Latest Arkansas Headlines
All the headlines from our Arkansas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Arkansas Recovers More than $1.5M for Insurance Consumers in First Half of 2016
Jul 18 2016 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr says the Consumer Services Division (CSD) of the Arkansas Insurance Department recovered $1,580,421 for Arkansas insurance customers in the first six months of 2016. The amounts...
Arkansas Company Recalls 5,850 Pounds of Chicken Products
Jul 14 2016 // Arkansas-based Simmons Prepared Foods says it’s recalling 5,850 pounds of frozen chicken products that may have been breaded with flour contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Simmons says the frozen, uncooked chicken...
Owners of Arkansas McDonald’s Franchise Sued for Disability Discrimination
Jul 6 2016 // A McDonald’s restaurant owned and operated by Mathews Management Company and Peach Orchard Inc. in Bentonville, Ark., violated federal law when it fired an employee because of his HIV-positive status, the U.S. Equal...
Arkansas Woman Charged with Filing Nearly $250K in False Insurance Claims
Jun 23 2016 // A Pulaski County, Ark., employee who processed insurance claims has been fired after being arrested and charged with filing false insurance claims for nearly $250,000. Authorities say 60-year-old Wanda Wyatt was a fleet...
McGhee Elected President of Arkansas Independent Agents Insurance Group
Jun 22 2016 // Bill McGhee, of McGhee Insurance Inc., in Little Rock, Ark., has been elected president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas. McGhee previously served on the IIAA executive committee and board of...
Arkansas Emergency Official Likes FEMA’s Disaster Deductible Proposal
Jun 8 2016 // Arkansas’ emergency management director said he favors a proposal from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that gives states disaster “deductibles” as an incentive for the state to be better prepared...
Governor Wants State to Run Arkansas Health Insurance Exchange
Jun 6 2016 // Arkansas officials say they want the state to take responsibility for its health insurance exchange for individuals but continue enrolling them in coverage through the federal system’s mechanisms. Gov. Asa...
Two Plead Guilty in Insurance Fraud Cases in Arkansas
Jun 1 2016 // The Arkansas Insurance Department announced that two guilty pleas have been secured in relation to property theft and insurance fraud charges. The cases were handled by AID’s Criminal Investigation Division On May...
Arkansas Court Backs $3M Judgment Against Gerber over Workers’ Time
May 27 2016 // Arkansas’ highest court says a baby food manufacturer must pay more than $3 million to workers for the time they spent dressing and undressing into uniforms and protective gear. The state Supreme Court upheld a lower...
Arkansas Officials Question Health Insurance Rate Hikes for 2017
May 25 2016 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr says he expects to deny several recent requests by insurers to raise rates on individual on-exchange health insurance policies by more than 10 percent for 2017. Under the...
Business Travel Fuels Growth of Uber Use in Arkansas
May 20 2016 // Business travelers needing a ride in Arkansas are increasingly using their thumbs — not to hitchhike, but to tap the Uber app on their smartphones. And despite class-action lawsuits by drivers and some job actions,...
Disaster Declaration for 12 Arkansas Counties
May 9 2016 // President Barack Obama has declared a disaster for a dozen Arkansas counties affected by severe weather in early March. The White House announced the disaster declaration Friday for Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun,...
$250K Settlement in Veteran’s Death Endorsed by Arkansas Panel
May 6 2016 // A legislative committee has endorsed a $250,000 settlement with the state’s veterans department over a World War II veteran who died while his nurse went to eat her lunch. The Joint Budget Committee’s Claims...
Arkansas Regulators: In Separate Cases 2 Plead Guilty to Auto Insurance Fraud
May 6 2016 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr announced two recent guilty pleas resulting from separate criminal investigations of insurance fraud. On May 2, Becky Brand, 34, of Lonoke entered a guilty plea to one count of...
Officials: 9 Tornadoes in Oklahoma, Arkansas Last Week
May 5 2016 // Meteorologists have identified tornado damage in Muskogee County nearly a week after a string of at least nine weak tornadoes across northeastern Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Tulsa World reports that the National Weather...
Gulf States Fighting Metal Thefts from Ag Operations
May 4 2016 // A new group trying to reduce metal theft from agriculture operations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said his office is creating a Mississippi Delta Agricultural...
Arthur J. Gallagher Acquires Arkansas Agency, Hagan Newkirk
May 3 2016 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Hagan Newkirk Financial Services in Little Rock, Ark. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. With operations dating back to the 1960s, Hagan Newkirk Financial Services...
Exxon Mobil Pays $2.63M Fine for Arkansas Pipeline Spill
May 3 2016 // Exxon Mobil has paid a $2.63 million fine more than three years after its Pegasus pipeline ruptured and spilled thousands of gallons of crude into a Mayflower neighborhood. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety...
Workers’ Comp Market Share: South Central States
May 2 2016 // The workers’ compensation insurance markets in South Central states are relatively stable and are experiencing a drop in rates across the board. However, reforms made in Oklahoma in 2013 continue to be challenged in...
Arkansas Measure Would Cap Medical Non-Economic Damages at $250K
Apr 27 2016 // Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has approved the wording of a measure to limit lawsuit damages awarded against health care providers, clearing the way for supporters to try and put the proposal on the November...
