Hospital project kicks off in Ozark
At a time when rural hospitals across the nation are struggling to keep their doors open, officials broke ground Thursday morning on a $5.13 million expansion …
Stories by Dave Hughes
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Sheriff accepts job as director of security for school district
Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck has been hired as the school district's first director of security and facilities, according to a district news relea…
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Chemical engineer leaves $10.8M to UA-Fort Smith
Myles Friedman liked to challenge himself, and his $10.8 million estate gift announced Tuesday will give honors program students at the University of Arkansas …
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Fort Smith schools hires sheriff for security post
Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck has been hired as the school district's first director of security and facilities, according to a district news releas…
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$10.8 million gift given to University of Arkansas at Fort Smith
FORT SMITH — The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith has received a gift of $10.8 million that will be used for scholarships, the university announced Tuesday…
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Fort Smith sports site now white elephant
City directors expressed mixed opinions last week about whether the city should continue to develop land at Chaffee Crossing where a sports complex was once pl…
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City to do animal-control legwork
Members of a city board that looks after the care and safety of animals say they are going to shop around for a solution to Fort Smith's animal overpopulation …
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Trial set for double killing suspects in Fort Smith
Two men charged in a July 26 double murder have been scheduled to go on trial in Sebastian County Circuit Court the week of March 18, according to court record…
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Sheriff probing death of disabled man in Arkansas jail cell
The Sebastian County sheriff's office is investigating the death last week of a mentally disabled man who was found unresponsive with a head injury in a county…
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Petition: Void bond in student abuse case
The Scott County prosecutor is seeking to revoke the bond of a former Waldron Middle School assistant principal, accusing her of contacting the minor student w…
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28 Alma plant workers face deportation
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiated removal proceedings against 28 employees of an Alma food processing plant who the agency accused of being u…
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At least 24 workers at Arkansas food-processing plant held in immigration case
Federal Homeland Security Investigations agents detained at least two dozen employees of an Alma food-processing plant Wednesday as part of a criminal investig…
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Sports complex let off hook on repaying city; state senator behind project convicted of fraud
A Sebastian County Circuit Court jury decided Tuesday that a sports complex project headed by former state Sen. Jake Files and Lee Webb will not have to repay …
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Fort Smith seeks answers as dogs, cats pack animal shelter
The city animal shelter is being overwhelmed with stray and unwanted cats and dogs, and pet advocates have asked city officials to take action to help reduce t…
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Arkansas woman's killer pleads guilty, gets 30 years
A woman who admitted strangling a 67-year-old woman to death with a lamp cord was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison.
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Man, 19, held in burglary of dead couple
A man who was involuntarily committed for mental illness treatment twice this year was charged Thursday with burglarizing the home of an elderly couple found d…
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Crash of slain man's truck leads to hunt for teen suspect in Arkansas couple's killings
Officers from several agencies were searching Wednesday night for 19-year-old Lewis Shores, a suspect in Tuesday's death of an elderly Fort Smith couple.
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Ex-Waldron middle school principal pleads not guilty to sexual assault of student
A former Arkansas middle school principal has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree sexual assault and evidence tampering after being arrested last mon…
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Ex-assistant principal pleads innocent
A former Waldron Middle School assistant principal has pleaded innocent in Scott County Circuit Court to charges of first-degree sexual assault and evidence ta…
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Cleared in slaying, felon still faces judge
= A woman will go before a judge this morning on a petition to revoke a suspended sentence after she fatally shot a man who attacked her last year.
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Volatility caused by tariffs will affect price of Arkansas city's pipe work, utility director says
The city's utility director warned city directors this week that volatility in the steel market caused by tariffs will affect the price the city spends on ste…
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Arkansas man gets 30 years in killing of son, 2, to stop his crying
A man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday for causing the death of his 2-year-old son by slapping him to stop the child from crying and screaming.
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Ex-handyman at Arkansas museum guilty of lizard pin theft
A former handyman at the Fort Smith Museum of History pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing a tiny gold pin in the shape of a lizard that belonged to American O…
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3rd teen in robbery gets 20 years for Arkansas college student's death
The last of three juveniles charged in the January 2016 shooting death of a University of Arkansas at Fort Smith student pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pr…
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Capping sewer rates, Fort Smith tells EPA
City officials have told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency it is not raising sewer rates any more to pay for requirements of a federal consent decree bu…
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Ex-Arkansas high school coach admits to secretly recording teenage girls in bathroom
A former Booneville teacher and coach was sentenced Friday to four years in prison on a charge that he hid his cellphone in a girls bathroom at Booneville High…
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Police say robbery led to 2 killings
Two people were shot multiple times and died during a robbery last month because one of the suspects needed money to pay a ticket, police said Friday.
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Ex-Booneville high school teacher and coach pleads guilty in voyeurism case
BOONEVILLE -- A former Booneville High School teacher and coach who police said secretly video-recorded girls in a school bathroom pleaded guilty Friday to a c…
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Police: Woman charged in death said she hated baby, blew smoke in infant's face, relative says
A woman charged in the Dec. 11 death of her 10-month-old son told a relative that she hated her baby, flung him around and blew cigarette smoke in his face, ac…
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Police: Killings of 2 found dead in Arkansas ordered by woman pretending to be member of carnival mafia
One of four people charged in Crawford County with dumping the bodies of a slain elderly Kansas couple pretended to be a member of a carnival mafia who ordered…
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Glidewell wins race to serve out Files' Arkansas Senate term
Former state Rep. Frank Glidewell was elected Tuesday to serve as state senator in District 8 for the remaining 19 weeks of the term left unserved when Jake Fi…
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Fort Smith elects first black mayor; board race down to 2
District 78 state Rep. George McGill handily won election over two opponents in Tuesday's municipal primary to become the city's first black mayor.
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Fort Smith mom arrested in son's death
Police arrested a Fort Smith woman Monday on warrants charging her with second-degree murder and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor in the Decembe…
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McGill wins Fort Smith mayor post
District 78 state Rep. George McGill handily won election over two opponents in Tuesday's municipal primary to become the city's first black mayor.
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Election to fill two positions in Fort Smith
Voters will cast ballots today for a new mayor and an at-large member of the Board of Directors as well as decide who will finish the final weeks of a former s…
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Fort Smith mom arrested in son's death
Police arrested a woman Monday on warrants charging her with second-degree murder and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor in the December death of …
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Authorities: Sheriff in Arkansas shoots at driver; deputy hurt
The Fulton County sheriff shot at a vehicle Friday morning, and the fleeing driver struck and injured a deputy, according to the Arkansas State Police.
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Ex-school official ordered to repay $179,391
The former treasurer for the Westside School District in Johnson County was ordered Thursday to pay nearly $180,000 that she admitted stealing from the distric…
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Randolph County alcohol vote set
Randolph County residents in November will get their first chance in more than 70 years to vote on whether to legalize the sale of alcohol in the county.
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48-year prison term kicks in after homeless man's guilty plea, robbery charge in state
A homeless man, who pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to bank robbery, is being charged in state court with aggravated robbery.
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State Senate, municipal voting begins in Fort Smith
Early voting begins today for the Aug. 14 municipal election for Fort Smith mayor and the Position 5 at-large seat on the city's Board of Directors.
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Dismissal request denied in suit by Arkansas ball field developers, including ex-state senator
A judge has rejected an attempt by developers of the River Valley Sports Complex, which includes former state Sen. Jake Files, to dismiss the complex from a la…
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1½-year sentence starts for ex-state senator after guilty plea on fraud, money laundering charges
Former state Sen. Jake Files of Fort Smith spent his first full day in federal prison Friday on an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty to wire fraud, money…
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Fort Smith ball field developers' bid for dismissal in suit fails
A judge has rejected an attempt by developers of the River Valley Sports Complex, which includes former state Sen. Jake Files, to dismiss the complex from a la…
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Recycle suit gets hopefuls in Fort Smith mayor's race to agree
All three candidates for mayor said Fort Smith should not be granted immunity in a resident's lawsuit that says the city collected sanitation fees for recyclin…
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Ex-treasurer pleads guilty to stealing school district funds
The former treasurer of the Westside School District in Johnson County faces two years in prison and a restitution order of nearly $180,000 after she pleaded g…
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2 hopefuls favor sewer pact redo
Two candidates for Fort Smith city director favor renegotiating a consent decree with the federal and state governments to gain more time to comply with their …
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Fort Smith loses immunity bid
Fort Smith cannot claim immunity in its defense of a lawsuit filed by a resident alleging that Fort Smith wrongly collected fees to recycle material that ended…
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Fort Smith candidates favor redo of sewer pact
Two candidates for city director favor renegotiating a consent decree with the federal and state governments to gain more time to comply with their demands to …
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Fort Smith can't claim immunity in defense of suit
Fort Smith cannot claim immunity in its defense of a lawsuit brought by a resident complaining the city wrongly collected fees to recycle material that ended u…
