Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Wednesday's Tops

Cynthia Howell’s lead story in the Democrat-Gazette reports that Arkansas’ public schools graduated an estimated 74 percent of students in the Class of 2003, bettering the national average of 70 percent, according to a study released today by researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

The Stephens Media Group reports that Gov. Mike Huckabee defended Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Tuesday against criticism that uninsured employees of the world's largest retailer are putting a drain on Arkansas' Medicaid system.

As he considers a presidential run in 2008, Gov. Mike Huckabee is continuing to build a political committee that pays for his travels and early outreach to potential supporters. Huckabee filed a quarterly report for his Healthy America political action committee on Monday showing $63,900 in new contributions for the three-month period ending March 31. The committee, which is registered in Virginia, reported $129,027 in total cash at the end of the period.

Roby Brock reports that Wal Mart ad execs have fired Smiley, the highly recognizable yellow perfectly round spokesman. Expect more emotions in future promotions.

Skip Rutherford, the new Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas says he will work to raise the profile of the school when he starts work May 8. Rutherford’s annual salary will be $175,000.

The Rogers School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to hire a noncoaching athletic director for the district, whose starting date will be determined by recommendations from the administration.

A Fort Smith man with HIV was arrested after he spit on a hospice worker last week at a local hospital. Christopher Keith Forbis, a level three sex offender, was arrested on the same complaint in 1996 after he had sex with a woman without telling her he had HIV.

38 year old Donald Groning, the son of the Corning police chief, faces a first-degree battery charge in the baseball-bat beating of a 19-year-old Corning man during an Easter evening altercation set off by a racial slur, authorities said. The victim, Craig E. Matthews, was reported in serious condition at Regional Medical Center in Memphis. Police also charged the chief’s ex-wife, with hindering apprehension, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and tampering with physical evidence.

Little Rock has recorded homicide number 20 for 2006.

At the Jonesboro Sun’s latest count 37 mobile homes could be seen in a field on the north side of Marmaduke in a lot across U.S. 49 from Smoot Mobile Home Sales. The field is serving as a staging area for the Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers that are being transported from the Hope Municipal Airport.

The Little Rock Wastewater Utility staff likely will recommend a two-step, 39 percent increase in sewer rates to the Little Rock Sanitary Sewer Committee at its meeting today.

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