LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas has purchased land for $2.95 million to build a new prison that officials hope will ease a backlog of state inmates in county jails, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and corrections officials announced Thursday.
The state announced it had purchased 815 acres (330 hectares) in Charleston, located about 106 miles (170 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. The state Board of Corrections must approve the prison site before construction can begin.
“This new facility will help end our failed system of catch-and-early-release, and protect our communities by keeping violent offenders off our streets,” Sanders said in a news release. "For Charleston, Franklin County, and the River Valley, it will offer hundreds of permanent, recession-proof jobs and millions of dollars in investment.”
Prison officials have not given a total estimate on how much the new prison will cost or when they hope to begin construction. Sanders, a Republican, called for 3,000 new prison beds and lawmakers set aside $330 million for that last year. An additional $75 million that was originally intended for the expansion of a prison unit is also available for the project.
About 2,500 state inmates are currently housed in county jails.
Corrections officials said that once the new prison is build, it will employ nearly 800 people at an average salary of more than $46,600.
“I have been proud to work with Governor Sanders to address the longstanding issues facing our corrections system and am grateful for her bold action to tackle Arkansas’ prison bed shortage with this new facility,” Arkansas Board of Corrections Chairman Benny Magness said in a statement. “This facility demonstrates all our commitment to building a better prison system and a safer state.”
Sanders last year signed changes to the state's sentencing laws that eliminated parole eligibility for certain violent offenses. Critics have said the changes could further burden an already overcrowded prison system.
The prison project is moving forward a year after Sanders tangled publicly with the Board of Corrections over control of the state prison system. An Arkansas judge last year blocked a law that took away the board's authority over the state corrections secretary and other top officials. The board had challenged the law, arguing that it violated the state constitution.
The state has appealed the ruling against the law, and the case is pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court.
FILE - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks after taking the oath of office, Jan. 10, 2023, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Will Newton, File)
BARRIO DE LA TORRE, Spain (AP) — Moments after rushing waters burst through the door to her home, Mari Carmen Pérez received a text message alert from regional Spanish authorities warning her of the possibility of flash floods.
By the time Pérez's phone buzzed, the water has already gushed into her kitchen, living room and bathroom, forcing her and her family to flee upstairs.
“They didn’t have any idea of what was going on,” Pérez, a 56-year-old cleaner, said Thursday by phone from Barrio de la Torre in Valencia. “Everything is ruined. The people here, we have never seen anything like this.”
She was one of the lucky ones. More than 150 people died, many trapped in cars or the ground floor of their homes, when storm-fed riverbeds burst their banks and swept through dozens of localities on the southern outskirts of Valencia city.
The massive number of dead — easily making the floods the worst natural disaster in Spain in living memory — has raised questions about how this could happen in a European Union country that excels in public safety.
As rescuers continued to pull bodies from the mud and debris Thursday, anger also began to grow among the families and friends mourning lost loved ones and many more thousands whose livelihoods have been shattered by the deluge. The streets were full of people walking to procure basic supplies with their cars ruined and the streets undrivable because of the mud and debris.
The Valencian regional government is being criticized for not sending out flood warnings to mobile phones until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, when the flooding had already started in some places and well after the national weather agency issued a red alert indicating heavy rains.
Valencia regional President Carlos Mazón, of the conservative Popular Party, defended his administration’s management of the crisis, saying “all our supervisors followed the standard protocol” that was coordinated by Spain’s central government.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that regional administrations are responsible for sending alerts to warn the population of possible flooding and other natural disasters.
Mazón is also under fire for his announcement at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday that the storm front would “lose strength” by 6:00 p.m. The opposite occurred.
The size and violence of the extreme weather event was shocking and extremely difficult for any administration to prepare for and predict. But Valencia, on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, has a history of autumn storms that produce floods, albeit at a smaller magnitude than this monster of a storm.
Spain’s national weather agency had alerted officials and the public via its website and social media on Sunday, two days before the tragedy struck, that there was a 70% chance of torrential rain ahead.
The agency then issued a red alert, the highest level of warning, for bad weather as early as 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning as the disaster loomed.
Andreu Salom, mayor of the Valencian village of L’Alcudia, told national broadcaster RTVE that his town lost at least two residents, a daughter and her elderly mother who lived together, and that police were still searching for a missing truck driver.
He complained that he and his townsfolk had no warning of the disaster that struck when the Magro River overflowed.
“I myself was on my way to check the river level because I had no information,” Salom said. “I went with the local police but we had to turn back because a tsunami of water, mud, reeds and dirt was already entering the town.”
Wilson reported from Barcelona, Spain.
People clean their houses affected by floods in Utiel, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Vehicles are seen piled up after being swept away by floods on a motorway in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People pick up goods in a supermarket affected by the floods in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A woman cleans her house affected by floods in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Two people push a cart loaded with belongings in Valencia, Spain, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
