Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

LightNews

Brett the News Guy

@brettthenewsguy.bsky.social

370 followers 510 following 270 posts

News guy, NOLA born, Bayou educated. Proud girl 👧 dad. Voracious water drinker. Saints fan. Proud KNSU radio alum.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · 5d

It's Spiro Agnew Day! The VP traded his office in 1973 for a no contest plea to avoid 40 tax evasion charges. Celebrate at your leisure.
#history #politics

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · 12d

Caught up with former Times Picayune sports writer Wright Thompson tonight at the Six Bridges Book Festival. Good talk about his new book. The Barn.
#books #littlerock
#nola

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · 16d

Over lunch with my colleagues, we got to talking about extremists (and my history covering them). It reminded me of my friend (and mentor) Bill Morlin, who died in 2021. Wishing Bill were here. I'd love one more conversation.
www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

Only death could keep this investigative reporter from exposing secrets - Poynter

Bill Morlin was a local shoe-leather reporter so well-sourced, he could get the details on any crime-related story in a matter of hours.

www.poynter.org

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · 16d

How the filly M K's Rockette got her name and why it involves #Arkansas
#horseracing #horse
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/se...

Racehorse named for Saline County teenager killed in dog attack | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Makayla Fortner was known to love riding and feeding horses, as well as being around most animals.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · 22d

State Police: Former #Arkansas #Police Chief talked of knowing law enforcement moves if he escaped from #prison

www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/se...

State Police: Human error, lack of communication aided Hardin’s reported escape | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A former police chief charged with escaping from the North Central Unit prison in Calico Rock told a fellow inmate he knew how law enforcement would react once he escaped, an Arkansas State Police inv...

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · 24d

My latest: An unlikely eyewitness to a #WWII POW execution points to possible location of remains of #Arkansas soldier
#journalism #history #stories
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/se...

Search planned for remains of World War II soldier from Arkansas | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Ben Hagans recalls seeing his friend step up, willing to sacrifice his life to save a fellow soldier. The actions leading to the death of U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert Vesey at a Japanese prisoner of war ...

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · 27d

My latest on a #military veteran from #Arkansas charged with threatening President Trump
#courts
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/se...

Arkansas man charged with threatening Trump ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A military veteran from north-central Arkansas charged with threatening President Donald Trump will undergo a mental exam and competency evaluation.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Sep 14

"No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten."
-- Hunter S. Thompson
#Thoughts

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Sep 11

“Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant.”
-- Hunter S. Thompson
#thoughts

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Sep 1

My latest
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/au...

Arkansas death row inmate asks court to speed up his case | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

In hand-written letters and testimony, Scotty Ray Gardner has made his desire to speed up his capital murder case clear.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Aug 29

August 29...
#nola
youtu.be/YS5MNK0_X_Q?...

Louis Armstrong - Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans (Live)

YouTube video by KiDisaster

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Aug 21

Letters from home will soon look different in #Arkansas #prisons
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/au...

For Arkansas inmates, digitial letters from home will soon replace traditional mail | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

For someone in prison, a letter from a family member or friend outside the walls can be a precious gift.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Aug 15

"He stated when he walked up to the gate he just directed the officer to 'Open the gate,' and he did."
Report details prison escape of "Devil in the Ozarks," with first public account by the inmate
#prisons #arkansas
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/au...

UPDATE: Report provides Hardin's first public account of prison escape, says initial confusion delayed the search for him | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The report provides the first public account of the incident from Hardin, including his planning and what he did before being recaptured.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Aug 12

When the "Devil in the Ozarks" walked out of a prison in May, it was in part because he shouldn't have been there to begin with.
Testimony before the #Arkansas legislature showed that he should have been in a maximum security #prison, among other errors
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/au...

Corrections chief says Grant Hardin was misclassified, shouldn’t have been at Calico Rock | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A former police chief serving time for rape and murder who walked away from a state prison was incorrectly classified and shouldn't have been at that prison, the head of the Arkansas prison system sai...

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 31

#Breakingnews Prosecutors to seek #deathpenalty for teacher charged in double #homicide at Devil's Den State Park in #Arkansas
This story will be updated
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Prosecutor: State will seek the death penalty in Devil’s Den State Park double homicide | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for a man charged with killing two people at Devil's Den State Park over the weekend.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 29

#Arkansas Attorney General finds nothing illegal in initial look at "whites-only" community
#journalism #segregation
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Initial review finds nothing illegal in proposed ‘whites-only’ community, attorney general’s office says | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A preliminary review of a "whites-only" community being built in Sharp County hasn't found evidence that they've broken the law, a spokesman for the Arkansas attorney general's office said Tuesday.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 21

Not fiction. Not #satire. Real. Very, very real. And in northeast #Arkansas
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Group plans ‘whites-only’ community in Sharp County, expects protest | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Eric Orwoll is very direct about plans for the land near Ravenden where he and his associates have set up companies and started some construction. He's trying to create a whites-only enclave in Sharp ...

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 17

If you were wondering what happened to Chris Rose, here he is. Content, in solitude and terminally ill.
“I know I’ve got a great story to tell. I don’t know if I know how to write anymore. When I do sit down, it doesn’t come very easy.”
#NOLA #journalism
www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/...

Writer Chris Rose gave New Orleans a voice after Katrina. Now he lives alone in the woods.

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, his column in The Times-Picayune gave voice to the grief, frustration, anger and absurdity of a battered New Orleans. But Chris Rose also battled his ...

www.theadvocate.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 16

www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Federal appeals court reinstates Arkansas’ ban on teaching Critical Race Theory | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The ban on teaching Critical Race Theory in Arkansas can stand, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, lifting an injunction imposed by a lower court.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 13

Take me out to the ballgame
#baseball

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 11

“All the stars had to line up for Hardin,” an #Arkansas #prison official said
#DevilintheOzarks

www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Staff errors, complacency led to Grant Hardin’s escape from prison, officials say | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The failure by multiple corrections officers to enforce policies that led to Grant Hardin walking out of prison, as well as a lack of communication, made the early hours of the investigation slightly ...

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 10

“Thank God Hardin didn’t run into someone outside those prison walls and harm someone,” state Rep. Howard Beaty said.
#Arkansas #prison
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Corrections Board chair says the ‘stars had to line up’ leading to ‘Devil in the Ozarks’ Grant Hardin escape | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

A former police chief known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” did not have help when he walked out of a north-central Arkansas prison in May, touching off a two-week long manhunt, the head of the state’s B...

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jul 7

For anyone wanting to read about the creepiest serial killer you've never heard of, here's the #FBI files on Israel Keyes
#serialkillers
vault.fbi.gov/israel-keyes...

Israel Keyes Part 09

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jun 26

Water, water everywhere. Well, maybe not there. They just don't know.
#Arkansas #prison
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Corrections Board authorizes 2 test wells at Franklin County prison site | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The state will spend $50,000 to drill two wells to see how much water is at the site of a proposed prison being designed in Franklin County.

www.arkansasonline.com

Brett the News Guy @brettthenewsguy.bsky.social · Jun 24

Another lithium royalty approved in #arkansas
#environment
www.arkansasonline.com/news/2025/ju...

Oil and Gas Commission approves Saltwerx 2.5% royalty payment for lithium | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Landowners in two southwest Arkansas counties will receive a 2.5% royalty payment for the sale of lithium extracted from brine on their land after the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission on Monday approve...

www.arkansasonline.com