State briefs
Court grants new hearing for death- row inmate
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court has granted a new hearing for a death- row inmate.
In an opinion released Thursday — the high court gave a lower court permission to look into parts of Timothy Howard’s case, including a claim about DNA.
Howard’s lawyers say the state failed to disclose a DNA report with an analyst’s handwritten notes that show potential errors during DNA testing.
The state Supreme Court also says a lower court can look into Howard’s claim that a report about Howard’s abusive childhood was withheld from him.
Howard was sentenced to death after he was convicted in the 1997 murders of Brian Day and Day’s wife in southwest Arkansas’ Little River County.
Day’s wife is identified as Shanon and Shannon in court documents.
Second- grader brings gun to Little Rock school
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LITTLE ROCK — Authorities in Little Rock say a second- grader at Daisy Bates Elementary School is recommended for expulsion after bringing a cocked and loaded pistol to school to show a friend.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday that the 8- year- old boy had the gun in his backpack and showed it to a friend, who alerted a teacher.
The boy, who is not being named because of his age, told a sheriff’s deputy he had hoped to play cowboys and Indians with the .22- caliber revolver.
The investigative report says the boy’s father was shaken and told deputies the pistol should have been in a locked gun cabinet.
The report says the school principal will recommend the boy be expelled.
Arkansas flags to fly at half- staff for Levon Helm
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has ordered that flags fly at half- staff on Friday to honor Arkansas native Levon Helm, who died last week.
Helm, who grew up in Turkey Scratch, attained worldwide fame as a member of The Band. He died last week after battling throat cancer.
The governor issued a proclamation honoring Helm. Beebe called Helm “an enormously talented performer and gifted musi- cian whose Arkansas roots can be heard and felt in his voice and in his music.”
Helm is widely known for songs he sang with The Band, including “The Weight” and “Up on Cripple Creek.”
A public memorial was held Thursday in Woodstock, N. Y., where Helm lived until his death.
Ark. court: Medical- case records not under FOI law
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that the documents an attorney requested from another lawyer in connection with a medical malpractice case are not subject to the state’s public records law.
In an opinion released Thursday, the state’s highest court said a lower court did not err in its decision about the litigation files and documents attorney Luther Sutter requested.
The Saline County Circuit Court previously ruled that the records Sutter wanted were not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
Sutter had asked the state Supreme Court to overturn that decision. He argued that an attorney’s file about a medical malpractice case was public record.
Search continues for Ark. boy who jumped in river
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LITTLE ROCK — Law enforcement dive teams are still searching the Arkansas River in west Little Rock for a 13- year- old boy who jumped from a bridge into the river.
Pulaski County Sheriff’s Lt. Carl Minden said Thursday that the sheriff’s office Water Patrol is searching with help from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Little Rock Fire Department and a joint water rescue team from Johnson and Pope counties.
Minden says the boy was being taken to a mental health facility Wednesday when he told his guardian he would jump from their moving car unless it was stopped. Minden says when the car stopped — the boy got out and walked to the side of the bridge and jumped.
The boy’s name was not released.
Suspect jumps in Black River during police chase
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWPORT — Authorities in north Arkansas are searching for a burglary suspect who jumped in the Black River during a police pursuit.
Jonesboro television station KAIT reports that authorities are searching for the suspect on both the Jackson and Independence County sides of the Black River.
Authorities say they’re looking for a burglary suspect from Diaz.
Authorities from the sheriff’s departments in Jackson and Independence counties are participating in the search, along with the Arkansas Department of Correction.
West Memphis worker admits selling personal info
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LITTLE ROCK — An employee of the Social Security Administration in West Memphis has pleaded guilty to selling confidential information she obtained at work.
Leeanna Brooke Morgan pleaded guilty to one charge of illegally transferring someone’s date of birth and mother’s maiden name for the purpose of misusing a Social Security number.
Prosecutors claim she texted the information to a man who allegedly used it to commit financial identity fraud.
The Arkansas Democrat- Gazette reports that Morgan will be sentenced at a later date, though she faces up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $ 250,000 under federal law.
Prosecutors say Morgan worked as a service representative at the Social Security office, where she processed applications for new and replacement Social Security cards.
89- year- old Stuttgart hotel to be auctioned
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STUTTGART — The historic Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart is headed to the auction block.
The hotel opened at Third and Main streets in 1923 and its guests included Ernest Hemingway and Clark Gable. The Stuttgart Daily Leader reports that the property is set to be auctioned on May 30.
The hotel is now vacant, but residents in Stuttgart hope the downtown icon can be revived. The hotel was added to the 2005 Most Endangered Historic Places List after preservationists found that a lack of maintenance threatened the integrity of the building.
Mayor Marianne Maynard says the city has heard from outof- town investors who are interested in the hotel. The building is in need of restoration, and Maynard says the city is now scheduling tests to determine whether the property has asbestos.