Political News

Blevins makes national boss list

Sebastian County Circuit Clerk Ken Blevins (R) has been named to a top 100 list along with Rev. Jesse Jackson, former GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain and former Penn State…

U.S. Marshals coin not ‘off track’

The action by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to block legislation authorizing the minting of a U.S. Marshals Commemorative Coin is more of a bump in the process than a…

Beebe releases emergency funds for courts

Gov. Mike Beebe (D) released $40,000 from his emergency fund to stop the proposed January furlough of 120 trial court assistants across Arkansas — a furlough resulting in part from…

Sebastian County approves budget, hears weapons complaint

The Tuesday (Dec. 20) meeting of the Sebastian County Quorum Court had officially adjourned when citizen James Mitchell stood up to speak his peace to court members and Sebastian County…

Fort Smith Directors talk water, lobbyist costs

To discuss or not to discuss? That was the question Tuesday night (Dec. 20) as Fort Smith city directors wrestled over when to talk about the latest developments in the…

Fort Smith to test, review CNG usage

Fort Smith officials plan to take advantage of a state-managed and federally-funded rebate program designed to help cover the costs of converting vehicles to use compressed natural gas. The Arkansas…

Van Buren rejects 2009 true up charge

The Fort Smith Board of Directors must now decide a course of action after Van Buren officials rejected a request to pay the city of Fort Smith a contested water…

Post Office closures dominate legislative meeting

In its monthly oversight meeting, Arkansas lawmakers obsessed on several hot button topics, including health care, forestry cuts, and post office closures. Legislators grilled state Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford on…

Marshals coin approved by U.S. House

After several years of trying, a U.S. Marshals Commemorative Coin has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation now heads to the U.S. Senate. Proceeds from sale…

AG McDaniel rejects tax amendment language

Claiming an anti-tax group needs to “redesign” its proposed amendment language, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (D) rejected the first attempt of the proposal to qualify for the 2012 ballot. In…

Marshals coin set for House floor vote (Updated)

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve legislation on Thursday (Dec. 15) that could raise $5 million to support artifact and document preservation at the U.S. Marshals Museum….

Fort Smith Board discusses $169.54 million bond package

The Fort Smith Board of Directors is moving forward with a March 2012 election to extend an existing 1% sales tax that would pay for more than $107 million in…

Plan moves forward for water park, ball fields

The aquatics facility at Ben Geren Regional Park is back on the table. After removing the earmark at the last Committee as a Whole meeting, the Sebastian County Quorum Court…

188th support briefing date set

Favorable financial figures that are part of a “focused plan” protect and enhance the future of the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith were released Monday (Dec. 12) by the…

Furloughs possible with state trial court workers

Earlier this year, the state’s trial court system experienced a near-catastrophic cash flow crisis. Declining revenues from fewer civil case filings and supposedly less-than-stellar budgeting resulted in a scare for…

Blevins to follow court order, reinstate employees

Sebastian County Circuit Clerk Ken Blevins has blinked. Blevins, who faced a contempt of court charge and possible arrest, has agreed to allow employees Tyanna Caldwell and Cassie Vega to…

Blevins faces federal lawsuit; order from Circuit Judges (Updated)

Sebastian County Circuit Clerk Ken Blevins was working from his vitamin store in Fort Smith on Friday afternoon (Dec. 9) because he said he needed a “quiet place” to look…

City staffers reject former boss’ true-up story

Top Fort Smith staffers object to a statement from former City Administrator Dennis Kelly about the details surrounding a now controversial 2009 true-up water bill with Van Buren. True-ups are…

Arkansas tort law pared back by court ruling

A class-action group of rice farmers won a major appeal at the Arkansas Supreme Court in a ruling that struck down a portion of the state’s comprehensive tort reform statute…

Blevins ordered to reinstate employees

Sebastian County Judge David Hudson signed and filed a four-page order on Thursday (Dec. 8) requiring Sebastian County Circuit Clerk Ken Blevins to reinstate two employees he recently fired. Tyanna…