Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — One in every five state and federal prisoners in the United States has tested positive for the coronavirus, a rate more than four times as high as the general population. In some states, more than half of prisoners have been infected, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Many Republican lawmakers in states where coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have surged are not only rejecting statewide mask mandates. They’re also resisting rules requiring them in their own capitols.

Efforts to require lawmakers and staff to wear masks have received a cool reception even in statehouses that have seen outbreaks of the virus or where Republican governors have issued statewide mandates. It’s echoing a partisan divide nationwide over a simple step that health experts say is proven to help keep others safe.

Washington, Aug 28 (AP/PTI) Walmart is the latest company to want a piece of TikTok, the popular Chinese-owned video app that has come under fire from the Trump administration.

The world's largest retailer made a joint bid with tech giant Microsoft to buy TikTok's US business, according to a person close to the deal who isn't authorised to discuss the terms publicly.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal officials were so worried Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell might take her own life after her arrest that they took away her clothes and bedsheets and made her wear paper attire while in custody, an official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The steps to ensure Maxwell’s safety while she’s locked up at a federal jail in New York City extend far beyond the measures federal officials took when they first arrested her in New Hampshire last week.

FORREST CITY, Ark. (AP) — Two police officers were wounded and a gunman was killed Monday morning in an exchange of gunfire at a Walmart store in eastern Arkansas, authorities said.

Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee said one of the officers was taken to a hospital about 45 miles (70 kilometers) to the east in Memphis where he was in surgery, and the initial prognosis is “he’s going to be OK.”

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — When the leading Democratic presidential candidates marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by linking arms and marching through South Carolina’s capital, Michael Bloomberg was nowhere near the early primary state.

The former New York mayor was instead in Arkansas, tossing out candy at a King Day parade and enjoying his status as the only presidential hopeful in town.

“Mike Boomerang?” a woman asked, as the billionaire businessman walked by.

“Mike Bloomberg,” a supporter clarified. “He’s running for president.”

PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) — A jail breakout ended without violence as authorities scooped up a white supremacist gang leader and another fugitive more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from their Arkansas lockup .

Wesley Gullett, 30, surrendered while walking alone down a highway in Dover, northwest of the Jefferson County jail in Pine Bluff from which he escaped, authorities said. He was taken to the Pope County jail.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Long before she became the spokeswoman for the Trump administration, Sarah Sanders was a well-known figure in Arkansas who appeared in campaign ads for her dad and learned about the state’s rough-and-tumble politics by working on his campaign and others.

Now, speculation that Sanders may run for governor in her home state shakes up a race that’s three years away but was already expected to be a crowded and expensive fight among Republicans.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Relentless flooding in the central U.S. on Friday inundated communities and damaged or spilled over levees on three major rivers in two states, and authorities discovered the body of a drowning victim at a Missouri lake.

The fast-flowing Arkansas River smashed a 40-foot (12-meter) hole in a levee in rural western Arkansas, causing water to spill into a nearby community. In northeast Missouri, a levee was overtopped on the Mississippi River, and another levee was topped on the Missouri River in the central part of the state.

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Brad Hindley planned to be vacationing on a lake this week. Instead, he’s been on a boat in his swamped Fort Smith neighborhood trying to keep gas in generators that are pumping water from his flooded home in Arkansas’ second largest city.

“We’ve got lakefront property now. Right up to the front door,” said Hindley, a 45-year-old FedEx worker who is among thousands of residents along the Arkansas-Oklahoma border impacted by widespread flooding along the swollen Arkansas River.