Thursday, December 21, 2006
Thursday sunrise summary
New forms of electronic gambling at the state’s two pari-mutuel racetracks generated about $1.8 million in net revenue during their first 20 days of operation, based on figures supplied Wednesday by state and track officials.
Arkansas’ businesses with up to 500 employees now can enroll in a program that will help pay their employees’ health insurance premiums with money from Medicaid and Arkansas’ tobacco settlement money. The program, ARHealth-Net, offers a basic benefits plan to take effect Jan. 1. It could cover as many as 80,000 people by late 2008.
The president of Entergy Arkansas says that the utility has no obligation to support other Entergy Corp. units should Entergy Arkansas exit a four-state, cost-sharing pact as planned by December 2013. The remarks by Hugh Mc-Donald set the stage for a potential showdown with Louisiana regulators, who asked federal regulators Monday to block Entergy Arkansas’ departure from the pact.
President Bush signed a wide-ranging bill that included hundreds of tax breaks on imported goods, including some benefiting Wal-Mart. The Bentonville retail giant will save on eliminated or reduced tariffs for clock radios, rubber floor mats and nail clippers among other items.
The last Maytag dryer to be made in Searcy will go down the line tomorrow, the Friday before Christmas. Whirlpool announced the plant closing in May after it bought Maytag.
A member of the Memphis Rotary Club who thought he was slated to become the Downtown organization's first black president has resigned, calling the decision not to elevate him to the post racist. Henry Hooper, an insurance salesman and one-time candidate for Shelby County sheriff, was passed over for the club's 2008-09 presidency in a recent election.
The state Court of Appeals has reversed a Workers' Compensation Commission ruling that denied benefits to a Jacksonville man who was injured while driving to work. John D. Jones was injured while driving to his place of employment, a Domino's Pizza he managed in Bryant, after attending work-related meetings in North Little Rock and Little Rock.
Benton County's assessor should have cheaply provided data requested in 2002 by an Oklahoma company, according to a court decision. A reasonable fee is $30 -- not $5,000 as the assessor required, according to an order issued by Benton County Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan following up on a November bench trial.
A proposal to allow Little Rock and other cities to let people roam selected areas with beer or other alcoholic beverages in hand now has safeguards that Little Rock officials hope will mollify concerns.
Pulaski County will have to pay the state 10 percent interest on top of whatever amount it owes for back state sales taxes collected on thousands of trash bills but never remitted to the state,
The investigation of Monday night’s fatal airplane crash near West Fork is keying on the single-engine plane’s failed approach to Fayetteville Municipal Airport at Drake Field. The National Transportation Safety Board, is focusing on possible mechanical or operational errors during the final approach.
Arkansas needs to develop a system - outside the usual court system - for dealing with mentally ill people accused of crimes, a task force examining the issue recommended to lawmakers. The group is proposing that the state set up separate mental-health courts to deal with people with psychiatric disorders suspected of committing criminal acts.
A judge has delayed a hearing on the mental condition of a DeQueen woman accused of killing her three children so defense lawyers can arrange another psychiatric evaluation of their client.
Mark Fisher, an Arkansas inmate serving 70 years on robbery and theft charges, has been charged with murder after authorities in Pennsylvania said they recently matched his DNA to a cigarette butt found at the scene of a home invasion about four years ago.
A father and son are expected to be charged with robbing the First Western Bank in Caulksville on Tuesday. Bill Doyle Barnes of Decatur and William Chauncey Barnes of Fort Smith were arrested in Charleston less than an hour after a man walked into the bank in Caulksville, a western Logan County town of about 200, about 1:35 p.m. and left with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Jackson, Ms. Public Schools has fired Principal Michael Ellis after an audit allegedly found payroll "improprieties." Ellis' termination comes after he and his wife, an assistant principal in the district, made claims that Ellis was sexually harassed by Superintendent Earl Watkins over the course of several months this year.
A Bee Branch dog breeder likely will face 201 charges of animal cruelty next month stemming from her arrest last week and the seizure of more than 200 dogs from her property in Van Buren County.
The sloth bear exhibit had expanded by two Wednesday morning when a Little Rock Zoo animal keeper reported for work. Nocona, a 12-year-old sloth bear, gave birth to two cubs sometime after midnight.
Conway has taken the first step towards starting a dog park. The Parks and Recreation Commission passed a unanimous recommendation to the City Council.
Arkansas’ businesses with up to 500 employees now can enroll in a program that will help pay their employees’ health insurance premiums with money from Medicaid and Arkansas’ tobacco settlement money. The program, ARHealth-Net, offers a basic benefits plan to take effect Jan. 1. It could cover as many as 80,000 people by late 2008.
The president of Entergy Arkansas says that the utility has no obligation to support other Entergy Corp. units should Entergy Arkansas exit a four-state, cost-sharing pact as planned by December 2013. The remarks by Hugh Mc-Donald set the stage for a potential showdown with Louisiana regulators, who asked federal regulators Monday to block Entergy Arkansas’ departure from the pact.
President Bush signed a wide-ranging bill that included hundreds of tax breaks on imported goods, including some benefiting Wal-Mart. The Bentonville retail giant will save on eliminated or reduced tariffs for clock radios, rubber floor mats and nail clippers among other items.
The last Maytag dryer to be made in Searcy will go down the line tomorrow, the Friday before Christmas. Whirlpool announced the plant closing in May after it bought Maytag.
A member of the Memphis Rotary Club who thought he was slated to become the Downtown organization's first black president has resigned, calling the decision not to elevate him to the post racist. Henry Hooper, an insurance salesman and one-time candidate for Shelby County sheriff, was passed over for the club's 2008-09 presidency in a recent election.
The state Court of Appeals has reversed a Workers' Compensation Commission ruling that denied benefits to a Jacksonville man who was injured while driving to work. John D. Jones was injured while driving to his place of employment, a Domino's Pizza he managed in Bryant, after attending work-related meetings in North Little Rock and Little Rock.
Benton County's assessor should have cheaply provided data requested in 2002 by an Oklahoma company, according to a court decision. A reasonable fee is $30 -- not $5,000 as the assessor required, according to an order issued by Benton County Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan following up on a November bench trial.
A proposal to allow Little Rock and other cities to let people roam selected areas with beer or other alcoholic beverages in hand now has safeguards that Little Rock officials hope will mollify concerns.
Pulaski County will have to pay the state 10 percent interest on top of whatever amount it owes for back state sales taxes collected on thousands of trash bills but never remitted to the state,
The investigation of Monday night’s fatal airplane crash near West Fork is keying on the single-engine plane’s failed approach to Fayetteville Municipal Airport at Drake Field. The National Transportation Safety Board, is focusing on possible mechanical or operational errors during the final approach.
Arkansas needs to develop a system - outside the usual court system - for dealing with mentally ill people accused of crimes, a task force examining the issue recommended to lawmakers. The group is proposing that the state set up separate mental-health courts to deal with people with psychiatric disorders suspected of committing criminal acts.
A judge has delayed a hearing on the mental condition of a DeQueen woman accused of killing her three children so defense lawyers can arrange another psychiatric evaluation of their client.
Mark Fisher, an Arkansas inmate serving 70 years on robbery and theft charges, has been charged with murder after authorities in Pennsylvania said they recently matched his DNA to a cigarette butt found at the scene of a home invasion about four years ago.
A father and son are expected to be charged with robbing the First Western Bank in Caulksville on Tuesday. Bill Doyle Barnes of Decatur and William Chauncey Barnes of Fort Smith were arrested in Charleston less than an hour after a man walked into the bank in Caulksville, a western Logan County town of about 200, about 1:35 p.m. and left with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Jackson, Ms. Public Schools has fired Principal Michael Ellis after an audit allegedly found payroll "improprieties." Ellis' termination comes after he and his wife, an assistant principal in the district, made claims that Ellis was sexually harassed by Superintendent Earl Watkins over the course of several months this year.
A Bee Branch dog breeder likely will face 201 charges of animal cruelty next month stemming from her arrest last week and the seizure of more than 200 dogs from her property in Van Buren County.
The sloth bear exhibit had expanded by two Wednesday morning when a Little Rock Zoo animal keeper reported for work. Nocona, a 12-year-old sloth bear, gave birth to two cubs sometime after midnight.
Conway has taken the first step towards starting a dog park. The Parks and Recreation Commission passed a unanimous recommendation to the City Council.
