CONWAY, Ark. -- The U.S. Justice Department is asking a federal judge to halt new admissions of school-age children at the Conway Human Development Center, claiming that the facility "exposes residents to death and injury."

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A former top aide to Bill Clinton, charged with trying to smuggle contraband to a death-row inmate, will ask a state court to allow a videotaped deposition of the man before he is executed.

Officials in the state of Washington say they'll continue rejecting parolees and probationers from Arkansas despite the policy apparently violating an interstate compact.

First Lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in May, the White House announced today.

In Michigan, where many enterprises are struggling to survive, the renowned University of Michigan is in the midst of a construction boom and hiring spree. Michigan State University, on the other hand, plans to lay off faculty and cut programs, blaming state funding that is lower than it was a decade ago. Flagship universities in other states are also prospering, while their lesser-known counterparts suffer from vanishing state appropriations. 

So, why not change the arrangement and require big-name universities to take responsibility for their own financing, leaving more state money to support the other state schools? As legislatures face their toughest budget year since the recession began, the idea of giving a few universities autonomy to control their own finances has some appeal.

When Arkansas' political filing season closed, two positions failed to draw any candidates — including one held by a prosecutor who said he inadvertently missed the deadline to run again.

A $3.4 million federal grant will fund an aviation technology program at Mid-South Community College in West Memphis, the school announced Tuesday.

The first in a series of regional conferences organized by the National Academy of Sciences wraps up today at the Clinton presidential library, with business leaders highlighting a variety of innovations and new business possibilities.