Latest Arkansas Headlines

All the headlines from our Arkansas Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Arkansas Considers Insurance Program for Self-Employed

Dec 2 2008 // Only 5,000 Arkansans of a potential 50,000 have enrolled in a state program to provide health insurance to low-income workers through their employers.The Arkansas Department of Human Services launched ARHealth Networks in...

Madrid Zone Earthquake Study a Wake-Up Call for Tennessee, Other States

Nov 30 2008 // A new federal study of the New Madrid Seismic Zone predicts Tennessee would see the highest level of damage if there is a 7.7 magnitude earthquake.The study notes that the total economic impact of a series of NMSZ...

Small Quake Reported in Central Arkansas

Nov 17 2008 // The U.S. Geological Survey says a small earthquake occurred in central Arkansas.The quake, of preliminary magnitude 2.6, occurred at 7:47 a.m. Nov. 15, 14 miles north of Hector in Pope County. A dispatcher with the Pope...

Oklahoma Plant Still Closed After Blast

Nov 7 2008 // A scrap metal yard near in Arkoma, Okla., near the border with Arkansas, remained closed after an artillery shell exploded, critically injuring an Arkansas man.Steve Fontenot, of Fort Smith, Ark., man was still in critical...

Medicus OK’d to Provide Medical Professional Liability Coverage in Ark.

Nov 5 2008 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Julie Benfield Bowman and Medicus Insurance Company Chairman Howard Lamb announced that Medicus Insurance Company has been approved to write medical professional liability insurance in...

Small Earthquakes Hits Arkansas County, Dallas Area

Nov 3 2008 // Federal officials say a 2.7-magnitude earthquake struck on Nov. 1 near the community of Magnet Cove in Hot Spring County, Arkansas.The U.S. Geological Survey reports the earthquake hit three miles northeast of Rockport and...

No Ruling by Arkansas Supreme Court on Fairness of Workers’ Comp System

Nov 2 2008 // The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission to deny an injured worker’s claim but declined to rule on the injured man’s argument that the Commission...

Arkansas High Court Won’t Rule on Workers’ Comp Fairness Issue

Oct 28 2008 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has reversed the state Workers’ Compensation Commission’s denial of an injured worker’s claim, but said it wouldn’t address his argument that the panel is...

Arkansas Insurance Company Owner Sentenced to 6 Years

Oct 27 2008 // The owner of a Little Rock, Ark., insurance company has been sentenced to six years in prison on a federal fraud conviction, the U.S. attorney’s office said.Frank Whitbeck, 61, also was ordered to pay $3.8 million...

New Van Provides Better Road-Condition Pictures in Arkansas

Oct 23 2008 // The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department’s newest vehicle carries a steep price tag.At $1.39 million, plus tax, it costs almost as much as a 1,000-horsepower 2008 Bugatti Veyron super car. But while the...

Arkansas’ Unemployment Rises to 4.9%

Oct 22 2008 // Arkansas’ unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point in September to 4.9 percent, but remained well below the national average of 6.1 percent.The leisure and hospitality job sector took the largest hit,...

Suits Filed Over Arkansas Rail Explosion

Oct 21 2008 // Lawsuits filed over a 2005 Union Pacific derailment, explosion and chemical leak in Texarkana, Ark., include one case that claims a second person died as a result of the accident and others that seek damages for thousands...

Ark. Court to Consider Fairness of Workers’ Comp System

Oct 20 2008 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has agreed to consider an injured man’s argument that the state Workers’ Compensation Commission operates unfairly in violation of the constitution.Arkansas Chief Justice Jim Hannah...

Texas Company Cited in Fatal I-430 Bridge Accident in Arkansas

Oct 7 2008 // A Texas contractor faces almost $31,000 in penalties after federal safety officials found that undersized bolts and overloaded scaffolding contributed to accident in Arkansas in April that resulted in the deaths of three...

Arkansas Court to Consider Workers’ Comp Fairness Issue

Oct 6 2008 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has agreed to consider an injured man’s argument that the state Workers’ Compensation Commission operates unfairly in violation of the constitution.Arkansas Chief Justice Jim Hannah...

It Figures

Oct 6 2008 // 20Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe added Craighead, Lawrence, Madison, Newton and Saline Counties to the list of state disaster declarations following damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike on Sept. 13 and 14. The number...

Adjusters Working Ike Claims from Texas Coast to Arkansas Border

Oct 2 2008 // Thousands of insurance claims adjusters are examining the damage left behind by Hurricane Ike from the Texas coast to the Arkansas border, the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) reported. Millions of dollars in insurance...

20 Counties in Ark. Declared Disaster Areas After Ike

Sep 30 2008 // Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe added Craighead, Lawrence, Madison, Newton and Saline counties to the list of state disaster declarations following damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike on Sept. 13 and 14.Beebe...

Arkansas AG Subpoenas Gas Retailers for Ike-Related Price Spikes

Sep 18 2008 // Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has begun issuing subpoenas over spikes in fuel prices at 52 gas stations around the state as Hurricane Ike approached the Texas coast.McDaniel said more than 1,450 people phoned...

1 Dead in Ark. After Ike, More than 200K Lose Power

Sep 15 2008 // The remnants of Hurricane Ike knocked out power to more than 200,000 customers in Arkansas and killed one person as storm bands passed through Saturday night and Sunday morning.The damage spanned a wide area across the...