Arkansas

updated 8:06 a.m.

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Causey announces in 1st

Why not. Not much to be happening in Ark. today. Democrat Chad Causey announces to succeed his former boss, Rep. Marion Berry....
Arkansas Daily Blog - 7:25 a.m.

Arkansas State offices closed today in Little Rock area

With a hard freeze of slush-covered roads last night with some snow and temps remaining below freezing until this afternoon, Governor Mike Beebe decided to close State offices on Tuesday in the Little Rock Metropolitan Area last night. As with all inclement-weather delays and closures, this decision only encompasses state offices in the Little Rock Metro Area. ...
Under The Dome - 5:25 a.m.

The coming snore

If the U.S. Senate race winds up pitting Rep. John Boozman against U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, bring some caffeine. The oratory promises, well, it promises nothing, Brummett writes . So my prevailing thought while watching U.S. Rep. John Boozman on Saturday as he announced his Republican candidacy for the U.S. Senate is that I dread his debates with Blanche Lincoln. He stands a chance t...
Arkansas Daily Blog - 4:29 a.m. - 2 clicks 2 clicks

Halter for Senate Phone Bomb Outstanding Success!

Today in Arkansas, grassroots activists called Lieutenent Governor Bill Halter's campaign office to encourage him to run against Blanche Lincoln.  The action was incredibly successful, with people calling the Halter office all day long to tell him to get into the race. ...
DailyKos (Arkansas) - Mon 6:20 p.m.

Execution procedure upheld

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld the constitutionality of Arkansas's lethal injection procedure. Here's the opinion . It says that the injection protocol "does not subject inmates to a substantial risk of serious harm." Unless you count death, of course. More seriously, the case summary says the court finds that the protocol, among others, "contains suff...
Arkansas Daily Blog - Mon 2:54 p.m. - 5 clicks 5 clicks

Sewage flow stopped

A temporary solution has been found to stop the flow of sewage from Marble Falls into a tributary of the Buffalo River. This news was reported Friday. Today, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln issued a news release taking credit. She's a real green, see. Sewage has been flowing since January 2009. In November, the state Department of Environmental Quality said the residents better do something abo...
Arkansas Daily Blog - Mon 1:05 p.m. - 5 clicks 5 clicks

Crowd-sourcing the weather

So help me. Normally we go to press Tuesday. We're trying to move the paper out one day early -- today -- for fear of worse road conditions tomorrow. At some point this afternoon, we're going to have to get our crew home to points west in Little Rock -- Hillcrest, Pine Valley, Hall High, etc. We have four-wheel drive. What's the outlook? ...
Arkansas Daily Blog - Mon 12:32 p.m. - 8 clicks 8 clicks

Draft Bill Halter: Drop the Phone Bomb! (Updatedx2)

The Draft Bill Halter facebook group is having a "Phone Bomb" today. We are calling Bill Halter to tell him we want him to challenge Blanche Lincoln for US Senator. We have made some calls and they are beginning to notice our efforts. Can you help? To learn more about Bill Halter and why we are drafting him, go here: http://www.dailykos.com/... ...
DailyKos (Arkansas) - Mon 11:29 a.m. - 6 clicks 6 clicks

Arkansas State offices to open two hours late

Under the state's Inclement Weather Policy, State operations in the Little Rock area will be delayed two hours Monday morning due to snow accumulations in parts of Central Arkansas. State Agency directors may authorize additional delays for employees who live in areas that have become especially treacherous. ...
Under The Dome - Mon 4:49 a.m. - 5 clicks 5 clicks

Session eve with the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra

I spent the evening before the session catching the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra on a tribute to African-American composers over at the Lonoke Baptist Church. I ended up sleeping briefly and drove in here to Little Rock at 2:00 this morning. The rain switched over to snow just north of Malvern. Be careful out there. ...
Under The Dome - Mon 4:49 a.m. - 6 clicks 6 clicks

Friday morning in Arkansas

Gov. Mike Beebe says he would sign into law legislation that would fund $5,000 college scholarships for four-year schools and $2,500 scholarships to two-year schools with money from the lottery. Gov. Mike Beebe tells beer distributors he doubts the Legislature would change the law to allow stores to sell alcohol on Sundays. A project is under way [...] ...
Lynch at Large - Thu 9:17 p.m. - 4 clicks 4 clicks

Thursday Arkansas news

The Lottery Legislative Oversight Committee set lottery scholarship amounts at $5,000 for full-time students at four-year institutions and $2,500 for full-time students at two-year schools. The Teacher Retirement System is resuming its efforts to collect money from retirees who returned to work but failed to report their earnings, even though its director said he still has [...] ...
Lynch at Large - Wed 8:58 p.m. - 2 clicks 2 clicks

Wednesday morning Arkansas highlights

The general revenue collections in January totaled 0.8 percent above January last year and 1.2 percent above forecast. But January Individual income tax collections were down 3.2 percent, compared with last year. Gov. Mike Beebe wants to use some of the  “rainy day” fund to hire additional foster care case workers in the state Department of [...] ...
Lynch at Large - Tue 9:03 p.m. - 7 clicks 7 clicks

Punxsutawney Phil, Arkansas style

The Little Rock Zoo's two Red River Hogs are likely to predict winter's end this morning at 10:30. And this can't be a political site without a report from Gobbler's Knob. Punxu Punxsa The varmint is predicting six more weeks of winter. Clear skies in PA. ...
Under The Dome - Feb 2 - 6 clicks 6 clicks

Tuesday Arkansas summary

Sen. Lindsey Graham plans to introduce a bipartisan bill today to block funding for civilian trials of five alleged plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Senator Blanche Lincoln is among the announced co-sponsors. A House panel will revisit next week whether a rule banning fundraising during the fiscal session allows lawmakers to raise money for [...] ...
Lynch at Large - Feb 1 - 4 clicks 4 clicks

Lincoln opposes Obama ag budget

Washington– U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry today said she would oppose cuts to programs important to agriculture and rural communities contained in President Obama’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2011. “Throughout my Senate career, I have been a strong, independent voice for Arkansas’s agricultural producer...
Lynch at Large - Feb 1 - 3 clicks 3 clicks

Monday headlines for Arkansas

Some 1300 homes and businesses are still without power and a few schools in northwest Arkansas are closed today, but the winter storm has passed. John Arthur Hammerschmidt, son of tformer Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt, is being mentioned as a possible candidate to run for the U.S. House seat his father held more than 20 years [...] ...
Lynch at Large - Jan 31 - 6 clicks 6 clicks

Texarkana Gazette on the county jail reimbursement issue

The Texarkana Gazette editorializes on the the state's reimbursement to counties for housing our inmates in this morning's paper. As has been discussed this week, Governor Beebe told sheriffs that they should lobby us to come up with the $10 million or so to get all counties reimbursed for holding our inmates. Many can't be transferred to the pen because we're already busting at the seams. W...
Under The Dome - Jan 30 - 11 clicks 11 clicks

Governor's weekly radio address

Local efforts for international investments Click play on the console below: Arkansas has foreign offices in Tokyo and Beijing, and several other states have offices in Taipei, Hong Kong, and other cities across Asia (and other parts of the world) for purposes of economic development. Governor Beebe will travel to Cuba next week to look at ways that Arkansas cou...
Under The Dome - Jan 29 - 8 clicks 8 clicks

Governor declares state of emergency for winter storm

Governor Beebe declared a State of Emergency this morning in response to the ice and snow already in the state, and accumulations are expected to continue. The declaration carries with it up to $20,000 from the Governor's Disaster Fund for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management to supply additional support and resources if needed. With road conditions expected to deteriorate as the day ...
Under The Dome - Jan 29 - 6 clicks 6 clicks

High speed rail funding will improve Eagle service to Arkansas.

It is true that the high speed rail money yesterday did not include anything for the studies being conducted by the Highway Department. That was expected, however, sources send me some good news for the Texas Eagle route, which serves Little Rock on the Chicago-San Antonio run. … even though we did not get funding through [...] ...
Lynch at Large - Jan 29 - 3 clicks 3 clicks

Friday morning weather statement

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 403 AM CST FRI JAN 29 2010 ...A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE AREA OF ARKANSAS THROUGH MIDNIGHT... .AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO ADVANCE TOWARD ARKANSAS FROM THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. IT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS TEXAS TODAY BEFORE LIFTING INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY [...] ...
Lynch at Large - Jan 29 - 5 clicks 5 clicks

Schools close, emergency declared as storm moves in

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. via Schools close, emergency declared as storm moves in. Filed under: Arkansas ...
Lynch at Large - Jan 29 - 5 clicks 5 clicks

Noon at Pickles Gap -- UPDATE

Wills to kick off congressional bid today Speaker Robbie Wills will officially kick off his bid for the open congressional seat being vacated by retiring Congressman Vic Snyder today. The event will take place at Pickles Gap at noon. Side note on 1st District candidates The New Orleans Times Picayune is reporting this morning that Congressman Joseph Cao's (R-New Orleans) communicati...
Under The Dome - Jan 27 - 3 clicks 3 clicks

Labor Council meeting rescheduled for February 4

Due to the Winter Storm Warning for Thursday, January 28, the meeting of the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council has been rescheduled for Thursday, February 4, at 5:30 p.m. ...
NWA Labor News - Jan 26 - 2 clicks 2 clicks

Political Animals Club

It's long since been sold out, but Governor Beebe will be the featured speaker at today's Political Animals Club at the Governor's Mansion. With all that's going on in Arkansas politics, should be a good meeting. ...
Under The Dome - Jan 26 - 3 clicks 3 clicks

The Lincoln Twitter feed

The Lincoln for Senate campaign caused a stir that ultimately reached national tv last night because of a broad and vague press release that stated as follows: For planning purposes, be advised that Senator Blanche Lincoln will make an important campaign announcement tomorrow morning, Tuesday, January 26, via the campaign's Twitter feed: twitter.com/blanche4senate . By the 8:00 pm broadcast o...
Under The Dome - Jan 26 - 7 clicks 7 clicks

Arkansas sees 2nd congressman retire in 10 days

The second of three sitting Democratic congressmen in Arkansas has announced his retirement effective at the end of this term. On January 15, 2nd District Congressman Vic Snyder announced that he would not seek reelection. This morning, 1st District Congressman Marion Berry announced that he also will forego another election for the U.S. House in 2010. Berry was elected in 1996 when I was ...
Under The Dome - Jan 25 - 4 clicks 4 clicks

Hiatus = over

I'm sure no one's noticed that this blog has been on autopilot for about three months while I worked overtime here at the office in order to get caught up and put back some extra resources before the upcoming double whammy: the fiscal legislative session and the upcoming primary on May 18. We're really seeing some major changes in Arkansas politics, so it's time to get back with it. Here we are...
Under The Dome - Jan 25 - 10 clicks 10 clicks

Arkansas boats assistaing in Haiti efforts

Here's a picture of a SeaArk boat built in Monticello in action in Haiti this week. A former high school classmate of mine works in quality at SeaArk and passed this picture along through his family. ...
Under The Dome - Jan 22 - 4 clicks 4 clicks

Mid-South Union Leadership Institute

The Arkansas AFL-CIO is joining with state federations in the region in sponsoring the Mid-South Union Leadership Institute. Hosted by the Labor Education Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Institute will be held November 5-7 at the Clarion Resort on the Lake in Hot Springs. Leadership development is critical to the success of the labor movement. Union officers and repr...
NWA Labor News - Jan 21