RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say the body of an 8-year-old girl has been recovered hours after she was swept away while swimming in an Arkansas stream.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas university is drawing criticism after accepting a scholarship endowment from the estate of a former professor who reportedly assigned graduate students books...

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A gambling company says it is partnering with the Hard Rock International brand to build a resort in Pope County, but the proposal faces legal hurdles.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock and the El Dorado-News Times have won general excellence awards from the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors...

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Racing Commission will be in breach of the state constitution if it doesn't follow a recently passed amendment and issue four casino licenses, according to a...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal prosecutor is asking a judge to reconsider her ruling allowing indicted former Arkansas state Sen. Gilbert Baker a more than two-day pass from a substance-abuse treatment center in Russellville to attend his son's wedding and rehearsal dinner in Conway.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Federal prosecutors revealed Tuesday what they said were the violent attempts of a white supremacist gang in Arkansas to silence witnesses to the group's meth-trafficking, including permanently disfiguring one person's face with a hot knife.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a hunter found human remains in an undeveloped area of Russellville.

The Russellville Police Department says the hunter reported the discovery on Sunday. The police department says that detectives responded along with the Pope County Sheriff's Office, and they recovered human remains from the wooded, undeveloped area.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A proposed rule change for regulating Arkansas casinos could invalidate letters of support for a casino in Pope County written by the now former county judge and former Russellville mayor.

The current rule says the letters must be dated after the effective date of an amendment approved by voters statewide in November allowing casinos in four counties, including Pope.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — The outgoing mayor of Russellville chose his last day in office to express support for a Mississippi company's proposal to build a $254 million, 600-room hotel and casino in Pope County.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A group seeking to build a hotel and casino in central Arkansas has released plans for the $254 million project, but a lawsuit has been filed over whether a judge's support for the project was improper.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A man who was tried twice but never convicted in the 2005 beating death of an Arkansas Tech University student has been arrested on suspicion of attempted kidnapping.

Russellville police say 39-year-old Gary Dunn was arrested Tuesday night after a woman told authorities that a man approached her in a parking lot and tried to force her into a vehicle. Police say a similar encounter happened earlier in the evening involving a different woman.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The state Board of Education has approved a new location for the Arkansas Governor's School, moving it away from its home of nearly four decades.

The board voted Thursday to move the summer program for gifted high school students from Hendrix College in Conway to Arkansas Tech University in Russellville. The 5-2 vote comes after the Arkansas Department of Education solicited proposals late last year from colleges and universities to host the program.

RUSSELLVLLE, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say two Arkansas sheriff's office employees accused of having sexual contact with an inmate have been arrested and terminated.

The Pope County sheriff's office said Saturday that 24-year-old Lauren Elliott of Russellville and 48-year-old Billie Tucker of Pottsville were arrested. Both face sexual assault charges. Tucker faces an additional charge of introducing prohibited articles into a correctional facility.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say a 67-year-old Arkansas man has died after being struck by lightning while doing yard work at his home.

Pope County officials say Al Frazier of Russellville was hit by lightning Friday afternoon.

Authorities say Frazier was transported to a hospital in Russellville, where he died.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Police have identified Joshua Cartwright, 36, of Russellville as the man who shot at a bail bondsman and was later shot and killed by officers at an apartment complex near the Arkansas Tech University campus.

Russellville police say Cartwright came out of the apartment at about 2:10 a.m. Friday brandishing a gun and opened fire on officers, who returned fire and killed him.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Authorities in Pope County say they are investigating the deaths of two people at a house in Russellville.

The Pope County Sheriff's Office says that detectives launched the investigation about 1:20 p.m. Tuesday after the couple was found dead in their home by their house cleaner.

The bodies were identified as 55-year-old Keith Cogswell, the owner of a car dealership, and his wife, 39-year-old Leanna Cogswell. Investigators say both were dead from gunshot wounds.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Republicans voting in the special state Senate District 16 primary have nominated analytics firm account executive Breanne (bree-AN') Davis as the GOP standard-bearer.

Davis beat Robert Bailey, a retired machinist from the Entergy Arkansas Nuclear One plant, to battle Democrat Teresa Gallegos (gah-YEH'-gohs) in the May special election. The winner will serve the balance of the late Sen. Greg Sandridge's term, which expires in January 2021.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas state senator has died at the age of 50 after battling cancer.

Humphrey Funeral Service in Russellville says Sen. Greg Standridge died Thursday morning. Standridge had represented District 16 in the Legislature, which includes Newton and Pope counties as well as parts of Boone, Carroll and Van Buren counties.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of capital murder in the 2016 shooting deaths of two men.

Tyler Barefield, 36, was sentenced Thursday, a day after he was convicted in the deaths of Aaron Brock and Beau DeWitt, both. Both men were fatally shot, and their bodies were found crushed inside a vehicle at a salvage yard owned by Barefield's family in Russellville.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The American Red Cross says it will no longer be taking blood donations from central Arkansas starting next year but will continue providing services to other parts of the state.

The Red Cross plans to transfer its Little Rock and Russellville-based blood collections to the Arkansas Blood Institute by January, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say an indictment accuses dozens of people in west central Arkansas with drug and gun crimes, including members of white-supremacist groups.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The final regular-season Arkansas high school football polls from 2016, with the top 10 teams overall and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of Associated Press-member sports writers and broadcasters. Ranking is given with the previous week's ranking, first-place votes received, records and total points. Below are the results from each classification's semifinal and championship games.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Tech University's board of trustees unanimously has approved to expand designated areas for free speech to accommodate a growing student population.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Prosecutors say photos showing white-supremacist tattoos on one or both men killed at a Russellville salvage yard shouldn't be shown during the trial against the man charged in their deaths.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Republican lawmaker says he's seeking his party's nomination for Arkansas secretary of state next year.

Rep. Trevor Drown of Russellville announced Wednesday he's running for secretary of state in next year's election. Secretary of State Mark Martin, a Republican, was first elected in 2010 and is barred by term limits from seeking re-election next year.

JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — Tuition and fees will go up 3.4 percent for students at Arkansas State University this fall.

ASU trustees approved the fee increases Thursday. It'll now cost $8,478 for an undergraduate, in-state student taking 15 credit hours each semester. That's an increase of $240 from the previous school year.

Trustees said Thursday that the tuition increase is needed to provide a quality education to ASU students.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A capital-murder trial has been postponed for a man accused of shooting two men and crushing their bodies in a car at an Arkansas salvage yard.

A judge agreed Monday to grant defense attorneys' request and delayed a trial slated to begin next week for Tyler Barefield, 36, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2s0ePJm ) reported.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Tech University has voted to increase tuition by over 3 percent at its two campuses in Russellville and Ozark.

The university's board of trustees made its decision Tuesday and also approved some fee increases that include $2.50 per semester credit hour for athletics, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2smmJJe ) reported.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A facility that converts nonedible poultry byproducts into proteins has sued an Arkansas city claiming that its property is being unfairly targeted by an odor ordinance enacted in 2015.

Premium Protein Products purchased its 36-acre plot in June 2015, a month before the ordinance in Russellville was enacted, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2qx9Zz6 ) reported.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A 100-strong choir of uniformed officers and a 21-gun salute sounded farewell at a memorial service for an Arkansas sheriff's lieutenant who was killed last week in the line of duty.

Law enforcement officers from across the state wearing their badges with black ribbons packed a Russellville church Monday to remember Lt. Kevin Mainhart, who was shot to death during a traffic stop Thursday.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' state auditor says she will run for re-election in 2018.

State auditor Andrea Lea's spokesman said in a statement Tuesday that Lea wants to "continue reforming her office in a conservative, business-friendly model."

Lea was elected to her position in 2014, and is the first Republican to serve as the state auditor. She replaced Democrat Charlie Daniels, who did not seek re-election.

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — The hands came to rest shortly before midnight, or noon, sometime in the 1950s.

But for the past two months, the tiny Elgin watch has sat rolled up quietly in bubble wrap, in an envelope, on this newspaper reporter's desk in a 60-some-odd-year-long wait to find its rightful owner.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas teen has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 42-year-old man in Pope County.

The sheriff's office says 19-year-old Nathaniel Z. Symonds of Dover was arrested following Friday's fatal shooting of Ronald Dean Esserman Jr., also of Dover. Investigators say they believe the Symonds and the victim were acquaintances.

Nelly Richardson, 85, of London, Ark., died Monday, March 13, 2017, at home.

She was born on May 4, 1931, in Winona County, Minn., to Paul Vincent and Evalyn Bailey Vincent Coy.

Nelly attended the First Baptist Church in Russellville, Ark., and was a member of Christian Women's Club of Rochester. She taught a women's Bible study in Pine Island and Sunday School in Elgin for more than 40 years.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a former senior vice president at a Russellville communications firm has pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer says 52-year-old Blaine Francis Houser of Dover waived his indictment and pleaded guilty Tuesday. In court records, Houser admitted using company money for personal reasons.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Authorities say one person was killed after crashing his car while driving on an interstate off-ramp in Pope County.

Arkansas State Police say the crash happened Thursday night at the Weir Road exit of Interstate 40 in Russellville. State police say 22-year-old Beau Dunn of London, Arkansas, was killed when his car went off the ramp and crashed into several trees.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Caleb Fulsom was 18-of-24 passing for 249 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Russellville won its first state championship with a 37-23 win over Greenwood in the Class 6A championship game on Saturday night.

The Cyclones (12-1) trailed 16-14 at halftime before outscoring the Bulldogs (12-1) 23-7 in the second half.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — The body of a woman discovered over the weekend in a Pope County lake has been identified as a 27-year-old North Little Rock resident.

Pope County Sheriff Shane Jones said Wednesday that the body was identified as Angelique Hendricks.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The top 10 overall high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of Associated Press-member sports writers and broadcasters. Ranking is given with last week's ranking, first-place votes received, records and total points in poll voting.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The top 10 overall high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of Associated Press-member sports writers and broadcasters. Ranking is given with last week's ranking, first-place votes received, records and total points from poll voters.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The top 10 overall high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of Associated Press-member sports writers and broadcasters. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and last week's rankings.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Greenwood has appeared intent on winning the school's first state championship since 2012 this season, outscoring its opponents by an average of 45-17 per game.

The No. 4 Bulldogs (6-0), ranked No. 1 in Class 6A, will face perhaps their most difficult remaining regular-season test when they host No. 10 Russellville on Friday night.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The top 10 overall high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of Associated Press-member sports writers and broadcasters. Ranking is given with last week's ranking, first-place votes received, records and total points.

DANVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A judge has scheduled a December trial for two former employees of Yell County Emergency Management Services accused of theft.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The top 10 overall high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of Associated Press-member sports writers and broadcasters. Ranking is given with last week's ranking, first-place votes received, records and total points.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The top 10 overall high school football teams in Arkansas and the top five in Classes 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, as voted by a panel of Associated Press-member sports writers and broadcasters. Ranking is given with last week's ranking, first-place votes received, records and total points.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A new regional organization has been created to help conserve 28 federally designated wilderness areas in Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri.

Volunteers have established Arkansas/Illinois/Missouri for Wilderness Stewardship, Inc., a nonprofit organization. The group will recruit, train and field volunteers and eventually some paid seasonal staff to visit the 28 wilderness areas and establish a baseline for their current health.