Arkansas's top news stories | August 29, 2024

Developing. Now, a Washington County jail is being accused of misusing COVID release money just ahead how county leaders are pushing back against a new lawsuit and the campaign trail is heating up once again in minutes, we share how both candidates are amping up their efforts. Plus it's game day in the capital city. We're live throughout the show and have details on how you can prepare. This is THV 11 at noon. Well, if you've been patiently waiting for Razorback football to return, then today's your lucky day. Thank you for joining us. Arkansas is taking on U A PB this evening at War memorial Stadium and the fun has already started right outside. Our reporter Abaya Ellison is there right now bringing us a look at how fans are preparing for the big game. Hi there, Maya, hey, journey. It is so exciting out here. I wish you all could be here to just see and feel the energy from Arkansas fans and U A PB fans now just to set the scene. It's pretty hot. It's a little cool for now because later the sun is coming out and prepping the energy for the game. This evening. Now fans have been out here since 9 a.m. and I want you to check out just how fans are reacting to today's tailgate. The bat is lying on the block, gonna take the swag over, put it on the shoulder. Yeah, we got burgers, we got ribs going on on the back side, we got cake, we've got cookies, we got anything you want. We got jalapeno pepper stuff. We just ain't got our tusk up yet. We're fixing to get in of now those brothers of Omega sci-fi set the tone for me out here and the food smells amazing. I'm kinda jealous because I want some ribs and some burgers. But we'll get to more of that later on today because it's super early. There are some white tents around here so they're just getting started but people are staying really, really cool. They've just been really chilling and just getting ready for the big game back to your journey. All right, Maya, we're excited that you're here for the very first Razor Based game, especially against U A PV. So take your time out there and enjoy. And of course, we want to hear from you, especially the Hall fans this afternoon with all the changes and coaches coming back as the Razorbacks kick off their season tonight. How many games do you think the Razorbacks will win this year? We'll head right on over to THV, eleven.com backslash vote to weigh in. Now it's going to be quite the weekend in the capital C city two back to back football games, mixed with Labor Day weekend means you should expect heavy traffic traffic build up, could start as early as noon today. But as you see here, it's moving just a long fine. After speaking with our die, we've learned they're preparing for the influx. And according to Dave Parker, they're hoping these plans can keep the city moving. We will work with the contractors. They're always really good about it to have no full lane closures because of construction. Uh, really, anytime from Thursday afternoon, night through Tuesday morning after Labor Day. Well, let it be a reminder to be cautious on the roads the entire weekend. Well, we are looking for these temperatures to remain warm today. Uh, right now there is lots of blue sky, but we are seeing the clouds start to increase, taking a look at our satellite and radar. We can see we're starting to see a little activity in the southern portion of the state. We are really hoping that that doesn't make its way all the way up to central Arkansas. If we can get this afternoon heating out of the way, we will certainly have a better chance. Uh, at this noon hour, we're at 91 feeling like 98 out there. We're looking for a heat index value right around 103. So make sure you drink a little extra water today. If you're out there having a big time, uh, we are looking for these clouds to continue to increase, but you can see from 4 to 6, there could be a stray shower or thunderstorm as it passes through. We're hoping most of that stays to our south, but we're going to keep an eye on things and keep you updated, but we'll have more on that forecast coming up in just a couple of minutes. All right, Tracy, thank you. Well, new this afternoon, Watson Chapel High School was forced to send students home early after an apparent gas leak. The district shared the news just hours ago on social media and the Pine Bluff Fire Department worked to clear the area as soon as possible. Now, the district says they'll make up the day later in the year and it's hb 11 crime alert. A person is in custody after hijacking a bus and being caught in North Little Rock just this morning. These were images sent to our team after further investigating state police confirmed that someone allegedly tried to steal that bus. No one was on board but the person was called and taken into custody. We will follow this and update you once we learn more. Also staying in North Little Rock, a person is dead and another in the hospital after an overnight shooting. According to police, they found both victims near the North Little Rock riverfront just after 3 a.m. last night of course, we're learning, working to learn more on the shooter and the person in the hospital this afternoon. The fate of a future casinos remains in the hands of the Arkansas Supreme Court. This November, the public will decide on an amendment that could give them the power to vote on allowing casinos in their area now that could be thrown out. However, thanks to a recent lawsuit, its goal is to make sure any votes on the amendment do not count with hopes of keeping the decision out of the hands of voters. What is being argued is that the wrong people signed the certification that it wasn't the members of the actual ballot committee. Local voters in charge. It was the firm that hired the signature gatherers that signed the certifications. The State Supreme Court is still hearing arguments on the matter. In Little Rock, people are getting a better understanding of the proposed sales tax increase. It's something voters will also decide this November, the city's mayor is working to convince people of the pros of the sales tax by speaking on the changes that could happen if people vote. Yes. Uh to make certain that we're focused on the new economic development model as we focus on quality and place within our city and also do the new things, the fun things to keep our families here in Little Rock uh to bring more people to Little Rock as it relates to the indoor, the outdoor sports complex. A big focus is the possibility of more sports facilities for a deeper look. Find this story on our website that's chv eleven.com in Conway. There's growing concern of people failing to abide by the rules of passing a school bus. Our team spoke with community members sharing their frustration over what's been happening. Apparently over the years, people in Conway have illegally passed school buses and we learned the city has been collecting data from the repeated violations with hopes of tackling the problem immediately. People are entitled to know what those, what that information is, how well we're doing. The second reason though is I think in that evaluation process, you wanna see if what you're doing is working. And so if it's not working, then you need to make some changes and we need to know that not two years from now or three years from now, we need to know it. Now the city says they hope new laws will force people to think twice before putting a child in danger. We're starting to see a growing uptick in West Nile viruses across the country with some being reported right here in the National state. We're learning from experts that the numbers usually go up when summer comes to an end and that brings a growing threat for West now and other mosquito borne infections, symptoms include fever, headaches and even vomiting. So you should take caution any time you notice something out of the ordinary, you get bitten by mosquitoes. Certainly to, to keep an eye on it. If you become ill on the, the two weeks, you know, following uh the mosquito bite, it could potentially be related. Well, there's no treatment for viruses like West Nile. So the CDC recommends using insect repellent, wearing loose clothing and get rid of sitting water near your home. Now, in a story, we continue to follow. The Washington County Jail is fighting a lawsuit regarding use of COVID relief money. Now, despite claims of them abusing ARPA funds, some argue that's not the case. I have no question in my mind that what we've done with the ARPA funds is completely legal and we will prevail while the original plan was to add 232 more beds to the overcrowded Washington County jail. Washington County Judge Patrick Dekins says it's not an expansion. COVID might be over with within our day to day lives out here on the streets, but COVID is still very much in the existence of that facility. The priority right now is the health safety and welfare of the people in the facility. That project was never about jail expansion and that it was misconstrued. He says they're trying to make things as safe as they can at the jail as it's overflowing with inmates and hard to isolate detainees who are sick with COVID. What we were looking for was smaller spaces where we could quarantine smaller groups of individuals where right now that's mostly communal. Update our medical unit, update our courtroom down there. We're going to do some things with the HB AC units down there to prevent them from spreading any kind of disease. The Washington County jail has been overcrowded for at least 10 years. Judge Deakins says there's at least 100 inmates sleeping on the floor due to a major backlog from the Arkansas State prison system. The plan to add more beds was thrown out because construction bids came in too high now, no new beds will be added and the overcrowding problem will remain as the cost has escalated. We're, we're removing those beds because the critical part of the project was in the actual main facility. He says he believes it's the best use of the money and it's what ARPA funds are intended for and they're waiting for finalized drawings. You will be informed of this project. You will have a say in this. Just give us a moment while Sarah Moore, executive director for AJ RC, a group against what it calls mass incarceration believes the US Treasury doesn't allow the funds to be used for a project like this. We know we're on the right side of this. The full outcome that we want is to make sure that we're doing the right thing. She says she has a lot of other uses in mind. You know, there's not enough housing the county could be a part of the solution, you know, and, and, and build housing with this money, they can expand health care, pretrial services and we would get hundreds of people out of the jails. Well, there's been some reports over policies that provide health care to illegal immigrants after the break. Our verify team provides you with some answers. Well, that football forecast is on the mind of many Arkansans after the break, we're gonna talk about the potential rain showers as you're heading to War memorial.