Government & Politics
Appeals court allows transgender care to continue in Arkansas
A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld an injunction blocking Arkansas’ ban on gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender children. The three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kept in place U.S. District Judge James Moody’s order that temporarily blocked Arkansas authorities from enforcing Act 626, which was enacted in 2021 after the […]
Scrap tires pile up in Arkansas as state recycling funds fall short
Arkansas is on the cusp of a big rubber problem. Unusable tires are piling up at tire shops, car dealerships and waste collection sites around the state. Those black rubber stacks will continue to grow unless state government acts quickly to patch up the program, which recently ran out of money. The Arkansas Division of […]
Boozman visits irrigation projects meant to preserve Arkansas groundwater
Two water infrastructure projects decades in the making would make Arkansas farmers less reliant on one of the most-used aquifers in the state, officials said Wednesday after U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Arkansas, visited both projects. The Bayou Meto and White River water management districts have each been digging canals and installing pipelines to transport surface […]
Legislative committee OKs salary bump for Arkansas PBS chief
The personnel committee of the Arkansas Legislative Council unanimously approved a salary increase to $180,000 for Courtney Pledger, executive director and CEO of Arkansas PBS. That amounts to a $27,418 raise over her current salary of $152,582. John Brown, chairman of the Arkansas PBS Commission, told committee members Wednesday that the network’s programming quality had […]
UAMS gets $3.4M grant to study radiation effects on human immune system
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received $3.4 million to study injuries caused by radiation exposure from a nuclear accident or bioterrorism, according to a press release. The funds come from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health and will be used to study possible […]
USDA plans ‘historic’ funding to help struggling farmers and develop new ag leaders
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will distribute up to $550 million to expand certain farmers’ access to land, money and markets and to create educational opportunities for the students of higher-education institutions that cater to racial and ethnic minorities. “The idea here obviously is to enlarge the number of people that are engaged in this […]
Federal judge sides with Texas, blocks HHS guidance on emergency abortions
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge has granted the Texas attorney general’s request to temporarily block guidance from the federal government that says federal law protects health care providers who perform abortions to save the life or health of pregnant patients in emergency situations. Judge James Wesley Hendrix wrote the U.S. Department of Health and […]
Biden to wipe out $10,000 in student loan debt for many borrowers
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for Pell Grant borrowers and up to $10,000 for all other borrowers with an income of less than $125,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a household. Biden also announced his administration is extending a pause […]
Madison County Record receives award for “courage, integrity and tenacity” for Huntsville coverage
An Arkansas weekly newspaper, its publisher and staff are winners of the 2022 Tom and Pat Gish Award for courage, integrity and tenacity in rural journalism from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. The Madison County Record, publisher Ellen Kreth, general manager Shannon Hahn and Celia Kreth, the […]
Former Tennessee House Speaker, aide indicted on bribery, kickback charges
Former Tennessee House Speaker Rep. Glen Casada and his chief of staff were arrested at their homes by FBI agents Tuesday morning after a federal grand jury on Monday issued an indictment on 20-counts involving bribery, theft from programs receiving federal funds, kickbacks, conspiracy to commit money laundering and other charges, according to a news […]
Arkansas state senator agrees to repay salary for public defender work, agency head says
State Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, has offered to repay salary he was improperly paid for work during his short stint as public defender in Union County earlier this year, the head of the state Public Defender Commission said Tuesday. Commission Executive Director Gregg Parrish told a legislative committee that Garner had reached out to […]
Crawford County residents say deputy in beating video attacked them
Two Crawford County residents on Tuesday shared details of beatings they say they received at the hands of a sheriff’s deputy who can be seen in a video taken Sunday morning of officers subduing a man at a Mulberry convenience store. During a live televised press conference, Teddy Wallace and Tammy Nelson of Rudy identified […]