News

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A 16-year-old has been charged as an adult with capital murder in the shooting death of an Arkansas police officer.

The Jonesboro Police Department has requested activation of a Silver Alert.  James A. Whiteside was last seen July 26th.  

He is from Jonesboro and is 80 years old.  He is 5'10" and weighs 220 pounds.  He may be traveling in a Blue 2009 Toyota Yaris.  

If you have any information, you should call the Jonesboro Police Department at 870-935-5551.  

This is a press release:

The Jonesboro Advertising and Promotion Commission’s Downtown Jonesboro BBQ and Music festival announced plans for their 9th annual event Saturday, September 30th.

The Jonesboro City Council is accepting applications to fill a vacancy on the council.  

Darrel Dover resigned his position at last week’s meeting.  He is moving to Bentonville with his wife to spend more time with their grandchildren. 

Applicants who are interested in applying for the position must live in Ward 5.  Applicants must fill out paper work and submit at resume at the Jonesboro City Clerk’s Office, which is located in the City Clerk’s Office. 

The deadline for filing will be Tuesday afternoon at five.  The unexpired term lasts for the next 17 months.  

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — A 110-year-old Jonesboro building listed on the National Register of Historic Places is set for demolition after a judge dismissed an appeal of a condemnation order.

The city of Jonesboro plans to demolish the Rosse's Home Ice Co. building because the structure has fallen into disrepair. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2vjg70w), the city notified the building's owner in February 2015 that the building was dangerous and should be torn down.

Here is the ballot order of the school board candidates for Craighead County's September school board races:

BAY SCHOOL DISTRICT

Position 5

Curtis Hogan

Robert Stotts (Incumbent)

BROOKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT

At-Large

Jeremy Parnell

Zone 1

Joshua Gallion (Incumbent)

Kyle Windmeyer

BUFFALO ISLAND CENTRAL

Position 6

Scott Colbert (Incumbent

Position 7

Justin C. Hawkins

JONESBORO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Zone 3

NO ONE FILED

ZONE 7

This week, Republicans in Congress will try to rally votes behind a bill that proposes major changes to the way Americans get health care and how much they pay. 30,000 Arkansans could be affected. Use this Q&A to explore how the bill would affect you.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has released an initial drawing of a proposal to extend Commerce Lane from Interstate 555 to Highway 49 in Jonesboro.  Ruby Johnson is Public Involvement Section Head with the Highway Department.  She says the project is in the initial planning stages and could change over time. 

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) — A group from Little Rock is acquiring the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs for an undisclosed amount of money.

The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record newspaper reported Monday (http://bit.ly/2ubw3EX) that Sky Capital Group LP is buying the state's largest hotel from Southwest Hotels Inc., which has operated the hotel since 1954.

The Arlington Hotel has 478 rooms, along with a spa, a bathhouse, a convention center, ballroom and a lobby bar. Sky Capital also operates the Four Points Sheraton in Little Rock.

This press release from the City of Jonesboro:

The Harrisburg Road-Interstate 555 overpass is fully re-opened less than two weeks after a tractor-trailer rig crashed into a support beam, killing the driver and causing severe structural damage to the bridge.

Crews from the Arkansas Department of Transportation have worked around the clock to first reopen a lane of traffic on the bridge that initially was estimated to require months to repair.

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — No one was injured when a short-lived tornado swept through Jonesboro, damaging an apartment complex and downing trees and power lines in the northeast Arkansas city.

The National Weather Service in Memphis, Tennessee, said the Monday morning storm had winds of up to 105 mph (168 kph). More severe weather moved through central and northern Arkansas on Tuesday afternoon as well, with electricity knocked out to thousands of people. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

After initially saying earlier this week that it would be "several months" before traffic would be allowed back on the Harrisburg Road bridge, limited traffic is being allowed on the bridge.  City officials worked with engineers from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to stabilize the bridge.  

JONESBORO, ARK. (6-27) – Structural engineers have spent the afternoon assessing damage to the State Highway 1-B overpass on Interstate 555 in Craighead County, according to Arkansas State Highway and Transportation (AHTD) Officials.

This morning shortly after 9:00 a.m. a tractor-trailer impacted the easternmost column of the northern bent supporting the five-lane State Highway, known locally as Harrisburg Road (Exit 44). The row of columns helps support the bridge over the northbound lanes of I-555.

A driver is dead after an impact at the Harrisburg bridge on I-555.   57-year-old Jackie Becker of Jonesboro was killed in the accident, according to the Jonesboro Police Department.  The  massive fire occurred after impact, but there was no word by Jonesboro Police of whether or not hazardous materials were carried by the truck.  

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled for same-sex couples who complained an Arkansas birth certificate law discriminated against them.

The justices on Monday issued an unsigned opinion reversing an Arkansas high court ruling that upheld the law.

Under the law, married lesbian couples had to get a court order to have both spouses listed as parents on their children's birth certificates.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam is headed to Europe next week to try to recruit more foreign investment in Tennessee.

Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe plant to visit the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Germany. They are scheduled to leave on Monday and return June 30.

More than 500 European businesses operate in Tennessee, employing about 62,000 people. More than $3.8 billion has been invested in the state by European companies since 2011.

An intramural battle among Republicans for a coveted state senate seat has sparked in northern Arkansas. State Rep. James Sturch, R-Batesville, will muster a primary challenge to incumbent State Sen. Linda Collins-Smith, R-Pocahontas, for the District 19 seat.

Sturch, a Southside native and certified social studies teacher, began his career in public service 15 years ago when he worked on former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s re-election campaign.

LITTLE ROCK—The Home Ice Company at Jonesboro in Craighead County is among 11 Arkansas properties that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of historically significant properties.

      The Home Ice Company at 700 Cate Avenue is a 1907 industrial building with a Spanish Revival-style addition.