Little Rock investigating dozen drive-by shootings in one week

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Little Rock has had several drive-by shootings over the past week but police say recent ones don’t seem to be random.

An 18-year-old was shot Thursday and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police spokesman Steve McClanahan told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that it appeared that the shooting was not random. He did not offer details.

Separately, police said an arrest was made in drive-by shooting Tuesday that injured a 7-year-old boy. McClanahan said it appeared the shooter was targeting a group of people — not the child.

Television station KTHV reported that Thursday’s shooting was the city’s 12th in a week. It also reported that, at a community meeting, the police chief said Little Rock needed to have another 75 officers to be fully staffed. It has just more than 500 officers.

Two elected officials face federal charges

MIDLAND, Texas—Federal authorities say two West Texas elected officials have been arrested on charges they received kickbacks for directing a county contract to a private company.

Authorities said in a statement that Presidio County Commissioner Lorenzo Padilla Hernandez was arrested Thursday in Midland. Also arrested was Carlos Eduardo Nieto, a school board member for the city of Presidio.

They each face a variety of charges that include conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Authorities allege that beginning in 2015 the men used their positions and influence to ensure the company was awarded the contract to provide a document management system.

Hernandez allegedly received $19,800 in the scheme and Nieto got $8,300.

Hernandez did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment and phone listing for Nieto rang unanswered Friday.

Missing pipe leads to sewage spill into creek

BENTONVILLE, Ark.—A gap in a wastewater connection in a northwestern Arkansas city sent sewage spilling into a local creek.

Bentonville public works director Mike Bender tells the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2sZIfqj ) that the sewer issue has been repaired and the Town Branch Creek cleaned up.

A city employee noticed a strong odor and dark discharge just north of the former Tyson Foods plant on May 26. An incident report says a dam was installed downstream of the spill to mitigate the contaminated water until crews could identify the source.

Bender says city crews discovered the unconnected line on June 12.

Nabholz Construction was the general contractor overseeing the renovation of the plant. The construction company is conducting an investigation into what went wrong. It’s unclear if a fine will be imposed.

Three hurt when car crashes into school bus

FORT WORTH, Texas— Authorities say a wrong-way driver was critically hurt and two children slightly injured when the car hit a North Texas school bus hauling youngsters to a summer program.

Fort Worth police are investigating why the woman was driving the wrong way on a ramp around 7 a.m. Friday.

A Fort Worth Independent School District statement says the bus driver and 11 children were headed to a summer program at a private school.

Medical officials say the car driver was critically hurt and transported to a hospital. Further details on her weren’t immediately released.

MedStar Mobile Healthcare spokesman Matt Zavadsky (zuh-VAD’-skee) says one child on the bus was treated at the scene. Another was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Another bus transported the children to the school.