News

A plan for Arkansas to use federal Medicaid funds to buy private insurance for low-income residents has failed to capture the supermajority needed to pass the state House.  

The House 69-28 Monday in favor of the bill, but supporters weren't able to reach the 75 votes needed for passage. 

Legislators can bring it up for another vote.  

The Legislature has already approved a bill setting up the program but a three-fourths majority of legislators in both the House and Senate need to approve an attached budget bill before it can be implemented.

Motorists traveling on Interstate 430 in west Little Rock should prepare for evening traffic delays, according to officials from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. 

For most of this week, work crews will be painting steel girders at the major construction site for the I-430 and I-630 Interchange, also known as the Big Rock Interchange. David Nilles with the highway department says there will be some lane closures. 

Services are set for longtime journalist Robert "Bob" McCord, who was a driving force behind establishment of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. 

McCord died Sunday at age 84. A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday at Lakewood United Methodist Church in North Little Rock. A reception at the church will follow the service.

McCord worked as an editor at both the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas Gazette and for a decade owned the North Little Rock Times. He also wrote a column for the Arkansas Times from 1992 until 2006. 

Arkansas legislators are working to wrap up this year's session by Friday and they still have a variety of significant issues to address before they can go home. 

Lawmakers have to decide whether to extend health insurance to 250,000 people through the Medicaid program, finalize the state's $4.9 billion budget and vote on $125 million in state financing for a proposed steel mill in Osceola.

Groups linked to convicted evangelist Tony Alamo want a judge to rule they are immune from being sued because they operate as charities.

The organizations are tied to Tony Alamo Christian Ministries and are being sued by seven women who claim they were physically and sexually abused by Alamo when they were children.

The case is to go to trial in January.

The lawsuit also names ministry-controlled businesses and high-ranking ministry members as defendants.

An attorney for the women says the defendants should have raised the immunity issue earlier.

Former Presidential candidate and lion of the U.S. Senate John McCain said in Little Rock Friday night President Obama’s resistance to arming freedom fighters in Syria was “shameful.”

McCain spoke as part of the Clinton School of Public Service’s Public Programs series. 

“I’m not here to bash the President of the United States,” said the one-time war prisoner of the North Vietnamese, “but this is one of the most shameful chapters in the history of our country.” 

Arkansas Speaker of the House Davy Carter is pushing the House’s final vote for the “Private Option” model of Medicaid expansion back to Monday saying lawmakers are expressing support of the plan but they need the time to convince their constituents.

“When I have members that say, ‘will you please give me the opportunity to go back and talk to my constituents?’ It’s awfully hard to say no to,” Carter said.

Some House members indicated in speeches on the House floor Thursday that they would have to vote no Friday, but could vote yes by Monday.

The Senate has rejected an effort to change the way signatures are verified during attempts to place  measures on the Arkansas ballot.  

By an 11-13 vote, the Senate defeated a proposal that would have appeared as a suggested constitutional amendment on next year's ballot.

The proposal would have required that at least 90 percent of the signatures submitted by ballot measure campaigns to be valid in order to have more time to circulate petitions.  

State health officials are warning the public of an outbreak of rabies in Arkansas.

Over 60 rabid animals have been tested positive for rabies so far in 2013.

Most have been skunks, with three reported in Pulaski County.

Dr. Susan Weinstein, the state public health veterinarian, says the best way people can protect themselves is to vaccinate their dogs, cats, horses and livestock.

Entergy Arkansas is integrating is transmission grid with a large regional power pool, the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, or MISO.

The Arkansas Public Service Commission has given final approval for the transfer of its control to MISO, subject to continued compliance with the commission’s conditions.

Entergy Arkansas spokesman David Lewis says this will benefit its customers.