Fire razes church
near Paragould
PARAGOULD - Fire destroyed the Browns Chapel Baptist Church just south of Paragould on Tuesday night as high winds fanned the blaze and hindered firefighters, officials said Wednesday.
The fire was reported about 11:30 p.m., said Capt.
Kimmy Rogers of the Paragould Fire Department, which offered assistance to the South Greene County Volunteer Fire Department in battling the fire.
There were no injuries, Rogers said.
Pastor Royce D. Boling said he arrived to see flames beginning to shoot from the church’s roof.
“There were strong winds blowing from the front coming in, and that just kept the fire going,” he said.
Fire destroyed the church’s sanctuary and fellowship hall, but firefighters were able to save the church’s Family Life Center, which is in a metal building adjacent to the church, Boling said.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, Rogers said.
The church was built in 1987 on Greene County Road 765 off of Arkansas 358 southwest of Paragould. About 400 people attend services weekly, Boling said.
The pastor said he planned to hold Wednesday evening services in the church’s parking lot. He said he will rebuild the church.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Searcy man gets 30 years in killing
SEARCY - A Searcy man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend.
Charles Berry entered the plea Wednesday in White County Circuit Court. He was charged in the April 20, 2012, death of 41-year-old Donna Kennedy.
The Daily Citizen reported that Berry first reported Kennedy’s death as a suicide.
Medical examiners later determined that Kennedy’s wounds weren’t self-inflicted.
The White County sheriff’s office said Berry then told authorities that a loaded gun accidentally discharged while he was playing with it.
Deputies said the shooting did not appear to be premeditated.
Authorities said Berry has been held at the White County jail since his arrest. Deputy prosecutor Cynthia Baker said Berry has accumulated 289 days of jail credit.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chief: Innocent
in embezzlement
SALLISAW, Okla. - The Sallisaw police chief has pleaded innocent to one charge of embezzling public money.
Police Chief Shaloa Edwards entered his plea Wednesday. Prosecutors charged him earlier this month in the theft of $60 from the department.
The Southwest Times Record reported that no further court date has been set.
City officials said Edwards left an IOU in the cash drawer and later repaid the money. An affidavit from Sallisaw Police Capt. Beau Gabbert said the city’s petty cash fund can be used only for employee expenses, not personal use.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSOverdose of meth cited in cell death
McALESTER, Okla. - An autopsy shows that an inmate found unresponsive in his cell at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary died from a methamphetamine overdose.
Mark Stacey was found in his cell Dec. 9 and was pronounced dead later that night. According to court records, two balloons containing methamphetamine were found in Stacey’s gastrointestinal system.
An affidavit said one of the balloons was intact and another had ruptured.
The McAlester News-Capital reported that investigators reviewed Stacey’s visiting records and charged Monica Mae Jackson with one count of taking contraband into a prison.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 04/26/2013