Tag Archives: Arkansas

Anti-Vax Mom Sorry After Daughter’s Hospitalization

Little Rock’s CBS News affiliate reports: Angela Morris’ daughter, Caia Morris Cooper, is fighting for her life at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She said the hardest part about watching her child suffer is that the entire thing was preventable. “It’s very hard to see her in this situation. It’s very hard not knowing if she’s really going to come home anymore …

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GOP Arkansas Gov Tours State To Push Vaccine [VIDEO]

Little Rock’s NBC News affiliate reports: With active COVID-19 cases in Arkansas rising above 7,000, Hutchinson has been making stops across the state to urge communities to increase vaccination rates in combating the virus as the delta variant continues to surge across the south. The governor has already made stops in Cabot and Batesville on the tour, offering a chance …

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Major Missouri Festival Canceled Amid Surge In Cases

ABC News reports: The city of Springfield, Missouri, announced Monday that it was canceling a major summer festival as COVID-19 surges in the region. The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 13-14 and typically includes live music and a classic car parade, has been called off for the second year in a row due to COVID-19. …

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Arkansas COVID Cases Higher Than This Time Last Year

Little Rock’s NBC News affiliate reports: As concerns mount over the growing impact of the delta variant of COVID-19, figures released Friday show coronavirus cases again surging in Arkansas, topping levels seen in a year before. The Arkansas Department of Health reported 1,155 new cases of COVID-19 Friday afternoon, bringing the total number of cases in Arkansas to 355,460. Active …

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GOP Arkansas Gov Warns Of Surging COVID Cases

Little Rock’s ABC News affiliate reports: At a press conference, Governor Asa Hutchinson gave some staggering statistics regarding a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in the state as the Delta variant spreads and affects, statistics show, those who are unvaccinated. On Thursday, July 1, Hutchinson announced a spike of 700 positive cases in a single day, a number that hasn’t been …

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Nuclear Engineer Dem Launches Bid For Arkansas Gov

NBC News reports: The race to replace Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who cannot run again because of term limits, is gaining another candidate — a nuclear engineer who says he’s running as a Democrat to offer voters another alternative to the Trump brand of politics. Chris Jones, the former head of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, a nonprofit organization based …

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Walton Family Sets Up $1M Fund For AR LGBT Groups

The Associated Press reports: Family members of Walmart founder Sam Walton on Thursday launched a $1 million fund for groups assisting LGBT people in the retail giant’s home state of Arkansas, which has enacted measures restricting transgender people’s rights. The new fund is being established with support from the Alice L. Walton Foundation and from Olivia and Tom Walton through …

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AR Middle School Sorry For Pro-Trump Lies In Yearbook

The Guardian reports: A school principal in Arkansas has apologized for “political inaccuracies” in a yearbook falsely stating that Donald Trump was not impeached and that last year’s racial protests in the US were “Black Lives Matter riots”. Josh Thompson, principal of Bentonville’s Lincoln junior high school, admitted that some of the contents of the yearbook, which also included a …

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“Significant Crack” Closes Interstate Bridge [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: Repairs to the Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee could take months after a crack was found in the span, forcing thousands of trucks and cars to detour and shutting down shipping on a section of the Mississippi River, a transportation official said. A congressional Democrat from Tennessee flagged the crack as a warning sign of …

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AR Senate Committee Kills Creationism In Schools Bill

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports: A bill stating that Arkansas teachers may teach religious beliefs of creation alongside scientific theories failed to advance from the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. The sponsor, Rep. Mary Bentley [photo], R-Perryville, said many teachers had asked her for the ability to teach “counter-theories” and open up the class for debate among students. Six of the …

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Arkansas Gov Defends Veto Of Anti-Trans Youth Bill

The Hill reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said on Sunday that his decision to veto the transgender youth healthcare ban was a “message of compassion and conservatism,” saying it aligned with his conservative belief in limited government. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Hutchinson acknowledged the blowback he has received from his party for his veto of the …

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Arkansas Moves To Ban “Transgender Student Names”

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports: Arkansas teachers wouldn’t be required to address students by a name or pronoun inconsistent with the student’s biological sex under proposed legislation that passed Thursday in the House, one of the latest of several measures in the state Legislature that human-rights advocates say targets transgender people. Lawmakers who opposed HB1749, as well as LGBT-rights advocates, say …

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Arkansas Gov “Sorry” For Anti-Transgender Youth Bill

NPR reports: ARI SHAPIRO: And so if you were to hear today from one of those transgender minors and their parents who had been getting hormone treatment and will have to stop under this law, like, what would you say to them? ASA HUTCHINSON: Well, I’m sorry, and that’s exactly the reason I vetoed the bill is because we wanted …

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AR Lawmakers Override Gov’s Veto Of Anti-Trans Bill

Little Rock’s CBS News affiliate reports: The Arkansas House and Senate both voted to override Governor Asa Hutchinson’s veto of HB1570, making the bill law. Gov. Hutchinson vetoed HB1570 on Monday. The Arkansas House voted 71-24 to override Hutchinson’s veto, and the Arkansas Senate voted 25-8 to override the veto. Arkansas becomes the first state to ban gender confirming treatments …

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GOP Arkansas Governor Vetoes Anti-Trans Youth Bill

Little Rock’s ABC News affiliate reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday that he vetoed a bill that would ban gender confirming hormone treatment for trans youths. Hutchinson called the bill “well-intended but off course” and said it was “overbroad.” “We are creating new standards of legislating interference for physicians and parents as they deal with some of the most …

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Arkansas Gov Signs “Religious Freedom” Bill Allowing Doctors To Refuse To Treat LGBT Patients Because Jesus

Little Rock’s NBC News affiliate reports: Gov. Asa Hutchinson has signed new legislation that would allow doctors and other health care workers in Arkansas to refuse to perform certain services if they have “conscience-based objections.” Senate Bill 289, also known as The Medical Ethics and Diversity Act, is a new version of a measure that was first presented in the …

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Arkansas Gov: Vaccine Refusal By Trump Supporters Is Just A “Natural Resistance To Government” [VIDEO]

The Hill reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Sunday said that the vaccine hesitancy reported among supporters of former President Trump is due to “a natural resistance to government,” calling it “worrisome.” Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Dana Bash asked Hutchinson what he made of the hesitancy, noting that voters in his state of Arkansas are …

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Trump Appears At Campaign Event For Infamous Liar

The Hill reports: Former President Trump made an appearance at a campaign event for Sarah Huckabee Sanders over the weekend, the former White House Press secretary said. Sanders, a Republican, announced earlier this year she intends to run for governor of Arkansas, a position her father held in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “As governor, I will defend your …

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AR Bill Allows Teaching Creationism In Science Class

Hemant Mehta reports at The Friendly Atheist: Having nothing better to do than make kids dumber, Arkansas State Rep. Mary Bentley, a Republican, has filed a bill (HB 1701) that would allow public school science teachers to “teach creationism as a theory of how the earth came to exist.” It’s a short bill that defies (or completely ignores) the Supreme …

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Arkansas Gov Signs Near-Total Abortion Ban Into Law

The Associated Press reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday signed into law legislation banning nearly all abortions in the state, a sweeping measure that supporters hope will force the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its landmark Roe v. Wade decision but opponents vow to block before it takes effect later this year. The Republican governor had expressed reservations about …

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