Arkansas
BRTC and AR National Guard sign memorandum of understanding
POCAHONTAS, Ark. (KAIT/Edited News Release) – On Aug. 12, Black River Technical College signed a memorandum of understanding with the Arkansas Army National Guard.
Signing the MOU were BRTC president Dr. Martin Eggensperger, Arkansas Adjutant General, and Arkansas National Guard Brigadier General Chad Bridges. The partnership is the first in the state of its kind.
Arkansas National Guard Brigadier General Chad Bridges, who is Arkansas Adjutant General, and Arkansas National Guard Brigadier General Michael Henderson, Director of the Joint Staff, arrived at BRTC with 17 other guardsmen aboard two black hawk helicopters.
Brigadier General Bridges remarked on the uniqueness and need for the partnership with BRTC then signed the MOU with President Eggensperger.
BRTC and the Arkansas Army National Guard hope this partnership will help keep Northeast Arkansas’s young workforce in the region and the state.
The BRTC/Arkansas Army National Guard MOU lays the groundwork for increasing curriculum and instruction collaboration.
The Arkansas Army National Guard will also house a recruiter at BRTC Pocahontas who will assist all BRTC students and will visit area high schools to provide more information about the Guard.
In addition, Guardsmen will serve as guest speakers in BRTC classrooms, particularly focusing on the durable or soft skills that are required by business and industry.
Attending with Brigadier General Henderson were Colonel Derald Neugebauer, 233rd RTI Commander and Arkansas Army NG Chief of Staff; Colonel Joseph Geaney, Director of Staff for the Arkansas Air NG; Command Sergeant Major Gregory White, State Sergeant Mayor; Colonel Anthony Sanders, Arkansas NG Director of Military Support; Major Justin Moss, Arkansas NG J-33/57; Lieutenant Colonel Eric Scarborough, Army Recruiting and Retention Commander; Command Sergeant Major Curtis Coleman, Army Recruiting and Retention; Alpha Company Commander Major Randy Vest, Army Recruiting and Retention; First Sergeant Jeff Gober, Army Recruiting and Retention; Sergeant First Class Russton Rankin, Army Recruiting and Retention Recruiter; Staff Sergeant Holden Hartsfield, Army Recruiting and Retention Recruiter; Major Cibeles Ramirez-Rodriguez, Arkansas NG State Public Affairs Officer; Zac Lehr, Arkansas NG Public Affairs Specialist; Major James Schafer, NG MTC Administrative
Officer; First Lieutenant Daniel Condit, Air Recruiting and Retention Public Affairs Officer; Master Sergeant Greg Burks, Air Recruiting and Retention Recruiter; Sergeant First Class Joshua Daffern, CSMS Maintenance Control noncommissioned officer. Several of the Guardsmen attending are natives of Northeast Arkansas.
Also attending the event were Arkansas state representatives Bart Shulz, Trey Steimel, and Jeremy Wooldridge; Arkansas State Senator Blake Johnson; Pocahontas Mayor Keith Futrell; and several BRTC Board of Trustee and Foundation Board members.
For more information about opportunities with the Arkansas Army National Guard including how the Guard can pay for college tuition and fees, contact Staff Sergeant Holden Hartsfield, Arkansas Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Recruiter, at (870) 248-4000.
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Copyright 2024 KAIT. All rights reserved.
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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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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.
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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.
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District officials said the pouches will not be in by the time school starts on Monday.
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