Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Tuesday tip-toe - UPDATED
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, posted its first profit decline in a decade TODAY as second-quarter earnings fell 26 percent due to the cost of selling its Germany operation. But results were still in line with expectations and the company reiterated its guidance for the year.
The state Board of Education has unanimously put four public school districts as well as 63 of the state’s roughly 1,100 public schools on probation for violating accreditation requirements in the 2005-06 school year. Schools landed on probation for employing unlicensed teachers, not teaching the minimum number of core classes or failing to meet other standards.
The Arkansas Board of Education has directed the financially troubled Haas Hall Academy to submit a 2006-07 budget for the board’s review next month. Martin Schoppmeyer Jr., superintendent of the charter high school in Farmington, assured the Education Board that despite its debts to the Internal Revenue Service and two state agencies, the growing school is in its best financial shape since its establishment two years ago, due in part to grants from a local business and a foundation.
A faulty component in a storage room light fixture sparked the fire that destroyed Cabot Junior High North last week, Cabot Fire Chief Phillip Robinson said Monday. Officials say the start of junior high classes will be delayed at least a week until other arrangements are made for over 1200 students displaced by the fire. A replacement building is expected to cost $15 million and could be ready in 18 months.
A quarterhorse yearling that died last week in the southern part of White County was a victim of West Nile virus, according to test results. The virus can affect humans, causing mild to severe injury or even death.
War Memorial Stadium has nearly finished replacing the failing turf which was installed in 2002 at a cost of $700,000. The manufacturer, warranty and the product itself all failed forcing installation of a new playing surface at the cost of more than $400,000. The stadium lights are also being replaced at a cost of $300,000.
Former coach Barry Switzer, who won national championships at Oklahoma and a Super Bowl with Dallas, will be the speaker at the first meeting this season of the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Aug. 28. This will be the third year for the club, which has grown to 450 members.
Paul Barton, the Democrat-Gazette Washington correspondent, reports Republican Rep. John Boozman and House Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio have voted in agreement with each other 94 percent of the time. That’s based on a tabulation by VoteTracker, which examined nearly 1,100 votes cast in the House so far during the 109th Congress. VoteTracker is a service that researches congressional voting patterns.
President Bush will headline a fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson on Aug. 30 in Little Rock. Bush is listed as the special guest for a $500 per person luncheon to be held at the home of former Arkansas Razorback and NBA basketball player Joe Kleine,
An inmate died Monday after he stopped breathing while waiting for a court appearance at the Benton County Courthouse. Felemon Perez Ybarbo Jr. was scheduled for a hearing on a failure to appear charge.
The developer behind a proposed casino in downtown Fort Smith says his next step is forging legal agreements that will hold him and a partnering Indian tribe accountable for their promises regarding the project. Bennie Westphal of Fort Smith also said he hopes that winning the endorsement of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s directors board last week will give him a boost toward getting other support.
Washington and Benton counties placed in the top 100 counties for fourth quarter wage growth among the nation's 322 largest counties, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Monday.
An appetite for exclusive brands - and the need of Dillard’s Inc. customers to replace furniture lost to last year’s hurricanes - produced a secondquarter net income of $15.7 million, or 20 cents a share, for the Little Rock-based department store chain.
The Fort Smith Board of Directors will consider an ordinance today authorizing the issuance of $86.7 million in sales tax bonds to finance two citizen-approved initiatives.
The New Braunfels, Texas City Council on Monday approved an anti-littering rule that targets "Jell-O shots" on local rivers despite some residents' complaints that the ordinance will be ineffective. The ordinance does not specifically address the small cups of alcoholic gelatin but was crafted to focus on containers of 5 fluid ounces or less.
Dell says that it is recalling 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could erupt in flames. It will be the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The state Board of Education has unanimously put four public school districts as well as 63 of the state’s roughly 1,100 public schools on probation for violating accreditation requirements in the 2005-06 school year. Schools landed on probation for employing unlicensed teachers, not teaching the minimum number of core classes or failing to meet other standards.
The Arkansas Board of Education has directed the financially troubled Haas Hall Academy to submit a 2006-07 budget for the board’s review next month. Martin Schoppmeyer Jr., superintendent of the charter high school in Farmington, assured the Education Board that despite its debts to the Internal Revenue Service and two state agencies, the growing school is in its best financial shape since its establishment two years ago, due in part to grants from a local business and a foundation.
A faulty component in a storage room light fixture sparked the fire that destroyed Cabot Junior High North last week, Cabot Fire Chief Phillip Robinson said Monday. Officials say the start of junior high classes will be delayed at least a week until other arrangements are made for over 1200 students displaced by the fire. A replacement building is expected to cost $15 million and could be ready in 18 months.
A quarterhorse yearling that died last week in the southern part of White County was a victim of West Nile virus, according to test results. The virus can affect humans, causing mild to severe injury or even death.
War Memorial Stadium has nearly finished replacing the failing turf which was installed in 2002 at a cost of $700,000. The manufacturer, warranty and the product itself all failed forcing installation of a new playing surface at the cost of more than $400,000. The stadium lights are also being replaced at a cost of $300,000.
Former coach Barry Switzer, who won national championships at Oklahoma and a Super Bowl with Dallas, will be the speaker at the first meeting this season of the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Aug. 28. This will be the third year for the club, which has grown to 450 members.
Paul Barton, the Democrat-Gazette Washington correspondent, reports Republican Rep. John Boozman and House Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio have voted in agreement with each other 94 percent of the time. That’s based on a tabulation by VoteTracker, which examined nearly 1,100 votes cast in the House so far during the 109th Congress. VoteTracker is a service that researches congressional voting patterns.
President Bush will headline a fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson on Aug. 30 in Little Rock. Bush is listed as the special guest for a $500 per person luncheon to be held at the home of former Arkansas Razorback and NBA basketball player Joe Kleine,
An inmate died Monday after he stopped breathing while waiting for a court appearance at the Benton County Courthouse. Felemon Perez Ybarbo Jr. was scheduled for a hearing on a failure to appear charge.
The developer behind a proposed casino in downtown Fort Smith says his next step is forging legal agreements that will hold him and a partnering Indian tribe accountable for their promises regarding the project. Bennie Westphal of Fort Smith also said he hopes that winning the endorsement of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s directors board last week will give him a boost toward getting other support.
Washington and Benton counties placed in the top 100 counties for fourth quarter wage growth among the nation's 322 largest counties, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Monday.
An appetite for exclusive brands - and the need of Dillard’s Inc. customers to replace furniture lost to last year’s hurricanes - produced a secondquarter net income of $15.7 million, or 20 cents a share, for the Little Rock-based department store chain.
The Fort Smith Board of Directors will consider an ordinance today authorizing the issuance of $86.7 million in sales tax bonds to finance two citizen-approved initiatives.
The New Braunfels, Texas City Council on Monday approved an anti-littering rule that targets "Jell-O shots" on local rivers despite some residents' complaints that the ordinance will be ineffective. The ordinance does not specifically address the small cups of alcoholic gelatin but was crafted to focus on containers of 5 fluid ounces or less.
Dell says that it is recalling 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could erupt in flames. It will be the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
