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Red River Football Camp to Begin
Tuesday, July 8th
The 18th
annual Red River Football camp will get underway on Tuesday July, 8th
of this week, and go thru Thursday, July 10th. Coach
Eddie Jackson, formerly of Nashville and Prescott, says the camp,
which used to be called the Southwest Arkansas camp, will focus on
education for all football positions. “I know a lot of football
camps are specialty-types, for quarterbacks, receivers or offensive
line,” Jackson said. “But we try to cover all the bases. ”Coach
Jackson went on to say that they decided to change the name of the
camp, when more Texas schools became involved. Prescott High School
coach Greg Smith and Mineral Springs coach, Gary Segrest are slated
to be at the camp, along with other coaches from the southwest
Arkansas area. Registration is currently underway. For more
information, contact Jackson at 902-831-7454, or 903-547-2262.
SWEPCO Applies to Build Line From
Planned Plant
Southwestern Electric Power Company has applied for a
permit to build a 29-mile electric transmission line between a
planned 1.5 billion dollar coal-fired generation plant in Hempstead
County and an electric substation near Texarkana. SWEPCO wants to
build the 342-kilovolt line to a site in Bowie County, Texas. The
line could cost as much as 30.8 million dollars. The line would run
from Leary, Texas, through Miller, Little River and Hempstead
Counties in Arkansas. That’s according to a filing SWEPCO made with
the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Hempstead County Hunting
Club attorney Chuck Nestrud opposes the transmission line and
believes it should have been part of the original application for
the 600-megawatt power plant. SWEPCO serves 112,000 Arkansas
customers and 340,000 customers in Louisiana and Texas. SWEPCO is
awaiting Arkansas approval of an air-quality permit and has begun
site work on about 3,000 acres of land in Hempstead County.
Police Respond to Call, Go on Manhunt
in Woods
Details are still sketchy concerning a call Tuesday afternoon that
sent Hempstead County Deputies scurrying into the woods armed with
assault rifles and shotguns. A little after 2:00 pm, a resident in
the 2900 block of West 16th Street in Hope, reported that
an unknown male subject beat on her door claiming that someone had
been shot. The caller told police that the man appeared to be very
frantic and said “Someone shot Dad, and now they’re after me”. The
subject then fled into the nearby woods. Deputies responded and
after determining that no one had been shot, began their search for
the individual, described as a black male in his 40’s, approximately
5’7”, wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt and missing several of his front
teeth. Deputies later located the suspect and took him into custody
without incident on the grounds of the Memory Gardens Cemetery.
Further information, including the suspect’s name, has yet to be
released by the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Department.
Hope City Board of Directors Select Hostetler Roofing
to Repair Public Works Building
A
bid of just over $40,000 has been accepted for re-roofing the city’s
public works building, located on Highway 67 west in Hope. The
action was taken in this week’s meeting of the Hope City BoardCity
manager, Catherine Cook says the board submitted a bid request for
the roofing job on Thursday, June 26th. The board made
the decision to go with Hostetler Roofing, out of Ozan, after
narrowing the field down to four main options. Cook says the
selected package will offer a high-crown, synthetic, rubber roof
with one-inch insulation underneath. Similar construction can be
seen, at the Hempstead County Airport.
Arkansas State
Police Graduation Ceremony
This Thursday afternoon, forty Arkansas State Police Recruits are
scheduled to graduate in ceremonies at the Arkansas State Capitol.
According to Public Information Officer Bill Sadler, recruits
assigned to the 2008-A class began their training on February 10th
this year and have completed 21 weeks of course studies and
practical training exercises. The class is comprised of 20 recruits
who had minimal or no law enforcement experience at the time they
were hired. The 2008-B class is comprised of 20 recruits who have
completed 12 weeks of an accelerated set of courses and practical
training exercises. The “B” class recruits were state certified law
enforcement officers at the time they were hired by the Arkansas
State Police. Both classes will be sworn-in as Arkansas State
Troopers assigned to the department’s Highway Patrol Division.
Undercover Drug
Busts in Nashville
Undercover drug operations conducted by the Nashville Police
Department land two behind bars. Police say 42-year-old Xavier Davis
and 26-year-old Stephanie Rhodes, both of Nashville, are facing
charges connected with the delivery of a controlled substance. Davis
is facing one felony count of cocaine delivery while Rhodes is
charged with two counts of the delivery of marijuana.
Former Hempstead County Prosecuting
Attorney Dies in Car Wreck
A
former Prosecuting Attorney and Hope Attorney died in a one vehicle
accident in Louisiana. Louisiana State Police identified the victim
of the crash as 42 year-old John Gilbert Burke. According to police
reports the accident occurred on Louisiana Highway 139 about a half
mile from the Morehouse Parish Line in Ouachita Parish. Police said
Burke’s car was traveling north when it ran off the right side of
the road in a curve. Burke apparently overcorrected, crossed back
over the road, ran off the left side of the highway, entered a ditch
and struck a tree. Police said Burke was wearing a seat belt and
alcohol use is not suspected in the crash.
New Study Shows
Many Teens get Alcohol from Adults
It's
estimated that more than 10 and a-half million teenagers in the U.S.
drink. And a new survey of underage drinkers finds that many of them
are getting booze from adults, including their parents. Acting
Surgeon General Steven Galson says too many parents are serving as
enablers. Just over half of the 158,000 teens surveyed from 2002 to
2006 had consumed alcohol, and 40 percent of those who admitted to
drinking say an adult they know hooked them up for free. the most
common place for teens to drink is someone else's house, though
plenty admit to having last had a drink under their own roof. And
the survey suggests that while girls start drinking before boys,
eventually the boys catch up and surpass them as they near the legal
drinking age. About one in five admitted binge drinking: that's five
or more drinks at a time.
New Boston Man Found Dead
A
22-year-old New Boston man was killed Saturday morning when the car
he was driving went off U.S. Highway 82 in Miller County and crashed
into a creek. The crash was discovered about 7:17 a.m. Saturday near
the 13-mile marker. Arkansas State Trooper John Talley says Timothy
Demonn Dorsey was traveling at a high rate of speed in a 1996 Lexus
when he left the pavement and went airborne across the McKinney
Bayou. Talley says Dorsey’s vehicle struck the west bank on it’s
roof then slid back into the water. Dorsey was pronounced dead at
the scene by Miller County Coroner Eddie Hawkins. The exact time the
accident occurred is not known.
Three Charged
with Commercial Burglary at Hope's Fair Park
An apparent
sweet tooth lands a Fulton man and two Hope juveniles behind bars
facing Commercial Burglary charges. While conducting a routine
patrol through Hope’s Fair Park Wednesday night, Officer Andrew
Watson noticed a suspicious vehicle parked next to the public pool.
Further investigation led Officer Watson to discover that someone
had forced their way into the pool’s concession stand. Inside,
Watson made contact with 31-year-old Akin Williams along with two
juveniles, ages 16 and 17, who had emptied a cooler belonging to the
park and filled it with about $400 worth of candy and soft drinks.
Police report that the subjects caused approximately $600 worth of
damage to the steel bars and door of the concession stand in order
to gain access. All three were taken into custody and later turned
over to the Hempstead County Detention Facility.
Log-A-Load in Prescott Collects Over
$100,000 for Charity
This past weekend,
the Prescott/Nevada County Fairgrounds was the site of the city’s
annual Log-a-Load fund raising event. Proceeds from the kids games,
meal and auction all go to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in
Little Rock. Bobby Smith of Prescott, said the event collected over
$100,000 for the charity. “Log-a-Load was very successful.” Smith
said. “Those who did show up, spent money very well. All in all, I
thought it was a great success.” Smith went on to thank everyone who
helped with this year’s eve3nt, including a member of the Arkansas
Children’s Hospital staff, and Doug Farr, who was this year’s
auctioneer.
Call to Hope Police Turns Out to be
Hoax
An
anonymous call made to the Hope Star Tuesday afternoon led to every
available Hope Police officer being directed to check the roof of a
local bank for an armed suspect. Two calls were received at the
newspaper’s front office, seeking more information concerning a
unknown subject with a gun running on the roof top of the First
National Bank’s main branch in downtown Hope. Approximately thirty
minutes later, an employee of the Hope Star contacted the police and
relayed the information they had received. Dispatch officers
perceived the threat to be real and placed the call for all police
personnel to respond. Hope Police Chief J. R. Wilson and Detective
Jesus Coronado were among the first to arrive, donned their bullet
proof vests and made entry into the three story building while other
officers watched from the ground below. After a thorough search of
the bank, including the roof and attic, police determined the call
to be a hoax. Officers continued to check with all other banks in
the city just to be certain the situation was not at another
location. According the one law enforcement officer on the scene,
they take all these types of calls as if they are real because he
said “You just never know”. Hope Police continue to investigate the
source of the original calls.
Texas staff recommends thumbs down
for Arkansas coal-fired plant
FULTON, Ark. (AP) - The staff for Texas utility regulators has
recommended a thumbs-down on a request from builders of a proposed
$1.5 billion coal-fired power plant in Arkansas to pass along costs
of the project to Texas customers. For a second time, the staff of
the Public Utility Commission of Texas made its recommendation
Friday in a filing against Southwestern Electric Power Co.'s project
near Fulton. And, for a second time, the three-member commission is
to consider the recommendation regarding the John W. Turk Jr. power
plant on July 3rd. Keith Honey, manager of external affairs for
Shreveport, La.-based SWEPCO, told the Longview (Texas) News-Journal
he was hopeful the commission would side with the company. Honey
said SWEPCO wants Texas ratepayers to pay about 500 million dollars
for the plant. Company officials estimate Texas' share would cost
electric customers in that state about 59 million dollars a year
once the plant goes into operation. SWEPCO serves 112,000 Arkansas
customers and 340,000 customers in Louisiana and Texas.
Federal Lawsuit Scheduled for June 30
After a
three and a one-half year wait, the federal lawsuit filed over the
death of a young black man in police custody in Nashville will go
before a judge next week. On June 30th, Judge Harry
Barnes is expected to convene a court in a federal district
courtroom in Texarkana in the case of Carla G. Hill vs. the city of
Nashville, Howard County, Police Chief Larry Yates, Sheriff Butch
Morris, a deputy and a city patrolman, the jailer and eight “John
Does.” The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It was filed exactly
one year after 29 year-old Larry “Nicky” Hill, of Nashville died in
police custody. Carla Hill is his widow. Hill was stopped on
suspicion of drunken driving, but he fled, first i9n his Corvette
and then on foot. Officers subdued him with mace and took him to the
jail where he collapsed and died. A week after the lawsuit was
filed, the U.S. Justice Department sent a letter clearing the local
law enforcement agencies of any wrongdoing. The death was
investigated by the state police, the justice department and the
FBI.
Hardin says board should say more
about raise
CONWAY, Ark. (AP) - University of Central Arkansas President Lu
Hardin says his school's trustees should better explain votes they
take on salary matters, after they approved a promised $300,000 pay
package. Trustees approved the sped-up package two months ago,
giving Hardin an additional $60,000 a year for five years on top of
his $253,000 annual salary. However, meeting minutes and notes did
not reflect the package, only that the board voted on a series of
personnel decisions in a single block vote. Hardin said yesterday
that he very likely might ask trustees to vote again on the pay
package during an upcoming public meeting. However, the former state
senator who worked on Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act laws
while in the Legislature said the vote previously taken was valid
and it was a ancillary matter. He said that it wasn't handled
perfectly, but there wasn't a clandestine motive. The Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette reported yesterday that trustees approved the pay
package at a May 2nd meeting and likely violated state law, as the
panel did not note it was voting on the pay plan among the other
personnel items. State law allows governmental bodies, like a board
of trustees at a state college, to discuss personnel matters in
closed meetings. However, any votes on matters discussed in secret
must be taken later in public and be explained.
2 Arkansas
ballot measure backers to submit signatures
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Supporters of a ballot measure targeting illegal
immigrants and another aimed at banning homosexuals from adopting or
fostering children say they're ready to submit petitions to put
their measures on the November ballot. The director of the Arkansas
Family Council Action Committee said yesterday the group has more
than 62,000 signatures in support of a measure banning unmarried
couples living together from fostering or adopting children. The
group needs 61,974 certified signatures to get on the ballot. Monday
is the deadline for supporters of proposed ballot measures to submit
signatures with the state. If the petitions are found to not have
enough valid signatures, supporters have another 30 days to gather
signatures. Jerry Cox, the conservative group's director, said he's
still gathering signatures and expects that he'll have to go out and
gather more later. Backers of a proposal that would require
government agencies to verify that everybody seeking public benefits
in the state is a legal U.S. resident are also preparing to submit
their signatures to the state on Monday. Jeannie Burlsworth,
chairwoman of Secure Arkansas, said she expected to have enough
signatures for her proposed initiated act to appear on the ballot.
Burlsworth said she didn't know yet exactly how many signatures her
group has.
Federal indictment added in ID
theft from Baptist Health patients
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - A federal grand jury has indicted two women
accused in a scheme in which information about patients was
allegedly stolen from Baptist Health and used to obtain credit
cards. Thirty-year-old Tamara Hill and 25-year-old Ebony Flowers,
both of North Little Rock, are each charged with credit card fraud,
misuse of a Social Security number and aggravated identity theft.
The women were arrested by North Little Rock police about a month
ago on identity fraud counts. Hill was an admissions clerk at the
Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock. Federal prosecutors
and North Little Rock police say she obtained personal information
of patients and used the identities to obtain goods and credit
cards. Some of the credit cards were used to buy Wal-Mart gift
cards. Baptist Health says it notified about 1,800 patients that
their information may have been stolen.
Report calls for more training for
poll workers
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - A report filed with the state's Board of Election
Commissioners recommends more training for poll workers in St.
Francis County. The county was criticized by lawmakers for its
handling of a 2006 Democratic primary runoff for a state Senate
seat. The need for additional training for poll workers in St.
Francis County was cited in a report submitted yesterday. The report
details irregularities found by monitors sent to the county for the
May 20 primary to review the county's voting procedures. The Senate
voted last month to allow Senator Jack Crumbly of Widener to keep
his seat. But the chamber also accepted a report that said his
victory over former Representative Arnell Willis was marked by
"flagrant" fraud in the county. A special prosecutor is
investigating whether criminal actions occurred in the runoff
election two years ago.
Arkansas builds $176.5M surplus in
fiscal year
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The state's fiscal chief says that Arkansas
accumulated a 176.5 million dollar budget surplus in the fiscal year
that ended Monday. That's 81.7 million dollars higher than
originally projected. The latest numbers mean the state faces the
possibility of a roughly 240 million dollar surplus available when
the Legislature convenes in January. The state already had about 70
million dollars that would be available for the General Improvement
Fund in the 2009 session. Although the projected surplus pales in
comparison the nearly 1 billion dollar surplus lawmakers had during
last year's session, it comes as state agencies faced a 107 million
dollar cut in their budgets for the fiscal year that began Tuesday.
Lawsuit targets Riceland in
modified rice claim
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - A lawsuit filed on behalf of Arkansas rice
growers claims that Riceland Foods Inc. was involved in development
of a genetically modified rice strain and delayed for months telling
farmers that the rice had reached the market. Attorney Paul Byrd of
Little Rock filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Lonoke County.
Stuttgart-based Riceland announced in August 2006 the LLRICE601
modification, engineered to resist Bayer's "Liberty" herbicide, had
entered the Arkansas rice crop. Japan, the European Union and other
customers stopped importing Arkansas rice, which drove down the
price farmers received. Byrd says if class status is granted farmers
who have not yet sued will have their claims protected.
National Symphony Orchestra to
have residency in Arkansas
CONWAY, Ark. (AP) - The National Symphony Orchestra of Washington
will call Arkansas home for a week next year as part of its American
Residency program. The orchestra will travel across the state to
perform before audiences in Conway, Fayetteville, Jonesboro and
Little Rock. Helena-West Helena will receive two concerts - with one
geared just toward youths featuring John Williams' "Imperial March"
from the "Star Wars" films. The orchestra made the announcement
yesterday at the University
of Central Arkansas. The dean of that school's College of Fine Arts
and Communication, Rollin Potter, had pushed for the orchestra to
choose Arkansas. The events will be held next year from March 24th
through March 31st. The orchestra began the program in 1992,
allowing its members to play and offer work shops for teachers,
students and others interested in classical music. This year, the
orchestra chose South Carolina for its residency program.
New sentence for Arkansas man
convicted of mail fraud
LITTLE ROCK (AP) - A federal appeals court has ordered a
resentencing for a man convicted of mailing than $50,000 worth of
fake money orders. But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St.
Louis upheld Stephen Anayo Onwumere's conviction of mail fraud and
possession of counterfeit securities. Onwumere was arrested in 2006
after postal inspectors discovered he'd mailed $52,320 worth of fake
money orders. Customs and Border Protection officers in Memphis had
also intercepted a package containing more than $34,000 in fake
money orders sent to Onwumere from an address in Benin, a country in
west Africa. Onwumere was sentenced to two years in prison on the
charges. The 8th Circuit ordered a new sentencing, finding that
prosecutors had no evidence that Onwumere knew about the package
containing $34,000 in counterfeit money orders.
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