News on the Wire

College grad rates improve in Fort Smith area

The more than 400 University of Arkansas at Fort Smith students set to graduate today (Dec. 15) are among a growing segment of the area population with a four-year degree,…

Razorback basketball after fourth-straight win

story by College Sports Matchups Wire Services After two straight seasons with losing records in conference play and one of the nation’s most highly touted recruiting classes still a year…

Concerns grow about health care payment advisory board

While news has reverberated from a federal judge’s ruling that a portion of the health care overhaul is unconstitutional, there is another part of the massive bill that more resembles…

Marshals Museum up to $6.75 million; fundraising ‘only just begun’

About $6.75 million has been pledged or raised for the $50 million (give or take a few million dollars) U.S. Marshals Museum, but don’t ask executive director Jim Dunn when…

GDP for 2009 revised downward; ‘worst contraction’ since WWII

A revised GDP report shows an even gloomier picture of the U.S. economy in 2009, with construction and manufacturing showing the biggest declines. The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis reported…

Area hospitals onboard with new supply tracking system

Fort Smith area hospitals are among those working toward adoption of a broad and comprehensive coding system that is expected to provide tracking and inventory control of all medical supplies….

Arkansas gaming revenues increase; part of national trend

Electronic gambling revenues are up in Hot Springs and West Memphis and will likely continue to grow according to a new survey suggesting that U.S. gaming revenues will rise 3.6%…

Health care law segment ruled unconstitutional; Arkansas to move forward

U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruled Monday (Dec. 13) that a portion of the new health care law is unconstitutional in that it “exceeds” the power of Congress to…

Illegal Yankee dealings outlined by Fort Smith banker, attorney

Clay McKinney and Jason Browning have published a book about nefarious international acquisition of people. The book is not expected to be popular with the New York Yankees and Major…

Homeschool teams dominate BEST robotics

Editor’s note: At the end of this report are posted several photos of the Saturday robotics competition. The 2010 Frontier Trails BEST Regional Robotics Competition was dominated by homeschoolers, with…

Petrino stays with the Hogs; to earn $3.56 million a year

He’s one of the highest profile and highest paid public officials in Arkansas, and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino has agreed…

Teamsters wanted ABF to buy YRC

Documents filed on ABF Freight System’s “Legal Action” website show that discussions with Teamsters officials were often terse, and that Teamsters offered to help ABF acquire financially-troubled YRC — ABF’s…

Hundreds volunteer to prep for Christmas Honors

Hundreds of volunteers from area companies, schools and other groups worked Friday at the Phoenix Expo and Trade Center and the Fort Smith National Cemetery to prepare more than 12,000…

Womack gets seat on powerful House Appropriations Committee

It wasn’t such a longshot, after all. Rep.-elect Steve Womack, R-Rogers, was placed on the powerful U.S. House Appropriations Committee during Thursday’s (Dec. 9) process to make assignments to the…

Orientation ongoing for 47 new Arkansas House members

The 47 new members of the Arkansas House represent the largest class to ever come through the state capitol. There are 24 Republicans and 23 Democrats in the bunch. Their…

ATU-Ozark, ACTC affiliation approved

The Arkansas Career Education Board approved on Thursday (Dec. 9) a merger between Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus and the Russellville Area Career and Technical Center (ACTC). ATU-Ozark and the ACTC…

United Way up to $1.7 million; hopes for $2.2 million

story and photos by Linda Kaufenberg [email protected] Approximately 100 United Way supporters attended the annual Wrap-Up at Holiday Inn City Center Thursday at noon. “This is more of a thank-you…

Fuel prices rise ahead of holiday rush

That trip to grandma’s house for Christmas may be a bit more expensive this year as pump prices across the U.S. jumped 10 cents this week, nearing $3 per gallon…

Fort Smith airport November traffic up 15.4%

November enplanements at the Fort Smith Regional Airport boosted 2010 traffic past the dismal 2009 total, and were more than 15% higher than November 2009. Traffic out of the airport…

Regional bankruptcies and incorporations

Following are recent bankruptcy and incorporation filings from Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties. The information is provided by The Daily Record. a Little Rock-based news and legal information publisher….