Free Republic

Weyerhaeuser has broken ground on a $500 million plant in Arkansas to produce engineered lumber from the small trees that have piled up across the pine belt after the closure of many pulp and paper mills. It is a big bet on one of the most depressed commodities in America: pine trees that are too small, crooked or otherwise unfit for making lumber. The decline of pulp and paper mills has left some timberland owners with wood they can’t sell. Several ventures have sought to capitalize on the pulpwood glut, including burning it to generate electricity—locally and abroad—and manufacturing oriented...

A former TV news anchor was convicted of fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. Stephanie Hockridge, 42, a co-founder of the Scottsdale-based lender service provider Blueacorn and a former anchor at the Phoenix ABC affiliate KNXV-TV, was found guilty on Friday by a federal jury in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain tens of millions of dollars in PPP loans, according to the Department of Justice. She was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and acquitted of four counts of wire fraud, and faces a prison sentence of up to 20...

The former police chief, convicted murderer and rapist dubbed the “Devil in the Ozarks,” was nabbed less than two miles from the Arkansas prison he escaped two weeks ago, authorities said Friday. Grant Hardin, 56, has evaded capture since walking out of Calico Rock prison on May 25 — despite searchers employing bloodhounds, officers on horseback, drones, helicopters and an elite US Border Patrol team. “Escapee Grant Hardin was captured this afternoon approximately 1.5 miles west of the prison grounds by law enforcement officials,” the Izard County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook. “His identity was confirmed by fingerprint analysis prior...

A survivalist is issuing a warning for hikers and outdoorsmen in the Ozarks of Arkansas: steer clear of the area. Shawn Hendrix's warning comes amid an ongoing search for prison escapee and former Gateway Police Department Chief Grant Hardin, 56, who fled from a medium-security prison in Calico Rock on Sunday, May 25, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC). Nicknamed the "Devil in the Ozarks," Hardin was serving decades in prison for murder and rape. "I think that the big thing that gets him caught or dead in the field is getting injured … or a foodborne illness...

An Arkansas kindergarten graduation descended into madness when a large brawl broke out between parents, forcing school officials to scold the “unacceptable” behavior displayed in front of the little tykes. Several adults threw punches at each other in the hallway of West Memphis’ Faulk Elementary on Wednesday as the frightened screams of nearby children filled the crowded corridor. Multiple men and women were in the center of the melee, plowing through the school as other parents rushed to get their children away from the danger, according to video obtained by WREG. Kids could also be heard crying “stop” in the...

A disgraced ex-Arkansas police chief who was serving 80 years in prison for rape and a shotgun-to-the-head execution escaped from a high-security prison disguised as a cop. Grant Hardin, 56, the former police chief of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was seen on security cameras walking out of the North Central Unit prison, in Calico Rock, dressed in what appears to be a homemade law enforcement uniform on Sunday afternoon. Hardin, who is considered extremely dangerous, used the outfit to sneak through the controlled gate while inconspicuously pushing a cart full of utility materials, according to the Stone County Sheriff’s...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A former Arkansas teacher and leader at Immanuel Baptist Church has taken a plea deal related to sexual assault charges. Reagan Gray, who worked as a teacher for Pulaski County Special School District and volunteer at a local church, was accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor while working as a church volunteer back in April of 2024. Following her "no contest" plea to a reduced charge of 2nd degree sexual assault, Gray is now required to register as a sex offender and has been given six years probation. Gray was initially arrested in...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The widow of an Arkansas airport director who was killed during a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raid on his home last year sued the agency and several officials, claiming the agency and officers acted recklessly and negligently. Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski died days after he was shot when ATF agents were executing a warrant March 19, 2024, at his home in Little Rock. The ATF said Malinowski shot at agents, striking and injuring one, after which agents returned fire. An affidavit released after the shooting said the...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A wrongful death federal lawsuit has been filed against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Explosives (ATF) and at least 10 agents after Bryan Malinowski, who was a director at the Clinton National Airport, was killed in an early morning raid. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys for Maria "Maer" Malinowski, the wife of Malinowski, and alleges "agents chose the most aggressive tactics available" to serve a search warrant on March 19, 2024. The complaint alleges the constitutional rights of the Malinowskis' were violated, with attorneys calling his death a "needless and a direct result of...

Planned Parenthood’s affiliates spent $3.4 million helping women travel for abortion last year, according to a new report from the organization. Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider. Nationwide, its facilities aborted more than 400,000 unborn children last year. Planned Parenthood’s annual report for 2024 brags that its affiliates spent $3.4 million helping more than 12,500 women travel for abortion under its “patient navigation program.” Planned Parenthood’s regional affiliate owns facilities in Little Rock and Rogers. However, Arkansas’ good, pro-life laws generally prevent those facilities from performing abortions. But last summer, Family Council learned Planned Parenthood had secretly acquired...

A pastor who pled guilty to 11 counts of possessing child pornography had the book thrown at him, receiving 10 years in prison for each offense, resulting in a 110-year sentence. Last year, James Vincent Henry, the 43-year-old pastor of Crossroads Assembly of God church in Delight, Arkansas, was arrested and charged with 100 counts of possession, viewing, and distribution of child pornography. According to a statement by Arkansas State Police, they received a cyber tip from the Center for Missing & Exploited Children that the offending media was being distributed made through the online messaging apps Snapchat and Kik....

On Monday Governor Sanders signed a good law to help teach public school students about unborn children. S.B. 450 by Sen. Breanne Davis (R — Russellville) and Rep. Kendra Moore (R — Lincoln) lets public school students see a recording of a high-definition ultrasound video as part of human fetal growth and development education courses. The law also makes it possible for students to learn important facts about how unborn children develop in the womb. Similar legislation has passed in North Dakota, Tennessee, Idaho, and Kansas. With the governor’s signature, S.B. 450 is now Act 915 of 2025. Act 915...

The Arkansas legislature is making an improvement to the state constitution’s right to keep and bear arms language to the ballot for the next election. Here is the current Arkansas Constitution Article 2, § 5: Right to Bear ArmsThe citizens of this State shall have the right to keep and bear arms, for their common defense.The current language is problematic because it only mentions “common defense” and does not specifically mention individual rights, although individual rights are implied. Arkansas became a Constitutional Carry state on April 4th, 2013. On April 12, 2023, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee signed SB480 into law,...

CONWAY, Ark. — The Conway Police Department is investigating a shooting that took place Sunday night. The shooting occurred near 5th Avenue Park in Conway. Officials said there are 11 victims. Two of the victims died and nine are at area hospitals in stable condition. Video taken right before the shooting shows people waving handguns in the middle of a crowd. Other video taken at the scene would show others attending to a person who was shot. Police are asking the public to avoid the area while the investigation is ongoing. Other

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Gwinnett County police are investigating a stolen charter jet that was located Monday afternoon at Briscoe Airfield in suburban Atlanta. Police say the 1995 twin-engine Cessna Citation 7 -- valued at $7 million -- was in St. Augustine, Fla., awaiting its next next charter. The pilot reported the plane missing to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office at 11:30 a.m. Monday. The 10-passenger executive jet showed up at Briscoe Airfield between 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 6:30 a.m. Sunday. Airport authorities reported it was there after getting getting the bulletin about the missing plane. Whoever stole the jet...

A new law in Arkansas means students enrolled in the state’s public schools will begin attending a mandatory gun safety course during the 2025-2026 school year. FOX News reported that House Bill 1117 was signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) last week. HB 1117 was sponsored by state Rep. Scott Richardson (R-Bentonville), who explained the conversations with neighbors led to the idea of gun safety training for students, “All of our children play together and invade whatever home happens to be the play of the day. And in that process, they may go into a neighbor’s home and discover...

Elizabeth MacDonald @LizMacDonaldFOX This is disturbing – Biden and Obama Democrats created a new beast, the “popup nonprofit shell” they suddenly launch to take in your taxpayer money supposedly for things like climate change and illegal immigration. Major front for taxpayer abuse with accusations of grift growing by the hour. Never saw it like this in decades covering IRS/taxes. Check out the tax returns for one of these popup NGO shells, the Climate United Fund which got the biggest nonprofit grant in history out of Biden’s massive climate slush funds. Kamala Harris and Biden’s EPA chief Michael Regan gave $7...

I live in Washington state (yeah, I know, don’t start, been here all my life). The politics/crime/liberal insanity is about to the point hubby and I are seriously considering moving after 30+ years in our home. So, we looked up the lowest cost states to live in, and Arkansas is either #1 or #2, depending on the website. We started looking at real estate and are blown away at what you can get verses what the costs are in this state. I just wanted input from any Freepers who live in Arkansas about what it’s like during the summer/winter, any...

New legislation proposed in Arkansas would clarify that abortion by fraud is a crime. H.B. 1551 by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R — Paragould) makes it a felony to secretly give a pregnant woman abortion-inducing drugs without her knowledge or consent. Right now abortion in Arkansas is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother, and it is illegal to deliver abortion-inducing drugs into the state. Arkansas also has laws prohibiting fetal homicide. However, Arkansas has no specific law addressing situations in which a person secretly gives abortion drugs like RU-486 to a pregnant woman. In 2022 a Texas...

Nakara Alston was leaving her boyfriend when she learned she was eight weeks pregnant. In desperation, she got an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Albany, N.Y., and moved with her two daughters into a homeless shelter. But something was clearly wrong. Several weeks after the procedure, she was still bleeding heavily and suffering from painful cramps. She took another home pregnancy test, and when it came back positive, the clinic staff assured her that they had seen the aborted fetus and there was nothing to worry about. It was only after she went to an emergency room that...