Friday Pat Classic

My vibrant and entertaining 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.

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

Remember, my column is in Monday’s Democrat-Gazette in the Arkansas section on the Voices page.

An ozone action advisory is in effect today for Pulaski, Faulkner, Lonoke and Saline counties, according to Metroplan,. The forecast for today is “orange,” which means that outdoor activities could be unhealthy for those sensitive to ozone, namely children, the elderly and those with respiratory ailments.

Congress sent to the president a far-reaching toy safety bill, marking Sen. Mark Pryor’s most significant legislative accomplishment to date. Pryor is lead sponsor of the bill to crack down on unsafe imports from China and beef up the Consumer Product Safety Commissin.

The lead on today’s Democrat-Gazette reports Arkansas State University President Les Wyatt is the highest paid person in higher ed, except the coaches of course. Wyatt’s annual compensation comes up to $540,000.

Central Arkansas law enforcement officers are investigating an early morning carjacking that involved an assault on a female driver.

Environmentalists, including the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, and the Audubon Society are raising questions about a Game and Fish Commission lease for oil drilling in wildlife management areas.

Gov. Mike Beebe says that his office was not involved in the negotiations to lease more than 11,500 acres of public wildlife area to a natural gas firm and that he knew little about the deal until weeks before it was approved.

It’s only on paper,  but Chesapeake Energy posted a net loss of $1.649 billion for the second quarter of 2008. The natural gas driller also reported negative revenue of $455 million. The loss was caused by an after-tax loss of $2.085 billion resulting from hedges on natural gas, oil and interest rate futures.

The state Board of Education has voted unanimously to take over the Decatur School District. State officials froze all accounts at the school district after they discovered that the district hasn’t paid federal taxes, including Social Security taxes.

Prosecutors charged three former Hermitage school district employees with felonies and accused them of violating state ethics laws and misspending district funds on construction projects.

A year after a fatal Minneapolis bridge collapse prompted inspections of Arkansas’ spans, nearly 1,000 bridges in the state are still structurally deficient, highway officials say. (I know they said something different yesterday.)

Gordon Randall Gwathney will serve life without parole for the killings of three family members.

Arkansas defensive tackle Ernest Mitchell paid a $150 fine on Thursday to settle charges stemming from a traffic stop in Forrest City late last month.

The 6-year-old daughter of a police officer accidentally shot herself with a handgun from the Fort Smith Police Department. The injuries are not life threatening.

Jonesboro Police here arrested a Lawrence County man who allegedly impersonated an officer and flashed an officer’s badge in order to force sex with at least one victim.

James A. Smith, a Fort Smith insurance agent who pleaded no contest to a charge of abusing client who was a nursing home resident and misappropriating his estate, must pay $200,000 in two weeks or face up to 20 years in prison.

Filed under: Uncategorized