Lynch at Large

Arkansas poultry companies want to depose Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson as they prepare for the federal lawsuit he filed against them.

Jim Harris, the brother-in-law of former Gov. Mike Huckabee and a longtime spokesman for the ex-governor, lost his state emergency management position Thursday, nearly two weeks after his wife’s brother left office.

The dispute over the rejection of a pay raise by the Lee County School Board last week has escalated into a strike. Other district personnel are also supporting the strike and that has affected bus services for district students. Many parents are keeping children home.

An Arkansas Senate committee has endorsed a bill that the president of America’s Car-Mart Inc. says would allow the firm to charge some customers a monthly optional fee of $15 to $20 to waive their debt if their vehicles are destroyed in an accident or stolen. The Insurance and Commerce Committee approved an amended version by Sen. Paul Miller, a Democrat from Melbourne, over the objections of the state’s insurance commissioner, Julie Benafield Bowman.

The Arkansas House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would allow judges to award custody and visitation rights to children’s step-grandparents.

Legislation to end schools’ mandatory body measurements of children moved forward in the state House on Thursday amid concerns that the screenings stigmatize children and take away from education time.

The state Court of Appeals has upheld a Sebastian County jury award of $285,000 to a woman who said she was arrested and jailed as part of a personal vendetta by her landlord. Revona Dee Freeman was awarded $35,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages after the jury in an October 2005 civil trial found that Linda Annette Short engineered Freeman's arrest by falsely reporting that Freeman failed to pay rent on a commercial property in Barling.

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Circuit Judge L.T. Simes’ petition for review of a decision by the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission admonishing the jurist for personally soliciting campaign contributions from two attorneys who argued cases in his court.

Arkansas home sales continued their slide in December, falling almost 15 percent compared with December 2005, the Arkansas Realtors Association said Thursday.

Within three months, 86,680 Wal-Mart. employees will get $33 million in back wages, plus interest, for unpaid overtime work performed between Feb. 1, 2002, and Jan. 19.

The contamination of U.S. long-grain rice supplies by a genetically engineered variety appears to be more widespread than previously believed, the State Plant Board said Thursday.

A Middleton, Wis.-based insurer alleges that in applying for liability insurance, Baptist Health lied about its knowledge of litigation risks stemming from its “economic credentialing” policy.

Justin Wade Trammell, convicted at age 15 in Benton County of murdering his father with a crossbow, is back in jail for allegedly threatening to kill the mother of his child. Washington County prosecutors issued a warrant for Trammell's arrest on a preliminary charge of terroristic threatening.

A Russellville woman arrested in connection with a Jan. 22 residential burglary and armed robbery was forcibly removed by Pope County sheriff’s deputies after she lunged for the police detective who testified during the bond hearing. Mary Ann Crosby became agitated when District Judge Don Bourne set her bond at $200,000. “I can’t afford that,” she said.“I just get a disability check. They’re trying to keep me in jail.”

Deputies arrested Mohamed Fahmi Helmi, who identified himself as an Egyptian student, on two counts of Internet stalking of a child, saying the man came to Saline County from Jacksonville on Wednesday for the purpose of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Bryant officials said the prospect of lost revenue is the reason they oppose banning the sale of fireworks in the city limits. The City Council rejected the proposal by a vote of 6-2. “If you're going to buy (fireworks), you might as well be able to buy them here so the city can get the revenues,” Mayor Larry Mitchell said.

The commemorative Little Rock Central High School coin to be issued this spring will display the image of nine students from the waist down in skirts, slacks and penny loafers, accompanied by an armed soldier walking them to school. The reverse side will feature an image of the school circa 1957.

Internet traffic to the Central Arkansas Transit Authority’s Web site was blocked Thursday morning because the domainname registration had expired.

Following the highly anticipated showdown between two of the state's top boys' teams, a number of spectators filed out, only to find their cars had been towed from the private parking lot of Catfish Cafe across Main Street in Jonesboro. Retrieving those cars cost $81 a pop, and some didn't regain access to their cars until after midnight. All this took place in front of a sign that clearly states the lot is for customers only and others will be towed.