John Lyon
Times Record
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Past articles by John:
Little Rock mayor cracks open crime plan
LITTLE ROCK — Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola unveiled Thursday a six-pillar plan for improving public safety in the capital city following a nightclub shooting that left 28 people injured.Stodola outlined his “LR for Life” plan in a news conference at Little Rock City Hall. He said he, the city directors and the city’s more than 2,300 employees have been listening to residents’ concerns since… → Read More
Little Rock tech startup celebrates 50th hire, plans to add 20 more
LITTLE ROCK — Four and a half years after he started the business in his spare bedroom, Jeston George of Little Rock was joined by Gov. Asa Hutchinson at a news conference Thursday celebrating the hiring of the 50th employee at education technology startup Apptegy. George, Apptegy’s CEO, also announced that the company plans to hire 20 more people within the next year, at salaries likely to be… → Read More
Incoming Arkansas drug czar to have more powers
LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ new drug director will be responsible for administering about $24 million in drug abuse and prevention treatment grants that previously were under the control of various Department of Human Services divisions, the agency said Wednesday.Last week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Kirk Lane of Benton as state drug director at an annual salary of $108,110. Former Drug Director… → Read More
Arkansas welcomes foreign investments, governor says
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a proclamation Tuesday seeking to reassure international businesses that Arkansas welcomes foreign investments despite the current political winds in Washington.“I … do hereby proclaim that ARKANSAS IS OPEN FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, and I urge all citizens across the state to welcome new partnerships and investments from global companies,” the… → Read More
Arkansas governor, others: Health bill changes not enough
LITTLE ROCK — The revamped health care bill unveiled by Senate Republican leaders last week did not appear to satisfy the concerns of Arkansas’ governor and groups in the state that opposed the previous version. In an appearance Friday on CNBC, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who was in Providence, R.I., for the summer meeting of the National Governors Association, said the latest version of GOP… → Read More
Central Arkansas activist says he’ll run for 2nd District seat
LITTLE ROCK — The founder of the political activist group Regnat Populus said Thursday he will seek the Democratic nomination for Arkansas’ 2nd congressional seat.Paul Spencer of Scott, who teaches government and history at Little Rock Catholic High for Boys and operates a small family farm, said he will run for the seat now held by Republican French Hill of Little Rock.“We now stand at a… → Read More
College Football: UALR eyes creating football program
LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas at Little Rock said Wednesday it will conduct a feasibility study on adding a football and marching band program.Earlier this year, about 1,000 UALR students signed a petition in support of a football program, the university said in a news release.When it was a junior college, the school had a football team that enjoyed many winning seasons, including a… → Read More
UAMS names building for retiring chancellor
LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences honored retiring Chancellor Dr. Dan Rahn by naming a building after him Tuesday.In a ceremony held on the top level of a parking deck within view of the building, Gov. Asa Hutchinson expressed appreciation for Rahn’s years of service at the research hospital, then watched with Rahn and the audience as new lettering was unveiled on the… → Read More
Warrant issued for Arkansas judge accused of dodging taxes
LITTLE ROCK —A warrant was issued Tuesday for the arrest of a Saline County circuit judge accused of failing to pay taxes. The warrant states that Judge Bobby McCallister faces four counts of failing to pay taxes of file tax returns. The offenses allegedly occurred in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. Earlier Tuesday, the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission said in a news release it was… → Read More
Governor names new Arkansas Game and Fish commissioner
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday named farmer and businessman Stan Jones of Walnut Ridge to the state Game and Fish Commission. Jones is an Arkansas native and a graduate of Arkansas State University, where he played on the 1970 National Football Championship team. He farms more than 7,000 acres in northeast Arkansas and owns Banded outdoor sporting apparel, Avery Outdoors and the… → Read More
Arkansas governor: Wait list for disabled services cut by 500
LITTLE ROCK — A waiting list for home-and community-based services for the developmentally disabled has been reduced by 500 thanks to a new revenue stream that was created earlier this year, Gov. Asa Hutchinson told the Little Rock Rotary Club on Tuesday. Hutchinson also took questions on Donald Trump, efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and surging gun violence in Little Rock.… → Read More
Arkansas students’ ACT Aspire scores show improvement
LITTLE ROCK — The percentages of Arkansas students achieving readiness benchmarks on ACT Aspire tests in the 2016-17 school year mostly increased over the previous year according to preliminary test results, the state Department of Education said Monday. But education officials also said the test results show there is still much work to do, with fewer than 50 percent of students meeting… → Read More
Arkansas panel votes to study health-care conscience bill
LITTLE ROCK — A legislative panel voted Monday to conduct a study in the interim between sessions on a bill that would allow a health-care provider to refuse to provide a service that violates his or her conscience. The House and Senate committees on public health, welfare and labor voted, without discussion, to study legislation by Rep. Brandt Smith, R-Jonesboro, that failed to advance out of… → Read More
Little Rock protesters urge Boozman, Cotton to reject health-care bill
LITTLE ROCK — The heat of a sunny summer day did not deter Anne Pilcher from donning a homemade papier-mache Donald Trump head and joining a protest Thursday afternoon outside the building that houses the Little Rock offices of Arkansas Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton.Pilcher, a resident of the Mablevale community in southwest Little Rock and a member of the liberal activist groups MoveOn.org… → Read More
Arkansas governor unveils plan to target Little Rock crime
LITTLE ROCK — In a news conference five days after a mass shooting at a Little Rock nightclub, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Thursday the creation of multi-jurisdictional investigative group to address “an escalating level of violence in Little Rock.”Hutchinson said the group includes officials with the Little Rock Police Department, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, the Arkansas State… → Read More
Film producers donate to Ten Commandments monument at Arkansas Capitol
LITTLE ROCK — Producers of the “God’s Not Dead” movie series presented a $25,000 donation Thursday to the effort to replace a Ten Commandments monument that was destroyed when a driver crashed his car into it on the state Capitol grounds.The leader of the fund drive, state Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, said more than $55,000 has been raised and said he hopes the new monument will have barricades… → Read More
Arkansas legislative panel postpones vote on dicamba ban
LITTLE ROCK — A legislative panel Wednesday postponed a vote on a proposed temporary ban on the sale and use of the herbicide dicamba.The Executive Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council voted to refer the 120-day ban proposed by the state Plant Board to the House and Senate agriculture committees and to take it up again on Friday afternoon, after those committees consider it Friday… → Read More
Arkansas officials: No request for voter records from voter fraud panel yet
LITTLE ROCK — Secretary of State Mark Martin has not yet received a request for voter information from President Donald Trump’s commission on election integrity and therefore has no comment at this time on whether his office would comply with such a request, a spokesman said Monday.A spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday the governor also has not been contacted by the commission.… → Read More
Dozens hurt in shooting at Little Rock rap concert
LITTLE ROCK — At least 28 people were hurt when gunshots broke out during a rap concert in downtown Little Rock early Saturday. The shooting occurred around 2:30 a.m. at the Power Ultra Lounge, also known as the Lulav Power Bar and Lounge, during a performance by Memphis rapper Finese Twotymes. Little Rock police said the violence apparently was related to a dispute between two groups in the… → Read More
Bond set at $100,000 for Van Buren man accused of destroying Ten Commandments monument
LITTLE ROCK — A $100,000 bond was set Thursday for a Van Buren man accused of destroying a Ten Commandments monument on state Capitol grounds less than 24 hours after it was installed.Also Thursday, the state legislator who led the push for the monument said the makers of the movie “God’s Not Dead 2,” which was filmed in Little Rock, have offered to help pay to replace the 6-foot-tall granite… → Read More