Archive - 2012 - News Article
January 6th
A Benton man appeared before the Arkansas Parole Board on Wednesday in a victim-input hearing that precedes the board's upcoming decision on whether to release David Pierce.
The 59-year-old former minister of music at First Baptist Church is serving a 10-year prison term for conviction of four counts of sexual indecency with a child. He was convicted in August 2009 as part of a negotiated plea in Saline County Circuit Court.
Life hasn't been easy in recent months for 14-year-old Sophie Tilley, but her mother says the teenager is a trooper and "will be fine" in time.
Sophie, a student in the Bryant School District, is reported to be progressing well as she recovers from a stem cell transplant she received Dec. 15 at Children's Medical Center in Dallas.
January 3rd
The body discovered submerged in a pond in Garland County on Dec. 31 has been officially identified as Dawna Jeanne Natzke, a mother missing from Hot Springs Village since Dec. 21. Lt. James Martin of the Garland County Sheriff's Office said an autopsy was not completed, therefore the cause of Natzke's death, nor the time of her death, was available as of press time.
The wife of Alexander Mayor Paul Mitchell pleaded guilty to several drug charges in Saline County Circuit Court on Jan. 3.
Judge Grisham Phillips sentenced Genieve Marie Mitchell, 33, to two years in a Community Correction Center followed by a one-year suspended sentence.
Overall, Mitchell pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of methamphetamine, failure to appear in Benton District Court and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia stemming from two arrests in 2011.
A Benton man who was out on bond after allegedly using a Taser to kidnap his ex-wife back in October is accused of kidnapping her again on New Year's Eve.
Benton police arrested 52-year-old Gerald Schmidt Jr., who, as of press time, remained incarcerated at the Saline County jail.
Lt. Kevin Russell, public information officer for the Benton Police Department, said officers were called to the 1100 block of English Oak Drive for a disturbance, when they learned that Yin Yan Schmidt, 34, had been taken from the home at gunpoint by her former husband.
Gary Hollis, finance director for the city of Bryant, and Nga Maufouz, city attorney, have resigned their positions at the request of Mayor Jill Dabbs.
The two submitted their resignations to Dabbs on Friday Dec. 30, and by the end of the business day, both had cleaned out their offices at City Hall. Neither Hollis nor Maufouz could be reached for comment at press time.
