The state/region in brief

Judge denies bid

by poultry firms

TULSA - A federal judge has denied a request by several poultry companies to dismiss parts of claims made against them by the state of Oklahoma.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell this week ruled against Tyson Foods Inc. and other companies that sought to have three state claims thrown out that deal with pollution in the Illinois River watershed.

Allegations of state and federal nuisance violations and accusations that the poultry industry’s conduct constituted trespassing and caused harm to the waters in the Illinois River watershed remain intact.

Oklahoma is suing Tyson Foods and six other poultry companies with operations in Northwest Arkansas, claiming that they are legally responsible for the handling and disposal of poultry waste that the state says has damaged the watershed.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Small-craft alert

issued for river

CONWAY - Small boats should stay off the Arkansas River from Toad Suck Lock and Dam downstream to Dumas and below as heavy rains this week have caused flows to rise above safe levels, according to an advisory issued Thursday by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Flows at the dam were expected to exceed 70,000 cubic feet per second Friday, the benchmark for issuing advisories.

When flows rise to that level, “currents become swifter and stronger, and large debris is carried downstream,” the advisory stated.

Flows at Murray Lock and Dam at Little Rock were expected to reach about 90,000 cfs Friday and will exceed 100,000 cfs at Mills Dam at Arkansas Post near Dumas by today.

The advisory will be lifted when flows return to safe levels.

- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEDeath penalty

won’t be sought

PARAGOULD - A prosecutor says he won’t seek the death penalty for a man accused in the beating death of an elderly robbery victim.

Christopher Hitchcock, 20, of Paragould is charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the slaying of Harvey Norman Beasley, 76, of Paragould.

Hitchcock and two other defendants appeared in Greene County Circuit Court on Monday, and trial was set for March 8. Beasley was found unconscious in his home Oct. 13 and died the next day.

Deputy prosecutor Andy Fulkerson said at Monday’s hearing that he would not seek the death penalty for Hitchcock or the other two charged in the case. Jacqueline A. Tomlinson, 36, of Paragould is charged with accomplice to capital murder and accomplice to aggravated robbery, and Earl R. Long, 43, is charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution. - ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Christmas boxes

contained ‘pot’

JOPLIN, Mo. - Someone won’t be getting the Christmas presents that Missouri troopers seized from a car they stopped for speeding on Interstate 44 near Joplin this week.

The Highway Patrol says troopers found about 20 pounds of marijuana in the car - some of it in luggage,and some in boxes wrapped as Christmas gifts.

Two California women in the eastbound car gave troopers permission to search the vehicle. Both were charged Tuesday with one marijuana-related count and released on $1,000 bond.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Federal grants to help homeless

KANSAS CITY, Mo.

- The Kansas City area will receive more than $9.1 million in federal grants for continuing programs to help the homeless.

The Kansas City Star reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced $1.34 billion for existing homeless programs across the country. It will announce funding for new programs early next year.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement that it’s critical for programs to keep their doors open as the country moves into the coldest time of the year.

In the Kansas City area, $8.3 million will go to governments and social service agencies on the Missouri side. An additional $782,000 is headed to the Kansas side.

Programs set to receive money provide services ranging from housing to substance abuse treatment.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMan hit again

with DWI charge

ST. LOUIS - A suburban St. Louis man has been charged with felony DWI after what was at least his 14th arrest on charges of drunken driving.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday that Patrick O’Brien, 42, of Fenton, Mo., has been convicted of driving while intoxicated or a related charge at least 10 times since 1986.

In October, O’Brien was driving in the St. Louis area when an officer spotted him weaving.

Police said O’Brien failed sobriety tests and admitting drinking but that he would not submit to a blood-alcohol test.

O’Brien was being held by Missouri Department of Corrections on a probation violation.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 12/26/2009

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