Thursday summary 7/31/08

My 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.

The 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 Department of Human Services is changing its rules to allow folks older than 40 to adopt children. This comes after a recent court challenge by a couple over the age limit who were seeking to adopt a child.

Arkansas’ bridges are in pretty good shape when compared to those in other states. The Arkansas Highway Commission was also told that the Department of Highway and Transportation is in the process of doubling the number of trained bridge inspectors in the state.

The Proposal on a sales tax holiday in Arkansas will be taken up at the September 18, 2008 Committee on Revenue and Tax at the Capitol. Have an opinion? This is the subject of this Rep. Steve Harrelson’s  Under the Dome poll.

Eugene Hunt of Pine Bluff was appointed to the Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe. Hunt replaces Judge Brian Miller, who earlier this year was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

The ARC Arkansas, an advocacy group for the mentally retarded, has asked Governor Beebe to grant clemency to Frank Williams, a death-row inmate scheduled to be executed on September 9th. Lawyers will argue that Williams should not be executed because previous courts failed to take his mental retardation into account.

The FIB will investigate whether recent parking lot robberies of jewelry representatives in Little Rock, Pine Bluff and Nashville, Tennessee are related.

Utility disconnection rates in Arkansas and surrounding states are among the nation’s highest, but utility sources say they are coming down.

Ozark Regional Transit plans to eliminate positions and cut bus service in Springdale and Fayetteville to make up for high fuel prices and probable loss of charter revenue.

Southwestern Energy Co. of Houston announced record second-quarter earnings of $136.6 million, up 187 percent from the same period in 2007, most attributed to the Fayetteville Shale.

Murphy Oil of El Dorado says that second-quarter net income was $627.0 million, compared to $250.3 million in the second quarter of 2007.

Acxiom reported first-quarter earnings of about $10.7 million, compared with a loss of about $13.7 million for the same quarter last year.

Gordon Randall Gwathney will face the sentencing phase of his capital murder trail today after being convicted of murdering his mother-in-law and her parents, as well as trying to kill his brother-in-law and a former St. Francis County sheriff’s deputy. A Lee County jury deliberated about 5 hours before convicting Gordon Randall Gwathney on three counts of capital murder.

The Humane Society of the United States said Wednesday a recent Newton County criminal case illustrates the need for stricter animal cruelty laws in Arkansas.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Wednesday Wake Up and Pat Classic

The Wednesday Wake Up is on KARK TV this morning at 6:45. Bill Vickery and I have the winners and losers. It is always hilarious.

My morning updates are on K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with Don 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

Sheriff’s deputies say a 14-month-old girl died in Crittenden County after apparently being left in her mother’s car for three-and-a-half hours. The mother faces charges. The temperature in the car after police arrived as 127 degrees.

Today’s Democrat Gazette reports that UCA President Lu Hardin is the sole author of a memo promoting his much discussed  $300,000 bonus. That memo bears the names of three other university officials who know nothing about it.

The latest count of the state’s homeless population is down, suggesting that thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees have found housing.

A 2,000 acre site in Saline County has already been certified as meeting requirements for a large industrial employer, according to Economic Development officials who made the announcement yesterday.

Senator Steve Faris of Malvern says that agencies not involved in wildlife protection should have a piece of the $29.5 million the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will receive from leasing more than 11,500 acres to a natural gas firm.

A New York jewelry wholesaler was robbed at gunpoint just moments before he was to pay a call at a Cantrell Road jeweler shortly before 1 p.m. today. There was a similar incident in Pine Bluff a few weeks ago.

Defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell was pulled over in Forrest City on June 30, is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday to face charges of improper display of tags, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and simultaneous possession of drugs and a firearm.

Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino announced that wide receiver Marques Wade and linebacker Freddy Burton will each be suspended for the first two games of the season because of their recent arrests for driving while intoxicated.

Siloam Springs Police officers may have subjected more than a thousand people arrested on minor offenses to illegal strip and body cavity searches, according to a federal lawsuit.

A former Lincoln High School senior has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to helping set a teacher’s Volkswagen Beetle on fire.

The Bleacher Report has Houston Nutt as a probably SEC Coach of the Year.

Lonoke police confirmed that an armed robbery suspect was shot and killed by a local officer. The shooting occurred after the armed robbery of an I-40 service station in which a package of cigarettes was taken.

Filed under: Arkansas

Tuesday summary 7/29/08

My morning newscasts are 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 am on twice an hour 6 to 9.

The 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

Tomorrow, it’s Bill Vickery and me on the Wednesday Wake-Up  on KARK TV Channel 4. We will have the winners and losers, so tune in at 6:45.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for central and southern Arkansas, as heat indices of up to 110 degrees were predicted for parts of the state.

The Game and Fish Commission has entered into a five-year lease worth $29.5 million agreement with Chesapeake Energy to explore for natural gas in two wildlife management areas. The agreement covers lands in the Petit Jean River Wildlife Management Area in Yell County and the Gulf Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Van Buren County.

The Director of the Southeast Arkansas Education Service Corporation has resigned after a state audit investigating whether he and others pressured teachers to inflate the grades of students taking college level courses.

Tyson Foods, the world’s largest meat company, says that third-quarter profits plunged 90 percent on the rising cost of grain to feed chicken and that it could take until next year to turn the trend around.

Wes-Pak plans an expansion of its manufacturing facilities in Shreveport and means the closure of the Little Rock operation and the loss of about 30 jobs.

China National Petroleum Corp. could bid on a minority stake in acreage in Arkansas and Pennsylvania owned by Chesapeake Energy.

A new distribution center is on the way to West Memphis. It will employ 50 workers. The center, operated by DSC Logistics, will distribute products made by The J.M. Smucker Co.

North Little Rock Mayor Pat Hays will seek a sixth term, after almost 20 years in office.

Ron Calcagni, whose lengthy career includes stints in high school, college and professional football, has been hired as head coach at Henderson Middle School.

A federal appeals court ruled that allowing Pinky McFarlin, a former Newport alderman, to serve his sentence on a federal drug conviction at home “was not unreasonable,” as he suffers from a variety of medical ailments.

Randy Davis of Independence County is suing Sheriff Keith Bowers and other county employees, alleging they kept him from taking his medication causing him to have a stroke while in jail.

Tennessee officials are tossing around the idea of building a new bridge over the Mississippi River at Memphis, and charging people to drive across it.

Seth Clark of Little Rock is dead after the tree he was cutting down fell on top of him in a Maumelle accident yesterday afternoon. This is the second time in a month a tree has fatally fallen on somebody cutting it in Pulaski County.

Arkansas backup linebacker Freddy Burton has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of drunken-driving and careless driving that were filed after a June traffic stop. Police say he blood alcohol lever was .13%.

A former University of Arkansas Razorback football player who played in the NFL is facing prosecution for stealing credit cards and cash from a woman at a Dickson Street establishment. Bobby Duckworth is also a registered sex offender.

Steve Delph, a Conway Parks and Recreation Department employee, has been charged with theft after allegedly embezzling as much as $5,640 from city sports centers between 2003 and 2007.

The paint mare, Lovey, who received a prosthetic leg Thursday will appear on Good Morning America this week, according to the Humane Society of Pulaski County.

Filed under: Arkansas

Monday summary 7/28/08

My column is in today’s Democrat-Gazette in the Arkansas section on the Voices page. It shows up every Monday, so give me a read! (There is a link on the right hand column)

My morning newscasts are 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.

The 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

Arkansas wide receiver Marques Wade faces a drunken driving charge after authorities said he nearly hit a police officer with his car late Saturday night. The report alleges Wade had bloodshot eyes and denied drinking, but said he had “smoked some marijuana earlier in the day.” Police said a breathalyzer test showed Wade had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11.

Elmer Martin Jr., a former member of the Arkansas team that captured the national basketball championship in 1994 has been convicted of drug charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Former Razorback Felix Jones is now officially a Dallas Cowboy, inking a 5-year $10.5 million deal.

Arkansas now ranks last in the nation for the percentage of adults completing college, moving from 19.7 percent of residents holding bachelor’s degrees to 18.2 percent. That puts Arkansas behind West Virginia.

University of Central Arkansas President Lu Hardin won’t get his much-debated $300,000 bonus until 2010 unless the board of trustees votes otherwise before then.

Motor fuel tax collections that fund the Highway Department are down in the last fiscal year, and way down in the past three months. Spokesman Randy Ort calls it “alarming.”

The Republican Party of Arkansas supports a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to convene annually, the party’s state convention decided Saturday as the party faithful rallied for the Nov. 4 general election.

Gov. Mike Beebe has ended a nearly four-decades-old practice of holding Cabinet meetings, a tradition dating back to former Gov. Dale Bumpers.

A judge says that he’s not inclined to let employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. serve as jurors in a case over whether former Wal-Mart executive Tom Coughlin can collect retirement benefits.

Today’s Democrat-Gazette reports that Little Rock police are looking into the harassing phone calls received by local rock groupie, Connie Hamzy. It is part of a growing trend to prosecute such cases and warning letters have gone out to four El. Dorado residents.

The four juveniles nabbed by Pine Bluff police for stealing five automobiles out of a local dealership may also be implicated in a Conway crime spree the previous week in which two dozen cars were burglarized at a local apartment complex.

Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar will represent Arkansas on National Parents Day. Congress established National Parents Day as the fourth Sunday in July.

Filed under: Arkansas