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Stories by Bill Bowden
Judge denies Bigo Barnett’s prison delay request
A Gravette man sentenced to 4½ years for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot won't get three months to prepare for prison, a federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled on Tuesday.Richard...
May 31, 2023
University of Arkansas professor Purvis dies
FAYETTEVILLE -- Hoyt Purvis died on Friday after an illness, said his wife Marion Purvis. He was 83.During his colorful life, Purvis had been kidnapped by Johnny Cash, dangled his feet in the Black Se...
May 27, 2023
Covington named as next Metroplan director
Casey Covington has been selected as Metroplan's new executive director, according to a news release.He has been serving as interim director since December, when former Executive Director Tab Town...
May 27, 2023
Longtime University of Arkansas journalism professor Hoyt Purvis dies
Hoyt Purvis, a longtime journalism professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, died on Friday after an illness, his wife, Marion Purvis, confirmed.Hoyt Purvis, 83, served as press secretary...
May 26, 2023
Barnett wants 3 months to prepare for prison
WASHINGTON -- A Gravette man wants three months to "arrange for his affairs" before he reports to prison to begin serving a 4½-year sentence for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot of J...
May 26, 2023
U.S. Capitol riotter Richard 'Bigo' Barnett wants 3 months to prepare for prison
WASHINGTON — A Gravette man wants three months to “arrange for his affairs” before he reports to prison to begin serving a 4.5 year sentence for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot of ...
May 25, 2023
Richard "Bigo" Barnett sentenced to 4.5 years; plans to appeal conviction
WASHINGTON — Richard “Bigo” Barnett was sentenced on Wednesday to serve 4.5 years in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. District Judge Christopher R. C...
May 24, 2023
Bigo Barnett sentenced to 54 months in prison for role in Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — Richard “Bigo” Barnett, 63, of Gravette, was sentenced on Wednesday to serve 54 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper for his role in the U.S. Ca...
May 24, 2023
Judge denies Bigo Barnett’s motions for acquittal or a new trial
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge in the District of Columbia has denied Richard "Bigo" Barnett's motions for acquittal or a new trial.U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper issued the or...
May 24, 2023
U.S. relentlessly pursued Barnett because of his fame, attorney argues
The federal government has relentlessly pursued Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette, whose behavior during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, warrants months of incarceration, not years, ...
May 19, 2023
Three properties named to Arkansas’ Most Endangered Places list
Preserve Arkansas announced its 2023 Most Endangered Places list on Wednesday.The list includes the Central High School Neighborhood Historic District in Little Rock, the oldest building in Osceola an...
May 19, 2023
Attorney says 7 years would be life sentence for Gravette man found guilty in Capitol riot
Richard "Bigo" Barnett, 63, of Gravette should be sentenced to no more than 12 months in prison for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot, and get credit for four months already served, his atto...
May 18, 2023
Three properties named to Arkansas’ Most Endangered Places list
Preserve Arkansas announced its 2023 Most Endangered Places list on Wednesday.The list includes the Central High School Neighborhood Historic District in Little Rock, the oldest building in Osceola an...
May 18, 2023
Prosecutors say Barnett should serve more than 7 years for role in Capitol riot
Federal prosecutors say Richard “Bigo” Barnett of Gravette should serve 7.25 years in prison for his role in the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021.They also recommend a $25,000 fine, $2,000 res...
May 17, 2023
Harrison’s downtown entertainment district opens
HARRISON -- Harrison's downtown entertainment district opened Friday and all went well, said Matt Bell, executive director of Explore Harrison."There was not one single issue -- not one," he said. "It...
May 17, 2023
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts wants protection from Disfarmer discovery
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation has requested a protective order against discovery from Fred Stewart, special administrator of the estate of Mike Disfarmer, an eccentric Heber Springs phot...
May 16, 2023
Manhunt, standoff end in arrest of man
MOUNTAIN HOME — A Mountain Home man was arrested Wednesday after a chase in Baxter County that involved gunfire, a subsequent manhunt and standoff in a barricaded mobile home.Terry Lee Shumate, ...
May 13, 2023
Mountain Home man arrested after manhunt, stand-off
A Mountain Home man was arrested Wednesday after a chase in Baxter County that involved gunfire, a subsequent manhunt and stand-off in a barricaded mobile home.Terry Lee Shumate, 39, was arrested by t...
May 12, 2023
Harrison to host soft opening of new entertainment district today, allowing open containers of alcohol
HARRISON -- Harrison's downtown entertainment district is scheduled to open today.From 4:30 to 8 p.m., adults can legally walk from one participating business to another carrying an open container...
May 12, 2023
Dardanelle voters reject 8-mill property tax increase
Voters in Dardanelle rejected an 8-mill school district property tax increase on Tuesday.Complete but unofficial results were:For180Against606According to the ballot wording, money from the proposed t...
May 11, 2023
Northwest Arkansas Hospitals to pay $1 million in Medicaid settlement
Northwest Arkansas Hospitals LLC will pay the state over $1 million to settle 246 Medicaid claims, according to Attorney General Tim Griffin.He announced the settlement on Friday after an investigatio...
April 29, 2023
Trial of former Omaha principal facing murder charge postponed
The jury trial for a former Omaha, Ark., high school principal has been postponed from May 22 to July 10, according to the docket in his Boone County Circuit Court case.Rocky Brian Dodson, 53, is char...
April 28, 2023
Flippin business owner sentenced to 30 days for his role in Capitol breach
A Flippin coffee shop owner was ordered on Wednesday to spend 30 days in prison for his actions during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.Jon Thomas Mott, 40, of Yellville, pleaded guilty to paradi...
April 27, 2023
Hutchinson has “gone through the fire,” wife says
BENTONVILLE -- For over 100 years, the statue of a Confederate soldier was the prominent fixture in this town square.But not on Wednesday as former Gov. Asa Hutchinson took to the steps of the Benton ...
April 27, 2023
Former Omaha school principal wants murder trial postponed
A former Omaha, Ark., high school principal wants his May 22 trial to be postponed, according to a filing in Boone County Circuit Court in Harrison.Rocky Brian Dodson, 53, is charged with second-degre...
April 26, 2023
Hunter Biden ordered to appear in Batesville courtroom
Hunter Biden must appear in all court hearings in his Arkansas paternity case, including an in-person hearing scheduled for Monday, May 1, in Batesville, a judge ruled on Monday.Independence County Ci...
April 25, 2023
Judge orders Hunter Biden to appear in Arkansas paternity court hearings
Hunter Biden must appear in all court hearings concerning his Arkansas paternity case, including one scheduled for May 1, Independence County Circuit Judge Holly Meyer ruled Monday.Meyer expressed fru...
April 24, 2023
Filing: Hunter Biden “playing games” with Arkansas court
Hunter Biden hasn't provided "specific discovery" as ordered by a judge in his Arkansas paternity case, according to a motion filed Friday in Independence County Circuit Court.Biden, the...
April 22, 2023
Barnett’s lawyers want new trial
Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette should be granted a new trial because he and the jury that convicted him weren't provided with a legal definition of "corruptly" as it pertai...
April 22, 2023
Plea hearing set for Madison County man in U.S. Capitol riot case
A Hindsville man charged in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot has apparently reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.Brennen Cline Machacek, 32, has a plea agreement hearing scheduled for May 4,...
April 21, 2023
Barnett’s attorney admonished by judge in another case
A federal judge in the District of Columbia admonished the former lead attorney for Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette in an order on Thursday.Joseph McBride of New York City wasn't init...
April 21, 2023
Plea hearing set for Hindsville man charged in Capitol riot
A Hindsville man charged in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot has apparently reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.Brennen Cline Machacek, 32, has a plea agreement hearing scheduled for May 4,...
April 20, 2023
Mott argues for probation only in Jan. 6 Capitol breach
A Flippin coffee shop owner arrested in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot believes a "short sentence of probation" would be sufficient punishment, along with $500 restitution, according ...
April 18, 2023
Time for a new Arkansas state bird?
After almost a century, is Arkansas ready for a new state bird?Two bills were proposed in the last legislative session to change the name of the state bird -- to painted bunting or mallard duck -- but...
April 16, 2023
Barnett sentencing set for May 24
The sentencing of Richard "Bigo" Barnett in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot has been postponed from May 3 to May 24.U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper filed an order Friday morn...
April 15, 2023
U.S. Capitol rioter Barnett's sentencing postponed until May 24
The sentencing of Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette has been postponed from May 3 to May 24.U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper filed an order this morning granting a motion from the ...
April 14, 2023
Prosecutors: Sentence Barnett on May 3, as scheduled
Federal prosecutors have asked a District of Columbia judge not to postpone Richard "Bigo" Barnett's sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for May 3.Jonathan Gross, one of Barnett's...
April 13, 2023
Arkansas gas station, jail and dormitories named to National Register
A gas station in Fordyce, college dormitories in Magnolia and the Flippin City Jail have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.That's according to Ralph S. Wilcox, National Regist...
April 13, 2023
Gravette man asks for sentencing to be postponed in his Capitol riot case
An attorney for Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette has asked that his May 3 sentencing be postponed.In a motion filed late Monday, Jonathan Gross wrote that a 107-page decision issued Friday...
April 12, 2023
Defending Bigo Barnett and other Jan. 6ers took toll on lawyer’s health
Representing Jan. 6 defendants such as Richard "Bigo" Barnett, Christopher Quaglin and Ryan Taylor Nichols "has taken a profound toll on my health, my safety ... and my resources, wheth...
April 11, 2023
Tornado alleys stay in their lanes, but Arkansas in 'fatality alley'
Over the past 40 years, tornado activity has increased by about 10% in the mid-South and decreased by the same amount in the Texas panhandle through southwestern Kansas, said Harold Brooks, a senior r...
April 9, 2023
Judge approves departure of half of Barnett’s legal team
A federal judge in the District of Columbia approved motions on Thursday for two of Richard "Bigo" Barnett's four lawyers to leave his case before sentencing, which is scheduled for May ...
April 7, 2023
Arkansas Supreme Court denies motion to dismiss West Memphis 3 case
The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday denied a motion by the state to dismiss an appeal for new DNA testing in the West Memphis Three case.The appeal of a Crittenden County Circuit Court decision was...
April 7, 2023
Governor: Cleanup, recovery crews continue work despite new round of storms in Arkansas
Severe weather that stretched across Arkansas overnight Tuesday and into Wednesday did little to curb cleanup and recovery efforts in the state, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said."Despite the fact...
April 6, 2023
Geyer stays on Barnett’s legal team
An attorney for high-profile Jan. 6 defendants has decided to stay on Richard "Bigo" Barnett's legal team through his sentencing, which is scheduled for May 3 in Washington, D.C.After a ...
April 6, 2023
Carroll County sees damage from Wednesday morning’s severe weather
For the most part, Arkansas dodged another round of tornadoes Wednesday.But David Writer isn't so sure.He said an apparent tornado damaged a Tobacco Outlet on Berryville's Main Street before i...
April 6, 2023
Barnett OK with his lawyers leaving? Judge wants to know
A federal judge in the District of Columbia wants to make sure Richard "Bigo" Barnett of Gravette is OK with three of his four attorneys exiting the case before his sentencing."I must s...
April 4, 2023
Twisters’ death toll up to 5: Tornado strongest to hit Little Rock since ’99
Recovery efforts were underway Saturday in central Arkansas and Wynne after tornadoes plowed through the state on Friday, killing five people and injuring dozens.Four fatalities were reported in Wynne...
April 1, 2023
Little Rock mayor to declare emergency in response to tornado
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. will declare a state of emergency to allow the city to receive federal and state disaster aid as it recovers from Friday’s devastating storm, city officials announced...
April 1, 2023
Memphis weather service sends team to assess Wynne storm damage
The National Weather Service office in Memphis has dispatched a team of three people to Wynne to survey the storm damage and determine if a tornado struck the city on Friday."It'll probably b...
April 1, 2023
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