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Arkansas child and family advocacy group names new executive director
Keesa Smith, a former deputy director for the state’s Department of Human Services, is the new executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the group announced Thursday. Smith will start with the longtime advocacy and public policy organization on Feb. 20, replacing Rich Huddleston, who retired last year after almost two decades at […]
Sanders names directors of economic development, environmental quality
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday appointed two state agency veterans to be directors of the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Caleb Osborne will serve as director and chief administrator of environment at ADEQ, and Clint O’Neal will lead AEDC as executive director, Sanders announced in press statement. Osborne […]
Sarah Huckabee Sanders intends to keep Arkansas labor secretary
Arkansas Gov.-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Thursday that she will reappoint Arkansas Labor Secretary Daryl Bassett. Bassett was the first secretary of the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing under Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s reorganization of state government in 2019. Bassett has deep connections to Sanders. Her father, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, appointed Bassett to […]
Butterfield Overland Trail historic designation headed to Biden’s desk
Legislation designating a stage coach route that ran through Arkansas from 1858-1861 as a National Historic Trail is headed to the president’s desk to be signed into law. The bill, authored by Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, passed the House on Thursday, according to a press release from the senator’s office. The law […]
Sarah Huckabee Sanders to appoint top department attorney as Arkansas energy secretary
Arkansas Gov.-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday she planned to nominate the chief lawyer at the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment to lead the agency when she takes office in January. Shane Khoury has nearly two decades of state government service on his resume, including his current role as the Energy and Environment department’s […]
Live coverage: Stay abreast of the 2022 elections with us
Welcome to Election Day 2022. Arkansans will choose a new governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general along with numerous other federal, state, county and local officials, as well as vote on four proposed amendments to the state constitution. Polls open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. Some voting locations may have changed since […]
Man sentenced to life in prison in sex trafficking of 6-year-old
A Little Rock man who pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a 6-year-old child received a life sentence Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Brian Miller. DeMarcus George, 28, is one of two men charged in the case, which began in February 2018 when the 6-year-old was taken to Arkansas Children’s […]
Arkansas opens new application period for pregnancy center grants
A new application period for the state’s Pregnancy Resource Center Grant opens today, Oct. 24, according to Scott Hardin, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. The deadline for submitting applications is Nov. 23. Applicants will be vying for a share of $546,000, the amount remaining after 14 organizations were awarded $454,191 in […]
Authors Taylor Branch, Isabel Wilkerson, and FedEx founder Fred Smith honored with Freedom Award
Authors Taylor Branch and Isabel Wilkerson and FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith are this year’s Freedom Award honorees from the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, museum officials announced Monday. The Freedom Award gala and presentation will be held Oct. 20 at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. Branch is best known for his trilogy on […]
UAMS researchers track monkeypox mutation as possible spur to its spread
A team of UAMS researchers found that the recent rapid spread of the monkeypox virus may be different from previous outbreaks because of genetic mutations they identified, according to a press release from the medical school. The researchers, led by UAMS’ David Ussery, published their findings this month in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. The […]
Groups mount opposition to Arkansas lawmakers’ proposal on ballot initiatives
A group formed last week to oppose the November ballot measure to make it more difficult to pass ballot initiatives in Arkansas. The Arkansas Public Policy Panel registered Friday as a legislative question committee to campaign against Issue 2. The Arkansas General Assembly referred Issue 2 to the November ballot. It would increase the threshold […]
Sarah Huckabee Sanders to launch $3.5M ad campaign during Hogs game
Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ campaign announced Thursday it would launch a multi-million-dollar paid media campaign on Saturday afternoon with a television ad during the Arkansas Razorbacks’ football season opener. It will be the Republican gubernatorial candidate’s first statewide TV ad for the general election. It’s the same ad the campaign ran during the Republican primary, focused […]