Raid nets arrest, fentanyl seizure
JONESBORO — A man who was arrested following the discovery of 30 fentanyl pills and other drugs in his home told investigators he was holding the contraband for a friend, according to a police report.
Agents for the 2nd Judicial District Drug Task Force executed a search warrant Wednesday morning in the 700 block of Warner Avenue, Agent Christopher Jefferson wrote in the report.
In addition to suspected fentanyl pills, the officers said they found 39 hydrocodone pills, about 2 ounces of marijuana, digital scales and packaging.
Investigators also seized six firearms and $1,712 cash.
Larry Edward Farmer, 68, faces five felony charges, including simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, which carries a potential life prison sentence.
***
JONESBORO — A Craighead County circuit judge will have to take a second look at an employment dispute at the Westside Consolidated School District following a decision Wednesday by the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The issue is whether the district complied with the Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal Act when it declined to renew the contract of Ulanda Digby-Branch as an assistant principal at the middle school, in 2020.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled that Circuit Judge Melissa Richardson erred when she granted a summary judgment in favor of the school district, finding that the district substantially complied with the provisions of the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act and district policies.
Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with any affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, according to the court.
“The record in its final posture raises more questions than it answers,” appellate Judge Mike Murphy wrote in the decision.
Digby-Branch entered into a contract in 2015 to serve as high school assistant principal for the 2015–2016 school year. In 2016, she was moved to serve as an assistant principal in the middle school, according to court records.
On March 6, 2020, Superintendent Scott Gauntt hand delivered a letter to Digby-Branch notifying her that he was recommending her contract not be renewed for the following three reasons: “The school district has had static enrollment, is facing an increase of salaries for classified staff of over $150,000, is facing an increase of salaries for certified staff to meet the state imposed new minimum salary, has increased expenses for debt service, and is facing a rising increase in teacher retirement payments Your position of assistant principal at the middle school is not required by Arkansas standards.
The district cannot afford to keep you in a position that is not required to be filled.”
Digby-Branch then appealed the recommendation to the school board, which held a public hearing on April 23, 2020.
Following the hearing, the board voted unanimously not to renew her contract.
Her employment ended at the conclusion of the 20192020 school year.
Digby-Branch had argued Gauntt had subjectively chosen her position to eliminate instead of one of the three other assistant principals.
***
ASB Project seeks partners to help small businesses recover
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center is seeking collaborative partners from across the state to become Arkansas Small Business Community Navigators.
Through the Arkansas Small Business Community Navigator program, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, non-profits, and municipalities can connect local business owners with ASBTDC’s expertise in business development and one-on-one business consulting, along with other critical services and funding programs.
The center will act as a hub for these entrepreneurial support and community organizations to ensure that all Arkansas small businesses have access to resources, information, and technical assistance to help weather the coronavirus crisis.
“This project will help
See STATE, page A10 STATE
From page A3
ensure even the smallest businesses owners access relief funding and counseling. It’s our goal to get critical information and assistance to our underserved business owners and ensure we work collaboratively to help build a stronger, more inclusive, small business ecosystem,” said Edward Haddock, U.S. Small Business Administration Arkansas District director.
“SBA is committed to bring together resources to increase access to capital, contracting, training, and assistance to all communities across Arkansas through the Community Navigator project.”
The Community Navigator initiative represents a cohesive framework for helping Arkansas small businesses respond to continuing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, says ASBTDC State Director Laura Fine.
Fine said ASBTDC will build on its long history of working collaboratively with community-based groups and organizations to assist businesses in every corner of the state.
“We want to make sure small businesses owned by women, minorities, veterans, rural entrepreneurs, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals can easily access the assistance they need,” she said.
The new American Rescue Plan Act provides additional funding for the popular Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loan, and EIDL Advance, as well as other targeted support for struggling small businesses, such as the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
Through engagement at the grassroots level, Community Navigators will give businesses an avenue to access information about the programs as well as hands-on assistance to help them apply.
Arkansas has nearly 250,000 small businesses, and less than a quarter of them received PPP funding in 2020. An analysis of the PPP and EIDL funds distributed in 2020 and 2021 found that not all communities benefited equally from the programs. This disparity was underscored by the recent studies conducted by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas and Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.
“ASBTDC is committed to ensuring that the Arkansas small businesses equitably receive the support they need to access federal relief programs that can help them weather the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The good news is that with the recently enacted American Rescue Plan Act, more funding has been provided for the PPP, EIDL, and EIDL Advance programs.
This along with the new Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund programs will allow Arkansas small businesses to access funding to stay afloat,” Fine said.
Known for its no-cost, oneon- one guidance to businesses, the ASBTDC network is the state’s largest small business assistance provider. In 2022, ASBTDC added four new regional offices in Fort Smith, Mountain Home, Pine Bluff, and here in West Memphis.
During the pandemic, the center’s consultants have guided hundreds of businesses through the application process for PPP and other federal, state, and private relief funding opportunities, assisting them in securing $57.6 million in COVID-19 relief. Over the last 10 years, ASBTDC has helped clients obtain nearly $750 million in capital funding.
“The Arkansas Hospitality Association applauds the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center’s effort to assist businesses in Arkansas to get funding from the recently passed American Rescue Plan Act which includes the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. It is going to take all of us working together to help Arkansas businesses get funding relief and to save our industry,” said Montine McNulty, the association’s CEO.
See STATE, page A14 STATE
From page A4
Organizations wishing to serve as a Small Business Community Navigator should complete the interest form at asbtdc.org/ community-navigators or contact ASBTDC’s Whitney Horton at wahorton@ ualr.edu or (501) 8045421.
ASBTDC assists startups, existing businesses, expanding businesses and innovation-based businesses statewide. For more information, visit asbtdc.org or call the center’s toll-free Infoline at (800) 862-2040.
***
Arkansas lawmakers send Gov. Sanders school bathroom bill
LITTLE ROCK — Transgender people at Arkansas public schools would not be able to use restrooms that correspond with their gender identity under a bill lawmakers sent to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday.
The bill approved by the majority-Republican House applies to multi-person restrooms and locker rooms at public schools and charter schools serving prekindergarten through 12th grades. The House, which approved an earlier version of the bill last month, passed the bill on a 77-15 vote without any debate.
The proposal is among dozens of bills proposed this year targeting transgender people.
Teachers, principals and superintendents who violate the measure could face fines from a state panel, and parents could file lawsuits to enforce the restriction.
Sanders’ office did not say whether the Republican governor planned to sign the legislation. Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman, said Sanders “would sign a law that focuses on protecting and educating our kids, not indoctrinating them.”
Opponents of the bill said the restriction would further marginalize and risk transgender youth at schools, and urged Sanders to veto it.
“By requiring schools to police student’s restroom usage and forcing trans youth to use restrooms that do not align with their gender identity, this bill creates a hostile and discriminatory environment that could lead to exclusion, harassment, and bullying,” Holly Dickson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, said in a statement.
Similar laws have been enacted in Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Lawsuits have been filed challenging the Oklahoma and Tennessee restrictions.
The bill advanced as lawmakers are considering a more far-reaching bathroom bill that would make it a crime for a transgender person to use a public restroom corresponding with their gender identity.
Critics have said that bill would be the most extreme in the country and goes further than a bathroom law North Carolina enacted in 2016 and repealed a year later following widespread protests.
The House approved the school bathroom bill two days after Sanders signed legislation that would make it easier to sue providers of chosen gender-affirming medical care for children.
Legislators also passed a bill to raise the property tax credit that thousands of homeowners receive for their primary residence.
Sanders’ office said the Republican governor planned to sign into law the legislation, which will raise the homestead property tax credit from $375 to $425.
The Senate approved the bill by a 33-0 vote on Thursday. The state Department of Finance and Administration has projected the increase, which the House approved by a 99-0 vote earlier this month, would cost the state $34 million next year.
More than 711,000 people received the tax credit in 2022.
The credit is funded by a one-half cent statewide sales and use tax. The tax credit was established through a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2000.
