Senator’s statue remains at university — as do grievances over a legacy marred by racism
Students who served on a university committee that recommended the statue’s removal ask whether the exercise was doomed from the start.
Jury sides with Little Rock officer in lawsuit over fatal 2016 shooting; attorney for plaintiff vows appeal
A federal jury on Monday ruled in favor of Officer Dennis Hutchins of the Little Rock Police Department, rejecting a wrongful death claim brought by the family of a man Hutchins shot and killed almost five years ago. Shortly after…
Hung jury on all but one count in Gilbert Baker trial; former state senator acquitted of conspiracy charge
A federal jury in Little Rock acquitted former lobbyist and political fundraiser Gilbert Baker of conspiracy Thursday but failed to reach a verdict on eight other charges, including one count of bribery and seven of wire fraud. The deadlock ended…
He had a BB gun. A cop had a semiautomatic rifle. Without warning, the officer fired five times.
Update, Aug. 19, 2021: On Monday, the jury in Officer Dennis Hutchins' civil trial delivered a verdict in favor of Hutchins. Vanessa Cole remembers her older brother Roy Lee Richards Jr. as the storyteller of their tight-knit Central Arkansas family.…
Defense focuses on disgraced judge’s credibility as Baker bribery case goes to jury
Jurors in the bribery trial of former lobbyist Gilbert Baker went home for the weekend after hearing closing arguments and deliberating less than two hours Friday afternoon. Deliberations will resume Monday morning in U.S. District Court in Little Rock. Jurors…
Defense rests in Gilbert Baker bribery trial
In addition to testimony jurors have heard over the past two weeks, they have a mountain of documents available for review: phone records, texts, records of donations and payments from various lobbying organizations, and a forensic analysis of those expenditures.
With next I-40 bridge inspection a month away, ArDOT still lacks explanation for failure
This story was co-published with The Daily Memphian. Though I-40 traffic is now flowing over the Hernando DeSoto Bridge for the first time in almost three months, officials with the Arkansas Department of Transportation have yet to explain how its…
In testimony, lobbyists and former UCA president reveal reach of political fundraiser now on trial for bribery
Testimony about a university already tarnished by public corruption and an illegal but not uncommon campaign finance tactic dominated proceedings Tuesday in the bribery trial of former lobbyist Gilbert Baker. Along the way, Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall…
Former judge, now serving prison time, testifies in bribery trial of alleged co-conspirator
A nursing home magnate, one of Arkansas’s highest-ranking jurists and a former judge in shackles were among witnesses in the first week of the federal bribery trial of former lobbyist Gilbert Baker. Prosecutors sought to weave an intricate tale of…
State Supreme Court Justice takes witness stand in federal bribery trial of Conway lobbyist
Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Rhonda Wood testified Tuesday that she never talked with former Circuit Judge Michael Maggio about his decision to alter a jury’s award in a nursing home negligence case in 2013 — a ruling that led to…
Juror sent home with COVID, but political bribery trial moves forward
The long-awaited bribery trial of former state Sen. Gilbert Baker, a former Republican lobbyist from Conway, began Monday with news that a juror had contracted the coronavirus. The unidentified juror had been present for jury selection Friday and contacted the…
The mess in Room 304: ‘Breaking Bad’ at Henderson State
In November 2019, two chemistry professors at Henderson State University were arrested for allegedly producing methamphetamine on campus. Documents suggest the trouble may have started much earlier.