Archive - Jul 2012 - News Article
July 22nd
During a thunderstorm on July 6, Benton resident Sharon Witham noticed that a canopy in her backyard was being whipped around. She feared it would blow over toward a neighbor's home, so she dashed out the door, grabbed one of the canopy's metal poles and began to "mash it down."
Witham said it then occurred to her that having metal in her hand probably wasn't a good idea.
"I had that pole in my hand and I thought, 'I better let that go,'" she said. "All of a sudden I saw light out of the corner of my eyes, I was knocked backward and I heard a bang. It sounded like dynamite exploding."
July 14th
The reality is that at any moment any person can hold any number of victims inside public facilities hostage, or worse, could even harm or kill any number of those victims.
One needs to remember that these situations haven't just taken place in California or Columbine High School in Colorado. Just several miles down the road from Saline County, two young boys shot several children on the grounds of the Westside Middle School in Jonesboro on March 24, 1998. Four children and one adult lost their lives on that day.
An evening out is a pleasant experience for most people, but area residents have an opportunity to enjoy such an event while supporting a worthy cause.
The event is called "Dining for Dex" and is a benefit for Dexter McDade, the not-quite-one-month-old child of Jerred and Alexis McDade of Tull. The baby currently is hospitalized at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
Friends of the family have planned a benefit pasta dinner to assist the family with the overwhelming costs of Dexter's medical bills.
All Saline County residents can now be alerted about any type of emergency through a cell phone, home phone and/or email address, as county officials have entered a contract with CodeRed Emergency Notification System.
Jonathan Ray Glenn was a familiar face inside the walls of the Boys and Girls Club of Bryant, but on Friday he was arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $17,000 from the organization.
The 38-year-old Glenn, who is the club's former operations and finance director, surrendered voluntarily to authorities. He faces a felony charge of theft of property.
The Saline County Sheriff's Office has ended the search for an Alexander man who allegedly was involved in a carjacking while wielding a weapon.
Lt. Mike Frost said that after an anonymous phone call, 33-year-old Morris Raymond Combee was found at a residence on Springhill Road in Bryant. Combee reportedly was taken into custody without incident and is being held without bond, pending a court hearing.
Combee is facing two counts of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and theft of property.
Volunteers at the Humane Society of Saline County and other animal rescue group volunteers will tell you that animals have amazing resilience, often recovering from injuries that appeared initially to be hopeless.
Also, animals are amazingly stoic during the recovery process, volunteers say.
Ann Sanders, director of the Humane Society in Bauxite, said a classic example of this sort of situation is Shotgun Dan, a young cat who has survived unbelievable odds.
July 13th
Saline County Circuit Judge Gary Arnold ruled Wednesday to set aside a motion requiring MySaline.com owner Shelli Russell to divulge information three Bryant alderman hoped would lead them to the identify of a particular blogger who writes under the alias, “The Shadow.”
The ruling to quash the motion stems from a lawsuit the aldermen filed in February against six anonymous bloggers on the MySaline. The three claimed the blogposts were “libelous and defamatory on their face.”
Bryant resident Ricky Tripp and Saline County Circuit Clerk Dennis Milligan were subpoenaed to give testimony Tuesday in a Saline County Circuit Court proceeding conducted by Circuit Judge Gary Arnold. However, only Tripp was called as a witness.
Attorney Tona Demers, representing Bryant Aldermen Adrian Henley, Danny Steele and Brenda Miller, had planned to put both on the stand in the effort of Demers' clients to learn the identity of an anonymous blogger at the website MySaline.com. The pertinent comments were posted under the alias, “The Shadow.”
Bond is not being reduced for the former Benton firefighter accused of downloading images of child pornography to a computer at his home, authorities told The Saline Courier late Thursday.
Timothy Ryan Bodkin, 38, is being held in the Saline County Detention Center on a $200,000 sheriff's bond. He is facing a thousand counts of felony possession of child pornography.
