Baxter Bulletin from Mountain Home, Arkansas • Page A2

PAGE2A BAXTER BULLETIN baxterbulletin.com FRIDAY Garage Rummage Sales DonationStationNowOpenSaturdays havingaHalf-OffEverythingSale throughtheendoftheyear.Thestore isalsoopenonWednesdaysfrom9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Come shop with us! RidgemontDr.Hotdogcart,hunting, fishing, tools, clothes, INDOORSALEatTheFellowshipHall, cornerofCollegeandHwy.5,Fri.& Sat.8-2Christmas-books,toys, clothes, weedeater, etc. Hwy178W.Midway,Fri.&Sat.7:30- 5, Sun. 9-2 Christensen.

870-421-7618. Size 14 Wedding Dress. 450monthly.QuietparkinMidway. 870-405-7607 BEAUTIFULMAPLEdinetteset.1leaf, 405-0982. allhouseholdfurniture.Chuck’sOutlet Home.

4PERSONpaddleboat.Asking$400 obo. 870-425-2362. $550. 870-404-4330 leave message. Baxter County filed a response Wednesday to argue against a request to pay more than $70,000 in fees and costs in the Nativity case.

The lawsuit, brought forth by the American Humanist Association AHA) and Mountain ome resident Dessa lackthorn, argued for qual representation on the courthouse lawn after Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass denied a 2013 request to place a Winter banner along with a Nativity. In response, the attorney, Jason E. Owens of ainwater, Holt Sexton, wrote that the re- uested fees of $70,300.01 are in a case that presented essentially one claim, where only four depositions were taken, where no trial was held, where the Plaintiff prevailed against only 1of 2 Defendants and where the Plaintiffs re- overed only injuctive a nd nominal in the a mount of $1. A two-person legal team from Washington D.C. and Fitchburg, Massachusetts, respectively, Monica L.

Miller and David A. Niose, as well as a private Little Rock attorney, J.G. Schulze, served as the attorneys in the case. wens, a Little Rock a ttorney, cited ourly noted from the petition and that he believes the number of hours sought by their counsel to be The response calls for reduced fees. The plaintiffs filed a petition Nov.

18 to request costs and fees to be paid the defendants, six ays after U.S. District udge Timothy L. Brooks ecided in favor of AHA and Blackthorn. According to the brief, the figure put out by the plaintiffs, $70,300.01, includes hourly rates charged by each attorney and out-of-pocket costs totaling $2,503.76. Attorneys logged more than 228 hours of work for the case.

County files response to fight fees FILE ANativity scene displayed on the Baxter County Courthouse lawn in December 2014. KAITLYN SCHWERS Recycling meeting set GASSVILLE The recycling trailer will be set up from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 5 at 502 Lakeview. he city also recently announced that a planning and zoning meeting is scheduled 7 p.m.

Tuesday, ec. 8 in reference to treet abandonment and obertson Annex. State Police Commission meeting LITTLE ROCK The Arkansas State Police ommission will meet in regular monthly session at 1 0 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10 at Arkansas State Police Administrative Headquarters, One State Police Plaza Drive.

AG mobile office ArkansasAttorney General Leslie Rutledge will be in Baxter County or a mobile office location on Dec. 14. Time is 10:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m. at the Van Matre Senior Center, 1101 pring St.

in Mount ain Home. A ttorney General Rutledge created the mobile office initiative to make the office accessible to eve ryone, particularly to those who live outside the apital city. In October, the initiative celebrated the ilestone of holding office hours in all 75 counties, marking the first time that the Attorney office has held office hours in each county across the State. The mobile offices assist constituents with consumer-related issues in fil- i ng consumer complaints against scam artists. Attorney General Rutledge believes there is no issue oo small for her staff to ave a face-to-face conver- ation.

For more information about services provided by the Attorney ffice, visit ArkansasAG call (501) 682-2007. utledge can also be found on Facebook at acebook.com/AGLeslie Rutledgeand on Twitter at Fire auxiliary meeting CLARKRIDGE The Clarkridge Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, Dec.14, at 7 at the main fire station located at 12101Hwy 201N. Everyone is welcome to attend and encour- a ged to bring a recipe for a ew cookbook. Theater to host A Very Merry Christmas Show BULL SHOALS The ull Shoals Theater of the Arts will present Very erry Christmas with Wings of Swing Big and at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec.

5. There will also be a special suprise guest with something special for the children. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets are available at the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce, Hank a nd Cafe and Bakery, Integrity First Bank of Lakeview and the Little Bit Used Shop in Bull Shoals. he Wings of Swing per- orms in a variety of tyles.

The band members are a combination of current and former military musicians, current and former music educators and professional musicians from the area. The Bull Shoals Theater the Arts is located at 1015 Central in Bull Shoals. The phone number is (870) 445-2311. submitted reports LOCAL BRIEFS LITTLE ROCK Arkansas 2-year-old Malik rummond died three days before a false disappearance story was reported to Searcy Police last year, according to an a ffidavit for his a rrest that was released Thursday. The affidavit and other documents were unsealed by a White County Circuit ourt judge a day after po- ice said they found Mal body in a rural area about 50 miles northeast of where he was reported missing from his home in November 2014.

The father, Jeffery Clifton, was being held without bond at the White County jail after being arrested late Tuesday on charges of capital murder and abuse of a corpse. ex-girlfriend, 2 7-year-old Lesley Marc otte, was arrested on a preliminary charge of hind ering his arrest, Searcy olice Sgt. Steve Hernandez said. Court officials aid she would not have a ond hearing until early Friday, but police said she was released on her own ecognizance for medical reasons. They gave no details.

Arrest records did not show any attorney information. A ccording to a second a ffidavit from police, Marc otte talked to investigators on the one-year anniversary of reported disappearance. On Nov. 23, 2014, a neighbor called 911to report that the toddler had walked out the screen door after seeing Clifton and Marcotte searching outside for the boy. Marcotte told police she was giving another child a bath and lifton was sleeping when alik walked out and disappeared.

ozens of volunteers, aw enforcement and other officials scoured the own and nearby wooded a reas for days over the Thanksgiving holiday, draining ditches and retention ponds to try to find the boy. I the documents released Thursday, Marc otte told police Clifton had beaten Malik on several occasions, and two beatings on Nov. 20, 2014, led to fatal injuries. She said the eatings came after the oy refused to eat his dinner then again after he drank another drink. Later that night, Marc otte said the boy was act- i ng strangely, but Clifton efused to take him to the hospital because of extensive bruising on body.

She said she tried CPR later that night when he started making choking noises. She said Clifton took the boy outside and came back a few minutes later and told her he had died. She told authorities Clifton planned the fake isappearance story and hreatened to implicate Marcotte if the police ere contacted. arcotte said Clifton went to work with ody in the back of his ickup truck the next day, and later borrowed his SUV and took the body to dispose of it early on Nov. 23.

I clear if Clifton had an attorney. ather, John Clifton, said the family had no immediate comment when contacted by The Associated Press, and a call Wednes- ay to a phone number be- ieved to belong to mother rang unanswered. The affidavit for arrest also includes interviews with witnesses ho are not identified, one whom recorded conver- ations with Clifton about the death and the disposal of his body. Hernandez said Clifton agreed Wednesday to take investigators to the spot where remains that authorities believe are were found. Hernandez declined to discuss any other details of the interview.

The body has been sent to the Arkansas State rime Lab for final identi- ication, but Hernandez said he does not know how ong that process will take. lifton is due in White County Circuit Court for a lea and arraignment earing on Jan. 5, according to court records. Witness: Boy died days before report CLAUDIA LAUER ASSOCIATED PRESS Jeffery Clifton Lesley Marcotte Woman sentenced to 3 0 years in stabbing LITTLE ROCK A Litt le Rock woman has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the fatal stabbing her 25-year-old boyfriend. Tiffany Celestine, 31, pleaded guilty to second- degree murder Wednes- ay.

She had been initially charged with first-degree urder, and must serve 7 in prison before he is eligible for parole. rosecutors say Celestine stabbed Marvin Lucas in the heart and drove around for more than an hour with his body in her car before calling police on Nov. 11, 2013, from a drugstore parking ot. Prosecutors say she rove past multiple hospi- als that night, and at one oint, stopped to smoke a igarette and get gas. A uthorities had been a lerted to trouble between the couple that night about 4 0 minutes before Celest ine called police.

Court again tosses onviction in slaying LITTLE ROCK Arkans highest court has again tossed the murder conviction of a Lincoln ounty man in a 2011 shooting death, ruling a lower court have the authority to try him on a lesser charge after the riginal case was dismissed. he Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday rev ersed and dismissed the irst-degree murder conviction of Justin Jamaille Thornton in the shooting death of Kwame Turner. Thornton had been sentenced to 40 years. The high court last year had reversed and dis- issed capital murder conviction in the ase. He was then tried on a first-degree murder harge in the case.

In 4-3 ruling, just ices ruled that the lower ourt have authority to take up the lower mur- er charge since Thornt conviction had been dismissed. New honor flight rganization formed TULSA, Okla. A new nonprofit organization has been established to pro- ide free honor flights for Arkansas and Oklahoma veterans to see memorials in Washington, D.C. A Honor Flight announced Thursday that the first flight will be April 2 0, from Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. eterans will tour military emorials in Washington a nd visit Arlington Nation- a Ceremony.

he organization said it will accept applications rom veterans in Oklahoma and Arkansas, with top priority going to World War II veterans and other eterans who may be term inally ill. he organization said a nother trip leaving from Tulsa is being planned for fall 2016. Arson suspects face 2nd murder charge MIDWAY The re- ains of a second victim found in a Midway home arson in November have been identified. The state crime laboratory identified the remains as Ladonna Rice, 71, ate Tuesday. The office said DNA samples were collected from family members as part of the process.

The burned body of her husband, 75-year-old Dona ld Rice, was identified last month. hree suspects are set each face a second count capital murder after ini- ially being arrested on ne count of capital murder in the death of Donald ice. They also face arson and aggravated robbery charges in the case. The uspects are believed to ave stolen several items i the house and the ickup truck, which was found burned. Authorities said an inv estigation into the deaths is ongoing.

Associated Press STATE BRIEFS.