State briefs
Lawsuit filed over LR club shooting that injured 28
LITTLE ROCK — One of
28 people injured when gunfire erupted during a concert at a Little Rock nightclub on Tuesday sued the club’s manager and the owner of the building where it occurred.
An attorney for Patrick Hardy filed the lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court against Herman Lewis. Lewis manages the Power Ultra Lounge where the July 1 shooting occurred during a performance by Ricky Hampton, a rapper who goes by the name
Finese2Tymes. The lawsuit also names 6th and Center LLC, which owns the building where the shooting occurred.
The lawsuit accuses Lewis and the building’s owners of negligence by allowing the club to operate despite multiple police incidents. Hardy was shot and jumped from the second
the second floor to escape the gunfire, according to the lawsuit. Josh Gillispie, Hardy’s attorney, said in a statement the 29-year-old missed weeks of work recovering from the shooting and suffers emotional distress from it.
An attorney for Lewis did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon, while 6th and Center LLC declined to comment on the lawsuit. The club was evicted from the building following the shooting.
Twenty-five people were shot when gunfire erupted at the club, and three were injured trying to escape. Kentrell Gwynn, Hampton’s bodyguard, was charged earlier this month with 10 counts of aggravated assault in the shooting. Police have said the investigation into the case is ongoing.
Prosecutor: Fort Smith officials violated FOIA
FORT SMITH — A prosecutor says officials of a western Arkansas city violated the Freedom of Information Act by discussing city business in emails.
Prosecutor Dan Shue said in a letter to the Fort Smith Board of Directors that the public should be privy to all board discussions. The letter doesn’t say if Shue intends to prosecute.
The Southwest Times Record reports that attorney Joey McCutchen filed two FOIA lawsuits on behalf of a resident. One is against the city, and the other is against City Directors Keith Lau, Andre Good and Mike Lorenz.
The lawsuits allege that emails directors exchanged discussing city business amounted to an unlawful meeting. The lawsuits ask the court to stop directors from conducting business out of public view.
Lau and Lorenz have said the law isn’t clear about what defines a formal meeting.
More payments ordered in cigarette lawsuit
LITTLE ROCK — Additional payments have been ordered to about 9,500 people who filed claims in a $45 million settlement of a lawsuit over Marlboro Lights and Ultra-Lights cigarettes.
Those who received less than $400 because their claims were deemed faulty will receive the difference, up to $300.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Pulaski County Circuity Judge Tim Fox ordered the payments Friday after hundreds of people filed questions about how the claims were determined to be valid.
Fox said holding hearings on each questioned application could take up to 10 years and cost millions of dollars from the fund for those making the claims.
A total of 20,251 claims were filed with 7,372 people receiving the minimum $100 and another 2,002 receiving less than $400 because their applications were found to be faulty.