Local news: Friday 4/24

Mayor Lioneld Jordan was at the NAMA Awards last night. He took the stage and confirmed the news we’d been hearing that April 23rd has been officially declared as “Northwest Arkansas Musicians’ Day.” The crowd cheered. It was a fun night. More to come on the NAMAs in a few minutes here on the Flyer.

Until then, here’s the news:

Walmart + shoplifting + slit throat x marijuana / Ralph Baker = holycrapthereissomuchmoretothisstorythanwethought
OK, so the guy who was caught shoplifting at Walmart and then slit his own throat while detained in the back room wasn’t just a random dude. Nor is he alive anymore. Whoa: “Local author dies after slitting throat in Wal-Mart” (NWA Times) and “Man Dies After Slitting Throat At Store” (Morning News).

Sad (Morning) news
Job cuts, furloughs and less content. Outlook not good. “Newspaper To Change Format” (Morning News)

Protest over fired teacher
Some folks don’t agree there was any “inappropriate contact with a student” in “About 30 protest teacher’s firing” (NWA Times)

Brooke Hanna is home
Dad’s relieved. Mom’s in trouble. But what does Brooke have to say? The answer is not here (yet): “Hanna girl returned to father, mother arrested by marshals” (NWA Times) or “Hanna Arrested For Fleeing With Daughter” (Morning News).