Archive - Feb 2013 - News Article
February 25th
Hear the words "piano bar" and the image that comes to mind is an establishment featuring a talented musician, entertaining from a piano setting.
Oftentimes the artist both sings and plays tunes requested by the customers.
There's another connotation for piano bar locally, however. This is the result of an unusual creation of Brandon Hughes, an employee of the Habitat ReStore in Benton.
February 24th
Benton police are requesting the help of the public to locate a 16-year-old boy.
Tristian “Dusty†Higgins reportedly recently ran away from Rivendell Behavioral Health Services in Benton and has not been located. He is described as white, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds with hazel eyes and blonde hair. Higgins was last seen wearing a gray hoodie-style jacket, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. He is believed to be traveling on foot in the Central Arkansas area.
February 22nd
Authorities told The Saline Courier today that a man accused of breaking into a home in Benton, attacking the occupants and fleeing in their vehicle early Thursday has been taken into custody.
February 21st
A Saline County couple were victims of a home invasion early Thursday and authorities are searching for a Texas man who has been identified as a suspect.
Derek Dione Wilkerson, 41, of Mesquite, Texas, was last seen driving away from the scene in the victims' vehicle, a 2004 white Ford Mustang convertible with a tan top and license plate number 416RAM.
The Benton Women Can Run/Walk Clinic starts Sunday, March 3, at 3 p.m. with a meeting at Saline County Courthouse for those interested in participating.
The clinic will meet Mondays and Wednesdays, beginning the Monday after the meeting, at 5:30 p.m. on the track at the Benton High School Athletic Complex.
The first Bryant clinic training session will begin at 5:30 p.m. March 5 on the Bryant High School track. Clinic sessions are set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.
February 20th
Benton police are asking the public to help find two suspects who robbed the Taco Bueno on Interstate 30 at gunpoint.
Lt. Kevin Russell, public information officer for the Benton Police Department, said officers responded to the fast food restaurant at 9:30 p.m. Monday and were told by employees that two black men entered the front of the business and demanded money. One of the men was brandishing a pistol, Russell said.
A former lieutenant of the Benton Fire Department appeared in federal court on Tuesday with charges of receipt and possession of child pornography.
Timothy Ryan Bodkin, 39, pleaded "not guilty" before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray and was not detained, according to Christopher R. Thyer, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
February 19th
Some tickets are still available for Saline Memorial Health Foundation's Heart of Saline Recognition Dinner scheduled Thursday night.
This year's event is a memorial tribute to two Saline Memorial Hospital physicians, Dr. Melissa Dockery and Dr. Brian Sudderth.
The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at Bishop Park, 6401 Boone Road in Bryant.
Activities will begin at 6 with a social hour, followed by the dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tributes to the deceased doctors will follow.
Tickets are $50 each or $400 per table of eight. Dress is business casual attire.
A lawsuit filed against anonymous bloggers by three residents of Bryant has been dismissed upon request of the plaintiffs' attorney.
The suit of Adrian Henley, Brenda Miller and Danny Steele v. Unknown Persons was filed Feb. 22, 2012, alleging that anonymous bloggers were posting statements about the three plaintiffs that were "made with actual malice, that is, with the knowledge that they were false or with reckless disregard of whether they were false or not."
February 18th
The Saline County Sheriff's Office is investigating a homicide that occurred in Bauxite late Saturday.
Lt. Scotty Courtney said 23-year-old Bauxite resident Johnathan Albertsen is being charged with first degree murder and aggravated assault on a family or household member for allegedly fatally stabbing his step-father, 48-year-old Joseph A. Gonsalves. The stabbing reportedly occurred during a domestic dispute between the two men.
Gonsalves was transported to Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton and was later pronounced deceased.
