Lynch at Large

My morning updates run twice every hour from 6 to 9 on K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns on 93.3 and 100.7. I had lunch with Don yesterday and I think he was pretty much traumatized by the experience.

My radio show is on at 9 if YOU would like to be traumatized.

KSMD 99.1 FM - Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM - Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM - Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM - Heber Springs/Clinton

I am off Friday. It’s a national holiday. Independence Day. Remember? Have a safe weekend and check my column in Monday’s Democrat-Gazette.

Razorback linebacker Wendel Davis faces a felony criminal mischief charge after police say he punched through the window of a car that bumped his scooter. Davis, however, tells police that, over the past few days, the driver of the car had sent him threatening text messages.

University of Central Arkansas President Lu Hardin says his school’s trustees should better explain votes they take on salary matters, after they approved his early $300,000 longevity bonus behind closed doors.

State revenue for June was up. The gross amount was up 4.2 percent over the same month last year and up 8.5 percent over forecast. The state ended with a surplus of $176.5 million in general revenues.

A convicted murderer serving a life sentence for the 1990 beating death of a man who picked him up as a hitchhiker should be granted clemency, the state parole board says. The Arkansas Board of Parole recommended for the fifth time that Denver Mitchell Jr., who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1992, be eligible for parole.

Riceland Foods Inc. in Stuttgart subjected the state’s rice farmers to an “ultrahazardous risk” when it experimented with genetically modified rice that contaminated the commercial supply, a suit representing 4,000 rice growers filed Wednesday alleges.

Arkansas will host the National Symphony Orchestra for a week next year as part of a program designed to bring the orchestra of the nation’s capital to all 50 states.

If you purchased 16 oz. packages of Private Selection Natural Ground Beef from a Kroger anytime since late May, you need to return it for a full refund. The beef has been linked to several cases of e. Coli-related illness.

Get ready for the latest thing from Sam’s Club. Square milk cartons stack more easily and trucks carry 9% more milk.

Roby Brock, of TalkBusiness.net, will interview Governor Mike Beebe on his economic development strategy on his weekend television program.

An Alma man already sentenced to 100 years in prison and free on an appeal bond was arrested for delivery of a controlled substance.  Clifford “Joe” Pullan, 80, was arrested on a petition to revoke a $100,000 appeal bond after he allegedly sold hydrocodone to a confidential informant.

The Wednesday Wake Up is on KARK TV Channel 4 this morning at 6:45. Bill Vickery and I will have this week’s winners and losers. Tune in or set your DVR.

My informative morning news updates are on twice an hour on K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns on 93.3 and 100.7

My radio show is on at 9.

KSMD 99.1 FM - Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM - Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM - Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM - Heber Springs/Clinton

President Bush is confident he will reach a deal with Congress on a housing-rescue plan. The Senate is considering a $300 billion plan to back cheaper loans for people who risk losing their home, but that measure has stalled. Bush was in Central Arkansas for a housing conference and a Republican fundraiser.

The Pentagon is considering a plan to ship deadly chemical weapons to military sites in four states, including Arkansas, to accelerate the destruction of the munitions, a new report to Congress says. The idea is prompting opposition from Congress and watchdog groups.

A Minnesota judge has ruled Wal Mart violated state wage and hour laws, requiring employees to work off the clock, and the discount retailer could now face more than $2 billion in possible fines. The court ruled that Wal-Mart owes $6.5 million to thousands of current and former employees.

Starbucks will close 600 stores nationwide, but it is not saying which ones will be shut down. The Seattle coffee brewer has 38 stores in Arkansas.

Stephens Media columnist Harry King reports that the Arkansas Razorback Sports Network may be for sale. ARSN is a division of KATV Channel 7 and the exclusive provider of all Razorback football and basketball programming. For that right, the network pays the UA around $1.5 million per year.

Supporters of a proposed initiated act that would ban unmarried couples from adopting or serving as foster parents believe they have enough signatures to get the measure on the general election ballot.

University of Central Arkansas President Lu Hardin received $300,000 in private funds ahead of schedule as an incentive for him to stay at the school he has overseen since September 2002.

The state securities commissioner ordered a Maumelle insurance agent to stop advising clients on investments. Alonza Lilly, doing business as Covenant Senior is reported to be improperly using various professional designations to imply that he possesses specialized qualifications.

The Democrat-Gazette reports an alleged identity theft by a Baptist Health worker. Medical records and social security numbers reportedly compromised. An arrest was reportedly made at a local Wal Mar

Plans for the new Park Avenue retail and residential development on the site of the old University Mall are on “go” after approval from the Little Rock City Board.

Dogtown News Wire reports that rumors of a $6 million renovation to McCain Mall is untrue.

The Little Rock City Board has deferred action on Jane Dickey extended term on the Central Arkansas Water Board. She has already served 11 years.

Arkansas has already had two linebackers get arrested this offseason, and a third could be facing criminal charges stemming from a traffic accident. Junior Wendel Davis’ scooter was hit from the rear by a car. Davis injured his hand pounding on the car and he broke the windshield. He could be charged with criminal mischief.

Thieves in northwest Arkansas made a huge withdrawal at a Bella Vista Pulaski Bank - they took a whole automated teller machine with them.

My cheery and informative news updates are on twice hourly on K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns at 93.3 and 100.7. Check me out twice an hour.

My daily show is on the air at 9.

KSMD 99.1 FM - Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM - Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM - Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM - Heber Springs/Clinton

President Bush is in North Little Rock for a conference on housing today and then he’s on to sedate Camack Village for a private Republican Party fundraiser.

The state sales tax that manufacturers pay for electricity and natural gas will decrease another notch and state departments and agencies will have $107 million less than expected for the fiscal year beginning today.

Representative Vic Snyder and his wife, the Rev. Betsy Singleton  are expecting triplets. They already have one child.

The Little Bock City Board will decide tonight whether to renew the term of Rose Law Firm attorney Jane Dickey. She has served 11 years already. The Rose Law Firm represents Deltic Timber, which has substantial property around Lake Maumelle.

Work is expected to resume in January on the home-building project at the Little Rock Air Force Base, commander Brig. Gen. Rowayne A. Schatz Jr. told about 120 people at a town-hall meeting.

Phillips County Sheriff Deputies have arrested Helena-West Helena Mayor James Valley on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. Valley denies wrongdoing in releasing the town’s pound dogs into the national forest.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP has started building a 167-mile, $500 million pipeline to take natural gas from the Fayetteville Shale in north-central Arkansas to market in Louisiana. A peak of about 1,300 people will be employed in Arkansas during the construction, which is expected to be complete early next year.

Now that Tyson Foods has unloaded its Canadian beef operations, it has moved into the Indian poultry market It will operate under the trade name “Real Good Chicken.”

Arkansas farmers this year are expected to harvest fewer acres of cotton, corn and grain sorghum than last year, but more acres of soybeans, wheat and rice.

Chrysler will close one Missouri plant indefinitely this fall and cut production at another due to slumping demand for trucks and other large vehicles.

Jacob Wingo, a Hot Spring County teenager, told authorities he soaked a makeshift cross in lighter fluid, stuck it outside the home where a white woman and her three biracial children lived and set it ablaze. Wingo was arrested on felony charges of terroristic threatening and aggravated assault in connection with the June 21 burning in rural Donaldson, about 12 miles from Malvern. A fire destroyed the home where the cross was burned less than a week later.

The investigation into the weekend death of a Marmaduke toddler continues.

1-year-old Ethan Ray Roberts was found dead Saturday morning at his Marmaduke home. Kelly Honeycutt, the mother, says it was an accidental drowning but police say the child had been dead at least 12 hours by the time they were called to the scene.

A Bryant firefighter faces felony charges and is on administrative leave after being charged with the rape of an 11-year-old girl over a two-year period. Robert Michael Cadmus of Bauxite turned himself into the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department.

The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission has unanimously rejected a request by environmental groups to change Arkansas’ air code to consider carbon dioxide an “air contaminant.

For the second straight year, a House committee has admonished the Delta Regional Authority over its spending priorities and voted to slash the agency’s annual budget by half.

The Arkansas State Police will not open a criminal investigation regarding the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission because the Legislative Audit Division was unable to confirm that anything was missing from the commission’s office.

A Pulaski County Circuit judge has rejected a petition to impanel a grand jury to investigate voter-intimidation allegations in the Perry County sheriff ’s race after Arkansas State Police couldn’t find evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

A nurse who is on the Guy City Council is challenging U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder in the Nov. 4 election. “Deb” McFarland is running against the Democrat from Little Rock as a Green Party candidate.

House Majority Leader Steve Harrelson told the Fayetteville Political Animal Club it would be difficult for House members to refuse Dwayne Dobbins of North Little Rock his seat in January if he wins the General Election.

Today is the final day for John White as Chancellor of the University of Arkansas and also the last day of the Razorback Foundation’s  $500,000 annual payout of Nolan Richardson’s  contract.

Arkansas backup linebacker Freddy Burton was arrested early Sunday morning and booked into the Washington County Jail on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and careless driving. He’s the fourth player to be arrested since Bobby Petrino was hired as Arkansas’ football coach on Dec. 11.

Employees disabled part of the Pulaski County clerk’s public records Web site so that Social Security numbers on thousands of Arkansans’ real-estate records can be removed.

Robbers attacked two different diamond salesmen traveling through the South only two days apart from each other, stealing an estimated $1 million worth of jewels. The thefts, in Nashville and Pine Bluff, look similar to authorites. Both happened in parking lots and in Pine Bluff, they even stole diamonds hidden in the salesman’s socks.

A special judge authorized an arrest warrant Friday for Helena-West Helena James Valley, finding reasonable cause to believe that Valley committed animal cruelty by releasing stray dogs to fend for themselves near a national forest.

Calhoun County sheriff’s deputies say a 4-year-old boy moving into a new house with his family found a handgun and accidentally shot his 5-year-old sister with it.

The driver of a private security firm van ferrying prison inmates through south Arkansas fell asleep behind the wheel, causing a crash that killed two prisoners and injuring four others.

A veteran Fort Smith police officer suspended earlier this month for the second time in less than a year was disciplined for a public altercation with his wife while on duty. Cpl. Tim Randolph was suspended for 30 days without pay following a May 11 incident at the Fort Smith Regional Airport. A Delta Airlines employee told police that Randolph was “yelling, kicking and throwing things” as a woman, later identified as Randolph’s wife.

A former Fort Smith police officer, Tom Judkins, arrested on suspicion of theft by deception is accused of stealing more than $12,000 from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 39, while serving as treasurer for the organization.

A judge ruled four of six teenagers accused in a February armed robbery of Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers in Rogers will be prosecuted as adults.

My early morning newscasts are on K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns at 93.3 and 100.7.

My radio show is on at 9.

KSMD 99.1 FM - Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM - Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM - Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM - Heber Springs/Clinton

My column is a launching of arrows. What do the fates have in store? Look Monday in the Arkansas section of the Democrat-Gazette on the Voices page.

Mike Masterson will write about Janie Ward and the ABC investigative report in Sunday’s paper.

The United States Supreme Court has struck down the District of Columbia’s absolute ban on handguns.

The Arkansas Supreme Court denied requests from defense lawyers seeking to expand what a circuit judge can consider this fall in reviewing cases against their clients in the murders of three West Memphis boys.

Conservation groups will go before the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission today to argue for a change in definition of air contaminants to recognize the harmful effects of carbon dioxide.

Little Rock Vice Mayor Stacy Hurst will reimburse the City of Little Rock for the $1700 for her inclusion in the “Power Women” listing in the June issue of Soiree.

Arkansans Against Abusive Payday Lending, says 101 of the156 payday stores targeted by McDaniel on March 18 have closed. The remaining 55 are believed to be operating in defiance of the order.”

Lt. Gov. Bill Halter submitted 138,615 signatures in support of his proposed constitutional amendment to create a state lottery. That is about double what is necessary to get on the November ballot.

A new partnership between private insurance and Medicaid will help middle-income Arkansans protect their assets in their senior years or in times of long-term care decisions.  The Arkansas Long-Term Care Partnership will make it possible for Arkansans not to have to “spend down” their money by giving up property or selling off a family business.

Randy Zook is the new head of the State Chamber of Commerce. He moves over from the state Economic Development Commission.

There may be a bidding war for the Fayetteville High School campus. An unnamed group of investors wants an 90-day option to consider buying the Fayetteville High School campus for $60 million. The University of Arkansas has bid $50 million, to be paid by student fees.

Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs comes to a North Little Rock downtown sidewalk starting today to encourage people to stop and spend along the city’s still-redeveloping Main Street. Nathan’s on Cony Island is home of the Fourth of July hot dog eating contest and is the subject of Larry King’s famous “Moppo is dead” story.

President Bush will participate in a roundtable on housing counseling when he visits Arkansas next week Bush will headline a Camack Village fundraiser late Tuesday afternoon.

Tornado, the bustling bus line, that caters mainly to Hispanic clientele,  is up and running again after being forced late last year to close. Last year, a Tornado driver, drowsy and allegedly  hopped up on amphetamines, crossed a median near Forrest City, clipped a semi-truck, then rammed a pickup; four people were killed.

Social Security numbers are online in some documents posted online by the Pulaski County Clerk Pat O’Brien. He says it is not illegal.  There have been complaints from the public and some of the numbers are being removed by hand.

Sonny Weems was a Chicago Bull. And then he wasn’t. Fifteen minutes after being selected by the Bulls with the 39th overall pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, Weems received a phone call from his agent. Forget about Chicago, Montgomery said, and get ready for Denver Nuggets.

Consider this an open thread on reactions to last night’s ABC broadcast on the Janie Ward case. THANKS to the thousands of readers visiting for the first time.

I will be posting have posted archived interviews with her parents and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Mike Masterson concerning this case later today so check over at my home page. I also have photos from the investigation posted on my page.

My morning newscasts are on twice an hour from 6 to 9 K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns on 93.3 and 100.7.

My radio program is on at 9.

KSMD 99.1 FM - Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM - Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM - Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM - Heber Springs/Clinton

The United States Supreme Court is expected to rule today on a handgun rights case in the District of Columbia. It is a major second amendment ruling.

The Democrat-Gazette reports Hewlett-Packard was offered more than $43 million in incentives from state and local officials to build a new customer and technical service center in Conway.

A Senate committee signed off Wednesday on a measure to force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make a plan to remove thousands of trailers from the Hope Municipal Airport. The bill sponsored by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., gives FEMA nine months to decide what to do with the temporary housing units the government has stored across the country.

Supporters and opponents of a proposed state lottery to fund college scholarships released two separate studies Wednesday, with each group saying its study supported its point of view. Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter’s group sets annual revenue at $100 million. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families sets it at $61 million.

A three-state study led by UAMS researchers suggests that laws intended to drive down the manufacture and use of methamphetamine in rural areas may be driving up the use of cocaine.

A Bermuda jury has acquitted a Little Rock lawyer Gary Barket, who was arrested for guns found in checked luggage. Add the name of Congressmen Vic Snyder to the local big shots who flew in to testify for Barket.

That cool publicity spread in Soiree for Little Rock Vice Mayor Stacy Hurst cost $1700. Not to worry. Arkansas Times reports the City picked up the tab.

Little Rock Advertising and Promotion Commission will move forward with plans to get land at the corner of Scott and Markham to build a parking deck. The space, which is currently a surface lot, was recently bought by CSK Hotels in Fort Smith for $950,000.

Loneoke County has new hot pink uniforms for jail inmates. Not meant to embarrass anybody, according to the sheriff. They just want prisoners to stand out.

Mexico and Europe ban all imports of chickens from Arkansas after a recent discovery of bird flu. Mexico is the largest U.S. trading partner.  Japan, Russia and Taiwan are also temporarily closed to American chicken imports. 

Officials plan to reopen the Washington County Health Unit today after blood tests given to those who became sick there last week were found to be inconclusive.

N.E.W. Customer Service Companies will bring 120 jobs to Jonesboro. The work-at-home jobs will provide technical troubleshooting support services to Direct TV customers.  Company officials said the jobs will pay $9 an hour.

Channel 4 reports the Bearden School District may be out $100,000. The superintendent has just returned from active duty in Iraq.

I somehow forgot to include this essential item from today’s briefing.

ABC Law and Justice documentary is set to air this June 25, 9:00 p.m. cst

 
Primetime: Crime” goes deep inside real cases, uncovering new evidence and getting exclusive witness interviews. The series debuts with an investigation involving a mystery that’s been buried for 18 years. When 16-year-old Janie Ward died at a party on Sept. 9, 1989, at a rural cabin in the Arkansas Ozarks, her parents were told that she died falling off a porch. There was only one problem: the porch was just nine-and-a-half-inches high.
For nearly two decades, Ward’s parents have been fighting to prove that she was murdered, and that the crime was covered up — not just by the kids, but local authorities as well. Through the years, there have been rumors of corruption, missing evidence and accusations of high school rivalries. Primetime” interviews an alleged eyewitness who says she saw Ward beaten with a baseball bat by a popular classmate who happened to be a beauty queen and a prominent judge’s daughter. That former classmate,
who has been the target of rumors of wrongdoing since the night Ward died, speaks out for the first time in 18 years to ABC News’ Jim Avila. For three years, “Primetime: Crime” has investigated the murder night through exclusive interviews with witnesses, law enforcement and the family, as well as behind-the-scenes access to a special prosecutor’s investigation and top forensic specialists. Ward’s body has been exhumed twice and autopsied a startling three times, with different findings each time. “Primetime: Crime” is with a top forensic team as they try to unravel the mystery that has haunted the Ward family and the town of Marshall for 18 years: Was Janie Ward murdered?

Watch “Primetime: The Outsiders,” Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET beginning June 24, and “Primetime: Crime,” Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET beginning June 25.

The Wednesday Wake Up is on KARK TV Channel 4 this morning at 6:45. Bill Vickery and I have the winners and losers. Incidentally, it is always hilarious and informative.

My exhilarating morning updates are on twice an hour at K-105.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns at 93.3 and 100.7.

My radio show is on at 9.

KSMD 99.1 FM - Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM - Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM - Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM - Heber Springs/Clinton

The staff for Texas utility regulators has recommended against a request SWEPCO for a proposed $1.5 billion coal-fired power plant in Arkansas. The commission will consider the recommendation July 3.

The New York Times “deals blog” has been covering Roby Brock’s interview with Altell CEO Scott Ford who is leading efforts to attract venture capital investors to take advantage of a large highly skilled workforce

Garver Engineers will build a new $10 million corporate headquarters in North Little Rock. That means 120 new jobs at $65,000 a year.

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded more than $3.7 million to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to help with the state’s nonpoint source pollution-management program.

18-year-old Samantha Ann House-Baser of Norfork is in jail on suspicion of kidnapping a Mountain Home toddler. Investigators believe she may have taken the boy as a means to start a relationship with an old boyfriend.

A semitruck driver crashed through a state highway department work zone on a U.S. 67 bridge over the White River, killing himself and a highway worker.

A Russellville man arrested in connection with a shooting north of Dover is free after his bond was reduced from $500,000 to $25,000. Patrick Paul Duvall allegedly shot and wounded four people during a disagreement over dogs following a wedding near Piney Creek north of Dover.

The Bermuda trial of Little Rock lawyer Gary Barket for attempting to clear airport security with guns in his checked luggage will go to the jury today. Yesterday was Arkansas day as Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, former Mayor and Democratic superdelegate Lottie Shackleford, former State Supreme Court Justice Richard Mays. Barket faces 10 years in prison if convicted.

Reacting to Searcy’s rapid growth may mean asking developers to pay for improvements, according to one city alderman alderman says. There is a suggestion for the city council to consider a new impact fee system.

Bryant City Council is moving forward with annexation plans that would lead to the city nearly doubling in land size.

There are more DOGGATE developments from Helena-West Helena. The Northeast Arkansas Friends of Animals has recovered four of the ten dogs released by Mayor James Valley into the National Forest. The dogs suffered malnutrition, ticks and animal bites but are in fair condition.

Today’s obituaries include former UCA football and track coach Raymond Bright who was 85.

My morning newscasts are on twice every hour 6 to 9 on K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns on 93.3 and 100.7.

My show is on at 9.

KSMD 99.1 FM - Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM - Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM - Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM - Heber Springs/Clinton

Get ready for the Wednesday Wake Up tomorrow morning at 6:45 on KARK TV Channel 4. Bill Vickery and I have the winners and losers and it is always highly entertaining. Set your DVR or tune in!

Gov. Mike Beebe will ask lawmakers to put more money into a fund created to attract new businesses to Arkansas and help existing ones because virtually all of the $50 million originally set aside has been spent or offered to various projects.

Steven Williams, head of Maverick USA, a trucking company in North Little Rock, is among those testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations to discuss the impact speculators have had on the price of oil. There is a proposal to require all energy trades made in the USA to meet New York Mercantile Exchange rules against fraud.

One of the largest towing companies in the state, Routh Wrecker Service, says calls for motorists stranded because they ran out of fuel have more than doubled in recent weeks.

Police in north Arkansas say they’re looking for a toddler abducted from a day-care center. The Mountain Home Police Department and Arkansas State police have asked the public’s help in finding 16-month-old Aiden Chase Mullin.

Channel 7 reports a carjacking on the state capitol grounds in broad daylight. An older woman near the revenue office was roughed up and dumped several blocks away.

The Plantation Inn on I-30 in southwest Little Rock has till the end of the month to shut down after a local judge declared it a nussense .

Helena Mayor James Valley has issued an official apology concerning his decision to abandon 10 stray dogs from city custody into the national forest on June 10. He says, “Our modest shelter was closed, UNLAWFULLY and without proper cause, by a renegade humane society.”

The Democrat-Gazette reports that the Little Rock city board and city attorney are still trying to figure out if Mayor Stodola gets the same #.5% increase city manager Bruce Moore already received.

Garver Engineers in North Little Rock will announce expansion plans today. Jonesboro is getting ready for some good news on new jobs tomorrow.

The final VX nerve-agent filled land mine has been destroyed at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, moving the facility a step closer to eliminating stockpiled chemical weapons.

Washington County officials will not open the county health department again until the results of 31 blood tests are completed and the building is professionally cleaned. The building was evacuated Thursday morning after 31 people became ill with nausea, dizziness and vomiting. The cause of the outbreak is under investigation.

History buffs and community leaders in Benton County will celebrate War Eagle Bridge turning 100 years old Friday.

Authorities say a man accused of assaulting and tying up his mother because he was reportedly mad about the death of his pet skunk has been arrested in Waldron. 35-year-old Scott Tolles Sullivan is being held without bail in Van Buren.

Arkansas State Police say a 30-year-old Malvern woman died after she sat down in the middle of a highway and was struck by a car and dragged more than 100 feet. The incident Saturday night remains under investigation. Authorities say Shanna Dawn Smith was killed after she ran out of an apartment complex and sat down in the middle of traffic on U.S. Highway 270.