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.

Filed under: 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.

Filed under: Arkansas

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.

Filed under: Arkansas

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.

Filed under: Arkansas

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.

Filed under: Arkansas

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.

Filed under: Arkansas

(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.

Filed under: Arkansas

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,

Filed under: Arkansas