Washington News in Brief

3 million flock to state's national parks

Surrounding areas reaped $163.9 million from visitors in 2014, report shows

WASHINGTON -- More than 3.13 million people visited national parks in Arkansas in 2014, according to a report from the National Park Service.

Sites in Arkansas include Hot Springs National Park, which had 1.42 million visitors; the Buffalo National River, which had 1.35 million visitors; Pea Ridge National Military Park with 87,936 visitors; the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site with 115,907; Fort Smith National Historic Site with 74,584; the Arkansas Post National Memorial with 30,861; and the President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site with 11,113.

According to the report, visitors to the sites spent $163.9 million in the surrounding areas.

The 401 sites that make up the National Park System received more than 292 million visitors in 2014, according to the report.

BOSTON MARATHON

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's communications director Alice Stewart finished the Boston Marathon on Monday in three hours and 52 minutes. Stewart said this was her 14th marathon and the fifth time she has completed the race in Boston.

Stewart said she dedicates each mile of a marathon to a different person.

"I dedicated mile 16 to Gov. Huckabee," she said. "For obvious reasons: 2016."

ON THE HILL

On Monday, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, met with the commander of the 188th Fighter Wing, Col. Bobbi Doorenbos, and with Arkansas National Guard Maj. Anthony Sanders. On Tuesday, he met with Marcus Andrew Smith of Little Rock and Matthew Richard Smith of Texarkana. The two men received the Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Award.

On Saturday, Boozman was scheduled to be inducted as an honorary member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity in Fayetteville and then speak at the fraternity's 125th anniversary event. He also planned to attend the Razorback football team's spring game Saturday.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, sat down in Washington with Cindy Outlaw and Angela Rackley of the Little Rock Job Corps Center; with Benjamin Lieblong, a graduate student in pharmacology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences on Wednesday; and with Jeffrey Jones of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, who was in Washington for an undergraduate research forum.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, met Tuesday with Cheryl Padgett, Katie Burns, Keith Gibson, Bill Hegmann, Lisa Lake, Ed Allis, Bob Mouser, John Strode, Rick Reed, and Lang Zimmermann of the Arkansas Telecommunications Association, and on Wednesday with Ryan Glover and Hadley Hindmarsh of Rogers, who are with Save the Children.

Cotton said on the Senate floor Thursday that his wife Anna was due to deliver the couple's first child, a boy, that day. The baby had not been born as of Friday afternoon, his staff said.

Wednesday U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Republican from Jonesboro, attended a reception with about 45 people who flew in with the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce. Crawford spoke about Ed Way, who normally led the group but died earlier this year from brain cancer. To represent the chamber's 100th anniversary, Crawford presented the group with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol on that day -- Feb. 23.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Rogers, sat down with members of the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.

CLINTON TRIP

Between Tuesday and May 7, former President Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea, are scheduled to visit several Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative projects across Africa, concluding with the Clinton Global Initiative Middle East and Africa Meeting in Morocco.

MOBILE OFFICES

Boozman's staff members plan to answer constituent questions at 11:30 a.m. Monday at the Chicot County Courthouse at 108 Main St. in Lake Village, and at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Flippin City Hall at 239 E. Main St.

On May 4, Westerman's staff is scheduled to hold mobile offices at 8 a.m. at the Ouachita County Courthouse at 145 Jefferson St. Southwest in Camden; at 9:45 a.m. at the Calhoun County Courthouse at 309 W. Main St. in Hampton; at 11:30 a.m. at the Bradley County Courthouse at 101 E. Cedar St. in Warren; at 1:30 p.m. at the Ashley County Courthouse at 205 E. Jefferson St. in Hamburg and at 3:30 p.m. at the Drew County Courthouse at 210 South Main St. in Monticello.

COMMENCEMENT

Crawford is scheduled to speak to Ozarka College graduates during the 2015 commencement at 10 a.m. May 9 in the John E. Miller Education Complex's auditorium in Melbourne.

WASTEWATER GRANT

Horseshoe Bend received a $395,00 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to expand its wastewater-collection system, the department announced Wednesday.

Nationally, the department funded 37 water and wastewater projects and 25 renewable-energy projects totaling more than $112 million.

Planning to visit the nation's capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Contact us at (202) 662-7690 or swire@arkansasonline.com.

Metro on 04/26/2015

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