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Arkansas Advocate •

Arkansas’ open records law turns 60 next year. Let’s give FOIA the birthday it deserves. | Arkansas Advocate

After Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller signed Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act in 1967, the Arkansas Democrat newspaper ran the entire text of the law in its pages.
“Freedom of Information law secures rights of everyone, not just the press,” the headline proclaimed.
It’s a statement that’s been repeated often by transparency advocates, press groups and others ever since Rockefeller signed the law protecting the public’s access to meetings and records.
And it’s one that should be repeated even more...
Arkansas Advocate •

Voters sent Arkansas governor a message in primaries. What lesson will she take from it? | Arkansas Advocate

Two years after he was voted out of office as Arkansas governor, Bill Clinton made his comeback bid in 1982 by humbly asking voters to forgive the missteps of his first term. 
His new slogan? You can’t lead without listening.
After candidates backed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were defeated in last week’s primary elections, Arkansas’ Republican governor is unlikely to embark on a similar tour of contrition.
But she may take Clinton’s slogan to heart as she tries to listen to the message voter...
Arkansas Advocate •

Uncertainty surrounding Arkansas library funding undermines state’s literacy efforts | Arkansas Advocate

Two recent headlines in Arkansas related to reading seem completely at odds with each other. The state Library Board earlier this month tabled a vote on more than $1 million worth of quarterly funding for libraries, a delay that jeopardizes a number of programs.
The board’s action — or lack of action, that is —  came the same week that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that thousands of third graders are at risk of being held back because of new reading standards.
Tabling funding for librar...
Arkansas Advocate •

Journalism needs more leaders like Daisy Bates, fewer like Jeff Bezos | Arkansas Advocate

There are many striking features of the 10 ½-foot-tall statue of civil rights leader Daisy Bates that now stands in the U.S. Capitol. The statue’s details each tell an important part of Bates’ life story, down to the NAACP button on her lapel.
But there were two things that struck me most the first time I saw the bronze statue on a tour of the Capitol. One was the rolled up newspaper she held in her left hand. The other was the reporter’s notebook she held in her right hand.
Both are reminders o...
Arkansas Advocate •

UA’s withdrawal of law dean’s offer signals new reality for Arkansas higher education | Arkansas Advocate

Lawmakers lodging complaints to Arkansas’ colleges and universities isn’t necessarily anything new. Legislators have no qualms telling school leaders when they or their constituents are displeased.
In recent years, it’s likely had more to do with football coaches than law school deans.
But the swiftness by which the University of Arkansas withdrew its offer to incoming Law School Dean Emily Suski is a sign of the new reality for higher education in the state. And it signals to lawmakers how quic...
Arkansas Advocate •

Arkansas shines best when it remembers its civil rights history instead of shying away | Arkansas Advocate

It’s one of the most famous moments to happen on the front steps of Arkansas’ Capitol: In 1968, Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller was the only Southern governor to hold a public memorial following the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
The indelible image of a white governor joining hands with Black mourners to sing “We Shall Overcome” was needed to heal a city that was just a couple hours away from where King was killed.
The moment was also a reminder of how Arkansas shines the best when its...
Arkansas Advocate •

Annual Gillett supper shows there are some Arkansas political traditions that endure | Arkansas Advocate

Let’s get something clear: No Arkansas politician actually enjoys eating raccoon.
That’s one of the few areas of bipartisan consensus left in a state that sometimes feels as polarized as the rest of the country. 
But every year — especially the ones when their name is on the ballot — the state’s elected officials and candidates flock to tiny Gillett in southeast Arkansas for its annual Coon Supper. They join hundreds of people in a school gymnasium to eat the mammal. Or at least the politicians...
Arkansas Advocate •

Arkansas prison fight to overshadow elections and legislative session in 2026 | Arkansas Advocate

Building a maximum-security, 3,000-bed prison was supposed to be a crowning achievement for Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders as she touts her bonafides as a law-and-order Republican.
Debate over the project is instead casting a shadow on this year’s primary elections and legislative session, with a special election this week in the Senate district where the project is planned.
That election kicks off what’s already expected to be a busy year for Arkansas politics and government, where Democr...
Arkansas Advocate •

$1.8 billion Powerball winner a mystery, and could remain one for years thanks to Arkansas law | Arkansas Advocate

It’s the biggest mystery to hit the central Arkansas town of Cabot, not to mention the rest of the state: Who purchased the winning $1.8 billion Powerball ticket?
Locals speculate on who the big winner of last week’s jackpot is, and whether there’s a new billionaire in their midst. Area charities are hopeful it’s a donor who’s willing to share the wealth.
“If I go into a local grocery store, if I go into anywhere in town, someone asks me about it,” House Speaker Brian Evans of Cabot said “Typica...
AP News •

Waves of fake threats to colleges are putting students on edge and testing dispatchers

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — Around 50 college campuses across the country have been deluged in recent weeks with hoax calls about armed gunmen and other violence, laying bare the challenges of detecting fake threats quickly to prevent mass panic. Students at some schools spent hours hiding under desks, only to find out later it was someone’s idea of a entertainment. On Thursday, several historically Black colleges locked down or canceled classes after receiving threats, at a time when the fatal shootin...
AP News •

Former poet laureate Ada Limón says artists must band together during 'dangerous times'

During her three years as the 24th poet laureate, Ada Limón said her travels around the United States taught her just how many poets the country has.Limón said people would approach her during appearances to tell her they wrote poems regularly in a journal, or on a full moon or with their children. “They might not be publishing poems, they might not even be sharing poems, but there are many people that are secret poets,” Limón said.Limón’s term, which ended in April, included writing a poem engr...
AP News •

Book Review: Evidence of historian David McCullough's curiosity abounds in 'History Matters'

The late Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough told an audience in 2012 that writing history was like working on a detective case.“And once on the case, you want to know more and more and more,” he said in remarks at Dartmouth College. “Follow your curiosity.”One thing that’s clear after reading “History Matters,” a posthumous collection of McCullough’s writings and speeches that include his Dartmouth remarks, is how much the revered historian practiced what he preached.The book is a...
AP News •

'Devil in the Ozarks' planned prison escape for months, cited lax security in kitchen, report says

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former police chief known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” spent months planning his escape from an Arkansas prison, and said lax security in the kitchen where he worked allowed the convicted murderer to gather the supplies he needed, an internal review by prison officials released Friday said.The Department of Corrections’ critical incident review of Grant Hardin’s May 25 escape from the Calico Rock prison provides the most detailed description so far of his planning and...
AP News •

Book Review: 'The Devil Reached Toward the Sky' weaves thorough account of Atomic Age's start

The story of the Atomic Age’s start is a fascinating one about the power of invention and a chilling one about its consequences. In “The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb,” Garrett M. Graff skillfully tells both.The power of Graff’s oral history is the diversity of voices he relies upon in crafting a comprehensive history of the atomic bomb’s inception, creation and use during World War II.He creates a comprehensive account of a what se...
AP News •

Texas Democrats arrive in Illinois to block vote back home on redrawn House maps sought by Trump

A standoff in Texas over redrawn U.S. House maps sought by President Donald Trump sharply escalated Sunday when dozens of Democratic legislators left the state to block a vote, followed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott warning them that he will seek their removal from office if they don’t return.The revolt by Democrats, and Abbott giving them until Monday to come home or face efforts to strip them of their elected positions, pushed a widening fight over congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm...
AP News •

Teacher admits to fatally stabbing couple on a hike with their kids in a random attack in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A teacher admitted he fatally stabbed a couple he didn’t know who were hiking with two of their children in an Arkansas state park, authorities said Thursday, after a five-day search and hundreds of tips led to his arrest. State Police arrested 28-year-old Andrew James McGann on Wednesday at a barbershop in Springdale, approximately 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Devil’s Den State Park, said Maj. Stacie Rhoads, commander of the department’s criminal investigation divi...
AP News •

Pee-wee's bike is at the Alamo, but not where you think

It took 40 years, but Pee-wee’s bike is now at the Alamo. Just not the basement.The Alamo announced last week it had acquired and would display the iconic bike from the 1985 Tim Burton film, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” The San Antonio landmark plays a key role in the film chronicling Pee-wee Herman’s search for his stolen bicycle when a devious fortuneteller tells him the bike is located in the Alamo’s basement. Pee-wee, played by the late Paul Reubens, learns the Alamo doesn’t have a basement, b...
AP News •

Federal court says Arkansas can enforce ban on critical race theory in classrooms

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Arkansas can enforce its ban on critical race theory in classrooms, ruling the First Amendment doesn’t give students the right to compel the state to offer its instruction in public schools.A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a preliminary injunction issued against the ban, one of several changes adopted under an education overhaul that Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed in 2023.The...
AP News •

Arkansas prison employees fired after 'Devil in the Ozarks' escape

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Two employees at an Arkansas prison where an inmate known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” escaped have been fired for policy violations, corrections officials said Thursday as they faced questions from lawmakers who said the escape points to deeper problems.The head of the Arkansas Board of Corrections told state lawmakers the violations allowed Grant Hardin to escape from the Calico Rock prison wearing a makeshift law enforcement uniform on May 25. But officials have said...
AP News •

These Texas twins shared made-up games and story time. They died together at Camp Mystic

Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence were happy children who shared the kind of bond twins do, but the 8-year-old girls from Dallas were also different from each other.Hanna was the one with endless energy who wanted to be a chef and open a restaurant to feed the needy for free. Rebecca had an infectious laugh, but also “a killer eye-roll,” her parents said. One day, she wanted to become a teacher.Neither will ever get a chance to fulfill those dreams. The twins, who had just finished second grade, died a...
AP News •

Teen who helped family escape from van is among those killed in Texas floods

Mollie Sylvester Schaffer had been married to her husband, Randy, for 57 years when the Houston couple traveled to an annual get-together with friends on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Hunt, Texas. She was killed in the catastrophic flash floods that so far have claimed the lives of 120 people. They include a budding 8-year-old actress and twin sisters from Dallas.The flooding originated from the fast-moving waters of the Guadalupe River on the Fourth of July. Authorities say search and res...
AP News •

Book Review: 'Bob Dylan: Jewish Roots, American Soil' doesn't live up to book's promise

One of the most challenging things about any biography of Bob Dylan is piercing the reticence the legendary singer and songwriter has displayed in talking about his roots. In addition to that, biographers have had to to sift through the myths Dylan has built up about his life story.That’s why it’s somewhat forgivable that “Bob Dylan: Jewish Roots, American Soil” by Harry Freedman doesn’t quite live up to its promise of tracing how the singer’s early career was influenced by his Jewish roots.Free...
AP News •

Authorities eyeing whether a kitchen job had a role in the 'Devil in the Ozarks' prison escape

CALICO ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas authorities are looking at whether a job in the prison kitchen played a role in the weekend escape of a convicted former police chief known as the “Devil in the Ozarks.”Grant Hardin, 56, was housed in a maximum-security wing of the medium-security Calico Rock prison, where he also held a job in the kitchen, Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesperson Rand Champion said Thursday. Authorities have said Hardin escaped Sunday by donning an outfit designed to loo...
AP News •

Book Review: Ron Chernow's 'Mark Twain' gives readers an honest assessment of beloved author's life

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow is known for writing massive biographies of the country’s most enduring figures, including Ulysses S. Grant and Alexander Hamilton. So it comes as no surprise that his biography of author and humorist Mark Twain clocks in at more than 1,000 pages.It’s also forgivable, considering that Twain was such a colossal figure in American literature and history that his authorized biography was more than 1,500 pages long.Chernow’s “Mark Twain” is well worth that l...
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