News - Friday, May 18, 2012

George Bequette saw his son – and eventually his grandson – follow in his footsteps as a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks. And while Jay Bequette did not continue his father’s tradition in the insurance business, he nevertheless fulfilled his father’s longing for his son to get a law degree.

North Little Rock Teen Court recently completed its most successful year, with a record 103 participants, more than doubling its previous year’s total (51).

One of only eight such programs in Arkansas, the NLR Teen Court was established in 2008. The brainchild of City Attorney Jason Carter, the program is administered by Assistant City Attorney Paula Jones.. The NLR City Attorney’s Office has partnered with North Little Rock High School. Case referrals come from Pulaski County Juvenile Court, NLRHS resource police officers, NLR traffic court, and school administration.

D.D.R. v. State, 2012 Ark. App. 329, May 9, 2012.

This appeal comes from the Pulaski County Circuit Court, Seventh Division, the Honorable Barry A. Sims, presiding.

In October 2010, fifteen-year-old, D.D.R. along with several black males robbed four Hispanic victims at gunpoint. The suspects took large amounts of cash from the victims and shot at the victims as the suspects fled. A storeowner witnessed the robbery and one of the victims later identified D.D.R. from a photo lineup. In January 2011, two black males robbed a Hispanic man as he was cleaning his car. The suspects put a gun to the victim’s head and took his wallet, credit card, and cell phone. A witness identified D.D.R. as one of the suspects. Later the same day, four individuals attempted to use the stolen credit card at a local mall. The credit card was denied, so the suspects grabbed some jewelry and fled the scene. The store employee identified D.D.R. as the individual who used the card and stole the jewelry. Shortly thereafter, the police stopped a vehicle containing the four suspects. The police found D.D.R. in the rear passenger seat in possession of the stolen jewelry and a handgun.

The weather was perfect this week in the Levison Towers – perfect means that temperature range where neither the heat nor the air conditioning are needed, and thus neither can fail. Unfortunately, I wasn’t around to enjoy the spring temperatures, as I was back in Oklahoma for my high school reunion.

The Arkansas Insurance Department posts all Directives, Bulletins, and Rules on its website. However, one can also receive this information and other news by signing up for electronic notification.  At the bottom of our homepage is a button to click that allows one to put in the necessary information to receive this information electronically.

It was a good week for weather lovers. Low humidity and sunny days with highs in the upper 60s and low 70s; the way May ought to be. May is also the month when we have the most office birthdays here at The Daily Record, of which I am one. And there seems to be a lot of other people I know with May birthdays. Maybe it’s because it is named for the Greek goddess Maia, who was identified with the Roman era goddess of fertility, Bona Dea, whose festival was held in May. 

In 1975-76, I had Ken Gould for Torts. Two years later, I had him for Practice Skills. In the latter, he surprised us one day with a written exercise. “Take out a sheet of paper and write out, informally, what you think would be your ideal legal career. Take 15 minutes.”

It seems like the Presidential election has been going on forever. It seems these days that they start as soon as they end. Truth be told, they start before they end as people find themselves jockeying for position years in advance. It is sometimes hard to keep the electorate interested and the demand of the 24 hour news cycle requires a candidate to be constantly exciting or face being forgotten behind the latest flavor of the minute.

Cancers of every type abound in today’s society, and as we move further away from homemade meals made with fresh meats, fruits and vegetables to fast foods and prepared, packaged meals, the threat of developing this life-changing and sometimes fatal disease increases, despite new advances in medicine.

Things to do and places to see. School is almost over, so it is time for you and the kids to hit the road! Try on some of these mountains for size. Although some of them are not so kid friendly!

1. One of the world’s tallest peaks, the Matterhorn, is a part of which European Mountain range? Alps; Caucasus; Carpathians; Sudetes.

If you have recently been diagnosed with Diabetes, more than likely you were told to go on a diet - a healthy diet, for the rest of your life. It sounds overwhelming doesn’t it? Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Healthy eating consists of a wide variety of foods including vegetables, whole grains, fruits, non-fat dairy products, beans, lean meats, poultry and fish. However, monitoring portion sizes is the key to a healthy diet.