Tag Archives: Arkansas

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 …

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 …

Politico reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that he would not support a run by former President Donald Trump for reelection in 2024. “He’s got a good family … and they love America,” the Republican told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But I would not support him for reelection in 2024.” “He’s going to have …

The Hill reports: Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders formally announced on Monday that she will run for governor of Arkansas. In a video message posted to her campaign website, Sanders invoked threats made against her life during her time in the Trump administration in an appeal to voters in the deeply red state. “To remain free, we …

The Associated Press reports: Sarah Sanders, Donald Trump’s former chief spokeswoman and one of his closest aides, is running for Arkansas governor, a senior campaign official told The Associated Press on Sunday night. Sanders, who left the White House in 2019 to return to her home state, planned to announce her bid on Monday, according to the campaign official who …

The Hill reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said on Sunday he “expect[s] Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States,” adding that it was “good” that President Trump seemingly acknowledged Biden’s win in a tweet that the president later walked back. “I expect Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States,” Hutchinson said …

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports: Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, is the seventh state lawmaker to test positive for the coronavirus during the past several days. Bledsoe, who co-chairs the Legislative Council, received test results Sunday night that she tested positive, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs. Bledsoe is a former chairwoman of the Senate Public Health, Welfare …

The Washington Post reports: Over the three days Rob Bliss held the sign in the sweltering July heat in Harrison, Arkansas, a town known as a haven for white supremacists and home to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, similar interactions happened again and again. Bliss captured his interactions in Harrison on a GoPro camera that he strapped to …

The Arkansas Democrat reports: State Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, is the first state senator in Arkansas to test positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic hit the state in March. In the spring, three state representatives announced that they had tested positive for covid-19. Rapert, 48, is a self-described fiscal and social conservative who has served in the Senate since …

ABC News reports: Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued an order Thursday requiring people to wear face masks in public throughout the state, which has had a surge in coronavirus cases over the past several weeks. The Republican governor had resisted a statewide mask mandate and opposed issuing a stay-at-home order earlier in the pandemic, but he signed the order requiring …

The Associated Press reports: David Pryor, a former Arkansas governor and U.S. senator, is hospitalized in Little Rock after testing positive for COVID-19, his family said in a statement Monday. David Pryor and his wife, Barbara Pryor, both received positive test results Friday for the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the statement. David Pryor, who is 85 and …

Buzzfeed News reports: An Arkansas police officer who allegedly told a colleague that he would shoot any protesters who came to his door was charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a fellow officer who knocked on his door in June. When the police brutality protests in Minneapolis began earlier this year, the accused officer, Calvin “Nick” Salyers, told …

Via press release: Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced a lawsuit against Morningside Church Productions, Inc., which conducts business as The Jim Bakker Show, as well as Jim Bakker and Sherrill Sellman, for falsely telling Arkansas consumers that colloidal silver products would cure, eliminate, kill or deactivate COVID-19. The lawsuit was filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court under the …

Talk Business & Politics reports: President Donald Trump and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are struggling with independent voters in Arkansas less than five months before Election Day. A new survey from Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College shows that Trump and Cotton have negative approval ratings, with independents giving them low marks by a double-digit margin. The poll was taken on …

Axios reports: 35 of the 92 people (38%) who attended services at a rural Arkansas church March 6–11 tested positive for the coronavirus, ultimately killing three, according to a case study released Tuesday by the CDC. Why it matters: Places of worship continue to be a problem for controlling the widespread transmission of the coronavirus, especially as some churches and …

Newsweek reports: A church in Arkansas plans to continue holding services this weekend despite federal and state guidelines against holding gatherings of more than 10 people amid the coronavirus pandemic. Awaken Church in Jonesboro claimed in a Wednesday evening Facebook post that Jesus was the “first death of Covid-19,” the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The post included an …

CBS News reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden has was the Arkansas Democratic presidential primary race. Biden defeated a congested field of Democratic presidential hopefuls in Arkansas, including Mike Bloomberg, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Tulsi Gabbard. Biden has gained support from two of the state’s top Democratic figures, former U.S. Sen. and Gov. David Pryor and his son, former …

The Arkansas Times reports: Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) took to Facebook to fret about the upcoming appearance of Emmy Award-winning actor Billy Porter, of the FX show “Pose,” on an episode of “Sesame Street.” “What do you think I should do about this as your state senator? Do you approve of your taxpayer dollars being used to promote the radical …

The Hill reports: Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders rolled out a campaign-style website on Monday amid speculation that she is considering a run for governor of Arkansas. Huckabee Sanders, who signed on as a Fox News contributor last week, reportedly began giving more thought to a potential campaign after announcing her departure from the White House in …

Politico reports: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the outgoing White House press secretary, is seriously considering running for governor of Arkansas, according to three people who have spoken to her in recent days. While Sanders and her associates have been quietly talking about the possibility for months, sometimes in jest, she has shown renewed interest in the prospect as she’s started contemplating …