Although a letter sent this week to 39th Infantry Brigade soldiers said funding had been secured to make them full-time soldiers Oct. 1, the $53 million required and the entire training plan remain uncertain, leaving soldiers, families and employers in limbo.
In an e-mail to a Republican legislator, the state executive director of the Republican Party of Arkansas warns against “feel-good legislation” to combat illegal immigration. “Passing fair policies that make it easier for businesses to locate in Arkansas should be our priority, not passing feel-good legislation that is unconstitutional and runs the risk of making our party look racist. I’m sorry if that sounds harsh,” Karen Ray wrote in the e-mail.
Arkansas will recover $1.2 million for its Medicaid program as part of a multi-state settlement with Purdue Pharmaceuticals, after the company misbranded OxyContin, the state attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.
148 Arkansas high school seniors are among 16,000 students across the country named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. Little Rock’s Central High School leads the state with 17 semifinalists this year, followed closely by Fayetteville High, which has 16. The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts had 12 semifinalists.
On Friday, the state agency that oversees ethics complaints against judges is to take up, and likely approve, a recommendation that charges against Judge Wendell Griffen be dismissed.
Higher construction costs and lower toll estimates create a $139 million gap in funding for the planned Bella Vista bypass, according to a consultant’s report. State Highway Commission members say the design phase and acquisition of right of way for the project, which would bypass the busy U.S. 71 through Bella Vista and north to Missouri, would continue while they try to find another source of revenue to cover the additional cost.
A special judge has decided to void a Jefferson County justice of the peace election, concluding that more than 100 voters were disenfranchised in November’s District 12 race because the county clerk assigned them to the wrong voting precincts. The decision by retired Circuit Judge Russell Rogers of Stuttgart means Democrat Justice of the Peace John Graves, who defeated Republican Mike Burdine by 17 votes, will have to step down from his position.
Deputy State Health Officer Dr. Joe Bates testified that of the 945,000 people the state Health Department served in 2006, about 3.5 percent, may have been undocumented Hispanics. Bates said the state would save about $199,000 a year if the Health Department did not provide services to undocumented immigrants, but the extra office hours required to check people’s documentation could cost the state $1.3 million, for a net loss of $1.1 million.
Arkansas will recover $1.2 million for its Medicaid program as part of a multi-state settlement with Purdue Pharmaceuticals, after the company misbranded OxyContin, the state attorney general’s office announced Wednesday.
They won’t be playing football in the Harmony Grove School District anytime soon. A proposed increase 2.3 mills that would have funded the start of a football program was defeated by a narrow margin in Tuesday’s school election.
After the Fort Smith Board of Directors twice delayed a vote on whether to make English the official language of the city of Fort Smith, Mayor Ray Baker had his own response on Tuesday. Although its affect is only symbolic, Baker still read a proclamation making English the official language of the city. Some directors still favor an ordinance to the same effect.
Acxiom says it will acquire New York-based EchoTarget, a digital marketing and online ad firm. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the buyout is immediate. EchoTarget works with marketers and publishers to identify and target high-value marketing segments based on users’ online behaviors. Those users are then targeted through banner advertising on the company’s network of websites.
AT&T plans to bring 175 call center jobs once outsourced overseas back to the United States, part of a group of 5,000 outsourced jobs company officials plan to fold back into its operations. The new call center, to be located at AT&T Arkansas’ headquarters in Little Rock, will help callers who have AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet services. The new union-represented jobs will bring AT&T Arkansas up to 2,800 employees with a $135 million payroll.
Delta Regional Authority Chairman Pete Johnson of Clarksdale, Miss. was in Helena to present a check totaling $534,128.54 to the Delta Area Health Center. The money is earmarked for the Center’s diabetes education program.
Southwest Airlines will alter the current seating system in early November by assigning a number to each passenger within its three boarding groups. While this wouldn’t assign them seats, it would dictate the order in which they board the plane to find their own. In another change, Southwest will stop automatically boarding families with young children first. Unless they have a coveted “A” boarding pass, families will board after the first 60 passengers beginning Oct. 2.
Local attorney Chip Sexton asked the Fort Smith Board of Directors not to interfere with an internal investigation of three officers in the Fort Smith Police Department. Sexton was one of four people who expressed their support Tuesday for Police Chief Kevin Lindsey, who suspended three police officers with pay in late August pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
After hearing a presentation by project director Sandi Sanders, the Sebastian County Quorum Court unanimously approved a $115,071 contribution to the planned U.S. Marshals Museum — $1 for every county resident counted in the 2000 U.S. Census.
A circuit judge threatened to hold a Jonesboro attorney on trial for sexual harassment in contempt of court. Special Circuit Judge John Lineberger issued the admonishments against David Rees, who is on trial at the Craighead County Courthouse for sexual harassment. Sandra Smith of Paragould filed a civil lawsuit against Rees, claiming the attorney made unwanted sexual advances toward her. Smith also contended that Rees demanded she have sex with him or he would not represent her and her legal claims would suffer.
A statement Tina Ann Felt made to police at the scene of her boyfriend’s fatal stabbing will not be introduced during her trial next week. Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Michael Fitzhugh ruled during a hearing that Felt was at that time too intoxicated to knowingly waive her rights.
Years of police work and cooperation from immigration officials culminated in bringing to justice a man who hit a bicyclist in 2004 then fled the scene. Lazaro Andrade Lobaton was sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter in the death of Brandon Haley, 31, a father of three who was riding his bicycle one Sunday morning on Arkansas 68 east of Siloam Springs.
A 34-year-old Little Rock man who claimed a former lover had seduced him to get incriminating DNA evidence stands acquitted of rape. Kenneth Lloyd Caldwell said his accuser wanted revenge because he had tried to blackmail her about their relationship. The seven women and five men deliberated less than an and cleared Caldwell of wrongdoing in the sexual encounter with the woman, who is now 33. She denied knowing Caldwell and has never identified him as her attacker.
A Fort Smith woman told police a man exposed himself and attempted to grab her after offering her money if she would show him her feet. The 21-year-old woman told police she was walking on Clayton Expressway to Fort Smith Park to find her fiance, who had gone fishing. She said a newer model maroon Chevrolet Blazer pulled up beside her, and a heavyset white male confronted her,
Join me and Bill Vickery for the WEDNESDAY WAKE-UP around 6:45 every Wednesday morning on KARK TV Channel 4. We pick winners and losers from the past week and comment on the day's top news. Sometimes we play rough, but it is always a million laughs.
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