MARCH 24-30, 2010

IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR …

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The NATURE CONSERVANCY. It bought a 4,500-acre cattle ranch that stretches along several miles of the Kings River near Eureka Springs in hopes the new preserve will improve water quality and fishing in the scenic stream.

LT. GOV. BILL HALTER. Polls showed him gaining ground in his challenge of incumbent Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

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CHRIS HELLER. The Little Rock School District’s attorney drafted an 80-page proposed court filing to argue that the state of Arkansas has defaulted on its promise not to contribute to segregation in Little Rock by its approval of open enrollment charter schools that skim the cream of students from Pulaski County districts. Attorney
General Dustin McDaniel’s Faubusian response: “Shut up or we’ll take your deseg money.” Heller’s reminder of the law was important, acted on or not.

G&B LIQUOR OF STUTTGART. The modest booze outlet emerged in state figures as the biggest seller of lottery tickets in the state — more than $900,000 in six months.

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IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR …

GOV. MIKE BEEBE. The buck stops with him when it comes to the states’ human development centers. Problems in care for the residents at Alexander were severe enough that the state called for outside help. It also continues to wrangle with the Justice Department over sufficiency of treatment at other residential facilities for the developmentally disabled.

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DEBATES. At press time, Sen. Blanche Lincoln had not yet been able to find a time to meet opponent Bill Halter in debate. All eight Republicans said they were happy to “debate” this week, but the Republican-sponsored event moderated by Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Keet seems unlikely to be more than an anti-Obama pep rally.

The ENVIRONMENT. The state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission indefinitely postponed stricter air pollution standards on coal-burning power plants.

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