By NANCY DOCKTERLeader staff writerIn Arkansas, homicide is a leading cause of death from infancy into adulthood. The youngest are the most vulnerable. Among children ages 1 to 4 years, homicide takes the lives of more children than all cancers or birth defects. For Arkansas preschoolers, that meant that from 2001 to 2005, eight percent of all deaths were attributed […]

By JONATHAN FELDMANLeader staff writerA woman was murdered in the parking lot of Ultimate Fitness Gym, 1108 S. Redmond Road in Jacksonville at 1:57 a.m. Friday. The victim, Danick Adams, 18, of 1509 Stanphil Road, and another woman went to the 24-hour gym for a late-night tanning session, according to an employee at the gym. The police are still searching […]

By GARRICK FELDMAN, Leader PublisherNot long after he was shot at Democratic Party headquarters just before noon on Wednesday, Bill Gwatney’s family and friends knew his wounds would prove to be fatal. They were on the phone with each other, sharing the terrible news, knowing he’d been assassinated in the shadow of the state Capitol, where he served three terms […]

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader senior staff writerGrown men wept Wednesday after their friend and leader was gunned down in his state Democratic Party Headquarters office by a man he apparently didn’t know.State Democratic Party chairman Bill Gwatney was shot several times in the upper torso about noon and was pronounced dead about four hours later at University of Arkansas for Medical […]

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader senior staff writerFrom old Jacksonville friends to once (and perhaps future) presidents, folks who knew state Democratic Party chairman Bill Gwatney are grieving, praising Gwatney and wondering what the future might have held for him had he not been senselessly gunned down at work Wednesday.Blaine Hayes, who worked for Gwatney for 30 years, said that when his […]

By JOHN HOFHEIMERLeader senior staff writerFrom old Jacksonville friends to once (and perhaps future) presidents, folks who knew state Democratic Party chairman Bill Gwatney are grieving, praising Gwatney and wondering what the future might have held for him had he not been senselessly gunned down at work Wednesday.Blaine Hayes, who worked for Gwatney for 30 years, said that when his […]

Ordinarily we celebrate for people who after a long and abundant career take a well-deserved retirement, but we were somehow grieved by the news that Justice Tom Glaze was retiring from the Arkansas Supreme Court. At 70, Mr. Justice Glaze was the oldest and longest-serving member of the court and a quiet stalwart for an independent judiciary and adherence to […]