News

  A Little Rock man was arrested early Thursday morning after illegally entering the Governor's Mansion grounds, officials say.

Authorities say 32-year-old Ramon Taylor scaled a fence at 5:30 a.m. and attempted to break into a nearby car before he was taken into custody.  

Gov. Mike Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said Taylor was unarmed and arrested by security guards without incident.

"[Protection] is for these types of occurrences," DeCample said. "They are tasked with taking care of these things as they arise and they'll do just that."

Arkansas' two largest university systems are opting out of a new state law allowing faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns on campus.  

The University of Arkansas and Arkansas State University boards on Thursday voted unanimously to continue banning concealed firearms on campus.

The bans will apply to UA's 11 campuses and ASU's four campuses. Arkansas Tech University's board was also voting on its policy regarding the gun law.  

The former Majestic Hotel in Hot Springs is up for sale. The hotel closed in 2006 after serving customers for more than a century and through the bathhouse heyday.

The Sentinel-Record reports that the hotel includes more than five acres at the intersection of Park and Central Avenues. The hotel underwent a number of expansions and renovations.

The original hotel was built in 1882 on the north end of the complex, where spa and bathhouse are now. Other sections were added from the 1920s into the 1960s.

Longtime music industry figure and Arkansas native Bill Carter is set for a speaking engagement in Little Rock.

Carter is to speak June 5 as part of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies' Legacies and Lunch series. Carter grew up in Rector and built his career as an attorney and agent for popular music stars.

The Rolling Stones summoned Carter for help after an arrest in Arkansas, and he represented Reba McEntire at the start of her career.

Two men who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in an election fraud case involving a former east Arkansas lawmaker have been sentenced to home confinement and probation.

Federal court records show that Phillip Wayne Carter was sentenced Wednesday to five months of home confinement. Sam Malone was sentenced Tuesday to 7.2 months of home confinement. Both men were also sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.

Thursday the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet and vote on whether to allow permitted faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns on its campuses throughout the state.

The Arkansas State University Board is also expected to vote on the matter Thursday.

The state legislature recently passed a law that gives colleges the choice, though all schools that have voted so far have opted out of allowing concealed weapons on campus.

West Memphis is to receive a $10.9 million grant to expand the city's port.

The grant from the U.S. Transportation Department announced Wednesday will go toward rail improvements. The work will enable the port to handle more freight.

The Transportation Department says the project will not only help the port but will spur other business activity by stimulating more trade.

The expansion is also expected to attract development in West Memphis, which will create more jobs. The expansion will dramatically expand the port's railcar capacity.

The University of Arkansas is opening new office space in downtown Little Rock.

The new space, in the Metropolitan Tower, was provided by Flake & Kelley Commercial and Capitol Avenue Development Co.

The university says the office will be used by UA employees traveling to central Arkansas for university purposes. The university says the office will help UA have a greater presence in the Little Rock area, where many alumni and donors live, as well as prospective students.

Gov. Mike Beebe is honoring four Arkansas companies for their leadership in exporting goods and services throughout the world.

Beebe presented the Governor's Award for Excellence in Global Trade during an awards luncheon Wednesday in Little Rock. Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. was honored in the agribusiness category.

Conway Machine Inc. received the award for small manufacturers. The company was created in 1972 and produces after-market parts for die cutters.

A man who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in an election fraud case involving a former east Arkansas lawmaker has been sentenced to three years of probation, including more than seven months of home confinement.

Federal court records show that Sam Malone also was ordered this week to complete 100 hours of community service before the end of his probation.

Malone pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in September, along with former Democratic Rep. Hudson Hallum, Hallum's father and another man.