PINE BLUFF IS GRANTED $175,000 TO FIGHT CRIME

The U.S. Justice Department has awarded a $175,000 grant to Pine Bluff to
help "weed out" crime, drug use and gang activity in high-crime
neighborhoods, U.S. Sens. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., and Blanche Lincoln,
D-Ark., said Tuesday.

The department also designated Pine Bluff part of the federal "Weed and
Seed" program, a status making the city eligible for more anti-crime money
over the next five years.

The program will cover the University Park neighborhoods bordered by Jane
Oliver Road on the north, U.S. 65 to the south, Birch Street on the west
and Lake Pine Bluff to the east, said the Jesse Turner, interim coordinator
for the program.