Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Tuesday summary
Three members of Arkansas National Guard’s 77th Aviation Brigade are dead after a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Iraq that killed 12 U.S. soldiers. Various news sources report the identities of two of the soldiers as crew chief Gary Brown of Little Rock and Capt. Michael Taylor of North Little Rock, commander of Company C, 131st Aviation Regiment. The third soldier’s name is still unknown.
In what one parent here called the most significant event since the 1920s oil boom, Murphy Oil Corp. pledged $50 million Monday to help El Dorado High School graduates pay for college over the next two decades.
The Arkansas House and Senate Education committees on Monday formally adopted the completed educational adequacy report they had been working on since last spring. The report contained no surprises - the key point of a 0.5 percent increase in per-pupil funding for public schools remains.
State Sen. Bobby Glover says that he’s working to revive a failed highway bond program - with a few tweaks to make it more palatable - in hopes that voters will give it another chance in 2008.
The state House of Representatives has passed bills clarifying public school restrictions on schools’ use of substitute teachers and requiring schools to devise Internet bullying rules. The bills were sponsored by Rep. Shirley Walters, R-Greenwood. Opponents say they fear the measures will burden small school districts and restrict students’ constitutionally guaranteed free-speech rights.
An unsuccessful Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor last year, former Sen. Tim Wooldridge of Paragould, has joined a lobbying firm with clients including the Arkansas Forest & Paper Council, Georgia Pacific Corp. and Deltic Timber.
A 12-year-old boy who became lost Sunday afternoon in a wooded area of northwest Franklin County was found safe Monday morning. The Crawford County boy, whom authorities would not name, was hiking with his family north of Mulberry when he wandered off to look at a rock formation.
A firm that has made military headgear since World War I has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and apparently ceased operations at its plant in Cabot. Additionally, Bancroft Cap Co. owes the government money for about 340,000 berets that were made with foreign materials and shipped sometime before March 2006.
Mississippi’s state housee has passed sweeping legislation to require annual testing of a child's body mass index. Schools to only use oils without trans fat and reduce the sugar and sodium in cooking. A prohibition on fast food during breakfasts or lunches for teachers is included. Additionally, schools must stop buying new fryers in 2008, ensuring no fried food is served once the frying equipment stops working.
A winter storm that knocked down trees and power lines, caused flooding and damaged homes across Arkansas wasn’t severe enough to warrant federal disaster assistance.
A 2.4 earthquake shook an area north of Blytheville at about 4:05 p.m. Sunday with no damage reported, according to a preliminary report from the University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information.
In what one parent here called the most significant event since the 1920s oil boom, Murphy Oil Corp. pledged $50 million Monday to help El Dorado High School graduates pay for college over the next two decades.
The Arkansas House and Senate Education committees on Monday formally adopted the completed educational adequacy report they had been working on since last spring. The report contained no surprises - the key point of a 0.5 percent increase in per-pupil funding for public schools remains.
State Sen. Bobby Glover says that he’s working to revive a failed highway bond program - with a few tweaks to make it more palatable - in hopes that voters will give it another chance in 2008.
The state House of Representatives has passed bills clarifying public school restrictions on schools’ use of substitute teachers and requiring schools to devise Internet bullying rules. The bills were sponsored by Rep. Shirley Walters, R-Greenwood. Opponents say they fear the measures will burden small school districts and restrict students’ constitutionally guaranteed free-speech rights.
An unsuccessful Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor last year, former Sen. Tim Wooldridge of Paragould, has joined a lobbying firm with clients including the Arkansas Forest & Paper Council, Georgia Pacific Corp. and Deltic Timber.
A 12-year-old boy who became lost Sunday afternoon in a wooded area of northwest Franklin County was found safe Monday morning. The Crawford County boy, whom authorities would not name, was hiking with his family north of Mulberry when he wandered off to look at a rock formation.
A firm that has made military headgear since World War I has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and apparently ceased operations at its plant in Cabot. Additionally, Bancroft Cap Co. owes the government money for about 340,000 berets that were made with foreign materials and shipped sometime before March 2006.
Mississippi’s state housee has passed sweeping legislation to require annual testing of a child's body mass index. Schools to only use oils without trans fat and reduce the sugar and sodium in cooking. A prohibition on fast food during breakfasts or lunches for teachers is included. Additionally, schools must stop buying new fryers in 2008, ensuring no fried food is served once the frying equipment stops working.
A winter storm that knocked down trees and power lines, caused flooding and damaged homes across Arkansas wasn’t severe enough to warrant federal disaster assistance.
A 2.4 earthquake shook an area north of Blytheville at about 4:05 p.m. Sunday with no damage reported, according to a preliminary report from the University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information.
