Dallas police close ranks after attack
DALLAS -- Nearly two months after five Dallas officers were killed by a sniper, police have moved to silence critics and squelch lingering questions about the …
Stories by Claudia Lauer
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Rethink Lewis evidence, judge urged
Pulaski County prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to again reconsider allowing evidence taken from the car of a man charged in the death of a central Arkansas…
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Drug firm wants to know state's execution means
A pharmaceutical company that ended its contract with Arkansas in 2013 after its drugs were purchased for lethal injections is trying to determine whether the …
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Ethics complaint filed against Arkansas treasurer
LITTLE ROCK -- Lawyer and blogger Matt Campbell has filed an ethics complaint Thursday against State Treasurer Dennis Milligan and several staff members citing…
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Gentry facility that inspired new primate law has past violations
A spider monkey with bones poking out of his foot, baboons with skin lesions or scarred tails, other primates with injuries thought to be caused by frostbite -…
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Bill mandating financial filings digitally crashes
A bill that would require campaign-finance reports to be submitted in digital form to the secretary of state failed to pass in the Arkansas House on Thursday, …
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House bill binds wine to farm law
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would empower a state agency to bar California wine from coming into the state.
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Panel favors drug tests for benefit recipients
An Arkansas legislative committee supported a bill Thursday that would create a pilot program to drug-test people who receive benefits in the Temporary Assista…
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House vote keeps kids open to sure life terms
Legislation that would have eliminated the possibility of life without parole for people convicted of crimes they committed as juveniles failed in the Arkansas…
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Scholarship bill advances
A second piece of legislation proposing to change how Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarships are awarded passed through a legislative committee Wednesday.
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Bid submitted to end ban on anti-bias laws
Ballot language was submitted Wednesday to the Arkansas attorney general's office for a voter referendum to repeal Arkansas' ban on local anti-discrimination o…
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House backs capital-gains bill
Legislation that would restore 2013 capital gains tax cuts repealed by the Arkansas Legislature earlier in the session passed through the Arkansas House of Rep…
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Panel halts fluoride-control bill
Legislation to allow local water providers to decide whether to add fluoride to the water supply failed to make it out of an Arkansas Senate committee Wednesda…
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Scholarships' cuts heading to state House
An Arkansas legislative committee Tuesday sent a bill to the Arkansas House of Representatives that would reduce the size of Arkansas Academic Challenge Schola…
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Panel backs bill expanding school resource officers' reach
An Arkansas legislative committee Tuesday passed bills to increase the jurisdiction of school resource officers and to allow public dollars to fund private-sch…
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Panel OKs bill to detail abortion risks
An Arkansas legislative committee approved a bill Tuesday that would revise the state's six-page informed-consent law. It would require abortion providers to p…
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Bill to ban life without parole for youths clears House panel
Legislation that would eliminate the possibility of life without parole for people convicted of crimes they committed as juveniles was advanced by an Arkansas …
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Bill to clear disability waiting list lacks support
A bill that would clear the waiting list for developmental disabilities waiver services -- community-based services not typically covered by traditional Medica…
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Facility funding OK'd for charters
Legislation to provide a funding stream for public-enrollment charter schools that need help building or renovating academic facilities cleared the Arkansas Ho…
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Concealed-carry transfer bill fails to pass vote in House
Legislation that would require people who hold out-of-state concealed carry licenses to transfer those licenses within 30 days of becoming an Arkansas resident…
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'Dark money' bill fails in voice vote
A proposed bill to reveal the names of individual donors to so-called "dark-money" political campaign ads -- like those that drew criticism in the final weeks …
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Dual-election bill clears House
A bill that would allow a candidate to run for president or vice president of the United States and simultaneously run for the U.S. Senate or House of Represen…
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House OKs abortion-law change
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed legislation Friday that would strengthen parent notification requirements for minors seeking an abortion.
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House OKs bill prompted by meth case
The Arkansas House on Friday passed a bill that would strengthen protections for unborn children against a mother's drug use.
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2 bills curtailing 're-homing' after adoption pass in House
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed two bills Friday to restrict the "re-homing" of adopted children, put tighter reins on adoption subsidies and requ…
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House passes bill to let teachers exit union at any time
The Arkansas House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would allow the state's teachers to opt in or out of labor unions or professional association…
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Raise in teachers' base pay favored
An Arkansas House of Representatives committee recommended a bill Thursday that would increase base teacher pay in Arkansas and another that would increase fac…
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Raise in teachers' base pay favored
LITTLE ROCK -- An Arkansas House of Representatives committee recommended a bill Thursday to increase base teacher pay in Arkansas and another to increase faci…
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Senate backs bill to set up drug testing for welfare applicants
The Arkansas Senate voted Monday for legislation creating a drug-screening and testing program for applicants for benefits in the Temporary Assistance for Need…
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Bill allowing schools same waivers as rival charters OK'd
Legislation cleared the Arkansas House of Representatives on Friday allowing public schools that lose students to public-enrollment charter schools to apply fo…
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House panel endorses voter ID
The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to recommend five proposed constitutional amendments Friday, including a proposal to reinstat…
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5-week jobless aid cut passes
Legislation trimming the number of weeks that Arkansans are eligible for unemployment benefits dashed through the Arkansas Senate on Thursday and headed to Gov…
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Boosters in NLR say grant misused
A nonprofit booster club has raised new concerns over a $7,500 taxpayer grant awarded to the North Little Rock School District to pay for practice clothing for…
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Harris' re-homing called distraction
A state legislator who "re-homed" his adopted 6-year-old daughter to a man who later raped her has become a distraction and "should consider" resigning, House …
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Senate passes bill lowering bar for education chief
Legislation to change the qualifications for the state's education commissioner to clear the way for a former state senator to serve in the post and to require…
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Campaign e-filing bill falls short in 1st vote
A bill to make it easier for the public to see who's bankrolling Arkansas' most high-profile political campaigns failed in its first committee vote Wednesday.
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Governor sent carbon-emission-rule oversight bill
The House of Representatives on Tuesday handily approved and sent to the governor legislation that would give elected Arkansas officials responsibility for app…
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Waiver for kindergarten start passes in House committee
A legislative committee approved a bill Tuesday that would allow parents to petition to have their children start kindergarten early if they turn 5 within a mo…
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Senate OKs cut to scholarships
Legislation cutting the lottery scholarship for future recipients during their first year in college cleared the Arkansas Senate on Monday over the objections …
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Today is deadline for filing bills
This week, the Legislature will decide whether to enact legislation to deal with prison crowding and overhaul the state’s workforce development programs and th…
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House backs halt to school test
The Arkansas House voted for legislation Friday to stop using a Common Core-aligned assessment test in the state's schools, beginning next year.
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Sub-350 enrollment waiver OK'd
The Arkansas Senate on Thursday sent the governor a bill to allow the state Board of Education to grant waivers to school districts with fewer than 350 student…
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Panels favor bills cutting jobless aid, allowing school-bus ads
Legislative committees set to work Thursday considering bills on unemployment benefits, school-bus advertising and other measures despite the blanket of snow a…
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'Re-homed' by legislator, girl, 6, sexually assaulted
State Rep. Justin Harris let his two adopted daughters live with a man who later sexually assaulted the older, 6-year-old girl, the lawmaker said Wednesday, co…
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Committee douses water-provider control of fluoride
Legislation to give local water providers control over whether to add fluoride to the water supply failed to make it out of a Senate committee Wednesday.
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Senate OKs contingent ban on a state exchange
The state Senate Wednesday passed a bill barring the creation of a state-run health insurance exchange in Arkansas until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a lega…
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House panel acts on abortion measures
A legislative committee advanced one bill Tuesday that would tighten the restrictions on abortion-inducing drugs in Arkansas, while shooting down a second bill…
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House panel OKs bill tossing Core-tied test
Legislation to stop Arkansas students from having to take a Common Core-aligned assessment test next year passed through the House Education Committee on Tuesd…
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School-rules waiver clears House panel
A legislative committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would allow public school districts to apply for the same waivers as open-enrollment charter schools that …
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16 legislators named to task force charged with charting state Medicaid's future
House and Senate leaders Monday released the names of the 16 lawmakers serving on a task force to study changes throughout the state's Medicaid program, includ…
