LITTLE ROCK — Police will get
73 Tasers in ’12
Little Rock police officers will be equipped with more Tasers by early next year.
The capital city placed a purchase order for 73 of the stun guns last month after city directors approved the $143,852 purchase Nov. 15.
City Manager Bruce Moore said officers will receive the devices next year after completing training. Until now, the department’s 25 Tasers were assigned to supervisors and specialized units.
City officials have said the state’s largest police department had fallen behind the curve of other departments because it didn’t have money to buy the electronic weapons.
The money for the order came from a federal Justice Assistance Grant.
Library system
ranks among top
The Central Arkansas Library System has been rated as a top library by the Library Journal.
In its fourth index of Public Library Service, the Library Journal included the 12-branch system in its national Star Library rankings. The listing is based on 2009 statistics of library visits, circulation, program attendance and public computer use.
The Central Arkansas Library System was listed 25th out of 107 libraries that have an annual budget of $10 million to $29.9 million. The library’s 2009 budget was $13.7 million.
“It is an honor to have our work acknowledged by such aprestigious magazine as Library Journal. I believe CALS is the best library system in the South because the taxpayers have approved the funds to allow us to provide excellent service and resources that our patrons want and need,” Library Director Bobby Roberts said.
The system that serves Pulaski and Perry counties was one of 20 Southern libraries on the list and one of two in the state. The Jim G. Ferguson Searcy County Library in Marshall also ranked on the list for libraries with budgets between $200,000 and $399,000.
Cemetery name
on city’s agenda
At nearly 150 years old, the Oakland-Fraternal Cemetery may soon undergo a name change, officials said.
Little Rock city directors are being asked to rename the 92-acre collection of seven cemeteries as the Oakland-Fraternal Historic Cemetery Park to recognize its historic nature and parklike setting.
Civil War soldiers are buried there as are many of the capital city’s early black, Jewish and white residents. The city purchased the property east of what is now Interstate 30 in 1862, as Mount Holly Cemetery on Broadway was nearly full. Several cemeteries that developed on the land are now under the care of the Oakland-Fraternal board of directors, which was established in 1975.
The cemetery, which has more than 10,000 monuments and sculptures, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
City directors will vote on the name change next week as well as increasing the number of cemetery board members from seven to nine.
Arkansas, Pages 16 on 12/03/2011