Tuesday Pat Classic

My newscasts are on twice every hour at K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee, Spirit FM with Don Burns at 93.3 and 100.7. AND, 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

The radio show is on at 9, so tune in.

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 the Wednesday Wake Up on KARK TV Channel 4. Join Bill Vickery and I for the week’s winners and losers at around 6:45.

Congress should not return to campaigning until an agreement on a financial market bailout is reached, according to Congressman Mike Ross, who represents the fourth district.  All four of Arkansas’ congressional representatives voted “yes” to the $700 billion package.

Tim Yeager, associate professor of finance in the Sam Walton College of Business says, “the government would be better off purchasing preferred shares of large financial institutions in crisis. If Wall Street lending truly freezes up over the next several days or months, this bill or another one can be passed by Congress to help alleviate the crisis. So at this point, the rejection of the Wall Street bailout bill is a good thing.” Craig Rennie, associate professor of finance in the Walton College, agreed that passage of the bill in its current form would not have been in the country’s best interest.

The United States Attorney General has named a prosecutor to investigate whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, other Bush administration officials or Republicans in Congress should face criminal charges in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys, including Bud Cummins of Arkansas’ Eastern District.

More bad news from Wall Street could help push the state economy overall into recession and make it harder for Arkansans with blemishes on their credit to get loans, Arkansas’ chief economist said Monday. “It’s the wrong direction for recovery,” said John Shelnutt, economist for state Department of Finance and Administration

Gov. Mike Beebe pumped his own gas Monday at a downtown Little Rock gas station during an event promoting biofuel. Beebe was one of about 60 people who filled their tanks with E-85 ethanol, a mix of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, at Go Green Biofuels.

The parents of four girls taken from the Tony Alamo facility in southwest Arkansas waived their right to a hearing on the state’s decision to remove those children, allowing the girls to remain in foster care three more weeks. Alamo will be returned to Arkansas this week

Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel recommends that property owners who reach age 65 or are disabled are entitled to a cap on their taxes even if they fail to apply until later.

Monday, Oct. 6 is the deadline for registering to vote in the Nov. 4 general election.

Hearings continue for two of the men accused of killing three second grade West Memphis boys in 1993. The state Crime Lab director says that, when Damien Echols was arrested, a necklace he was wearing bore traces of blood whose type matched one of the victims, as well as himself and another defendant.

A federal judge has denied Oklahoma’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop 13 Arkansas poultry companies from disposing of bird waste in the Illinois River watershed.

Two El Dorado convenience store operators stand charged in one of the first criminal cases targeting the sale of untaxed tobacco products

The Arkansas Horse Council wants U.S. lawmakers to bring horse slaughterhouses back to the U.S. They were outlawed last year. The council says there are too many horses in Arkansas and many aren’t taken care of properly. They say slaughtering is the humane thing to do.

The Arkansas Board of Parole is recommending that Earnest Murphy, serving life in prison for the 1972 murder of David Hartwick, should be eligible for parole. Murphy recently underwent surgery for cancer.

The Care Foundation of Springdale has donated a half million dollars to help fund development of the northwest satellite campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Baptist Health System will begin managing Stuttgart Regional Medical Center this week

Bobby Petrino says this isn’t time to panic, it’s time to stick to beliefs, stick to fundamentals and building the program, and just keep grinding and working hard. Arkansas lost its last two games to Alabama and Texas by a combined 77 points.

Barbara Burrows of Hughs is safe in Chicago after being kidnapped Saturday morning. The FBI says no arrests have been made.

Pulaski Count¥’s budget committee reports that proposed budget expenses exceed projected revenue by about $1 million.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola is hiring a consultant to help keep the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock. 

Filed under: Uncategorized

Monday Pat Classic

My column is in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette so check me out on the Voices page in the Arkansas section. It is particularly nasty. A bit of Classic Pat.

My newscasts are on twice every 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.

AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

The radio show is on at 9, so tune in.

KSMD 99.1 FM – Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM – Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM – Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM – Heber Springs/Clinton

TODAY at The Little Rock Touchdown Club

* * *

BOB TEBOW

Father of current Florida Gator QB and 2007 Heisman Trophy Winner Tim Tebow

 Bob and his wife Pam were missionaries in the Philippines where Tim was born in 1987. He is the founder of the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association in the Philippines and is a graduate of Western Seminary and of the University of Florida. Like all of their children, Tim Tebow was home schooled by his parents until college, but Tim also played football for a public high school. Last season he became the first sophomore in college football history to win the Heisman Trophy. The Tim Tebow Bill, which allows home schooled children to participate in extracurricular activities in public schools, is currently pending in Alabama. The Razorbacks play the Gators this Saturday in Fayetteville. 

LET’S GIVE BOB A BIG TOUCHDOWN CLUB WELCOME TO LITTLE ROCK!

*********

The Razorback’s loss to Texas and other SEC Games will be reviewed, as well as 

weekend action from other Arkansas colleges 

*********

 Standard TD Club memberships are $50. For priority and guaranteed seating at all of our meetings you can purchase the Fifty Yard Line Membership, for $250, which also includes a picture with each guest speaker. DO NOT RSVP TODAY.

BRING A FRIEND OR CO-WORKER TO JOIN!!! 

*********

Lunch is $15 for members and $25 for non members.  

There is a $10 attendance fee if you are not going to eat, but still want to attend the meeting.

Buffet Lunch 11:00-12:00, Program 12:00-1:00 

Embassy Suites Hotel

***********

For More Information go to LRTouchdown.com

or contact Club Director Kelly Lasseigne at  kellylasseigne@comcast.net

Congressional leaders and the Bush administration said they have reached a tentative agreement on a $700 billion rescue plan for the nation’s financial system.

Arkansas’ delegation in the House split 2-on a bill to pump $61 billion in government spending into the economy. Congressmen Snyder and Ross voted “aye.” Representatives Boozman and Berry were “nays.”

The Senate approved unanimously a bill to force a plan to remove thousands of trailers from the Hope Municipal Airport. Nearly 20,000 mobile homes and travel trailers are parked on airport property, where many have been for three years.

Gov. Beebe added Craighead, Lawrence, Madison, Newton and Saline counties to the list of state disaster declarations for Hurricane Ike.

In the first eight months that charitable bingo gambling was legal in Arkansas, operators purchased about 110 million playing cards, an amount equal to 39 cards for every man, woman and child in the state, the state Department of Finance and Administration says.

The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas warns that you might want to add Cave City to your handy list of speed traps.

A pilot program that has transformed school buses into mobile virtual classrooms in one Arkansas school district is worth expanding across the state, coordinators say. The idea, launched in April 2007 in the Sheridan School District, equips students with laptop computers and iPods and allows them to take online math and science courses while traveling to and from school.

Parkway Bank of Rogers has been ordered to cease and desist “unsafe or unsound banking practices,” by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

A Miller County circuit judge Friday found probable cause to believe two girls taken into custody during a raid on Tony Alamo’s religious compound last week had been abused, and he ordered them to remain in foster care for at least two more weeks. A Federal Grand Jury will convene this week to consider the Alamo case.

Donald Case is facing charges of capitol murder after a Saturday evening shooting at Fifth and Main in North Little Rock. It was murder number seven for North Little Rock this year. The victim’s name has not been released.

Donald Williams of Batesville is under arrest on suspicion of setting fire to a tractor and stealing several other pieces of farm equipment in Independence County.

A Memphis judge dropped 4-year-old homicide charges against two West Memphis police officers accused of killing a passenger in a fleeing vehicle.

Little Rock National Airport is putting more effort into wildlife control after a flock of Starlings collided with a small commercial jet on takeoff last month

The Zoo Master Plan is being revamped with some hope of acquiring Ray Winder Field. Director Stacy Hurst is in charge of the task force.

Little Rock is looking at ways to keep the Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Show from moving to new larger facilities outside of town.

The developer of the Park Avenue shopping center in midtown Little Rock has pushed the opening back about six months, till March 2010.

Customers planning to ride with Little Rock-based Cosmopolitan Tours received letters that the company has shut down, and that they might not get refunds.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Lyncho summary for Friday 9/26

A SPECAIL ALERT for Lyncho fanatics. NEXT WEEK’S Arkansas Times will run a story on my 25^th. Anniversary in Little Rock. Yes, he does pose a loaded question. It is on newsstands NEXT THURSDAY.

Look for my column in Monday’s Democrat-Gazette. It was truly inspired and you may read it on the Voices page in the Arkansas sectin.

My morning headlines 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. AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

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 proposal for a $700 billion federal bailout of financial institutions has hit a roadblock and tonight’s presidential joint press conference in Oxford Mississippi is in doubt.

By an 11-10 vote, the Governor’s Commission on Global Warming recommends that no new coal-fired power plants be built in Arkansas until at least 2020, when new technology could reduce carbon emissions.

Mike Huckabee will debut his Fox News show this weekend.  It will be titled “Huckabee” and will debut at 7 pm on Saturday, Sept. 26. He’s back at 7 on Sunday night too.

Tony Alamo is under arrest in Flagstaff, Arizona. Federal agents took him into custody without incident yesterday afternoon on charges of illegally transporting minors across state lines.

Faulkner County authorities believe many as 15 killings could be under investigation in a case related to discovery of human remains near Jacksonville. Although they are being tight-lipped, the suspected killer is not believed to be at large.

Jason Baldwin, one of three men convicted in the 1993 killings of three West Memphis second-grade boys, unsuccessfully urged his attorneys to allow him to testify during his trial 14 years ago. Baldwin’s hearing for a new trial continues in Jonesboro.

A judge has ordered a measure allowing alcohol sales in Sharp County off of the November ballot. Circuit Judge Phil Smith issued an order saying that signatures gathered by supporters of the measure were invalid.

It looks official now. A 21st century high school will be built on the current site of Fayetteville High School.

The Wall Street Journal reports that activist shareholders of Dillard’s are pushing the Dillard family to relinquish control of the department store chain by selling their Class B shares.

Despite the credit crisis that looms over the U.S. economy, Verizon Wireless’ $28.1 billion deal to purchase Little Rock-based Alltel Corp. remains on schedule.

Shareholders have approved the merger of Delta and Northwest into the country’s largest airline. The final step is federal approval.

Arkansas Times Blog is reporting a number of reports circulating in the local blogosphere concerning the gathering of a thousand RV’snorth of the River. Included in the complaints is a Transit rubber wheel trolley stalled in gravel, and firefighters unhappy about being pressed into water service for the event.

Family members and friends of people buried at Haven of Rest Cemetery want the state’s Cemetery Board to help restore and maintain the 76-year-old graveyard after years of neglect.

Representatives of the Little Rock School District and the Classroom Teachers Association are at an impasse in their negotiations over teacher salary increases and insurance premium payments for this school year.

Arkansas legislators were urged Thursday to fund Garvan Woodland Gardens in the state budget. Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola thinks it might help other cities.

Shawn Fields, on parole for a St. Francis County murder, is now under arrest for a shooting at a Fort Smith bar.

Two teenagers were found delinquent in Saline County juvenile court for participating in the robbery and killing of a 24-year-old Sherwood man in 2007. The pair participated in luring Nicholas Jones to an isolated part of town on Aug. 5, 2007, where he was shot and robbed. The teenagers, who were 14 and 15 at the time, will serve an indefinite sentence in youth facilities and may be sentenced as adults later.

A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by a former Arkansas prison inmate who contracted tuberculosis while incarcerated at the Varner Unit in Lincoln County.

Prosecutors charged Donald Warren Sr., a Pine Bluff attorney serving as special judge, with abuse of office and forgery, accusing him of fraudulently ordering the sheriff to assist in recovering a lawn mower for the judge from a pawnshop. 

Filed under: Uncategorized

Thursday Pat Classic

My morning headlines 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. AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

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

While acknowledging the need to act quickly to aid imperiled financial institutions, Sen. Mark Pryor says lawmakers with a “trust issue” are hesitant to back the Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout plan. Pryor says colleagues were “bulldozed” into approving terrorism- and war-related legislation.

Bingo operators, mostly from veterans groups in the Fort Smith area facing competition from Oklahoma bingo and casinos, demanded that the state stop taxing and regulating the game.

Attorneys for the three Pulaski County school districts and black students on Wednesday tweaked a set of conditions they will offer to the state as the basis for settlement of the 25-year-old school desegregation lawsuit. That is apparently in addition to the settlement entered into in1989.

A legislative committee signed off on the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System’s proposed $725,000-a-year contract with a Chicago firm for general investment, real estate investment and alternative-investment consulting services.

Mississippi Board of Education Chairman William Jones told a panel of Mississippi lawmakers that he is worried that Arkansas is going to leave Mississippi in the dustJones appeared with state Superintendent of Education Hank Bounds to make a pitch for next year’s budget funding.

Arkansas judges are underpaid, putting the bench in danger of attracting inferior legal minds, Arkansas Supreme Court justices told a committee of businessmen, lawyers and bankers

Several insurance underwriters rejected Fort Smith in its effort to obtain litigation coverage because of the city’s recent legal problems, city Purchasing Manager Alie Bahsoon informed city directors.

The Hanesbrands plant in Clarskville, Arkansas escapes another workforce reduction. Hanesbrands will cut back over 8,000 jobs worldwide.

Trading in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride, the nation’s largest chicken producer, was halted late Wednesday after the stock fell 38 percent and saw volume at more than six times its normal level.

A state emergency management spokesman says a worker at the ConAgra Foods Inc. plant in Russellville suffered burns Wednesday after anhydrous ammonia leaked out of an engine room.

The attorney who represented Jason Baldwin, one of the West Memphis Three, in 1993, said he could have called alibi witnesses but they were unreliable.  A hearing to determine whether Baldwin gets a new trial continues today.

The federal judge who initially sent Damien Echols’ appeal back to state courts has recused from the case. In a one-sentence order filed Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge William R. Wilson Jr. said that “some of the principals in this case are long-time acquaintances and friends of mine.”

A Benton truck driver who smoked crack cocaine before a crash that killed five people in Arkansas is headed to prison for 35 years. Fifty eight-year-old Roy Lee Jordan pleaded guilty to five counts of negligent homicide stemming from the July 2007 accident.

Jacksonville police and the Pulaski County sheriff’s office searched separate sites Wednesday for two bodies after a man reportedly told Faulkner County authorities that he killed two women, and then led investigators to where he said he left the remains. Jacksonville police found decomposed remains, so far Pulaski County has come up empty.

An El Dorado prosecutor says he won’t file charges against a pregnant woman who shot and killed her husband in July. He calls it self-defense.

The state Court of Appeals overturned the homicide conviction of a Maumelle woman whose 2-month-old son died after she left him home alone and went out to party at a nightclub. The court ordered a new trial for LaKeela Webb, ruling that Maumelle police improperly entered her home and removed evidence without a search warrant.

A circuit judge made a mistake when she terminated the parental rights of a Drew County woman primarily because the woman moved several times, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

A small earthquake was detected Wednesday morning about 10 miles west of Heber Springs. The magnitude 2.5 quake was at about 9:30 a.m. near the southern borders of Cleburne and Van Buren counties and the northern border of Faulkner County.

Six White County retailers have been cited for selling cigarettes to minors. tate law says no one under 18 can buy tobacco products, and no one over 18 can buy them for or give them to minors.

The Shoppes at Shiloh Creek, an upscale shopping center will open late next year on 68 acres at the northwest corner of Interstate 40 and Weir Road, in Russellville.

Bikes, Blues and Barbeque kicked off  in Fayetteville. There must be a thousand motor homes parked on the Arkansas River at North Little Rock. Depot Days Saturday in Newport. There’s the Wing Ding Festival in Jacksonville.  It’s Cottin Pickin’ festival at Caldwell.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Wednesday Wake Up and summary

The Wednesday Wake Up is on this morning at around 6:45 on KARK TV Channel 4. Bill Vickery and I will have the week’s winners and losers.

My morning headlines 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. AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

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

Advance America, Cash Advance Centers of Arkansas will cease its business operations in Arkansas no later than October 31, 2008.  Advance America has been the largest provider of payday loans in Arkansas for the last several years. The company cited losses this year of $900,000.

Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s response to a legal challenge of his ballot proposal for a state-run lottery for college scholarships has stirred debate over another thorny gambling issue in Arkansas: Whether the state constitution bans casino gambling. In a court filing Monday, Halter’s Hope for Arkansas campaign advanced the argument that the constitution bans lotteries, not casinos, calling the argument by lottery opponents that the lieutenant governor’s proposed constitutional amendment would open the door to casinos a “red herring.”

The proposed $700 billion bank bailout under consideration by Congress lacks federal oversight and leaves too much on the table for banking executives, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said Tuesday. Lincoln, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a letter to colleagues on the panel that draft legislation did not include enough oversight and accountability, and she criticized executive compensation provided in the plans.

Seven girls removed from the Tony Alamo facility at Fouke remain in DHS custody today. Authorities are investigating allegations of physical and sexual abuse of children and the transportation of minors across state lines for criminal activity.

State education officials say they will talk with nine school districts whose voters recently rejected millage increases this month to discuss how the votes will affect state funding for mandatory school-building improvements.

If a legislative task force has its way, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and other “alcopops” will be pulled off grocery and convenience store shelves as part of an effort to curb underage drinking.

A lawyer for a Mount Ida man is scheduled to argue Thursday before Arkansas’ highest court that a circuit judge should not have dismissed his lawsuit alleging the University of Arkansas chancellor failed to thoroughly investigate a Nutt supporter’s profanity-laced e-mail in December 2006 to Mustain, the highly touted quarterback from Springdale who later left the UA program.

Today’s Democrat-Gazette reports none of the state-issued vehicles used by Arkansas’ executive branch officials gets more than 25 miles per gallon in highway driving. Auditor Jim Wood, pilots a 2007 Lincoln Town Car, earning the distinction of having the most fuel-efficient vehicle used by these officials. The Town Car’s estimated miles per gallon are 17 city and 25 highway.

Voters in Sharp County may yet get to vote on the wet-dry issue this November after a contentious court hearing. The petition form was found to be legal, but challenges to the signatures are next.

A hostage situation south of Vilonia ended without injuries. Cody Babcock is under arrest after the daylong standoff. A 4-year-old child was released to the custody of relatives.

One of the three men convicted in the 1993 killing of three West Memphis boys will appear today in Craighead County Circuit Court. Jason Baldwin will attend a hearing focused on whether he received adequate legal representation during his 1994 trial in Jonesboro.

Jeff Rosenzweig and Bill James of Little Rock have been appointed to represent Gary Dunn who is accused in the murder of Nona Dirkesmeyer.

Accused murder Heath Banks of Paragould has filed a federal lawsuit contending that authorities in the Green County jail eavesdrop on privileged conversations with his lawyer. Banks also claims to have been kept in solitary for months and to have witnessed a wheelchair bound prisoner being waterboarded.

Arkansas State Troopers arrested a Lincoln County man who reportedly left the scene of a fatal accident on U.S. 425 Saturday night. $50,000 bond is set for Ricky King who is charged with with negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and death. King is accused of driving a vehicle that struck Robert Lee Moore,of Pine Bluff, who was riding or pushing a bicycle.

Frank G. Wallace, once president of the former First State Bank of Parkin, will serve three years’ probation and is ordered to repay the bank $64,443 for falsifying records to hide delinquent loans from bank examiners.

The Little Rock School District is willing to see an end to millions of dollars a year in state desegregation funding — but only after receiving maximum funding for seven years before the cutoff.

Pulaski County Quorum Court appropriating $150,000 to repair the roof covering two pods in the 30-year-old jail.

Chesapeake Energy will reduce its drilling capital expenditure budget during the second half of 2008 through year-end 2010 by approximately $3.2 billion, or 17%.About $800 million of that will be in Arkansas.

Pilgrim’s Pride says another 100 positions will be cut at its El Dorado operation, in addition to the 600 already eliminated.

The highest court in Massachusetts has reinstated a 2001 lawsuit against Wal-Mart by employees who claim the world’s largest retailer pressured them to work off the clock and denied them rest and meal breaks.

Derrick Graham of Nashville tied the state record with nine TDs on Friday night. Graham gave Nashville a 58-35 win over Liberty-Eylau of Texas and became The Associated Press Arkansas High School Player of the Week.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Tuesday Pat Classic summary

Thanks for your MANY kind notes of congratulations on 25 years in Arkansas noted in yesterday’s Democrat-Gazette column. I can not tell you how it made me feel,

My newscasts are on twice every hour at K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee, Spirit FM with Don Burns at 93.3 and 100.7. AND, 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

The radio show is on at 9, so tune in.

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 the Wednesday Wake Up on KARK TV Channel 4. Join Bill Vickery and I for the week’s winners and losers at around 6:45.

University of Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long endorsees head football coach Bobby Petrino, predicts a fundraising drive to pay for an expansion of the Broyles Center, understands why its not a good idea for Arkansas to play ASU, truly appreciates the importance of games in Little Rock, foresees tighter security at sports events, and says improving the graduation rate of student-athletes is his number one objective.

The six girls removed from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries complex in southwestern Arkansas were taken into custody because they were in immediate danger. Department of Human Services spokesman Julie Munsell says nine girls were interviewed at the compound because of allegations of sexual abuse, but the six removed because of the safety concerns. Authoriites are looking for the girl’s parents.

The former superintendent of Riverview Gardens School District in suburban St. Louis, who was at one time superintendent of Little Rock public schools, pleaded no contest to charges that he spent tens of thousands of dollars in district money without permission. Henry Williams also pleaded no contest to three counts of evading Missouri income taxes and he could serve up to 37 years.

One thousand new employees have been added to the state payroll in the last year.

Gov. Mike Beebe has declared 16 counties disaster areas due to damage caused by Hurricane Ike. Beebe’s declaration applies to the following counties: Carroll, Clay, Cleburne, Garland, Greene, Hempstead, Howard, Izard, Jackson, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Randolph, Sharp and Van Buren counties.

The committee promoting a proposed constitutional amendment to authorize lotteries asked the state Supreme Court on Monday for permission to intervene in a conservative group’s lawsuit aimed at blocking a Nov. 4 vote on the amendment.

Lt. Gov. Bill Halter heads to China this week to represent the state at a summit of business, government and media leaders.

Educators will be asking the next legislative session for more money to pay for teacher’s health insurance and for internet classes on school buses. A recent survey of 36 states ranked Arkansas No. 1 in the percentage of teachers’ pay taken up by out-of-pocket health insurance costs.

With a parent’s or guardian’s permission, 16-year-olds would be allowed to donate blood in Arkansas, if the Legislature enacts a proposal that Rep. Johnny Key told two legislative committees he plans to introduce in the 2009 legislative session.

A state prisoner accused of shooting two people while on a weekend furlough has been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A man accused of killing an Arkansas beauty queen in 2005 has pleaded not guilty to a capital murder charge. Gary William Dunn is accused of bludgeoning Nona Dirksmeyer with a floor lamp and slitting her throat.

Four Benton men face murder charges after a man they are accused of beating in a robbery setup died from his injuries. Darick Kellemsof Benton from extensive head injuries he suffered in an ambush at an abandoned house Sept. 4.

An Asher Avenue service station experienced the theft of 1500 gallons of gasoline after thieves used a stolen key to open and reprogram a pump allowing people to take as much as they want. Police say there were 15 cars lined up when they arrived. Two are facing charges. Value of the gasoline, about $6,000.

The Little Rock Police Department is investigating circumstances surrounding the arrest of officer Russell Littleton on charges of Driving Under the Influence by Bryant authorities. Reports say Littleton requested “professional courtesy.”

Little Rock Police are close to concluding the investigation of Timothy Dale Johnson who died while being apprehended for the murder of Democratic State Party Chairman Bill  Gwatney. Toxicology results on Johnson’s  body and the results of an analysis of his computer have yet to be completed.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Monday SILVER ANNIVERSARY Pat Classic

This month marks 25 SILVER years for me in Arkansas. I could never let such an auspicious occasion pass without comment. My column is in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette so check me out on the Voices page in the Arkansas section.

My newscasts are on twice every 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.

AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

The radio show is on at 9, so tune in.

 

KSMD 99.1 FM – Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM – Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM – Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM – Heber Springs/Clinton

Tomorrow at MONDAY’s  meeting of

 The Little Rock Touchdown Club

* * *

University of Arkansas Athletic Director

JEFF LONG 

*********

 Standard TD Club memberships are $50. For priority and guaranteed seating at all of our meetings you can purchase the Fifty Yard Line Membership, for $250, which also includes a picture with each guest speaker .  

*********

Lunch is $15 for members and $25 for non members.  

There is a $10 attendance fee if you are not going to eat, but still want to attend the meeting.

Buffet Lunch 11:00-12:00, Program 12:00-1:00 Embassy Suites Hotel

***********

For more Information and a list of this year’s speakers go to LRTouchdown.com 

The Arkansas Family Council, opposing a state-run lottery, is asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to throw the proposal off this fall’s ballot.  The Council argues that the proposed constitutional amendment’s title and name should be found “inaccurate, incomplete and misleading” because they don’t define lotteries and doesn’t warn voters of potential consequences of authorizing a state-run lottery.       

Federal officials are interviewing six children after a raid on the Tony Alamo Church and neighboring homes near Texarkana at Fouke  Saturday night. They are investigating what officials said were reports of child pornography.    

A state prisoner on a weekend furlough is being sought after two people were found shot and wounded at the home near Nashville were he was supposed to be staying. Craig Beavers Jr. was assigned to the prison system’s Pine Bluff Unit, where he was a work-release inmate, which comes with the privilege of one weekend pass per month.

First-grade students in Arkansas public schools are retaking standardized tests they took last spring because of a mistake by the test publisher,                        

State officials say Arkansas’ unemployment rate rose three-tenths of a percentage point in August to 4.8 percent.                                                 

The University of Arkansas trustees have approved a $28 million plan for a building devoted to the study of nanotechnology — substances so small they exist on a nearly atomic level.

Arkansas faces a growing shortage of dentists as it fails to attract enough young dentists to replace those retiring, according to a new report recommending creation of the state’s first dental school.

The Legislative Council approved an interim study request by Rep. Johnny Hoyt of Morrilton, to consider whether privatizing state prisons would save the state money and help reduce chronic overcrowding.

A task force preparing to present plan to implement a statewide system of trauma centers to the Legislature next year suffered a setback when the Legislative Council declined to approve a $100,000 contract for a medical advisor.

The Arkansas Supreme Court says an insurance company can deny payment of medical expenses and disability income benefits in accidents caused while the insured driver is eluding arrest.

Supporters of changing Clark County from dry to wet have the required 38 percent of the county’s registered voters’ signatures. Clark County Clerk Rhonda Cole said 6,160 signatures were obtained, but only 4,140 were needed. Cole said Tuesday that 4,168 signatures had been certified.

Little Rock tax attorney Barry Jewell stands convicted of tax evasion in U.S. District Court. The jury also found Jewell not guilt of conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

There is a job fair today for former convicts. The Offender Job Fair will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the Adult Leisure Center at 6401 W. 12th St. in Little Rock.

The Family Motor Coach Association’s south-central regional rally is drawing more than 1,000 motor coaches to North Little Rock’s riverfront and filling up both sides of the wall that runs along the Arkansas River downtown.

Alabama 49, Arkansas 14

ASU 31 – Middle Tennessee 14

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Friday Pat Classic summary

My newscasts are on twice every 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.

 

AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

The radio show is on at 9, so tune in.

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 in Monday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in the Arkansas section on the Voices page!

Game and Fish Commission officials say the federal government has agreed in concept that money from the lease of state lands to a natural gas firm can be shared with other agencies for environmental protections.

Arkansans personal income is up 2.7%in the second quarter. Those economic stimulus checks are the reason.

State Senator Kim Hendren of Gravette wants clarity from the attorney general regarding state law as some property owners’ taxes are rising while home prices and values decline

A legislative panel got a look at two draft bills that would make mini-trucks legal to operate on state roads and highways.

Natural gas customers will get stuck with higher heating bills this winter, but increases may not be as sharp as originally expected, according to the state Public Service Commission.

President Bush declared a major disaster exists in the state of Arkansas and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding associated with Hurricane Gustav. Plans are in the works for the same on Hurricane Ike

Service station owners subpoenaed by the Attorney General are responding and some say they did not raise prices until they were sold gas at over $4 a gallon wholesale.

Hurricane Ike caused substantial property damage to Dillard’s Department Stores. The store in Texas City is permanently closed

Wal-Mart and Dillard’s are pressing lawmakers to give consumers an annual sales tax holiday. A three-day holiday would cost $5 million in sales tax revenue.

The Bentonville Waltons dominate Forbes annual list of the richest Americans. Jim, Rob Alice and Christy are four, five, six, and seven. Each has about $23 billion in assets.

The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism is narrowing its advertising focus to specific destinations instead of the state as a whole. People who have never visited the state have an unfavorable impression of it, according to a marketing study.

The state Plant Board voted unanimously to revise the process by which pest-control companies can waive compliance with Arkansas’ minimum standards for the termite treatment of buildings.

Tyson Foods of Springdale is buying three poultry companies in Brazil.

ABC’s Good Morning America program will be broadcasting live from Helena on Thursday, Sept. 25.

Bipartisan legislation was introduced in the Senate Wednesday to keep the Delta Queen operating on the Mississippi River

The city of Little Rock forwarded a proposal to the William J. Clinton Foundation on that would have the foundation commit to a timeline for the renovation of the Rock Island Bridge into a second pedestrian walkway connecting Little Rock and North Little Rock.

A key prosecution witness in the capital-murder trial of Kevin Lawrence Banks denounced Little Rock police, claiming investigators bullied him into incriminating Banks in the December slaying of 6-year-old Kamya Weathersby.

A fourth-grade teacher at Coleman Intermediate School in Pine Bluff is accused of abusing five or more girls. Robert Michael Gatlin of Rison was arrested on charges of felony sexual assault and was booked into the Jefferson County jail.

The National Organization for Black Law Enforcement Executives has selected Little Rock as the host city for its 2012 National Conference. That means 2000 visitors and a $2 million boost.

The Hogs play ‘bama at Reynolds Razorback Stadium Saturday and Athletic Director Jeff Long is the speaker at the Little Rock Touchdown Club Monday.

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Thursday Pat Classic summary 9/18/09

My newscasts are on twice every 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.

AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

The radio show is on at 9, so tune in.

KSMD 99.1 FM – Searcy/Batesville

KWCK 1300 AM – Searcy

KAPZ 710 AM – Bald Knob/Augusta

KAWW 1370 AM – Heber Springs/Clinton

The state Department of Human Services is conducting a comprehensive review of Arkansas’ foster care program in the wake of high-profile cases involving the deaths and sexual abuse of children in the system as part of a legislative hearing in Conway. Governor Beebe says it’s his top priority.

The Farm Bureau has announced its position on state ballot issues. No to lottery. Yes to prohibiting unmarried couples from giving foster and adoptive homes. Yes to more water bonds for farmers. No to removing archaic language from the Constitution describing people with mental illnesses. No to annual sessions of the legislature.

Rep. Jon Woods of Springdale plans to offer legislation in the 2009 session to restore the primary to its original May date, primarily, he says, for the sake of cost savings. That is in response to the recent February voting.

Game and Fish Commission is putting together an impressive wish list based on projected revenues from natural gas proceeds on wildlife land. Among notable items is reportedly the purchase of 800 acres on the Little Maumelle Creek.

The Arkansas State Medical Board wants to impose more regulations on physicians and nurse practitioners who work together.

An economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis says the Arkansas economy shows amazing resiliency . It’s especially because of diversity.

A Fayetteville attorney filed a federal lawsuit against the Fayetteville School District alleging district personnel failed to protect a student from physical and online harassment and beatings.

The Pulaski County School District is out of compliance with the school desegregation plan and probably not in a position to be released from federal court supervision, according to federal monitors.

A jury of eight women and four men will continue deliberations today in the case of Little Rock tax lawyer Barry Jewell after the prosecution and defense sparred in closing arguments.

Scott Miller is withdrawing from the race for NLR alderman, Ward 2.

The Peabody Little Rock will fill the hotel’s conference hall with two conventions this weekend. National groups representing editorial writers and the owners of mineral rights will visit Little Rock for their 2008 conventions.

A rocket motor exploded and caused a fire at a weapons factory in East Camden. One employee is confirmed dead.

A Craighead County is facing charges on suspicion of bank robbery — only one month after he was acquitted of robbing the same bank. Oscar Reynolds of Jonesboro also was scheduled to appear in Craighead County Circuit Court on Tuesday to answer to charges of aggravated assault and aggravated robbery in the beating of an elderly Jonesboro woman inside the downtown post office last fall. 

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Wednesday Wake Up on Channel 4 and Pat Classic

The Wednesday Wake Up is on this morning at around 6:45 on KARK TV Channel 4. Bill Vickery and I will have the week’s winners and losers.

My morning headlines 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. AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhous

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

Electric outages from weekend storms are down to almost 9,000 among Entergy Arkansas customers. Department of Emergency Management says Texans who fled to Arkansas to escape Ike may be eligible for assistance to cover hotel costs.

Right now the Public Service Commission is considering a request from Entergy to add an additional charge. It would recover storm costs that go above the amount already included in rates.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issues subpoenas to thirty gas stations that raised their prices during Hurricane Ike. He’s investigating allegations of price gouging. Those stations were turned in by their own customers.

Arkansas’ insurance commissioner is standing by her determination that three insurers that paid Arkansas Surgical Hospital less than they paid other hospitals for the same services didn’t violate the state’s “any willing provider” law.

Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman says Arkansans who have an AIG insurance policy need not fear that the company won’t be able to pay claims.

The group opposing an effort to ban unmarried couples from being foster and adoptive parents won’t sue to keep the proposed ban off the Nov. 4 ballot.

More repair work will get under way on the roof of the state Capitol. Total cost of the project is $550,000.

Stephens Media Group columnist Harry King does some math in today’s column and foresees a $10 surcharge on tickets for the Razorbacks at War Memorial. That is how the University might make up the difference between Little Rock and Fayettevillle.

The former U.S. senator and Arkansas governor was honored at a reception and book signing, sponsored by the Political Animals Club and visited by James Carville. The veteran statesman’s autobiography, “A Pryor Commitment,” was released this week as he prepares to take on his new role as chairman of the state Democratic Party.

Officials have begun work on a database of child-care centers located near emergency shelters and are revising licensing standards to require centers to notify parents of shelters available nearb

Little Rock’s Board of Directors established a public facilities board specifically for Heifer International and passed a resolution allowing the 64-year-old hunger-relief organization to issue up to $20 million in revenue bonds to complete the next phase of building its headquarters

China has agreed to partially lift a ban on poultry exports from several U.S. states. The bad news is that the bad is still in effect for Virginia and Arkansas.

Newcomer Jody Carreiro was elected to the Little Rock School Board, and veteran School Board member Katherine Mitchell was re-elected

Ruth Linn of Wooster Elementary School in Greenbrier has been awarded the 2008 Distinguished Teacher in General Education Award for her work as a general education teacher working with children with special needs.

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