250: The Blog
250 is the Suite Number of the Governor’s Office at the Arkansas State Capitol. It also is the name of this blog, which will go beyond the press conferences and bill signings to offer a glimpse of the day-to-day life of Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Press Shop | 07.11.2018
Old hands at the state capitol refer to the governor’s office simply as “250,” which is the office number for the governor’s suite on the second floor. Two-fifty is painted in gold at the top of the glass in the door that opens into the suite. Eighteen inches down, you can read the name – also painted in gold -- of the state’s highest-ranking elected official: Governor Asa Hutchinson, 46th governor of Arkansas. If you peer through the glass of 250, you will see Jennifer Siccardi, a lightning bolt of energy and happiness, seated...
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Press Shop | 11.29.2018
Press Shop Note: On December 11 and December 12, the First Lady will host a Christmas Tea, and on December 18, the First Lady and the First Santa will host a Christmas Tea for children of all ages. Information about times, menu, entertainment and ticket purchase is at http://www.friendsofthemansion.org/ ***** At the Governor’s Mansion, things started to look a lot like Christmas on Halloween. That’s the day the Mansion staff, under the direction of Mansion Administrator Patty Shipp, broke out the decorations and commenced to deck the Grand Hall, not with boughs of holly but with trees...
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Press Shop | 11.20.2018
LITTLE ROCK – Neither the cameras nor the crowd ruffled the feathers of the guest of honor, which is saying something considering that she is a turkey with plenty of feathers to ruffle. Nellie the Turkey sat calmly in her red wagon on Monday to pose for pictures with Governor Asa Hutchinson, Agriculture Commissioner Wes Ward, her teenage owners, and more than sixty students, parents, and teachers from Atkins Elementary School. As Arkansas's honorary state turkey, Nellie was in town for the official proclamation of Arkansas Turkey Week. ...
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Press Shop | 08.31.2018
Brad Hill and his father, David, meet a lot of people who do the heavy lifting in life. The Hills are physical therapists. So when the heavy lifters’ heavy lift goes wrong, they visit the Hills. But the Hills have invented a device that they hope will reduce the number of heavy lifters who show up at their clinic. Their product is a wide vinyl strap with a handle on each end – a lifting handle. For simplicity and for marketing purposes, they combined the words lifting and handle to make Landle. “The problem of back injury is...
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Press Shop | 08.24.2018
PEARCY – They have known each other a long time, Asa Hutchinson and Jeff Sessions, and in the years between their first meeting and their most recent one, each has raised children, welcomed grandchildren, won election to Congress, accepted presidential appointments to high-ranking jobs, and traveled enough miles to circle the globe several times. They met as young United States attorneys, appointed to their jobs by President Ronald Reagan – Mr. Sessions in 1981 at the age of 31 to the Southern District of Alabama, and, in 1982, Governor Hutchinson, at 31, to the Western District of Arkansas. Last week (August 1, 2018), they reunited at...
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Press Shop | 08.10.2018
TEXARKANA – Everything turned out okay, but Texarkana Schools Superintendent Becky Kesler learned firsthand the importance of putting in place a school safety plan. In the spring, a student at Texarkana High School reported to the principal an Instagram post in which a fellow student had threatened to shoot up the school. “We immediately locked down the campus,” Mrs. Kesler said. “The principal called the security director and police, and immediately located the student. “We had everything taken care of in a matter of 15 minutes.” School security in the United States took on a renewed...
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Press Shop | 08.03.2018
In the days after the shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida, Governor Asa Hutchinson created the Arkansas School Safety Commission. He appointed Dr. Cheryl May, director of Arkansas’ Criminal Justice Institute, and ex-FBI Special Agent Bill Temple, to lead it. The governor was two weeks ahead of President Donald Trump, who established the national School Safety Commission and named Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to lead it. The members of the Arkansas commission have visited schools around the state, inspected buildings, and interviewed educators and parents. The committee submitted its preliminary report the...
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Press Shop | 07.13.2018
Barbara Wilson had chosen an aisle seat at the Ozarka College graduation ceremony, which put her directly in Governor Asa Hutchinson’s path. The governor, who was there to deliver the commencement speech, was shaking hands on his way into the John E. Miller Auditorium, and he stopped to visit with Mrs. Wilson. “Who are you here for?” the governor asked. “My granddaughter,” replied Mrs. Wilson. works in the kitchen at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. Her granddaughter’s name is Lexxy Scott, Mrs. Wilson told her boss, and Lexxy was...
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Press Shop | 07.12.2018
The governor hiked right past it, and everyone else who was hiking Rattlesnake Ridge with him missed it, too, until the hawk-eyed botanist from Rogers who was bringing up the rear laid eyes on it. The six-inch wildflower stood four feet, at least, north of the trail, snuggled against the spindly trunk of a four-foot oak under the cover of a sapling sweet gum. When Ellen Turner spotted the flower, you’d have thought she had discovered gold, and in the world of plant lovers, she had. A couple of the hikers rushed to the celebrity flower with...
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