ELECTION NIGHT “LIVE” THREAD – Blogging from KARK TV Channel 4

First of all KARK has a number of very cool web cams showing behind-the-scenes operations. That site is ArkansasMatters.com.

Now…the news …

Vermont to Obama. Kentucky to McCain. No surprises there.

REMEMBER TO PRESS REFRESH….

Bill Vickery  and I are watching Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida, and most of all Virginia.

We are watching the State Senate race in Conway and the Pulaski County Judge.

You know the issues. The lottery  is expected to pass. The ban on unmarried couples as adoprive or foster parents is less certain. Annual sessions? Who knows?

PREDICTION: Rebekah Kennedy gets morethan 35%

NBC projects South Carolina for McCain.

PLEASE JOIN IN WITH YOUR COMMENTS!

7:00 NBC PROJECTS OBAMA in Penn, Fla. too  close to call.Plenty of other stuff, but no surprises.      

BILL AND I DO A BREAK-IN AT 7:50.

There is more down in the comments section.

7:30 THIS IS IMPORTANT: NBC says the presidential race in Arkansas is too close to call.

Polls closed in Ark at 7:30 … Virginia too early  to call. Expect Arkansas will be clalled for McCain.

ennis Milligan, Ark. GOP chiar wills soon make statement on McCain.

McCain takes Alabama and Georgia.

No early voting numbers as of 7:40.

Pulaski County early voting numbers will be out at 8. Absentee TOMORROW. Go figure.

Let’s talk about Mark Pryor. Not only is he watching the numbers, but so is Blanche Lincoln. Watch those Kennedy  numbers. Blanche may get worried. Not to say anything bad about Sen. Lincoln. She could become chair of the Ag. Committee if Sen. Ted Kennedy’s health worsens. That will be big for farmers, part of her base. Point is, this is a multi-dimensional election.

Pulaski County numbers may go online soon.

Bill and I are back at 8:20.

It’s about 8:30. NBC calls New Mexico for Obama. Pickingup Ohio is very big for Obama.

These issues are very perplexing. As Isaid to Bill on the air, it is very early. I am taking a wait and see attitude.

We are back on the air at 8:50.

Computer problems in Jonesboro. No numbersfromCraighead County

9 pm aH FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS… back in the day, using punch cards and paper ballots, we would have lots of local results by now. Absurd. Some of you have asked about Faulkner Co. and NLR. I have noi idea. None.

Looks good for Obama. Gld grant him wisdom and a spirit of conciliation.

We are back at 9:20.

Understand, I am against the lottery. Nonetheless, it is disappointing for Jerry Cox and the Family Council to suggest the measure will lead to casinos. In the first place, Arkansas already has electronic games of skill. Second, folks already drive to Tunica. It’s here. I feel better about private enterprise running a open legal gaming house than government running ascam the little guy can never win. Anyway, I sure feel better now.

Bill and I are back at 9:50.

NBC MAY CALLTHE PRESIDENTIAL RACE AT 10 aRKANSAS TIME AS POLLS CLOSE ON THE WEST COAST. Stay tuned.

BIG ARKANSAS NEWS … irregularities in White County. Lawyers are ALREADY calling for a recount. Something in Bald Knob.

What a night! See all of you on the Wednesday Wake Up at 6:30.

Filed under: Arkansas, Commentary, National politics, Obama

FCC approves Verizon takeover of Alltel

Arkansas Business reports.

AND Roby Brock over at TalkBusiness.net has some details on Alltel losses reported in connection with last year’s go-private sale. Roby moderated the Club 99 discussion between Big Max and Vickery. Roby is definitely OK.

Filed under: Arkansas, Economy

New site for tips on the Anne Pressly murder

Tipsters can submit tips online by visiting www.tipsubmit.com  You

You will need to select “submit a tip.”

Filed under: Little Rock

Early Election Day news notes

Bill Vickery and I will have color and commentary during KARK TV Channel 4’s election coverage this evening. Tune in starting at 6 for all the raw excitement.

My morning headlines are on K-106.3 The Greatest Hits of All Time with John Lee and Spirit FM with Don Burns at 93.3 and 100.7. AND, the entire staff and management at the Lyncho Intergalactic Headquarters welcome 100kw.Y-95 in Camden. You can hear my morning updates all over south Arkansas on this MONSTER FM powerhouse.

By the way, I am still looking for my new third job. I predict a Pat Lynch sighting at Rotary Club 99 today and it was very cool to see so many of you at Little Rock Touchdown Club’s overflow lunch with Gus Malzahn.

Early voting tops 400,000 as Arkansans get ready to vote in the 2008 General Election today. There are lively mayoral races in Fayetteville, North Little Rock and Pine Bluff. Three of the congressional representatives face opposition,, as does the incumbent U. S. Senator. There are numerous questions on the ballot.

Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross, a Blue Dog leader, told the Wall Street Journal last week that the Democratic coalition could rise to 61 votes in the new Congress. If the party as a whole gains 25 seats, as many forecasters now say, Blue Dogs in that case would constitute 23.5 percent of the new House Democratic caucus of 260.

Gov. Mike Beebe raised the possibility of offering incentives to public high schools as a way to get greater numbers of students to take the rigorous Smart Core curriculum.

Arkansas prisons and Medicaid programs likely will receive additional money first in what looks to be a “recession” finally reaching the state, Gov. Mike Beebe said Monday.

A divided state Board of Education voted 5-4 Monday to allow Haas Hall Academy, an open-enrollment charter school in Farmington, to move to a Fayetteville location, add eighth grade and increase enrollment. The board also voted to deny an application by another charter school, LISA Academy, to open a school in Johnson. LISA Academy now has locations in Little Rock and North Little Rock.

Little Rock police are reportedly close to releasing a final report on the murder of Bill Gwatney.

Private attorneys hired by Oklahoma have spent $20 million on an environmental lawsuit against Arkansas poultry companies, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said Monday.

Four gay-rights activists were arrested immediately after they set foot on the Central Baptist College campus in Conway.

The Times-Herald begins its 138th year of publication, continuing the tradition of being the oldest business in St. Francis County. Owned by the McCollum and Lewey families for 65 years, the Times-Herald is one of the few remaining family-owned daily newspapers in Arkansas.

Baldor Electric Co. expands employment in Fort Smith by adding about 30 jobs in its distribution operations at a time when other manufacturers have been forced to downsize.

An ex-boyfriend of a woman who died after a severe beating in her west Little Rock apartment, Willis Tucker, surrendered to police Monday on a felony theft charge, the warrant for which was issued five hours after the attack and signed by a homicide detective. Tucker is supposedly an ex-boyfriend of Shymeccah Williams, who had reportedly sought an order of protection against him in September.

The Arkansas Bankers Association has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a Halloween bank robbery. The Searcy Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are still investigating Friday’s armed robbery of the Beebe-Capps Expressway branch of Regions Banks.

Pulaski County Sheriff’s investigators say an arsonist may have burned down three vacant houses Monday morning. The fires happened in the Higgins community within a two hour period.

Equity Media will sell its television stations to avoid bankruptcy.

The Arkansas Times Blog is reporting high-level meetings concerning Woodruff Elementary, which may be slated from closure next year.

Cab rides in the capital city will cost at least $1 more today after city directors approved updated transportation laws that included an increase for taxis and other ground transportation companies.

Jungle Jack, the silverback gorilla at the Little Rock Zoo, is dead of congestive heart failure.

Filed under: Arkansas