Arkansas panel awards Cherokee Nation Entertainment a license to build casino

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Racing Commission on Thursday awarded Cherokee Nation Entertainment a license to build a casino in the state that's been held up for several years by ongoing legal fights. The panel voted unanimously to award the license for the casino in Pope...

Mass shooting shutters Arkansas town's only grocery store — for now

FORDYCE, Ark. (AP) — A steady rain was falling outside Fordyce High School, but that didn't deter an army of volunteers who raced to hand out jugs of milk and bags of groceries to a line of cars snaked around the parking lot. In the days since a shooter killed four people and...

Former Arkansas legislator Joyce Elliott experiences stroke, undergoes surgery, her family says

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Joyce Elliott, a former Arkansas state legislator who ran for Congress twice, has undergone surgery after experiencing a stroke, her family said Thursday. Elliott, 73, experienced the stroke while in Dallas, Texas, this week and has since been transferred...

Woman arrested after threatening to 'blow up' Arkansas governor and her office

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas woman appeared Wednesday in court on charges she threatened to blow up Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her office, prosecutors said. Susan Scott, 66, of Fort Smith, was charged with threatening to cause a catastrophe and battery of an officer in...

Arkansas man pleads not guilty to murder charges for mass shooting at grocery store

CAMDEN, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas man accused of killing four people and injuring 10 others, including two police officers, in a mass shooting at a grocery store pleaded not guilty Tuesday to multiple charges connected to the attack. Appearing in court for the first time, Travis...

Alabama man accused of killings in 2 states enters not guilty pleas to Oklahoma murder charges

SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) — An Alabama man accused in a string of killings in Oklahoma and Alabama has pleaded not guilty to two Oklahoma killings. The pleas were entered on behalf of Stacy Lee Drake, 50, during a Monday court appearance, KHBS-TV reported. He faces two charges of...

Arkansas Supreme Court reinstates rule eliminating 'X' option for sex on licenses and IDs

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday reinstated an agency rule prohibiting residents from using “X” instead of male or female on state-issued driver’s licenses or identification cards. In a one-page order, justices stayed a lower-court ruling that had...

Arkansas sues 2 pharmacy benefit managers, accusing them of fueling opioid epidemic in state

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas on Monday sued two pharmacy benefit managers that oversee coverage for insurers, employers and other large clients, accusing them of fueling the opioid crisis in the state. Attorney General Tim Griffin filed the lawsuit against Express Scripts Inc....

New mom who delighted in her daughter is among the dead in Arkansas grocery store shooting

Callie Weems was reveling in her new role as a mom in the months before a gunman in Arkansas fatally shot her at a grocery store. Her daughter Ivy, now 10 months old, was a constant source of entertainment and wonder, Weems’ mother, Helen Browning, 53, said in a phone interview on...

Police say a fourth victim has died a day after a shooting at an Arkansas grocery store, 9 others were also wounded