Phone service was knocked out to customers in El Dorado this morning, resulting in a brief disruption of the city’s 911 system. A spokesman for the El Dorado Police Department said that AT&T rerouted emergency calls through the EPD’s regular phone system “for a short time.”
The 911 system is functioning normally at this time, the spokesman said.
A minor fire that erupted this morning at Lion Oil has since been extinguished, according to company spokesman Wallace Moody.
“The all-clear has been sounded,” he said.
The fire occurred at approximately 7:15, Moody said, and is still under investigation.
No injuries were reported.
The smoke coming from the plant right now is from flaring, a safety feature that burns excess gases to prevent an explosion.
Moody said that under normal circumstances, steam would be injected into the flare stacks to prevent smoke. The plant’s boilers are currently down after a power failure caused an emergency plant-wide shutdown.
It was during this shutdown that a small fire erupted inside one of the plant’s crude pumping stations.
The power failure affected an unknown number of Entergy customers in El Dorado.
Moody did not say if the power loss, which occurred before the fire, had anything to do with the incident.
Look for more in Tuesday’s News-Times.
Boy are we in for it. Be sure to check on the elderly and anyone with health problems over the next few days. Triple digit temps are on their way. Drink plenty of fluids and avoid being outside during the afternoon if at all possible.
Click here to learn more about staying healthy during the hottest part of the year, courtesy of the Arkansas Department of Health.
Photo credit: Larry Singer, News-Times photographer.
Before the El Dorado City Council met Thursday night at city hall, someone placed “Stuck on Stupid” trophies in front of each alderman’s chair. The Stuck on Stupid awards were created by local businessman Richard Mason and his wife, Vertis, who is an El Dorado alderman, to highlight acts of stupidity around the city.
But the Masons said they did not distribute the trophies.
Richard Mason announced on July 17 on a local radio station that the El Dorado City Council had received the Stuck on Stupid award for its July 10 decision to grant the El Dorado Forward Entrepreneurship Center Task Force a $250,000 loan.
The money is to be used to purchase a golf ball washing business from a Florida man and move it to El Dorado.
Who is behind the trophies? It’s still a mystery… .
**NOTE** Although this sounds like a Satire Wednesday piece, and believe me it would be a good one, this is really happening.
Tens of thousands of Germans turned out this week to hear Barack Obama speak. I thought this photo was very poignant.
Leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympic games, China has cut government subsidies on oil and gasoline, resulting in higher prices and lower demand for fuel.
The Chinese government is trying to get its people to use less fuel during the games in hopes of reducing pollution — China has some of the worst pollution in the world.
The scheme seems to be working, as the world market for oil is currently stable. Prices at the pumps are declining slightly, and demand for oil in China is easing up. Current Arkansas gas prices range from $4.15 in Eureka Springs to $3.68 at Ft. Smith.
The bad news: After the Olympics, China will most likely begin fuel subsidies once again, thus driving prices ever higher.
Click here for more.
According to the Arkansas Forestry Commission, the large smoke cloud that many people, including myself, thought was a large structure fire this afternoon turned out to be a land-clearing blaze.
The smoke cloud was visible for several miles and, at times, looked pretty ominous.
I’m working on stories about a drug bust, the new superintendents at Junction City and Strong, and an update on the Jack Reynolds case today. Whew.
If you have anything to contribute, consider the blog doors wide open for comments, as always.
I’m out of the office for most of the afternoon.
The man who stands accused of the 1992 murder of El Dorado businessman Billy Ponder has written a letter to the editor of a Wisconsin newspaper claiming his innocence.
James E. Clemons wrote the letter to the Wausau Daily Herald in Wausau, Wis., and it was published on June 26.
Clemons, originally from El Dorado, had been living in Wisconsin until El Dorado Police extradited him on the murder charge.
Following is the letter in its entirety:
For those who do not know me, my name is James E. Clemons. I want to take this time for my voice to be heard. I did not do this crime that I’ve been charged with. My family and friends who are close to me know me well enough to know I could never do this. The investigators and press have found me guilty.
I did not kill or rob Billy Ponder, the Arkansas man who police say I killed.
I, a family man, a man that is very outgoing, caring and soft-hearted, could not have lived with myself knowing I was responsible for someone’s death.
Judge Patrick Brady ruled that I was a fugitive. I have been in this area for 16 years. Until now I have not been charged with a serious crime such as this — much less fled the area. I have been back and forth to Arkansas several times during these 16 years so why am I ruled a fugitive?
When I get set free I will be back. I will be standing tall, with my head held high saying, “I told you so.”
So until then.
James E. Clemons,
Wausau
Former Arkansas First Lady Janet Huckabee consoles her husband, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, after he allegedly stole Big Mac sandwiches from patrons at a Little Rock McDonald’s restaurant.
LITTLE ROCK — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who has championed weight loss over the past four years after shedding more than 100 pounds, confused and angered many patrons at a Little Rock McDonald’s Wednesday morning after he allegedly “snatched and grabbed Big Mac after Big Mac from customers’ hands,” according to store manager Jim Latrell.
After the incident, Latrell said Arkansas State Troopers quickly whisked Huckabee out of the store, located on Broadway in downtown Little Rock, and into a limousine.
Calls to the former governor’s Little Rock office were unreturned Wednesday.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Latrell, who has been manager at the Broadway McDonald’s since January. “He had this wild look in his eyes, and he just kept saying, ‘I’m the Hamburglar, I want meat, I want meat.’”
The “Hamburglar” is one of several mythical characters created by McDonald’s to market food to children.
According to witnesses, Huckabee had been jogging down Broadway when he was spotted running toward the Broadway McDonald’s, which he entered with the state trooper and his wife, Janet Huckabee.
Harold Watkins, one of the governor’s alleged victims, said Huckabee immediately ran toward him, knocking him down and reaching for his recently purchased Big Mac. “He said to me, ‘I’m the Hamburglar, this Big Mac is mine now! I used to run this state!’” Watkins said. “Of course I let him have it. He was the governor, and he looked mighty hungry.”
Before Huckabee left the scene, his wife wrapped him up in what she called “his favorite blanket” and consoled him, according to witnesses.
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe said after Huckabee’s outburst that he was “embarrassed” for Huckabee and for the entire state of Arkansas. Beebe said that all of the state’s McDonald’s restaurants should “refrain from serving” the former governor.
“It’s despicable for a former head of state to behave this way in a restaurant,” Beebe said. “We all get hungry, heck, I’ve even cut in line before to get my number four quarter pounder with cheese, but to knock someone down. To actually knock them down and take their food away from them. That just isn’t being a true Arkansan. Besides that, if anyone in this state is going to be the Hamburglar, it’s going to be me.”
Noted Little Rock psychologist R. Aaron Wilde III said that he found it “very interesting” that Huckabee would pick the Hamburglar to be his alter ego, as opposed to, say, Grimace, the large purple thing, or the cheerful Ronald McDonald.
“I think it definitely speaks to his time in the governor’s office,” Wilde said. “Perhaps he is having flashbacks or regrets about something he did wrong while in office. Or, he could have just been hungrier than a mule on plow day.”
McDonald’s restaurants have reportedly sent 12 Big Mac’s to Huckabee’s North Little Rock home.
I felt refreshed when I read this article in the New York Times about Berea College in Kentucky. Students there aren’t worried about leather recliners and high fashion — they’re only concerned about learning the skills they need to be productive citizens of the world.
Oh, and the school is absolutely tuition-free.
Click here for access.
Article quote: “Berea’s approach provides an unusual perspective on the growing debate over whether the wealthiest universities are doing enough for the public good to warrant their tax exemption, or simply hoarding money to serve an elite few. As many elite universities scramble to recruit more low-income students, Berea’s no-tuition model has attracted increasing attention.”
I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a huge fan of the “Golden Girls,” and I was saddened to hear that “Sophia” had died. See more below.
By BOB THOMAS Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES July 22, 2008 (AP)
Estelle Getty, the diminutive actress who spent 40 years struggling for success before landing a role of a lifetime in 1985 as the sarcastic octogenarian Sophia on TV’s “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 84.
Getty, who suffered from advanced dementia, died at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at her Hollywood Boulevard home, said her son, Carl Gettleman of Santa Monica.
“She was loved throughout the world in six continents, and if they loved sitcoms in Antarctica she would have been loved on seven continents,” her son said. “She was one of the most talented comedic actresses who ever lived.”
“The Golden Girls,” featuring four female retirees sharing a house in Miami, grew out of NBC programming chief Brandon Tartikoff’s belief that television was ignoring its older viewers.
According to the Associated Press, Batman star Christian Bale was to be questioned by police over allegations he assaulted his mother and sister the night before the European premiere of his film, “The Dark Knight,” British media reported Tuesday.
Guess the joker really got to him.
Click here for more.
Lucky numbers? Perhaps. You’ll have a chance in November to approve a state-wide lottery to benefit education. Personally, I doubt it’ll pass. Do I think it should pass? Yes.
From the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office:
LITTLE ROCK — Secretary Daniels today certified the petitions submitted by Hope for Arkansas allowing the group’s lottery initiative to appear on the statewide ballot in the Nov. 4 general election.
The proposed constitutional amendment would authorize the General Assembly to establish, operate, and regulate state lotteries to fund scholarships and grants for Arkansas citizens enrolled in certified two-year and four-year colleges and universities in Arkansas.
On June 26, the group submitted petitions with 134,387 signatures to the Secretary of State. 10,426 signatures were culled leaving 123, 961 to verify. 91,149 were determined to belong to Arkansas registered voters. 77,468 valid signatures, or ten percent of the total number of votes cast for Governor in 2006, are required to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2008 ballot.
One other group, The Family Council Action Committee, submitted petitions to the Secretary of State by the July 7 deadline. The verification process has begun on their petitions for an initiated act to provide that an individual who is cohabiting outside of a valid marriage may not adopt or be a foster parent of a child less than eighteen years old. 61,794 valid signatures, or eight percent of the number of votes cast for Governor in 2006, are required for initiated acts to get on the ballot this year.
The Secretary of State must verify signatures within 30 days of receipt of ballot initiative petitions.
The following three other measures were referred to the voters by the 86th General Assembly to appear on this year’s general election ballot:
• Referred Question 1—Arkansas Water, Waste Disposal, and Pollution Abatement Facilities Financing Act of 2007.
• Proposed Referred Constitutional Amendment 1—An Amendment Concerning Voting, Qualifications of Voters and Election Officers, and the Time of Holding General Elections.
• Proposed Referred Constitutional Amendment 2—An Amendment Providing that No Legislative Appropriation Shall be for a Period Longer than One Year, Providing for Fiscal Legislative Sessions, Requiring the General Assembly to Meet Every Year with Regular Sessions Continuing to be Held in Odd-Numbered Years and Fiscal Sessions Held in Even-Numbered Years, Unless the General Assembly Votes to Hold Regular Sessions in Even-Numbered Years and Fiscal Sessions in Odd-Numbered Years, and Allowing the General Assembly to Consider Non-Fiscal Matters During a Fiscal Session Upon Approval of Two-Thirds of Both Houses.
The full ballot titles of the proposed issues can be found at www.votenaturally.org.
Will you support the lottery proposal?
We’ve been fielding quite a few questions about the case against Union County Justice of the Peace Jack Reynolds, who stands accused of seven counts of aggravated assault after allegedly discharging an AR-15 assault rifle in the direction of two local men — Dr. John Gregory Booker and Earnest Hampton — during an argument.
I’ve contacted a source close to the case, which is being handled by 8th North Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ashley Parker, and I’m told that they are in the process of finding a judge to hear it.
In the meantime, sit tight. We will have more information as it becomes available to us. Below you will find, page by page, the probable cause affidavit. It’s an interesting read.
The pages are in PDF format, and you should be able to view them simply by clicking the links below. Some users may have to download the file by right clicking.
NOTE: Some of the contents of the affidavit include expletives.
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Case facts:
• In a typed prepared statement, Reynolds acknowledged that he fired the weapon five times in the air during the alleged incident with Booker and Hampton.
• Reynolds is being represented by El Dorado Attorney Matt Thomas.
• Reynolds was released from the Union County Jail on June 27 on a $25,000 cash only bond.
• Chris Thomason, prosecuting attorney for the 8th North Judicial District, filed the charges in Union County after Thirteenth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Robin Carroll submitted the case to Thomason, citing a conflict of interest. Union County Sheriff Ken Jones also deferred the investigation to the Arkansas State Police because of a conflict of interest.
• Reynolds was ordered to surrender all firearms prior to his release.
• Documents obtained from the Union County Circuit Clerk’s Office stated that Reynolds “did unlawfully and feloniously on or about 3/12/2008 under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, purposely engaged in conduct that created a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to another person.”
Booker and Hampton, the two victims of the crime, were interviewed in March by law enforcement personnel, according to an affidavit for warrant of arrest.
Booker told ASP Special Agent Rick Newton that he had been hunting with a relative of Reynolds on their family property, and both had permission to hunt on the particular section of land. Booker and Hampton were in the process of clearing a site for a power line to be hooked up to a recreational vehicle, when Reynolds arrived at the scene.
Reynolds asked the men what they were doing, according to the report. When Booker answered that they were clearing a site for the power line, Reynolds reportedly became irate and started yelling and cussing at Booker.
Booker told Newton that Reynolds behavior concerned him and that Reynolds told him to tell Hampton “to cut that (expletive deleted) chainsaw off.”
When Booker began to walk toward Hampton, Reynolds reportedly exited his truck and pulled out an AR-15 assault rifle. Booker said he was scared and asked Reynolds “not to do that.”
Reynolds pointed the assault rifle in the direction of Hampton and fired rounds over his head. Booker told police that from observing the look on Reynolds’ face while he was firing the shots, he thought that Reynolds was going to kill Hampton. Reynolds also pointed the rifle at Booker before and after he fired the shots.
After firing the shots, Reynolds reportedly told Booker and Hampton “to get the (expletive deleted) out of there and don’t come back.”
Booker told police that at no time did he or Hampton do anything in a threatening manner towards Reynolds.
During the investigation, Newton also interviewed several relatives of Reynolds.
Two of Reynolds’ nephews told Newton in an interview that Reynolds admitted to them that he fired the shots. After one of the relatives told Reynolds that Booker was scared for his life, Reynolds reportedly said that “he (expletive deleted) sure should fear for his life.”
Another relative, who said he and Booker were the best of friends, described Reynolds as having a violent temper.
Jonathan Reynolds, son of Jack Reynolds, told Newton during a telephone interview that his father came home after the incident and asked him to go with him back to the location. When they returned to the location, no one was there.
In a typed prepared statement, Reynolds acknowledged that he fired the weapon five times in the air. Reynolds is being represented by El Dorado Attorney Matt Thomas.
• Six judges in the 13th Judicial District are seeking to be recused from the case: First Division Circuit Court Judge Hamilton Singleton, Carol Crafton Anthony, Larry W. Chandler, David F. Guthrie, Edwin A. Keaton and Michael R. Landers.
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