KARK – Officials with the Arkansas State Police said that Interstate 40 eastbound at Mile Markers 159 and 160 is shutdown due to multiple crashes According to a post on social media by the ASP the closure was caused by two consecutive wrecks that occurred around 7 p.m A crash report by the Arkansas Department of Transportation’s IDriveArkansas map said that there were injuries involved in both crashes Officials said that this stretch will likely remain closed for several hours Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" these are the actual most popular baby names so far in 2025 Whether it’s a short vacation or they’re jetting off to begin their career show the future traveler you care with a meaningful graduation gift National Teacher Appreciation Week begins May 5 take advantage of these freebies and deals A sense of urgency surrounds the North Little Rock School District ahead of the May 13 special election as district staff Support journalism that digs deeper into topics that matter most to Arkansans. Donate today to preserve the quality and integrity of local journalism. Lena Miano covers K-12 education for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette She joined the newsroom shortly after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May 2024 This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2025 audio and/or video material shall not be published rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use The AP will not be held liable for any delays errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing the Tulsa Drillers closed out a winning home stand Sunday at ONEOK Field Jackson Ferris shined on the mound and Jose Ramos and Yeiner Fernandez had big days at the plate to lead Tulsa to a 9-2 victory over the Arkansas Travelers The Drillers concluded the six-game series with the Travelers with a 5-1 record and it marked their second straight series win at home After opening the season with just one win in its first nine game BOXSCORE Sunday’s series finale began with both starting pitchers cruising through the first two innings before both ran into control issues in the third Ferris retired eight of the first nine batters he faced the lefthander hit a batter and walked another to set up a run-scoring double from Caleb Cali opened the game by retiring the first seven batters he faced before a walk a hit batter and another walk loaded the bases in the third with one out With the Drillers still looking for their first hit Nick Senzel drew another walk to force in a run before a sacrifice fly from Ramos gave them a 2-1 lead The score remained unchanged until Ramos struck again in the bottom of the fifth The centerfielder belted his Texas League leading ninth home run of the season drive that cleared the fence just to the right of straightaway centerfield The Drillers second and third hits in the game came when Fernandez and John Rhodes opened the sixth with consecutive singles A walk and a wild pitch brought Fernandez home Victor Labrada homered in the eighth for the Travelers second run The Drillers closed the scoring in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a throwing error and a RBI double from Senzel The third-inning run was the only spot on Ferris’ line He worked five innings and allowed just the one run on three hits and three walks while striking out six The outing gave him his first win of the year *After a run of bad weather to start the season Sunday’s game was played on a cloudless day in downtown Tulsa with temperatures remaining in the low 70s throughout the afternoon Ramos has now reached base safely in 19 straight games on-base streak in the Texas League this season His big game continued a hot spell for the outfielder marking his eighth multi-hit game of the year The catcher had to depart the contest in the eighth inning when he was struck on the hand by the bat on a swing from Nick Raposo It was the third time in the home stand that Fernandez had been called for catcher’s interference *Arkansas pitchers combined to walk 12 batters in the game *Tulsa’s Aaron Bracho drew four walks in five plate appearances It was the first four-walk game for a Drillers batter since Austin Gauthier drew four free passes against Springfield on June 14 who played for Tulsa’s Texas Collegiate league team in 2020 took the mound and got the final out in the bottom of the eighth inning *The three weekend games of the series drew a total paid attendance of 21,316 to ONEOK Field The Drillers will be off on Monday before opening a six-game series in Amarillo on Tuesday The six-game series with the Sod Poodles will mark Tulsa’s first action this season against a team from the Texas League’s South Division Tuesday’s series opener will be a morning game with first pitch scheduled for 11:05 a.m Neither team has yet to announce its starting pitchers for the series OK – The Tulsa Drillers earned another walk-off victory against the Arkansas Travelers on Friday night After Tulsa failed to hold two different leads the game appeared to be going into extra innings tied at 4-4 OK – The Tulsa Drillers earned another walk-off victory against the Arkansas Travelers on Friday night Arkansas pitcher Juan Burgos failed to secure a catch while covering first base in what would have been the final out of the inning The error allowed Yeiner Fernandez to score the winning run for the Drillers in a 5-4 victory at ONEOK Field The triumph was Tulsa’s second walk-off win of the week The Drillers now hold a 3-1 series lead over the first-place Travelers with two games remaining in the six-game set BOXSCORE The game was scoreless over the first three innings with neither team appearing as if they could break through That changed in the fourth when Tulsa took advantage of an Arkansas mistake Taylor Young and Sean McLain drew consecutive walks and advanced into scoring position on Chris Newell’s deep fly out Young and McLain scored on a pop up to shallow right field that was misplayed by Arkansas second baseman Blake Rambusch The Travelers responded in the seventh inning by using four singles to produce three runs and take a 3-2 lead The Drillers quickly answered in the bottom half of the seventh with two runs to regain the lead Newell reached base on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by third baseman Caleb Cali Fernandez tied the game one batter later by scoring Newell with a double Jose Ramos followed with an RBI single to put Tulsa back in front Arkansas used a catcher’s interference and three walks to tie the game at 4-4 Tulsa benefited from two more errors from Travs pitcher Burgos to help produce the winning run The ninth inning began with a groundout before Fernandez reached base when Burgos was called for interference on a ground ball near the first base bag Nick Senzel advanced Fernandez to second base with a single to left field and Ramos moved him to third when he grounded out to Burgos Keith was Tulsa’s last hope to avoid extra innings and he hit a ground ball to the first basemen which should have been the third and final out of the inning but Burgos failed to secure the throw as Fernandez scored the game-winning run *Jacob Meador made his fifth start on Friday and allowed only one hit across four scoreless innings with three strikeouts It was his first scoreless outing of the season Meador has lowered his ERA by 11.02 runs to 6.16 Three of Tulsa’s five runs scored were unearned *Jose Ramos earned a hit to extend his on-base streak to 17 games *Newell’s seventh-inning single extended his hitting streak to nine straight games *Jorge Benitez was charged with an unearned run the largest crowd at ONEOK Field this season Tulsa and Arkansas will continue their series on Saturday night at ONEOK Field Box Score AR—The Arkansas Travelers rallied from a pair of deficits to top the Midland RockHounds It was the sixth straight win for the Travelers and their 12th in the past 13 games The final rally came in the eighth inning as the Travs put up four runs to go from down one to up three All of the game’s runs scored in the sixth Starter Dylan File worked 5.2 innings for Arkansas in a no-decision Michael Hobbs slammed the door with three strikeouts in the ninth * Arkansas scored three times in the sixth to get their first lead only to see Midland come right back with three in the top of the seventh to retake the lead * Yoyner Fajardo ripped an RBI hit to tie the score in the eighth with Victor Labrada driving in the go-ahead run two batters later Two more runs coming home on fielder’s choices added to the lead * It is the Travs fifth come from behind win of the season * Arkansas has registered a save in all six games during the winning streak The series continues on Thursday night with RH Garrett Hill (0-0 0.77) starting for Arkansas against RH Luis Morales (1-1 The game will also be broadcast on 106.7 Buz2 the chief of staff to Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr Joseph Flaherty covers the city of Little Rock for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette A graduate of Middlebury College and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism he has worked for the newspaper since 2020 A sense of urgency surrounds the North Little Rock School District ahead of the May 13 special election as district.. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC A Leslie man died in a two-vehicle crash Sunday night on Interstate 40 in North Little Rock was driving eastbound in a 1990 Jeep when he swerved to avoid a vehicle stopped in traffic His vehicle then struck the rear of a 2022 Freightliner The weather was clear and roads were dry at the time Have a news tip or event to promote? Email White River Now at news@whiterivernow.com Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter And don’t forget to download the White River Now mobile app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store Catch CBS News around the top of every hour on 1340 KBTA The North Little Rock Police Department is responding to a shots fired call at the Parkway Apartments (2000 Parkway Dr) in North Little Rock (KATV) — The North Little Rock Police Department is responding to a shots fired call at the Parkway Apartments (2000 Parkway Dr) in North Little Rock They say that the call came in around 7:45 p.m. they discovered an individual who is suffering from a minor injury Union Pacific Railroad unveiled its commemorative Abraham Lincoln No 1616 locomotive in North Little Rock Thursday North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick and Lincoln Presidential Foundation Chairman Emeritus Sergio “Satch” Pecori who signed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862 and the resulting railways were a catalyst for economic growth and the creation of America’s freight rail supply chain “Union Pacific exists because President Abraham Lincoln wasn’t afraid to ask ‘What’s Possible?’” said Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena “Our employees move the critical goods Americans use each day We are proud of our heritage and look forward to sharing this special locomotive with the communities and people along the 23 states where we operate.” The locomotive was painted locally at Union Pacific’s Downing B Jenks Locomotive Shop in North Little Rock The color scheme is a throwback to Lincoln’s era and the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 the Lincoln locomotive will serve as a traveling ambassador for Union Pacific Its first public stop will be May 10 in Portland READ ALSO: Norwegian Packaging Company Elopak Cuts Ribbon on Little Rock Plant Copyright © 2025 Arkansas Money and Politics – The city of North Little Rock is in recovery mode after storms and flooding forced their way through the central Arkansas area crews are working to remove debris from the streets with many roadways closed or barricaded They said that crews are also working to restore electricity for those experiencing power outages For more information concerning road and area closures, please visit NLR.AR.gov by Michael Snuffer I Payton Dhooge City officials in North Little Rock are continuing to address the aftermath of the recent storms providing updates on a road closure due to culvert repairs and ongoing traffic light issues Remount Road between Spriggs Road and Maryland Avenue is still closed to allow for repairs to a culvert that was damaged during the recent storm and officials anticipate this section of Remount Road will remain closed for the remainder of the week and throughout the weekend Northbound and Southbound traffic on Remount Road is still being detoured A traffic control cabinet at the intersection of McCain Boulevard and Fairway Avenue was struck by lightning The city stated in an update issued Tuesday that crews are currently working to repair the damage Officials say the traffic light will be operational again by late Wednesday afternoon The Dark Hollow area from East 13th & Curtis Sykes/15th Street by HW Tucker Construction is also still closed along with the south end of North Hills Boulevard at the interstate Officials say this area will most likely begin to clear out tonight Recovery efforts are making significant progress in North Little Rock following severe weekend storms that caused widespread power outages and flooding NLR Electric has restored power to more than 13,750 residents Crews are continuing to work to bring service back to the remaining 225 households still without electricity The Arkansas River crested at noon on Monday and is now beginning to recede City officials say residents in previously flooded areas should begin to see relief as water levels drop One major traffic concern remains: North Hills Boulevard on the south side of Interstate 40 is currently closed due to high water Drivers are urged to avoid the area until further notice Remount Road is also closed from Spriggs Road to the West Entrance of the NLR Airport Northbound traffic on the road will detour to Kierre Road through JFK and southbound traffic will detour to Maryland Avenue through to Highway 107 Debris removal operations are now underway City officials are asking residents to place storm-related debris at the curb for collection and if a professional company is hired to cut trees Any spoiled food from lost power can be dropped off at 13th & Sycamore Street Residents are encouraged to check the city’s official website, www.nlr.ar.gov, for ongoing updates and important announcements Authorities investigated three homicides in Pulaski County last month marking the least-deadly month in the county since February 2023 policing and breaking news for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette his articles focus primarily on crime and law enforcement efforts in Pulaski County although he reports on other parts of the state as well Sarah Huckabee Sanders surveys flood damage in Arkansas – Many living in North Little Rock were hit hard by severe storms that slammed the Natural State over the past several days City officials said NLR Electric has restored power to more than 13,750 residents since noon on Saturday but noted there are still 225 residents without power Officials said flooded areas of the city should begin to see relief as the Arkansas River crested at noon on Monday NLR officials ask residents to place debris at their curbs as crews work to remove debris across the city Officials said that any residents who lost power and have spoiled food can drop it off at 13th and Sycamore Streets NLR officials ask drivers to avoid traveling on North Hills Boulevard south of Interstate 40 as it has been closed due to flooding For more updates as recovery continues, visit NLR.AR.gov (KATV) — Though no tornado damage was found in North Little Rock the National Weather Service has reported that damage from raging winds were found from storm events in the state at least 30 counties in the state were put under tornado watch until 10 p.m Peak winds were recorded at about 80 miles per hour which stretched in a path that extended to 4.5 miles a major manufacturer of construction and engineering equipment celebrated its 100th anniversary at its facility in North Little Rock on Monday the Caterpillar Foundation made a donation to the Arkansas STEM Coalition a statewide organization dedicated to promoting STEM education in Arkansas "Tomorrow is the 100 year anniversary for our company so we have the Centennial World Tour which is a display that we're shipping around the world to our different CAT facilities we're on the tour," said facility manager Chris Heitzmann "Its a great opportunity for our employees to tour the display and learn about their contributions as Caterpillar employees." The Centennial World Tour is an immersive traveling visual exhibit that illustrates the history of the company Heitzmann says that the North Little Rock facility is also celebrating 15 years of operation For more information on Caterpillar's 100th anniversary, CLICK HERE – Some roads in North Little Rock have re-opened after flooding caused closures last week City officials said roads in the Dark Hallow area leading from East 13th and Curtis Sykes/15th Street and the south end of North Hills Boulevard are now open Officials said water levels at both locations dropped overnight but advised anyone in the area to continue to use caution Other roads in North Little Rock will remain closed through the weekend including Remount Road from Spriggs Road to Maryland Avenue Crews are working to install a culvert that was damaged by floodwaters Restoration is expected to be completed and re-opened next week Investigators from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol and Criminal Division has identified the body of a man that was discovered by fisherman on April 13 LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Investigators from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol and Criminal Division has identified the body of a man that was discovered by fisherman on April 13 Investigators were notified of a drowning on March 30 by witnesses It took place throughout the location which included additional law enforcement agencies to assist. Tornado Watch until 5 PM for portions of west and southwest Arkansas. Stay weather aware! FORECASTSEND US YOUR PICTURESNorth Little Rock Municipal Airport confirms plane crash (KATV) — A plane ran off the runway at North Little Rock Municipal Airport this afternoon but the two people on board walked away unharmed Classified as a Fairchild SA227-AC Turbo Prop the plane had just landed a few minutes after 4:00 p.m. when it left the runway and crashed in the grass North Little Rock Fire engines quickly responded to the scene Officials with the company that owns the plane state that the crash happened because of a landing gear issue during landing The plane was registered out of Wilsonville but it's unclear where the flight originated The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSBS) will investigate what happened This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page (KATV) — A shooting occurred near I Street and Dixie Street in North Little Rock officials with the North Little Rock Police Department confirmed on Friday morning Officials said that at least 1 person was injured during the shooting They have been transported to the hospital for treatment two North Little Rock sisters who met Officer Tommy Norman in 2017 which they describe as “mind-blowing.” “A lot of people out here have broken my trust and that’s never happened with Officer Norman so I’m just really grateful that that happened,” Teanna Life’s journey has been rocky for these two to the point where Teanna says it’s “something out of this world that I can actually trust someone.” Nariah and Teanna also lived in the Dorcas House back in 2015 a place that helps women trapped in domestic violence “Some very courageous girls,” Officer Norman said a nurtured purpose grew for these young ladies “I just want better for my mom now,” Teanna said “It just makes us proud to see her back on her feet,” Nariah added Living through these traumatic experiences has led the siblings to want to help those in need Nariah wants to be a nurse and Teanna wanted to be a veterinarian Nariah tells Officer Norman her favorite quote is “I cannot wait until you go to nursing school,” Officer Norman said Holding on to their dream and holding on to each other that’s the only way Nariah and Teanna have been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and we have each other,” Nariah said.  “We’re a big happy family of three and that’s all I’ll ever ask for,” Teanna said.  – Police in North Little Rock are investigating a deadly shooting at an apartment complex authorities said NLRPD officers responded to a shooting at the Villas of Country Club Apartments on Richsmith Lane officers said they found a woman suffering from at least one gunshot wound Police said the woman was taken to a local hospital Authorities said the officers on the scene were told that the suspect in the shooting may still be inside an apartment at the complex Police then began evacuating residents before they said NLR Special Operations Teams responded to the scene Police said they tried to contact the suspect for an hour but got no response Authorities said the officers then entered the apartment and took the suspect into custody No suspect or victim information has been released at this time Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the NLRPD tip at 501-680-8439 or detectives at 501-771-7149 Those with information can remain anonymous – With severe storms hitting central Arkansas a North Little Rock apartment complex took on some weather damage According to North Little Rock Fire Department officials the storm damaged a portion of the roof at an apartment complex in the 5100 block of Velvet Ridge Fire officials confirmed that no injuries were reported described coming home to the destruction in her apartment “Come home and it’s a big hole in my ceiling my living room is flooded out about maybe one or two inches of water,” Brown said Members of the Baha'i community in North Little Rock have created a scholarship honoring the memory of two former members and their work to advance civil rights and equal.. Frank Lockwood is editor of the Religion section at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and has worked at the newspaper since 2006 The North Little Rock Police Department identified the victim of a shooting homicide Thursday at the Villas of Country Club Apartments of Greenbrier was identified as the victim Daniel McFadin is a general assignment reporter who has been with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since October 2022 and has also been a writer covering NASCAR for Frontstretch — which is not affiliated with the Democrat-Gazette — since 2014 Daniel also has and continues to be involved in podcasting at the newspaper – Two homes were destroyed and another was damaged by a fire in North Little Rock on Saturday night According to North Little Rock fire officials crews responded to the 1400 block of West 55th Street in the Amboy neighborhood around 8:45 p.m Officials said one home was engulfed in flames and fire had spread to the homes on either side Fire crews were able to save the occupied home to the west of the original fire The cause of the fire is still being investigated The North Little Rock Fire Department posted dramatic video from their initial response to social media – The plot of dirt where the old Wild River Country water park once stood on Crystal Hill Road in North Little Rock may continue to be dusty for some time the multi-million-dollar Maly’s Entertainment Center was announced and was expected to be completed by the end of 2023 “They started off really good as they were clearing the land It was very exciting to see what was going on it has stopped,” North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick said Hartwick says he met with developers last week who informed him that the project is at “a standstill.” Dating back to 2022 when the announcement was made “we were sitting there hearing all the things they were going to do and all excited about it The $28-million project was to bring with it 200 jobs “It’s disappointing because there was a lot of excitement,” Hartwick noted I know they’ve had some problems in other parts that they’ve owned so it could be a multitude of things,” Hartwick said Maly’s announced that the project would bring in an estimated $10 million a year to North Little Rock the most recent comment about this project was nearly four months ago The comment was “Is this still happening?” and Maly’s replied A fresh rock climbing development is taking shape in North Little Rock at the Big Rock Quarry thanks to the efforts of the Arkansas Climbers Coalition (ARCC) dedicated to preserving and promoting climbing access across the state has been working behind the scenes to bring new opportunities to local climbers Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis sat down with the ARCC’s vice president to discuss what this project means for the community how it came together and what climbers can expect from the new development – The North Little Rock Fire Department is responding to a fire at St NLRFD officials said the fire is not related to any brush or grass fire Officials added that the Maumelle Fire Department is assisting with the fire There is no word yet on a possible cause for the fire – Many people gathered Tuesday night at the North Little Rock School Board meeting to hear the presentation for a reorganization plan Public comments at the meeting expressed concern over the lack of transparency of the plan prior to the meeting People at the meeting also said they were concerned after hearing of people who have already been notified they will lose their jobs if the plan is approved “I ask that as the board makes this decision that they take time to look at us as people not as a line budget item,” one person said during public comment District officials said the plan aims to address a $5.1 million deficit which Superintendent Dr Gregory Pilewski stated comes from a loss of funding due to student enrollment and district poverty rate decrease “They felt very strongly that a lot of students are leaving because of mental health issues and not receiving wrap-around services and support to our school district,” Pilewski said He also addressed where the deficit would be made up showing a breakdown of five areas that will see reductions which he said will create savings of more than $5.6 million A portion of the total savings includes reorganizing 16 positions The plan will be sent to the Classified Personnel Policy Committee and the Licensed Personnel Policy Committee to be addressed and for approval or modifications Both groups will have 10 days before the plan is sent back to the board for a vote The plan can be viewed here We're starting a series covering area restaurants that are serving Sunday -- and in some cases concentrating each of the next four weeks on particular portions of Central Arkansas the South Main neighborhood (informally known as SoMa) and the East Village all increasingly hot locations for brunch options (Subsequent weeks' roundups: Hillcrest/Heights/Riverdale; West Little Rock and far-West Little Rock; and locations north of the Arkansas River hours of operation (assume unless we specify otherwise that the restaurant opens at 10 a.m on Sunday and serves brunch until 2 or 3 p.m.) phone numbers and web addresses where folks can go to get menu and other information (Otherwise we'd need a Sunday section the size of an old-style telephone directory to get it all in.) The listing is meant to be as inclusive as possible; we're not including places that separate breakfast from lunch and we're leaving out chain places (e.g. Big Bad Breakfast and Buttered Biscuit are technically chains we're aware that we will be leaving some restaurants out which should be construed as the result of poor research and not anything nefarious or of ill intent to warp in any places we've somehow skipped.) parkgrillatamfa.com (debit and credit cards only) ◼️ Maryam's Grill Mediterranean Restaurant theater and restaurants for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette He joined the then-Arkansas Democrat on the copy desk in June 1977 and served for 17 years (including the entirety of the newspaper war) as the paper's entertainment editor before taking on his current role as features reporter He is also host of the weekly classical music show "Major and Minor Masterpieces" on public radio station KLRE-FM Police in both Little Rock and North Little Rock will have wider access to flying drones after both cities were awarded state grants this year Wildfires ran rampant across the state of Arkansas on Wednesday especially in the central region of the state (KATV) — Wildfires ran rampant across the state of Arkansas on Wednesday One area that was hit badly by these out-of-control fires was North Little Rock which saw multiple fires pop up across the city These fires unfortunately almost led to the loss of a historic landmark in the city a registered landmark that had existed in North Little Rock since 1910 a good portion of it fell victim to the flames Fire crews were on the scene attempting to put out the flames as best they could The orphanage is on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated as an Arkansas Department of Agriculture Century Farm in 1907 and retreat center before its closing in 2008 It was then reopened in 2010 under a new 50-year lease and renamed the St KATV's Cayla Christian was on the scene early Thursday morning to provide an update KATV) — The city of North Little Rock unveiled plans for a new conference center near their downtown area this morning with a ceremony for city leaders This is the first conference center of this caliber ever built in the city of North Little Rock adding another piece to the puzzle of their revitalization "We're very excited about it here in North Little Rock,"NLR This has been talked about in North Little Rock and our community for a long long time," North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce The 3,100 square foot conference center is able to hold up to a thousand people for dinners and 1,500 for events "Everything for North Little Rock and Argenta has just been planning up to this moment and it's going to be a capstone of everything they've been working on for the last 20 years down here...So it'll be a very exciting next year and 2026 to get it open," Derrell said The newest addition to the city has been in the works for over a year now as part of a plan finally put into action after the city’s focus was shifted to rebuilding certain areas hit by the March 31st tornado "We're pretty well through with that Now I can concentrate on the conference center so this is just the crown jewel as I'll say," Mayor Hartwick said Hundreds from within North Little Rock and surrounding cities came together to celebrate the milestone of growth jobs and visitors this new establishment will bring into the city Not just for north little rock but for Central Arkansas So we send them to other cities and other states.. So now we've got an option." Mayor Hartwick said "You can see what a need it was and how much support this has.. We want to do it the right way and we want to do it when the time is right and as you can see when you have this many people show up... Mayor Hartwick says they are excited to start construction as soon as possible and the facility is expected to be completed by early 2026 The North Little Rock conference center will be located at 120 Main Street the former site of the North Little Rock City Services building Firefighters were working Wednesday evening to extinguish a fire at the St Ainsley Platt is an award-winning journalist covering environmental issues and regulation for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette She is a recent graduate of The University of Alabama and a former intern at the newspaper North Little Rock and Maumelle firefighters battle a fire at the St .More photos at www.arkansasonline.com/320nlrfirex/.(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe) A couple embraces as North Little Rock and Maumelle firefighters fight a fire at the St .More photos at www.arkansasonline.com/320fire/.(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe) North Little Rock firefighters battle a fire at the St Maumelle firefighters hose down the roof while fighting a fire at the St An observer watches as North Little Rock and Maumelle firefighters battle a fire at the St A plane landing at the North Little Rock Municipal Airport ran off the runway Thursday afternoon airport director Virginia Young said Thursday evening Gary Williams with the North Little Rock Fire Department whose firefighters responded about 4:10 p.m Two units assisted with the clean-up of the crash on Thursday evening but they had left the airport before 8 p.m Airport employees immediately alerted the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration NTSB employees are responsible for investigating any civil transportation accidents 5:50 p.m.: Small plane runs off runway at North Little Rock airport; no injuries reported A plane ran off the runway at North Little Rock Municipal Airport on Thursday Williams wasn't able to provide any further details in the crash as of early Thursday evening their families and elected officials were on hand Saturday to celebrate the opening of Dollar General’s new distribution center in North Little Rock Dollar General made a $20,000 donation to Arkansas Foodbank “We are excited to celebrate the grand opening of our first Arkansas distribution center in North Little Rock together with our team and their families,” said Rod West Dollar General’s executive vice president of global supply chain “This facility looks to better support our store teams and customers by combining the functionalities of our traditional DG Fresh and Private Fleet distribution channels We are honored and humbled by our partnership among federal as well as local nonprofit organizations that continue to support our investment and continued service in the Natural State.” The facility will support the distribution of Dollar General’s supply chain and the transport of perishable goods to stores through the DG Fresh network The building itself is over one million square feet and came about through a $160 million investment in Pulaski County About 300 new jobs will be created by the facility “Fifty years after the first Dollar General opened in Arkansas we are proud to welcome their first-ever distribution center in the Natural State,” said Gov and with my administration’s investments in education and workforce training companies from across the country and world are deciding to put down roots.” Dollar General stores and the North Little Rock distribution center have donated the equivalent of more than 300,000 meals READ ALSO: Arkansas LAUNCH Connects Jobseekers with Employers North Little Rock city council members discussed the distribution of funds to seven nonprofits at the council’s Feb. 24 meeting organizations receiving support from the city received their payments in lump sums early in the calendar year The council passed a measure to distribute half the money to nonprofits now and half on or before Aug “contingent on the availability of funds.” Mayor Terry Hartwick said he supported paying the nonprofits their portions in two installments City CFO Ember Strange said the change was being made due to economic uncertainty and the recent freezing and unfreezing of federal funding She told council members that this decision is “best practice” and that everything in the budget comes with the condition of “if funds are available.” A vote to distribute the funds all at once failed to pass Photo Credit: NLR City Council Meeting Livestream READ ALSO: U of A Researchers Awarded Grant to Develop Surfaces that Repel Lunar Dust