New legislative districts adopted

The Arkansas Board of Apportionment, made up of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, met today for the purpose of approving new legislative districts for both the state House and Senate. The board is charged with modifying legislative districts every ten years following a census in order to comply with the one-man, one-vote requirement. My senate district picked up an additional 8,500 residents from northern Sevier County (DeQueen and Gillham), and I lost Taylor in western Columbia County. Here's the new Senate map:



You can see the new House map here.

Future home of a UA system campus in Texarkana, Arkansas

Largest Magnolia in Arkansas

Here's a picture from this morning's certification ceremony for the largest Magnolia in Arkansas. This tree stands at 46th and County Avenue in Texarkana. The Arkansas Forestry Commission recognizes the largest tree in each of 129 species based on its “Bigness Index.”

This is why you never ever give up

Going into the final lap of the Big 10 600m championship race, this Golden Gopher runner gets tripped and falls from first to last place but manages to get up for a strong finish.

Mike Ross to make announcement on political future -- Updated

I just received an advisory stating that Mike Ross will host a news conference to make a major announcement on his political future at 10:00 a.m. this morning at the Holiday Inn near the Little Rock airport.

Update: Ross will not seek a 7th term as Congressman from the 4th District.

Final proposed legislative redistricting maps to be published at 4:00 p.m. today

I'll post a link here when they are posted online today.

Update: Here are the final proposed maps:

Senate (by governor): Link
House (by governor): Link
Senate (by attorney general): Link
House (by attorney general): Link
Senate (by secretary of state): Link
House (by secretary of state): Link

Details

California company pokes fun at Arkansas, Texarkana

These commercials were sent to me and are apparently thinly veiled shots at Tyson Chicken (and not so thinly veiled stereotypical shots at our state). These commercials for Foster Farms Chicken air throughout California

Governor submits proposed senate map

Governor Beebe's office submitted a map today that would revamp the state's 35 senate districts following the 2010 census and pursuant to the obligations of the Arkansas Board of Apportionment. The board is made up of Beebe, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, and Secretary of State Mark Martin. James Miller in the governor's office has been hard at work for months dealing with the next to impossible task of drawing lines to suit regional, community and political interests.

The proposed map changes what is currently Senate District 21 here in southwest Arkansas slightly. My district is approximately 8,600 residents short according to the new census data, which would place 83,312 residents in each of the 35 districts. This map places a larger portion on Sevier County into Senate District 21, including county seat DeQueen along with Gillham. This proposed map removes a small portion of Columbia County from the district, which was made up of Taylor, Bussey, and Welcome (just north of Springhill, Louisiana). The governor's office hopes to release a House map on Tuesday. The board is expected to approve the new House and Senate districts in a couple of weeks.

New census numbers nationwide

Here's a pretty nifty map showing the new population numbers for each county and parish nationwide, along with the change in population since the 2000 census.

Newest e-mail movement: Caylee's law

From time to time, legislators will receive form e-mails lobbying for a certain cause or law. The latest, of which I have received 82 since last Tuesday, deals with creating a law making it a felony to fail to report the death (some emails say disappearance) of a child. Here's the e-mail:

Sen. Steve Harrelson
320 State Capitol Building
500 Woodlane Avenue
Little Rock AR 72201-1089

Greetings,

On July 5, 2011, at 1:15 pm CST, Casey Anthony was found not guilty of first degree murder in the death of her daughter Caylee Anthony. The only charges she now faces are four counts of falsifying police reports, each of which only carries a 1 year prison term. Since she has been in jail since August 2008, she will be out of jail ENTIRELY too soon.

I'm writing to propose that a new law be put into effect making it a felony for a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker to not notify law enforcement of the death of their child, accidental or otherwise, within 1 hour of said death being discovered. This way there will be no more cases like Casey Anthony's in the courts, and no more innocent children will have to go without justice.

Also, make it a felony for a parent, legal guardian, or caretaker to not notify law enforcement of the disappearance of a child within 24 hours, so proper steps can be taken to find that child before it's too late.

The case of Caylee Anthony was tragic, and there is no reason for another case like this one to hit the courts. Let's do what is necessary to prevent another case like this from happening.

Note: this email was sent as part of a petition started on Change.org, viewable at www.change.org/petitions/create-caylees-law.