News

Inspectors with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission say they don't yet know why a crane collapsed at Arkansas Nuclear One, killing a worker.  

Wade Walters died March 31 after a 525-ton piece of equipment fell on top of him. Eight others were injured.  

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a meeting Thursday in Russellville to discuss the results of an inspection it conducted after the fatal accident.

Commission branch chief Geoffrey Miller says the crane should have been able to handle the weight and that investigators still don't know why it failed.  

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will give the commencement address at Saturday's graduation ceremonies for the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.

The commencement ceremonies are set for 2 p.m. Saturday at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock. Emanuel was elected Chicago's mayor in February 2011 and before that, he served as President Barack Obama's chief of staff. He also served in former President Bill Clinton's administration from 1993 to 1998. Emanuel lived and worked in Little Rock during Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign.

Arkansas highway officials say $1.5 million in federal funding has been awarded for trails projects around the state. 

The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department on Thursday announced the Recreational Trails Program funding would go to 30 different entities after receiving 45 applications requesting more than $3 million.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says a request by Arkansas to return a 63-year-old fugitive isn't his "highest priority."

The Republican governor said Thursday that convicted killer Lester Stiggers is in poor health, is older and has caused no trouble since fleeing to Michigan 43 years ago.

Arkansas wants Stiggers back.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel has started a hotline for concerns related to the crude oil spill from an ExxonMobil pipeline in Mayflower.

McDaniel also said Thursday that his office has conducted air quality monitoring inside homes in the area of the March spill. The attorney general's office says the numbers from that monitoring are generally in line with other air sample results.

McDaniel says air samples were taken from 14 homes, and 13 of them show oil-related contaminants aren't concentrated enough to pose short-term health risks.

Greg Hatcher, CEO of The Hatcher Agency, says health insurance reform measures are about to kick in a higher gear for state businesses, but none of his accounts are weighing absorbing penalties over providing coverage.

The Arkansas Lottery Commission says the state Supreme Court should dismiss a lawsuit about the lottery's name.

Assistant Attorney General David Curran on Thursday asked the justices to dismiss Alpha Marketing's lawsuit after a lower court last year refused to do so.

The Lottery Commission has said it should be immune from the lawsuit, but a judge in Pulaski County ruled in 2012 that the lawsuit could not be barred under the sovereign immunity doctrine, which prohibits lawsuits against the state.

A longtime election official from Little Rock says she's seeking the Democratic nomination for Arkansas secretary of state next year.

Susan Inman on Thursday said she's running for the party's nomination to challenge Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin.

Martin was elected in 2010 and has said he's running for a second term.

Inman serves on the state Board of Election Commissioners and the Pulaski County Election Commission.

She is also president of the Arkansas County Election Commissions Association.

The Arkansas attorney general's office says it has no objection to an anti-abortion group's request to help defend a new law banning the procedure 12 weeks into a pregnancy.  

The attorney general's office on Thursday responded to the request by Concepts of Truth to intervene in the federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the new restriction.

The Wynne-based group provides counseling to women considering getting an abortion and to women who have had the procedure.