Lynch at Large

Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday that the Little Rock School Board’s vote Thursday to enter into settlement talks in the long-running desegregation case “throws into serious question” whether the state should continue sending extra money to the district. Sen. Jim Argue of Little Rock, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, says the state should “rethink” the forgiven $15 million loan to the district. He suggested that the state look into withholding that amount from state funding the district receives.

School officials did not reconcile bank statements for a year, did not properly record and deposit day care fees and don't adequately separate cash-handling duties. That's what auditors found when examining Bentonville School District financial records for the year ended June 30.

A proposal to allow the El Dorado School District to partner with the state to build a new high school during the current biennium was approved during a hearing in Little Rock.

The trial of Kevin Jones for the murder of Nona Dirksmeyer enters its’ second week today. A former Russellville police chief testified Friday that he concluded that a bloody palm print on the light bulb of a floor lamp used to kill 19-year-old Nona Dirksmeyer was made by Kevin Jones, the suspect on trial.

A mother and four children are dead following Saturday afternoon accident in which a tractor trailer collided with a car on Highway 425 near Pine Bluff, according to reports. The tractor trailer was traveling north on the road when it crossed the center line and slammed into a car going south, authorities said.

Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Ellen Brantley has directed UAMS “to isolate Franklin Greenwood for purposes of examination and treatment” and restrain him “by handcuffs or other device that will assure that he will not again escape from this facility and endanger himself or others.” Greenwood, a tuberculosis patient, has been sought by area police since he escaped from the medical facility.

Appeals Court Judge Wendell Griffen says the proposed delay in his hearing before the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission violates a commission rule requiring a hearing 30 to 45 days after notifying the judge of the charges against him. Griffen was served with a list of charges on April 24 and says that even a July 20 hearing would break that rule. In addition, he said he is scheduled to appear as a witness in a separate case during the August dates.

A doctor who lost her license in April over allegations she prescribed excessive amounts of medications to five patients - including one who died - has had her license reinstated. Dr. Judith Butler of Blytheville appealed the decision by the Arkansas State Medical Board, asking to introduce additional evidence in the case, because she felt there had been numerous errors in her hearing and suggesting she was the victim of an over-zealous state trooper.

Nearly two-thirds of public comments at an air permit hearing for a $1.4 billion coal-fired power plant in Hempstead County are against the project, citing air-quality, mercury contamination and global warming concerns.

Regular gasoline prices rose an average of almost 10 cents in Arkansas over the past week because of higher crude-oil prices and alleged refinery problems in the Midwest.

Persons familiar with Cantrell Field in Conway tell the Log Cabin Democrat the same aircraft which hit a house killing the pilot and an occupant a couple of weeks ago, slid off the end of the runway in March and become mired in mud. No damage was caused to the aircraft or nearby property in the earlier incident. A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the pilot’s estate and others.

A Craighead County jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, Joe Turner of Lawrence County. Turner brought suit against Cleo Watkins Jr. over a fight in Turner’s rice field in which Watkins allegedly took Turner’s pistol and beat him with it. The jury awarded Turner $500,000 in compensatory damages and $700,000 in punitive damages.

A hospital in Paragould has agreed to manage the Randolph County Medical Center in neighboring Pocahontas, quelling fears that the financially ailing 52-year-old facility would soon close.

Jermain Taylor is putting his world middleweight titles on the line one last time. Multiple sources have confirmed to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Taylor will defend his WBC and WBO middleweight belts against Kelly Pavlik on Sept. 29 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The bout will be televised on HBO, not pay-per-view.