Kezia Nanda

The Arkansas chapter of the American Red Cross will be sending several disaster teams to Oklahoma after a devastating tornado caused the deaths of dozens of people and hundreds to lose their homes.

Spokeswoman Brigette Williams says the teams did not get sent earlier in the week because Arkansas was also anticipating some severe weather.

A book dedicated for school-aged children just came out earlier this spring.

Natural State Notables features 21 people from Arkansas who became famous.

They include U.S. president Bill Clinton, Walmart creator Sam Walton, as well as a woman who saved Arkansas Children’s Hospital from closing during the Great Depression.

Author Steven Teske said he was inspired to write something for kids.

A research center collecting writings and art of Native Americans hopes Arkansans will be more aware of racial issues.

Sequoyah National Research Center at UALR had just received a $20,000 grant to preserve Herschfelder-Molin Collection which depicts stereotypes of Native Americans.

Arkansas Law Enforcement officials are working on a program to issue traffic citations electronically.

They say if it goes into effect, it could speed up the process and enhance the safety of police officers.

Spokesman Bill Sadler with the State Police says this is beneficial.

"The officer is not spending as much time along the side of the road. We all know from experience that the longer you're on the side of the road with a violator, the chances of something going wrong increases with the amount of time," said Sadler.

The number of rabies cases in Arkansas has increased to 84 so far this year.

Pope, Johnson, Yale and Garland Counties are reported to have the most number of cases.

State Public Health Veterinarian, Dr. Susan Weinstein, calls the increase very alarming and says pets and kids need to be protected.

“Our normal yearly average is about 50 rabid animals a year and we’re up to 84, but we’re not even half way through the year. So it appears that we’re on track to have a record year this year,” said Weinstein.

The former head of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance has been named the new CEO of the Arkansas Foodbank. 

Rhonda Sanders said she’s excited about the opportunity. 

“I really fell in love with the food banking industry, the mixture of charitable organization, helping people get their life on track and get the food they need, while also operating in the business environment.”

Sanders said the Arkansas Foodbank aims to allocate 18 million lbs. of food this year.

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.

Officials are working on the best plans for the future after Phillips County Jail was closed on Tuesday due to failing an inspection.

Danny Hickman, the Coordinator of the State’s Criminal Detention Facilities, said, “There were several items that they didn’t meet the standards. Main thing is, the jail becomes deteriorated a lot and it became a very unsafe facility for inmates and for the staff and for the public of Phillips County. And living conditions was not quite up to par.”

The jail in Helena-West Helena was 30 years old.