Arkansas Digest

Gay couples oppose delaying Arkansas lawsuit

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Lawyers for gay couples challenging Arkansas’ ban on same-sex marriages say they don’t want a delay in the case while U.S. Supreme Court considers taking up the matter.

Arkansas officials last week asked a federal judge and the state Supreme Court to suspend in-state challenges while a similar case is being taken to the nation’s highest court.

Utah had its gay-marriage ban overturned at the local and appellate court levels and has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.

The lawyers for Arkansas couples said Wednesday they oppose a delay.

Class-action status granted in Exxon Mobil oil spill case

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Class-action status has been granted in a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil stemming from a 2013 pipeline accident in Mayflower.

U.S. District Judge Brian Miller in Little Rock ruled in favor of Arnez and Charletha Harper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The pair can represent people who currently own property that is subject to an easement for and physically crossed by Exxon’s Pegasus pipeline, which runs from Texas to Illinois. They want the easement canceled or the pipeline removed or replaced.

Exxon’s pipeline ruptured last year, spilling about 210,000 gallons of oil in a neighborhood in Mayflower, about 30 miles northwest of Little Rock.

Fire causes evacuation of NLR postal distribution center

NORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Employees at a North Little Rock postal distribution center have resumed work after the building was evacuated following a small package fire.

North Little Rock Fire Department Capt. John Pflasterer tells the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that crews arrived to the U.S. Postal Service facility at about 5:45 a.m. They extinguished the fire and determined the source.

Pflasterer says the department believes batteries touching in an RC helicopter package generated enough heat to start the fire.

He says four people in the facility reported minor smoke-related symptoms, but no one was taken to the hospital. The facility was cleared out for about 45 minutes.

Fayetteville police arrest man who attempted to stab officer

FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Fayetteville police have arrested a man they say tried to stab an officer after being shot with a Taser.

Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor tells KHOG-TV 34-year-old Jason Clampit was arrested Tuesday. He is charged with attempted capital murder, fleeing, carrying a weapon and resisting arrest.

Tabor says Clampit pulled out a knife when approached by an officer at a convenience store. Clampit tried to run and fell to the ground after the officer shot him with a Taser.

Police say Clampit then tried to stab the officer before fleeing from the scene. He was later arrested while riding as a passenger in a car.

He is being held in the Washington County Jail. Online jail records didn't indicate an attorney.