Thursday, November 30, 2006
Getting ready for the storm Thursday summary
Weyerhaeuser Co., with no advance notice, permanently closed its Mountain Pine veneer and plywood plant Wednesday, eliminating about 340 hourly and salaried positions For the first time in 78 years, the town of 772 in the wooded hills west of Hot Springs has no mill.
Three investor groups are vying to acquire Raytheon Aircraft Co., which employs 645 workers in a plant near Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, according to a recently published report.
Discount retailer Dollar General Corp. said Wednesday that it plans to close 400 stores next year and open about 300 new locations to improve profitability.
Nearly half of Arkansas college professors who teach freshman-level courses are not satisfied with the work their first-year students are doing, according to survey results. The survey, conducted by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and state Department of Education, found that 82 percent of the professors questioned said their freshmen students are "somewhat prepared" or "not very prepared" for college.
Rogers school administrators are polling teacher support for a federally supported merit-pay program that rewards educators with bonuses for improving students’ test scores.
Workers have installed a 26-foot Christmas tree, to be decorated with hand-painted ornaments, in the state Capitol rotunda
Even though some of Pine Bluff’s commissions and departments are exempt from the city’s new living wage ordinance, Mayor Carl Redus Jr. said Tuesday all city employees should be brought up to the minimum levels imposed by the new law, which voters approved at the Nov. 7 general election.
Seventy-four years of free parking at Arkansas Travelers games will all but end next year under a proposal made by North Little Rock, the team’s new landlord. Fans would pay $3 per vehicle to park in 533 spaces on a lot adjacent to the city’s new Dickey-Stephens Park.
Several jurors gasped upon seeing video images of Arkansas State Police Trooper Mark Carthron being struck by another trooper’s car, during testimony Wednesday in the capital-murder trial of a West Memphis man accused of causing Carthron’s death.
The scheduled jury trial of a Dover man accused of raping and attempting to murder an 87-year-old woman is being reset because only half the jury pool showed up for court. “I’ve never had this happen before,” 5th Judicial District Prosecutor David Gibbons said Tuesday. “Twenty-six jurors showed up. There should have been at least 50 here.”
Jackson, Ms. Police Department Internal Affairs is investigating an officer after a video-recording surfaced that shows the officer, in uniform, making derogatory remarks about Mayor Frank Melton and making a reference to marijuana while smoking. Robert Wilkins, the attorney for officer Javin Walker, said Wednesday night that Walker made the video of himself using his own cellular phone, which was later stolen.
Three investor groups are vying to acquire Raytheon Aircraft Co., which employs 645 workers in a plant near Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, according to a recently published report.
Discount retailer Dollar General Corp. said Wednesday that it plans to close 400 stores next year and open about 300 new locations to improve profitability.
Nearly half of Arkansas college professors who teach freshman-level courses are not satisfied with the work their first-year students are doing, according to survey results. The survey, conducted by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and state Department of Education, found that 82 percent of the professors questioned said their freshmen students are "somewhat prepared" or "not very prepared" for college.
Rogers school administrators are polling teacher support for a federally supported merit-pay program that rewards educators with bonuses for improving students’ test scores.
Workers have installed a 26-foot Christmas tree, to be decorated with hand-painted ornaments, in the state Capitol rotunda
Even though some of Pine Bluff’s commissions and departments are exempt from the city’s new living wage ordinance, Mayor Carl Redus Jr. said Tuesday all city employees should be brought up to the minimum levels imposed by the new law, which voters approved at the Nov. 7 general election.
Seventy-four years of free parking at Arkansas Travelers games will all but end next year under a proposal made by North Little Rock, the team’s new landlord. Fans would pay $3 per vehicle to park in 533 spaces on a lot adjacent to the city’s new Dickey-Stephens Park.
Several jurors gasped upon seeing video images of Arkansas State Police Trooper Mark Carthron being struck by another trooper’s car, during testimony Wednesday in the capital-murder trial of a West Memphis man accused of causing Carthron’s death.
The scheduled jury trial of a Dover man accused of raping and attempting to murder an 87-year-old woman is being reset because only half the jury pool showed up for court. “I’ve never had this happen before,” 5th Judicial District Prosecutor David Gibbons said Tuesday. “Twenty-six jurors showed up. There should have been at least 50 here.”
Jackson, Ms. Police Department Internal Affairs is investigating an officer after a video-recording surfaced that shows the officer, in uniform, making derogatory remarks about Mayor Frank Melton and making a reference to marijuana while smoking. Robert Wilkins, the attorney for officer Javin Walker, said Wednesday night that Walker made the video of himself using his own cellular phone, which was later stolen.
