Dec. 30, 2008-Jan. 6, 2009

It was a GOOD week for …

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KIDS. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Act 1 of  2008, which prohibits unmarried, cohabiting couples from fostering or adopting any of the many Arkansas children who need a good home.

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NORTH LITTLE ROCK. Caterpillar Inc. announced that it will invest $140 million in a new heavy-equipment plant at NLR. The plant will employ about 600 workers, the company said.

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REALISM IN THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE. Gov. Mike Beebe told radio show questioners that he believes global warming is real.

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UNION-BASHING. A national group announced that it’s including Arkansas in a plan to thwart proposed federal legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize.

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MEDICAL RESEARCH. UAMS scientists said they’d begin clinical trials as early as this spring of a new vaccine they hope will prevent recurrence of breast cancer.

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HENRY WILLIAMS. Comparatively good, anyway. The former Little Rock school superintendent who moved on to superintending in the St. Louis area was sentenced to five years’ probation by a St. Louis judge for misappropriation of school funds. Some thought the sentence far too lenient. Williams could have received up to 37 years in prison.

It was a BAD week for …

 

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THE HOUSING MARKET. The Arkansas Realtors Association reported that Arkansas home sales fell nearly 35 percent in November 2008 from November 2007, the biggest decline for a month since the association began releasing sales figures in July 2005.

 

DEATH ROW INMATES. A petition drive calling for a moratorium on executions failed impressively, its sponsors reporting that they’d gathered only 5,000 of the 100,000 signatures they needed.

 

A SQUIRREL AND A POWER PLANT. About 200 businesses in downtown Little Rock lost power for three hours after a squirrel got into an Entergy Arkansas substation. The squirrel lost power permanently.

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