Arkansas
Arkansas schools await money as state passes grim Jonesboro shooting milestone
![Arkansas schools await money as state passes grim Jonesboro shooting milestone Arkansas schools await money as state passes grim Jonesboro shooting milestone](https://images.axios.com/fRPtFm2_u6EOGaryoCxp6d0d2C8=/0x0:1920x1080/1366x768/2023/03/23/1679589661740.jpg)
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Friday marks the twenty fifth anniversary of Arkansas’ deadliest faculty capturing. 4 college students and a instructor had been killed at West Aspect Center College in Jonesboro; 10 different college students had been injured.
Zoom out: Greater than 600 shootings in U.S. colleges have resulted in 375 deaths because the tragedy in Jonesboro, in accordance with an Axios evaluation of information from Ballotpedia and Schooling Week. That is a median of two occasions and 1.25 deaths monthly — together with summers.
- Since 1990, seven individuals have died and 17 others had been injured in class shootings in Arkansas.
The large image: Jonesboro was the deadliest faculty capturing nationwide within the ’90s — till the 1999 bloodbath at Columbine Excessive College in Colorado — ushering in a haunting period of college violence.
Context: Following final Could’s mass capturing in Uvalde, Texas, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed a faculty security fee to revise the state’s technique for public faculty safety. Later, he known as for funds to be put aside so colleges may afford to put in a number of the fee’s suggestions — like digital entry programs and locks for classroom doorways.
- The Arkansas Legislative Committee in January authorised the cash to be transferred to the Division of Schooling.
- A Feb. 1 memo from Jacob Oliva, secretary of the Division of Schooling, opened the appliance course of for colleges.
State of play: Arkansas faculty districts can apply for his or her share of a $50 million grant fund earmarked for security wants; distribution of that cash has not but begun. The funds should be used to extend faculty security measures, utilizing the fee’s remaining report as a suggestion.
By the numbers: Faculties like Bentonville may obtain as much as $713,400 and Springdale as a lot as $844,900; smaller districts like Mountainburg or Pea Ridge may stand up to $115,575 and $183,025, respectively.
What to look at: Faculties have till subsequent Friday to submit grant functions. Of the state’s roughly 250 districts, 142 have utilized, Kimberly Mundell, spokesperson for the schooling division, informed Axios through e-mail.
- She anticipates all districts will apply.
- Faculties should course of requests for reimbursements from the grant by Dec. 31.
The intrigue: Complete grants out there, in accordance with the schooling division’s preliminary allocation, add as much as $40.8 million.
- With the remaining $9.2 million or any unclaimed funds, the division will contemplate making further grants to assist colleges meet precedence suggestions.
- After the grant course of, the state might contemplate the “buy of further safety measures for the profit and use of college districts,” Mundell stated.
Go deeper: NWA colleges’ security report card
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Arkansas
First Arkansas LEGO Store coming to Rogers, here’s when it opens
ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The Natural State’s first LEGO Store is coming to Northwest Arkansas.
The store will open its Rogers location at the Pinnacle Hills Promenade on Friday, August 16, according to a news release from the company.
“The LEGO Store at Pinnacle Hills will deliver unforgettable immersive experiences with the widest range of LEGO products, hands-on play opportunities for our visitors, exclusive promotions, and fun events held in-store,” Travis Blue, vice president of Americas and EMEA brand retail stores, said in the release.
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LEGO said it will offer “immersive experiences” including a mystery mural LEGO building activity and displays from the Arkansas and Springfield LEGO Users Group.
Here are the store’s hours:
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Monday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
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Tuesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
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Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
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Thursday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
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Friday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
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Saturday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
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Sunday: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
The store will feature year-round fixtures such as the “Build a Minifigure Tower” and the “Pick & Build Wall”.
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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.
Arkansas
Arkansas police officer fired after video shows him beating handcuffed man in patrol car
![Arkansas police officer fired after video shows him beating handcuffed man in patrol car Arkansas police officer fired after video shows him beating handcuffed man in patrol car](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/08/14/USAT/74793975007-officer-fired-thumb-1.jpg?auto=webp&crop=1919,1079,x0,y0&format=pjpg&width=1200)
An Arkansas police officer has been fired after video shows him allegedly beating a man handcuffed in the back of a patrol car.
In a statement posted to social media Aug. 9, the Jonesboro Police Department said it had received a complaint of an incident involving the officer of a “serious nature” from the previous evening.
“Following an internal review of the incident, it was determined that the officer involved, Joseph Harris, should be terminated effective immediately,” Jonesboro police said in the statement.
Jonesboro is located in northeast Arkansas, and is about 70 miles from Memphis, Tennessee.
Jonesboro police posted video of the incident online, which shows Harris allegedly beating a man who was handcuffed and sitting detained in the back of his patrol car wearing what looks like a hospital gown.
Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott told local station KAIT he had been communicating with the FBI, and that the Little Rock office had opened a case regarding the incident.
USA TODAY has reached out to Jonesboro police for more information.
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Video shows handcuffed man physically assaulted by police officer
In the video posted by the Jonesboro Police Department, the man can be heard telling officers he had swallowed a bag of fentanyl the day before, and thinks he will die unless he’s taken back to a hospital.
At one point, the video shows the man unbuckling his seatbelt and laying down in the back seat, before an officer opens the door and begins punching and elbowing the man’s head repeatedly.
Another officer, who police have not identified, checks on the man and asks if he is alright, but the man is unresponsive after the assault. The officer then closes the car door by his feet.
The first officer returns and seemingly rubs him roughly in the chest with a tool, which causes the man to twist and groan, and then closes the door on his head.
The car then begins to drive as the man, still laying down, continues to yell and groan in the back seat.
Harris previously cited for use of force
This is not the first time Harris has faced consequences for using force.
About two years ago, CNN reported that he received a 20-hour suspension without pay and further training from the police department for excessive force, Sally Smith, a public information officer with the Jonesboro Police Department, said.
He was additionally named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in June, Smith told CNN.
Arkansas
Arkansas school districts pushing forward with implementing phone-free campuses
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – A new effort by the office of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Education is aiming to create phone-free campuses.
According to the ADE, more than 200 districts expressed interest in the phone-free pilot program. Officials said the number of districts using this new tool is expected to fluctuate, as some agreed to participate, some said no and some districts are checking with their local boards about participation.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders encourages schools to join phone-free mental health pilot program
Amid this effort, the Russellville School District voted Tuesday to use a new tool to keep their campuses phone-free.
Russellville Junior High assistant principal Sara Walker said they’re on board to do what they can to keep their students safe.
“Our current policy is that students aren’t allowed to have their cell phone unless it’s for an educational purpose, however, we all know it’s a temptation,” Walker said. “If you have it near you to get on it, it’s kind of hard to enforce, even though teachers and administrators do their best to do that.”
The board voted to purchase new pouches for phones for grades 5 through 12 that will stay locked away so students can focus on their class work. Officials said the district will be reimbursed for the purchase by the state.
The governor’s plan to keep cell phones out of students’ hands is by putting them into a pouch they’ll have with them throughout the day, but this pouch made by Yondr doesn’t simply just zip up.
“There is a locking mechanism at the very top, it’s got a pin and a magnetic closure and so when the students close it, it will automatically lock and they cannot open it without an unlocking mechanism,” Walker said.
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Unlocking stations will be throughout the school but will only be available at the end of the day, there will also be some handheld unlocking devices. Teachers and administrators will be the only ones with the mechanism to unlock the pouches.
The school board said it will not pass out the pouches until they have a better-written policy for everyone to see and understand first.
Walker said they had meetings with stakeholders and concerns were brought up like how to contact kids throughout the day, which Walker said will be through the front office.
Another concern was what if someone accidentally takes home their pouch without unlocking it. This is something they’re working through.
Parents were present at the meeting on Tuesday night who wanted to speak but didn’t follow the proper policies to address the board, so they weren’t allowed to speak on this.
According to the school district, the total cost to purchase is more than $124,000, which they said will be reimbursed by the state.
Grant helps University of Central Arkansas graduate program fill need for more school psychologists
District officials said the pouches will not be in by the time school starts on Monday.
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