Latest Arkansas Headlines
All the headlines from our Arkansas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Arkansas ‘Tort Reform’ Advocates Stunned by Church Group’s Opposition
Aug 20 2018 // So-called tort reform has been an easy sell in states controlled by Republicans, and backers of a lawsuit-limiting proposal on the ballot in Arkansas this fall expected little trouble winning passage until they ran into a...
Arkansas, Feds Want Exxon to Pay $1.8M for Oil Spill Damage
Aug 10 2018 // State and federal officials are asking Exxon Mobil to pay more than $1.8 million in compensation for a 2013 oil spill in Arkansas. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the state Game and Fish Commission proposed the...
Arkansas Judge Won’t Strike Ballot Measure on Lawsuit Damage Limits
Aug 2 2018 // An Arkansas judge has rejected an initial request to disqualify a ballot measure that would place limits on damages awarded in lawsuits and give the Legislature control of state court rules. Pulaski County Circuit Judge...
Family Who Lost 9 Files 2nd Lawsuit Over Missouri Duck Boat Tragedy
Aug 2 2018 // Fifty-three members of an Indiana family who lost nine relatives when a duck boat sank in Missouri described their pain and unfathomable loss on July 31 while calling for a ban on the amphibious tourist boats that their...
Arkansas Approves Rules with Opioid Prescription Limits
Jul 20 2018 // An Arkansas panel has given final approval to regulations that will require doctors who prescribe high doses of opioid pain medication to follow guidelines meant to limit potential abuse, including exploring alternative...
Brown & Brown Subsidiary Acquires Texas MGA and Arkansas Affiliate
Jul 19 2018 // Texas Security General Insurance Agency LLC, a subsidiary of Brown & Brown Inc., has acquired substantially all of the assets of Loving and Etheredge Inc. d/b/a Texas Commercial Insurance Facilities (TCIF) and its...
Arkansas Recovers $3.67M for Insurance Consumers in First Half of 2018
Jul 19 2018 // The Consumer Services Division (CSD) at the Arkansas Insurance Department has recovered $3,673,940 for Arkansas insurance customers in the first half of 2018, the agency reported. Recoveries are dollar amounts recovered...
SCM Acquires Affirmative Risk Management in Arkansas
Jul 18 2018 // SCM Insurance Services has acquired Affirmative Risk Management in Little Rock, Arkansas. ARM will continue to be led by David Elliott, its president. Elliott will report to Scott Goodreau, chief operating officer of USA...
Conservative States Like Oklahoma Balk at Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana
Jul 16 2018 // Pot advocates celebrated the culmination of a yearslong effort to ease restrictions on the use of cannabis last month when nearly 60 percent of Oklahoma voters approved medical marijuana. Oklahoma’s proponents had...
3 New P/C Insurers OK’d to Do Business in Arkansas
Jul 16 2018 // Three new property/casualty insurance companies have been approved to do business in Arkansas, the state insurance department reported. All three are based in Florida. Counting the recently accepted companies, 10 new...
Arkansas Company to Pay $38K in Gender Pay Discrimination Case
Jul 12 2018 // An Arkansas company will pay $38,000 in the settlement of a gender pay discrimination case brought by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC reported that TrueCore Behavioral Solutions, a manager of...
State Panel Urges Armed Presence in Arkansas Schools
Jul 6 2018 // The Arkansas School Safety Commission issued its preliminary report and recommends that every school always have an armed presence, including a trained resource officer whenever financially feasible. The report also calls...
3 New Property/Casualty Insurers OK’d to Do Business in Arkansas
Jul 5 2018 // Three new property/casualty insurance companies have been approved to do business in Arkansas, the state insurance department reported. All three are based in Florida. Counting the recently accepted companies, 10 new...
Survey: As Trade Fears Mount, Economic Growth Slows in Midwest
Jul 3 2018 // Business remains strong in nine Midwest and Plains states, but a new monthly survey suggests growth is slowing as concerns about trade and tariffs increase. The region’s overall economic index decreased to 61.8 in...
Arkansas Rejects Farmers’ Request to Lift Dicamba Ban
Jun 7 2018 // Arkansas officials have denied a request by some farmers to lift the state’s ban on in-crop dicamba use. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the state Plant Board rejected the farmers’ request on...
Outlooks Revised to Positive for Arkansas’ Kinsale Insurance
May 31 2018 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “a-” of Kinsale Insurance...
Insurance Fraud Allegations Lead to Suspensions, Arrest for Arkansas Agency Owners in 2 Separate Cases
May 7 2018 // Arkansas has suspended the insurance licenses of one agency owner and arrested another agency owner on charges of insurance fraud. The Arkansas Insurance Department suspended the licenses of Berry Bishop and Alliance...
Arkansas Company Pays $709K to Settle Overtime Claims
May 4 2018 // Federal labor officials say an Arkansas company has paid nearly $709,000 to settle overtime and minimum wage claims stemming from the cleanup of Louisiana floods in 2016. The U.S. Department of Labor said that Wallace,...
Arkansas Supreme Court Halts Judge’s Dicamba Ban Exemptions
May 3 2018 // The Arkansas Supreme Court has halted a fourth judge’s ruling exempting some farmers from an herbicide ban that took effect last week. Justices has stayed a Clay County judge’s order prohibiting the state Plant...
No Tornadoes in Oklahoma in 2018 – Yet
May 1 2018 // This year’s weather on the Southern Plains has an odd twist: Oklahoma has yet to record its first tornado, the deepest into the year it’s gone without one since 1962. Although a drought has dried up moisture...