• Bill to axe rapists’ parental rights

    LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas lawmaker is proposing that the state prohibit convicted rapists from having any custody or visitation rights of children conceived during rape. Democratic Rep. John Edwards of Little Rock filed legislation Monday that would remove all parental rights to the …

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  • UAMS tells patients of records breach

    LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences says medical records involving about 1,500 patients have been improperly disclosed, but no financial records were released. The medical school in Little Rock said Monday the breach occurred in 2010 and involved documents that …

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  • News of Other Days

    Editor’s note: This column ran previously in the Guard on June 18, 1993.

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  • Blasted union Twinkie killers!

    Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.   I’m bummed by the news that Hostess, home of the Twinkie and other venerable sugary snacks, is shutting down. I’ll bet I haven’t eaten more than three or four Twinkies in the last …

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  • Anniversaries and conspiracies

    While many Americans were considering all they had to be thankful for and/or making shopping lists, there was an anniversary that went largely unnoticed amidst all the Black Friday hoopla, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. On Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, the 35th president …

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  • Fear not the fiscal cliff!

    The so-called “fiscal cliff” is the confluence of three events on Jan. 1: • expiration of a temporary payroll tax cut; • expiration of the so-called “Bush” income and estate tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003; • mandatory spending cuts also known as “sequestration.” Many commentators are …

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  • Neighbor arrested for killing abused girl

    BENTONVILLE (AP) — A neighbor has been arrested as a suspect in the killing of a 6-year-old Arkansas girl whose high-profile child abuse case last year sent her father and stepmother to prison, police said. Jersey Bridgeman was reported missing the morning of Nov. 20. …

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  • 8 NE Ark. men accused in cockfight plead guilty

    LAKE CITY (AP) — Eight men accused in a cockfighting ring have pleaded guilty to possessing an instrument of a crime. The men entered the pleas Monday during a hearing in Lake City. The men were each given a 12-month suspended sentence and were fined …

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  • Edith Morehead

    MELBOURNE — Edith Maye Morehead, 88, of Melbourne died Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. Born Feb. 20, 1924, in Lonestar, she was the daughter of Teddy and Aslee Neel Blankenship. She was a homemaker and was of the Baptist faith. Survivors include two sons, Hearley Morehead …

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  • Dr. Bob Smith

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Dr. Bob G. Smith, 79, of Springfield, Mo., formerly of Batesville, died Nov. 5, 2012, in Springfield. He was born Dec. 14, 1932. He formerly practiced medicine in Batesville. Survivors include his wife, Nonnie Smith; two sons of Springfield and Fayetteville; a …

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  • Verdell Hodge

    GAINESBORO — Nathaniel Verdell Hodge, 93, of Gainesboro died Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012, in a Batesville hospital. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Sharp United Methodist Church with Jerry Lumpkin officiating. Burial will be in Wood Cemetery in the Gainesboro community. Pallbearers …

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  • Yvonne Francia

    Yvonne Francia, 61, of Batesville died recently at her home. She was born Oct. 21, 1951, in Jacksonville. Survivors include a son, Jesse Ford of Arkansas; a daughter, Kelly Ford of Massachusetts; her mother, Emmaline Robinson of Pennsylvania; a brother, Brett Robinson of Arkansas; and …

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