relief bill. The group, including Reps. Mike Ross and Marion Berry announced the move to circumvent House procedures with a "discharge petition." The petition requires 218 signatures from House members in order to advance the measure for a vote. By Tuesday afternoon, the petition had 66 signatures.
Stephens Media Group reports that exploration companies are keeping close watch on declining natural gas prices while proceeding with full-scale development of the Fayetteville Shale in northern Arkansas, an industry executive said Tuesday. Natural gas prices, currently trading below $5 a million BTUs, are down nearly a third from last December.
Advance America Cash Advance Centers will voluntarily stop making payday loans to “active, full-time members of the military” effective Oct. 15. Payday lenders typically ring military bases where local laws allow and have become a point of contention for military officials. One of Advance America’s 2600 locations is outside the Little Rock Air Force Base.
Crawford County is continuing to pay for the crash of its computer system that occurred last December. Budget Committee Chairwoman Marsha Woolly said the cost to the county for the crash of the county’s mainframe and server has totaled $52,280. The figure includes new computer equipment, software licenses, $1,300 for classes, labor for recovery of two years of lost data and the installation of additional security systems.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, salvagers and others have poured into a Spring River campsite in search of canoes, butane bottles, scrap lumber and other debris tossed around by Saturday’s flooding now that the water has receded. Hardy Police Chief Ernest Rose has not arrested anyone, but he and other law-enforcement officers are taking inventory of items removed from River Bend Park in hopes of preventing the sale of any property for scrap without the consent of the rightful owners.
Deanna Bobo, A former Greenwood schoolteacher, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison after a jury convicted her of having sex last year with a then-14-year-old student.
A former North Little Rock School District music and band teacher pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges of sexually assaulting two Faulkner County boys in his Conway home. Bryan Deaver was sentenced to 10 years each on two counts of felony second-degree sexual assault, to be served concurrently. Each count was punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
A Conway Police report, released on Monday, says a gunshot was heard after "200 to 300 juveniles" were seen screaming and pushing one another after the Faulkner County Fair on Friday. The conflict was said to have occurred around 11:30 p.m. at a school near the YBMA Fairgrounds.
Russell and Crystal Rinehart are being held in the Sebastian County Jail without bond, facing two counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor, a Class D felony. Their two small children were discovered unattended at Northside High School barefooted and appeared not to have been bathed recently. The boy had a cut on his big toe and a burn mark on his chin, which he said his mother gave him with a cigarette, a police report states. The girl had a scrape on one leg and bruises on both legs.
Entergy Mississippi will be lowering rates for the third time this year when an 18 percent drop begins in October. The decrease will mean an average residential bill will fall from $107 per thousand kilowatt hours to about $88. arolyn Shanks, president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi, credited the lower prices and Entergy's efforts to diversify its sources of energy. Natural gas sold this month for $4.55 per 1,000 cubic feet, compared with $15 last December.
The incoming speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives told business officials Tuesday that he wants to earmark some corporate taxes to help low-income residents. Rep. Benny Petrus, of Stuttgart, speaking to a meeting of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Arkansas, said he wants to help cut taxes for business, but only to a point. He said he’s ready to cut but not eliminate the state sales tax on energy used by manufacturers.
The state Health Division is expecting to receive more than 238,000 doses of influenza vaccine this year, health officials told state legislators Tuesday. That’s about 25,000 more doses than the state had ordered this time last year. The state expects to spend about $2.86 million on the vaccine.
Arkansans are increasingly anxious about what they see as a lack of progress in Iraq and about the unremitting violence there, Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation said Tuesday. The delegation’s lone Republican, Rep. John Boozman, told the Democrat-Gazette that his constituents, while wanting “the troops home as soon as possible,” still “understand this thing is important and would like to see it through.”
Farm-state Democrats tried to bypass House Republican leaders Tuesday and force a vote on a controversial disaster relief bill. The group, including Reps. Mike Ross and Marion Berry announced the move to circumvent House procedures with a "discharge petition." The petition requires 218 signatures from House members in order to advance the measure for a vote. By Tuesday afternoon, the petition had 66 signatures.
Stephens Media Group reports that exploration companies are keeping close watch on declining natural gas prices while proceeding with full-scale development of the Fayetteville Shale in northern Arkansas, an industry executive said Tuesday. Natural gas prices, currently trading below $5 a million BTUs, are down nearly a third from last December.
Advance America Cash Advance Centers will voluntarily stop making payday loans to “active, full-time members of the military” effective Oct. 15. Payday lenders typically ring military bases where local laws allow and have become a point of contention for military officials. One of Advance America’s 2600 locations is outside the Little Rock Air Force Base.
Crawford County is continuing to pay for the crash of its computer system that occurred last December. Budget Committee Chairwoman Marsha Woolly said the cost to the county for the crash of the county’s mainframe and server has totaled $52,280. The figure includes new computer equipment, software licenses, $1,300 for classes, labor for recovery of two years of lost data and the installation of additional security systems.
According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, salvagers and others have poured into a Spring River campsite in search of canoes, butane bottles, scrap lumber and other debris tossed around by Saturday’s flooding now that the water has receded. Hardy Police Chief Ernest Rose has not arrested anyone, but he and other law-enforcement officers are taking inventory of items removed from River Bend Park in hopes of preventing the sale of any property for scrap without the consent of the rightful owners.
Deanna Bobo, A former Greenwood schoolteacher, was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in prison after a jury convicted her of having sex last year with a then-14-year-old student.
A former North Little Rock School District music and band teacher pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges of sexually assaulting two Faulkner County boys in his Conway home. Bryan Deaver was sentenced to 10 years each on two counts of felony second-degree sexual assault, to be served concurrently. Each count was punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
A Conway Police report, released on Monday, says a gunshot was heard after "200 to 300 juveniles" were seen screaming and pushing one another after the Faulkner County Fair on Friday. The conflict was said to have occurred around 11:30 p.m. at a school near the YBMA Fairgrounds.
Russell and Crystal Rinehart are being held in the Sebastian County Jail without bond, facing two counts each of endangering the welfare of a minor, a Class D felony. Their two small children were discovered unattended at Northside High School barefooted and appeared not to have been bathed recently. The boy had a cut on his big toe and a burn mark on his chin, which he said his mother gave him with a cigarette, a police report states. The girl had a scrape on one leg and bruises on both legs.
