Sunday, November 22, 2009 9:36 a.m.

Samantha Friedman

Grant to place volunteers at 5 nonprofits in state

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: July 26, 2009 3:26 a.m.

Five Arkansas nonprofit organizations will benefit from Ameri-Corps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) participants, thanks to a Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation grant.
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Arkansan author of best-selling fiction dies

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: July 25, 2009 2:40 a.m.

E. Lynn Harris, an award-winning Arkansas author of gay black fiction, died Thursday after falling ill at a Beverly Hills hotel.
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Cell-phone problem in prisons leads to calls for jamming law

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: July 20, 2009 5:05 a.m.

State prison inmates Charles Wilson and convicted murderers Calvin Adams and Jeffrey Grinder plotted their recent escapes from the Cummins Unit by using contraband cell phones, according to the Arkansas Department of Correction.
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Arena's new sign to cost less than expected

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: July 16, 2009 5:22 a.m.

A new digital marquee outside Verizon Arena in North Little Rock will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars less than its board expected.
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Only 2 counties in state file real estate records electronically

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: July 16, 2009 5:21 a.m.

Though 11 of Arkansas' 75 counties are equipped with software to electronically record real estate documents, only two have begun processing electronic records. Since the Arkansas Legislature approved Act 734 of 2007, the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act, only Pulaski and Benton county clerks have implemented the technology.
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LR woman dies at ritual; role of voodoo uncertain

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: July 14, 2009 5:11 a.m.

Lucille Hamilton, 21, of Little Rock was found dead in a New Jersey home Saturday night after taking part in what police are calling a "Voodoo cleansing ritual." Hamilton visited Gloucester Township in southern New Jersey to attend the event, held in a townhouse residence in the 400 block of Loch Lomond Drive. Hamilton and six others had come from around the country to participate in the ritual.
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Police beat

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: June 26, 2009 2:53 a.m.

2 women robbed at 2 LR Kroger stores Two women were robbed in the parking lots of two Little Rock Kroger grocery stores Wednesday afternoon, police said.
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High Profile editor takes magazine job

Rachel Chaney replaces Phyllis Brandon

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: June 23, 2009 5:04 a.m.

Phyllis Brandon, founding editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Sunday High Profile section, will become editor-in-chief of Arkansas Life, a lifestyle and society magazine, published by WEHCO Media Inc., the Democrat-Gazette 's parent company.
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Gena Renia Lovett

A graduate of Philander Smith College, Gena Lovett serves as president of the New York Junior League. She also has a high-powered job.

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: June 21, 2009 3:22 a.m.

The last time she spoke to a graduating class at Philander Smith College, Gena Lovett had to share the podium with Bill Clinton. That was 1986; she was graduating class president, while the governor was keynote speaker.
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Council says race for mayor is back on

By Samantha Friedman
Posted: June 17, 2009 4:27 a.m.

The Wrightsville City Council on Tuesday overturned the interim mayor's veto of a special election to elect a new mayor.
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