Kendig reports his resignation
FAYETTEVILLE - The associate vice chancellor for university relations at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville plans to leave his post at the end of January.
Tysen Kendig, who took the position in November 2006, is taking a job as vicepresident for strategic communications at the University of Iowa, he wrote Monday in an e-mail to media.
“I am grateful andhonored for having had the opportunity to be a member of the Northwest Arkansas community for the past three years, and for having been associated with such a fine university that has made some remarkable strides during that time,” Kendig wrote.
At UA, Kendig developed a comprehensive marketing program and strategic communication plan, oversaw the redevelopment of the university’s graphic identity system, and initiated creation of the Southeastern Conference Communicators Association.
Kendig’s salary was $144,900 a year.
Kendig, who previously worked as assistant director of public information at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, was hired at UA after a ninemonth search, UA spokesman Steve Voorhies said.
Brad Choate, vice chancellor for university advancement, will appoint an interim replacement for Kendig until a similar national search is complete, Voorhies said.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Autopsy hoped
to give answers
FORT SMITH - Fort Smith police are hoping the autopsy of a dead man found Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park will provide information about what happened to him.
The body of Walter Graham, 59, of 1621 Fresno St., was found mid-afternoon Saturday by a man and his children walking in the park, police spokesman Sgt.
Daniel Grubbs said. He said the body was discovered in the northwest section of the north Fort Smith park.
Police are treating the death as suspicious but lack evidence about the cause of death, he said. Graham had some head wounds but investigators have not concluded they were the cause of death.
Grubbs said Graham had no wallet on him but officers found one later at his apartment.
He was last seen alive Wednesday afternoon. It was unclear how long Graham’s body was in the park because the cold weather slows decomposition and makes estimating his time ofdeath difficult, Grubbs said.
He said he hoped the examination at the State Medical Examiner’s office will provide a time of death as well as the cause.
Graham has had little history with the police and detectives were questioning friends, family and associates and getting his medical history in hopes of determining Graham’s last hours and if his death was the result of foul play.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEBody found behind house
TEXARKANA - The discovery of a body in the backyard of a College Hill house Saturday afternoon has the Texarkana Police Department investigating its second homicide of the year.
The body of an unidentified man in his 40s was found covered in blood in the backyard of an abandoned house.
The discovery was made shortly after noon by a neighbor who had come outside to smoke a cigarette, said Sgt.
Bobby Jordan of the Texarkana Police Department.
“He thought it was a dummy lying out there,” Jordan said.
Detectives have estimated the time of death to have been about 12 to 14 hours before discovery.
A cause has not yet been determined but the death is being worked as a homicide, he added. The body is being sent to the State Crime Laboratory for autopsy.
The victim was believed to be a transient, said Capt.
Ernest Keck.
- TEXARKANA GAZETTE
Oklahoma faces
budget shortfall
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma Treasurer Scott Meacham said Monday that even with budget cuts that have already been made, state government will face a $530 million shortfall this year.
Things don’t look much better next fiscal year, which starts in July. Meacham said lawmakers will have about 20 percent less in funding than they budgeted for the current fiscal year because of the sagging economy and low energy prices.
Lawmakers already have made some cuts, reducing state agency budgets by about $279 million so far for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
Lawmakers can order more cuts and use money from the constitutional Rainy Day reserve fund, federal economic stimulus funds or other sources to balance the budget, Meacham said. The Rainy Day fund contains almost $600 million, and the state has set aside another $600 million in economic stimulus money.
Gov. Brad Henry said the revenue projections are disappointing and pose some challenges for state officials, who are required to balance the state budget.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 12/22/2009