6,700 customers
get power back
HUNTSVILLE - Electricity has been restored to more than 6,700 Carroll Electric Co-operative customers who lost power.
According to the company, more than 4,100 residents in Madison County, 300 in Benton County, 100 in Carroll County and eight in Washington County were without power for about 90 minutes on Saturday.
A Carroll Electric spokesman said that three substations went out after a tree fell on a transition line south of Eureka Springs.
Those substations included Huntsville, Eureka Springs and Clifty.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSLR base wins
Air Force honor
The 19th Operations Group at Little Rock Air Force Base on Wednesday was named outstanding operations intelligence unit of the year by the Air Force Air Mobility Command and is now in the running to be named the best across the Air Force.
Air Mobility Command received 70 nominations for individual and group awards.
Winners will compete for national honors against the top picks from the Air Force’s other seven major commands.
“All nominations reflected outstanding organizations and professionals,” said Col.
Martin MacNabb, the Air Mobility Command’s director of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
The intelligence unit of the operations group is part of Little Rock’s relatively new 19th Airlift Wing. The 19th began at Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville a little more than two years ago.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Panel to discuss Egypt at UALR
A panel discussion on the future of Egypt will be held Friday at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Professors with ties to Egypt and the Middle East will discuss what the future may hold for Egypt and how it could affect the United States.
The discussion, postponed from Feb. 4 because of weather, will take place at noon in the Student Government Association Leadership Lounge on the second floor of the Donaghey Student Center.
The event is free and open to the public.
Panelists include Jacek Lubecki, political science professor and coordinator of the Middle Eastern Studies Program; Clea Bunch, history professor and chairman of the Middle Eastern Studies Committee; Amin Akhnoukh, assistant professor of construction management and a native Egyptian; and Krista Lewis, anthropology professor and a member of the Middle Eastern studies faculty.
The event is sponsored by the Middle Eastern Studies Program. More information is available from Lubecki at [email protected] or by calling (501) 683-7029.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE12-year-old finds remains in woods
The Pulaski County sheriff’s office is investigating skeletal remains found Friday afternoon by a 12-year-old playing in the woods near his family home.
County Coroner Garland Camper said on Saturday morning that the boy “came across what he thought was human bones” about 4:30 p.m. Friday near the 15000 block of Burlingame Roadin unincorporated Pulaski County.
Camper said he examined the remains about 6:50 p.m.
and determined that the bones are human and “appears to be a female.”
Lt. Carl Minden, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said that fading light and the steep terrain led officers to call off the search of the area Friday night. He said authorities were searching for more remains Saturday.
He said officers also would be searching missing persons files even though there is no positive identification of the remains.
“You can tell a little bit by looking at the bones, like stature, so we’ll be looking at files that could be related,” he said. “But basically we’re in a waiting game until the remains are identified.” - ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Paddleboat gets March reopening
BRANSON - A paddlewheeler that ran aground in southwest Missouri in December, stranding more than 600 people overnight, is expected to reopen March 25.
The Showboat Branson Belle cruises Table Rock Lake from late March through early December.
No one was injured when the ship ran aground Dec.
11 during a windstorm. The Coast Guard cleared it to resume onboard shows within weeks, but no cruising was allowed because of extensive damage.
Officials with Herschend Family Entertainment said the 15-year-old boat needed repairs to the hull. It’s also getting a new propulsion system and has undergone extensive remodeling.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Drowning victim found near Dover
DOVER - Authorities said a man has drowned in Pope County.
The body of a man in his 30s was located Saturday in the Long Pool Recreation Area northwest of Dover, Pope County Sheriff Aaron Duvall said.
The sheriff’s office received a call about 7 p.m.
Friday of a possible drowning, Duvall said. Dive teams searched until about 11:30 p.m. Friday, and returned about 10:15 a.m. Saturday.
Foul play is not suspected, authorities said.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 18 on 02/20/2011