Lynch at Large

Although Arkansas public school funding is under scrutiny again by the state Supreme Court, two state legislative committees made recommendations Tuesday that wouldn’t increase funding much – only one-half of one percent, or $12 million. State Rep. Jodie Mahoney of El Dorado, serving his final weeks in the legislature, says enough has been done to raise teacher salaries.

Arkansas’ Benchmark and End-of-Course exams, which are given to more than half of the state’s 450,000 public school students in any given year, have earned a stamp of approval from the federal government.

A legislative subcommittee is recommending a $1.6 million budget increase for the attorney general’s office, money Attorney General-elect Dustin McDaniel says he’ll use to give staff attorneys a raise, hire expert witnesses, and fulfill a campaign promise to add a bureau to help Arkansans with health care and insurance questions.

Putting money into an account for spending when income or revenues are at a low ebb makes sense for state government just as it does for an individual or family budget, leaders of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families said Tuesday.

Uncertainties over how much Pulaski County owes in back sales tax to the state almost led county officials Tuesday night to shutting down county government Jan. 1.

Hino Motors Ltd., which operates a new parts plant near Marion, reports that its overseas sales are growing - something that is necessary if the Japanese truck maker is to create hundreds of additional jobs in east Arkansas.

Louisiana utility regulators have filed a complaint against Entergy Corp. for any damages that occur if Entergy Arkansas Inc. withdraws from a decades long pact to share the production costs of Entergy power plants in four states.

A Fayetteville man died and three people were seriously injured late Monday night when their single-engine plane crashed about two miles north of West Fork.

Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons is investigating Russellville school officials’ handling of an alleged sexual assault on a school bus to determine any wrongdoing. Claiming a lack of cooperation from the alleged victim’s mother, local police gave up on the investigation. After a month-long inquiry by the Arkansas State Police, Gibbons filed second-degree sexual assault charges — a Class B juvenile felony —against two boys accused of the assault.

Police have filed a request for manslaughter charges against a teenage driver in connection with a Muldrow traffic accident that resulted in a death last week. 18 year-old Alyssa McPeak was allegedly drunk when her car crossed the center line and struck Glenda Kamber head on, resulting in Kamber’s death and the paralysis of one of McPeak’s passengers. Charges will also be filed against a 38 year old man who purchased the alcohol.

The suspect in the Oct. 30 slaying of an elderly southwest Arkansas couple is expected back in Howard County by week’s end after a Wisconsin judge approved extradition to Arkansas. Calvin A. Bennett had been profiled the night before on the television show America’s Most Wanted.

Bill Rufus of Little Rock, a former pastor at Tomberlin Baptist Church in England, was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison for admittedly buying himself a house with the proceeds of an insurance check intended for the church.

A home repair scam is targeting older women in White County. At least two homes have been entered by well dressed, polite, older men claiming to be measuring homes for energy saving improvements. Once inside, they steal whatever cash and valuables may be available.

Mississippi State University has sent letters to 2,400 students and employees notifying them they soon may be victims of identity theft. The letters, which went out Monday, say their Social Security numbers and other private information were "inadvertently" posted to a publicly accessible Web site.

The purported theft of a truck and cattle trailer led Hempstead County sheriff’s deputies to arrest a Fulton man on charges accusing him of stealing cattle throughout the county over the past eight months. James Autrey Smith allegedly received more than $38,000 in livestock auctions of the stolen cattle.