Stories by Nikki Wentling

  • 2 shot in LR awarded medals

    The parents of a slain soldier stood shoulder to shoulder, grasping hands, as they were presented a Purple Heart medal Wednesday on their son's behalf.

  • Museum to restore war-scarred copter

    The director of the Jacksonville Museum of Military History opened a thick white binder and landed on a photograph of a U.S. Army soldier, dressed in a flight …

  • Firm gets go-ahead to build VA home

    A contract signed Friday between the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs and a contractor clears the way for work to start on a $24 million veterans home i…

  • VA still slow to pay its bills

    Arkansas health care providers who are owed tens of millions of dollars by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs say there has not been a marked improvement …

  • Base's guards shoot rifle toter

    Security personnel at Little Rock Air Force Base shot a rifle-wielding man who tried to enter the main gate Monday morning, base officials said.

  • Funeral home owners, exec face charges

    Arrest warrants were issued Monday for the two owners and one general manager of a Jacksonville funeral home that was shut down in January after an inspector r…

  • VA hospitals look for helping hands

    An Air Force veteran from Sherwood spends four hours per day, five days a week volunteering at Veterans Affairs hospitals.

  • Guard infantry train for battle

    A platoon comprising 30 to 40 Arkansas National Guard infantrymen crept out of the tree line surrounding a simulated village Friday morning as a mock enemy thr…

  • State VA unveils new goals

    Gov. Asa Hutchinson approved Monday a plan proposed by the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs that its director said will make the department a more activ…

  • Police beat

    Stabbed LR man critically injured Little Rock police were investigating Monday night after a domestic disturbance left a man in critical condition.

  • Guard, colleges plan ties on credit

    Student soldiers, dressed in their U.S. Army fatigues, walked between buildings at the National Guard's Lavern E. Weber Professional Education Center last week…

  • Housing director guilty in FOI case

    The executive director of Little Rock's Metropolitan Housing Alliance was found guilty Thursday of failing to comply with the state Freedom of Information Act,…

  • Information-request case in judge's hands

    The defense and prosecution wrapped up their cases Monday in the criminal trial of Little Rock's Metropolitan Housing Alliance Executive Director Rodney Forte,…

  • Police beat

    3 rob man of Lexus at downtown hotel A man had his car stolen at gunpoint Sunday outside a hotel in downtown Little Rock, police reported.

  • Wing command changes hands

    Col. Charles "Chip" Brown Jr. stood, smiling, in front of several hundred people at Little Rock Air Force Base on Wednesday as he received his first salute as …

  • Gathering remembers wars' fallen

    The mother of a soldier killed in action sat in the front row Monday morning at the state Memorial Day ceremony, which drew hundreds to the Arkansas State Vete…

  • Riverfest revelers weather storm

    A thin crowd of festivalgoers weaved among food and merchandise vendors at Riverfest in Little Rock on Sunday afternoon, shortly before rain hit central Arkans…

  • Storms, flooding buffet state

    Spotty showers and wind gusts caused structural damage, power failures and flooding in parts of the state Sunday evening, and meteorologists predicted more rou…

  • VA gives healing vets a turn at woodworking

    In one corner of a recreation room at the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center in North Little Rock, a volunteer guided the hand of a disabled veteran chiseling …

  • Police beat

    Tirade said to be over 'Jesus' sign A Maumelle man was arrested after verbally abusing an individual holding a "Trust Jesus" sign and yelling obscenities at po…

  • DEA's Rx operation rounds up 9 in state

    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arrested nine people Wednesday in central Arkansas as part of a regional investigation into prescription drug abuse th…

  • Training awaits military recruits

    During a special ceremony Tuesday, 28 military recruits from across the state recited their oaths of enlistment, said goodbye to their families and boarded a b…

  • VA solar-panel probe adds LR hospital

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will investigate a solar-power system installed at the Little Rock VA hospital that has never been activated, according…

  • Police beat

    NLR man accused of raping a minor A North Little Rock man was arrested Sunday over accusations he raped a female relative, according to a police report.

  • Names of omitted 30 now grace memorial

    Almost 44 years ago, 10 airmen assigned to the Little Rock Air Force Base were killed in the deadliest plane crash in the base's 60-year history.

  • State VA Department fills vacant No. 2 spot

    The Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday that it hired a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and state Department of Information Systems employee to …

  • Police beat

    Gunmen steal car at gas station in LR Little Rock police are investigating after a man was robbed of his car Saturday at a gas station.

  • Police Beat

    Police seek robber of LR dress store

  • Fort Chaffee clearing way for training center

    A heap of rusted junk, its individual items unrecognizable from decades of target practice, sat piled at the far east end of what will become a new, state-of-t…

  • Service honors fallen guardsmen

    The teenage son of a deceased Arkansas National Guardsman stared at his father's name inscribed on the Killed in Action monument at Camp Joseph T. Robinson on …

  • New course gives veterans credit

    An Iraq War veteran clutched a piece of paper with both hands, about to read aloud the story of his wartime experience to two dozen strangers.

  • Puzzlers duel it out — on paper

    The winner of the crossword competition at the eighth annual Arkansas Puzzle Day festival Sunday was decided when Ellen Brantley made her last pencil strokes a…

  • Police beat

    LR woman charged in kid-neglect case

  • Book lovers crowd Little Rock festival

    LITTLE ROCK -- Thousands of people streamed through the Central Arkansas Library System's Main Library in Little Rock on Saturday to attend some of the 78 pane…

  • Tornado-torn military museum reopens today

    A group of veterans stood in a circle inside the newly constructed Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia earlier this week, telling war stories an…

  • Sniper challenge tests battle skills

    Two soldiers competing in the international sniper championship at Fort Chaffee on Thursday barreled up the stairs of a three-story structure, rested a sniper …

  • State VA head not changing agency name

    The new director of the state Department of Veterans Affairs has dropped the idea of changing the department's name to differentiate it from the federal VA and…

  • Vets home stalled by federal review

    The project to build a $24 million veterans home in North Little Rock has again been delayed after the federal government gave premature approval to start cons…

  • VA chief grilled on 2 state issues

    U.S. Sen. John Boozman questioned the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs secretary Tuesday about two VA-related issues in Arkansas: millions of dollars in rei…

  • Police beat

    Jacksonville man attacked, stabbed

  • Police beat

    Woman accused of knife assault

  • Police beat

    2 rob gas station in LR, police say

  • State outpaces U.S. in VA care delivery

    Veterans in Arkansas fared slightly better than veterans nationwide in getting timely health care in the months since passage of a multibillion-dollar measure …

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