Latest Arkansas Headlines
All the headlines from our Arkansas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Arkansas Insurance Department Initiates State Based System Process
Nov 3 2014 // The Arkansas Insurance Department announced that it has completed the initial phase of the State Based Systems (SBS) implementation process, making it the latest state to take advantage of the National Association of...
Cocaine Residue Found on Arkansas Man’s Insurance Card
Oct 24 2014 // Jonesboro, Ark., police have arrested a man who they say handed an officer an insurance card covered in cocaine residue during a traffic stop. The Jonesboro Sun reports 31-year-old Shannon Ray of Jonesboro was charged with...
Storms Hammer Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas
Oct 14 2014 // A powerful storm system swept across Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma late on Sunday and early Monday, killing at least one person and injuring four others, emergency officials said, as millions of people were in the path of...
Fire at Arkansas County Courthouse Annex Deemed Arson
Oct 10 2014 // A fire last month at a building that housed the offices of the Arkansas County sheriff and county judge was deliberately set, federal investigators said. No injuries were reported in the early morning fire at the...
$1.6M in Preparedness Grants Go to Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Sep 23 2014 // Emergency management agencies in five states – Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas – have been awarded more than $1.6 million in preparedness grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),...
Outlook for Texas-Based Columbia Lloyds Insurance Revised to Stable
Sep 18 2014 // A.M. Best has revised the outlook to stable from negative and affirmed the financial strength rating of B++ (Good) and the issuer credit ratings of “bbb” of the members of Houston, Texas-based Columbia Lloyds...
Insurance Licensing to Halt in Arkansas for 10 Days in October
Sep 16 2014 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford is alerting insurance agents, agencies and others that the Arkansas Insurance Department (AID) is converting to a new State Based Systems (SBS) which will mean a temporary...
Launch of State-Run Health Insurance Exchange Delayed in Arkansas
Sep 12 2014 // A nonprofit created by the Arkansas legislature has decided to delay establishing a state-run health insurance exchange until 2016 to avoid a rush to build the technology system for it. The Arkansas Health Insurance...
Ex-Workers Sue Closed Arkansas Hospital over Unpaid Insurance Premiums
Sep 11 2014 // Former workers at a closed Arkansas hospital have filed a lawsuit, claiming administrators withheld part of their pay for insurance but didn’t pay the premiums. The lawsuit was filed by Denny Sumpter, a West Memphis...
Arkansas Marketplace Health Premium Costs Projected to Drop 2% in 2015
Sep 7 2014 // The Arkansas Insurance Department recently announced insurance policies sold through the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace are projected to have a net decrease of two percent in premium costs for 2015. This calculation...
$35M in Crops Lost to Flooding in Arkansas, Study Says
Sep 4 2014 // A University of Arkansas study finds flooding that began in late June will lead to millions of dollars in lost crop value for Arkansas farmers. Farmers in 10 Arkansas counties are expected to lose more than $35 million in...
Cleanup at Arkansas Train Crash Site Ongoing
Aug 22 2014 // An important highway in northeast Arkansas could stay closed into next week as crews clean up the wreckage left from a head-on train collision, a highway official said. Two railroad workers were killed and two others were...
Expert: Renewed Calls for Safety Will Follow Arkansas Train Collision
Aug 20 2014 // A deadly head-on train collision in Arkansas proves more needs to be done to improve safety, but implementing fixes industrywide likely won’t occur before a federal deadline, a transportation expert said. Two Union...
Class Action OK’d in Lawsuit Against Exxon over Arkansas Oil Spill
Aug 15 2014 // Class action status has been granted in a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil stemming from a 2013 pipeline accident in Mayflower. U.S. District Judge Brian Miller in Little Rock ruled in favor of Arnez and Charletha Harper, the...
Arkansas Board Delays Health Insurance Exchange Grant Request
Aug 14 2014 // An Arkansas board is delaying its application for funding to establish a state-run health insurance exchange. The Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace Board, created by a law passed by state legislators last year, was...
Arkansas Sees Growth in Agricultural Tourism
Aug 13 2014 // Agritourism is growing in Arkansas as more farm owners open their gates to tourists and form a spiderweb-like network among several state agencies and nonprofit organizations. Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, “U-Pick...
Arkansas Sees Sharpest Drop in Uninsured Rate in the Nation
Aug 8 2014 // A Gallup report released on Aug. 5 shows that Arkansas outpaced the rest of the country in reducing the rate of residents without health insurance during the first six months of 2014, the Arkansas governor’s office...
Federal Disaster Declarations to Help Farmers in 10 Arkansas Counties
Jul 25 2014 // U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has made disaster declarations for farmers and ranchers in 10 Arkansas counties who suffered losses due to storms that began in the affected areas June 29. Vilsack issued disaster...
Standridge Pleads Guilty in Arkansas to Premium Finance-Related Fraud
Jul 8 2014 // A Mount Ida, Ark., man has pleaded guilty to money laundering and wire fraud and prosecutors say he’ll serve five years in prison followed by supervised release and must pay back more than $7 million in...
5 Companies Filing 2015 Plans on Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace
Jul 2 2014 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford announced that five companies have filed to sell individual health insurance plans on Arkansas’ Federally-facilitated health insurance Marketplace for the 2015 plan...
