The state/region in brief

3 from Illinois killed

in accident on I-55

BLYTHEVILLE -- Arkansas State Police said three Illinois residents were killed and a fourth was injured in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 55 at Blytheville.

The police report states that Elva Figurero, 46; Gabriel Figurero, 46; and Navor Medina, 36 -- all from Chicago -- died from injuries suffered in the crash Sunday.

The report states that the three were passengers in a southbound sport utility vehicle that overturned and crashed into a ditch after a rear tire blew out.

The driver of the SUV was injured and taken to a Memphis hospital.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Police chief quits,

leaving 1-man force

PANGBURN -- The police chief in Pangburn has resigned, leaving the town of about 600 in White County with one police officer.

City Recorder Shirley Ramsey told The Daily Citizen that Police Chief John Fenton resigned Dec. 8 to pursue other employment.

Mayor Todd Slayton said he hopes to have an officer hired soon after the first of the year. He said the White County sheriff's office is helping patrol the town in the meantime.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Man dies after truck

crashes into river

NORFORK -- The Baxter County sheriff's office said a Mountain Home man was killed when he crashed his pickup into the Norfork River.

Sheriff John Montgomery said the body of Brandon Wolf, 28, was found just before 7:30 a.m. Sunday under his overturned truck in the river at Norfork.

Montgomery said a river guide first reported seeing the truck that had gone off County Road 63. The sheriff said it appears the pickup was westbound on the county road when it went off the roadway to the right and down an embankment before overturning in the river.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Plane clips tower,

2 injured in crash

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The pilot of a small, private airplane somehow avoided disaster after clipping a southwest Missouri cellphone tower and crashing into a vacant lot on a university campus.

The Springfield News-Leader reported that four people were aboard the plane Friday afternoon when it hit the tower and traveled 1 1/2 miles over rush-hour traffic before going down on property owned by Evangel University less than 100 feet from several houses.

A Springfield spokesman said two people suffered minor injuries and the other two were unhurt.

KY3 reported that the pilot was Bill Perkin, owner of KSPR-TV, while the plane was owned by Integrity Home Care of Springfield.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash. Investigators were expected to arrive at the scene Saturday morning.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cord blamed for fire

killing 8-year-old

CATOOSA, Okla. -- An old power cord is being blamed for a house fire that killed an 8-year-old girl in Catoosa.

Catoosa Fire Chief Denus Benton said that the cord started the fire that killed Lauren Creel early Friday. Investigators said the girl was trapped in a bedroom and unable to escape.

Her teenage sister and her mother were able to escape the flames and were hospitalized. Their conditions were not released.

Firefighters said fighting the flames was difficult because there are no fire hydrants in the rural neighborhood and that the home is a total loss.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tribal lawyers join

U.S. attorney staff

TULSA -- Tribal attorneys with the Cherokee Nation and the Osage Nation have been sworn in as tribal special assistant United States attorneys to help prosecute federal cases.

Cherokee Nation Deputy Attorney General Sara Hill and Osage Nation Attorney General Jeff Jones have been sworn in by U.S. Attorney Danny Williams Sr. of the Northern District of Oklahoma.

The Northern District has nearly 15 tribes and Williams said the two tribal special assistants will help staff, prosecute more cases and work to improve relationships with the tribes.

Both Hill and Jones took their oaths of office Wednesday.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

7 quakes recorded

Sunday in Oklahoma

CHEROKEE, Okla. -- The U.S. Geological Survey recorded seven earthquakes Sunday in Oklahoma, including two above magnitude 4.0.

No injuries or damage are reported as a result of the temblors.

A 4.3-magnitude quake struck at 3:14 a.m. about 13 miles northeast of Cherokee, and a magnitude-4.1 quake was recorded at 3:18 p.m. near Pawnee.

Magnitude-2.8 and -3.1 quakes were recorded shortly after 4 a.m. southeast of Pawnee. Two quakes west of Perry were magnitude 3.8 at 9:48 a.m. and magnitude 3 at 10:09 a.m. The magnitude-3.8 quake was updated from an initial 3.4.

A 2.9-magnitude quake was at 1:02 p.m. southwest of Helena.

Geologists said quakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 are generally the smallest felt by humans, and damage isn't likely at magnitudes below 4.0.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hurt man identified

in officer shooting

NORMAN, Okla. -- Police in Norman have identified a man listed in critical condition after an officer-involved shooting.

Detectives said Monday that Martin Sanchez-Juarez, 34, was injured in Sunday's shooting and remains in critical condition at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center. The officer, who has not been identified, is on paid administrative assignment pending an investigation.

Police were called about 11:30 a.m. by a family member who indicated that Sanchez-Juarez was out of control and "breaking stuff." Preliminary information indicates that Sanchez-Juarez refused to comply with commands from an officer to drop a hammer he was carrying.

Police said the officer fired after the man continued moving toward him and knocked the driver's side mirror off the police car with the hammer. Sanchez-Juarez was shot three times.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Short-lived tornado

in Arcadia rated EF0

ARCADIA, Okla. -- A small tornado that touched ground briefly in Arcadia has been rated an EF0 by the National Weather Service in Norman.

Weather service meteorologist Marc Austin said Monday that the tornado caused no damage and appeared to have been on the ground for 30 seconds or less in the small town in the northeastern Oklahoma City metro.

The preliminary rating for the Sunday afternoon twister is the smallest given by the weather service and indicates wind speeds of 40-72 mph.

Austin said there were several reports of funnel clouds in the state Sunday, but no others appear to have touched the ground.

He said tornadoes in December are "not terribly unusual." He said the last tornado in Oklahoma in December was Dec. 31, 2010, in Adair County.

-- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NW News on 12/16/2014

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