Monday morning summary 4/12/08

Be sure to look for my brilliant and insightful column on the Voices page in the Arkansas section of today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Why does nothing ever get done? I have some thoughts.

 

My morning news capsules are on twice an hour at 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

Thanks to the many friends I met at Little Rock Christian Academy. It is a pleasure to judge your debate tournament, even if I did have to sit politely next to federal magistrate judge David Young and Dr. Mark Quay.

My many humble thanks to the readers who correctly observed that the Perry County Bear had probably been to Burger King one too many times. Yes, that was a typo. The beat was 400 pounds and I apologize  for any incontinence.

 

This time it was Stuttgart that bore the bunt of severe weather. Three injured, heavy damage to homes and businesses. A tornado briefly touched down in Bentonville Saturday evening and damaged some buildings. On the White River and the Black River, thousands of acres are still under water, keeping farmers out of the field.

 

When customers of ANB Bank of Rogers stop in this morning they will step inside A branch of Pulaski Bank.

 

Gov. Mike Beebe says litter is so bad in Arkansas he wants to let people out of prison early to help clean it up. He’s proposing that the state parole inmates 30 to 60 days before their scheduled release so they can help pick up trash beside the roads.

 

Steve Lyn Dean of Hope is dead after a weekend incident in which a group of young people outside a local fast food restaurant decided to go someplace else to fight but got in a wreck on the way. According to reports, Josh Brown got out of his truck and started firing his shotgun into the air. Dean was shot in the chest. Three other participants suffered minor injuries.

 

Pine Bluff has had its fifth homicide this year.

 

Violent and non-violent crime in Little Rock is down in the past year. Two new detectives and 30 extra jail beds leased in Faulkner County are credited with the improvement.

 

The University of Central Arkansas leads the country in illegal music downloads according to the Recording Industry Institute of America. ANB lost $81 million last year and was closed down by the Controller of the Currency.

 

A pilot initiative will pay for training displaced workers and other eligible Arkansans for jobs as truck drivers.  The Trucking Workforce Pilot Initiative will use about $1 million in state funds to train as many as 300 Arkansans and place them with trucking companies, Beebe said.

 

Pine Bluff Transit is in trouble this morning after a weekend fire damaged several buses in the local terminal.

 

The Hermitage School District in southern Arkansas improperly spent nearly $158,000 over a two-year period on school construction projects, and more than half went to one contractor.

 

Filed under: Arkansas