West Memphis

Southern Bancorp, Inc. of Arkansas has closed on its acquisition of FCB Financial Services, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Premier Bank of Arkansas, a $213 million asset bank with three branches operating in Marion, West Memphis, and Jonesboro, Arkansas.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Family Dollar is closing an Arkansas distribution facility where more than 1,000 rodents were found earlier this year, forcing the recall of items from hundreds of stores, the company said Wednesday.

Authorities say a car chase in West Memphis on Wednesday afternoon ended with a suspect jumping to his death off of the Hernando DeSoto Interstate 40 Bridge.

There is one place in the western hemisphere where north meets south and east meets west from a goods distribution perspective. Interstate 55, which connects Canada to Mexico, and Interstate 40, which connects the west coast to the east coast, meet in West Memphis, the largest city in Crittenden County that abuts the Mississippi River.

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.

Transportation officials said repairs could take months after the bridge was closed Tuesday following the discovery of a crack in a steel beam during an inspection.

The Craighead County Local Health Unit in Jonesboro on Tuesday will have a vaccination clinic starting at 9:30 A.M. and lasting until 6 P.M. The Crittenden County Local Health Unit in West Memphis will have a clinic from 9:30 A.M. until 6 P.M.

Arkansas' Department of Health has COVID vaccination clinics set up across the state on Monday.

The Veteran's Affairs Center in Memphis said that they will administer the singe-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the VA Clinic in Jonesboro on Wednesday. Vaccination events also planned at A-State and in West Memphis.

Vaccination events are planned on Wednesday in Osceola, ASU Jonesboro, and West Memphis.