Amy Schlesing
Stories by Amy
Beebe pledges to reimburse veterans fees
posted: 05/18/2012 3:19 a.m. Comments 4
Gov. Mike Beebe pledged this week to pull money from one of his discretionary funds, if needed, to pay back veterans and their families the more than $560,000 they were charged in illegal fees over the past three years by the state-run Little Rock Veterans Home.
Governor appoints veterans director
posted: 05/16/2012 5:19 a.m. Comment 1
Gov. Mike Beebe on Tuesday appointed retired Arkansas Army National Guard Col. Alecia “Cissy” Rucker to head the beleaguered state Department of Veterans Affairs.
Fletcher quits as Arkansas’ veterans chief
posted: 05/15/2012 4:34 a.m. Comments 2
Dave Fletcher resigned Monday as director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs after the discovery this month of federal law violations at the Little Rock Veterans Home, lax budgetary oversight and growing legislative criticism.
Veterans audit vexes panel
posted: 05/11/2012 2:43 a.m. Comments 3
Audit findings Legislative Audit findings on Veterans Affairs Department: Managerial employee uses agency credit card to make $1,837 in unauthorized charges.
Veterans director concedes violations, blames subordinates
posted: 05/09/2012 5:41 a.m. Comments 4
The director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs admitted Tuesday that his agency’s failure to comply with a change in reimbursement law resulted in doubledipping of federal funds, but he placed the blame on his subordinates for not telling him about it.
State cites youth ranch for safety, staffing violations
posted: 05/05/2012 3:22 a.m. Discuss
The Department of Human Services has cited the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch in Batesville with violations of state minimum licensing standards after a 16-year-old was allowed to live unsupervised at one of the ranch’s independent-living cabins.
Director mum on fees veterans at LR site paid
posted: 05/04/2012 3:36 a.m. Comments 3
The director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs authorized the quick refund of fees collected at the Fayetteville Veterans Home three years ago when federal law changed, but he has remained silent so far as to why his agency allowed the continued collection of those fees until last month at the cash-strapped Little Rock Veterans Home.
1st E-model off line takes its final flight
posted: 05/02/2012 5:49 a.m. Comments 2
Lovett Young squinted against the sun Tuesday morning, gazing at the C-130 E cargo plane sitting on the ramp at Little Rock Air Force Base as he would at one of his children.
LR Veterans Home chief gets the boot
posted: 05/01/2012 4:50 a.m. Discuss
The administrator of the Little Rock Veterans Home was fired last week, and a state audit is under way after an investigation revealed that the state Department of Veterans Affairs collected more than $500,000 in bogus out-of-pocket fees from nursing home residents over the last three years.
Twisters haunt memories a year after 15 storms ravaged the state
posted: 04/30/2012 4:12 a.m.
Discuss
Concrete slabs where houses once stood dot the landscape of northern Pulaski County and Faulkner County like pockmarks, lingering scars of a day one year ago that left a legacy of survival and fear.
State delegation presses Panetta
posted: 04/19/2012 4:37 a.m. Comments 3
Arkansas’ congressional delegation on Wednesday sent another letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday repeating its request from a month-and-ahalf earlier that the Pentagon release the cost analysis used for recommending cuts in the 2013 defense budget.
Head of LR home for vets on leave
posted: 04/18/2012 5:07 a.m. Discuss
The Little Rock Veterans Home administrator has been placed on paid leave after an employee of the home filed a complaint against her with the state Department of Veterans Affairs.
Hardy developer facing $3 million in penalties
posted: 04/06/2012 4:29 a.m. Comment 1
Former Hardy land developer Wayne Watkins faces $3 million in civil penalties as a result of a judgment rendered in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel in 2008 over claims that Watkins swindled thousands of dollars from buyers in a failed land deal on the Spring River.
Governors propose return of F-16s for state’s 188th
posted: 03/09/2012 5:29 a.m. Discuss
An alternative 2013 defense budget proposal presented to the Air Force by the Council of Governors calls for the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing to go back to flying F-16 fighters, the jets the Department of Defense shifted out of the state four years ago.
Air Guard’s ranks face ax
posted: 03/08/2012 5:34 a.m. Comments 2
The Arkansas Air National Guard will lose 13 percent of its manpower under the Department of Defense’s proposed 2013 budget, which includes cuts affecting more than 60 military installations in all 50 states.
Youth ranch ‘issues’ resolved, sheriff says
posted: 03/07/2012 4:30 a.m. Discuss
The Department of Human Services removed nine children over the past two months from the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch in Bethesda after unspecified allegations that prompted an investigation.
Attention turns to veteran homes
posted: 02/29/2012 6:22 a.m. Comment 1
The Arkansas Veterans Commission voted Tuesday to begin a legislative push to improve or replace the state’s two veterans homes, one of which had 22 patient-care violations identified during a March 2011 federal inspection.
In state, first lady talks food
posted: 02/10/2012 4:34 a.m.
Comment 1
First lady Michelle Obama announced Thursday the expansion across the Department of Defense of a pilot program started two years ago at Little Rock Air Force Base that privatized food service in an effort to cut costs and improve food quality.
Air Force confirms state cuts proposed
posted: 02/04/2012 4:39 a.m. Discuss
Air Force leaders confirmed Friday that the 2013 defense budget proposal includes program cuts at the Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith and 189th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, as well as sweeping personnel trims expected to hit the ranks of Air Guard units in all 50 states.
LR law firm to return fees tied to fraud case
posted: 02/02/2012 4:57 a.m. Discuss
A Little Rock law firm has agreed to return part of the $710,000 in legal fees it was paid by an investment trust at the center of what an indictment called a Ponzi scheme that bilked hundreds of people out of millions in retirement savings.
Air base changes command
posted: 02/01/2012 5:57 a.m.
Discuss
Little Rock Air Force Base welcomed a new commander to the 19th Airlift Wing on Tuesday as departing commander Col. Mike “Mini” Minihan said a teary goodbye before heading to his new command at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Upgraded C-130s in ‘holding pattern’
posted: 01/25/2012 5:43 a.m. Comment 1
The Arkansas National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing has grounded its four-plane fleet of upgraded C-130 s, and the Boeing Co. ceased production of avionics kits last week pending next month’s release of the president’s proposed budget that is expected to kill the program.
C-130 flights in Iraq take turn
posted: 01/15/2012 4:59 a.m. Comment 1
U.S. military posts dotting the Persian Gulf region are in limbo, as the shift of more than 2 million pieces of equipment out of Iraq last month left military planners struggling to predict what troops, equipment and planes will be needed on the fringes of this newly self-reliant nation.
LRAFB C-130 pilots shift focus from Iraq to Afghanistran
posted: 01/11/2012 4:57 a.m. Discuss
The sky over Iraq on Tuesday morning was quiet and empty, a sharp contrast to the past nine years when flying through this airspace required body armor and coordination with busy American-controlled airstrips. The change abruptly came 11 days ago when Iraq regained sovereign control of its airspace for the first time since the war began on March 19, 2003.
Base ride ends early for colonel
posted: 01/05/2012 5:26 a.m. Discuss
Col. Mike Minihan sat comfortably in his living room Wednesday morning, surrounded by boxes filled with life’s accessories stacked high against the walls of 19 Herk Drive at Little Rock Air Force Base.
Veterans’ homes in state see violations
posted: 12/20/2011 5:57 a.m. Comments 2
The state commission created to oversee operations at the state veterans’ homes was never told about the inspection in March that resulted in a fine and suspension of some federal funding at the Fayetteville facility this spring and summer.
Trial set for next month in fellow soldier’s stabbing
posted: 12/09/2011 4:22 a.m. Discuss
A soldier with the Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Infantry Brigade accused of stabbing a fellow soldier in May heads to trial next month in California to face felony attempted-murder and assault charges.
Ohio unit shift puts 39th’s role up in air
posted: 12/07/2011 4:25 a.m. Discuss
A change in the mission of an Ohio brigade last week has put Arkansas’ largest National Guard unit in limbo as it continues to train for an Afghanistan deployment next year.
Pre-tornado plan lets base exceed repair
posted: 11/26/2011 5:30 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock Air Force Base has received $23.6 million to repair buildings damaged in the April 25 tornado that sliced a path through the base in Jacksonville damaging homes, planes and facilities.
Families’ loving arms await GIs
posted: 11/24/2011 2:33 a.m. Discuss
Kristy McElroy swayed back and forth in the morning chill Wednesday with her two youngest girls filling her arms.
Guard studying cutbacks for 188th
posted: 11/23/2011 5:16 a.m. Discuss
National Guard leaders say Arkansas’ 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith is one of five Air National Guard wings under consideration for cuts to make up federal budget shortfalls.
Air-assault drill in LR unannounced
posted: 11/22/2011 5:44 a.m. Discuss
About seven Black Hawk helicopters packed with special operations troops descended on downtown Little Rock late Friday night in an air assault exercise that included troops dropping by rope onto the roof of the old Veterans Affairs hospital on Roosevelt Road.
Arkansas troops slowly return from Iraq
posted: 11/21/2011 5:51 a.m. Comment 1
As the Iraq war fades away into history, Arkansas troops — some of the last U.S. troops to leave the war-torn country — are quietly returning home to their families as national and state military leaders focus on the next wave of deployments to Afghanistan.
200 return to base from Asian duty
posted: 11/17/2011 4:04 a.m. Discuss
Beth Parker tried to keep it together as the jet carrying her husband touched down Wednesday at Little Rock Air Force Base.
Air Force cuts 500 officers, 19 at Arkansas air base
posted: 11/11/2011 5:01 a.m. Comment 1
Cuts of Air Force personnel continue across the force, and Little Rock Air Force Base once again took a hit with 19 captains and majors — the majority of whom are aircrew members — given their walking papers.
41 civilian jobs ending at air base
posted: 11/04/2011 5:26 a.m. Discuss
About 20 civilian employees at Little Rock Air Force Base learned Thursday that their positions are being eliminated as part of a decision to slash 9,000 civilian jobs across the U.S. Air Force.
6 isolated armories getting a hard look
posted: 10/30/2011 5:41 a.m. Discuss
The Arkansas National Guard is considering closing several rural armories because of their low troop levels and in anticipation of budget cuts as part of a longrange plan that is similar to the Pentagon’s consolidation of units at joint bases.
Battlefield medicine one course in 39th’s training
posted: 10/23/2011 5:25 a.m. Discuss
Despite uncertainty about future troop levels in Afghanistan, Arkansas’ largest National Guard unit is on track to make a scheduled deployment there late next summer.
Airlift wing passes review
posted: 10/22/2011 4:39 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock Air Force Base’s 19th Airlift Wing passed its Operational Readiness Inspection this week with an overall high “satisfactory” rating.
Ordnance unit combat ready
posted: 10/03/2011 5:40 a.m. Discuss
One of the 20 or so planes the 19th Airlift Wing will take to Wisconsin next week for its Operational Readiness Inspection will hold three men, their humvee, trailer and bomb-finding equipment.
Old C-130 fleet on last runs
posted: 09/24/2011 6:59 a.m. Discuss
The nation’s C-130 E fleet is quickly fading away, with Little Rock Air Force Base as the last bastion for the 50-yearold planes as it leads the Air Force’s transition to a newer fleet of tactical cargo planes.
Wing practices for the real thing
posted: 09/14/2011 3:16 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock Air Force Base’s 19th Airlift Wing will be tested on its combat ability next month as it undergoes an Operational Readiness Inspection that carries dire consequences for failure.
Silence for 9/11 hushes routine of airmen drills
posted: 09/12/2011 5:01 a.m. Discuss
For just a moment Sunday morning the war exercise here gave way to the real world as more than 800 airmen from Little Rock Air Force Base and three other wings observed a moment of silence in honor of those who died 10 years ago in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and in rural Pennsylvania.
Even in war, airmen train to go to war
posted: 09/11/2011 5:42 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock Air Force Base hasn’t had a break in combat deployments since Sept. 11, 2001, but it is preparing for a major inspection next month on its ability to deploy to war.
A-10 jets are again heading for war
posted: 08/31/2011 5:54 a.m. Comments 4
The Arkansas National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing is headed back to Afghanistan next summer, just two years after its last deployment.
9/11 steel going up across state
posted: 08/28/2011 5:55 a.m. Discuss
Two rough pieces of metal sit atop each other like a sculpture in this nondescript warehouse at Little Rock Air Force Base, each section sporting layers of rust on their steel skins marking the decade that has passed since the World Trade Center collapsed in a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.
Base’s wing on top at air rodeo
posted: 08/25/2011 4:50 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock Air Force Base’s 314th Airlift Wing was named Best Air Mobility Wing in the world after the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command found a glitch in its scoring during its international airlift competition held last month that originally had another base taking home the trophy.
Base airlift crew earns 6 trophies at rodeo
posted: 07/30/2011 4:05 a.m. Discuss
Little Rock Air Force Base’s 314th Airlift Wing won six trophies in an international airlift competition this week, including Best C-130 Team.
Base crews vie for best of best
posted: 07/29/2011 2:59 a.m. Comments 2
Staff Sgt. T.J. Grover crawled onto the open cargo door of the C-130 J cargo plane and prepared to help the pilot back up as its four prop engines pounded away.
Aging C-130 looks perfect as end nears
posted: 07/27/2011 5:37 a.m. Comment 1
The umpires gathered the maintainers of Little Rock Air Force Base’s Tail 1855 in the shade of the C-130 cargo plane’s left wing and sternly told them it took guts to bring a 50-year-old plane to an international airlift competition that includes C-130 J’s with the latest digital technology.
