Mayday headlines (ah, for the good old days!)

At this report, there are no swine flu cases in Arkansas although the Commercial Appeal reports one confirmed case in Memphis.

With no vetoes to override and no technical corrections needed, Arkansas lawmakers plan to make quick work out of their return today to formally end this year’s legislative session.

Arkansas Supreme Court that finds two elements of the 2003 tort “reform” law unconstitutional.

Circuit Judge Willard Proctor testifies before the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, which is holding a hearing into 11 charges of ethical misconduct. Proctor admitted he sent money to a former probationer and that he baptized several of his probationers. Those hearings end today.

The Arkansas Activities Association is considering a proposal that would prevent private schools from participating with Public schools in the post season.

Officials are reporting the deaths of 19 head of cattle near a Chesapeake drilling site in Louisiana.

The Federal-Mogul Ignition Co. plant at Dumas will be shut down and 107 jobs lost,

International Paper Co.’s first-quarter profit nearly doubled, as a huge tax credit for alternative fuel use offset sluggish sales.

Two Pine Bluff grocery stores owned by Affiliated Foods will close and a third local store is rumored on the way out.

A Little Rock-based operator of one of the nation’s regional power grids has approved $700 million worth of projects designed to move more electricity from wind farms in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas to consumers in the Midwest.

Southern Business & Development magazine unveils its Top 10 Stories of 2008 with “Arkansas’ Great Year” making the list.

Swine flu concerns have curbed U.S. pork exports to Mexico as much as 8 to 12 percent in recent days

A Batesville substitute teacher faces three felony counts of sexual assault. Rose Marie Roberts reportedly has a criminal history including arrests for drunken driving, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

The four young men who did $20,000 damage to a Conway middle school are under arrest on various charges. They range in age from 15 to 16.

The Benton County Jail mistakenly released two inmates this week, authorities said. Deputies realized the errors within minutes and both were returned to custody quickly.

A man who was 17 when he was arrested and charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in a fatal shooting outside a North Little Rock Wal-Mart store cannot have his case transferred to juvenile court, the state Supreme Court ruled

Thursday early

Conway’s Kris Allen is in the top four on American Idol.

So far, the Health Department has detected no cases of Swine Flu in Arkansas.

The University of Arkansas athletic department will contribute $1 million to academics next school year.

Students won’t be asked to pay more tuition at the University of Arkansas next year, but administrators are struggling to increase pay for faculty and staff.

TheDemocrat-Gazette reports the University of Central Arkansas has transferred almost $2 million from student-housing revenue to the athletics department since fiscal 2006, even as UCA’s deferred housing-maintenance needs have grown to more than $7 million.

SWAT Teams members joined the local and state police serving a commitment order in Hot Springs yesterday. It ended at a local motel after the community college, courthouse, and a local day care were put on lock down.

The Discipline and Disability Commission hearings on Circuit Court Judge Willard Proctor continue with an accountant comparing Proctor’s Cycle Breakers program to Enron.

A medical school in the Caribbean islands is suing the Arkansas State Medical Board and its 12 board members for not allowing its graduates to become licensed physicians in Arkansas.

Green Party Rep. Richard Carroll of North Little Rock is switching parties to become a Democrat.

Gov. Mike Beebe is named as a defendant in a lawsuit alleging he wrongfully refused to commission the winner of Altus’ November 2006 mayoral election.

Dynamotive Energy Systems has entered into a 10-year agreement with Springhill Land and Timber of Louisiana, using their wood by-products to supply a proposed $40 million biofuel plant near El Dorado.

Affiliated Foods Southwest Inc. of Little Rock is entertaining offers from other companies for either a merger or purchase of the Arkansas wholesale grocery distributor.

A man accused of leaving his wife’s decomposing body for weeks in the bathtub at an apartment has been charged with abuse of a corpse.

Former Arkansas wide receiver Marcus Monk has been given a second chance. Monk has agreed to a free-agent deal with the Carolina Panthers.

Men’s basketball coach John Pelphrey has addressed 13,000 Arkansas fans in a personal way this spring, putting his signature on a two-page letter distributed to basketball season ticket holders.

A proposal to limit lot sizes to a minimum of 5 acres within the Lake Maumelle watershed was defeated by the 15-member Pulaski County Quorum Court on Tuesday despite a packed room of supporters for the idea.

Support Amnesty for Immigrants

One ot the angry teabag kids sent me this release. Please consider the source and do EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE from the ill-informed suggestions below. Tell your representatives you STRONGLY BACK COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM NOW.

Senate Subcommittee to Consider Amnesty Thursday

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Refugees, will hold a hearing  tomorrow, April 30, at 2:00 p.m. entitled, “Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?”

Senator Schumer has packed the witness panel with individuals hopelessly biased in support of amnesty.  While there is one witness, Kris Kobach, who is a friend of true immigration reformers, the remaining witnesses represent “a who’s who” of the open borders lobby and big business interests who want to import cheap labor.

Your calls today and Thursday are especially important because La Raza has organized a grassroots lobbying effort to coincide with the Senate Subcommittee hearing this week.  This nationwide effort will include phone calls, and, according to our best information, will culminate with marches on May 1st to demand amnesty. THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM THEIR GRASSROOTS!!

By calling your Senators and Representative today, you can make sure Congress hears from the American people and not just special interests. In 2007, true immigration reformers defeated “comprehensive” amnesty with a firestorm of calls to Congress. The Senate needs to hear from you that the American people still oppose amnesty.

Please call your Representative and Senators and tell them you oppose any effort to pass any “comprehensive” amnesty bill.

Senator Lincoln also has a toll free phone number:  1-800-352-9364

Telephone numbers:

Senator Blanche Lincoln
Washington, D.C., 202-224-4843
Little Rock, AR, 501-375-2993
202-224-4843
Toll free: 1-800-352-9364

Senator Mark Pryor
Washington, D.C., 202-224-2353
Little Rock, AR, 501-324-6336
Senator Pryor also has a toll free phone number:  1-877-259-9602

Congressman Marion Berry
Washington, D.C., 202-225-4076
Jonesboro, AR, 870-972-4600
Cabot, AR, 501-843-3043
Mountain Home, AR, 870-425-3510

Congressman Mike Ross
Washington, D.C., 202-225-3772
Prescott, AR, 870-887-6787
El Dorado, AR, 870-881-0681
Pine Bluff, AR, 870-536-3376
Hot Springs National Park, 501-520-5892

Congressman Vic Snyder
Washington, D.C., 202-225-2506
Little Rock, AR, 501-324-5941

Congressman John Boozman
Washington, D.C., 202-225-4301
Fort Smith, AR, 479-782-7787
Lowell, AR, 479-725-0400
Harrison, AR, 870-741-6900