1BOWIE1AOPEN COUNTY LIFE 2 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 15 10 C M Y K 50 40 30 20 15 10 C YA N P L AT E MAGENTA PLATE YELLOW PLATE BLA C K PLATE PAGE 1A 01/01/2006 03:36 pm Updated Expanded regional coverage, 4-5C Fresh take on vegetarian FOOD 1C w FOOD, PAGE 1C w NATION, PAGE 3D w INSIDE THIS ISSUE CINCO DE MAYO A PRAISE, COMPLAINTS PEAS IN A POD FIESTA TO REMEMBER FOR REPUBLICANS STAR IN RISOTTO n Jason Fackler shares three thirst-quenching n Obama shakes off suggestion he’s lost clout, beauties that put the margarita to shame. saying rumors may have been exaggerated. AND PASTA TODAY’S FORECAST, 6A Today will be partly sunny, with SPORTS: SOFTBALL & BASEBALL, PAGE 1B Wednesday a high near 79 and a low near 63. MAY 1, 2013 Established 75¢ 1875 @@ texarkanagazette.com VOL. 137, NO. 121 | 4 SECTIONS, 24 PAGES TEXARKANA, TEXAS/ARKANSAS “Folks, are you ready to get rid of some orange barrels? FEDERAL COURT | TEXARKANA Today’s the day we start taking some of them down.” —State Rep. Prissy Hickerson Suspect accused ARKANSAS | TRANSPORTATION of mailing meth Officials dedicate could face life MILLER COUNTY n California “After several months, Texarkana loop Polite began to ship Sheriff’s man allegedly pound quantities of n Section of 549 expected to open next methamphetamine to mailed drugs to informant through the department week, will be a ‘key cog’ in future I-49 USPS from California local informant to Arkansas.” goes mobile By Lynn LaRowe —Court records Texarkana Gazette A California man accused of with app mailing pounds of metham- Polite and the Texarkana man phetamine to a man he met allegedly became acquainted n in prison is on his way to face while behind bars sometime Program offers charges in federal court in from 2006 to 2008. Both were Texarkana. released in 2011, according to alerts, booking Craig William Polite, 45, was a criminal complaint filed in an inmate in the Federal Bureau the Texarkana division of the data, tips, more of Prisons when he allegedly Western District of Arkansas used to create the following By Lareign Ward met another inmate who cur- account. Texarkana Gazette rently resides in Texarkana. Polite was sentenced to Polite is serving five years Technology is changing of supervised release by fed- the way the Miller County more than 12 years in prison in September 2000 after a jury eral probation officials that was Sheriff’s Department inter- assessed him along with the acts with and provides found him guilty of conspiring to distribute cocaine in San sentence for conspiracy to dis- information to the public. tribute cocaine. Francisco, according to court The free smartphone app Polite came to the attention documents. Court records do the department launched of authorities in Texarkana dur- last year is now available not indicate where Polite was ing a Bi-State Narcotics Task for iPhones and Android housed during his term in fed- devices. Earlier this year, eral prison. See METH on Page 8A Miller County also launched Smart 911, a service that allows families to create profiles for their household with information they want 911 to have in case of an EDUCATION | ARKANSAS SIDE emergency. “Both of these systems are extremely important to the public safety community $4.1M project to and for the welfare of the citizens of this community,” Sheriff Ron Stovall said in an interview at his office replace heating and See APP on Page 8A air conditioning Business Manager Frank Nation | ECONOMY n Work benefits Coleman said the funds were awarded under the warm, safe seven local schools and dry partnership category Brighter view through the Academic Facilities By Marie Martin Partnership Program. The dis- on jobs pay lifts Staff photo by Evan Lewis Texarkana Gazette trict submitted seven projects n Arkansas State Rep. and former Highway Commissioner Prissy Hickerson talked with the The Academic Facilities for consideration, and all were U.S. confidence audience Tuesday about the achievement of completing this section of Arkansas Highway 549 Partnership Program, Arkansas approved. during the dedication of the Texarkana loop. Hickerson was credited for her work as a highway Division of Public Schools, will “Our focus was on warm, safe, finance part of a seven-cam- and dry. We didn’t ask for any The Associated Press commissioner and then continuing as a state representative. WASHINGTON— pus project at Texarkana, Ark., space,” Coleman said Tuesday. Americans are more opti- By Jim Williamson n Texarkana Gazette School District. Few school districts in the mistic the job market is The funds were approved state received funding under healing and will deliver he Texarkana loop dedication Tuesday was a his- April 24. the space catergory, which higher pay later this year. toric crowning achievement and major milestone in The 2013 Commission for funds new construction for Arkansas Public School and expansion or add-ons, state That brighter outlook, along transportation, said Jeff Sandford, president and CEO with rising home prices, Academic Facilities and documents show. cheaper gasoline and a of Texarkana Chamber of Commerce. ¶ However, Transportation approved more The proposal was considered surging stock market, could Arkansas District 1 state Rep. Prissy Hickerson, former than $4.1 million to replace during the most recent legisla- offset some of the drag from heating, ventilation and air- tive session, which wrapped the recent tax increases and highway commissioner, told the audience she was glad conditioning units at Kilpatrick, up last week. Coleman said if government spending cuts. to get rid of the orange barrels used to direct traffic during construc- Union, College Hill, Fairview the TASD board approves the A gauge of consumer Ttion of the interchange. ¶ Arkansas State Highway and Transportation and Trice elementary schools, match at a future meeting, the confidence rose in April, Washington 4-A Charter School district will fund the balance of reversing a decline in Department officials and local and state leaders attended the dedica- and College Hill Middle School, about $9.4 million with future March, the Conference tion and ribbon-cutting Tuesday where the entrance ramp and state to be completed between 2013 bond savings. The state funds Board, a private research Highway 549 intersect. and 2017. The funding cycle is group, said Tuesday. The See LOOP on Page 8A 2013-15. See PROJECT on Page 8A board attributed the gain to optimism about hiring and pay increases. Economists also cited higher home val- ues and record stock prices. Despite the rise in the index, to 68.1 from 61.9 in TE Political factions fight over Texas Rainy Day Fund INDEX March, confidence remains X Advice........................... .....8C well below its historic aver- AS age of 92. Still, the increase By Chris Tomlinson Comics ..............................6C signaled that consumers, ECONOMY | The Associated Press “This is the politics side of it, and sometimes it’s the ugly the part of what Deaths...............................4A whose spending drives USTIN—Rep. Allan Ritter has we do in the Legislature.” —Rep. Allan Ritter Food..................................1C about 70 percent of the spent years trying to find the Metro..............................2A economy, see better times Amoney to build the water Nation/World................5A, 3D ahead. pipelines, reservoirs and conservation systems Texas’ rapidly growing popu- their support behind Ritter’s plan to servatives dug in their heels against State..............................3-4A A separate report Tuesday Sports........................ .....1-4B showed that home prices lation needs, and this was supposed to take $2 billion from the Rainy Day tapping the Rainy Day Fund, and be the year it finally happened. Fund and leverage it to raise $27 bil- Democrats made their support con- Stocks........................... .....7C nationwide rose in February Copyright 2013 by the most in nearly seven Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David lion over the next 50 years. But their ditional on also using the fund for years. The Standard & Dewhurst, Speaker Joe Straus and the support wasn’t enough. Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city state’s business community all threw On Monday night, Tea party con- See FUND on Page 8A home price index jumped See JOBS on Page 4A C YA N P L AT E MAGENTA PLATE YELLOW PLATE BLA C K PLATE 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 15 10 C M Y K 50 40 30 20 15 10 8A 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 15 10 C M Y K 50 40 30 20 15 10 C YA N P L AT E MAGENTA PLATE YELLOW PLATE BLA C K PLATE PAGE 8A 01/01/2006 03:36 pm Updated 8A FROM PAGE ONE TEXARKANA GAZEttE O WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 ited former chamber president uled to be completed in 2014, the Rainy Day Fund. An esti- billion for a new roads fund and Swede Lee for pushing the I-49 improving the path for super mated 35 Republicans identify $800 million for public schools. Loop project since 1986. tankers, Bennett said. Fund with the tea party, and conserva- The bipartisan Senate plan also Lee was an “tireless advocate When the Panama Canal proj- tive activists at the Texas Public appropriates an additional $1.4 Continued from Page 1A for funding.” ect is completed, the docks in Continued from Page 1A Policy Foundation and Texans billion for public schools from Four separate construction In 1991, I-49 was designated Houston and New Orleans will public schools. In the middle of a for Fiscal Responsibility ada- other revenue. projects totaling $130 million by Congress as high priority. receive more products from fiery debate over whether water mantly oppose spending the Ritter, though, said House were awarded to construct the “That spurred Swede and around the world and can be was more important than educa- $11.8 billion fund.