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Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe plans to pardon his son for a felony drug charge from more than a decade ago. "It will probably be in the next few weeks," said Matt DeCample, a spokesman for the governor. "For any pardons the governor does the person has to have finished all terms of their sentence ... and then had a period of time where they've shown they have straightened their lives out." Kyle Beebe, who is now 34, was charged in 2003 with possession of a controlled substance -- marijuana -- with intent to deliver. He was fined and sentenced to...

Arkansas plans to put prisoners to death with a drug that apparently hasn’t been used in a U.S. execution, and lawyers for condemned inmates warn that it could take longer for someone to die from it than from other lethal injection drugs. Arkansas Department of Correction spokeswoman Shea Wilson told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the state plans to use phenobarbital, along with lorazepam, in lethal injections. None are currently scheduled, but Arkansas recently passed a law that will allow the state to resume executions. … In a letter obtained by the AP, federal public defender Jennifer Horan told...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The Arkansas Senate voted Tuesday to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of legislation that would ban most abortions from the 12th week of pregnancy onward and give the state the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. There was no debate before the 20-14 vote. Beebe told legislators in his letter explaining his veto Monday that he believes the proposal is unconstitutional and conflicts with the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. But the bill's sponsor said after Tuesday's vote that he thinks the Democratic governor is wrong. "That's not valid. The U.S....

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Senate voted Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. The Republican-led Senate voted 21-12, along party lines, to override the veto. There was no debate beforehand. The bill's sponsor, Republican state Sen. Bryan King, said he expects the House to vote to override the veto on Thursday. Each chamber needs only a simple majority to override a veto in Arkansas. Beebe vetoed the bill Monday, saying it amounts to "an expensive solution in search of a problem" and would...

On March 25th, Democrat Governor Mike Beebe vetoed legislation that would have created a voter ID law for Arkansas, saying it would "negatively impact one of our most precious rights as citizens." Under current Arkansas law, "poll workers can request identifying documents, but voters are not required to show them." The rejected law would have required all voters to show ID and would have required county clerks to provide "ID cards... at no cost for registered voters who do not have other forms of valid identification." Beebe cited the cost of supplying the ID cards as part of the reason...

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) -- Republicans may still get the last laugh after Arkansas Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe vetoed a bill requiring voters to present photo identification during elections. While GOP lawmakers said the legislation is intended to reduce voter fraud, Beebe argued that it was actually "an expensive solution in search of a problem." Since Republicans took over the Arkansas Legislature for the first time since the late 1880s, it's more than likely they'll override the veto with a simple majority. GOP lawmakers throughout the country have attempted to enact similar bills that Democrats contend is a blatant attempt to...

"Law sharpens the mind by narrowing it." --Edmund Burke . . Our governor here in Arkansas now has vetoed not one but two anti-abortion bills that made it past the state legislature this session. One bill sought to protect the unborn starting at the 20th week of pregnancy. The other would go into effect after 12 weeks' gestation if a fetal heartbeat could be detected. Both are now law, passed over the governor's objections. The Hon. Mike Beebe is ordinarily the most reasonable and agreeable of men -- even if he is a lawyer by trade and a politician by...

Arkansas state legislators voted to override Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of a bill that will ban abortions in the state at 20 weeks, unless the woman is a victim of rape, incest or her life is at risk due to a medical emergency. On Wednesday, the override passed the House with 53 votes, which included all 51 Republicans and two Democrats. The bill then moved to the Senate floor on Thursday, where it received 19 Republican votes to complete the override. In Arkansas, legislators can override a governor's veto by a simple majority, which is 51 votes in the...

Open carry of guns just went into effect in Oklahoma November 1st. It's something legislators in Arkansas have been trying to pass for years, but always failed. Lawmakers and gun owners think now is the time for Arkansas to adopt an open carry law. Open carry of guns is a sensitive issue with strong opinions on both sides, and while passing open carry laws in the past have always failed in Arkansas, now with the support of neighboring state Oklahoma, open carry supporters say, it betters the chances Arkansas could pass a similar law. 43 states allow gun owners to...

The first time he was asked about a proposed increase in the severance tax on natural gas, Gov. Mike Beebe was lukewarm in his support. Last October, he said he probably would vote for it, but not campaign for it. His temperature on the idea is cooling — with good reason. The governor sees potential new natural gas exploration in southern Arkansas on the horizon and doesn't want to scare away investments that just as easily could go to other states. Arkansas' best interest is always on Beebe's mind. That has made him an even better governor than most people...

Dear Fellow Republican, If you live in west Pulaski County, you might be interested in coming to the Wednesday, April 13 meeting at Thompson Library (on Rahling Rd) at 6:30pm. Find out about the 2012 elections. Learn what has happened in our Legislature. This will be an informational meeting; questions can be asked. Todd Sharp (Pulaski County Rep.Committee 1st VP) will talk. The meeting will end sharply at 7:30 pm. the 2012 elections are crucial! Thanks, Joanne Douglas PCRC 2nd VP cell: 501-352-7272 ____________________________ Friday, April 15 · 4:30pm - 6:30pm Location Arkansas State Capitol Woodlane & Capitol, Little Rock,...

Well.. get this... Our Socialistic Governor met with Mr. Obama recently. Our governor has agreed that Arkansas will be the first state to implement Obamacare. Mr. Beebe announced this to the leadership at the Capitol yesterday. He will be changing Medicare by his own power, very likely in April or May. He is clearly on the side of the Socialist. After learning this Mr. Garner will not be presenting his capital gains tax bill tomorrow.

(CBS/AP) LABARRE, La. - State biologists are trying to determine what killed an estimated 500 birds that littered a quarter-mile stretch of highway in Pointe Coupee Parish. The birds included red-winged blackbirds and starlings. The birds were found Monday along Louisiana Highway 1, about 300 miles south of Beebe, Ark., where more than 3,000 blackbirds fell from the sky three days earlier.

The gubernatorial race in Arkansas is a little closer this month, but Democratic incumbent Mike Beebe still leads his Republican challenger by 10 points. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Beebe picking up 50% support, while Republican Jim Keet earns 40% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer a different candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. The latest numbers mark Beebe's lowest level of support in three Rasmussen Reports surveys conducted this year. Last month, he held a 57% to 33% lead over Keet. In mid-May, Beebe led 53% to 38%.

Our latest Talk Business Poll is likely to get the water cooler talk started about this fall's general election match-ups for U.S. Senate and Arkansas Governor. In a poll conducted on Saturday, July 17 among 793 likely Arkansas voters, our polling firm, Washington, D.C.-based Zata 3, found the following results: U.S. SENATE John Boozman (R) 57% Blanche Lincoln (D) 32% Trevor Drown (I) 3% John Gray (G) 2% Undecided 6% Analysis: This race won't finish where it stands today as I've said in previous discussions of this match-up; however, several observations stand out. First, Boozman has a strong lead in...

Global warming is serious problem, not a "hoax," and requires more than a state response, Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday. "I think it's a threat, and I think global warming is occurring," Beebe said in response to a caller to his statewide radio program who said he believed the climate change crisis was a "hoax." Another caller asked if Arkansas was going to promote a national carbon tax, which is being discussed in Washington, D.C., as a way to get companies to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere, a major cause of global warming. Any initiative designed to tackle the...

LITTLE ROCK - If Arkansas authorities tried to arrest all the illegal immigrants in the state, there would be no place to hold them, Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday."What our police officers are faced with (is), what are going to do with them?" Beebe said on his monthly call-in program on the Arkansas Radio Network. "You don't have enough room in the Pulaski County Jail for violent criminals right now. "The murderers and the rapists and the robbers need to be locked up first, in my opinion," Beebe continued. "People that will hurt you need to be locked up first....

CONWAY - The Hispanic community has a "disconnect" with non-Hispanics on the issue of illegal immigration, Gov. Mike Beebe told a group of University of Central Arkansas students Wednesday. Beebe was fielding students' questions in a public forum on the UCA campus when a student mentioned legislation in Congress that would put children of illegal immigrants on a path toward citizenship, as long as they came to the U.S. with their families before turning 16 and they plan to attend college or join the military. The measure failed a test vote in Wednesday in the U.S. Senate. The student, Manny...

RICHMOND, Va. — A man who confessed to raping a woman as he apologized two decades later as part of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is scheduled to be released from jail after serving six months of an 18-month sentence, officials said Wednesday. William Beebe, 42, pleaded guilty in November to one count of aggravated sexual battery for his attack on Liz Seccuro while at the University of Virginia. In March, a judge ordered a 10-year prison sentence with all but 18 months suspended. Seccuro was shocked when informed Tuesday by Beebe's parole officer of his impending release. She said she...

To the dismay of his victim, a man convicted last year of sexually assaulting a University of Virginia classmate in 1984 is scheduled to get out of jail after serving only six months of an 18-month sentence. William N. Beebe, 42, pleaded guilty in November to one charge of aggravated sexually battery and was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison with all but 18 months suspended. Beebe’s projected release date is now Sept. 17, according to Virginia Department of Corrections records. News of the impending release shocked and angered his victim, 40-year-old Liz Seccuro of Greenwich, Conn.“I never...