Debra Hale-Shelton
Stories by Debra
Exxon Mobil: Pipe’s fissure still a mystery
posted: 05/17/2013 12:02 a.m. Comment 1
Almost two months after an aging pipeline split open and spilled an estimated 210,000 gallons of crude oil into a Mayflower neighborhood, forcing scores of residents to evacuate their homes, injuring wildlife and contaminating a cove of Lake Conway, Exxon Mobil said Thursday that it still does not know what caused the spill.
Judge cites publicity, moves trial of Gillean
posted: 05/17/2013 12:01 a.m. Discuss
The trial of Jack Gillean, a former University of Central Arkansas chief of staff charged in a test-cheating scandal, will be moved to Van Buren County from Faulkner County because of pretrial publicity about several former UCA officials who became “involved in the criminal justice system,” a judge has ruled.
Oil crews to stay months
posted: 05/16/2013 12:14 a.m. Comments 9
Workers trying to clean up and restore an oil-contaminated neighborhood will remain in this small Faulkner County community for at least a few months, and efforts continued Wednesday to remove heavy crude from a marshy cove of Lake Conway.
Ex-UCA trustee changes mind, won’t return
posted: 05/15/2013 5:13 a.m. Discuss
CONWAY — Kelley Erstine, a former administrator and trustee at the University of Central Arkansas, has decided not to return to his alma mater as chief of staff after all.
Administrator fired in Faulkner County
posted: 05/09/2013 4:57 a.m. Comments 2
Faulkner County Administrator Jeff Johnston was fired Tuesday, more than eight months after he was charged with felony theft of property, his attorney confirmed late Wednesday.
Ex-UCA staff chief revises trial-shift bid
posted: 05/09/2013 4:54 a.m. Comment 1
Attorneys for the University of Central Arkansas’ former chief of staff who is charged with felony commercial burglary in a cheating scandal have changed their minds about where they want his trial held.
Exxon: 22 owners can seek buyouts
posted: 05/09/2013 12:08 a.m. Comments 2
Exxon Mobil Corp. has doubled the number of houses that it has offered to buy after a pipeline ruptured in a Mayflower subdivision, dumping an estimated 210,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into the neighborhood, drainage ditches and Lake Conway, but the company still won’t buy any other homes in the subdivision unless numerous conditions are met.
Asphalt-case filing seeks rejection of venue shift
posted: 05/08/2013 5:05 a.m. Discuss
The felony trial of Faulkner County Administrator Jeff Johnston should not be moved away from Faulkner County because of pretrial publicity, the prosecution said in a court filing.
McDaniel: Buy all property near spill
posted: 05/08/2013 12:17 a.m. Comments 2
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel called on Exxon Mobil Corp. on Tuesday to buy all the houses in the Mayflower subdivision where a crude-oil pipeline ruptured more than a month ago, as well as property near an oil-contaminated cove of Lake Conway.
UCA plans athletics-fund notices
posted: 05/07/2013 12:50 a.m. Discuss
CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas plans to start advising students on their bills that a portion of auxiliary revenue, such as housing and food-service funds, goes to athletics.
UCA says no to concealed handguns on campus
posted: 05/04/2013 4:49 a.m. Comments 5
The University of Central Arkansas became the state’s first four year college Friday to opt out of a new state law that would otherwise have allowed faculty and staff members with concealed-handgun permits to carry the weapons on campus.
UCA bumps tuition rates for 2013-14
posted: 05/04/2013 4:46 a.m. Discuss
Almost every year in Arkansas, spring brings April showers, May flowers and college tuition increases.
Prosecutor looking at ex-UCA official
posted: 05/03/2013 4:54 a.m. Discuss
A former University of Central Arkansas employee who resigned abruptly in February is under investigation by the 20th Judicial District’s prosecuting attorney’s office, the chief prosecutor said Thursday.
Exxon line leaks oil in Missouri yard, too
posted: 05/02/2013 12:58 a.m. Comments 15
A second oil spill in about a month along Exxon Mobil’s 850-mile Pegasus pipeline has raised concerns about the condition of the aging line, even as workers continued Wednesday to remove some of the estimated 210,000 gallons of oil that rushed through a Mayflower neighborhood before flowing into ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.
Will testify, UCA ex-chief says
posted: 05/01/2013 12:28 a.m. Comment 1
CONWAY — Attorneys for the former University of Central Arkansas chief of staff charged with commercial burglary in a cheating scandal at UCA indicated in a court filing that he will testify on his own behalf when his case goes to trial.
No oil-spill returnees, but dead animals up
posted: 04/30/2013 12:51 a.m.
Comments 12
MAYFLOWER — One month after an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured, spilling more than 200,000 gallons of oil into a Mayflower subdivision and a cove of Lake Conway, the numbers of wildlife displaced, injured or killed have significantly risen as the cleanup has increasingly focused on the backwater.
UCA faculty plan opens up searches
posted: 04/27/2013 4:57 a.m. Discuss
Faculty members at the University of Central Arkansas hope a recently approved resolution will provide for more open presidential searches than in the past.
Attorney denies any tie to birth-certificate ruse
posted: 04/25/2013 4:55 a.m. Comments 2
Stephan Hawks, a former civil attorney for Faulkner County, has denied that he told a former sheriff’s candidate to send letters containing falsified birth certificates aimed at discrediting another candidate, Andy Shock, who was later elected sheriff.
Ex-school chief sees gun charges tossed
posted: 04/25/2013 4:52 a.m. Comment 1
The prosecution dropped felony charges Wednesday against the former superintendent of the Guy-Perkins School District because of what the dismissal order called “insufficient evidence.”
Ex-rival admits election deceit
posted: 04/20/2013 4:50 a.m. Discuss
A former Faulkner County sheriff ’s deputy admitted Friday that he created a phony birth certificate last spring to make it appear that a rival candidate for sheriff had fathered an illegitimate, mixed-race child in Texas, then mailed copies of the fake document from Texas to a few voters.
Mayflower pipe overrun by oil to be replaced
posted: 04/20/2013 4:42 a.m.
Discuss
Work to remove oil that spilled beneath a storm-drainage pipe in a Mayflower subdivision when an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured last month is expected to begin next week, the Faulkner County judge said Friday.
Crew installs new section of pipe
posted: 04/19/2013 12:45 a.m.
Discuss
Exxon Mobil has replaced the damaged portion of a pipeline that ruptured on Good Friday, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into a neighborhood, even as the company awaits federal approval of plans to repair and restart the line that spans about 850 miles from Illinois to Texas.
Prosecutor for Gillean subpoenaed in pretrial
posted: 04/18/2013 4:51 a.m. Discuss
An attorney for Jack Gillean, a former University of Central Arkansas chief of staff who is awaiting trial on felony charges, has subpoenaed an unlikely pretrial witness: the chief deputy prosecutor who is handling the case.
Cause of oil spill remains unclear
posted: 04/18/2013 12:59 a.m.
Discuss
What caused an Exxon Mobil pipeline to rupture on Good Friday and spill tens of thousands of gallons of oil into a residential neighborhood in Mayflower remained unclear Wednesday, but a federal order issued days after the break highlights at least one concern.
Exxon Mobil: All 10 return offers spurned
posted: 04/13/2013 5:01 a.m.
Comments 2
Cleanup crews on guard for cottonmouths and other snakes made progress Friday in removing oil that had flowed into a marsh along Interstate 40, two weeks after an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured in a nearby Mayflower subdivision, spilling an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil.
Oil spill cleanup 2 weeks old; still none back home
posted: 04/12/2013 12:56 a.m.
Discuss
Toddlers no longer play on a tiny slide outside their family’s home just a few yards from the site where an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured, spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil into the neighborhood.
UCA no-haze pact set for cheerleaders
posted: 04/11/2013 4:52 a.m. Discuss
All University of Central Arkansas cheerleaders must now sign an agreement not to haze because of a recent investigation into whether several cheerleaders were hazing a freshman cheerleader.
State seeks Exxon $4 million to probe spill
posted: 04/11/2013 12:22 a.m.
Comment 1
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has asked Exxon Mobil Corp. to provide $4 million to finance a state investigation into the cause and effects of a March 29 pipeline rupture that spilled thousands of barrels of crude oil into a Mayflower subdivision, forcing the evacuation of its residents, he said Wednesday.
4 families choose to stay out of oil-hit subdivision for now
posted: 04/10/2013 midnight Discuss
None of the first four families who were told they could return to their homes in a Mayflower subdivision more than a week after an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured, spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil into their neighborhood, has chosen to return at this point, a health official said Tuesday.
4 oil-spill area families can return
posted: 04/09/2013 12:39 a.m.
Discuss
Authorities on Monday began trying to notify four of 22 families forced to evacuate their homes in a Mayflower subdivision because of an Exxon Mobil oil spill more than a week ago that they can safely return home if they first give the OK for cleanup crews to ventilate the houses — a 24-hour process — followed by air-quality tests within them.
Venue change for Gillean opposed
posted: 04/06/2013 4:46 a.m. Discuss
A defense motion asking that the felony trial of the University of Central Arkansas’ former chief of staff be moved out of Faulkner County contains “baseless and inflammatory allegations” and should be denied, the prosecution argued Friday.
‘The smell was overwhelming,’ 1 family said
posted: 04/05/2013 12:43 a.m.
Comments 11
It was Good Friday, and railroad engineer Greg Doster had just walked back into his house in this small town’s Northwoods subdivision after saying goodbye to his wife, Ashala, and two toddlers who were heading to his parents’ home when his life changed.
Absence of oil-spill answers straining evacuees’ patience
posted: 04/04/2013 12:12 a.m.
Comments 19
Almost a week after an oil pipeline ruptured in a Mayflower subdivision, spilling thousands of gallons of oil, workers pushed ahead on the cleanup, dozens of residents remained evacuated, a noxious odor lingered in parts of the community, lawyers for the state and Exxon Mobil got busy, and tempers flared.
Air at oil spill still too foul, families told
posted: 04/03/2013 12:59 a.m.
Comments 6
MAYFLOWER — Scores of residents evacuated from their homes in a Mayflower subdivision where an Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured Friday faced a grim prospect Tuesday of not returning home soon as a health official said air-quality levels in the neighborhood were fluctuating.
Routine, risk coexist at spill scene
posted: 04/02/2013 12:13 a.m.
Comments 6
Standing between a canopy of tall pines and the Northwoods subdivision of this Faulkner County community along Lake Conway, folks might not suspect it is the scene of a major oil spill, except for the faint odor of oil and the presence of emergency workers.
Oil spill threatens Lake Conway
posted: 03/30/2013 5 a.m. Comments 5
A crude-oil pipeline ruptured near Lake Conway on Friday, prompting emergency workers to evacuate a residential neighborhood and rush to prevent the oil from entering the man-made lake that’s popular with central Arkansas fishermen.
UCA looks at case of duct-taped cheerleader
posted: 03/30/2013 4:58 a.m. Comments 3
University of Central Arkansas officials are investigating whether several cheerleaders were hazing a freshman cheerleader whom police found taped to a metal light pole during almost-freezing weather recently.
Asphalt-case judge tells all to keep quiet
posted: 03/30/2013 4:53 a.m. Discuss
Circuit Judge Michael Maggio issued a gag order in the criminal case of Faulkner County Administrator Jeff Johnston on Thursday, one day after defense attorneys asked that Maggio step aside from hearing the case.
Gag order issued in driveway case
posted: 03/29/2013 5:18 a.m. Discuss
CONWAY — Circuit Judge Michael Maggio issued a gag order in the criminal case of Faulkner County Administrator Jeff Johnston on Thursday, one day after defense attorneys asked that Maggio step aside from hearing the case.
UCA teacher coordinated honors college
posted: 03/18/2013 12:18 a.m. Discuss
When Norbert Schedler joined the University of Central Arkansas as a philosophy professor in 1976, he had no idea of the adventure awaiting him.
Settlement reached in suit over Perry County ranch
updated: 03/13/2013 10:46 a.m. Discuss
A lawsuit that had accused officials of a Perry County ranch aimed at helping men with drug and alcohol addictions of breach of contract, defamation and other wrongdoing has been settled out of court.
Gillean seeks to move trial
posted: 03/05/2013 4:19 a.m. Discuss
Attorneys for former University of Central Arkansas Chief of Staff Jack Gillean want his criminal trial moved to Van Buren County because of “unfavorable and extensive” pretrial publicity.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist speaks at UCA campus
posted: 03/03/2013 3:50 a.m. Discuss
When Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan visited the University of Central Arkansas last week, she referred to notes she had scribbled in a red and-black notebook.
After one year on the job, UCA’s provost no longer interim
posted: 03/02/2013 4:52 a.m. Discuss
The University of Central Arkansas’ board of trustees removed “interim” from the title of Provost Steven Runge during a hastily called meeting on Friday.
UCA’s chief softens 3-year stance
posted: 03/02/2013 4:40 a.m. Discuss
University of Central Arkansas President Tom Courtway would not rule out the possibility that he might be willing to remain in the job beyond his original, self-imposed three year limit.
Mayflower ex-chief admits to tampering
posted: 02/28/2013 3:44 a.m. Discuss
Former Mayflower Police Chief Billy Paul Baker pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of tampering with a public record.
UCA chief orders look in detail at scholarships
posted: 02/28/2013 12:33 a.m. Comments 2
University of Central Arkansas President Tom Courtway on Wednesday ordered a comprehensive review of all scholarships offered at UCA.
UCA memo cites push on scholarships
posted: 02/27/2013 12:17 a.m. Comment 1
A University of Central Arkansas administrator who awarded some of the scholarships cited in an internal audit has suggested that the problems are in part due to a push by past administrations to increase scholarships.
UCA audit finds no-criteria aid
posted: 02/23/2013 4:48 a.m. Discuss
Former University of Central Arkansas President Allen Meadors established a no-criteria scholarship aimed at boosting enrollment before he resigned in 2011, an internal audit found.
Room, board rates going up at UCA
posted: 02/23/2013 4:33 a.m. Discuss
Room and board rates at the University of Central Arkansas will increase this fall, the board of trustees decided Friday.
