Seven at 7:00: Winter Weather Hits NWA, Prostitution Bust Update
By: Jay Dillon
Updated: December 20, 2012
We started Thursday morning with a tornado watch and ended with a wind advisory. Strong winds caused power outages across Washington County and the surrounding areas. The Red Cross wants you prepared ahead of the next storm. Remember to have non-perishable food items, bottles of water and a flashlight with plenty of batteries.
Fayetteville wants you to remember that raking leaves into the gutter could cause big problems for your neighborhood. The city says the street sweeper isn't designed to remove leaves, so those piles in the street could mean clogged storm drains and even yard flooding. So what can you do? The city will pick up those leaves as part of your weekly trash service. Just make sure it's in the 30 gallon paper bags available at local stores or an unlined trash can marked "yardwaste."
Also making news in Fayetteville, new information coming out of a prostitution sting that netted six arrests after police targeted online sex ads. Police noticed a spike in online ads for escorts so they set up a sting at a local hotel. Undercover officers arranged to exchange sex for money before arresting the six people they say were involved; three women for prostitution, one man for solicitation and two men for promoting prostitution. The charges are all misdemeanors but police say prostitution is often linked to bigger crimes.
Officers are also concerned that some underage people may be involved in the online escort ads. They say another sting could be in the works.
In Springdale,police want you to sign up for the "Smart" 911 system. And every safety profile created by the end of the year will support Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. With the new system, you can enter information like medical conditions or allergies. To help dispatchers react quickly in an emergency, the company that runs the system will make a $1.00 donation to the Sandy Hook support fund for every profile created in December.
The school shooting in Connecticut has one Arkansas lawmaker determined to come up with a way to beef up security at public schools, by arming teachers with handguns. State senator Jeremy Hutchinson says he wants lawmakers to consider training teachers as police officers and allowing them to carry a gun. Hutchinson wants to create a task force focusing on school security that would include everything from building designs, to cameras, to an early warning system. He also wants to implement emergency action plans for dealing with a deadly confrontation. The second part of his plan is to have teachers attend the police academy in Camden on a strictly voluntary basis. Once they successfully pass the same type of firearm and tactics training police undergo, the deputized teachers would carry a sidearm.Hutchinson says he's meeting with law enforcement and teachers this week to work on setting up a task force. A final proposal could be ready by January.
A central Arkansas business is offering a free handgun class in light of the Connecticut tragedy. Rock city lenders in Little Rock offers concealed carry classes to the public. It is also willing to train teachers and school administrators for free. The class includes how to properly handle a weapon and use it in case of a life or death situation. The business is also offering discounts on firearms and ammo to those teachers.
Happening Thursday, Walmart makes its new supercenter in Springdale official. At 11:00, the city's mayor will join Walmart's vice president in the big announcement and reveal more details about the plans. As we've been telling you, the180,000 square foot store will be in Springdale just off of Interstate 540 on Elm Springs Road. It will bring about 300 jobs to the area. Construction will start next year with the doors expected to open in 2014. Thursday, we'll learn more about the building's new eco-friendly features and how the construction will affect nearby roads.
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