Friday 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

My column is in Monday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Look for me in the Arkansas section on the Voices page and find out what I think about the ballot issues.

Economic woes easily surpassed other problems as the biggest issue facing Arkansans, according to a University of Arkansas poll. Only one in five people think they are better off financially now than they were a year ago, while 41 percent say their situations are worse,

A Little Rock law firm filed a complaint against former officers and board members of Lehman Brothers Holding Co. in Benton County Circuit Court on Wednesday.  The suit alleges the corporation and its officers at the time failed to disclose the breadth or depth of the company’s exposure to known risks in its 2007 prospectus to investors.

Paul Doane, executive director of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, tells a legislative committee that he will resign after questions concerning his travel expenses.

The state Supreme Court declines to consider whether the state’s Workers Compensation Commission is unconstitutionally stacked against injured workers.

The Arkansas Governor’s Commission on Global Warming approved final revisions to its report containing 54 recommendations for reducing the state’s contributions to climate change. Among other things, the commission recommends new nuclear power plants; a carbon tax program; a consortium to develop renewable energy production facilities and market renewable energy to consumers; and numerous measures to improve energy efficiency.

Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. hopes to soon provide natural gas to customers for their vehicles powered by natural gas. In a filing with the Public Service Commission, the company proposed charging customers $1.90 per gasoline gallon equivalent.

The Game and Fish Commission quietly demoted and reassigned its top two law enforcement officials last month after completing internal investigations. Col. Chris Carpenter, former chief of the Game and Fish Commission’s law-enforcement division, and Maj. Robbie Stout both reverted to the rank of corporal – a drop in two pay grades that cut their salaries by 8 percent – after both men requested reassignment.

Sixteen Arkansas counties qualify for public assistance for damage caused by remnants of Hurricane Ike in September, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

An internal investigation has revealed Arkansas State University mistakenly certified 23 student-athletes as meeting academic certification under NCAA regulations, and there may be a history of similar procedural mistakes that could lead to some sort of punishment by the NCAA.

Anne Presley’s family says she is still in critical condition but signs are stable. The swelling in her brain is beginning to subside. Doctors are encouraged by her progress. Police are reviewing survailence camera footage from a service station at Ninth and I-30 where her credit card was reportedly used.

A parolee named John Wesley Jackson allegedly forced his way in through the back door of a house late Wednesday and fatally shot his ex-girlfriend, a former Pulaski County jail deputy. Her three children were in the house at the time. Police are looking for Jackson.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will soon begin purchasing up to $5 million worth of domestic catfish to be donated to food assistance and school lunch programs, an action local experts think may help increase the number of people who regularly purchase the product.

A 42-year-old man who killed his pregnant passenger and crippled another driver in an October 2007 drunken-driving crash in North Little Rock was sentenced to 20 years in prison for negligent homicide and firstdegree battery.David Ramirez of Little Rock had a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit at the time of the collision when he crashed head-on into a car driven by Vicky Ann Baker of North Little Rock,

Little Rock business executive Frank Whitbeck was sentenced to six years in prison today on his guilty plea to a count of mail fraud in embezzling from  his insurance company.

Central Arkansas Library System board members maintained their opposition to a proposed downtown hotel after hearing from developers about design changes. Curt Bradbury, representing Stephens interests in the downtown Capitol Hotel, expressed his eternal opposition to the new developers.

Central High’s cheerleading controversy made it to the Little Rock school board last night. Parents object to restrictions, administrators say they are trying to curtail bullying. The Democrat-Gazette Paper Trails column has reported a police call to the school after a parental confrontation involving the squad.

Saturday night, it’s Ol’ Miss against Arkansas and Houston Nutt will be the visiting coach.

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