State briefs
Arkansas to end voluntary boot-camp program for inmates
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Correction is ending its boot camp program after prison officials said it was difficult to find enough inmates willing to participate.
The Board of Corrections voted Wednesday to end the program after its current roster of 86 inmates finishes the course. Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelley told the board that the program was plagued by high rates of recidivism and empty beds.
“For some people it does work,” Kelley said. “But for those same people that it works for, we believe Geared For Success, or the (work release) program, or something else that we have, will work.”
The boot camp facility is located near the Tucker Unit in Jefferson County and has space for 100 men and 24 women. Inmates who are first-time nonviolent offenders without a record of failing drug-treatment programs and who have medical clearance are eligible for the 105-day program, but Kelley said many inmates who qualified for the program chose not to do it.
The corrections department said Arkansas was one of 13 states that still operated boot camps for inmates. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Thursday that the boot camp facility will be converted into a center for women’s work-release and re-entry into society.
Arkansas asks court to vacate order blocking abortion law
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office is asking a federal appeals court to allow the state to enforce its restrictions on the abortion pill, saying the law protects the integrity of the medical profession.
Rutledge’s office filed a brief with 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday in its appeal of a federal judge’s ruling temporarily blocking the restrictions. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in March granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the law that requires doctors providing the abortion pill to maintain a contract with another physician with admitting privileges at a hospital who agrees to handle any complications.
Baker’s ruling expressed skepticism about the benefit of the restrictions approved by lawmakers last year. Rutledge’s office said the injunction was issued based on “clearly erroneous” findings.
Group asks Arkansas court to dismiss medical marijuana suit
LITTLE ROCK — Supporters of legalizing medical marijuana have asked Arkansas’ highest court to dismiss an attempt to block their ballot measure, saying opponents haven’t cited facts in their complaint.
Arkansans for Compassionate Care asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to dismiss the complaint over the group’s proposed initiated act, which would allow patients with certain medical conditions and a doctor’s recommendation to buy marijuana from dispensaries.
Arkansans Against Legalized Marijuana, a group opposing the initiative, called the proposal misleading in a complaint that seeks to prevent election officials from counting any votes for the measure.
The secretary of state’s office last month approved the measure for the November ballot and is reviewing signatures for a competing proposal. Arkansas voters narrowly rejected legalizing medical marijuana in 2012.
Arkansas authorities release name of missing boy found dead
HINDSVILLE — Madison County authorities have released the name of a 2-year-old boy who was found dead after disappearing from his home.
Sheriff Phillip Morgan told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Thursday that the child is Aiden Johnson.
Authorities say the boy apparently wandered away from his home near Hindsville about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
A group of searchers spent much of the night looking for the toddler and eventually found his body Wednesday morning in a hole less than 50 yards from his home.
Authorities say foul play is not suspected, but the body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.
LR woman pleads guilty to defrauding food program
LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock woman has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud a federal government food program.
Court records show that 50-year-old Maria Carmen Nelson pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to commit wire fraud. In exchange, 20 additional counts of wire fraud were dismissed.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer says Nelson defrauded nearly $576,000 from a U.S. Department of Agriculture program intended to feed children in low-income areas during the school year and is administered by the state Department of Human Services.
Prosecutors say Nelson was recruited by a DHS employee to sponsor food programs in Little Rock and Malvern, and would inflate the number of children who were fed and the two would share the payments.
Prosecutors say the DHS employee no longer works for the department.
Arkansas highway officials: Broadway Bridge closing Sept. 28
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas highway officials say the nearly 94-year-old bridge connecting Little Rock and North Little Rock will close Sept. 28 as crews demolish the span and work on its replacement.
The Highway and Transportation Department on Thursday announced the Broadway Bridge will close at 10 a.m. that day to traffic for the last time since it opened on Christmas Day 1922. The state said it expects the span’s $98 million replacement to open to traffic within six months of the bridge’s closure.
About 25,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day. The bridge connects the cities’ downtowns and is among 785 state highway bridges considered “structurally deficient,” though highway officials say it’s safe for traffic.
The existing bridge will be demolished in stages during the closure.
Marion County voters to again consider sales tax increase
YELLVILLE — Voters in Marion County will again consider whether to raise their sales tax to pay for the construction of a new jail.
The Marion County Quorum Court on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance that will put a proposed 0.50 percent sales tax increase on the November ballot. If approved, the tax revenue will pay for construction of a new $8.25 million jail.
The Harrison Daily Times reports that officials say a new jail is needed because the current facility is out of compliance and at risk of being shut down.
In March, voters rejected a proposed 0.75 percent sales tax that would have funded construction of a 94-bed jail. Voters then did approve a 0.25 percent sales tax increase to fund the operation and maintenance of a new jail.