Documents for April 2010

Arkansas Arts Center Foundation tax return 2004

Plummer's employment contract

Ellen A. Plummer's employment contract with the Arkansas Arts Center

Arkansas Arts Center Foundation tax return 2003

Arkansas Arts Center Foundation tax return 2002

2010 Red-White rosters

Rosters for Arkansas' 2010 Red-White game

Proposal for revising desegregation settlement

Judge overturns state adoption law

A Pulaski County circuit judge has overturned Arkansas’ law banning unmarried couples living together from adopting or fostering children, finding that the measure infringes on a person’s right to privacy.

Judge dismisses Proctor's challenge

Any votes for Willard Proctor Jr won't be counted, a circuit judge ruled on Monday, dismissing the deposed judge's constitutional challenge to the law that prevents him from ever holding judicial office again.

Court issues stay of execution for Don Davis

The Arkansas Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for Don William Davis, ruling that a challenge by Davis of the protocol for lethal injection deserves a hearing.

Analysis of the President's 2011 Budget

An analysis of President Obama's budget by the Congressional Budget Office

Kiesle letters

The future Pope Benedict XVI resisted pleas to defrock a California priest with a record of sexually molesting children, citing concerns including “the good of the universal church,” according to a 1985 letter bearing his signature.

Fox order on PACT contract

A Pulaski County circuit judge on Thursday declared “null and void” last year’s School Board vote to discontinue recognizing the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers as the contract bargaining agent for teachers in the state’s third largest district. Judge Tim Fox ruled that the board for the Pulaski County Special School District has the authority to terminate the professional negotiations agreement with the teachers union, but that the board in this case did not meet pre-requisite legal requirements to do so.

Giusti criminal complaint

A man accused of threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in phone calls cried Thursday during a court appearance where a magistrate initially refused his request to be released to a halfway house. Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, of San Francisco looked disheveled in a gray T-shirt and khakis as he appeared for the first time before Magistrate Judge Bernard Zimmerman, who said Giusti may have bipolar disorder and should be receiving treatment.

Tobacco reports

ATLANTA — Fourteen states, the nation’s capital and the federal government increased their cigarette taxes last year, but health officials worry that tobacco company discounts are keeping prices down. In Arkansas, at the behest of Gov. Mike Beebe, the state Legislature raised the state cigarette tax of 59 cents per pack to $1.15 per pack and increased the sales tax on other tobacco products from 32 percent to 68 percent. The increase was aimed at raising about $80 million a year for distribution among about 20 health-related programs.

Conway center ruling

A judge on Wednesday rejected the federal government’s assertion that residents of the Conway Human Development Center face imminent harm unless a court immediately halts admissions of children and orders certain practices stopped. “The Court does not take lightly the seriousness of the accusations,” Chief U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes said in an order issued in response to a March 9 request from the U.S. Department of Justice for a preliminary injunction against the center. Still, Holmes said, he must consider whether the residents are likely to suffer irreparable harm “but for immediate court intervention.”

Attorney general's opinion on proposed health amendment

Adequacy report

UCA audit

The state’s annual audit of the University of Central Arkansas uncovered a number of bookkeeping errors. The Arkansas Division of Legislative Audit released on Wednesday the 65-page report, which uncovered a “material weakness” in the school’s internal financial controls.

Ellington