Associated Press

Several inmates at a northwest Arkansas jail said they weren't told a medication they were given to treat COVID-19 was actually an anti-parasite drug that federal health officials have warned should not be used to treat the coronavirus.

The number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators in Arkansas reached a new high on Monday as Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he hoped the full approval of Pfizer's vaccine would encourage more people in the state to get the shots against the virus.

The Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee fully reopened Monday ahead of schedule following repairs to a crack that had shut down the span since early May.

Sebastian County Circuit Judge Gunner DeLay said he's running for the seat currently held by Justice Karen Baker, who hasn't said whether she's running for reelection next year. State Supreme Court justices are elected to eight-year terms.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Tennessee on Thursday to learn how the closure of the Interstate 40 bridge connecting that state and Arkansas has affected freight movement since it was shut down more than three weeks ago when a crack was found in the span.

Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders’ campaign on Thursday said she has raised nearly $5 million in her bid to be Arkansas’ next governor, breaking the record for quarterly fundraising in the state.

Arkansas lawmakers return back to work to finish out the legislative session. The will consider various bills, including an end to the public health emergency and establishing statewide standards of habitability for renters.

Arkansas lawmakers on Monday voted to require a woman undergoing an abortion to first view an ultrasound, the latest restriction to advance in a state that has already enacted an outright abortion ban.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday vetoed legislation requiring the state to refund fines imposed on businesses violating coronavirus safety rules, as the state's virus cases and hospitalizations continued to drop.

The majority-Republican Senate voted 25-6 for the bill, which says health care workers and institutions have the right to not participate in non-emergency treatments that violate their conscience. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has not said whether he supports the measure.