WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, saw several of his amendments fall by the wayside Wednesday without debate as the House launched a marathon session on legislation that would overhaul the nation’s farm and nutrition policies.The House agreed to consider only half of more than 200 amendments members offered to the chamber’s proposed new farm bill.
LITTLE ROCK — Comments offered Wednesday at public hearing on implementation of the state’s new voter ID law showed the law remains sharply divisive.Act 595 of this year requires voters to show photo identification at the polls...
LITTLE ROCK — A defendant’s constitutional rights were violated when statements he made during a mental evaluation were admitted at his trial in Crawford County Circuit Court as evidence of guilt, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.The appeals court ordered a new trial for Rodney Scott Porta, who was convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and manufacture of methamphetamine in February 2012 after Van Buren police stopped a vehicle in which he was a passenger and found a meth lab in the trunk...
LITTLE ROCK — Federal authorities are investigating a shortage of more than $162,000 in Lafayette County’s bank account, a special prosecutor in the case said Wednesday.Ian Vickery of El Dorado, who was appointed special prosecutor after Lafayette County Prosecutor Carlton Jones recused himself, said he has been talking with Conner Eldridge, U.S...
LITTLE ROCK — Rogers school officials did not abuse their authority in suspending a 5-year-old student for half a day for using the “F-word” at school, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.The appeals court upheld a Benton County circuit judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the child’s father, lawyer Ken Swindle...
WALDRON — The widow of the Scott County sheriff who was killed during flooding in western Arkansas last month was sworn in Tuesday to serve out the remainder of her husband’s term.The Scott County Quorum Court voted unanimously Monday to appoint Amie Carpenter to succeed Cody Carpenter, who died in devastating flooding that swept through the county in the Y City area on May 31.
WASHINGTON — Anti-tax advocates stood outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday and slammed legislation sponsored by Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, to require out-of-state merchants to collect sales tax on Internet purchases.“This is a bad bill,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “What you are seeing is Democrats and Republicans, arm in arm with giant corporations, saying let’s raise $23 billion on consumers all over the country. That’s crazy.”
LITTLE ROCK — A new report that grades states on the economic environments they offer for manufacturing and logistics gives Arkansas a C in both categories.The 2013 Manufacturing and Logistics National Report, released Tuesday by the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University, assesses how well states handle factors that can predict success or failure.
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe has sent a letter to President Obama requesting a disaster declaration for 12 counties hit by storms and flooding on May 30, the governor’s office said Tuesday.Five people died and 18 were injured in the severe weather, which totaled nearly $10 million in damage.
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe has decided to hold off on setting execution dates because of litigation over Arkansas’ execution law and problems with its death penalty protocol, a spokesman for the governor said Tuesday.Attorney General Dustin McDaniel last month asked Beebe to set execution dates for seven condemned killers after the state Supreme Court declared stays that had been granted to six of them from a previous case challenging Arkansas’ old lethal-injection procedure were no longer in effect.
LITTLE ROCK — Attorneys general of 35 states and 65 members of the Arkansas General Assembly have joined Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to uphold a $1.2 billion judgment against a pharmaceutical company, McDaniel said Tuesday.A Pulaski County jury found in April 2012 that Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc...
LITTLE ROCK — The Walton Family Foundation on Tuesday awarded $1.3 million in grants to two organizations seeking to improve the quality of public education in Arkansas.The foundation awarded $875,000 to the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science, or AAIMS, and about $450,000 to the Leader-to-Leader program at the Arkansas Center for Executive Leadership, or ACEL.
