This year marks the 200th anniversary of the infamous “New Madrid Earthquakes,” earthquakes that tore through the central United States in 1811 and 1812. A sequence of four of the largest North American earthquakes ever recorded destroyed the Mississippi River Valley town of New Madrid, Missouri. The intense shaking was felt along the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Coast, and even up into Canada...

Five years ago, the City of El Dorado made national news with an exceptional new scholarship program called the El Dorado Promise. Generously funded by the locally based Murphy Oil Corporation, the program covers the full cost of college for students who receive their entire K-12 education from the school district. Partial scholarships are available to students who graduate from El Dorado High Sch...

Whenever we face disaster or crisis in Arkansas, we hear stories of the outstanding, and sometimes heroic, deeds of everyday Arkansans. Our citizens never hesitate to stand up for each other and do extraordinary things, taking actions that often go unrecognized despite their admirable display of courage and selflessness. We know that the people of this State give freely of themselves for others in...

Arkansas’s efforts to provide students with a first-class education received positive affirmation this week from the country’s leading education journal, Education Week. The journal’s annual “Quality Counts” report grades all 50 states and the District of Columbia on the policies and performance of their schools. This year, Arkansas’s public-education system was named the fifth-best in...

We have all been frustrated watching gasoline and diesel prices constantly fluctuate in recent years. In Arkansas, we continue our efforts to develop and promote alternative fuels. This past August, the Arkansas Energy Office created a .2 million, federally-funded program to increase the number of vehicles in Arkansas that run on compressed natural gas, also known as CNG. CNG is made by compr...

In Arkansas, 2011 was a year of record flooding and searing heat, a busy and deadly tornado season and a slow recovery from national economic woes. However, our agricultural industry has rebounded after those floods, we continue to rebuild and recover from the storms, and Arkansas remains one of only four states to make it through the past two fiscal years without a general-revenue shortfall. ...

Health care, long one of the basic tenets of our society, has become a politically polarizing issue during the past few years. The rapidly rising costs of care are making it more difficult for Americans to obtain the health services they need. In Arkansas, we are taking action ourselves to control these expensive health-care costs. We are working with insurance companies, health-care providers,...

This week, the United States formally ended its military mission in Iraq. Since 2003, more than one-million Americans have served our nation there. Nearly 4,500 of our servicemen and women died there, and 32,000 American troops were injured. Many more remain in harm’s way, serving in Afghanistan or on other deployments around the globe. The good news is that thousands of our troops will be ...

I have always believed that entrepreneurship and education play a vital role in the economic success of our State. Our history of business success is built on stories of the personal initiative of Arkansans whose ideas led to the creation of companies like Walmart, Tyson, Stephens, Murphy Oil, JB Hunt, and many others. Today, small businesses are still the lifeblood of the state’s economy, em...

Less than two years ago, Arkansas used nearly http://governor.arkansas.gov/newsroom/files/columns.xml million in federal stimulus money to spur private investment in renewable-energy projects. Through a program, dubbed the Renewable Technology Rebate Fund, the Arkansas Energy Office provided tax incentives for the installation of solar- and wind-energy projects. The State received national attention for its successful efforts in partnering with priv...

With the holidays once again upon us, the spirit of giving will bless many of our fellow Arkansans in need. Food drives, toy donations and clothing-collection efforts all contribute to making the season a better one for those who are less fortunate. But their needs are not strictly seasonal, and their plight doesn’t end with beginning of a new year. More than seventeen percent of all Arkansan...

As Arkansans, we have more to be grateful for this Thanksgiving than many of us may realize. We hear constant news of economic turmoil across America and in Europe, and we see the partisan gridlock that has brought Congress to a standstill. While we are affected by these forces here in the Natural State, we have stepped forward to chart our own course for the better. The strides we’ve made n...

Recent events have reminded us that, in Arkansas, we must be prepared for any type of disaster to strike at any time of the year. Thanks to technology, we often have the opportunity to take shelter, but planning ahead is also important. This past week, we had tornado warnings in parts of the State, a reminder that severe storms strike Arkansas in all months of the year and not just in the spri...

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to meet a group of adoptive parents at the Capitol as part of National Adoption Awareness Month. The stories they shared were moving. One couple, Darryl and Charise Easter of Union County, were foster parents to three girls. Frequent court reviews and appearances became a regular part of their lives. After the Easters adopted their youngest daughter at...

On Tuesday, November 8, a special election will be held for an important job-creation project that will decide the future of Arkansas’s interstates. If approved by voters, the 2011 Interstate Rehabilitation Program will authorize our Highway Commission to re-issue 5 million in bonds. These bonds will allow us to continue the work of modernizing our interstates. The re-construction work wil...

The past two weeks have been unusually busy ones in the Arkansas community of Helena-West Helena. There has been an unusual mix of news stories about its music, criminal justice and economic development that has had people across the state talking about Phillips County. For many in the Delta, this is all positive news, putting them on a path to new beginnings. First came the expected news of ...

This past week, the Arkansas Department of Health confirmed this fall’s first case of seasonal influenza. Because the flu is a highly contagious respiratory disease, it won’t be long before we begin to see more cases. It is important that you protect yourself early and help stop the advance of the virus. You can do this by getting an annual flu vaccine. Believe me, I am not a fan of needles...

Later this month, law-enforcement agencies across Arkansas will participate in our third Drug Take Back Initiative, working to reduce drug abuse, avoid accidental poisonings and improve water quality. Unused or expired medications will be collected statewide on October 29 as part of a national effort to remove unwanted or leftover prescription drugs from people’s homes. The initiative offer...

Recently, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) launched Access Arkansas, an online method of applying for state services. Arkansans can now apply online for several DHS programs, including ARKids First, the Medicaid Savings Program, TEA Cash Assistance and SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program. This past week, I attended the grand opening of the Access Arkansas Processing C...

Two and a half years ago, Arkansas dedicated new revenue to create a much-needed Trauma System to save lives in our State. Before we changed the law, Arkansas was one of only three states without a trauma system and the only state in the nation without a designated trauma center. That has changed, and I am pleased to report that as we continue the work of establishing the system, we are already ...