News

A government report says the rate of suicide among middle-aged Arkansans rose by more than 50 percent percent from 1999 to 2010.

The Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday that there were 144 suicides among the 35-64 age group in 1999 for a rate of 14.8 suicides per 100,000 population. The report says there were 245 suicides in that age group in 2010 for a rate of 22.8 per 100,000 and an increase of 54.2 percent over the decade.

The CDC report is based on death certificates and says people ages 35 to 64 account for about 57 percent of suicides.

The annual Toad Suck Daze festival will be open on Friday in Central Arkansas.

Organizers say each year there are over 160,000 people attending the event in Conway.

Event Director, Mary Margaret Satterfield, said the festival is fun and beneficial.

On the heels of last week’s legislative session where state lawmakers approved the “private option” health insurance plan, Arkansas Medicaid leaders are already working to move the proposal forward.

Randolph County authorities say they're still searching for a man who posed as a police officer and stopped a driver near Pocahontas.  

Sheriff Gary Tribble told The Jonesboro Sun Thursday that authorities have determined the man who made the stop on April 2 was not a police officer.  

Tribble says the imposter first stopped the driver inside the Pocahontas city limits and directed the person to a location outside the city.

U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi is defending passage of the federal health care overhaul  while on a visit to Arkansas.

Pelosi spoke in Little Rock Thursday at an event organized by the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.  

She received a standing ovation when she took the stage, shortly before she praised the passage of the Affordable Care Act as a momentous achievement.  

The Arkansas finance office says higher than expected growth in individual income tax collections  boosted the state's revenue above expectation and above last year's numbers in April.  

The Department of Finance and Administration said Thursday the state's net available revenues for April totaled $642.8 million. That's $84 million above last year and $79.8 million above forecast.

The state's year-to-date revenues total $4.1 billion, which is $163.9 million above forecast.

Authorities in Randolph County say a blind man was shot in the face while walking on a gravel road near Dalton.  

Officials say 38-year-old Timothy King, who was blinded by a gunshot 10 years ago, is in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital, where his jaw is wired shut.  

The man's mother, Judy King, told The Jonesboro Sun that Timothy King knew the Rock Glade Trail road well and liked to go for long walks.  

Randolph County Sheriff Gary Tribble says Arkansas State Police are assisting in the investigation.

The Little Rock School District's advisory committee to its anti-bullying effort is to meet to discuss how to reduce student harassment.

The panel has scheduled a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the board room of the district administration building at 810 West Markham.    

Members of the committee include parents, students, district staff and other community members. The panel is conducting studies, identifying problems and developing recommendations on solutions.  

The committee meets at 5:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month.

Organizers say a film screening Wednesday on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock could be the start of an initiative to empower women in the state through educational opportunities. 

The Women’s Foundation of Arkansas partnered with officials from the University of Central Arkansas and UALR to show a documentary titled “Girl Rising.”

The National Weather Service in Little Rock says a strong cold front is heading for the state and is expected to bring precipitation and cold temperatures. 

The front is expected to move across the region on Thursday, but meteorologists say no severe storms are in the immediate forecast. Temperatures are forecast to drop by as much as 35 degrees behind the front on Friday.