Man, 74, drowns in Millwood Lake
A man drowned in Millwood Lake near White Cliffs on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, authorities said.
James Steely, 74, was pronounced dead about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday by Little River County Deputy Coroner Lynsey Gwin, County Sheriff Gary Gregory said.
Steely had gone fishing Tuesday evening by himself near White Cliffs in the northwest section of Millwood Lake. Family members contacted area law enforcement agencies about 7 a.m.
Wednesday, saying Steely had not returned home.
Arkansas Game and Fish wildlife officers found the man’s body along a grassy shore. The body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for an autopsy.
His boat had drifted south of White Cliffs and was on the shore with the motor still running.
Agencies participating in the search include Little River, Sevier and Howard counties, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Army Corps of Engineers, and state park officials.
- TEXARKANA GAZETTEStudents in Joplin help Moore school
JOPLIN, Mo. - Students from the southwest Missouri district where nine schools were destroyed or damaged in a May 2011 tornado are headed to Moore, Okla., to help children who lost their school to a tornado last year.
Eleven fifth-graders from Stapleton Elementary School in Joplin will travel 225 miles by bus April 4 to the Oklahoma community. They’ll bring 300 books and $1,000 in pennies raised to help children at Plaza Towers Elementary, which was destroyed in a May 2013 tornado.
Nearly 7,000 homes were destroyed and 161 people were killed in the EF-5 tornado that struck Joplin on May 22, 2011.
In Moore, an EF-5 tornado killed 24 people and destroyed 1,100 homes on May 20, 2013.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPoliceman named in shooting death
TULSA - Police in Tulsa have released the name of the officer who shot and killed a 27-year-old man.
A statement from the department Wednesday said Sgt. Mark Wollmershauser Jr., 32, was involved in the shooting as officers served a narcotics-related search warrant on a house on the city’s north side Tuesday.
The statement said that Wollmershauser, who was hired by the department in 2005, is on paid administrative leave while the death is being investigated. Police said in the statement that he is currently working “in an undercover assignment.”
Officer Leland Ashley said police arrived at the house shortly before 5:30 p.m., and the shooting occurred moments later. Police said the victim, DeAndre Starks, died later at a local hospital.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMan to stand trial in ’84 Joplin death
JOPLIN, Mo. - A man who spent almost 30 years as a fugitive after the death of a Joplin woman waived his right to a preliminary hearing and will stand trial for first-degree murder.
Paul Moses, 65, was bound over for trial Wednesday in the death of Frances Ramsey,62, in August 1984. His first trial division hearing was scheduled for April 11.
The Joplin Globe reported Ramsey’s body was found in the unoccupied half of a duplex the morning after she was seen leaving a bar with Moses. She died from bluntforce trauma to her head.
Moses fled and was not captured until last August in San Diego when he applied for Social Security benefits.
He has pleaded innocent.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cherokee Nation gets health award
TAHLEQUAH, Okla.
- The Cherokee Nation’s health services department is receiving accolades for meeting certain health criteria.
Cherokee Nation Health Services and the tribe’s Head Start program recently received the Certified Healthy Oklahoma award from the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
Three of the tribe’s health centers also received the award. They are the Vinita Health Center, Three Rivers Health Center in Muskogee and Redbird Smith Health Center in Sallisaw.
Certification is given to businesses, restaurants, schools, campuses and communities based on health screenings, tobacco prevention, behavioral health services and more.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Trail enthusiasts seek renovations
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Twenty years after the Frisco Highline hiking and biking trail opened, supporters are discussing ways to renovate the 35-mile trail between Springfield and Bolivar.
The trail, built along former railroad tracks, is operated by Ozark Greenways through the federal rail banking program. That group’s executive director, Terry Whaley, said its board recently met to discuss how to improve and preserve the track for another 20 years.
The long-range plan focuses on promoting the trail locally and regionally, with an effort to market it as a destination for bicyclists and a site for competitive biking and running events, The Springfield News-Leader reported.
Supporters of the trail also want to place more markers noting interesting historical facts about the trail and communities that once existed there. Another possibility is establishing camping areas near Walnut Grove and Wishart trail heads for youth groups.
Volunteers are cutting down some of the trees and tangled undergrowth to open “landscape windows” at various scenic points to provide views and air movement along the trail. And a former horse trail next to the main path was recently turned into a mountain-biking path.
Whaley said the 10-footwide main trail still is underused.
The nonprofit Ozark Greenways relies on volunteers, donations, fundraisers and grants to develop and maintain the Frisco Highline Trail.
Ongoing maintenance costs about $10,000 annually, Whaley said.
The lack of funding has limited the number of fresh-water stations and restrooms on the trail.
Whaley is planning a 20th anniversary celebration for June 7 - National Trails Day - and a renewed push to make the trail more widely known.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 03/28/2014