United Steel Workers Local 752L at Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.-Texarkana voted to accept a new contract Thursday. The vote was 1,006 for the contract and 141 against. The result came in at 8:45 p.m., 45 minutes after voting ended. Voting began at 6 a.m. “The members had the opportunity t...

Staff photo by Evan Lewis  Family members of Frank Schoen comfort each other Thursday afternoon after learning of Schoen’s death. Texas Parks & Wildlife Game Warden Shawn Hervey fatally shot Schoen of Texarkana, Texas. According to reports, Schoen pointed a weapon at police officers...

The Texas Rangers are investigating a fatal officer-involved shooting by a Texas Parks and Wildlife Game warden. Neighbors identified the victim as Frank Schoen, 56, of Texarkana, Texas. Game Warden Shawn Hervey shot the man when he allegedly pointed a gun at officers, said Texas Department of P...

Twenty years ago today, a mother and her two young daughters were found slain in their Atlanta, Texas, mobile home. The Butts triple homicide remained unsolved for 17 years, until Kevin Hailey, long suspected of committing the crimes, pleaded guilty in 2009 to killing Gerri Faye Butts, 29. The pl...

With construction almost completed, area residents are eagerly anticipating the opening of Copeland’s of New Orleans restaurant. Residents have also been waiting to learn who its investors are: Texarkana, Ark., natives Milton Shannon and Adrin Dansby. “We’re excited about the o...

WASHINGTON—Congress will be asked to approve base realignment and closure in an effort to shave the nation’s defense budget, a senior Department of Defense official said. During a briefing at the Pentagon streamed live on the Internet, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday...

Texarkana, Ark., Police Department and the FBI are investigating the Monday armed robbery of Wells Fargo Bank on Hickory Street. Two males wearing black clothing and black shoes with white trim entered the bank armed with a silver revolver and a silver semi-automatic pistol. The men wore pantyhose...

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Yo quiero Taco Bell breakfast burrito! The Mexican-style fast-food chain that’s best remembered for a 1990s ad in which a Chihuahua proclaimed “I want Taco Bell” in Spanish, introduced a breakfast menu Thursday at nearly 800 restaurants in 14 states. ...

The homeless in Texarkana were treated to a warm breakfast of waffles, sausage and eggs Thursday morning while volunteers asked questions to assess their situation and their needs.  The Texarkana Homeless Coalition spent the early part of Thursday counting the homeless in Texarkana for the P...

The city of Ashdown, Ark., will receive a $66,667 grant from the state program Safe Routes to School to construct sidewalks for schoolchildren. Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department will provide the grant, AHTD Director Scott Bennett said. There is no timetable for when the money w...

Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge, the “Castle in the Clouds,” will undergo a $6.2 million renovation in the next 18 months. The lodge will remain open until Feb. 16, when bids for renovation will be opened, said Greg Butts, state parks director. Bidding has been delayed twice. The oth...

 A benefit with live entertainment, activities, auction and more for Keith McDaniel will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at The Road Map, 2525 East St. The benefit is sponsored by The Lizard Memorial Fallen Riders Charity. McDaniel was injured in a motorcycle accident in 2011. Proceeds wil...

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.—A Hot Springs community college’s board of trustees postponed an April special election after attorneys questioned whether the school could legally use a property tax increase to fund campus construction projects. The National Park Community College board had schedul...

Church of the Living God Temple 4 will host its annual women’s conference beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday at 928 Laurel St. The theme is “Get Out of That Pit,” based on the bestselling book by Beth Moore. Saturday’s portion of the conference features sessions at 9 a.m. and 1...

Law enforcement dispatch records for Wednesday.   Miller County Sheriff’s Department 8:15 a.m., accident, County Road 57 12:17 p.m., accident, 12 County Road 13 12:20 p.m., fire, County Road 44   Bowie County Sheriff’s Office 10:37 a.m., vandalism already occurred,101 N...

Rains postponed repairs at two Texas rail crossings this week, but dates for resuming the work have been set. The Union Pacific crossing on Main Street in Atlanta closes for work Tuesday. The project on Farm to Market Road 2327 near Domino begins Wednesday. The closures are indefinite, but detours...

Poodle Patch and Texarkana Humane Society will have a variety of dogs for adoption from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at PetSmart. Dogs available for adoption include poodles, a Great Dane and more, from small to large. All pets have been in individual foster homes and are spayed or neutered, microchip...

The Miller County Democratic Party will launch a monthly prayer breakfast series at 9 a.m. Saturday at Old Tyme Burger Shoppe. The Rev. Anthony Mullens of Lonoke Baptist Church will be the keynote speaker and will focus on the program’s theme of “Love Thy Neighbor.” The monthly s...

In a midday meeting, Texarkana, Ark., School District Board of Trustees on Thursday held a public hearing for a Facilities Master Plan. No one from the public appeared for the hearing. However, Board President Carol Dalby said community members participated in four Strategic Planning Committee me...

The Associated Press NEW YORK—J.C. Penney Co. shares soared nearly 19 percent Thursday after the department store chain delivered a 2012 profit outlook that was well above analysts’ projections. The guidance signaled that the chain’s profit won’t be hurt as Penney embarks...

NASHVILLE, Ark.—State Rep. Nate Steel will take his father’s place as city attorney. The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to contract legal services to Steel, who has served in the Arkansas House of Representa-tives since 2010. His father, George Steel Jr., announced recently t...

Staff photo by Evan Lewis  Gordon Lightfoot performs his brand of folk music to a crowd of more than 1,000 Thursday night at the Perot Theatre. Lightfoot will be preforming in Tulsa, Okla., tonight.

Today is Friday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2012. There are 339 days left in the year.  Today’s Highlight in History: On Jan. 27, 1967, astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft.&n...

The Associated Press LITTLE ROCK—Lawmakers on Thursday recommended restoring 20 firefighters to the financially troubled Arkansas Forestry Commission, but declined to back a tax increase as a way to pay for the new jobs. The recommendation from a panel formed to look at the agency’s...

The Associated Press WASHINGTON—Testimony wrapped up on Thursday in a trial determining whether new political district lines drawn by the Texas Legislature violated the federal Voting Rights Act. Attention will now quickly shift to San Antonio, where another federal court must draw interim...

The Associated Press AUSTIN—State Board of Education members pressed the Texas education commissioner on Thursday about whether an abundance of high-stakes standardized testing is warping classroom teaching to ensure students spend more time preparing for the exams then actual learning. Ro...

The Associated Press DALLAS—Teams from Wiley College and the University of Southern California will have a rematch Friday of the memorable 1935 debate that saw the small, historically black school prevail over the nationally known, mostly white powerhouse. The exhibition will be held at Wi...

Associated Press  In this Dec. 16, 2011, photo, a tanker truck speeds down Interstate 35 in Austin. Transportation officials have signed off on a faster speed limit of 75 mph for 1,500 miles of Texas highways. The Texas Transportation Commission approved the change Thursday for segments of nin...

Arkansas  MILLWOOD LAKE: Surface temperatures rose slightly to 50-55 degrees. Clarity and visibility is improving; currently ranging 8-12 inches in the river, depending on location. The best bass bite over the past week has been on soft plastics pitched to stumps, grass, lily pads, and wood la...

The Associated Press WASHINGTON—The Pentagon outlined a plan Thursday for slowing the growth of military spending, including cutting the size of the Army and Marine Corps, retiring older planes and trimming war costs. It drew quick criticism from Republicans, signaling the difficulty of sca...

The Associated Press WASHINGTON—Why do Mitt Romney and other wealthy investors pay lower taxes on the income they make from investments than they would if they earned their millions from wages? Because Congress, through the tax code, has long treated investment more favorably than labor, se...

NEW YORK—After years of experimenting, the top video destinations on the Web are suddenly flush with original programming: documentaries, reality shows and scripted series. Over the next few months, YouTube, Netflix and Hulu will roll out their most ambitious original programming yet—...

The Associated Press NEW YORK—A different kind of F-word is stirring a linguistic and political debate as controversial as what it defines. The word is “fracking”—as in hydraulic fracturing, a technique long used by the oil and gas industry to free oil and gas from rock....