Record warmth
ends frigid spell
OKLAHOMA CITY - Temperature records again are falling in Oklahoma.
The National Weather Service said a new record high of 80 degrees was set at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport on Thursday.
The previous mark of 79 degrees was set in 1991.
The weather service said the low in Oklahoma City early Thursday was 58 degrees, breaking the 1991 record of 50.
Forecasters said Tulsa tied a record high of 79 set in 1907.
The weather service said Bartlesville reached a record high of 82, three degrees warmer than the 79 degrees recorded in 1907.
Last week, the temperature plunged to minus 28 in Bartlesville. A low of minus 31 in Nowata broke a state record of minus 27.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSFarmington killer gets life sentence
BENTONVILLE - Broderick Laswell on Friday was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his role in the 2007 murder of Randall Walker.
Laswell, 22, of Farmington was found guilty Feb. 8 in Benton County Circuit Court of capital murder and aggravated robbery. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty.
Laswell also received a 60-year sentence for the aggravated robbery. It will run consecutively with the life sentence.
Laswell and Brandon Lacy, 31, of Rogers were arrested in connection with Walker’s death. Lacy already has been tried and sentenced to death.
Walker’s burned body was found Aug. 30, 2007, in a bedroom of a home on Beaver Hollow Road near Garfield.
He was 47.
Lacy attacked and beat Walker with fireplace tools, according to court records.
He also stabbed Walker five times in the chest and cut his throat before setting the fire in the bedroom, according to records. Laswell admitted to striking Walker twice with a weight bar.
- THE MORNING NEWS
Oklahoma gets good budget news
OKLAHOMA CITY - State finance officials said next year’s budget shortage is not as large as initially feared.
Figures released Friday by the Oklahoma Tax Commission show the Legislature will have about $106.4 million more to spend than was estimated in December. That brings the total hole in next year’s budget to about $500 million.
A large portion of the increased revenue - about $64.3 million - comes from a revised estimate on the gross production tax on oil.
The original estimate was based on oil selling for about $82 per barrel, while the revised calculations project a price of about $91 per barrel.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSLawyer’s case returned to panel
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that its own Committee on Professional Conduct was too lenient when it issued a caution to a Little Rock lawyer who was found guilty of possession of methamphetamine.
But James Clouette’s conduct wasn’t serious enough to warrant disbarment, which was the sanction sought by Stark Ligon, the committee’s executive director, Justice Donald Corbin said in an 11-page opinion.
Clouette was charged in Pulaski County in March 2009 with felony methamphetamine possession. He was found guilty after a bench trial on Nov. 23, 2009.
Clouette was ordered to pay a $150 fine and was placed on monitored probation for two years. If he successfully completes the twoyear probationary period, no judgment of conviction will be entered against him.
Corbin said “cautions” are reserved for “lesser conduct,” and no one disputes that the charge Clouette faced amounted to serious misconduct. The Supreme Court ordered the committee to take back the case and consider “an appropriate sanction,” which could include a reprimand, an interim suspension or a suspension - all short of disbarment.
Attorney discipline decisions organized by date are available on the Internet at courts.arkansas.gov/ professional_conduct.
A searchable database of licensed attorneys by name, including any disciplinary records, can be accessed at courts.state.ar.us/attylist/new.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
2 Arkansas men
die in accidents
Two Arkansans died in accidents Wednesday and Thursday on state roadways.
Daniel Lee Moore, 31, of Nashville was headed east on U.S. 67 just west of Hope about 1 a.m. Wednesday when his Honda crossed the center line and struck an oncoming truck, Arkansas State Police reported. Moore died at the scene.
Thomas Gulley, 46, of Gurdon, the driver of the truck, was injured.
A Jasper man died Thursday in a one-car accident on Arkansas 7, state police said.
Jay Buford, 48, was headed north near Marble Falls about 5:20 a.m. when his Buick left the road, went down an embankment and hit a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEAgreement made
in girl’s shooting
NEOSHO, Mo. - The parents of a Joplin girl who was accidentally shot to death at a slumber party have settled with the homeowner’s insurance company.
The mother of 14-year-old Megan Reppond will receive $97,500, while her father will get $2,500. The settlement was approved this week in Jasper County Circuit Court.
Megan was shot in the head Dec. 27 at the party in Neosho.
Authorities said Megan and another girl hadn’t been expected to enter a room where they found a holstered, .38-caliber revolver lying on a piano. One of the girls took it out of the holster, and it discharged.
Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said the homeowner had taken the gun out of a safe to see if it fit a new holster. No charges or lawsuits were filed.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 02/19/2011