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Posts tagged
'Jon Woods'

The underbelly of Arkansas politics revealed in unsealed text messages

Federal Judge Timothy Brooks last week unsealed more than 500 pages of information filed in the trial that convicted former Sen. Jon Woods of taking kickbacks from government money sent to Ecclesia College. Despite many redactions, it is a mother lode for insight to the seamy underbelly of the Arkansas legislature. Vote trading, lobbyist gift-making, medical marijuana plotting and more.
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Ecclesia College facing foreclosure of state-financed land

A lawsuit has been filed in circuit court in Benton County seeking to foreclose on property owned by Ecclesia College in Springdale that was pledged as collateral on loans by  Centennial Bank. The land includes some $700,000 worth for which the college got state money through the likely unconstitutional and, at times, criminally corrupt General Improvement Fund scam.
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The saga of Rusty Cranford

Don't miss David Ramsey's telling of the Rusty Cranford story and the Arkansas public corruption scandal in which he's a central figure. It is far from over, but this also gives you some personal insight to a man in the middle of the action.

The saga of Rusty Cranford

The man in the middle of Arkansas's vast public corruption scandal.
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Ecclesia College: Your tax dollars at 'work'

Matt Campbell's Blue Hog Report this week reviews the history and spotty academic record of Ecclesia College, the beneficiary of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars thanks to the work of many legislators, at least a couple of whom (Jon Woods and Micah Neal) are heading to federal prison for kickbacks from the felonious former college president.

Trump's swamp deepens with congressman's indictment

Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump, was indicted today on insider trading.  He may not be the only member of Congress with problems. And he joins an early Trump supporter in Arkansas as an accused felon.
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Judge denies motions to set aside verdicts in Jon Woods' kickback case

Federal Judge Timothy Brooks last week denied motions by former Republican Sen. Jon Woods and his friend Randell Shelton to set aside guilty verdicts in their jury trial for kickback schemes involving state money and Ecclesia College and Ameriworks.

Sentencing set for four in Ecclesia College kickback case

Federal Judge Timothy Brooks has set sentencing on four days in September for four men convicted in the scheme to pay kickbacks out of state General Improvement Fund money guided to, particularly, Ecclesia College in Springdale.
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Senators propose new ethics rules but won't call for resignation of colleague

Hendren said he felt confident that members would "step up and do the right thing" despite the difficulty of confronting a fellow member.

D-G chronicles more legislative waste of public money. Welcome to the party.

Lisa Hammersly of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today chronicled several more of the ways legislators wasted public money on unaccountable local pork barrel projects through the now-defunct General Improvement Fund. One quibble: Public questions about this spending didn't begin this year.
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Jon Woods kickback trial delayed

Federal Judge Timothy Brooks today canceled the trial scheduled to begin Monday in the case alleging former Sen. Jon Woods took kickbacks from state money he guided to Ecclesia College and a mental health agency. It was delayed for a hearing on new evidence.

The question: Are there more shoes to drop in kickback investigation?

Doug Thompson of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has written a lengthy examination of the unusual fact that a great deal of prosecution evidence in the kickback case against former Sen. Jon Woods remains under seal. It raises, but doesn't answer, a central question: Are more indictments coming?
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