Week in Review 6-3 to 6-9

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MH man accused of robbing local church

A Mountain Home man, accused robbing a local church, turned himself to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office on an outstanding bench warrant issued in mid-May. Eighteen-year-old David Labrun was booked into the Baxter County Detention Center late Friday afternoon on felony counts of theft of property and commercial burglary and a misdemeanor count of first-degree criminal mischief. He was released late Saturday morning after posting $10,000 bond.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the Mountain Home Police Department received a complaint April 18th from the Twin Lakes Plaza of damage inside the mall. The complainant stated the security gate dividing Christ Community Church (C3) from the main part of the mall was damaged and pulled out of the wall, and the main power was shut off. Later that day, C3 reported missing cash, music equipment and damage to fiber optic cables in the church.

Mall video surveillance from the previous evening reportedly captured two male suspects in the mall, and a witness identified one suspect as Labrun. Labrun was allegedly captured turning a surveillance camera away from C3’s direction. Labrun and another suspect are reportedly seen in surveillance exiting a dedicated door to the church into the parking lot less than an hour later.

Just after midnight, surveillance captured three suspects wearing masks, and the investigations once again reportedly led to Labrun. Labrun’s backpack was recovered from a Mountain Home residence, and shoes and the mask he allegedly wore in the mall were recovered. Social media messages were also recovered implicating Labrun to the crime.

Labrun is scheduled to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court.

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Dispute between 2 women leads to kicking over potted plants, threats

A Marion County woman, 78-year-old Lillie Dodd of Pyatt, has been arrested and charged with a felony count of terroristic threatening following a dispute with a neighbor.

According to the probable cause affidavit, a Marion County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to a residence along Forsythe Street in Pyatt May 29th to address a complaint of criminal mischief resulting from the dispute between two women, including Dodd.

Dodd’s neighbor told the officer she had told Dodd numerous times to stay off her property. She said when Dodd came over that day, she had kicked over her potted plants in her yard. She said when she told Dodd to get off her property, Dodd told her five times while walking away she would blow her head off.

A neighbor in his nearby garden told the officer he heard the two women arguing about garden plants being stepped on and knocked over, followed by Dodd threatening her neighbor.

Dodd’s bond was set at $2,500, and she is to have no contact with her neighbor.

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2 local schools accepted for extended recess pilot program

Two local schools are among 24 across the state selected through an application process to participate in an extended-recess pilot program. Mountain Home’s Nelson-Wilks-Herron and Norfork elementary schools will be among those in the initiative set for the 2018-19 school year.

Across the state, participation in the pilot program means free play time will go from the current 15 minutes after lunch to 60 minutes a day for kindergarten through fourth grades and 45 minutes for fifth-graders.

In Mountain Home, Nelson-Wilks-Herron Principal Rita Persons says teachers at her school have advocated for additional recess time for a number of years.


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Persons says with the extended organized free play time for the first and second graders at Nelson-Wilks-Herron comes accountability.


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Persons says children do need to move. They need to get out and have active play with supervision.


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The one-year pilot program for selected schools was authorized by Act 1062 of 2017.

The guidelines also make it clear the extended recess time must be within the school day, not before or after.

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2 area newspapers reportedly for sale

A pair of newspapers in North Central Arkansas is reportedly for sale according to Arkansas Business. The article says both the Mountaineer Echo in Flippin and Marshall Mountain Wave in Marshall are up for sale on the website bizbuysell.com for a price of $285,000.

Arkansas Business reports the original ad listed papers by name and described the Mountaineer Echo as the “oldest business in Marion County.” The Mountain Wave, which was established in 1892, was called a “highly respected newspaper with a dedicated readership” and “the only print media based in Searcy County.”

Jade Media Inc. of Flippin owns the papers. Dale Estes and Jane Estes are listed as the co-publishers in the 2018 Arkansas Press Association directory.

The ad says the owners listed retirement as the reason they are selling the papers.

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Home delivery of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ending

The movement to cease home delivery of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette starting in Mississippi County on April 1st is on its way to Baxter County.

Papers delivered in Baxter County Saturday had a sticker attached to the front page advertising a free iPad with a digital subscription to Arkansas’ only state-wide newspaper. The sticker noted “print delivery ends soon in this area.”

Home delivery of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Craighead County ended Thursday, with subscribers who continued their subscriptions being supplied with an $800 iPad providing a daily digital replica, according to the newspaper’s president Lynn Hamilton.

In a Democrat-Gazette report in early May, Hamilton said the newspaper plans to invest up to $800,000 in the iPad program. The pilot program began in Mississippi County, where delivery to 240 customers ceased on April 1st. Hamilton said 70 percent of those subscribers signed up for the iPad program.

Home delivery ended in late April in Clay, Greene, Randolph and Lawrence counties, where 54 percent of subscribers have accepted the iPads and continued their subscriptions, Hamilton said.

In the early May report, Hamilton said, “When we first started this program, we certainly called it an experiment. At this point, we call it a success.”

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