Laura Stevens
Stories by Laura
Gas pump glug, glug is 15• less per gallon
posted: 07/10/2009 3:15 a.m. Discuss
Gasoline prices have dropped 15 cents in the past 20 days and are heading lower.
SeaPort Airlines to start this fall
posted: 07/08/2009 2:57 a.m. Discuss
SeaPort Airlines of Oregon expects to start service this fall to four Arkansas airports that have been without passenger service for a year.
Dirty well water raises stink near drilling sites
posted: 07/05/2009 5:27 a.m. Discuss
For 10 years, the well on Rebecca and Jerry Cockrell's property delivered clean, clear water.
Oregon airline picked to fly in Arkansas
posted: 06/27/2009 3:29 a.m. Discuss
SeaPort Airlines of Oregon will provide service to four Arkansas airports that have been without passenger service for a year - if the airline accepts a smaller contract from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
THEATER REVIEW At Shakespeare festival, Producers kicks up heels
posted: 06/21/2009 2:16 a.m. Discuss
Mel Brooks' comic musical The Producers hit its mark Friday night, with just the right mix of comedy and fun.
Producers hits the mark
posted: 06/20/2009 1:06 a.m. Discuss
Mel Brooks' comic musical The Producers hit its mark Friday night, with just the right mix of comedy and fun.
Gas in state up 10• in week
posted: 06/19/2009 4:02 a.m. Comment 1
Continuing strength in the commodities market has propelled the Arkansas average for regular gasoline up to $2.59 per gallon.
THEATER REVIEW: Festival's Macbeth holds true, plays to emotions
posted: 06/11/2009 3:24 a.m. Discuss
The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre Festival's performance Wednesday night of Macbeth was an interesting retelling of a tried-and-true classic.
Gasoline costs $1 more than it did 5 months ago
posted: 06/06/2009 3:36 a.m. Discuss
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Arkansas has risen $1 since the beginning of the year.
153 lose jobs in LR at Dassault Falcon
posted: 06/06/2009 3:34 a.m. Discuss
Dassault Falcon let go 153 Little Rock workers Friday as the economic downturn took an additional toll on the state's aerospace business.
Dassault Falcon cuts 153 workers
posted: 06/05/2009 6:30 p.m. Discuss
Dassault Falcon let go 153 workers Friday as it downsized its Little Rock Completion Center in the face of the economic downturn.
DANCE REVIEW: Ballet's Coppelia dances with delight
posted: 05/31/2009 2:23 a.m. Discuss
The Arkansas Festival Ballet has put together a charming production of Coppelia that will delight audiences young and old.
REVIEW: Charming Coppelia enchants all ages
posted: 05/30/2009 5:30 p.m. Discuss
The Arkansas Festival Ballet has put together a charming production of Coppelia that will delight audiences young and old.
Gas prices up 10• in week
posted: 05/29/2009 4:45 a.m. Discuss
Gasoline prices went up another dime in the past week, and crude-oil prices and healthier demand are pushing them higher.
Producers, AT&T say Idol voting fair, verified
posted: 05/28/2009 4:26 a.m. Discuss
Complaints about unfair voting tactics in last week's American Idol finale bubbled out of the blogosphere and surfaced nationally Wednesday, but the show's producers and sponsor AT&T defended the vote that resulted in Arkansan Kris Allen winning the title.
Pump prices jump in state
posted: 05/22/2009 2:43 a.m. Comment 1
Arkansas gas prices shot up about 30 cents in a little over two weeks as oil prices gained strength and traders bet on increased driving-season demand.
A star is born: American Idol goes for Allen
posted: 05/21/2009 4:15 a.m.
Discuss
Minutes before Kris Allen became the newest "American Idol," a producer for the Fox television show instructed a crowd in downtown Conway to cheer for their neighbor, fellow churchgoer and friend.
Throngs of Kris Allen fans cheer, vote for Idol finalist
posted: 05/20/2009 4:20 a.m.
Discuss
Cheerleaders. Nachos. Fandom. All the features and fervor of football filled the University of Central Arkansas' Estes Stadium on Tuesday night. But the sport on view was singing.
MUSIC REVIEW: ASO interpretation of Pink Floyd tunes obscures orchestra
posted: 05/09/2009 5:13 a.m.
Friday night's performance at Little Rock's Robinson Center Music Hall didn't sound much like an orchestra concert.
Murphy Oil's earnings fall 58% in 1st quarter
posted: 05/07/2009 4:06 a.m.
Murphy Oil Corp. reported Wednesday that first-quarter earnings dropped by 58 percent because of lower commodity prices.
$2 gas flows again in state
posted: 05/07/2009 1:56 a.m.
The Arkansas average price for regular gasoline topped $2 on Wednesday for the first time in more than six months.
Clinton mayor: Can take drilling waste in 60 days
posted: 04/22/2009 3:19 a.m.
The city of Clinton is expected to announce today that it will begin recycling contaminated water used in the natural-gas drilling process in two months.
Study notes problems in disposal of 'drill water'
posted: 04/21/2009 5:42 a.m.
Arkansas' environment is being endangered by operations that dispose of "drill water " used by natural gas drillers in the Fayetteville Shale, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality said in a report released Monday.
Flights still up in air at 4 cities
posted: 04/16/2009 1:50 a.m.
Four Arkansas cities will continue to go without commercial air service indefinitely because the airline that had agreed to provide service backed out of its contract.
Noted LR restaurant abruptly shuts doors
posted: 04/10/2009 2:45 a.m.
Mike Selig's Vermillion restaurant closed Thursday after nearly seven years in downtown Little Rock.
Airlines switching to smaller fleets
posted: 04/01/2009 2:42 a.m.
Airlines are shifting to smaller planes at Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, although total seats available to passengers have increased since the beginning of the year.
Murphy tells '08 pay for ex-CEO
posted: 03/28/2009 2:18 a.m.
Claiborne Deming, chief executive officer and president of Murphy Oil Corp. until he stepped down Dec. 31, was paid $8.4 million in 2008, about 5 percent less than the previous year.
No spring break: Gas at $2 is back
posted: 03/27/2009 3:17 a.m.
The national average for a gallon of gasoline crossed the $2 mark once again this week as gasoline rebounded on higher demand and crude oil prices.
Oil exec sees price rise but not to 2008 levels
posted: 03/18/2009 2:10 a.m.
Jim Mulva, chief executive officer and chairman of ConocoPhillips, expects a mild recovery in oil and gas prices once the overall economy rebounds, but said Tuesday that the high of $147 seen last July shouldn't recur anytime soon.
Exec: Obama must keep oil, gas industry in mind
posted: 03/18/2009 2:03 a.m.
ConocoPhillips' Chief Executive Officer Jim Mulva said Tuesday that it is imperative that President Barack Obama's energy plans include the oil and gas industry.
Tourism tax take increases for NLR
posted: 03/14/2009 4:41 a.m.
North Little Rock has joined the rest of Arkansas' tourism centers by withstanding the economic downturn in 2008.
Incentives to attract filmmaking to state clear House panel
posted: 03/12/2009 2:40 a.m.
Arkansas, one of two states with no incentives for the motion picture industry, moved forward with a plan to attract more business to the state Wednesday.
MUSIC REVIEW: Rare synergy lets quartet shine
posted: 03/10/2009 4:28 a.m.
The Aviv String Quartet seemed to play, breathe and even think as one during a concert featuring a spectrum of classical music Monday evening.
Oil, gas proposal advances to Senate
posted: 02/27/2009 3:43 a.m.
Oil and gas industry representatives will have a mandated majority on the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission under legislation that made it through a Senate committee Thursday with only one "no" vote.
More tourism dollars visited Arkansas in '08
posted: 02/24/2009 4:39 a.m.
Revenue from Arkansas' tourism taxes grew by 3.8 percent last year as the state attracted more conventions and meetings and the economy kept more travelers spending money close to home.
LR paper lays off 50 to 60 in state
posted: 02/24/2009 4:38 a.m.
The floundering economy has forced the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to reduce its work force in various departments by approximately 3 percent to 5 percent during the past two months, including five employees in the Little Rock newsroom and two in the Northwest Arkansas bureau newsroom on Monday.
LR eateries, hotels survive tough year
posted: 02/21/2009 3:28 a.m.
While the U.S. economy slowed to a crawl in 2008, Little Rock's collection of its 2-cent tax on food and hotel rooms increased by 6 percent. But about half of the top 30 grossing hotels and restaurants saw a drop in sales.
MUSIC REVIEW: Quartet dazzles at some points, fizzles at others
posted: 02/18/2009 2:27 a.m.
The Quapaw Quartet managed to hit most of the notes, but failed to convey some of the music's spark during a concert featuring European composers Tuesday night.
ECONOMIC DIVIDE: Despite job losses, Fort Smith stable
posted: 02/09/2009 5:27 a.m.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The symptoms of recession hit rural Arkansas and its people more strongly than the state's urban areas, a review of unemployment numbers shows.
Jet maker says some laid off at LR center
posted: 02/07/2009 3:31 a.m.
Hawker Beechcraft started the process of laying off 2,300 workers Friday, a spokesman confirmed.
Murphy's quarterly earnings take a fall
posted: 01/29/2009 4:25 a.m.
Murphy Oil Corp. earnings dropped by about $50 million in the fourth quarter, but income for the entire year increased by about $1 billion.
Target says LR project off for now
posted: 01/29/2009 1:09 a.m.
Shoppers will have to wait a while longer for Park Avenue, the "lifestyle" center that is to replace the demolished University Mall in Little Rock, because the development's main tenant has cut back its expansion plans.
Target to close Maumelle distribution center
posted: 01/28/2009 2:09 a.m.
Target Corp. said Tuesday that it will close its Maumelle distribution center, a major employer in the city for almost three decades. About 500 workers will lose jobs when the center closes April 1.
Fewer used state's airports in '08
posted: 01/21/2009 1:58 a.m.
Fewer passengers flew out of Arkansas' eight airports with commercial service in 2008, with Texarkana Regional Airport posting the largest percentage decrease in boarding passengers.
'08 tonnage down on Arkansas River
posted: 01/16/2009 4:51 a.m.
Commerce on the Arkansas River declined in 2008 because of flooding in the spring and the economic downturn later in the year.
Gasoline price in state leaps 20• in week
posted: 01/09/2009 3:04 a.m.
Global conflict and rising crude oil prices drove gasoline up in Arkansas by 20 cents a gallon in one week from a five-year low.
State pump prices drop below $1.50
posted: 12/30/2008 5:20 a.m.
The average price for regular gasoline in Arkansas dipped below $1.50 this week for the first time in nearly five years.
Aloft hotel site moved in LR; new project told
posted: 12/19/2008 5:13 a.m.
In a combined investment of $40 million, developers will build the proposed Aloft hotel in a different location and add a mixed-use retail development to Little Rock's River Market District.
Airport security line now a moneymaker
posted: 12/14/2008 5:31 a.m.
The cost of bypassing long airport security lines has gotten higher, and airlines and airports have joined private registered-traveler businesses in reaping the revenue.
MUSIC REVIEW: Chamber singers' Christmas show enthralling
posted: 12/13/2008 2:53 a.m.
The Arkansas Chamber Singers mixed fresh Christmas music and dance Friday evening in a charming success.
