Meth, heroin bust valued at $700,000
MAYFLOWER - Faulkner County sheriff’s deputies seized 21 pounds of methamphetamine and 2 pounds of brown-powder heroin in a traffic stop.
Investigators revealed the bust on Wednesday, saying the drugs had a street value of $700,000.
The traffic stop occurred May 24, but law enforcement agencies commonly wait to announce a drug seizure to give investigators time to find more people connected to the shipment.
The Log Cabin Democrat reported deputies stopped the car on Interstate 40 at Mayflower.
The driver had a Nevada drivers license and told officials he didn’t know the car contained drugs. He said he was driving to New York to visit a friend.
The driver faces two drug trafficking charges.
The car was a rental out of Las Vegas.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSEvasive abuser will serve 13-year stint
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - An Alaska man who eluded authorities for nearly a decade has been sentenced for sexually abusing a young girl in the 1990s.
Franklin Patrom, 50, of Juneau, Alaska, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to sodomy charges.
Prosecutors said the abuse started in 1992 when the victim was 9 and continued until 1996. When the girl reported the abuse in 2001, Patrom fled Springfield. He was arrested in 2003 in Alaska but posted bond and again fled.
He was arrested again in 2011 and transferred to Greene County to await trial.
KYTV-TV reported Patrom agreed to a plea deal that will require him to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSHusband sentenced for slaying of wife
JAY, Okla. - A Grove man has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the slaying of his wife and was sentenced to life in prison.
Prosecutors charged Doyle E. Handle, 52, of Grove in the May 23 death of Dena Davenport, 49.
The Daily Oklahoman reported that Assistant District Attorney Kenny Wright said Wednesday Handle is remorseful and taking responsibility for his actions.
Wright said Handle must serve 38 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Davenport was killed by a gunshot in her head.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Youth counselor shot dead at home
TULSA - A counselor with the Tulsa County Juvenile Bureau is dead from a gunshot wound and police are not ruling out revenge as a motive.
Police said Wayne Bell, 48, was found fatally wounded outside his home Wednesday morning.
No suspects have been identified but the Tulsa World reported Bell had told police someone fired several shots at his home Monday evening. Police said it is possible that someone Bell counseled targeted him.
Bell’s son, Unique Moore, said his father was a loving person who treated youths he counseled gently. Moore said his father would try topoint children in the right direction and get them to realize how they could improve their lives.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS City leader resigns after accusations
OWASSO, Okla. - The city manager of Owasso has resigned, saying he wants to prevent “further adverse publicity” for the Tulsa-area community.
Rodney Ray in April ordered police officers to delete video showing a traffic stop involving a vice mayor being investigated for driving under the influence. Police said the vice mayor was ultimately driven home by officers and not charged.
Ray was also accused of bouncing a check and the subject of an undisclosed employee complaint.
Owasso City Council member Charlie Brown said Ray’s resignation lets Owasso “move on, pure and simple,” according to the Tulsa World.
The council approved a severance package worth $185,073 Tuesday night. The newspaper said Ray, who is 66, declined requests for interviews.
Ray was city manager twice, for a total of more than 20 years.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSBlock grants given to cities, counties
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission has awarded $1,660,568 in Community Development Block Grants, a Wednesday news release said.
All Arkansas cities and counties are eligible for the General Assistance and Innovative Projects grant program with the exception of 14 entitlement cities that receive Community Development Block Grants funding directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. To be eligible, more than half the population benefiting from the grants must be of low to moderate income.
“These improvements create pride in community while preparing the area for growth,” Basil Julian, director of the commission’s Grants Division, said in the news release.
The projects include the following cities and counties:
Jericho - $216,000 to prepare and pave five failing streets.
Cove - $134,348 for street improvements and widening of Polk Road 32 and Old Cove Road.
Crawfordsville - $99,000 to renovate the city library to add space for after-school programs, and storage for books and educational materials.
Dewitt - $213,220 to remodel Dana’s House for the purpose of housing young adults who have aged out of foster care.
Harrison - $78,000 to remove and replace the HVAC system, doors, windows and roof of the House of Hope and install a new security system.
Marianna - $212,000 to prepare and pave failing streets.
Dallas County - $216,000 for construction of a new building for the Sunshine House foster home.
Lonoke County - $216,000 for construction of a 2,750-square-foot building addition to the Wade Knox Children’s Advocacy Center.
Saline County - $216,000 for construction of a new facility in Bryant to expand current services offered by Civitan Services.
Stone County - $60,000 to purchase a walk-in cooler and freezer for the Stone County Food Pantry.
- ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 06/28/2013