Gator alert in Sherwood has residents concerned
SHERWOOD — Arkansas is known to have a sizeable alligator population in the southern part of the state, but the dangerous reptile predator doesn’t usually settle down in central Arkansas.
But there’s an alligator alert in effect these days in Sherwood, and residents are being urged to keep a close eye on their pets.
That’s according to a Twitter post on Monday from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.
“Sherwood Animal Control confirms an alligator has been spotted off Highway 67 near Warden Road,” said the tweet. “This photo was taken September 28. The shelter has been in communication with Arkansas Game & Fish. This is an important reminder to secure your pets.”
The photo, taken by Sherwood resident Tina Stevens, shows a large alligator sunning in a patch of brush. Arkansas Game & Fish Commission officials are searching the area in efforts to find the animal and relocate it. High river waters in the spring and a hot dry summer may have been combining factors in stranding the gator outside of its usual habitat.
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FORREST CITY — Could the unsolved deaths of two Arkansas women be connected to the infamous confessed serial killer Samuel Little?
On Oct. 19, 2001, Patricia Thornton and her friend Nancy Alvis were discovered dead and nude in a field near Harpo’s on Highway 51 in Memphis.
Alvis’ body was discovered first. Then investigators, searching for clues, found Thornton. Both women had been strangled.
It will be 18 years ago this Saturday since the women were found. Investigators have had a few suspects over the years but it never led to any arrests. And now the family of one of the victims is asking if the murders could be the work of Little, who investigators believe killed more than 90 women mainly by strangulation, over three decades in 19 states including Tennessee and Arkansas.
As far back as 2004 investigators confirmed they believed Thornton and Alvis’ murders could be connected to a string of unsolved murders. Many of those murders have now been linked to Little, who is in custody in Texas for a number of other crimes.
Although no official investigation attempting to link Little specifically to the murders of Thornton and Alvis has been announced, law enforcement officials are following up on every confession Little has offered and poring over cold case files frmo the past 30 years for connections and clues.
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A lesson in recycling from sea lion show
LITTLE ROCK — For the second year in a row, the sea lions are back at the Arkansas State Fair.
The free show draws smiles and applause from crowds of all ages. Poonki, the sea lion, is showing just how easy and important it is to recycle plastic.
However, the show is doing more than just that – it’s helping to spread the importance of conservation. “If you show a kid a sea lion recycling. They may go home and be like ‘mom guess what I saw at the fair today this sea lion recycled’,” says Xania Alexandra, 25, a trainer at Sea Lion Splash. “All of our animals are animal ambassadors for their counterparts. If we could do anything to help their wild counterparts out there, that would be the main goal to conserve and protect all of those animals.”
The show runs three times a day (1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.), every day of the fair and the public is offered an opportunity to take photos with the sea lions at the end of some shows — when the sea lions are in a good
mood.
