Here are the top stories from the Democrat-Gazette this week.
Governor signs bill to raise teacher pay
Arkansas will raise its median teacher salary by $2,000 over the next two years, with Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday signing legislation passed by the General Assembly.
Hutchinson called the law, which will raise the median teacher salary from $49,822 to $51,822, a "historic" measure.
Attorney general asks U.S. Supreme Court to strike abortion-law ban
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked an Arkansas law prohibiting abortions performed solely on the basis of a Down syndrome diagnosis.
Commenters offer view on UA's Fulbright debate
Comments to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville about the legacy of former U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright included a few threats to halt donations if his statue is taken down and his name is removed from UA’s arts and sciences college.
But many wrote in to say that UA should distance itself from Fulbright given his legislative record supporting segregation and opposing civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts to open in May 2022
The revamped Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts will reopen to the public in May of 2022, officials announced Thursday, a date that aligns with the long-held timeline for finishing what has become a $142 million project.
Formerly called the Arkansas Arts Center, the downtown Little Rock museum closed for construction in the summer of 2019.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders raises $4.8M in campaign for governor
Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders raised more than $4.8 million during the first quarter of the year, her campaign announced Thursday.
Despite not entering the race until late January, Sanders outraised her Republican primary opponent, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, nearly 25-to-1 during that 90-day period.