MORE NEWS IN LEGISLATIVE KICKBACK SCANDAL

It appears that Preferred Family Healthcare ("PFH") has decided to distance itself from Rusty Cranford as his replacement has been announced.

RUSTY CRANFORD

Cranford was the individual that established a shell company, AmeriWorks, that received $400,000 from the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District ("NWEDD") at the direction of former state Representative Micah Neal and outgoing state Senator Jon Wood. According to Neal's plea deal, both Neal and Wood received kickbacks from Cranford for their help in his obtaining the funds.

You can check out our previous posts about the scandal here and here.

Cranfords replacement is Charlie Green, director of the Behavioral Health Services Division with the Arkansas Department of Human Services.

CHARLIE GREEN

Green said he will become chief executive of Preferred Family Healthcare Arkansas on January 30th.

Green's resignation from the Department of Human Services takes effect January 27th, according the DHS Deputy Chief of Communications, Brandi Hinkle.


BRANDI HINKLE - ONE OF DHS' TALKING HEADS

Reggie McElhannon, a spokesman for Preferred Family Healthcare, has said Decision Point had planned to pass the grant to AmeriWorks but ended up returning it instead. He has denied that Preferred Family Healthcare paid any kickbacks.

REGGIE MCELHANNON - PFH SPOKESMAN

McElhannon's statement about turning the funds over to Cranford's shell company AmeriWorks, conflicts with statements he issued last week denying any "legal connection" to AmeriWorks.

Besides at the time the funds were issued to AmeriWorks in 2013, and returned by Cranford in 2014, PFH had not merged with Decision Point. The merger took place a year later in 2015.

This is the statement McElhannon provided to use last week:

This is the letter Cranford sent with a check for the return of the $400,000 to NWAEDD.

Did you notice that the check was drawn from the Missouri bank account of Dayspring Behavioral Health Services? How did they get the funds?

McElhannon issued a statement on Friday that stated Cranford is "in a voluntary inactive role with our organization."

No doubt, Cranford is probably on his way to prison with Neal, unless he cut a deal with the U.S. Attorney.

We received additional documents from the NWAEDD this week and we found some interesting information.

Crandford's funding request packet had a nice handwritten note from Senator Jon Wood that stated "AmeriWorks is pretty solid".

The funny thing is that AmeriWorks didn't officially exist until after Cranford made his grant application. Cranford filed paperwork with the Arkansas Secretary of Sate the very day NWAEED cut him the checks totally $400,000.

We suspect Cranford was laughing all the way to the bank.

Documents that we obtained from NWAEDD related to funds they releaseds has some other interesting information and you can expect more posts to follow.

Bryant High School teacher accused of sexual misconduct with a student

The Bryant Police Department confirms an on-going investigation of a now former Bryant teacher, Heather Danielle (Hall) Hare. Hare (age 32) has been accused of sexual contact with a student. Hare was featured on ABC Good Morning America in May 2020 when a course she taught was discontinued during the pandemic. At this point no details of the alleged illegal conduct have been released. Earlier today the school district posted this on a Bryant Schools Facebook page. According to on-line school board records, Hare submitted her resignation effective April 1, 2023. Hare is married and is a resident of Conway, AR. KATV featured the Hare family in another story on October 31, 2022. Stay tuned for updates. KTHV featured Hare's daughter in several newscasts . ### ***UPDATE 04/06/23*** Bryant PD provided us with their initial report dated March 31, 2023. ***UPDATE 04/07/23*** Sources report that the Bryant High School football player involved in an "entanglement"

ASP Trooper Jacob Haynie caught on his own mobile video recordings using the N-word

On November 21, 2023, after one of those questionable PIT maneuvers (the ASP now calls Precision Immobilization Technique , or PIT maneuvers, Tactical Vehicle Intervention or TVI) ASP rookie trooper and former Hope Arkansas cop Jacob Haynie was caught on his and other ASP mobile video recordings using profanity and the N-word. ASP policy prohibits the behavior and words Trooper Haynie uttered. That same policy also prohibits actions and behaviors that reflect unfavorably on the ASP. Haynie's wife works at the Hempstead County Assessors office. Wonder if she uses that language at work too? ### The full videos can be viewed on many of the YouTube Channels that feature ASP videos. A follower of one channel identifies Haynie as the one uttering the words. Apparently that individual knows Haynie and might have worked with him at Hope PD. ASP claims no one said the words "climb" or "N***a" and the trooper using the fowl language was actually Tyler Gentry. Ri

Three LRPD cops "relieved of duty" over incident at Club Trois

Sources at LRPD have confirmed a tip we received that three LRPD cops, Brad Stewart, Lee Pitts and Justin Sims have been "relieved of duty" in connection with an incident at Club Trois. The story we were told is that Stewart was working off-duty at Club Trois and dealt with an inebriated female club patron by soaking her with pepper spray. LRPD General Order ("G.O.") 303 requires that a cop that uses physical force, non-lethal control and compliance devices, on or off-duty, follow certain procedures. Use of pepper spray is a Level 4 event. Here are the specific procedures. LRPD sources tell us that they are trained to call MEMS after they use pepper spray or a taser on an individual. They are to file an incident report and they file an officer's report or letter form (5600-2) with their immediate supervisor for each use of force incident. Here's an example of an officer letter form. Not a single procedure was followed in this incident. And to make matter

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