Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Panel OKs $12.4M tutoring contract for rural students
A panel of state lawmakers endorsed a nearly $12.4 million federally funded contract with a California-based virtual tutoring firm on Tues- day. The agreement requires Air Education Inc., also known as Air Reading, to provide high-impact tutoring to...
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State calls off prison project, records show
A proposal for a 3,000bed state prison in Franklin County has been canceled with corrections officials quietly working on a plan to expand existing prisons and possibly build smaller facilities across Arkansas. An April 29 state Department of...
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A-State welcomes first cohort of vet students
JONESBORO — The Arkansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine has welcomed its first class of students. The state’s first veterinary school marked the occasion Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Jonesboro in the sweltering August...
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Trump claims Iran owes US compensation
President Donald Trump on Monday scoffed at Iran’s demand for reparations for devastation caused to the country by the U.S. and Israeli bombardment over the past five months — a demand he said Tehran’s negotiators hadn’t raised until now. Trump’s...
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Infant evacuated
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides, local authorities reported. Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities have become almost routine in recent weeks,...
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Grape harvest begins
Grape harvest is underway well before mid-August, marking the earliest on record date because of ongoing climate change, near Turin, Italy, on Saturday, as higher temperatures and drier summers force local winegrowers to harvest during cooler hours and...
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Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan ink new pact
ANKARA, Turkey — Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a defense agreement on Friday that would treat an attack on one as an attack on all three, officials said, solidifying cooperation between the three regional powers at a time of growing security...
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Firm IDs Arkansas sites as best for reactors
Locations in southwest and Central Arkansas are best suited for new nuclear reactors, according to a study presented Thursday to the legislature’s Joint Energy Committee. Brian Meadors, an attorney with Maryland-based EXCEL Services Corp., told the...
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Fighting the flames
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
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Volcanic display
Lava flows and clouds of ash billow from the crater of the Fuego volcano, seen from San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala, on Tuesday. Video online at arkansasonline.com/85volcano/.
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Talks to bring conflict to end said to resume
CAIRO — After calling off a fresh round of strikes against Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the two sides are resuming talks to wind down the war, even as Iranian officials claimed their diplomatic efforts were focused on neighboring...
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Wildfires in Greece
A firefighter stands and looks out as flames rise during a wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, Greece, on Sunday.
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Trump claims deal emerging to end conflict
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump in a Saturday evening social media post claimed that Mideast allies have reached the parameters of a deal to end the Iran war and said that he would hold off on ordering new strikes in the 5-monthold conflict for...
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Power demand dwarfs capacity at data center
Before California-based data center builder Serverfarm can power up the first four buildings at its $6.6 billion campus in Clarksville, it will need to find a way to supply more than 400 megawatts of electricity. Clarksville’s electric utility has a...
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Court lifts injunction on library rule
An Arkansas law aimed at prohibiting minors from obtaining books and movies with nudity or sexual contact, and allowing people to challenge the appropriateness of public library materials, can take effect after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...
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Fauci takes the Fifth in hearing
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer dozens of questions from senators in a Republican-led committee hearing about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision, at least for...
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Paying respects
WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham, the son of pool hall owners who rose to become one of his generation’s more influential U.S. politicians at home and abroad, was eulogized Tuesday as “a true American original” during memorial services in...
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Entergy’s lines dialogue ongoing
Entergy Arkansas is negotiating with landowners for the anticipated construction of transmission lines before turning to an eminent domain option, a spokesperson for the utility said Monday. The transmission lines would service a multibillion-dollar...
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UALR building list of minors to cut after lawmakers’ push
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock is compiling a list of academic minor programs to discontinue in advance of the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees’ meeting in September. In April, UALR committed to initiate “the process of...
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Battling wildfires in France
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France — France sent a hulking military cargo plane to dump tons of flame retardants as it battled raging wildfires on Saturday and slashed the final stage of the Tour de France to redeploy security personnel to the blazes that forced...
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Trade partners decry Trump’s latest tariffs
President Donald Trump’s latest set of tariffs drew objections Friday from America’s trading partners including China and Japan, with Australia’s trade minister slamming them as “completely unjustified.” The administration announced tariffs of 10% to...
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Fatal shooting in Madison
A mourner visits a memorial Thursday at the site where a man was shot and killed by Madison police on Wednesday in Madison, Wis.
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US, Iran both target civilian infrastructure
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military announced Wednesday that it was conducting a 12th night of strikes against Iran as both sides increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure. U.S. Central Command said the attacks were designed to...
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After the strike
KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday fired Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces after days of mass protests in Kyiv, the country’s capital, and other cities nationwide demanding his...
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Iran hits ship in strait amid US airstrikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran attacked a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship even as the United States conducted yet another round of airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic over control of the key...
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Vendors pitch drones, tech to assist state schools’ safety
Two drones zipped around an improvised racecourse at the Wyndham Riverfront hotel in North Little Rock on Tuesday, as dozens of men and women watched with rapt attention. The small aerial craft flashed strobe lights and emitted a high-pitched,...
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LR mayor chauffeured in city vehicle despite car allowance
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.’s public appearances follow a pattern. A black sport utility vehicle arrives. Scott steps out and walks to a podium. A second man, typically clad in a suit jacket, emerges from behind the wheel of the SUV and lingers...
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Kids served by program drop by 32% after cuts
A Cabot daycare center on Friday joined the dozens of Arkansas childcare facilities that have closed down since the Arkansas Department of Education cut payments last fall for a program serving low-income families. Beth Flippo, the executive director...
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Letting the smoke clear
KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shook up his wartime government, drawing thousands into the streets Thursday across Ukraine to protest the ouster of his youthful defense minister — seen as an innovator of the country’s successful drone...
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Rescued from the flood
UVALDE, Texas — Widening evacuation warnings and high-water rescues in Texas mounted Wednesday under relentlessly heavy storms that turned roads into rivers, washed away vehicles and spun up a tornado across a busy interstate in San Antonio. Texas...
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Off to the space station
MOSCOW — A U.S.-Russian space crew arrived Tuesday at the International Space Station after launching from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Russian crewmates Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off as...
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ICE-involved shooting
Officials work the scene where a man was reportedly killed in a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday.
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Buyers, retailers differ on SNAP limit reviews
More than a week after the rollout of Arkansas’ ban on using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to purchase candy and soft drinks, retailers had reported few hiccups. The reviews from at least some shoppers were less positive,...
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Housing bill championed by Hill becomes law
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., began this Congress with his sights on passing legislation addressing housing affordability. The Little Rock congressman led the push in the House of Representatives on a housing measure, which received...
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Weather service warns of upcoming heat wave
Most of America’s Lower 48 states are about to swelter under an unusually large, strong and long-lasting heat dome that will spike temperatures in a way that the National Weather Service calls “significant and dangerous.” The heat wave will start this...
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Girl swept into storm drain back home safe
An 8-year-old girl is back home safe after floodwaters in Bryant swept her into a storm drain Wednesday evening and carried her for about half a mile through a drainage system. The girl, whose name was not released Thursday, was taken to Arkansas...
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US again fires against Iran
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by hitting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in crossfire that again threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the...
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LR officials celebrate $30M award from Bezos charity
Officials in Little Rock on Tuesday celebrated a $30 million award from an organization founded by Jeff Bezos that will support the development of a new downtown park. Little Rock and seven other cities around the country have been selected to receive...
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Russian barrage finds gaps in Ukraine defense, kills 22
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia unleashed waves of missiles and drones at Ukraine early Monday, killing at least 22 people in attacks that exposed widening gaps in the country’s air defenses more than four years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion, authorities...
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Iran mourns leader, students
Iran — Among the tens of thousands of mourners gathered in central Tehran for the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are families of the schoolchildren from the southern city of Minab who, like the supreme leader, were killed in an airstrike on the...
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Mustang rescue comes together, step by step
SOMEWHERE NORTHEAST OF MENA — Moon Mountain Sanctuary and Rescue can’t be found in the way people are used to finding places now. Somewhere northeast of Mena, the cell signal fades. Trees and mountains resume their ancient authority. The traveler...
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Ballot group submits signatures
The group behind a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at strengthening direct democracy in Arkansas said Friday it turned in enough signatures for its measure to make the ballot. Protect AR Rights, the sponsor of an amendment that it said will...
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Russia bombards Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia hammered Kyiv in an 11-hour drone and missile attack overnight into Thursday morning, killing at least 21 civilians in the city and injuring scores more in what Moscow said was retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil...
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NLR officers’ off-duty work cost $500,000
North Little Rock taxpayers were stuck with the tab for $500,000 in off-duty police overtime last year in some cases to pay officers for unworked hours and in others, to cover the cost for companies the city failed to accurately bill. That’s according...
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Supreme Court upholds blocks on trans athletes
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, in another setback for transgender people. The court’s six-justice conservative majority, which has repeatedly ruled...
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Critics warn SNAP bans may hinder food access
While Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other state officials touted the upcoming start of a waiver banning the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds to buy candy, soda and certain other products, a children’s advocate said the measure...
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Tariffs take toll on bike builders
A bicycle built by Viral Bikes in Bentonville is made up of parts from all over the world, like a gearbox from Germany or a titanium frame made in Taiwan. U.S. tariffs on the parts, essentially import taxes, have had a serious effect on the company’s...
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Earthquake destruction
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Tensions flared Saturday as desperation grew among anguished residents of the Venezuelan state of La Guaira, where rescuers and civilians searched for earthquake survivors amid a sharply rising death toll. Venezuela’s government...
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Bolton takes plea deal, may avoid prison time
GREENBELT, Md. — Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to illegally retaining classified information, sealing a deal with federal prosecutors that could allow him to avoid a prison term. Bolton, who...
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Hundreds dead after Venezuela quakes
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings Thursday and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed around 235 people and left at least 4,300 people...
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Trump holds up housing bill
WASHINGTON — One of the congressional leaders behind a bipartisan housing package remains hopeful it will become law, even as President Donald Trump demands Congress first pass a voter registration bill. U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., worked with...
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Senate OKs resolution to stop actions at Iran
WASHINGTON — The Senate for the first time approved a war powers resolution Tuesday seeking to block U.S. military action against Iran, as lawmakers warily watch President Donald Trump’s efforts to resolve a conflict that the administration launched on...
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Britain’s Starmer set to resign from office
LONDON — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday he will resign, forced out by his own party after missteps and mistakes soured voters’ goodwill following a landslide election victory two years ago on a promise of steady leadership and economic...
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Rice farmers face challenges from war, weather, low prices
Working on an Arkansas rice farm often requires juggling several roles. “If it’s raining you’ve got to take care of the wells, go and stop the drains, I usually get up pretty early,” said farmhand Jorge Mendoza while repairing equipment in the barn at...
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Iran says US in breach, eyes close for strait
TYRE, Lebanon — Iran on Saturday said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that while negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks with the United States on their interim agreement, not much likely will...
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Israel, Hezbollah reach truce
JERUSALEM — Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group agreed Friday to halt the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon that had threatened to unravel an interim agreement between the United States and Iran to end their war, officials said....
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Sanders touted firms’ unproven China ties
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders used the attorney general’s office to assail businesses as run by Communist China despite her staff knowing those claims were unproven and the companies might be following the law, internal texts disclosed in court records...
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Trump’s pick to lead FEMA vows objectivity
WASHINGTON — Cameron Hamilton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, pledged to senators Wednesday to be “fair and reasonable” in assessing requests for disaster aid as he seeks to run an agency roiled by the...
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Iran restates peace deal terms
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s top diplomat reiterated Tuesday that the tentative deal to end the war with the United States would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has already rejected and that could sink the...
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Stocks jump higher amid news of US-Iran deal
NEW YORK — Stock markets rallied worldwide Monday, and oil prices eased after the United States and Iran reached a tentative deal to extend their ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to get the global flow of crude going again. The S&P 500 rose...
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US, Iran reach initial deal to close conflict
ISLAMABAD — The United States and Iran have reached an initial agreement to end their war and open the Strait of Hormuz, offering relief to the Gulf region and global economy more than three months since fighting began. Details of the deal were not...
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Records: 4 groups funded legislators’ visits to Israel
Four organizations collectively paid more than $100,000 for overseas travel-related expenses of a dozen Arkansas state lawmakers in what they described as educational trips to Israel in 2025, state records show. The organizations that covered those...
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Peace deal wording gets OK
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s prime minister said Friday that the United States and Iran have agreed to wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators were working with both sides to finalize a deal. Prime Minister...
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Trump claims Iran talks had breakthrough
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he had called off new military strikes on Iran, claiming a breakthrough in negotiations to end the war just hours after the American leader threatened to escalate the conflict...
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US hits Iran with more strikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military said Wednesday it has begun another round of strikes against Iran after President Donald Trump said more were coming. The escalating attacks threatened to derail efforts to end the war, with Trump warning...
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Israel, Iran stop firing, return to fragile truce
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel and Iran appeared to back away from further strikes Monday, hours after they traded fire for the first time since the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire with Tehran two months ago. Both countries warned that they were ready...
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Israel returns fire after Iran missile attack
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel launched airstrikes early Monday targeting central and western Iran in response to missile fire from Tehran, attacks that threatened to drag the wider Middle East back into a regional war. Iranian state television...
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West Memphis braced for boom
WEST MEMPHIS — This east Arkansas city might seem like an unlikely place for Elon Musk and Google to be scrambling for a data center site. But they were, until Musk backed out. “As soon as Musk went, Google stepped in right behind him,” said Ward...
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County judge hopefuls say trust has been lost
The biggest challenge facing Pulaski County is the public’s lack of trust and confidence in government, the two candidates running for county judge said Friday. Democrat Wendell Griffen and Republican Michael Rushin will face off in the Nov. 3...
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