Here are trending and top stories affecting Arkansans from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and available on your smart speaker every weekday morning.
Arkansas' new Department of Education leader; Arkansas cities and towns are getting more rural; Southwest Arkansas hospital reports a data breach; Contract extension in line for Arkansas football head coach; Personal injury law firm attempting to prevent injuries this holiday weekend
Millions in refunds proposed for Arkansas Entergy customers; 15 Arkansas deaths blamed on the flu; County officials expect Administration Building to reopen today; North Little Rock teenager charged as adult in November killing; Arkansas woman wants to change the last name of her 4-year-old daughter to Biden
Latest on Hindsville man charged in U.S. Capitol riot; Governor Huckabee Sanders announces more nominations; Temperatures warming in Arkansas
Huckabee Sanders announces next secretary of commerce; Update on Arkansas officer who died while training; Butterfield Overland Trail designated a national historic trail
Little Rock's new permanent police chief; Updates on Gravette man charged in the U.S. Capitol riot; Governor elect selects next head of Department of Energy and Environment
12/21/22: WEHCO Media remains in hands of family leadership; Hindsville man arrested and accused of entering the U.S. Capitol during the riot on January 6th; Arkansas preparing for Thursday's arctic front
A foster care crisis initiative coming to Arkansas; Man beaten by three law enforcement officers in a viral video now faces charges; Freezing weather forecasted through Christmas day
ACLU says state agency's push to clear homeless people from intersections is cruel and unusual punishment; Madison County plans to issue bonds for new jail ahead of new sales tax next year; Pulaski County Special School District will destroy old buses to secure ones fueled by propane; FBI warning Arkansans of holiday scams; two Arkansas recruits back off commitments
$140 million in opioid settlement funds; Stuttgart police officer was killed Wednesday night; Federal child pornography conviction in Arkansas was reversed; Central Arkansas Library System board has approved a $25.9 million budget for 2023
Congressmen weighing in on funding federal government; Conway capitol rioter reaches plea agreement; University of Arkansas at Fayetteville recognizes family donation; Two Arkansas universities are set to receive millions of dollars to help train teachers
Central Arkansas Water's rate structure up for consideration; 14 grants for broadband projects in the works; $75 million dollars in state restricted reserve funds advanced
Powerball jackpot fueled the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's revenues in November; Little Rock School District keeps tight lid on possible resolution to the breach of district data networks; North Little Rock Police Department promoted its first ever Black captain
Arkansas delegates derailing disaffiliation agreements; Arkansas cracks down on crypto; University of Arkansas students give back
District's proposed enrollment waiver denied by board; Democratic Party of Arkansas Chairman not seeking re-election; Arkansas wildlife refuge is ready to help relocate animals
Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts out of heir's will; Little Rock's mayor says city officials need to consider a sales-tax increase; One of America's youngest-ever mayors is in Arkansas; Razorbacks basketball players is out for the rest of the season
Arkansas Teacher Retirement System's trustees terminate 2 stock market investment managers, bond manager; Sanders announces nomination of Buffalo Outdoor Center founder as next Parks, Heritage and Tourism secretary; ASO renaming music engagement and education programs for late Lee Ronnel
Huckabee Sanders announces her pick for State Police Captain; A nativity scene in Basin Spring Park can stay; The Arkansas Legislature's plans for 2023
$100 million in federal funds spent on COVID-19 contact tracing; Maumelle City Council still considering its former ban on certain dogs; Arkansas headed back to the Liberty Bowl
No basis found for Arkansas to pay attorneys $18 million; State Supreme Court blocks a decision involving one of the state's medical-marijuana cultivators. Arkansas gas prices goin down; Testimony concluded over Arkansas' transgender health-care ban;
Anti-transgender activists testify in federal trial over state's care ban; Little Rock's interim police chief will step down; Yellville man pleaded guilty yesterday to a misdemeanor charge related to the January 6th breach of the U.S. Capitol
U.S. Senate passes marriage protection bill; Boozman, Cotton among opposing senators; Shoppers returning to stores and online for Christmas deals, survey says; LR board hears recommendations from crime-reduction panel
Another school district in need of intensive support; 3 found shot to death in northeast Arkansas; The trial over Arkansas' transgender-care ban; Order issued to revoke state medical marijuana cultivators license
Full-time state employees rose in fiscal 2022; A White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health; Congress considering aid program in next farm bill; Spokesman for the Arkansas State Police set to retire
Drug manufacturer is accused of not following Arkansas law; Arkansas inmate have to stay in prison until 2039; Trial still on for Arkansas U.S. Capitol rioter; North Little Rock City Council considers request for special election over city's library system
Area food banks and homeless centers face tougher job to stock their shelves; State Board to file complaint against Phillips County over delay in election results; Sarah Huckabee Sanders names chief of staff, senior advisor for 2026 campaign
Arkansas gas prices down; Judge reject Fort Smith medical marijuana grower; Inauguration details for Governor elect Hucakbee Sanders
Flu bigger threat to Arkansas than COVID-19; The impact of COVID on the state's foster care system; State lawmakers prefile eleven bills ahead of next year's regular session; Little Rock institution reopening date set
Supervised release of former judge ends early; Yellville capitol rioter will accept government plea deal; Common Ground Arkansas fined and sanctioned by the Arkansas Ethics Commission; The first of two Argenta "parklets" has been unveiled
U of A's Fayetteville campus has a new chancellor
Walmart attributes quarterly loss to opioid settlement; Italian ammo maker plans to build $41.5M factory at the Port of Little Rock, add 120 jobs; Legislative panel OKs $30M for state's schools for blind, deaf
Former Little Rock chief of staff's twiter trouble; Judge arraigned another 29 defendants in drug trafficking investigation; White House touts $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law
Debate over Little Rock teacher work hours; Extra money coming to the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District; Conway School Board is still dealing with the fallout from new policy; Major population increase for Washington and Benton Counties
Rate increases proposed for Little Rock's water utility; State senator has been stripped of his seniority; The search for the U of A's next chancellor coming to an end; another $314 million proposed for Arkansas' next general revenue budget; Traffic along Interstate 30 temporarily closing this weekend
Sarah Huckabee Sanders wins Arkansas governor's race; State rejects all four potential constitutional amendments on the ballot; Little Rock School District acknowledges poor scores; A sweep in central Arkansas leaves 80 under indictment; 14 tornadoes in Arkansas last Friday
Fewer Arkansas schools are getting top grades; Little Rock's mayor ordered to appear in court; Fatal shooting on Interstate 40
State's first dental school in the works; Pulaski County Special School District's latest plan; Little Rock School Board to consider mobile weapons-detection system
Early voting turnout in Arkansas is up; October Pulaski County homicides slightly higher than average; UALR's largest fundraising effort halfway done; A Facebook group becomes a "virtual police scanner" for Central Arkansas
Strong opposition to recreational marijuana proposal on ballot; Arkansas Department of Corrections look for new prison site; Reward for votes is under investigation; Demand getting back to normal for Remington Ammunition; Powerball ticket worth $2 million sold in Wooster
A new October record for Arkansas general revenue; Gubernatorial candidates release their own financial reports; Public-affairs firm suggested as third-party defendant in lawsuit; Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park has a new name
Arkansas' Medicaid expansion amendment OK'd by federal government; Company selects Mississippi County site for rebar mill; Steve Landers outspending Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.
More than $19 million headed to Arkansas schools; Little Rock Police Department asking for support; State Treasury earned more than $40 million in interest; University of Arkansas Athletics director turned down a job offer at Auburn
70 homicides in Little Rock this year; The U.S.S. Little Rock on it's way out after six years; Little Rock's 70th homicide this year; Fort Smith medical marijuana cultivation facility facing legal threat
The Arkansas Department of Corrections wants another prison; Democrat state auditor candidate faced an arrest warrant earlier this month; Head of the Central Arkansas Library System is supporting the system in Craighead County; Alexander motorcyclist engulfed in flames said to be in good condition
Fayetteville agricultural center to double its testing and cleaning capacity; Pulaski County quorum court awaiting sheriff's office deputy study; An update on the trial of misdiagnosed patient Jerry Kolpek;
Little Rock admits to illegally withholding public records from blogger; Arkansas Baptist State Convention approves formation of sexual abuse response team; Cotton, panelists decry rise of fentanyl abuse
A seven-year mistake in interpreting Arkansas law; Federal complaint over Congressional redistricting in Pulaski County dismissed; Charges against Former State Senator Gilbert Baker dismissed
Early voting begins in Arkansas; Arkansas students are struggling on the "Nation's Report Card"; An update on Arkansas' transgender-care lawsuit; UAMS targeted by a nonprofit group opposed to animal research
High court asked to stop Arkansas law against Israel boycott; Conway attorney drops suit over gun restrictions in public buildings, judge says; Greene County man pleads guilty in federal court to drug trafficking charge
Plaintiff takes witness stand in transgender care ban trial; Attorney general candidates spar in debate; Family of man dead in Dec. arrest calls on DOJ for review
Fathers testify about teens' wellbeing in trial over Arkansas' transgender minor care ban; State's lieutenant governor candidates square off in debate; Campaign contributions for Sanders total $8M, Jones reports raising $1.4M
Testimony begins in trial to determine fate of minor transgender care law; state panel endorses $52.7M in in federal covid funds to reimburse government health insurance plans; UA-PTC chancellor candidate prioritizes strong, supportive ‘social network' for students