State briefs

Drone prompts diversion of surveillance plane

LITTLE ROCK — Forestry officials diverted a surveillance plane after a fire chief reported a drone hovering above a wildfire in northern Arkansas and prompted them to caution people that the effort to take unique photographs endangers pilots and the people working below.

Arkansas’ Forestry Commission uses aircraft to seek fires and, at times, suppress them. On Tuesday, a surveillance flight that would have gone over Sharp County was directed elsewhere because of the drone.

Agency spokeswoman Adriane Barnes said forestry officials didn’t believe the drone operator deliberately interfered with firefighting efforts, but the operator created a hazardous situation nonetheless.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it works with agencies to warn people about the danger. It says it regularly notes on social media feeds that recreational drones and emergency operations don’t mix.

Law schools to receive $2M of cigarette settlement

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ two law schools will split more than $2 million left over in a $45 million cigarette settlement fund. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports a Pulaski County Circuit judge ruled on Tuesday that the money will go toward scholarship funds at the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville and the W.H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. The Public Interest Litigation Scholarship Program Fund and the Dean R. Morley Scholarship Fund will each receive about $1.1 million.

The money is the charitable component of the settlement fund, which was established to end a 14-year-old lawsuit against cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris USA over false advertising. The fund has paid about $20 million to nearly 20,000 former Marlboro Lights smokers over the past year.

Ex-Arkansas police chief arrested for theft

chief in northern Arkansas has been arrested on a charge of property theft.

The Baxter Bulletin reports that 38-yearold Ronald Dustin Smith was booked into the Marion County jail on Monday. Jail records show he was released after posting a $5,000 bond.

Court records allege Smith accumulated more than $8,000 in unauthorized charges on a city credit card. The charges started in December 2016 and ended last month. The records say many charges were made while Smith was off-duty and going to Florida while working for another company.

Smith was fired from the Flippin Police Department on Nov. 2. The city attorney says the reason behind his firing is part of an ongoing investigation by the state police.

He’s scheduled to appear in court Dec. 13. Jail records don’t show whether Smith has an attorney.