State briefs
Exxon asked to pay $1.8M for oil spill damage
LITTLE ROCK — State and federal officials are asking Exxon Mobil to pay more than $1.8 million in compensation for a 2013 oil spill in Arkansas.
The state Game and Fish Commission proposed the settlement Tuesday, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The funds would pay for wildlife restoration and compensate the government for damage caused when the 70-year-old Pegasus pipeline ruptured in Mayflower near Lake Conway.
The letter also asks the oil giant to fund the state’s purchase of about 80 acres of land near the lake to facilitate monitoring and management of the property. The letter doesn’t give an estimated cost for the land.
Government attorneys have said the rupture, which dumped tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil, caused more than $57 million in property damage to a subdivision in Mayflower. The company settled a lawsuit last year with dozens of families whose properties were damaged.
Exxon Mobil spokesman Jeremy Eikenberry declined to comment on the commission’s compensation request, but said the company would work with “the appropriate agencies” to address the claims.
“We regret this spill happened and are committed to learning from it to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future,” Eikenberry said.
The commission along with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are involved in the settlement negotiations. The public will also be able to comment before any settlement is finalized, said Keith Stephens, a commission spokesman.
The pipeline runs about 850 miles through Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Texas. It was closed shortly after the spill, but a segment in Texas has since reopened.
Judge: Man who tried to take jet to get mental exam
TEXARKANA — A young Arkansas man accused of trying to steal a small commercial jet will undergo a mental evaluation.
The Texarkana Gazette reports that a Miller County judge on Tuesday approved a defense attorney’s request for a mental evaluation for 18-year-old Zemarcuis Devon Scott.
Court documents allege that security personnel at Texarkana Regional Airport called local police after a man jumped a fence onto airport property on July 4. Investigators say Scott had entered the plane by the time police arrived.
Police say Scott told officers he wanted to go to an out-ofstate concert and thought piloting a plane wouldn’t be difficult.
The Texarkana man is facing charges that include attempted theft of property with a value greater than $25,000.
He’s jailed with bail set at $25,000. A court date will be set once the mental evaluation is complete.
Justices say rehearing request should be denied
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ Supreme Court justices say a decision to dismiss a judge’s lawsuit challenging his disqualification from hearing death penalty cases after he participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration shouldn’t be reconsidered.
The seven justices asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to deny Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen’s request that the full appeals court take up the case that stemmed from the demonstration last year.
The demonstration occurred the same day Griffen blocked Arkansas from using a lethal injection drug over claims its supplier had been misled by the state. During the demonstration, Griffen was strapped to a cot and wore an anti-death penalty button.
A three-judge appeals panel last month dismissed Griffen’s lawsuit against the justices over their order disqualifying him from death penalty cases.
Convicted murderer found dead in prison cell
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas correction officials say authorities are investigating after a convicted murderer was found dead in his prison cell.
The Department of Correction says staff members at the Ouachita River Correctional Unit in Malvern were alerted Thursday morning after a cellmate said 52-year-old Robert L. Whitney Jr. appeared to be in distress. Responding correctional officers and medical staff found Whitney unresponsive and he was pronounced dead.
The department says Arkansas State Police was immediately notified and is conducting an investigation into the death. The Department of Correction says it’s also conducting an internal investigation.
Whitney was convicted of first-degree murder and had been serving a life prison sentence since 2005.
Cotton says he’s running for re-election in 2020
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ junior U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton says he’s running for re-election in 2020, but that his focus now is on helping Republicans win state and national offices in this year’s midterm races.
Cotton appeared at a political event Wednesday and said he thinks Republicans will hold their majority in the House of Representatives and expand their majority in the Senate.
Cotton discussed overseeing the return of fallen soldiers’ remains at Dover Air Force Base but shied away from questions about some of President Trump’s more contentious statements about the military, instead focusing on the president’s successes in persuading allies to spend more on NATO.
Cotton, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also addressed personal and election cyber security and stressed the importance of paper voting records and two-factor authentication.
Arkansas authorities say 2 arrested for 2016 slaying
STUTTGART — Authorities say two men wanted in connection with a more than two-year-old fatal shooting in southeastern Arkansas have been arrested.
State police and Arkansas County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Dittrich say the two men, both from Stuttgart, surrendered Monday at the Arkansas County Sheriff’s office.
The two are being held without bail on capital murder warrants, although court records do not show that formal charges have been filed.
The two are suspected in the June 2016 fatal shooting of Christopher Haynes, who was found dead in his car in the parking lot of Riceland Foods in Stuttgart.
Health officials warn of hepatitis A exposure
FORT SMITH — A day after warning Paragould residents in northeast Arkansas about a possible hepatitis A exposure, Arkansas health officials are warning residents of a western Arkansas city after a restaurant employee there tested positive for the virus.
The Department of Health said Wednesday that anyone who ate at Red Lobster in Fort Smith between July 19 and Aug. 4 should immediately get vaccinated. Officials say they are planning vaccination clinics in Sebastian County, though they have not yet released the dates.
Hepatitis A is a contagious and potentially fatal, but treatable, liver disease which can cause illness two to seven weeks after exposure. Symptoms include fever, nausea, and jaundice.
Officials say the case is unrelated to outbreaks in northeast Arkansas, which has sickened at least 80 people and caused one death.