Arkansas doctor clears $650,000 of debt for cancer patients

An Arkansas doctor gave hundreds of patients a clean bill to start the New Year when he cleared their debt.

1 in 5 American prisoners has had COVID-19; 1,700 have died

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.

Ex-Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen sentenced to 74 months in prison for adoption scheme

An ex-Maricopa County Assessor who resigned following his arrest in connection with an illegal adoption scheme involving women from a Pacific island will spend just over six years behind bars for the crime.

Former Maricopa County assessor to be sentenced in 3 states for adoption scheme

Paul Petersen, a Republican who served as metro Phoenix’s assessor for six years, also worked as an adoption attorney and paid mothers from the Marshall Islands to give up their babies.

Formerly homeless veteran and mother of 6 becomes 1st-generation college graduate

LaKendra Mackey’s own experiences of facing homelessness, PTSD, and raising a child with special needs inspired her to become a social worker to help others.

Arkansas police officer killed in shooting; 2 arrested

Police in Arkansas are mourning Officer Travis C. Wallace, who was killed in the line of duty during a shootout with a suspect. He leaves behind two children.

Man finds 9.07-carat diamond, thought it was a piece of glass

Kinard, a 33-year-old bank branch manager from Maumelle, Arkansas, found the second-largest diamond ever found in the park’s 48 year history — a 9.07-carat diamond.

Arkansas man gets 2 life terms, 835 years for killing police officer

Demarcus Donnell Parker, 27, was convicted Tuesday, Sept. 8, by a Crittenden County jury of first-degree murder, illegally shooting a weapon from a vehicle, and 21 related charges in the April 2018 shooting death of Forrest City officer Oliver Johnson, according to court documents.

Iowa meth kingpin is 3rd executed by US government this week

A convicted killer from Iowa whose five victims included two young girls is scheduled Friday to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week, following a 17-year pause in federal executions.

Arkansas to require face masks to combat coronavirus surge

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued an order Thursday requiring people to wear face masks in public throughout the state, which has had a surge in coronavirus cases over the past several weeks.

Another federal execution set for Wednesday after 1st in decades carried out in Indiana

The U.S. has carried out the first federal execution in nearly two decades, putting to death a man who was convicted of killing an Arkansas family in the 1990s in a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest.

Judge blocks federal executions; administration appeals

A U.S. district judge on Monday ordered a new delay in federal executions, hours before the first lethal injection was scheduled to be carried out at a federal prison in Indiana.

Feds feared Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell might kill herself, AP source says

Federal officials were so worried that Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell might take her own life after her arrest that they took away her clothes and sheets and made her wear paper attire. That's according to an official familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press.

Ex-Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen pleads guilty to human smuggling charge

A federal judge on Tuesday set a change-of-plea hearing for Paul Petersen, a Republican who served as Maricopa County’s assessor for six years until his resignation in January.

Hundreds test positive for COVID-19 at Tyson Foods plant in Arkansas

Tyson Foods is looking into reports that China’s customs agency has suspended poultry imports from a Tyson facility in the United States after coronavirus cases were confirmed among its employees.