News on the Wire

Fort Smith metro sees year-over-year job growth of 2% in July

While the pace of job growth is not as strong as most Arkansas metro areas, the Fort Smith region had job growth of just over 2% in July, with the…

Year-over-year job growth up more than 4% in Northwest Arkansas

The most recent impressive pace of Northwest Arkansas job growth that began in early 2014 continues, with the number of jobs in July up more than 4% and the size…

CDC report shows U.S. medically uninsured rate falls below 10%

The percentage of people in America without health insurance has dropped to 9.2%, while fewer people are avoiding seeking health care because of cost, the Centers for Disease Control and…

Arkansas tax revenue rebounds with 4.6% gain in August

Arkansas tax revenue collections began the fiscal year (July 2015-June 2016) with a 0.8% dip, but rebounded in August with a 4.6% gain, which pushed year-to-date gross revenue up almost…

Gov. Hutchinson calls for new higher education funding formula

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Tuesday (Sept. 1) called on the state’s higher education leaders to help create a new funding formula for colleges and universities and said a portion…

AG opinion suggests proposed Fayetteville ordinance ‘unenforceable’

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge issued an opinion Tuesday (Sept. 1) that could impact a Sept. 8 vote in Fayetteville on an ordinance that would include civil rights protections based…

Gov. Hutchinson asked to set execution dates for eight on death row

The execution dates for eight men who are on Arkansas’ death row is one step closer to happening. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge sent a letter to Gov. Asa Hutchinson,…

Lawsuit seeks to keep ‘Rebels’ as a nickname at Southside High School

The latest attempt to oppose the change of the mascot and fight song at Southside High School in Fort Smith hinges upon a difference between an official mascot and a…

Skyline Report: Apartment vacancies reach 11-year low in Northwest Arkansas

Apartment vacancy rates in every market in the two-county area are at the lowest levels ever recorded by the Skyline Report – so low that new construction is needed to…

Cree’s Fayetteville facility benefits from $4.1 million U.S. Air Force contract

Officials with Cree, one of the more successful startups to emerge from the University of Arkansas Research and Technology Incubator, took time Tuesday (Sept. 1) to celebrate the receipt of…

AT&T, CenturyLink receive millions of dollars for rural Internet push

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced that telecom carriers in Arkansas will receive more than $54 million from the Connect America Fund to provide broadband services in rural and…

USA Truck CEO says execs need to work at company’s Van Buren HQ

The new CEO of Van Buren-based USA Truck has issued a guideline that top executives with the company will work primarily from the company’s corporate offices, a change from the…

Five-year ban placed on new hog farms near the Buffalo River

The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission in Little Rock on Friday barred any new permits for big swine factory farms on the Buffalo National River Watershed over the next…

Wal-Mart says it is reducing worker hours only in a ‘small number of stores’

Media reports of Wal-Mart Stores CEO Doug McMillon asking store managers to reduce worker hours to better align with sales projections are not entirely accurate, according to Wal-Mart spokesman Kory…

Citing privacy and protection, UA Fayetteville prohibits drone use over campus

A brief unknown drone flyby during the recent NCAA baseball tournament at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville helped push a University of Arkansas policy announced Monday (Aug. 31) that prohibits drones…

Dennis Smiley admits forgery, devised loan scheme to support lifestyle

Former Arvest Bank President Dennis Smiley admitted in his guilty plea filed in federal court last week (Aug. 25) that he forged his father’s name in desperation and he falsified…

Arkansas Congressman says raising diesel tax should be on the table

Increasing the diesel tax to pay for highway maintenance and improvements is “something to be considered” because the trucking industry supports it, U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, said Friday. Interviewed…

U.S. Rep. Westerman talks about trip to Israel, Obama’s deal with Iran

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, is optimistic about Camden’s economic future and sustaining a veto of a disapproval resolution on the President’s Iran deal. Appearing Sunday on Talk Business…

Boozman tells chamber crowd that Iran deal and EPA rules are bad policy

In a relaxed atmosphere before a business-friendly crowd at the State Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., shared his views Thursday afternoon on a wide-range of topics from…

Fort Smith general fund revenue up 4.4% in January-July period

One could get whiplash watching the last few monthly Fort Smith sales tax revenue reports. The 1% street tax tally was up 11.6% in the May report, down 5.47% in…