The state/region in brief

— Man shot to death in Arkadelphia

Authorities in Clark County are investigating the shooting death of a Little Rock man.

Clark County Sheriff Jason Watson said David Stewart, 36, was found dead Wednesday night at a home in Arkadelphia. Watson told the Daily Siftings Herald that officers responded to a report of a shooting and found Stewart dead from a gunshot wound.

The sheriff said several people were at the home at the time of the shooting, but he would not comment on a possible motive.

Watson said authorities arrested John Chad Griffin, 42, on a first-degree murder charge. Griffin was held in the Clark County jail, and authorities did not know if he had an attorney.

Stewart’s body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory for an autopsy.

  • THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Civil War website

adds 13 podcasts

Thirteen podcasts about the state’s Civil War history have been added to the website of the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, chairman Tom Dupree announced Wednesday.

The new podcasts were created in cooperation with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s School of Mass Communications.

The podcasts can be accessed at www.arkansascivilwar150.com under the Research Education tab.

The podcasts added are by:

Rhonda Stewart of the Arkansas Studies Institute in Little Rock, on an ancestral connection between the U.S. Colored Troops and the Central High School crisis.

Dr. Carl Moneyhon, a professor of history at UALR, on the facts and fiction regarding Confederate spy David O. Dodd.

Jane Jones-Schulz of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, on the special role bats played in the Civil War and on animals Civil War soldiers saw that now are extinct.

  • ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTEDarr whittles down

campaign debt

Lt. Gov. Mark Darr has reduced his campaign debt to about $24,000, down from a peak of $170,000, the Springdale Republican said Thursday.

Darr, who was elected in 2010, reduced his campaign debt from $34,344.93 to $24,194.93 during the last quarter of 2012, according to a campaign-finance report he filed this week.

“I feel good about where it’s at,” Darr said.

Darr reported receiving $3,750 in monetary contributions during the quarter, including $2,000 from Suzanne Murphy, the wife of stateHighway Commissioner R.

Madison Murphy, whose term expired this month.

R. Madison Murphy was co-chairman of the committee for a $1.8 billion ballot issue that voters passed in November to build four-lane highways and roads.

Darr endorsed the initiative but said donations to his campaign had nothing to do with his support for the measure.

“I’m very appreciative of my supporters, and I’ve been friends with a lot of those people prior to that,” Darr said.

Darr also reported receiving $1,000 from the Arkansas Asphalt Pavement Association Political Action Committee.

The lieutenant governor’s expenditures included $10,150 in debt retirement and $75.62 for office supplies from Wal-Mart.

  • ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

No arrests made

in 4 Tulsa killings

TULSA - Tulsa police said the investigation of a quadruple killing at a crimeridden south Tulsa apartment complex is in no danger of growing cold, despite concerns from some family members who are anxious for an arrest.

Police said detectives have interviewed dozens of people involved in the case and anonymous tips continue to come into the Crime Stoppers hot line.

The bodies of 23-year-old twin sisters Rebeika Powell and Kayetie Melchor, 33-year-old Misty Nunley and 55-year-old Julie Jackson were discovered last week.

A preliminary medical examiner’s report indicated that the women were killed by gunshots to the head.

No arrests have been made, and investigators have released no other details - including possible suspects, how the women knew one another or why they may have been targeted - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 8 on 01/19/2013

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