Thursday morning headlines

Gov. Mike Beebe gave a vote of confidence to the state prison director and Board of Correction, a day after members of a legislative panel questioned the leadership of the prison system.

The state lottery commission has approves Powerball a

U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that more than $297 million is now available for Arkansas under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Arkansas will be eligible to apply for another $146 million this fall.

Judge Andree Roaf, who’d served by appointment to the Arkansas Supreme Court as its first black woman, died in her Little Rock office. She was 68. She had been serving as director of the federal court office that monitors the Pulaski County desegregation case.

Failing to comply with reporting requirements for sex offenders is not an offense that can be punished with an order of restitution, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

A judge declined to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that Arkansas child-welfare officials infringed on the religious freedoms of members of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries.

The president and chief executive officer of St. Vincent Health System states that the hospital has fired more people for illegally accessing the medical records of Anne Pressly than those who were charged in federal court Monday.

An East Camden flare manufacturing plant will remain closed until company officials complete their investigation into an explosion that sent six employees to the hospital.

Sale of 13 Golden Living nursing homes and an assisted living center won’t affect the Fort Smith corporate headquarters,

A survey of business leaders in nine Midwestern and Plains states, including Arkansas, suggests that the region’s economy continues to show signs of improvement, but job losses persist.

Little Rock District Judge Alice Lightle set bail at $1 million Wednesday morning for each of the three young adults charged in the shooting death of a southwest Little Rock man during a robbery inside his home.

A Russellville man was arrested after allegedly breaking into two rail cars at the Tyson Foods Distribution Center and stealing two boxes of chicken,

Legendary actor Karl Malden is dead at 97. In addition to his lengthy film credits is a basketball scholarship to Arkansas Teachers College. That would have been before WWII.

Early Wednesday happenings

The FBI is taking over the investigation into a prank call that caused $50,000 in damage to a Conway hotel and is believed to be part of a national scheme

Upset over guards’ lapses that allowed two convicted murderers to escape and caused an inmate’s near death, Arkansas lawmakers are calling for a subpoena-powered inquiry in the state prison system. Director Larry Norris says the incidents are not part of any larger pattern.

The head of the state lottery and Gov. Mike Beebe met for the first time Monday, but didn’t talk much about their differences on keno.

Arkansas’ Martin Luther King Commission is about to undergo an overhaul. A new law that takes effect today cuts the size of the commission in half, from 26 members to 13, and gives the governor the authority to hire and fire the executive director.

An Army Reserve brigade headquartered in North Little Rock has received notice it is being activated to Afghanistan. The 90th Sustainment Brigade is scheduled to hold a deployment ceremony next week.

Lu Hardin, who resigned under mounting pressure as president from the University of Central Arkansas almost one year ago, was named today as the next president of a private college in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Act 308 of 2009, which changes the state’s seat belt law from a secondary to a primary offense, goes into effect today. The change means that law enforcement officers can stop and ticket you specifically for not wearing a belt.

Ken James, who is resigning effective today as Arkansas’ education commissioner, will become executive vice president and chief operating officer for America’s Choice, a national school improvement company based in Washington, D.C.

The first medical students are to start next week at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences campus in northwest Arkansas.

Wal-Mart has staked out a partial position in the looming debate on federal health care reform – a position that includes an employer mandate for coverage.

A Little Rock physician, Dr. Jay Holland, and two former employees of St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center are charged in federal court with illegally accessing the records of Anne Pressly, a morning news anchor for KATVTV, Channel 7, who died Oct. 25 from injuries stemming from an attack at her home.

Two people were hospitalized and a third person was treated after chlorine leaked from a tanker truck on U.S. 82 near El Dorado.

In a major political realignment, former Governor Mike Huckabee and the fiscally conservative Club for Growth are working to elect Marco Rubio the U. S. Senate. Club for Growth has previously been outspoken in opposition to Huckabee as a “tax and spend” governor.

Southwest Electric Power Co. says it will appeal a ruling that revoked its permit to build a $1.6 billion coal-fired electric generation plant in southwest Arkansas.

State police will be setting up checkpoints for the holiday weekend and seat belt use is now a primary violation.

Recent problems at prisons ranging from escapes to an inmate’s near death could warrant a “full-scale investigation by some outside agency,” state rep. Steve Harrelson of Texarkana. Prison director Larry Norris will appear before a legislative committee today.

Emon Mahony of El Dorado will reportedly be Gov. Mike Beebe’s next appointment to the state Game and Fish Commission.

The Texas legislature will go back for a special session dealing with the state budget starting tomorrow.

Authorities say at least one person was taken to the hospital after a blast at the east Camden Amtec plant.

Kroger is recalling some of its store brand ground beef with a sell by date from April 27 to June 1.

Gasoline prices are starting to drop, just in time for the July 4th holiday and summer vacation.

Arkansas grocers say they and their customers are looking forward to paying less sales tax on groceries, but they’re not expecting to see a boost in business from the cut

A Little Rock homeowner is telling how surprised he was to find an 800 pound sow in the swimming pool. The visitor turns out to be a survivor of last week’s incident on a local freeway that stopped traffic cold for hours.

Federal prosecutors refused on Monday to turn over mental health evaluations and hospital records of witnesses in the upcoming child-sex trial of jailed evangelist Tony Alamo.

Authorities say a 26-year-old pregnant Fayetteville  woman was killed after she was stabbed by an attacker and hit by gunshot fired by police.

A 15-year-old pilot flying across America as a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen is scheduled to make a stop Tuesday in Arkansas.

Monday headlines

Mississippi smokers who buy non-premium brand cigarettes would start paying an extra 43 cents a pack starting Wednesday under legislation approved a special session called to adopt a $6.01 billion state budget. Mississippi faces a shutdown of all but essential and constitutionally mandated services at midnight Wednesday unless legislators adopt a budget and it is signed by Gov. Haley Barbour.

Second District Congressman Vic Snyder is the only Arkansas representative to vote in favor of new federal energy legislation.

Prison Director Larry Norris will appear before a legislative committee this week to explain how two convicted murderers walked out, the lap dancing exploits of medical staff and the near fatal medical neglect of an inmate. Norris has had the job since 1993 is expected to emerge untouched.

The Democrat-Gazette reports that new federal financial legislation would make it easier for out-of-state banks to enter Arkansas, make existing bank charters worth less, but probably not change things much since the large banks that want to do business in Arkansas already do.

John Shelnutt, administrator for economic analysis and tax research at the state Department of Finance and Administration, tells Stephens Media Group that the state’s officially reported 7% unemployment rate, which is lower than the national average, may be quite a bit worse than the number indicates.

Spending by lobbyists increased to over $1.1 million in the past legislative session and it was inflated by two firms representing tobacco companies that spent more than $330,000 in an unsuccessful campaign to kill Gov. Mike Beebe’s plan to increase tobacco taxes.

Transportation officials have selected SeaPort to provide service from Harrison, Hot Springs, Jonesboro and El Dorado to Memphis on a 9-seat a single turboprop airplane.  It’s not a done deal.

The northwest Arkansas satellite campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received a $1 million grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation.

Closing isolated schools because of high transportation costs violates the Arkansas Constitution, an attorney representing a group of parents fighting to keep their rural schools open argued in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Friday.

Despite the weak economy, Arkansas fireworks dealers say they expect brisk sales ahead of the Fourth of July.

The Pinncale Foods Inc. facility at Fayetteville has announced it will lay off about 69 employees, or roughly 11 percent of its plant work force.

A spokesperson for Con Agra has announced an ongoing multi-million dollar expansion to its Russellville facility expected to pave the way for up to 75 new jobs in early 2010.

The State Police says officers are looking for help to solve a multi-state series of burglaries of Dollar General and Dollar Tree discount stores.

Jason L. Taylor, a middle-school dropout and drug user, was sentenced to die for firing two rounds at a man’s head after hauling him around in the night, gagged and bound, in the back of a pickup. Taylor is the first death sentence in Saline Co. since 1990.

Former Arkansas guard Patrick Beverley was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round (pick No. 42) of the NBA Draft. Then, he was traded from the Lakers to the Miami Heat for a future second-round pick and cash considerations.

Friday heads

The Arkansas Supreme Court voted 5-2 to reverse the capital murder conviction and life sentence of Kenneth Ray Osburn, who was convicted of the August 2006 kidnaping and slaying of 17-year-old Casey Crowder of Pine Bluff. They said the defendant’s statements were coerced and should not have been sued as evidence.

The supreme court has dismissed a capital murder charge against Glen Homer Shelton Jr. in Jefferson County. He ran over Melanie Hughes with a tractor, and changed his defense from self-defense to an accident during the trial. The judge declared a mistrial and the supremes say that amounts to double jeopardy.

The Supreme Court remanded the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission’s recommendation that Circuit Judge L. T. Simes be removed from the bench, saying the filing was incomplete.

The Arkansas Supreme Court says it won’t revive a civil suit by a Little Rock man who claims that he was molested by a former scoutmaster more than three decades ago.

The issuance of government bonds to pay for capital improvements at  Church of Christ-affiliated  Harding University did not promote religion in violation of the First Amendment, a federal judge has ruled.

Retired General and former Democratic presidential candidate Wes Clark, a Little Rock native, has sent an email fundraising letter on behalf of Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln.

Gov. Mike Beebe says that he would oppose keno being instituted in Arkansas as a state lottery game.

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., joined Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., to introduce legislation the senators say would increase the production and sale of natural gas and propane vehicles and develop natural gas and propane vehicle infrastructure across the country.

A state panel created to find a new funding source for state highway system improvements debated its purpose Thursday and asked for proof to convince voters of the need.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced in Memphis on Wednesday $500 million in grants available to prepare workers for “green” jobs.

Gov. Mike Beebe has released an additional $1.5 million to the University of Arkansas to help with construction a new Nanotechnology Research Center.

Kimberly-Clark Corp., the Dallas paper product manufacturer, said Thursday it will cut about 750 of its U.S. salaried employees by the end of the year.

Hiram Walker will consolidate 2 1/2 shifts into two by July 6, eliminating about 12 of 240 jobs at its Fort Smith facility. Hiram Walker blends, bottles and packages Seagram’s Gin, Kahlua and Wild Turkey Bourbon in Fort Smith.

Headlines on Thursday morning

The Arkansas Court of Appeals today overturned Public Service Commission approval of a construction permit for SWEPCO’s proposed power plant in southwest Arkansas. Inadequate assessment. It ordered a new PSC hearing on environmental and other issues.

The death of a 44-year-old man as Pulaski County’s first stemming from the severe heat.

Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Curtis Coleman said today his comment that traveling to Southeast Arkansas one “might as well get a visa and shot” was not meant to be derogatory, but rather as a metaphor for the diversity of Arkansas.

Former Congressman Asa Hutchinson wants an independent review of Arkansas’ prison system. Hutchinson called for an outside panel to recommend changes to the state correctional structure during a speech to the Washington County Republican Women.

A Sebastian County circuit judge did not err in terminating the parental rights of a woman who drank 13 beers the night before a court-ordered psychological evaluation, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

Interactive marketing consultant Acxiom Corp. expects its fiscal first-quarter revenue to fall as much as 21 percent as clients delay or cancel marketing programs.

Home sales in Arkansas were down 8 percent in April, compared with April last year, the Arkansas Realtors Association said earlier this month, the most recent report available. It was the best monthly report since September.

Jobs in Arkansas’s clean energy economy grew more than twice as fast as overall jobs between 1998 and 2007, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew ’s analysis found that jobs in Arkansas’ clean energy economy grew at a rate of 7.8 percent, while overall Arkansas jobs grew by 3.5 percent.

Union Pacific is planning to stop using workers in its rail yard tower in Texarkana and replace them with video cameras. The local fire marshal says hazardous materials pass through all day and night and that move might be dangerous.

Verizon Wireless has told 42 more former Alltel Corp. workers that they will be cut in mid-July, making the total of ex-Alltel employees who will have been let go since January nearly 200.

Axciom will suspend contributions to employee’s 401k plans and cut some salaries to deal with the economic slowdown.

At least 200 jobs — including 50 within the next three months — will be coming to Harrisburg in  Poinsett County. Rusken Packaging will move into the old American Greetings factory on Arkansas 1.

America’s Car-Mart officials say the interest rate it charges on used cars in Arkansas will jump from 5.5 percent to 12 percent once President Obama signs a 2009 appropriations bill.

Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, has seen the number of passengers boarding dip 10.2 percent in the first five months of 2009 as airlines continue reducing service, increasing fares and adding fees to remain profitable.

Pine Bluff Convention Center Director Bob Purvis told the center’s finance committee that he and his staff are exploring new methods of collecting taxes used to fund operations.

NFL training camps start in a matter of days and former Razorback and Jacksonville Jaguar Matt Jones is still waiting for the phone to ring. Jones was cut by the Jags last year after serving time in jail for violating terms of his drug court program.

Lurch, the Watusi steer from near Greenbrier with world-record horns, is suffering from suspected cancer, and his owner says she doesn’t want to prolong any suffering for the animal.

The Arkansas Court of Appeals has overturned the abuse-of-a-corpse conviction of a Mena woman charged with killing her husband and then dismembering him.

The murder trial for a Lee County man accused of killing the Marianna Fire Chief has been transferred to St. Francis County.

Prosecutors say Shane Lonix, the man accused of murdering Plumerville Police Department Assistant Chief Joseph Cannon, may have stolen the murder weapon from a Conway home earlier this month.

Governor Mike Beebe expresses “full faith” in Prison Director Larry Norris despite the recent escape of two convicted murders, and the near-death of an ill inmate.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has filed federal lawsuits against two more companies he says are placing illegal telemarketing calls about car warranties.

Arkansas’ incoming lottery chief said Monday that he’ll hold off on pursuing bids for operations of a lottery game called keno because of legal questions.  Actions by the Arkansas Lottery Commission and statements by the lottery’s director suggest the state is “well on the way to state-run casinos,” the head of a group opposed to the lottery has said.

Health insurance premiums for working Arkansas families increased 5.7 times faster than wages between 2000 and 2007, according to a new study.

Kim Hendren of Gravette, a Republican lawmaker running for the U.S. Senate, says the constitutional amendment allowing U.S. senators to be elected by popular vote should be revisited.

Eligibility questions raised about one-time Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain. He’s third on the Trojan depth chart as a fourth-year junior.

The U.S. attorney’s office searched Dr. Kelly Shrum’s office in Pine Bluff, the Arkansas Center for Women, and found a version of the intrauterine device, Mirena, that has not been approved for use in the U.S. by the FDA. Patients are being contacted.

The Little Rock metropolitan statistical area is expected to have one of the best home-price performances among large markets in the coming year, while Fort Smith and Texarkana are expected to be among the best performing small markets.

An energy products company is in the process of acquiring a facility in Heber Springs for a plant that is projected to employ up to 250 people in four years to manufacture particles used in natural gas and oil drilling.

Gannett, The company that owns Little Rock’s CBS affiliate,  is imposing permanent wage cuts of up to 6 percent on employees, according to a memo leaked Tuesday to a blogger. The cuts will take affect July 1.

Tom McKinney, the mayor of Berryville, will spend 39 days in the county jail on a previous suspended sentence from an earlier DWI/marijuana infraction.

Sexual harassment charges against a former Miller County sheriff’s deputy have been dismissed because of a violation of his right to a speedy trial.

A 24-year-old Little Rock woman has been sentenced to spend 15 years in prison for stabbing three of her boyfriends — one fatally — in separate attacks.

Don’t even think about robbing 17 year-old Jeremy Jones of Forrest City. One of three would be burglars went to the hospital after being beaten to a pulp trying to escape.

Golfer John Daly was at the wheel of his bus and apparently missed the clearance sign on the Bankhead Tunnel at Mobile, Alabama. Sheered the roof right off of it. All in a day’s work, John.

Tuesday early happenings

It is reported that the new lottery may become a part of the mult-state Powerball game.

A prison guard has been fired after a mishandled medical emergency that nearly resulted in the death of an inmate.

Authorities say visits with inmates have temporarily been suspended at the federal prison in Forrest City because of an outbreak of a “suspected gastrointestinal virus,”

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will lead a team of Arkansas researchers looking for signs of life on Mars.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will establish a satellite banking supervision office in Little Rock. Seven bank examiners will be housed in the new office by the end of 2009, and the Fed plans to add three more in 2010.

About 900 people are confirmed to attend Wal-Mart’s Brazil Sustainability Summit, which is underway in Sao Paolo.

Wal-Mart needs to make its price-matching policies clearer and stop claiming in a television commercial that viewers can save more than $700 a year buying groceries in its stores, according to the National AdvertisingDivision of the BBB.

The Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau is offering 5,000 car-driving Hot Springs and Garland County residents a free front license plate to serve as a billboard for the city.

The death of two Springdale children inside a trunk has indirectly pitted two of the big three auto makers against each other. A safety foundation asked GM to recall its 2000-01 sedans and refit their trunks with emergency-release latches. Ford has supposedly been installing the latches for a decade.

Former Arkansas Gov. and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is among the speakers at the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Ky.

The case of Curtis Vance, accused of raping a woman in Marianna, is being continued, pending a mental evaluation. Vance is also accused in the murder of television anchor Anne Presley.

A North Little Rock man facing child rape charges in Lonoke County has been arrested in Little Rock. Nicholas Tarkington faces two counts of child rape.

Arkansas State Police say an overturned tractor trailer filled with hogs on Interstate 430 closed a stretch of the highway connecting Little Rock to North Little Rock.

(running late) Monday news

The Arkansas Lottery Commission confirms that the sale of Arkansas lottery tickets may begin on or before Oct. 29.

The unemployment rate jumped half a percentage point to 7.0 percent in May. There has been a loss of 33,800 nonfarm jobs in Arkansas since May 2008, and the state’s labor force has shrunk by 10,500 in the past 12 months.

An attorney for groups opposing a coal-fired power plant under construction in southwest Arkansas said the facility is “not ready for prime time” as hearings concluded Thursday on challenges to the air permit issued for the project.

Nearly $130 million in federal money will be available to Arkansas cities, counties and public utilities to help pay for damage from the January ice storm that toppled trees and downed power lines in the northern third of the state.

In response to a climate report that predicts consequences for Arkansas as a result of global warming, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation is calling on U.S. Reps. Vic Snyder and Marion Berry to support a bill that would create the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

The U.S. government’s plan to increase its ethanol mandate will mean higher food prices and more harm to the environment, according to an impact study conducted for two groups that oppose the increase.

The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division is preparing for a rule change that proponents say will promote fairness in the beer industry and protect consumers.

New laws going into effect July 1 require “no smoking” signs where fireworks are sold and those businesses must be 50 feet from combustible materials. Another new law will make the selling of bootleg urine for drug tests a crime.

The recent escape of two convicted killers from a state prison unit and the prison system’s ever increasing population prompted lawmakers to summon the state Department of Correction director to the Capitol for talks.

A man wanted for failing to report to his parole officer has been fatally shot by a prison guard as the man tried to flee from a contraband checkpoint at a prison unit in Jefferson County.

Wal-Mart is gaining a greater share of the grocery market in Arkansas and neighboring states as shoppers seek to stretch their dollars in a struggling economy.

Deltic Timber Corp. will pay a 7.5 cents per share dividend to those who own stock as of Sept. 1.

The North Little Rock unmanned police surveillance helicopter has crashed during initial testing and has been returned to the factory for repairs.

Lawyers for Tony Alamo have asked a federal judge to order prosecutors to provide Alamo’s defense with details of the crimes he is accused of committing.

Three people are in custody in connection with the shooting of a Plumerville police officer.

A robbery suspect wielding a revolver with a scope mounted on top led Pine Bluff police on a chase that ended where it began after police flattened tires on his pickup truck, but a standoff ensued that lasted several hours before the man surrendered peacefully.

A Little Rock teenager who was 16 when he robbed and terrorized a couple before returning and shooting the woman during a second holdup attempt last year received a 40-year prison sentence after dropping a claim he should be prosecuted in juvenile court.

The site where a Missouri teenager jumped to his death from a bluff overlooking Norfork Lake now has a sign in memory of the youngster, which officials hope could discourage other bluff-jumpers.

It’s been six months since construction resumed on the houses at Little Rock Air Force Base, and more work has been done in that time than in the entire four years the previous developer held the contract.

The Pulaski County Special School Board narrowly approved adding a $1 million request for federal stimulus funds to design a replacement for Jacksonville Middle School during a special meeting Friday.

Friday heads

The Department of Correction has fired five employees who were working when two convicted murderers escaped a state prison, wearing guard uniforms that were made in the facility.

Arkansas’ 875th Engineer Battalion is one of three National Guard battalions in the country being considered for a rush deployment to Afghanistan.

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., says she prefers private insurance cooperatives to a government-run provider that would compete with the private sector in reforming the nation’s health care system.

Testimony is wrapping up in a hearing challenging the state’s decision to issue an air permit for a $1.6 billion coal-fire power plant in southwest Arkansas.

The House and Senate revenue and taxation committees adopted a proposal by Rep. Mike Burris, D-Malvern, to study completely exempting timber harvesting equipment from the state sales tax.

Arkansas’ site on the Web now has an updated search engine and improved access for mobile phone users.

The total number of people on the unemployment insurance rolls dropped for the first time since early January, the government said Thursday, while new claims for benefits rose slightly.

The $324,000-a-year salary for the Arkansas lottery’s executive director is the third-largest compensation package for chief executives of the nation’s 44 lotteries.

The Arkansas Public Health Laboratory is getting $1.7 million in money and equipment to expand its ability to test the safety of foods, allowing the state to assist in the event of a threat to national food supplies.

Nearly $2 million in federal stimulus money will be spent at units of the National Park Service. The expected results from the windfall will be fixed pathways, repaired buildings and adequate barriers to keep tourists out of abandoned zinc mines.

Ninety-eight public schools will share $1.2 million in nutrition equipment grants funded by the federal stimulus package, the state Department of Education said Thursday.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. confirmed profits are growing and it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy later this year.

Mortgage lenders are busy processing refinance and new purchase residential loans in numbers that mirror volumes of four years ago, some Arkansas mortgage experts said Wednesday.

Bloomberg News reports that Wal Mart may be one of a dozen Western companies joining China’s stock exchanges.

A federal appeals panel has upheld the drug conviction of a man whose commercial vehicle was searched at an Interstate 30 weigh station, even though the officer didn’t have a warrant.

The coroner has said a Sherwood woman killed her daughter yesterday and then shot herself. She left a note, the contents of which haven’t been disclosed,

An additional count of embezzlement and 16 additional counts of mail fraud have been added to the federal case against former Sheridan police chief David Hooks,

Headlines on Thursday

In the Republican stronghold of Northwest Arkansas, of all places, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe singled out GOP lawmakers for praise Wednesday for voting to raise taxes.

Saying that he is unwilling to give up on making it easier for workers to organize, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is eyeing a new proposal both business and labor might support.

Congressman John Boozman is one of five Republican representatives who join the rest of the Arkansas delegation voting for the war appropriation.

Dr. Tom Garrett, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis, is skeptical that the impact of the new state lottery will be noticeable.

For the first time in 30 years, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is accepting children in need of psychiatric care as inpatients.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging today received $33.4 million from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the second-largest gift ever awarded to UAMS.

The University of Arkansas reports that the papers of Billy James Hargis, the famous Tulsa evangelist, are now open for review in the UA’s special collections department.

An electronic glitch is causing a delay in the release of results from standardized tests given to some 375,000 Arkansas students.

State Rep. Dan Greenberg will run for the state senate seat being vacated by term limited Shane Broadway.

Former House Speaker Benny Petrus is considering getting back into politics.

The Democrat from Stuttgart tells the Arkansas News Bureau he may run next year  for the District 28 Senate seat now held by term-limited Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle.

The Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission voted Tuesday to spend up to $180,000 James Lee Witt’s lobbying firm for one year, more than triple the amount the agency had been paying.

The investigation into the 1989 death of Janie Ward near Marshall has been officially closed.  This case was a frequent topic of mine and columnist Mike Masterson.

Authorities confirm a mother and child were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds in their Sherwood home.

V-Vehicle Co. of San Diego, Calif., will locate its first car assembly plant at Monroe, La., and hopes to create more than 1,400 direct jobs. T. Boone Pickens is an investor.

First thing Wednesday morning

The Public Service Commission says the Sierra Club and Audubon Arkansas can intervene in a rate hike case that will help fund a southwest Arkansas power plant, but denied another coalition of ratepayers they say was organized by the two groups.

Third District Rep. John Boozman will have Democratic opposition and a primary will probably be needed to pick his opponent, state Democratic Party chairman Todd Turner told the Senior Democrats of Northwest Arkansas.

Mistakes that may have exposed patients at some veterans’ hospitals around the country to HIV and other infections have not occurred in Arkansas, spokespeople for VA facilities in Fayetteville and Little Rock said Tuesday.

Gov. Mike Beebe appointed lawyer Ron Sheffield of Little Rock to hear the case involving Phillips County Circuit Judge L.T. Simes, who was recommended for removal from the bench by the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission.

The Log Cabin reported that the salary of UCA’s new president Allen Meaders would be $212,390 in state funds and $50,000 in private funds from the UCA Foundation.

According to the May 2009 figures from the Arkansas Racing Commission, Oaklawn recorded $27.4 million in EGS wagers for the month.  That’s a 60% boost from one year ago.  Oaklawn’s EGS wagers rose 45% from the previous month’s total of $18.9 million.

State officials say an India-based pipe manufacturer is no longer planning to open a $100 million plant along the Arkansas River in Little Rock.

There are too many piggies in the marketplace, prompting Smithfield Foods Inc. to initiate a third round of production cuts in hopes of bringing pork supplies back in line with weakening demand.

Central Moloney in Pine Bluff will begin a week-long shutdown at its electrical transformer components plant and a two-week shutdown at its transformer plant beginning June 29.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ annual convention being held this month in Pine Bluff is expected to have an economic impact of $2 million-$3 million,

Contractors are readying the old donut plant in Jefferson Industrial Park for U.S. Sugar Co. Inc. to begin limited production in September.

Extended Stay Hotels filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing a heavy debt load coupled with a sharp drop in business travel

Prosecutors say Curtis Vance, accused of murdering television anchor Anne Presley, has confessed to the crime three times. There will be a further hearing July9 to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

Police investigating two Springdale children found dead in a car trunk Monday are almost positive no foul play was involved. Police think the children somehow got inside and shut the trunk, but are not ruling out other possibilities until the investigation is complete.

A second former Bono law officer has been convicted of having sex with the same underage girl.  60-year-old James “Jim” Raymond Matha of Jonesboro received three years of probation for fourth-degree sexual assault.

The former Marmaduke school superintendent has pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge after purportedly embezzling money from the state’s Teacher Retirement System.

Billy Ray Holloway, a former McGehee attorney, was sentenced to two years of probation and was ordered to pay more than $216,000 following an embezzlement case involving two clients during 2007.

Tuesday top news

A national study of charter schools conducted by Stanford University shows academic performance about the same as other public schools. However, Arkansas charter schools seem to outperform the national trends.

The FBI is investigating a hoax email that reported a non-existent tornado in northwest Arkansas Friday evening. The report made it to the air on at least one television station.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has joined attorneys general from 24 other states in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court free speech decision that struck down a law against the depiction of animal cruelty.

Arkansas officials say they expect to hire about 400 temporary workers using stimulus money, but are warning applicants the jobs won’t be there when the federal funds run out.

Stimulus money is on the way to Arkansas fish farmers. Fifty million dollars was just approved nationally for aquaculture farmers.  Arkansas will see about 7 million of that and some farmers say it will keep their business afloat.

The Arkansas National Guard’s 875th Engineer Battalion was alerted over the weekend to prepare for an overseas deployment.

Tom Cox, A boat shop owner who organized a “tea party” protest in Little Rock, says he’s running for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln. Nationally, the tea parties are a product of Rev. Don Wildmon’s American Family Association of Tupelo, Ms.

There is plenty of violent crime in the capitol city. For the second time in three days, a house in SWLR has been set fire by someone who tossed a Molotov cocktail. A mother and six children escaped in the latest. A police car was shot at last night by a passing car.

Fitch Ratings reports Tyson Foods is one of a few large agri-based companies positioned to best withstand “volatility” caused by export bans resulting from the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak and other health-related concerns.

A Nashville woman claims her managers at Howard County Memorial Hospital falsely accused her of theft to hide that she was actually being fired because illness was affecting her ability to work.

Amtrak’s Texas Eagle will resume its scheduled stop in Hope.

Free-roaming cats would have to be sterilized and microchipped to continue their wandering, under an ordinance Little Rock directors are scheduled to consider.

Monday headlines

Governor Beebe says that, if Arkansas wants to make the big leagues, it must take into consideration its economic development needs while it is building its education system.

Lawmakers have been told that the state is putting its residents and economy at risk by failing to adopt a centralized system for flood-levee oversight.

Through May, the state collected nearly $2 billion in sales tax revenue for the current fiscal year, the finance office reported — $3.2 million below the same point last year and $28 million, or 1.4, percent below forecast. Some cities are hard hit because of a new state law allocating revenue to the point of delivery rather than the point of sale.

A recent legislative audit of the state crime lab shows that some cases receive priority without documentation as to the reason. Questions arose after the case of a slain television anchor and the lab promises to keep more complete records.

Highway projects in Southeast Arkansas are to be somewhat unaffected — for now — by recent news of the federal highway fund being at risk of running dry.

Analog television is no more. The switchover to digital channels was completed over the weekend.

Moody’s Economy.com lists Texarkana as one of the metropolitan areas to exit the recession early.

Tyson Foods must pay the maximum fine for violating regulations that led to the death of a Texarkana rendering-plant worker in 2003. Tyson was ordered in federal court to pay the $500,000 fine and serve a year probation.

Affiliated Foods Southwest has eliminated nearly 90% of its workforce, reducing its employee base to fewer than 60.

A federal grant received by the Missouri Department of Transportation will help the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad recover losses from flood damage in 2008.

Byron Phillips says he resigned as mayor of Marmaduke after being told that he was the target of a criminal investigation. But neither he nor the Arkansas State Police nor the local prosecutor would disclose the nature of the investigation.

Friday items of interest

In her weekly press conference call, Senator Blanche Lincoln denies that she is ruling out a public or government-run health plan.

The University of Central Arkansas Board of Trustees voted 5-2 today to hire Dr. Allen Meadors as the next president of UCA.

A legislative panel recommends an audit of the nearly decade-old research, treatment and cessation program \ established to spend proceeds from the state’s $1.6 billion tobacco settlement.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel joins a number of U.S. attorney generals in a letter opposing a renewal of U.S. limits on certain types of semi-automatic rifles. Those limits have not been proposed.

District Judge Alice Lightle sent a letter to the Pulaski County sheriff’s office asking that the murder suspect Abdul Hakim Muhammad lose his phone privileges, except to call his lawyer.

A small Arkansas community concerned after four homes burned to the ground in just one week. It happened in Harvard Yard, a neighborhood just north of Marion in Crittenden County. The fire chief says all the clues point to an arsonist.

The Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Initiative at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received its start-up costs and, if everything goes as planned, could be open as soon as January 2010.

Bank of the Ozarks has been named the second best performing bank in the country by the ABA Banking Journal in its 17th annual performance rankings. Bank Director magazine ranks Bank of the Ozarks as 12th overall.

3000 Entergy customers lost power in Wednesday night’s story and some may not get it back till later today.

The head of Ford Motor Company’s philanthropic arm is in discussions with the Clinton School of Public Service to enhance scholarship or fellowship opportunities at the school.

Kroger is recalling 32-ounce bags of Kroger fully cooked Buffalo-style chicken wings from stores in several states because of incorrect package labeling that could endanger people with certain allergies.

Unusually heavy spring rains have likely caused a $5.3 million loss in the tomato crops of Bradley, Ashley and Drew counties. Tri-county residents may have world record for the largest bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich – 160 feet long.

Early Thursday happenings

U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., wants the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to follow the example of the National Park Service and waive certain fees to stimulate vacation travel.

Arkansas will receive $18.7 in federal assistance to provide training and case management services to workers who lose their jobs to outsourcing and foreign trade.

Arkansas will receive $70.2 million in disaster aid from the federal government to help the state recover from flooding and tornadoes.

Librarians and state leaders will gather today in Little Rock to promote the education and deployment of broadband, or high-speed Internet, service in Arkansas.

Employees of Heifer International are learning this week whether they will be among the twenty percent facing unemployment.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office has issued an official opinion — requested by Sen. Paul Miller — that said golf carts may be operated on city streets only between a residence and a golf course and only if a city ordinance allows it.

The state attorney general Wednesday certified the popular name and ballot title of a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend the terms of county officials from two to four years.

The Drug Enforcement Administration lists Arkansas as one of the top 10 in the nationfor methamphetamine busts.

About one-third of the rides on the amusement park side of Magic Springs & Crystal Falls in Hot Springs are closed for the start of the attraction’s season. Some of the replacement parts come from Europe.

Baxter Healthcare in Mountain Home is laying off 65 employees who work in a segment of the business is being phased out.

Arkansas’ winter wheat harvest is coming in underweight and a little sickly because of a very wet May. The average bushel weight is 60 pounds, but the estimated average this year is about 55 pounds.

Star City will be receiving a storm warning siren from American Signal and is expected to be shipped soon.

John Daly is playing in the St. Jude Classic this week and his ex-wife is barred from the course.

Wednesday early

The new director of the state lottery plans to hire 95 employees and institute ATM style ticket machines that will give you a payoff if you have a winning ticket.

Abdul Hakim Muhanmmad, accused of killing a solider outside a Little Rock recruiting station, placed a collect call to the Associated Press and made a number of statements concerning the incident. Muhammad says it was a symbolic and justifiable protest of American interference in the Middle East.

A judge has ordered that trial for a man accused of killing Arkansas Tech student Nona Dirksmeyer be moved to Johnson County.

Arkansas’ graduation rate is slightly above the national average at 72%. Among black students, 62% graduate, compared to 51% nationally.

Protesters of the West Memphis Three case disrupted Circuit Court Judge John Fogleman’s press conference announcing his run for the state supreme court. Fogleman was a prosecutor in that case and is running against Appeals Court Judge Courtney Henry.

Lawyers for groups opposing construction of a coal-fired power plant in Hempstead County say the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality did not fully consider the plant’s potential impact on the environment when it granted an air quality permit for the plant.

The Polymer Group will close its plant in North Little Rock  by the spring of 2010. This will mean the loss of some 140 jobs.

Polymarin, a wind blade manufacturer locating in Arkansas, will delay production until the third quarter of this year.

Big John Tree Transplanter Manufacturing Inc. of Heber Springs has sold an order of seven transplanters to the city of Baghdad,

Management at a Conway hotel is claiming $50,000 in damages was caused by a prank caller who may be responsible for similar attempts at phone-it-in vandalism throughout the state and nation. They will ask you to turn on your sprinkler system. Don’t do it.

The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing a proposal that would pull meteorologists out of the regional centers, and consolidate them in two facilities, in Kansas City, Mo., and College Park, Md.

The design has been approved for the United States Marshall Service Museum in Fort Smith.

Little Rock police have nabbed a couple of juveniles in connection with last weekends shooting of an ice cream truck operator. Prosecutors expect to charge them with attempted capital murder.

For the first time in history, the University of Arkansas Police Department has acquired two bomb-sniffing dogs

Tuesday first headlines

District Judge Alice Lightle has granted Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley’s request for a gag order in the murder case against the man charged with killing a young soldier outside a Little Rock recruiting station.

Correction officials are looking into whether real or fake identification badges were used by two convicted killers who fled an Arkansas prison wearing guard uniforms.

Kris Allen of Conway has signed the mandatory contract with 19 Records of London and will have his first CD out in the Fall.

An administrative judge says he won’t consider arguments that regulators did not properly analyze the potential carbon dioxide pollution caused by a proposed coal-fired power plant before approving an air permit.

Mayor Carl Redus of Pine Bluff hosted a meeting for the AFL-CIO with the Arkansas Conference of Black Mayors who agreed to write Senator Lincoln individual letters asking her to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

LM Glasfiber is terminating about 80 workers and ending the weekend shift at its windmill blade manufacturing plant at the Little Rock Port.

Chesapeake Energy, a major player in the Fayetteville Shale, has entered into an agreement to sell properties and leases in North Louisiana, East Texas and Arkansas to Indigo Minerals Llc. of Houston for $218 million.

Fox 16 is reporting that an undisclosed financial settlement has been reached in the Workers Compensation case of Nigel Haskett, the employee of a Little Rock McDonald’s restaurant who was injured when he stopped a man attacking a female customer. McDonald’s insurer had resisted paying the claim because the company said Haskett had acted outside his duties.

Prosecutors say a Bee Branch man accused of holding his wife and daughter hostage for 13 hours has been sentenced to 98 years in prison.

Voters in Fort Smith will be deciding if they want to continue the current sales tax to fund sewer improvements.

Arkansas Business reports that Crystal Bridges, the Walton-financed American art museum under construction in Bentonville, has acquired Norman Rockwell’s original “Rosie the Riveter.”

John Daly played the Germantown Golf Course followed by security guards wearing black shirts reading “Shelby County SWAT Team,” and still failed to qualify for the U. S. Open. He will play in the St. Jude Classic

Monday heads

Private William Long will be laid to rest today. Long was one of two soldiers shot outside a Little Rock recruiting station. His alleged assailant had admitted the shooting and entered a plea of “not guilty.”

Two convicted murderers who escaped the Cummins Unit prison in Grady to southwest New York are back in Arkansas.

The Arkansas Lottery Commission on Friday hired the executive director of the South Carolina Education Lottery as the Arkansas lottery’s first executive director at a salary of $324,000 a year.

The University of Central Arkansas board of trustees wrapped up two days of interviewing finalists for the president’s position Saturday but did not choose anyone for the post.

The University of Arkansas board of trustees Friday approved relatively moderate increases in tuition and mandatory fees for the coming school year. UCA is the most expensive state school while the University of Arkansas at Monticello claims to be the cheapest.

Dassault Falcon let go 153 Little Rock workers Friday as the economic downturn took an additional toll on the state’s aerospace business.

Wal-Mart Stores’s Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright promised shareholders at its annual meeting that it will press for more diversity in its workforce and create more career opportunities for advancement.

A longtime Washington County road worker was killed after he was struck by a car while directing traffic southeast of Fayetteville.

Two armed assailants robed a neighborhood ice cream wagon and shot the woman driving the concession.

The City of Helena-West Helena is considering reopening the animal control office after postal employees are harassed by packs of roaming dogs.

Memphis transit officials and the local congressman are seeking to have the proposed southeast high speed rail corridor originating in Fort Worth, extended from Little Rock to Memphis.

A concerted effort by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department in May resulted in the arrest of 28 people, both male and female, who together owned nearly $257,000 in unpaid child support.

A Palestine-Wheatley High School student who sued the school district last month so that he could participate in the school’s graduation ceremony, despite a failing English grade, will not receive his diploma, a circuit court judge has ruled.

A Sebastian County circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit that accuses Fort Smith police of negligence after a woman was fatally stabbed in a busy intersection.

A Pulaski County Circuit Court jury has awarded a $21 million verdict to a doctor in a 15 year-old complaint against Allstate Insurance Co. Dr. Jon Dodson and Forest Park Medical Clinic sued Allstate Insurance Co. over several allegations, including defamation and conspiring not to pay medical claims.

With a shrunken budget, stagnant advance ticket sales and declining contributions, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra is planning a frugal approach to the season ahead.

Friday Arkansas early morning

The attorney for the admitted killer of a soldier outside the Little Rock recruiting center says his client was hardened and mistreated in Yemen.

New York authorities have displayed the guard uniforms and prison employee identification cards used by two convicted murders in last week’s escape from Cummins Prison.

A National Guard helicopter crashed in the Buffalo River in Marion County near Yellville today. A State Police Special Agent was among those on board.  The chopper apparently lost power and went into the river, but apparently no serious injuries to the three on board.

Ray Thornton, Chairman of the State Lottery Commission, now says lottery experience may be very important for an executive director. Thornton says he is not pleased with the pool of candidates and there is talk of raising the salary.

An Iraq war veteran, Larry “Beau” Stricklin, Jr. plans to form an exploratory committee to run in the 3rd Congressional District against incumbent Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers.

The State Supreme Court finds no merit in a lawsuit by several school districts, led by Fort Smith, that contended the state wasn’t making sufficient financial effort to support public schools.

An Arkansas State Police trooper who left his job while under investigation on suspicions that he used cocaine didn’t retire, but instead resigned his position, the Arkansas Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

A state law that makes people on active military duty exempt from being served with civil lawsuits does not conflict with the Arkansas Constitution, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation has given $33.4 million to the Reynolds Institute on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. It’s the campus’ second biggest gift.

The Wal Mart annual shareholders meeting is today in Fayetteville. Wal-Mart is actively seeking acquisitions abroad, including in Russia.

A Minnesota judge has given final approval to a settlement of a wages-and-hours lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that could be worth up to $54.25 million.

Sales at Little Rock-based Dillard’s dropped 14 percent in May, though comparable store sales were marginally better.

A 19-year-old Little Rock man convicted Wednesday of raping a teenager and shooting a man in the face during an armed robbery went home instead of to prison after one of the jurors suffered a brief emotional breakdown, prompting Pulaski County Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey to order a new trial.

Most categories of violent crime in Little Rock declined dramatically in 2008, while property crimes saw less sensational but still significant drops, according to preliminary statistics released earlier this week by the FBI.