HOT SPRINGS ROCK (KATV) — A marijuana cultivation facility is in jeopardy of suspension and could have to pay over $15,000 of dollars in fines.
According to an order from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division Leafology, a marijuana cultivation facility located in Hot Springs Arkansas, was found in violation of a number of charges including but not limited to:
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said Leafology filed an appeal and noted that anytime a permit holder files an appeal, the company can continue operating up until a board hearing.
The company is scheduled for a hearing on October 18th where the ABC board can either decide to uphold the violations, including the fine and suspension, or overturn the decision.
Anytime a permit holder files an appeal, it results in a stay which allows the company to continue operating leading up to the Board meeting.
Phil Higdon, a resident who lives near the facility, said he reached out to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to share his concerns, along with 100 signatures from other neighbors asking for the facility to be relocated.
“My concerns are what we are dealing with on an everyday basis, 24/7,” Higdon said. “The stench from the marijuana that’s being cultivated, the 60 fans and the noise they make, and at night time how the security lights have everything lit up so bright.
Higdon had speculated that the approval of the cultivation facility could have been political for it to be built around surrounding homes and businesses and noted the attorney representing Leafology had invested interest in the company.
Charles Singleton, the facility’s attorney, responded to claims and said to his knowledge there was no political play when it came to approving the construction of the facility and confirmed that he has a 5 % interest in the company.
“I looked at it on the front end about 7 years ago when we started to try to put this business together [and] I couldn’t find anything saying I had a conflict of interest,” Singleton said. “I checked with the attorney ethics commission back then and they said they didn’t know of anything that would prohibit me from owning interest in the company and serving as the attorney.”
Singleton said the violation and complaints regarding odor were exacerbated by a winter storm in December of 2022 which caused some of their equipment to break.
“During that time our odor suppression system froze up during that period,” Singleton said. “Once the pipes froze up, there was an odor issue.”
Singleton said the company made efforts to order over 200 individual parts from the Netherlands but the shipment was delayed leading into March.
“From our perspective, it was caused by an act of God, we couldn’t control it,” Singleton said. “When the repairs were done we insulated the parts two or three times better than when they were originally constructed.”
Singleton said the company reached out to the apartments next door and other residents about the odor and they think the problem is fixed because they have not received any complaints thereafter.
Singleton said all other violations would be discussed in the hearing.
As for Higdon, he said he didn’t have much hope that the ABC would do the right thing but said he would keep fighting for the facility to relocate from the neighborhood.
“I hope I’ve got 20 years left in me and I’ll fight till the day I die,” Higdon said. “In my trust, there will be enough money in there for my children to fight it.”
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The first availability report for Arkansas basketball’s (11-3, 0-1 SEC) matchup against the No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels (12-2, 1-0 SEC) was released by the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday.
Introduced over the offseason, availability reports will be filed one day before contests, with an additional update on game day.
According to the SEC, student-athletes will be designated as “available”, “probable”, “doubtful” or “out” for their next game. For additional clarity on game day, student-athletes will be designated as “available”, “game time decision” or “out.”
Below is the first availability report of the week ahead of Arkansas’ game against Ole Miss, which will tip off at 6 p.m. CT at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville:
The Arkansas Razorbacks (11-3, 0-1 SEC) can bounce back if they defeat the No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels (12-2, 1-0 SEC) on Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena.
Led by second-year head coach Chris Beard, the Rebels are off to a solid start to the 2024-25 season. Ole Miss owns wins over teams such as BYU, Purdue, Louisville, Georgia and others with a veteran-filled squad. Ole Miss is coming off a 20-12 (7-11 SEC) overall season that saw it miss the NCAA Tournament.
“Ole Miss is one of those teams that is really tough,” associate head coach Chin Coleman said Tuesday. “They recruit to their system. Another game in which we’re going to have to be more physical than them. We’re going to have to obviously do a better job on the offensive glass. They’re systemic in terms of their motion and everybody is a weapon. They can go one-on-one from one through five. So they have a balanced attack in terms of their offense because of their style of play.
“So it’s going to be a challenge for us. But for me and for us as a staff and our team, no matter whether you win or you lose it’s always about our response. So I’m excited about our response. I was excited about our response in our first possession of practice. I’m equally excited for our first possession of practice today and so on and so forth. Just a challenge. Another challenge. We’ve got to be more prepared for this one than we were the last time out.”
A major storyline entering this game is the chess-move battle between John Calipari and Beard, who was reportedly one of Arkansas’ top head coach candidates to replace Eric Musselman during the offseason.
“(Beard’s) been running that motion since Texas Tech,” Coleman said. “Probably got a little bit of that from the late great Bobby Knight. That motion is unpredictable. The freedom of movement, cutting, screening. It’s hard to scheme against. It’s hard to scout. It’s hard to put a scout team through that. There is no absolute. When you have a random based offense that you’ve got to guard the whole game, you’ve got to trust your rules. You’ve got to be connected.
“You can’t break. You’ve got to be alert. You’ve got to know you are going to be screened, but at the same time you’ve got to watch the ball because here comes a guy driving. They’ve got playmakers all over the floor with one through five. Their fives are like fours. Their fours are like threes. When you have multiple guys on the floor that can dribble, pass and shoot, it’s tough to defend against.”
After a non-conference schedule filled with middling crowds, Coleman said he’s ready for Arkansas fans to unleash Bud Walton Arena into its full form for the SEC home opener.
“We need the fans to support the Razorbacks the way that they’ve supported them, what we’ve seen when we were with the opposing team,” Coleman said. “Now we’re family. We’re Razorbacks. We wanted it to feel the way it’s felt when we’ve come in here as an opposer, as the enemy. We need the building rocking. We need the building turned all the way up to help our men feed off that energy.
“I’ve seen it before. I’ve witnessed it before, where you can’t even call out… I’m normally one of the loudest persons in the building on the sidelines. Our guys hear me when I scream out different calls and when I scream out different schematics. Everybody hears me. I have been in this building before where I have not been heard, so that is what I need for that building, and what we need for that building to feel like.”
Here’s a closer comparison of Arkansas’ and Ole Miss’ stats, efficiency ratings, projected lineup for the Rebels and more ahead of Wednesday’s game, which is set to tipoff at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2:
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