Burn ban lifted in Madison County
HUNTSVILLE - Madison County Judge Frank Weaver has lifted a countywide burn ban, his office announced Tuesday.
The ban on all outdoor burning had been in effect since Thursday because of high winds, low humidity and dry conditions. Weekend storms alleviated some of the dryness, according to the county judge’s office.
The National Weather Service has forecast highs in the mid- to upper 50s and calm winds of about 5 mph for the remainder of the week around the county.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Welfare worker
cleared in death
OKLAHOMA CITY - A state child welfare worker who committed suicide after the murder of a 5-year-old girl has been cleared of wrongdoing, prosecutors said.
Pottawatomie County District Attorney Richard Smothermon said Donald Wheeler and Wheeler’s supervisor, Wes Priest, were not to blame for the beating death of Serenity Deal.
Serenity was killed by her father, Sean Brooks, less than a month after the state removed her from foster care and put her in Brooks’ care.
Brooks pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
Wheeler repeatedly warned against placing Serenity in Brooks’ care but was ignored, prosecutors said.
Wheeler’s family told The Oklahoman they are relieved Wheeler was exonerated and that he was “one of the good guys in this horrible case.” - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Apartment fire injures six
MANNFORD, Okla. - Investigators were working to determine the cause of a fire at an apartment complex in Mannford that injured six people.
Authorities said the fire started about 6 p.m. Monday at the Salt Creek Apartments on Hinton Boulevard. Authorities told Tulsa television station KJRH that witnesses reported hearing a loud blast before the fire broke out.
Six people were injured in the blaze, including a volunteer firefighter who lives near the apartment complex.
KJRH reported that the firefighter suffered burns on his hands as he helped pull a woman from the burning building.
Authorities said firefighters were able to contain the blaze in about an hour.
Investigators said they hoped to determine the cause of the fire by late Tuesday.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Police: Mother
gave child meth
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A southwest Missouri woman was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for smoking methamphetamine with her 13-yearold daughter.
The Springfield News-Leader reported the Springfield woman told police she might have smoked meth with her daughter five or six times.
According to court documents, the daughter told police her mother gave her meth more times than she could remember. Prosecutors said Lampe told police she knew it was wrong to give her daughter the drug, but she did it because the girlwould throw a fit if she didn’t get what she wanted.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Use of stun gun on patient probed
MUSKOGEE, Okla.
- Two Muskogee police officers are under investigation after allegations that they used a stun gun and pepper spray on a woman handcuffed to a hospital bed.
The department’s internal affairs division is investigating whether the officers were justified in their use of nonlethal force, Cpl. Pedro Zardeneta said.
The Muskogee Phoenix reported that Christina Boylan was shackled to a bed at Muskogee Regional Medical Center on Nov. 6 when the officers purportedly used the stun gun and pepper spray.
Authorities said Boylan was taken to the hospital after she reportedly barricaded herself in her house with a gun.
Her sister, Alisa Wren, said officers used a Taser twice while Boylan was in the hospital bed.
Muskogee police said the two officers, whose names weren’t released, remain on active duty.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oklahoma convict caught in Missouri
JOPLIN, Mo. - An escapee from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester was recaptured near Joplin, authorities in Missouri said.
Alvin Boyer, 27, was found hiding in the attic of a home Monday on the south side of Joplin, Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said.
Boyer was serving a nearly eight-year prison sentence for drug and weapons convictions when he escaped the Jackie Brannon Correctional Center on Oct. 26.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPolice seek bones
taken from tomb
BROKEN ARROW, Okla.
- Police in Broken Arrow were searching Tuesday for skeletal remains that were taken from a cemetery’s above-ground tomb.
Officers were called to Floral Haven Memorial Gardens on Monday after cemetery workers found the tomb had been tampered with and the remains were missing, Cpl. Leon Calhoun said.
Detectives had identified no suspects nor any motive., Calhoun said.
The name of the person was not released. Calhoun said officers were still working to find family members.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Standoff with pair
lasts nine hours
CLAREMORE, Okla. - A nine-hour standoff at a Claremore motel ended early Tuesday with the peaceful surrender of two suspects, authorities said.
The incident began Monday when officers spotted a stolen car in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, authorities told Tulsa television station KJRH.
Officers discovered a mobile methamphetamine lab inside the car, police said, and two men fled to the Elms Motel as officers tried to arrest them.
The men hid in the attic of one of the rooms, and the Tulsa Police Special Operations Unit was called in to help, police said.
Both men surrendered about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday shortly after Claremore police fired pepper balls into the room, Tulsa Sgt. Malcolm Wightman said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 11/14/2012