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Former Fox News host and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is arguably the most popular Republican candidate for president in 2016.A July Gallup poll showed him as the most well-liked among Republicans, and he even had not-terrible numbers among Democrats (compared to the other GOP contenders). But that doesn't make him the GOP's top 2016 hope. Not hardly.A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Huckabee, who will appear on multiple Sunday shows this weekend as he launches a nationwide book tour, trails Hillary Clinton 56-39 in a prospective 2016 matchup among registered voters. By comparison, the Post-ABC poll has also surveyed...

ALCO stores nationwide, including those in South Hutchinson and 21 other small Kansas communities, are closing. The stores, which typically serve small towns with few other options for everything from clothing to housewares and groceries, began conducting going-out-of-business sales on Friday morning, a day after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas authorized ALCO’s owners – Tiger Capital Group LLC, SB Capital Group LLC and Great American Group LLC – to begin doing so. In all, 198 stores in 23 states will close, as will the 113-year-old discount retailer’s 352,000-square-foot distribution center in Abilene. During the liquidation sale, the company plans...

ARKANSAS (KFSM) – An Arkansas lawmaker’s newly-introduced bill would require women taking abortion pills to take that medication in front of a doctor and with the doctor’s permission. Rep. Julie Mayberry (R-Hensley) introduced House Bill 1076 to the Arkansas State Legislature. The bill states, “When mifepristone or another drug or chemical is used to induce an abortion, the initial administration of the drug or chemical shall occur in the same room and in the physical presence of the physician who prescribed, dispensed or otherwise provided the drug or chemical to the patient.” The drafted bill goes on to state it...

LITTLE ROCK — Republican Asa Hutchinson has been sworn in as Arkansas’ 46th governor. The ex-congressman and former federal Homeland Security official took the oath of office at the state Capitol Tuesday, succeeding Democrat Mike Beebe. Hutchinson took office a day after lawmakers convened for the start of the 2015 session. Hutchinson has said he wants lawmakers to move quickly on his campaign promise to cut taxes for the middle class by $100 million a year. He’s also expected to announce later this month whether he’ll supporting continuing the state’s compromise Medicaid expansion. Beebe, who was first elected in 2006...

A closely watched legal fight over two of the nation's most stringent abortion bans resumed Tuesday, with attorneys for North Dakota and Arkansas asking a federal appeals court to reinstate two laws overturned by two separate lower federal courts. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard back-to-back oral arguments Tuesday but made no immediate ruling after giving each side 15 minutes to present its case. Several questions by the three-judge panel suggested that the two states face a difficult task to uphold laws that seemingly challenge the U.S. Supreme Court standard established more than four decades...

Democrats would be mistaken to underestimate Mike Huckabee, perhaps the strongest Republican presidential contender. I like Mike Huckabee. A lot. He’s simply a fun, funny, principled, appealing guy. Whether or not I think he’d make a good president (and I don’t), he would definitely make a great presidential candidate. And that should have Democrats scared. During my time at Fox News, I appeared on Gov. Huckabee’s show a handful of times. We always had fiery but friendly exchanges. And behind the scenes, even more than in front of the camera, Gov. Huckabee was always affable and downright, double-me-over funny. He’s...

Mike Huckabee is going to put down his bass and walk away from his lucrative Fox News show to at least contemplate a run for the presidency.The former Arkansas governor should be taken seriously, even if he faces an uphill battle to win the Republican nomination against opponents with superior fundraising and organization.Huckabee already exceeded expectations in his first presidential campaign back in 2008. He started as a lower-tiered candidate while pro-choice, pro-civil unions Rudy Giuliani led in all the national polls—which might tell you something about the reliability of name ID-based early polling.Giuliani didn’t win a single primary, while...

Former Arkansas Governor wrote in 2013 that Common Core state standards are “near and dear to my heart,” Gotnews.com has learned. The pro-Common Core stance of the former governor is of new interest now that Huckabee is contemplating a run for the presidency in 2016. Here’s an article from the Tulsa World from June in 2013. “Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee urged Oklahoma lawmakers to resist throwing out new educational standards the Legislature approved back in 2010.” “ In a letter to Oklahoma lawmakers this week, he said the Common Core state standards have been “near and dear to my...

TV host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he is leaving his Fox News talk show as he considers whether to seek the Republican nomination for president, a decision he expects to reach in the spring. Huckabee said Saturday night's edition of "Huckabee" would be his last as he ponders his political future. The weekly show, which is taped with a live audience and features political commentary as well as interviews with guests and musical entertainment, has been on the air for more than six years. "There has been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would...

A billboard in Harrison, Arkansas, is promoting “whiteprideradio.com” and is being paid for by a group formerly known as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Knights Party national director Thom Robb told The Harrison Daily Times the group is leasing the space for a year. Robb was national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which The Southern Poverty Law Center says Robb renamed the Knights Party. The billboard shows a young white girl holding a puppy next and reads, “It’s NOT Racist to (love) Your People,” with a heart image replacing the word love. It refers...

Gov Mike Huckabee will announce his departure from FOXNEWS, DRUDGE has learned... Huckabee will address in detail on program tonight at 8 PM ET... Will be his last program after 6 1/2 years... Developing...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who made headlines last week after Democrats jumped on a comment he made about their treatment of women, is the new 2016 favorite of Republican primary voters, according to a new poll out Wednesday. Huckabee leads the primary field with 16 percent of the vote in Public Policy Polling’s new national poll, up three points from PPP’s poll last month. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is also on the rise: he jumped to second place with 14 percent, up from 10 percent last month. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was the frontrunner in December...

One poll showing him ahead is a fluke. Two polls showing him ahead? We call that “momentum.”I’m not in the habit of making pledges, but I promise you this: I will never, ever tire of trolling you guys with numbers showing Huck as some sort of contender for the nomination. Ever. Fourteen percent of Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP say they would likely support Huckabee for their party’s nomination if he runs.Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is next at 13% followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Christie tied at 10%…That’s a change from November, when...

Breaking: Mike Huckabee‘s final “Huckabee” will air tonight, TVNewser has learned. Huckabee will announce on his show that he is parting ways with Fox News as he explores the possibility of a presidential run. The show was taped at Fox News studios in Manhattan this evening and will air tonight at 8 pm ET. Huckabee began hosting his weekend show in Sept., 2008, months after he dropped out the race for the 2008 GOP nomination. In 2011, the former Arkansas governor teased on the May 14 episode of “Huckabee” that he would make a big announcement. At the time it...

ROGERS, Ark. – The garbage cans are becoming morbidly obese at Rogers High School.“We’re feeding trash cans a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables,” Robin Kinder, president of the Arkansas School Nutrition Association and assistant child nutrition director for Springdale Public Schools, tells NWAonline.com.In addition to changing the lunch menu to make it “healthier,” the school sends students back into the line if they fail to take the required fruits and vegetables mandated by the overhaul of the National School Lunch Program.“It would just go straight to the trash sometimes,” Estefany Corleto, a junior at Rogers High School, says of...

POLK COUNTY (AR) (KFSM) – The father of a murder victim jumped the partition in a Polk County courtroom Monday while trying to attack his daughter’s killer, according to courthouse officials. Karl Roberts appeared in Polk County Circuit Court on Monday for a competency evaluation to determine if he could waive his post-conviction rights, following his previous murder conviction in the 1999 death of 12-year-old Andi Brewer.Andi’s father, Greg Brewer, jumped the partition in the courtroom and tried to attack Roberts. Brewer was tackled to the ground by Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies and transported to the Polk County Jail,...

The Affordable Care Act may become even more of a nightmare with Hillary Clinton in the White House, says Betsy McCaughey, chairwoman of the Committee to Reduce Infectious Deaths and former lieutenant-governor of New York. "Hillary could make it worse," McCaughey said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV, referencing Clinton's attempt to launch a heathcare plan when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president. "Hillarycare back in November 1993, all 1,362 pages of it . . . was far more coercive than Obamacare." For example, said McCaughey, a medical doctor, Clinton's plan was far more rigid than President...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has warned local authorities of a threat that Islamic State militants would blow up the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge spanning the Mississippi River, an agency spokesman said on Tuesday. The bridge is a major route connecting Tennessee and Arkansas. The Federal Bureau of Investigation passed the threat on to local police in a bulletin out of an "abundance of caution," spokesman Chris Allen said. "This is an unsubstantiated, anonymous threat," he said, adding that there was no useful intelligence arising from it. Allen had no details on when the threat was received or how. The...

The FBI has warned local authorities of a threat that Islamic State militants would blow up the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge spanning the Mississippi River, an agency spokesman said on Tuesday. The bridge is a major route connecting Tennessee and Arkansas. The Federal Bureau of Investigation passed the threat on to local police in a bulletin out of an "abundance of caution," spokesman Chris Allen said. "This is an unsubstantiated, anonymous threat," he said, adding that there was no useful intelligence arising from it.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The FBI sent a warning to local authorities about a possible plot to blow up a Memphis bridge. The FBI told WREG it received an anonymous tip, and stressed that there is “no actionable intelligence” that something will happen. All local law enforcement agencies have been alerted.