The state/region in brief

27-year-old woman arrested in shooting

LITTLE ROCK — Pulaski County deputies have arrested a woman who they say shot a man in the back after he paid her to have sex with him.

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Deputies arrested the 27-year-old woman Monday night after they found her in a wooded area. She faces a first-degree battery charge.

The sheriff’s office said the man was taken to a hospital. His condition hasn’t been released.

Authorities said he met the suspect after she advertised herself online and they went to a rural area. They say she shot at him multiple times and hit him once.

Deputies said the woman told them that she shot the man because he was going to rape her.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. runoff project applications open

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas farmers and landowners have until Jan. 16 to submit applications for financial assistance to install conservation practices through nine Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative projects.

Michael Sullivan, a conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said the projects in Arkansas are being implemented to accelerate conservation treatment to improve water quality, maintain productivity and enhance wildlife habitat.

The projects open for sign-up include the Middle Cache River Project in portions of Craighead, Jackson, Poinsett and Woodruff counties; the Grand Prairie Watershed in parts of Arkansas, Lonoke, Prairie and Monroe counties; and the Big Watershed in a portion of Phillips County.

Other projects include the Tyronza River Watershed in portions of Mississippi and Poinsett counties and the Wapanocca Lake Watershed in part of Crittenden County.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

56-year-old admits making, selling K2

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A 56-year-old man has pleaded guilty to helping distribute $6.7 million in synthetic marijuana.

Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that Douglas K. Franklin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Franklin’s son, Brandon Franklin, 28, pleaded guilty to the same charges in September. Charges against Douglas Franklin’s daughter, Caitlyn Franklin, 26, were dismissed after a pre-trial diversion agreement. They all live in Springfield.

Douglas and Brandon Franklin admitted they sold and shipped products commonly known as K2 that were falsely labeled as incense. They also manufactured and distributed K2 to retail stores in Springfield, Joplin and elsewhere through their business, ThirdEye.

Another co-defendant, DeWayne Barnthart, 37, of Joplin, was put on probation for receiving and distributing misbranded drugs.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Missouri ex-teacher charged in sex case

ASH GROVE, Mo. — A former southwest Missouri high school teacher has been charged in a child sex case involving a 16-year-old female student.

The Springfield News-Leader reported William Herrington, 34, of Republic was charged Monday with felony sodomy, child molestation and sexual contact with a student.

Ash Grove police said Herrington sent inappropriate messages to the girl’s Twitter account and had sexual contact with her in the school’s library storage closet and at his home in October.

Superintendent Kyle Collins suspended the Ash Grove High School social studies teacher after the girl’s mother contacted him in October. Herrington is no longer employed by the district.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Herrington has an attorney.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TCC, OSU to expand transfer agreement

TULSA — Tulsa Community College and Oklahoma State University are making it easier for students to move an associate degree to a bachelor’s degree.

OSU President Burns Hargis and TCC President Leigh B. Goodson will sign an agreement Tuesday in Tulsa that makes it easier for students to complete an associate degree at TCC and move to a bachelor’s degree at OSU.

The transfer agreement involves nearly 20 degree programs including applied sociology, business administration and management, computer science, geology, political science, and sociology.

They will be added to the 19 existing programs between TCC and OSU. The partnership increases access to affordable public higher education in the state and could boost the number of transfer students who complete a bachelor’s degree. Each year, approximately 600 TCC students transfer to OSU.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Missouri to look at Poplar Bluff death

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo.

— The Missouri State Highway Patrol is leading the investigation into a fatal shooting by a southeast Missouri police officer.

Patrol Cpl. Clark Parrott said the shooting occurred Friday at a Poplar Bluff apartment building. Officers were responding to a report of a stabbing at an apartment when they confronted the suspect in a hallway. Parrott said the man, Thurrell Jowers of Doniphan, 22, charged officers with a knife, and one officer shot him.

The Daily American Republic reported that a 50-year-old man who had been stabbed before the shooting was flown to a Cape Girardeau hospital for treatment. His name has not been released.

Parrott said investigators have not determined a motive for the stabbing.

— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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