Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Very early Wednesday summary
Home sales in Arkansas sank almost 20 percent in October compared with October 2005, the Arkansas Realtors Association said Tuesday. It was the ninth straight month that the number of home sales in Arkansas declined compared with the same month last year.
Rules that force phone companies to keep at least one pay phone in each exchange they serve in Arkansas stand to be relaxed if changes proposed by state utility officials come to pass.
A group that advocates road improvements launched a highway needs awareness campaign Tuesday and said it would seek a new highway construction bond program in the upcoming legislative session. The Arkansas Good Roads Transportation Council said it would use radio public service announcements, billboards and a statewide tour to raise awareness of highway needs in advance of the 2007 session, which convenes Jan. 8.
A bill pre-filed Jonesboro Rep. Chris Thayer for the 2007 legislative session would require the driver of a vehicle involved in a wreck to remain at the scene for at least 30 minutes.
Gov. Mike Huckabee has named gunner DeLay, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general, Sebastian County prosecutor.
Steve Patterson, longtime chief of staff to Arkansas’ Sen. Blanche Lincoln, said Tuesday that he is resigning to head Lincoln’s political-action committee.
A judge denied a defense motion to show a manufacturer’s video illustrating the proper way to deploy a spike strip during the first day of testimony Tuesday in the capital-murder trial of a West Memphis man accused of causing the death of an Arkansas state trooper.
A Blytheville teenager accused of shooting a Jonesboro police officer last week will be formally charged as an adult once he is released from the hospital.
John Ayers, a Baxter County justice of the peace and former Mountain Home mayor, will avoid jail time on a second-offense driving-while-intoxicated conviction if he completes a 30-day residential treatment program for substance abuse, a judge ruled Tuesday
Saline County authorities have broken a massive identity theft operation after the search of an automobile and a storage unit containing thousands of stolen documents. There may be up to 20 suspects in the ongoing investigation.
Pine Bluff police say they believe two liquor-store robberies and a home invasion are linked.
A University of Arkansas at Fort Smith basketball player shot during a Halloween party has recovered enough to go home.
Bolivar County, Mississippi officials are investigating the Monday morning explosion that destroyed the Paul and Dene Cox family home on the outskirts of Cleveland. A 2 year-old and the mother were transported to a hospital and later released. Sheriff investigators are checking the propane heating system and the possibility of a sewage backup.
Investigators think a malfunction in a natural gas-fired furnace - not an arsonist - caused a fire that killed 10 people at an Anderson, Mo., group home, the city’s mayor and a police spokesman said Tuesday.
Arkansas schools that choose not to apply for discounts for telecommunications and Internet services are missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in available federal aid, a state official told lawmakers Tuesday. The Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Administrative Company has approved $7.4 million in discounts for Arkansas schools in the current school year, but 22 school districts did not apply for discounts.
A Springdale School District bus driver has been reprimanded for dropping off two 14-year-old girls at Wal-Mart instead of at school. School district officials say the unidentified driver made an error in judgment. The mother of one of the girls blames the school district for employing a driver who could act so irresponsibly.
Rules that force phone companies to keep at least one pay phone in each exchange they serve in Arkansas stand to be relaxed if changes proposed by state utility officials come to pass.
A group that advocates road improvements launched a highway needs awareness campaign Tuesday and said it would seek a new highway construction bond program in the upcoming legislative session. The Arkansas Good Roads Transportation Council said it would use radio public service announcements, billboards and a statewide tour to raise awareness of highway needs in advance of the 2007 session, which convenes Jan. 8.
A bill pre-filed Jonesboro Rep. Chris Thayer for the 2007 legislative session would require the driver of a vehicle involved in a wreck to remain at the scene for at least 30 minutes.
Gov. Mike Huckabee has named gunner DeLay, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general, Sebastian County prosecutor.
Steve Patterson, longtime chief of staff to Arkansas’ Sen. Blanche Lincoln, said Tuesday that he is resigning to head Lincoln’s political-action committee.
A judge denied a defense motion to show a manufacturer’s video illustrating the proper way to deploy a spike strip during the first day of testimony Tuesday in the capital-murder trial of a West Memphis man accused of causing the death of an Arkansas state trooper.
A Blytheville teenager accused of shooting a Jonesboro police officer last week will be formally charged as an adult once he is released from the hospital.
John Ayers, a Baxter County justice of the peace and former Mountain Home mayor, will avoid jail time on a second-offense driving-while-intoxicated conviction if he completes a 30-day residential treatment program for substance abuse, a judge ruled Tuesday
Saline County authorities have broken a massive identity theft operation after the search of an automobile and a storage unit containing thousands of stolen documents. There may be up to 20 suspects in the ongoing investigation.
Pine Bluff police say they believe two liquor-store robberies and a home invasion are linked.
A University of Arkansas at Fort Smith basketball player shot during a Halloween party has recovered enough to go home.
Bolivar County, Mississippi officials are investigating the Monday morning explosion that destroyed the Paul and Dene Cox family home on the outskirts of Cleveland. A 2 year-old and the mother were transported to a hospital and later released. Sheriff investigators are checking the propane heating system and the possibility of a sewage backup.
Investigators think a malfunction in a natural gas-fired furnace - not an arsonist - caused a fire that killed 10 people at an Anderson, Mo., group home, the city’s mayor and a police spokesman said Tuesday.
Arkansas schools that choose not to apply for discounts for telecommunications and Internet services are missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in available federal aid, a state official told lawmakers Tuesday. The Schools and Libraries Program of the Universal Service Administrative Company has approved $7.4 million in discounts for Arkansas schools in the current school year, but 22 school districts did not apply for discounts.
A Springdale School District bus driver has been reprimanded for dropping off two 14-year-old girls at Wal-Mart instead of at school. School district officials say the unidentified driver made an error in judgment. The mother of one of the girls blames the school district for employing a driver who could act so irresponsibly.
