RIVER RADIO NEWS 012014
TWO PARAGOULD RESIDENTS KILLED IN WEEKEND WRECK
Two Paragould residents died over the weekend following a wreck in Greene County.
According to the Arkansas State Police, 44 year old Tressia Gail Sisco and 22 year old Sarah Elizabeth Hurst were killed in the wreck Saturday night on US Highway 49.
The wreck occurred when the vehicle Sisco was driving reportedly crossed the centerline of Highway 49 and struck Hurst’s vehicle.
FATALITY REPORTED IN MOTORCYCLE WRECK
A Summersville motorcycle driver was killed in a wreck Sunday afternoon.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 26 year old Greg Davis was driving a motorcycle on Highway WW near Summersville in Shannon County, when he crested a hill and hit a vehicle that was backing onto the road from a private drive.
Davis was ejected and later pronounced dead at the scene.
FATHER ARRESTED IN SONS SHOOTING DEATH
A Greene County man has been arrested for second-degree murder in the shooting death of his 3 year old son in Fontaine, Arkansas.
Sheriff Dan Langston told reporters that 23 year old Michael Jefferson Carter of Fontaine was arrested Friday for the January 11 shooting death of Logan Carter.
Langston said Carter is jailed on $1 million bond and has declined to speak with investigators while he seeks an attorney. Carter's first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
An affidavit filed in the case says Carter and his son were in the living room of the home when a .45-caliber handgun Carter was holding discharged. The bullet struck the boy in the head and he died later at a Paragould hospital.
AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY BODY FOUND IN SUBMERGED VEHICLE
Authorities in Cape Girardeau have identified a body that was discovered last week.
According to Patrolman Darin Hickey with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, 62 year old Autumn D. Vinson, of Jackson, was found in a vehicle that was discovered in water near Red Star Boatdock on the Mississippi River on Friday.
Hickey says that the incident is still under investigation.
TWO ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO FRIDAY MORNING SHOOTING
Two arrests have been made in connection to a Friday morning shooting in Poplar Bluff.
According to the Daily American Republic, the shooting was reported early Friday morning at an area apartment building. The victim was taken to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center and treated for a gunshot wound in her leg.
Two women were arrested in connection to the incident: 45 year old Leshana Marie Griffin and 28 year old Virinda Fae Woods. They were each arrested on suspicion of armed criminal action, first degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon.
STEELE MAN CHARGED FOR ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING POLICE OFFICER
A Steele man was taken into custody on Friday for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
According to Steele Police Chief Billy Joe Stanfield, 33 year old Jason Dale Thorne is charged with assault on a law enforcement officer causing injury, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest creating substantial risk of serious injury or death and receiving stolen property.
Thorne reportedly ran from officers and then struck one in the face following a short foot chase.
DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR CONSOLIDATED LPN PROGRAM AT THREE RIVERS IN KENNETT
The application deadline is rapidly approaching for prospective students looking to enter Three Rivers College’s Licensed Practical Nursing program.
Applications are being accepted for the program until February 1st. The LPN program, which was previously offered as two programs at the Career and Technology Centers in Hayti and Kennett, has been consolidated into a single course of study at the college’s Center at Kennett.
The program trains students to obtain their LPN license, while also providing a jumping-off point for more advanced nursing education. For more information, call 573-840-9672.
MISSOURI LAWMAKERS BACK DOWN ON PENALTIES FOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
Missouri lawmakers are backing down on a proposal to penalize public universities for failing to meet certain funding and academic goals.
Instead, legislation considered by the Senate Education Committee recently would only allow performance standards to be used for year-to-year higher education funding increases.
If passed, the plan would be familiar to the state's four-year public universities. Governor Jay Nixon used the model informally when he gave them a $25 million increase for the current fiscal year.
Committee chairman and sponsoring Senator David Pearce, of Warrensburg, says universities should be financially rewarded for achieving performance goals. Under his plan, the universities would work with the Department of Higher Education to develop their own performance criteria.
ABSENTEE VOTERS HAVE JUST OVER 24 HOURS TO PRESENT ID IF THEY HAVE NOT ALREADY
The Craighead County Election Commission is giving dozens of absentee voters who cast their ballots without proof of identification in a special state Senate election extra time to show their ID in order for their votes to be counted under a new law.
The commission on Friday voted unanimously to treat ballots submitted without proof of identification the same as those cast in person without photo ID, giving the absentee voters until noon Tuesday to show ID. Tuesday's election was the first under the new law requiring photo ID in order to vote.
The law allows voters without photo ID at the polls to cast a provisional ballot that wouldn't be counted unless they later show ID. A similar procedure wasn't spelled out in the law for absentee voters.
