Andy Davis
Stories by Andy
Alamo victims seek 12 properties
posted: 05/16/2013 4:59 a.m. Discuss
Two men who won a $30 million judgment against evangelist Tony Alamo have added a dozen properties — including six that prosecutors also have asked a judge to seize — to the list of properties they are seeking to auction off to satisfy the judgment.
Judge asked to seize buildings
posted: 05/15/2013 5:14 a.m. Discuss
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday asked a judge to order the seizure of six buildings that they say evangelist Tony Alamo used to facilitate the sexual abuse of young girls.
New ads to tell uninsured they’ve got options now
posted: 05/13/2013 2:08 a.m. Comment 1
Representatives of Little Rock advertising agency Mangan Holcomb Partners unveiled Friday examples of the marketing campaign that they propose to encourage poor Arkansans to enroll for insurance coverage through a statewide health insurance exchange.
Turner Bend Store awarded Arkansas stewardship prize
posted: 04/27/2013 4:40 a.m. Discuss
A store in Franklin County that organizes an annual cleanup of the Mulberry River is the winner of a state award for environmental stewardship, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality announced Friday.
Proposed delay seen paring small businesses’ options
posted: 04/21/2013 4:13 a.m. Discuss
A marketplace that will allow small businesses in Arkansas to shop for health-insurance plans for their employees would be missing what some consumer advocates describe as a key feature under a delay proposed by a federal agency.
Inmate advanced for commutation
posted: 04/18/2013 4:40 a.m. Discuss
For the second time, a state board has recommended that Gov. Mike Beebe shorten the sentence of a convicted murderer who founded an anti-violence program in prison.
281,580 in Arkansas seen eligible Jan. 1 for health-plan credit
posted: 04/17/2013 12:37 a.m. Discuss
In addition to the low-income Arkansans who would gain health-insurance coverage through expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, more than 280,000 others will be eligible for subsidies for private insurance beginning Jan. 1, according to a report released Tuesday by a consumer advocacy group.
6 properties approved for Alamo-suit seizure
posted: 04/16/2013 2:53 a.m. Discuss
Five buildings and a parking lot in Fort Smith are subject to seizure by the U.S. Marshals Service to satisfy a $30 million judgment against imprisoned evangelist Tony Alamo, a judge ruled Monday.
Property ministry’s not Alamo’s, can’t be sold, lawyer says
posted: 04/03/2013 3:36 a.m. Discuss
TEXARKANA — Five buildings and a parking lot in Fort Smith should not be auctioned to satisfy a $30 million judgment against evangelist Tony Alamo because the property belongs to Alamo’s ministry, not him, an attorney for the preacher told a judge Tuesday.
Parolee crimes fall, says agency
posted: 04/02/2013 12:54 a.m. Discuss
Responding to criticism from Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, the director of the Department of Community Correction said Monday that the number of crimes committed by parolees has dropped since a prison overhaul law took effect in 2011.
Judge dismisses discrimination suit against LR School District
posted: 03/30/2013 4:39 a.m. Discuss
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by 19 Little Rock School District maintenance employees who said they were discriminated against because they are black.
40 rally for Saturday deliveries
posted: 03/25/2013 12:53 a.m. Comments 18
About 40 people, including postal workers, their family members and other supporters, gathered at the main post office on East Capitol Avenue in Little Rock on Sunday to protest a plan to end Saturday mail delivery.
Board urges 2 commutations
posted: 03/21/2013 4:50 a.m. Discuss
Two inmates convicted of drug charges — one serving a life sentence for selling crack cocaine, the other serving 96 years for manufacturing methamphetamine — have been recommended by a state board for sentence reductions, the board announced Tuesday.
Lawyer files to save inmate’s Oz book
posted: 03/21/2013 4:46 a.m. Discuss
A Little Rock attorney on Wednesday asked a judge for an order preventing the state Department of Correction from destroying a book that he says his incarcerated client attempted to send him.
Ex-plant to receive certificate from state
posted: 03/20/2013 4:46 a.m. Discuss
The former site of a factory in Siloam Springs that made plastic furniture is scheduled to be the 31st property to be certified for reuse under the Arkansas Brownfields Program, a state Department of Environmental Quality spokesman said.
Parole Board backs sentence cuts for 2
posted: 03/20/2013 4:43 a.m. Discuss
Two inmates convicted of drug charges — one serving a life sentence for selling crack cocaine, the other serving 96 years for manufacturing methamphetamine — have been recommended by a state board for sentence reductions, the board announced Tuesday.
Lawyer sues jail staff, cites mail interference
posted: 03/20/2013 12:45 a.m. Discuss
First, the state Department of Correction wouldn’t let convicted Rohypnol rapist Steven Sera have a copy of a book titled Standards for Adult Correctional Institutions.
Board recommends 4 to get shorter sentences
posted: 03/19/2013 4:23 a.m. Discuss
A state board announced Wednesday that it has recommended that Gov. Mike Beebe shorten the sentences of four prison inmates, including one convicted in 1984 in a fatal shooting at a Stamps nightclub.
Residents help record rain data
posted: 03/18/2013 4:14 a.m. Discuss
When he goes out to grab the newspaper, Lloyd Wessels also stops to look at a 4-inch-wide plastic rain gauge mounted on a post outside his house in White Hall.
Watershed plan raises buffer fears
posted: 03/15/2013 12:55 a.m. Discuss
An amendment to the proposed Lake Maumelle watershed zoning code would double the amount of unregulated development allowed, potentially requiring Central Arkansas Water to purchase thousands of acres for conservation to offset the resulting pollution from storm-water runoff, a utility official said Thursday.
Cleanup site new location for clinic
posted: 03/10/2013 4:59 a.m. Discuss
Stocked with chemicals and prescription drugs, a vacant building in downtown Hope where doctors once provided medical care had deteriorated so much by 2006 that it was declared a threat to public safety.
Beebe to commute meth-maker’s life sentence
posted: 03/07/2013 4:16 a.m. Discuss
Gov. Mike Beebe on Wednesday announced his intent to grant a commutation to a Franklin County man sentenced to life in prison for manufacturing methamphetamine.
Don’t free attacker, victim tells state board
posted: 03/07/2013 4:08 a.m. Discuss
For the second time in as many years, a woman who says she was attacked by a convicted rapist after he was released on parole in 2007 urged a state board not to release him again.
Police beat
posted: 03/05/2013 4:14 a.m. Discuss
Man faces felony charges in scares A man has been arrested on felony charges in connection with a scare that prompted a two-hour lock down at Sylvan Hills Middle School in Sherwood last month, police said.
One dead, 2 arrested in robbery at LR mall
posted: 03/02/2013 5:08 a.m. Comments 43
Layth Qassas had just finished closing out his register at the Quiznos in Park Plaza mall Thursday night when he and his girlfriend heard several loud bangs, followed about two minutes later by a cry for help that seemed to be coming from behind the Sbarro counter on the opposite side of the mall’s food court.
Gas spill is record for state payout
posted: 02/28/2013 3:52 a.m. Comment 1
A state agency expects to pay nearly $1 million this week as part of a settlement in a lawsuit over a gasoline spill that prompted a Yellville grocery store to close for almost two weeks in 2011.
Police beat
posted: 02/26/2013 4:11 a.m. Discuss
Gun-toting student arrested at school A 16-year-old was arrested late Monday morning after officers found him carrying an unloaded handgun on school property, arrest reports said.
Beaver Lake algae-test limits would be state 1st
posted: 02/23/2013 4:55 a.m. Discuss
A drinking-water source for about 420,000 people in Northwest Arkansas would become the first body of water in the state to have numeric limits on indicators of algae growth under a proposed update of the state’s water-quality standards.
Under pitch, prison e-mail access to grow
posted: 02/22/2013 2:23 a.m. Comments 17
State prison inmates would be able to send, as well as receive, e-mails under a proposal being considered by the Board of Corrections next week.
Prison unit releases names of 2 who quit shortly after escapes
posted: 02/21/2013 1:23 a.m. Discuss
Bus barn administrator Bob Wilson and metal fabricator Micheal Westbrook are the two state Department of Correction employees who resigned within days of the Oct. 29 escape of two murderers from the Tucker Unit in Jefferson County, records released Wednesday show.
3 sue Central Arkansas Water
posted: 02/20/2013 12:58 a.m. Discuss
The 45-cent watershed protection fee levied on Central Arkansas Water customers is an illegal tax, three Pulaski County residents contend in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Water-easement talks draw critics
posted: 02/18/2013 12:59 a.m. Comments 2
About five years after the discussions began, Central Arkansas Water is continuing to negotiate with a member of the Pulaski County planning board on an easement that would restrict development on his 335-acre horse ranch.
Verdict tossed, convict settles with ex-guard
posted: 02/13/2013 5:23 a.m. Discuss
A convicted sex offender who won $105,000 in damages for his claim that a state prison guard sexually assaulted him has settled the case after a judge threw out the verdict and ordered a new trial.
Corrections officer fired in escape of murderers
posted: 02/12/2013 4:13 a.m. Discuss
The Arkansas Department of Correction fired a corrections officer after a review of the Oct. 29 escape of two convicted murderers found that he falsified a count of the inmates working in a prison bus barn, a department spokesman said Monday.
State justices back ruling on pension
posted: 02/08/2013 4:40 a.m. Discuss
An elected Garland County official failed to take the steps necessary to qualify for a pension when she took herself off the payroll — but didn’t vacate her office — for three months in 2008, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
State wins appeal to Supreme Court over PB halfway house
posted: 02/08/2013 12:01 a.m. Discuss
A proposed Department of Community Correction halfway-house complex in Pine Bluff does not need to comply with city zoning codes, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Ex-members aim to seize ministry buildings
posted: 02/06/2013 4:22 a.m. Discuss
Attorneys for two former members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries have asked a judge to order the seizure and auction of six ministry buildings in Fort Smith to satisfy a $30 million judgment against the ministry’s leader.
Police beat
posted: 02/05/2013 4:07 a.m. Discuss
Woman charged with jail trespass A woman was booked into the Pulaski County jail after she told police Sunday she was trying to spring her boyfriend from the facility.
Court challenge viable in ’65 death
posted: 02/04/2013 12:29 a.m. Comment 1
A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court last year provides an avenue for a convicted murderer from Little Rock who fled the state more than 40 years earlier to challenge his life sentence, Arkansas defense attorneys say.
Parole Board approves inmate early-release rules
posted: 02/01/2013 4:50 a.m. Discuss
Almost eight years after the state Legislature passed a law allowing for the early release of state prison inmates to halfway houses, a state board on Thursday approved rules governing the releases.
Running down, beating boy fatally earns 25-year term
posted: 01/31/2013 12:21 a.m. Comments 3
A Little Rock man who chased down, ran over, and beat and kicked a 14-year-old boy who had stolen his wallet was found guilty Wednesday of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Police beat
posted: 01/29/2013 4:22 a.m. Comment 1
LR man arrested in face shooting A man was arrested Saturday and accused of shooting a Little Rock man in the face six days earlier at a southwest Little Rock apartment complex, police said.
Ex-county officials drop suit over cutoff of retiree benefits
posted: 01/26/2013 4:40 a.m. Discuss
Four county officials who collected pensions without vacating their elected posts have dropped a lawsuit over the state retirement system’s decision to cut off their benefits.
Charges in protest dropped
posted: 01/24/2013 5:03 a.m. Discuss
Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped the charges against the four people arrested in May during the Occupy Little Rock protests.
Parole Board OK with commutation
posted: 01/24/2013 5:02 a.m. Discuss
For at least the 16th time, the Arkansas Parole Board has recommended shortening the life sentence of Shirley Danner, a former prostitute who fatally shot a man in West Memphis and later became the leader of a gospel choir in prison.
Watershed plan meets resistance
posted: 01/23/2013 3:37 a.m. Comment 1
Lake Maumelle watershed property owners and waterquality advocates alike on Tuesday spoke against a proposed ordinance that would regulate development near the lake, a water source for about 400,000 people in Pulaski, Saline and Grant counties.
LR man charged in store holdups, thefts
posted: 01/22/2013 3:51 a.m. Discuss
A man was arrested Monday and accused of using a knife to rob five Little Rock gas stations, grabbing money from the cash registers of four other businesses and attempting to rob a dry-cleaning business — all in the span of three days.
Jacksonville settles in ’11 stun-gun case
posted: 01/20/2013 3:06 a.m. Discuss
The city of Jacksonville has agreed to pay $10,000 to a woman who said a police officer used excessive force when he used a stun gun on her in 2011.
State proposes 1-drug execution
posted: 01/19/2013 2:46 a.m. Comment 1
Arkansas would carry out executions using a lethal dose of a single barbiturate under legislation the state attorney general’s office and Department of Correction is drafting.
Arkansas still seeks escapee
posted: 01/15/2013 4:56 a.m. Comment 1
More than 40 years after its first request was refused, Arkansas has once again requested that Michigan extradite an escaped murderer who was freed from jail in that state in 1971.
