Free Republic

It was 1964 and I was a liberal confident that society could be greatly improved by large infusions of money. With all the talk currently being bruited about the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty, I am reminded that for a year, between 1964 and 1965, I was the director of the antipoverty program of Pulaski County, Ark., which included Little Rock, the adjoining city of North Little Rock and the surrounding rural area. I was then 27 years old, appropriately left-wing, and confident that society could be greatly improved with the help of large infusions of money and...

President Barack Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina will be in North Little Rock (3/27) to speak at the grand opening of Obama’s Arkansas campaign headquarters. Where: 201 W. Broadway, downtown North Little Rock When: Tuesday, March 26th at 5:00 p.m. (Protest begins at 4:00 p.m.) We need your help to protest this event! Join us in front of the headquarters with a homemade sign at 4:00 p.m. and let Mr. Messina know that President Obama’s failed policies have cost Arkansas jobs and hurt our state and nation! From Obamacare to his failed Stimulus, Arkansas cannot afford another four years of...

LITTLE ROCK — The 19-year-old man charged in the Christmas Eve shooting death of a Salvation Army major pleaded guilty Friday to a murder charge and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Laquan Fitzpatrick was arrested March 16, nearly three months after the Dec. 24, 2009 killing of Philip Wise outside a Salvation Army community center in North Little Rock. Wise was shot in front of his three young children. Fitzpatrick entered the court shortly after 9:30 a.m. and told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims he understood his rights and was entering the plea. Sims accepted the agreed...

Arraignment today for teen in Yule killing Trial date scheduled in Salvation Army murder JOHN LYNCH ARDEMGAZ The teenager accused of gunning down a Salvation Army officer on Christmas Eve makes his first appearance today in Pulaski County Circuit Court to answer capital murder and aggravated robbery charges. Laquan Javaris Fitzpatrick, 19, who has addresses in Little Rock and Helena-West Helena, is to appear before Circuit Judge Barry Sims at 1:30 p.m. for arraignment on charges that carry the death penalty. The judge will also set trial dates for Fitzpatrick. Accused of killing Salvation Army Maj. Philip Wise on Dec....

Cap & Tax for North Little Rock Some more video of the North Little Rock Council Meeting and the decision of Ward 3.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPPfNzmangk _________________________________ On January 11th, the North Little Rock City Council approved R10-01, the Integrated Resource Plan to be implemented immediately. A presentation was made by Mike Russ of the North Little Rock Electric Department. The presentation was made quickly and had no handouts for the public, but there were slides of their plan shown at the meeting. The plan involves creating a "smart grid" adding "smart meters" "programs to control powerload", and ways NLR can "reduce it's...

Pastors, police plead for tip on NLR killing Salvation Army slaying reward at $10,000 JACOB QUINN SANDERS ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Pastors, police and politicians begged and pleaded Monday for information about the unsolved Christmas Eve killing of a Salvation Army major in North Little Rock’s Baring Cross neighborhood. “I’m asking the community to start snitching,” said the Rev. Benny Johnson, founder of the Little Rock-based group Stop the Violence, during an afternoon news conference at the Salvation Army Corps and Community Center at 1505 W. 18th St. where Philip Wise was shot just after 4 p.m. on Dec. 24. The longer...

About a month ago I got a call from a reporter for the Arkansas Times inquiring about my research into paramilitary drug raids. He'd been reporting on a raid in North Little Rock involving a 40-year-old man named Tracy Ingle. When he told me the story over the phone, I was floored, even given all the abuses and mistakes I've reported and read about over the last few years. What makes the case especially egregious is not that the police may have gotten the wrong home, that they shot a man, or that they were covering it up or going...

Fake ID Ring Busted in Maumelle ( Air Date: 8/30/2006 ) Federal agents say they`ve arrested 6 people in connection with an ID card fraud ring in Maumelle. Agents say they saw a group of 6 undocumented workers drive up to the revenue office in Maumelle. They say three went in and got state ID cards from the only worker in the office. They believe the worker was in on the plan to provide false documents to undocumented workers from Mexico. The mayor watched the raid, but had no idea what was going on. "I`d gone home for lunch and...

Officers hot as a pistol over arena’s gun ban BY AUSTIN GELDER ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE A policy banning off-duty police from carrying handguns inside Alltel Arena is under fire from local officers who say they’ll boycott arena events rather than part with their weapons. Ten deputies with the Pulaski County sheriff ’s office resigned from their part-time security jobs at the arena this week in protest of the gun ban. Their decision to quit was also driven by disappointment that they have not been called to work very many arena events. "Most policemen I’ve talked to are highly offended about this"...