Friday, December 15, 2006
Jolly Friday Summary
Trent Cox, president of the North Little Rock School District Board, says the district will not oppose the City of North Little Rock’s plan to institute a TIF District to pay for building a Bass Pro Shop by diverting school district funds.
A North Carolina developer of an electronic poker room, while promoting an invitational tournament planned for Southland Park Gaming and Racing, referred to the West Memphis greyhound racetrack as a “casino” in a media release. Shelby McCook, manager of the Arkansas Racing Commission, said in a telephone interview with the Democrat-Gazette, “We do not refer to our track facilities as ‘casinos,’”
Arkansas Aluminum Alloy, an aluminum-recycling plant in Hot Springs where two men died in an October explosion was cited in a 2004 blast that sprayed several hundred pounds of molten metal into the air, federal records show.
Loosening state regulations in an effort to solve a shortage of licensed plumbers and electricians could result in decreased quality and safety in those industries, a journeyman plumber and a master electrician told a legislative panel Thursday.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled a $400,000 state appropriation for streets and sewers in Bigelow to be unconstitutional local legislation, a ruling likely to restrict the approval of “pork” projects in legislative districts. The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Bob Johnson of Bigelow, who led a successful push in the Senate last year to carve out more state money for local projects, and leads a State Senate “clique” known as The Brotherhood.
A twice-convicted Texas child molester, who lived under an assumed name in Sherwood until his arrest, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for having oral sex with a 12-year-old boy. A Pulaski County jury returned the guilty verdict in 12 minutes after watching separate videos of 41-year-old Eric Wayne Kelley performing the act on another teenage boy and fondling a third. It took jurors 36 minutes to impose the life sentence.
Three Fayetteville residents have been charged in the death of a toddler last month. Police said the child was repeatedly abused. The boy's caregiver, Lorita Lanej, 23, is charged with capital murder and could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. The parents, Elmitha Saito and Junious K. Annamare charged with permitting abuse of a minor.
The Fort Smith Police Department will begin an internal investigation to probe the circumstances and cause of the slaying of a local woman during a shootout Tuesday.
North Little Rock police shot and severely wounded a naked 31-year-old man early Thursday morning, saying he had fired at an officer with a revolver. Willie Lee Shavers Jr. was hit at least once by gunfire from two officers. Shavers’ wife, Laura Shavers, says her husband didn’t have a real gun, but a BB gun that belongs to her son. She said he stood with his arms raised in front of the officers, telling them if “y’all gonna shoot me, y’all are wrong.”
A decomposed body found in the White River in Baxter County is thought to be that of a man wanted on a rape charge, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said. A driver’s license found with the body belongs to Larry Otis Gebhart, a suspect who fled police on foot after the alleged November 5 abduction and rape.
The Hot Spring County Sheriff's Department has launched an investigation into accusations that a pair of sophomore students threatened others at Glen Rose High School. According to students who attend the school and their parents, two 10th-grade students drafted a “hit list,” with names of students and faculty, including the junior cheerleading squad. They also claim that the two who made the threats dress in trench coats and carry guitar cases around, which scares the other students.
The proposed 2007 salary budget for Pine Bluff Transit is higher than last year because of the impact of the living wage ordinance voters approved in the November referendum, but the municipal agency has no plans to purchase new buses next year, said Revawn Johnson, assistant manager of the city bus company.
If the Drew County Quorum Court follows a Drew Memorial Hospital Board recommendation, voters here will be asked to approve a three-quarter-cent county-wide sales tax increase to fund a proposed $21 million hospital expansion.
A North Carolina developer of an electronic poker room, while promoting an invitational tournament planned for Southland Park Gaming and Racing, referred to the West Memphis greyhound racetrack as a “casino” in a media release. Shelby McCook, manager of the Arkansas Racing Commission, said in a telephone interview with the Democrat-Gazette, “We do not refer to our track facilities as ‘casinos,’”
Arkansas Aluminum Alloy, an aluminum-recycling plant in Hot Springs where two men died in an October explosion was cited in a 2004 blast that sprayed several hundred pounds of molten metal into the air, federal records show.
Loosening state regulations in an effort to solve a shortage of licensed plumbers and electricians could result in decreased quality and safety in those industries, a journeyman plumber and a master electrician told a legislative panel Thursday.
The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled a $400,000 state appropriation for streets and sewers in Bigelow to be unconstitutional local legislation, a ruling likely to restrict the approval of “pork” projects in legislative districts. The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Bob Johnson of Bigelow, who led a successful push in the Senate last year to carve out more state money for local projects, and leads a State Senate “clique” known as The Brotherhood.
A twice-convicted Texas child molester, who lived under an assumed name in Sherwood until his arrest, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for having oral sex with a 12-year-old boy. A Pulaski County jury returned the guilty verdict in 12 minutes after watching separate videos of 41-year-old Eric Wayne Kelley performing the act on another teenage boy and fondling a third. It took jurors 36 minutes to impose the life sentence.
Three Fayetteville residents have been charged in the death of a toddler last month. Police said the child was repeatedly abused. The boy's caregiver, Lorita Lanej, 23, is charged with capital murder and could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted. The parents, Elmitha Saito and Junious K. Annamare charged with permitting abuse of a minor.
The Fort Smith Police Department will begin an internal investigation to probe the circumstances and cause of the slaying of a local woman during a shootout Tuesday.
North Little Rock police shot and severely wounded a naked 31-year-old man early Thursday morning, saying he had fired at an officer with a revolver. Willie Lee Shavers Jr. was hit at least once by gunfire from two officers. Shavers’ wife, Laura Shavers, says her husband didn’t have a real gun, but a BB gun that belongs to her son. She said he stood with his arms raised in front of the officers, telling them if “y’all gonna shoot me, y’all are wrong.”
A decomposed body found in the White River in Baxter County is thought to be that of a man wanted on a rape charge, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said. A driver’s license found with the body belongs to Larry Otis Gebhart, a suspect who fled police on foot after the alleged November 5 abduction and rape.
The Hot Spring County Sheriff's Department has launched an investigation into accusations that a pair of sophomore students threatened others at Glen Rose High School. According to students who attend the school and their parents, two 10th-grade students drafted a “hit list,” with names of students and faculty, including the junior cheerleading squad. They also claim that the two who made the threats dress in trench coats and carry guitar cases around, which scares the other students.
The proposed 2007 salary budget for Pine Bluff Transit is higher than last year because of the impact of the living wage ordinance voters approved in the November referendum, but the municipal agency has no plans to purchase new buses next year, said Revawn Johnson, assistant manager of the city bus company.
If the Drew County Quorum Court follows a Drew Memorial Hospital Board recommendation, voters here will be asked to approve a three-quarter-cent county-wide sales tax increase to fund a proposed $21 million hospital expansion.
