Latest Arkansas Headlines
All the headlines from our Arkansas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Bradford to Become New Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jan. 15
Jan 5 2009 // Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe will appoint Jay Bradford of Pine Bluff as Commissioner of the Arkansas Insurance Department, effective Jan. 15. Braford will replace Julie Benafield Bowman, whose resignation from the post...
Arkansas Teen Drivers Have Higher Fatality Rates, AAA Says
Dec 31 2008 // Teenage drivers in Arkansas have a higher rate of traffic fatalities than any other category of drivers in the state, and the AAA wants the state to further restrict driving by young people. The AAA, formerly the American...
Arkansas Lawmaker: Helmetless Motorcyclists Must Have Insurance
Dec 19 2008 // Helmetless motorcyclists should be able to prove that they have enough health insurance to pay for any injuries they may incur while driving, an Arkansas state lawmaker has proposed. Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, filed...
Arkansas Highway Commission: Don’t Raise Speed Limits
Dec 11 2008 // The Arkansas Highway Commission has come out against raising speed limits on rural highways because it could increase the number of fatal traffic accidents. Also, it would lower fuel economy for motorists, according to a...
Arkansas Lawmaker: Ban Use of Cell Phones on Roads
Dec 5 2008 // Making a call or sending text messages with a hand-held cell phone while behind the wheel would be a crime in Arkansas under a legislator’s proposal. Rep. Ray Kidd, D-Jonesboro, filed a bill Dec. 3 prohibiting the...
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...
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...
No Ruling by Arkansas Supreme Court on Fairness of Workers’ Comp System
Nov 2 2008 // But Justices Don’t Exclude Possibility of Revisiting the Issue The Arkansas Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission to deny an injured worker’s claim but...
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...
