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Tag: Arkansas

  • Connley throws 5 TDs in Prairie View A&M’s 55-24 victory

    Connley throws 5 TDs in Prairie View A&M’s 55-24 victory

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    PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Trazon Connley threw a career-high five touchdown passes on eight completions and Prairie View A&M beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 55-24 on Saturday.

    Connley was 8 of 15 for 193 yards for the Southwestern Athletic Conference West leaders (6-4, 5-2). His touchdowns went to five different receivers.

    Three of Connley’s touchdowns came in the second quarter — including his longest scoring throw of the game, 45 yards to Jailon Howard — as the Panthers took a 28-17 lead at halftime. Two more Connley touchdown passes made it 41-17 with five minutes left in the third quarter.

    Chris Herron had a passing and receiving touchdown for the Panthers.

    Skyler Perry threw for 171 yards and a score for the Golden Lions (2-8, 0-7).

    ———

    More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap—top25. Sign up for the AP’s college football newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/mrxhe6f2

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  • Two Minnesota visitors find 1.9 carat diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park

    Two Minnesota visitors find 1.9 carat diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park

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    State Park visitors find 1.9 carat diamond

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  • Meet the history-makers of the 2022 midterm elections | CNN Politics

    Meet the history-makers of the 2022 midterm elections | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    While the overall midterm election results may not be known for hours or even days in some spots, candidates from both parties are already celebrating historic victories.

    Heading into Election Day, both parties were looking to diversify their ranks of elected officials, both in Congress and beyond, and they appear on track to do so.

    Republicans are excited about growing their roster of female governors and electing more Latino members to the US House. Democrats are on track to make a breakthrough for LGBTQ representation in governor’s offices.

    In Massachusetts, Democratic state Attorney General Maura Healey is poised to become the state’s first elected female governor and the nation’s first out lesbian state executive. Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former Trump White House press secretary, has been elected the first female governor of Arkansas. And Maryland Democrat Wes Moore will be the state’s first Black governor.

    Election results are still coming in, and many races won’t be called for days, if not weeks. But for now, here’s a look at the candidates who CNN projects will make history in the 2022 midterms.

    This list will be updated as more winners are projected.

    AL-SEN: Republican Katie Britt will be the first elected female senator from Alabama, CNN projects, winning an open-seat race to succeed her onetime boss, retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby. Britt is a former CEO of the Business Council of Alabama and was the heavy favorite in the general election in the deep-red state. Two women have previously represented Alabama in the Senate, but both were appointed to fill vacancies.

    AR-GOV: Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be the first woman elected governor of Arkansas, CNN projects, winning the office her father previously held for over a decade. Sanders, who earned a national profile in her role as press secretary in the Trump White House, is also the first daughter in US history to serve as governor of the same state her father once led.

    AR-LG: Republican Leslie Rutledge will be the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas, CNN projects. Rutledge, the state attorney general, originally sought the open governor’s seat but switched to the lieutenant governor’s race after Sanders entered the GOP gubernatorial primary. Lieutenant governors are elected on separate tickets in Arkansas.

    With the election of Sanders and Rutledge, Arkansas will join Massachusetts as the first states to have women serving concurrently as governor and lieutenant governor.

    CA-SEN: Democrat Alex Padilla will be the first elected Latino senator from California, CNN projects, winning a special election for the remainder of Kamala Harris’ term as well as an election for a full six-year term. Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrant parents, was appointed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the seat Harris vacated when she became vice president.

    CA-SOS: Democrat Shirley Weber will be California’s first elected Black secretary of state of state, CNN projects. Weber, a former state assemblywoman, has been serving in the position since last year after Newsom picked her to succeed Padilla, who was appointed to the US Senate.

    CA-AG: Democrat Rob Bonta will be California’s first elected Filipino American attorney general, CNN projects. Bonta, who was born in the Philippines and immigrated with his family to the US as an infant, has been serving in the position since last year after Newsom appointed him to succeed Xavier Becerra, who left to become President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services secretary.

    CA-42: Democrat Robert Garcia will be the first out LGBTQ immigrant elected to Congress, CNN projects, winning election to California’s 42nd Congressional District. Garcia, who immigrated from Lima, Peru, in the early 1980s at the age of 5, is the current mayor of Long Beach.

    CT-SOS: Democrat Stephanie Thomas will be the first Black woman elected secretary of state of Connecticut, CNN projects. Thomas, a member of the Connecticut House, will succeed appointed Democratic incumbent Mark Kohler.

    FL-10: Democrat Maxwell Frost will be the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress, CNN projects, winning the open seat for Florida’s 10th Congressional District. Generation Z refers to those born after 1996. Frost will succeed Democrat Val Demings, who vacated the seat to run for Senate.

    IL-03: Democrat Delia Ramirez will be the first Latina elected to Congress from Illinois, CNN projects, winning election to the state’s redrawn 3rd Congressional District. Ramirez, a Chicago-area state representative and the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, was also the first Guatemalan American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly.

    MD-GOV: Democrat Wes Moore will be the first Black governor of Maryland, CNN projects, becoming only the third Black person elected governor in US history. Moore, an Army veteran and former nonprofit executive, will succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

    MD-LG: Democrat Aruna Miller will be the first Asian American lieutenant governor of Maryland, CNN projects. Miller, who immigrated to the US with her family from India as a child, is a former member of the state House of Delegates. She was elected on the same ticket as Moore.

    MD-AG: Anthony Brown will be the first Black person elected attorney general of Maryland, CNN projects. Brown, who currently represents Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, has a been a longtime fixture in state politics, having also served as state lieutenant governor and in the state House and run for governor in 2014.

    MA-GOV: Democrat Maura Healey will be the first out lesbian governor in US history, CNN projects, winning an open-seat race for the governorship of Massachusetts. Healey, the current attorney general of Massachusetts, will also be the commonwealth’s first elected female governor.

    With the election of Healey and her running mate, Kim Driscoll, Massachusetts will join Arkansas as the first states to have women serving concurrently as governor and lieutenant governor.

    MI-13: Democrat Shri Thanedar will be the first Indian American elected to Congress from Michigan, CNN projects, winning election to the state’s 13th Congressional District. Thaneder, who immigrated to the US from India, was elected to the Michigan House in 2020 and unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018.

    NY-GOV: Democrat Kathy Hochul will be the first elected female governor of New York, CNN projects, winning a full four-year term to the office she assumed last year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned. Hochul, who previously served as the state’s lieutenant governor and a Buffalo-area congresswoman, will defeat Republican Lee Zeldin.

    OH-09: Democrat Marcy Kaptur will win a 21st term to the House from Ohio, CNN projects, and will become the longest-serving woman in Congress when she’s sworn in next year to represent the state’s 9th Congressional District. Kaptur, who was first elected in 1982 and is currently the longest-serving woman in House history, will break the record set by Barbara Mikulski, who represented Maryland in the House and Senate for a combined 40 years.

    OK-SEN: Republican Markwayne Mullin will be the first Native American senator from Oklahoma in almost 100 years, CNN projects, winning the special election to succeed GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe, who is resigning in January. Mullin, a member of the Cherokee Nation, currently represents the state’s 2nd Congressional District. Democrat Robert Owen, also a member of the Cherokee Nation, represented Oklahoma in the Senate from 1907 to 1925.

    PA-LG: Democrat Austin Davis will be the first Black lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, CNN projects, winning election on a ticket with gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro. Davis is currently a member of the Pennsylvania House representing a Pittsburgh-area seat. He will be elected on a ticket with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro.

    PA-12: Democrat Summer Lee will be the first Black woman elected to Congress from Pennsylvania, CNN projects, winning election to the state’s 12th Congressional District. Lee, a Pittsburgh-area state representative, will succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Mike Doyle.

    VT-AL: Democrat Becca Balint will be the first woman elected to Congress from Vermont, CNN projects, winning election to the state’s at-large district. With Balint’s win, Vermont will lose its distinction as the only US state never to have sent a woman to Congress. Balint, the president pro tempore of the state Senate, will also be the first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Vermont.

    VT-AG: Charity Clark will be the first woman elected attorney general of Vermont, CNN projects. Clark previously served as chief of staff to Democratic Attorney General T.J. Donovan, who stepped down in June for a private sector job.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • Deadly year could imperil Little Rock mayor’s reelection bid

    Deadly year could imperil Little Rock mayor’s reelection bid

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    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Frank Scott became Little Rock’s first popularly elected Black mayor four years ago on campaign promises to unite a city long divided along racial lines.

    But a deadly year in Arkansas’ capital, criticism of his management and attacks from Republicans are threatening reelection chances for Scott, a rare high-profile Democrat in this solidly red state. His reelection bid is one of the few competitive races on the ballot in Arkansas, where Republicans are heavily favored in statewide and congressional matchups.

    “This race is very simple: do you want to go backward to a horrid past, or do you want to continue growing forward?” Scott told supporters before he cast his ballot during early voting.

    Scott’s election in 2018 was a landmark for a city long known for the 1957 desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, when nine Black students were escorted into the school in front of an angry white mob. The city remains racially divided, with whites making up about half of Little Rock’s population.

    Little Rock’s mayoral race is nonpartisan. But Scott is running in a midterm election where violent crime has become a pivotal issue nationwide, with Republicans eager to paint Democratic mayors as unable to protect their cities.

    In neighboring Texas, the top elected official in reliably Democratic Harris County — home to Houston — also faces such criticism. Crime dominates advertising by GOP candidates in some of the most competitive Senate and governor’s races across the country.

    Scott’s chief rival in the race is Steve Landers, a retired car dealer who regularly cites the city’s spiraling homicide rate in campaign appearances and materials. Little Rock so far this year has reported at least 71 homicides, surpassing the record the city reached in 1993.

    “People want a change in our city. Our city is dangerous,” Landers said.

    Landers calls himself an independent who’s voted for Democrats and Republicans. Federal Election Commission records show he’s donated to several Republican candidates and the state GOP in recent years, but also to some Democrats. He’s outspent Scott’s campaign, and loaned $400,000 to his bid, according to fundraising reports filed last week.

    The other candidates running are Greg Henderson, a local businessman who publishes a food blog, and Glen Schwarz, a longtime marijuana legalization advocate. All three challengers are white.

    Scott, a former member of the state highway commission, became Little Rock’s first elected Black mayor in a runoff election. Little Rock previously had two Black mayors, but they were chosen for the job by fellow city board members and not by voters.

    Scott had the backing of Democratic and Republican figures four years ago when he led a campaign that sought to bridge the city’s biggest divides: race, income and geography.

    The homicide rate and some stumbles at City Hall, however, have since drawn the involvement of Republican-backed groups. They include one campaign that’s been supported by former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s political action committee.

    Crime in Little Rock is also factoring into other races in the state.

    An ad by Republican gubernatorial hopeful Sarah Sanders — the former White House press secretary and Huckabee’s daughter — mentions the city’s violent crime.

    Scott has blasted the former governor’s involvement in the race, with one mailer warning voters, “do not let Mike Huckabee bring Donald Trump policies to Little Rock.”

    Political observers say the Republican attacks could backfire.

    “This adds a new dimension to it, this has in essence become a partisan race and there are a lot of Democrats in Little Rock,” said Skip Rutherford, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party.

    Since the GOP-backed groups’ involvement, Scott’s campaign has rolled out endorsements from high profile Democrats and groups, such as retired Gen. Wesley Clark and Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes. He’s also been endorsed by some of the Black students who integrated Central High.

    Scott has defended his handling of crime, noting that Little Rock’s overall violent crime rate is down compared to the same period last year.

    The mayor and police have said this year’s homicide spike, unlike what the city saw in the early 1990s, isn’t driven by gang activity but by domestic violence or crime between acquaintances. In a statement over the weekend, he said the city has put social workers in the field, funded conflict resolution programs for at-risk youth and targeted patrols in high-crime areas of the city.

    Scott’s woes are compounded by criticism of his management of City Hall, including an art and music festival he championed that was abruptly canceled days before it was to take place. The city’s manager canceled Little Rock’s contract with an outside firm that was organizing the festival following questions about the financial arrangement with the firm.

    The city’s police chief, who Scott hired, retired in May after a rocky three years marked by lawsuits and clashes with officers. Little Rock also faces criticism about a lack of transparency, prompting the local prosecutor to vent frustration last week about the number of Freedom of Information Act complaints he’s received about the city.

    In his reelection bid, Scott has touted the city landing economic development deals, including an Amazon delivery station and warehouse.

    “Little Rock has an opportunity to be a catalyst for the new South,” Scott told The Associated Press in an interview earlier this year.

    Rachel Luckett, who cast a ballot for Scott during early voting, said she is concerned about crime but want to give the mayor another chance.

    “I think he’s handled it just as well as any other mayor that’s come through,” Luckett said. “It won’t change overnight.”

    ___

    Follow AP’s coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections.

    Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.

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  • Deadly tornadoes hit Texas and Oklahoma, flatten buildings

    Deadly tornadoes hit Texas and Oklahoma, flatten buildings

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    Residents in northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma began assessing weather damage Saturday, working to recover and thankful to have survived after tornadoes tore through the region, killing at least two people, injuring others and leaving homes and buildings in ruins.

    Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt went to the town of Idabel to see the damage. He said on social media that all the homes had been searched and a 90-year-old man was killed. Keli Cain, spokesperson for the state’s Department of Emergency Management, said the man’s body was found at his home in the Pickens area of McCurtain County, about 36 miles north of Idabel.

    The Oklahoma Highway Patrol also reported a 6-year-old girl drowned and a 43-year-old man was missing after their vehicle was swept by water off a bridge near Stilwell, about 135 miles north of Idabel. The drowning has not been officially attributed to the storm and will be investigated by the medical examiner, Cain said.

    The small town of Idabel saw a church, medical center and a school torn apart.

    “There’s a lot of damage” in the town of about 7,000, Cain said. “There are well over 100 homes and businesses damaged from minor damage to totally destroyed.”

    Saturday afternoon Stitt declared a state of emergency for McCurtain County, where Idabel is located, and neighboring Bryan, Choctaw and LeFlore counties.

    The declaration is a step in qualifying for federal assistance and funding and clears the way for state agencies to make disaster-recovery related purchases without limits on bidding requirements.

    The National Weather Service said tornadoes also were reported in Texas and Arkansas.

    Morris County, Texas, Judge Doug Reeder said in a social media post that one person died as a result of a tornado in the far northeastern Texas County, offering no other details.

    Reeder and other county officials did not immediately return phone calls for additional comment.

    One community hit hard was Powderly, about 45 miles west of Idabel and about 120 miles northeast of Dallas. Both Powderly and Idabel are near the Texas-Oklahoma border.

    Shelbie Villalpando, 27, of Powderly, said she was eating dinner with her family Friday when tornado sirens prompted them to congregate first in their rented home’s hallways, then with her children, aged 5, 10 and 14, in the bathtub.

    “Within two minutes of getting them in the bathtub, we had to lay over the kids because everything started going crazy,” Villalpando said.

    “I’ve never been so terrified,” she said. “I could hear glass breaking and things shattering around, but whenever I got out of the bathroom, my heart and my stomach sank because I have kids and it could have been much worse. … What if our bathroom had caved in just like everything else? We wouldn’t be here.”

    Terimaine Davis and his son were huddled in the bathtub until just before the tornado barreled through Friday, reducing their home in Powderly to a roofless, sagging heap.

    “We left like five minutes before the tornado actually hit,” Davis, 33, told The Associated Press. “Me and my son were in the house in the tub and that was about the only thing left standing.”

    In their driveway Saturday morning, a child’s car seat leaned against a dented, grey Chevrolet sedan with several windows blown out. Around back, his wife, Lori Davis, handed Terimaine a basket of toiletries from inside the wreckage of their house.

    The couple and the three kids who live with them did not have renter’s insurance, Lori Davis said, and none of their furniture survived. “We’re going to have to start from scratch,” she said.

    They hope to stay with family until they can find a place to live.

    “The next few days look like rough times,” Terimaine Davis said.

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said damage assessments and recovery efforts are under way in northeast Texas and encouraged residents to report damage to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

    “I have deployed all available resources to help respond and recover,” Abbott said in a statement. “I thank all of our hardworking state and local emergency management personnel for their swift response.”

    Weather service meteorologist Bianca Garcia in Fort Worth said while peak severe weather season typically is in the spring, tornados occasionally develop in October, November, December and even January.

    “It’s not very common,” Garcia said, “but it does happen across our region.”

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  • 1 dead, dozens hurt as tornadoes hit Texas and Oklahoma

    1 dead, dozens hurt as tornadoes hit Texas and Oklahoma

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    POWDERLY, Texas — Tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Oklahoma on Friday, killing at least one person, injuring two dozens others and leaving dozens of homes and buildings in ruins.

    Tornadoes hit hard in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, in the southeastern corner of the state. Cody McDaniel, the county’s emergency manager, confirmed one death although he didn’t immediately provide details.

    The small town of Idabel saw a church, medical center and a school torn apart.

    “There was total destruction on the south and east sides of Idabel,” Steven Carter, an emergency management coordinator for McCurtain County, told the Texarkana Gazette.

    Carter told the paper people were still trapped late Friday.

    Gov. Kevin Stitt said search-and-rescue teams and generators were being sent to the Idabel area.

    “Praying for Oklahomans impacted by today’s tornadoes,” Stitt tweeted.

    Keli Cain of the Oklahoma Emergency Management Office said at least three other counties were also hit by storms, with flash flooding in some areas.

    The National Weather Service said tornadoes also were reported in Texas and Arkansas and a storm system was heading toward Louisiana.

    In Texas, authorities in Lamar County said at least 50 homes were damaged or destroyed and 10 people were treated at one hospital, including two with critical injuries. No deaths were immediately reported.

    Judge Brandon Bell, the county’s highest elected official, declared a disaster in the area, a step in getting federal assistance and funding. Bell’s declaration said at least two dozen people were injured across the county.

    One community hit hard was Powderly, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Idabel and about 120 miles (193 kilometers) northeast of Dallas. Both Powderly and Idabel are near the Texas-Oklahoma border.

    The Lamar County Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management said the tornado touched down shortly after 4 p.m. and traveled north-northeast through the communities of Hopewell, Caviness, Beaver Creek and Powderly.

    Randi Johnson, chief of the Powderly Volunteer Fire Department, told The Paris News newspaper that she wasn’t aware anyone had been killed but knew of injuries.

    “It’s going to take a long time to get this cleaned up, but the community came together,” Johnson said. “It’s really heartbreaking to see.”

    Churches opened their doors to serve as shelters for those whose homes were impacted.

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  • Mystery Man Goes Full ‘Forrest Gump’ Running Away From Police

    Mystery Man Goes Full ‘Forrest Gump’ Running Away From Police

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    Police in Pottsville, Arkansas, were left puzzled after a mystery man ran from a traffic stop in a scene that could have been straight out of the hit movie “Forrest Gump.”

    Police dashcam video shows the man exiting a vehicle an officer had pulled over for a stop sign violation, dumping his bag on the ground and sprinting away. The footage is not unlike Tom Hanks’ iconic running in the 1994 film.

    The bag contained nothing illegal, police said on Facebook.

    The driver and two other passengers didn’t actually know the man and had just given him a ride, police added.

    Officers issued a warning to the driver over the stop sign violation.

    Police said they were not looking for the runner.

    “There is no reason to be alarmed,” they added.

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  • Texarkana doctor convicted of over-prescribing pain pills

    Texarkana doctor convicted of over-prescribing pain pills

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    TEXARKANA, Ark. –  A federal jury convicted a Texarkana physician on Friday on two counts of distributing pain medications without a prescription.

    Dr. Lonnie Joseph Parker, 58, of Texarkana, Ark., was an over-prescriber of controlled substances in a two-year period, according to an investigation initiated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Little Rock District Office (LRDO).

    The two-year investigation was launched after complaints to local law enforcement about a suspected pill mill and the possible overdose death of a patient were reported.

    According to the analyzed prescription drug monitoring data, in two years Parker over-prescribed controlled substances of opioid pain medications, including oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl to approximately 1,508 patients.

    Additionally, Parker prescribed promethazine with codeine cough syrup.

    Some prescriptions were narcotics written in combination with sedatives which create a high risk of addiction and overdose.

    Parker’s sentencing will be at a later date, and he faces up to 20 years in prison. In addition, Parker faces monetary penalties and a supervised release.

    The organizations involved in the investigation included the DEA, Little Rock District Office (LRDO), Tactical Diversion and Diversion Group, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Texarkana Police Department, and the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS).

    Assistant United States Attorney Anne Gardner and Assistant United States Attorney Graham Jones prosecuted the case for the United States.

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  • Biker with backpack full of gasoline ignites when Arkansas trooper uses Taser during traffic stop

    Biker with backpack full of gasoline ignites when Arkansas trooper uses Taser during traffic stop

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    An Arkansas motorcyclist carrying a gasoline-filled backpack was expected to survive after he was engulfed by a fireball when a state trooper used a Taser on him during a traffic stop, authorities said.

    The Oct. 13 traffic stop was captured on dramatic dashcam video provided Thursday to The Associated Press by Arkansas State Police.

    The video shows a trooper attempting to pull over a motorcycle driven by Christopher Gaylor, 38, of Alexander, Arkansas, because no license plate was visible on the motorcycle. A chase ensued with speeds approaching 100 mph until Gaylor jumped from his motorcycle in a residential area of North Little Rock, state police said.

    A second state trooper used a Taser on Gaylor and a fire immediately erupted. State police said they later learned that Gaylor was carrying about 1 gallon of gasoline in his backpack.

    The video shows troopers extinguishing the blaze and providing medical care to Gaylor, who remains hospitalized but is expected to recover, state police said.

    He faces charges of felony fleeing, failure to register a vehicle, no liability insurance, driving with a suspended license and reckless driving. It was unclear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf.

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  • Video shows man’s backpack burst into flames after being tased by Arkansas State Police

    Video shows man’s backpack burst into flames after being tased by Arkansas State Police

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    A video sent to 40/29 by Arkansas State Police shows a man’s backpack bursting into flames after being tased by a state trooper with the Arkansas State Police.Thirty-eight-year-old Christopher Gaylor is in the hospital and expected to be ok. Authorities say the backpack he was carrying had a gallon of gasoline in it, that started the fire.It happened Oct. 13 at 1:18 a.m. That’s when an Arkansas State trooper tried pulling over Gaylor, who was traveling on his motorcycle east along Asher Avenue near Pine Street. Authorizes say he had no license plate exhibited. Authorities say Gaylor refused to stop and traveled at speeds up to 100 mph. Authorities say he ignored multiple traffic stop signs and traffic lights. He encountered another state trooper while making his way toward Interstate 30.The chase eventually ended when he jumped off his motorcycle in North Little Rock, and took off running with troopers behind him. One trooper tried using their taser to apprehend him, and that’s when Gaylor’s backpack burst into flames. Authorities say he had a gallon of gasoline in his backpack that caused the fire. Gaylor is in the hospital and is expected to be ok. He faces charges of felony fleeing, failure to register a vehicle, no liability insurance, driving with a suspended license, and reckless drive.The state troopers involved are facing no disciplinary actions

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —

    A video sent to 40/29 by Arkansas State Police shows a man’s backpack bursting into flames after being tased by a state trooper with the Arkansas State Police.

    Thirty-eight-year-old Christopher Gaylor is in the hospital and expected to be ok. Authorities say the backpack he was carrying had a gallon of gasoline in it, that started the fire.

    It happened Oct. 13 at 1:18 a.m. That’s when an Arkansas State trooper tried pulling over Gaylor, who was traveling on his motorcycle east along Asher Avenue near Pine Street. Authorizes say he had no license plate exhibited.

    Authorities say Gaylor refused to stop and traveled at speeds up to 100 mph. Authorities say he ignored multiple traffic stop signs and traffic lights. He encountered another state trooper while making his way toward Interstate 30.

    The chase eventually ended when he jumped off his motorcycle in North Little Rock, and took off running with troopers behind him. One trooper tried using their taser to apprehend him, and that’s when Gaylor’s backpack burst into flames. Authorities say he had a gallon of gasoline in his backpack that caused the fire.

    Gaylor is in the hospital and is expected to be ok. He faces charges of felony fleeing, failure to register a vehicle, no liability insurance, driving with a suspended license, and reckless drive.
    The state troopers involved are facing no disciplinary actions

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  • Trans Teen, Others Argue Against ‘Deadly’ Arkansas Ban On Gender-Affirming Care

    Trans Teen, Others Argue Against ‘Deadly’ Arkansas Ban On Gender-Affirming Care

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    A transgender teen, parents and doctors testified this week while challenging an Arkansas law that restricts gender-affirming medical care for minors.

    The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act, which passed the Arkansas General Assembly in March 2021, bars people under 18 from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy and certain other forms of health care in the state.

    The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May of last year on behalf of four transgender minors, their parents and two physicians who provide gender-affirming care, alleging that the law violates the U.S. Constitution.

    Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) had criticized the legislation as “vast government overreach” when he vetoed it in April last year. The General Assembly overrode the veto the following day, but a federal judge temporarily blocked the law in July 2021, pending the result of the ACLU lawsuit. That injunction was upheld in August 2022.

    From Monday to Wednesday, doctors and families testified against the SAFE Act. The full trial, the nation’s first over a ban on gender-affirming care, is expected to last two weeks.

    Dylan Brandt, 17, was the only transgender person to testify. Since starting hormone therapy in August 2020, he said, he has become much happier and more confident.

    “My outside finally matches the way I feel on the inside,” he stated, according to The Associated Press. “I have my days, but for the most part this has changed my life for the better. I can look in the mirror and be OK with the way I look and it feels pretty great.”

    Aaron Jennen provided emotional comments about his 17-year-old daughter, saying it’s “not an option” for her to stop the hormone therapy she began in January 2021, reported local radio station KUAR.

    “I worry about her withdrawing back into the person she was before she started it, a person who was unhappy,” Jennen said, according to the NPR affiliate. Prior to treatment, the girl would question the point of life, he added.

    Dr. Michele Hutchison, who treated three teen plaintiffs in the suit, stated that she usually sees patients for at least 10 months before recommending a treatment, according to NBC News and network affiliate KARK-TV.

    Hutchison said that after the the SAFE Act passed the Arkansas House, four of her patients attempted suicide.

    Last week, an official at the ACLU of Arkansas argued that Arkansas families “depend on this life-saving health care,” calling the state’s attempted ban “baseless and deadly.”

    “The risks of denying this care to young people who need it are grave and well-founded, while the law attempting to ban care has made Arkansas less safe and less welcoming for transgender youth, their families, and all who love them,” wrote Executive Director Holly Dickson in a press release.

    Arkansas was the first state to enact a ban on gender-affirming care. Measures restricting such care for minors have been passed in three others: Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee. A judge partially blocked Alabama’s law earlier this year, while Arizona’s isn’t set to take effect until May.

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  • 10/17: CBS News Prime Time

    10/17: CBS News Prime Time

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    10/17: CBS News Prime Time – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    John Dickerson explores deadly “suicide drones” used by Russia in Ukraine, the federal trial over Arkansas’ ban on trans youth care and the key steps to guard against COVID-19 this winter.

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  • Landmark trial begins over Arkansas’ ban on trans youth care

    Landmark trial begins over Arkansas’ ban on trans youth care

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    Landmark trial begins over ban on trans care

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  • Location of potential new Madison county jail causing concern

    Location of potential new Madison county jail causing concern

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    Madison county voters will vote for or against a new county jail in the November elections. The potential jail has two possible locations along Highway 412. One of the locations is less than two miles from Camp Noark for girl scouts. “The main thing was for me to become educated as to what the needs of the community is and the county are,” Girl Scouts regional CEO Dawn Prasifka said. “We were told that the jail was going to be put in the location that is within a mile and a half.”The potential location is causing concern for the future safety of the camp. “The concern of inmates getting loose and coming into our woods,” Prasifka said. After several discussions with the Madison county sheriff, Prasifka is trying to look at the potential new jail in a positive light. “We possibly have people that are undesirable living in our camp space because there’s not the jail to put them,” Prasifka said. ” “We support that need our bigger concern is the optics of that jail in the proximity of the camp.” Madison county is hosting four public discussions over the next several weeks with the goal of teaching the public more about the potential new jail. The meetings will each be at 6 p.m. at the following locations:Clifty Fire Department on Oct. 14Huntsville High School Cafeteria on Oct. 18Kingston VFW Building on Oct. 25Weslet Fire Department on Oct. 27

    MADISON COUNTY, Ark. —

    Madison county voters will vote for or against a new county jail in the November elections.

    The potential jail has two possible locations along Highway 412.

    One of the locations is less than two miles from Camp Noark for girl scouts.

    “The main thing was for me to become educated as to what the needs of the community is and the county are,” Girl Scouts regional CEO Dawn Prasifka said. “We were told that the jail was going to be put in the location that is within a mile and a half.”

    The potential location is causing concern for the future safety of the camp.

    “The concern of inmates getting loose and coming into our woods,” Prasifka said.

    After several discussions with the Madison county sheriff, Prasifka is trying to look at the potential new jail in a positive light.

    “We possibly have people that are undesirable living in our camp space because there’s not the jail to put them,” Prasifka said. ” “We support that need our bigger concern is the optics of that jail in the proximity of the camp.”

    Madison county is hosting four public discussions over the next several weeks with the goal of teaching the public more about the potential new jail.

    The meetings will each be at 6 p.m. at the following locations:

    • Clifty Fire Department on Oct. 14
    • Huntsville High School Cafeteria on Oct. 18
    • Kingston VFW Building on Oct. 25
    • Weslet Fire Department on Oct. 27

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  • FACT FOCUS: Sorting papers and facts in an ex-bowling alley

    FACT FOCUS: Sorting papers and facts in an ex-bowling alley

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    At a rally for Nevada Republicans on Saturday, former President Donald Trump argued against the federal probe into the storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate by falsely suggesting that past presidents did the same thing.

    Trump claimed that Barack Obama moved “truckloads” of documents to a former furniture store in Chicago, that Bill Clinton carted records “from the White House to a former car dealership in Arkansas,” and that George H.W. Bush “took millions of documents to a former bowling alley and a former Chinese restaurant where they combined them.”

    In reality, National Archives and Records Administration staff, not the former presidents, transported presidential records to these facilities for temporary sorting and storage, following security protocols in the process, NARA statements and Associated Press reporting show. The agency leased the buildings from the General Services Administration, it said in a statement Tuesday.

    “All such temporary facilities met strict archival and security standards, and have been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees,” NARA’s emailed statement read. “Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading.”

    That’s very different from Trump harboring classified documents from his own presidency in various storage areas at his Florida estate, said Timothy Naftali, a professor of public service and history at New York University.

    “Obviously, it takes time to build a presidential library. During that period of time, the National Archives has to put these presidential records somewhere safe,” Naftali said. “They are not put in closets in public clubs.”

    A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.

    Here’s a closer look at the facts.

    TRUMP: Bush “took millions of documents to a former bowling alley and a former Chinese restaurant where they combined them. So they’re in a bowling alley slash Chinese restaurant.”

    THE FACTS: While the idea of the elder Bush sneaking documents to a combination bowling alley and Chinese restaurant inspired colorful internet reactions, it’s not accurate.

    NARA archivists, not Bush, transported the documents to what had once been Chimney Hill Bowl in College Station, Texas, according to AP reporting at the time. They converted it into a warehouse, swapping bowling lanes for shelved storage where they could store the boxes of documents. To fit everything, they also co-opted a former Chinese restaurant next door.

    Under the Presidential Records Act, NARA has custody of all presidential records from former administrations. The agency is responsible for sorting through the documents and storing them securely until a presidential library can be built to house them.

    In the case of Bush’s documents, the temporary storage facility NARA archivists used was protected by guards, television monitors and electronic detectors while documents were sorted, the AP reported at the time. They were later moved to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, also in College Station, where they reside today.

    Trump’s comments aimed to diminish the fact that he held classified documents in Mar-a-Lago by saying Bush held his own documents in an old bowling alley, Naftali said.

    “But that’s complete nonsense,” he said. “These are buildings National Archives took over, renovated to meet archival standards and security, and then they put the materials there.”

    Benjamin Hufbauer, a professor at the University of Louisville who researches presidential libraries, agreed Trump’s claim was not correct. “It’s really an apples to oranges kind of thing,” he said.

    ___

    TRUMP: Clinton “took millions of documents from the White House to a former car dealership in Arkansas.”

    THE FACTS: Clinton didn’t take documents to an ex-car dealership, NARA did.

    NARA announced in May 2000 that it would be transporting documents from Clinton’s presidency to a Little Rock, Arkansas, storage facility that used to be the Balch Motor Company. The facility, which NARA rented, was less than 2 miles from what later became the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, where the documents are stored today.

    ___

    TRUMP: Obama “moved more than 20 truckloads, over 33 million pages of documents, both classified and unclassified, to a poorly-built and totally unsafe former furniture store located in a rather bad neighborhood in Chicago with no security, by the way.”

    THE FACTS: Again, NARA, not Obama, transported these documents — and followed its own storage standards in the process, the agency said.

    Roughly 30 million unclassified Obama administration documents reside in a Chicago-area building that at one point belonged to the Plunkett furniture company, according to county and local government records.

    These documents are stored in accordance with the agency’s archival storage standards, according to NARA. Those standards include things like fire safety, pest management and security guidelines for certain types of documents.

    Comments a NARA official gave to the city’s zoning commission prior to the end of Obama’s term also stipulated that the facility would be guarded overnight.

    The administration’s classified documents are stored in separate secure locations in the Washington, D.C., area.

    ___

    This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

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  • Suspect in Arkansas hospital shooting pleads not guilty

    Suspect in Arkansas hospital shooting pleads not guilty

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    LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas man charged with fatally shooting a man visiting a patient at a Little Rock-area hospital pleaded not guilty Thursday to capital murder and aggravated assault.

    A judge set bond at $500,000 for Raymond Lovett, 24, during a brief video arraignment. Lovett was arrested Wednesday in the shooting death of Leighton Whitfield at CHI St. Vincent North in Sherwood, a city of about 33,000 people northeast of Little Rock.

    The hospital was placed on lockdown as authorities responded to the shooting, and Whitfield was found shot dead on the fourth floor of the facility. Lovett was arrested a little over an hour later at a gas station in Little Rock, about 15 miles away from the hospital.

    Police have said the men knew each other and that Whitfield was visiting a patient at the hospital. Lovett’s next court appearance is set for Nov. 8.

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  • ACE Scholarships Arkansas Announces New Director

    ACE Scholarships Arkansas Announces New Director

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    Press Release
    –

    Nov 22, 2021


    DENVER, November 22, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    The ACE Scholarships board of directors is pleased to announce that it has named Hannah Bunch Reber as the organization’s new Director effective December 2021. Hannah is an energetic, proven leader who will draw on her wealth of experience in the public and non-profit sectors to build upon ACE’s transformational work in Arkansas and position the organization for a new phase of growth. 

    “Our board of directors is thrilled to welcome Hannah into the Arkansas community as we begin a new chapter of expansion at a very critical time,” said Norton Rainey, President, and CEO of ACE Scholarships, one of the largest providers of privately funded K-12 scholarships for disadvantaged students in the U.S. Since launching in 2018, ACE Arkansas has awarded more than 1,680 total scholarships and invested nearly $3.5 million to ensure that low-income students receive scholarships to the private school of their choice. “It is no secret that far too many children are trapped in failing schools, and in the aftermath of COVID-19 the crisis has only gotten worse. Creating educational opportunities for low-income families is more important now than ever before. I’m confident Hannah possesses the skills and the passion necessary to scale ACE Arkansas to have an even greater impact in the months and years ahead.”

    Hannah comes to ACE as a veteran communicator and leader, having worked as Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director in Lt. Governor Tim Griffin’s Office. Before working with the Lt. Governor, Hannah worked at Americans for Prosperity as the state Community Engagement and Field Director.  

    “Having grown up in a lower-middle-class family, I have a deep, personal connection to ACE’s mission to provide low-income families with equal access to high-quality education,” Hannah said. “It is truly the honor of a lifetime to join this talented team in working with our passionate and dedicated donors to continue to expand upon ACE’s impact in Arkansas.”

    Hannah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from Ouachita Baptist University.

    About ACE Scholarships

    ACE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2000 in Denver, Colorado, to provide low-income children with equal access to quality K-12 private schools through partial scholarship support. Over the past 21 years, ACE has provided more than 53,500 scholarships worth nearly $140 million. This school year, ACE serves 7,000 children in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Wyoming and Texas, while actively considering further expansion opportunities. To qualify for an ACE scholarship, a family must meet the income requirements for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program.

    Our mission is to provide children of low-income families with scholarships to private schools in grades K-12, and to advocate for expanded school choice. Our vision is that every child has equal access to a quality education. For more information visit the ACE website at www.acescholarships.org.

    Source: ACE Scholarships

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  • Arkansas sues TikTok, ByteDance and Meta over mental health claims | CNN Business

    Arkansas sues TikTok, ByteDance and Meta over mental health claims | CNN Business

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    The state of Arkansas has sued TikTok, its parent ByteDance, and Facebook-parent Meta over claims the companies’ products are harmful to users, in the latest effort by public officials to take social media companies to court over mental-health and privacy concerns.

    All three lawsuits claim the companies have violated the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and seek millions, if not billions, in potential fines. The suits were filed in Arkansas state court.

    The complaints come amid mounting pressure in Washington on TikTok for its ties to China and as states have grown more aggressive in suing tech companies broadly, particularly on mental health claims. Suits by school districts or county officials in California, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington state have targeted multiple social media platforms over addiction allegations.

    The suit against Meta particularly zeroes in on the company’s impact to young users’ mental health, alleging that Meta’s implementation of like buttons, photo tagging, an unending news feed and other features are addictive and “intended to manipulate users’ brains by triggering the release of dopamine.”

    In a statement, Meta’s global head of safety, Antigone Davis, said the company has invested in “technology that finds and removes content related to suicide, self-injury or eating disorders before anyone reports it to us.”

    “We want to reassure every parent that we have their interests at heart in the work we’re doing to provide teens with safe, supportive experiences online,” Davis said in the statement. “These are complex issues, but we will continue working with parents, experts and regulators such as the state attorneys general to develop new tools, features and policies that meet the needs of teens and their families.”

    The remaining two suits, both naming ByteDance and TikTok as defendants, target TikTok’s alleged shortcomings in content moderation and also reiterate claims about TikTok’s alleged threat to US national security.

    The first suit alleges that TikTok has misled users by identifying its app as suitable for teens on app stores because of the “abundant” presence of content showing profanity, substance use and nudity. The suit further alleges that TikTok’s Chinese sister app, Douyin, does not make such content available within China.

    “TikTok poses known risks to young teens that TikTok’s parent company itself finds inappropriate for Chinese users who are the same age,” the complaint said. “Yet TikTok pushes salacious and other mature content to all young U.S. users age 13 and up.”

    The second suit against ByteDance and TikTok accuse the companies of having made misleading statements about the reach of Chinese government officials and their purported inability to access TikTok user data. TikTok has migrated US user data to servers operated by the American tech giant Oracle and has established organizational controls intended to prevent unauthorized data access. But, the suit alleges, that does not mean the data is necessarily protected.

    “Neither TikTok’s data storage practices, nor its data security practices, negate the applicability of Chinese law to that data or to the individuals and entities who are subject to Chinese law and have access to that data, or the risk of access by the Chinese Government or Communist Party,” the complaint said.

    The suit also claims TikTok has misrepresented its approach to privacy and security by omitting the potential risks of Chinese government access from its privacy policies and in its statements to app store operators.

    TikTok and ByteDance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    In a statement announcing the lawsuits, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the suits reflect a “failed status quo.”

    “We have to hold Big Tech companies accountable for pushing addictive platforms on our kids and exposing them to a world of inappropriate, damaging content,” Sanders said. “These actions are a long time coming. We have watched over the past decade as one social media company after another has exploited our kids for profit and escaped government oversight.”

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  • Judge blocks Arkansas law criminalizing libraries and bookstores for providing ‘harmful’ books to minors | CNN Politics

    Judge blocks Arkansas law criminalizing libraries and bookstores for providing ‘harmful’ books to minors | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked portions of an Arkansas law that would have made it a crime for librarians and bookstores to provide minors with materials deemed “harmful” to them.

    The law, signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in March, would have held librarians and book vendors criminally liable for knowingly making available to minors material that would appeal “to a prurient interest in sex.” Under the law, the material would also have to lack “serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value” and be “patently offensive” under community standards.

    The law, known as Act 372, would have taken effect Tuesday but will now remain blocked while the case plays out.

    A group of libraries, librarians, several bookstores and publishing groups – including the Arkansas Library Association and the Central Arkansas Library System – filed a lawsuit last month arguing that a section of the law violated the First Amendment. The plaintiffs also challenged another section of the law that would have allowed individuals to challenge libraries over a material’s “appropriateness.”

    The plaintiffs argued that the law could make way for the removal of libraries’ “young-adult” and “general” collections with sexual content. They also said it could even lead to a ban of all persons under the age of 18 from entering public libraries and bookstores, due to “the risk of endless criminal prosecution.”

    Providing banned materials under the law to a minor would be a Class A misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year of jail or a $2,500 fine.

    US District Judge Timothy L. Brooks of the Western District of Arkansas, an Obama appointee, ultimately agreed in his preliminary injunction, citing concerns about potential violations of the First and 14th amendments.

    He described the law’s definition of “appropriateness” as “fatally vague,” arguing that it would be too challenging to enforce the law without infringing on constitutionally protected speech. Material deemed “harmful” for the youngest minors may be appropriate for the oldest minors or adults, Brooks said.

    A spokeswoman for Sanders said the governor continues to support the law despite the ruling.

    “The governor supports laws that protects kids from having access to obscene content and the idea that Democrats want kids to receive material that is literally censored in Congressional testimony is absurd and only appropriate in the radical left’s liberal utopia,” Sanders communications director Alexa Henning said in a statement to CNN.

    The ruling is subject to appeal. CNN has reached out to Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, regarding potential next steps.

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which represented some of the plaintiffs, welcomed the judge’s injunction.

    “It’s regrettable that we even have to question whether our constitutional rights are still respected today. The question we had to ask was – do Arkansans still legally have access to reading materials?” Holly Dickson, the executive director of ACLU Arkansas, said in a statement. “Luckily, the judicial system has once again defended our highly valued liberties. We are committed to maintaining the fight to safeguard everyone’s right to access information and ideas.”

    Dickson previously called Act 372 “an Arctic breeze on librarians across Arkansas.”

    The plaintiffs included 17-year-old Hayden Kirby, who said in a statement that the law would limit her ability to “explore diverse perspectives.” Kirby said she spent time in the library every day throughout middle school.

    “To restrict the spaces I’ve accessed freely throughout my life is outrageous to me,” she previously said in a statement. “I want to fight for our rights to intellectual freedom and ensure that libraries remain spaces where young Arkansans can explore diverse perspectives.”

    The American Library Association said in a report earlier this year that there were 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources across the country in 2022, marking the highest number of attempted book bans since the association began compiling the data more than 20 years ago.

    Free speech organization PEN America found book bans rose during the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, in large part due to state laws in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah and South Carolina – which accounted for almost a third of the bans, according to the report from April.

    A new law signed in Texas last month banning books containing sexual content that is “patently offensive” was decried by opponents as potentially harmful to childrens’ education.

    Last month, President Joe Biden announced he plans to appoint a new federal coordinator to address the increase in book bans enacted across different states.

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  • Arkansas governor signs sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage | CNN Business

    Arkansas governor signs sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage | CNN Business

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed a sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage, in the latest example of states taking more aggressive steps intended to protect teens online.

    But even as Sanders signed the bill into law on Wednesday afternoon, the legislation appeared to contain vast loopholes and exemptions benefiting companies that lobbied on the bill and raising questions about how much of the industry it truly covers.

    The legislation, known as the Social Media Safety Act and taking effect in September, is aimed at giving parents more control over their kids’ social media usage, according to lawmakers. It defines social media companies as any online forum that lets users create public profiles and interact with each other through digital content.

    It requires companies that operate those services to verify the ages of all new users and, if the users are under 18 years old, to obtain a parent’s consent before allowing them to create an account. To perform the age checks, the law relies on third-party companies to verify users’ personal information, such as a driver’s license or photo ID.

    “While social media can be a great tool and a wonderful resource, it can have a massive negative impact on our kids,” Sanders said at a press conference before signing the bill.

    Utah finalized a similar law last month, raising concerns among some users and advocacy groups that the legislation could make user data less secure, internet access less private and infringe upon younger users’ basic rights.

    The push by states to legislate on social media comes after years of mounting scrutiny of the industry and claims that it has harmed users’ well-being and mental health, particularly among teens.

    Despite its seemingly universal scope, however, the new law, also known as SB396, includes numerous carveouts for certain types of digital services and, in some cases, individual companies. And although its sponsors have said the law is specifically meant to apply to certain platforms, including TikTok, parts of the legislative language appear to result in the exact opposite effect.

    In the final days of negotiation over the bill, Arkansas lawmakers approved an amendment that created several categorical exemptions from the age verification requirements. Media companies that “exclusively” offer subscription content; social media platforms that permit users to “generate short video clips of dancing, voice overs, or other acts of entertainment”; and companies that “exclusively offer” video gaming-focused social networking features were exempted.

    Another amendment carved out companies that sell cloud storage services, business cybersecurity services or educational technology and that simultaneously derive less than 25% of their total revenue from running a social media platform.

    Sen. Tyler Dees, a lead co-sponsor of the legislation, explained in remarks on the Arkansas senate floor on April 6 that the exemptions and tweaks to the bill, some of which he said were made in consultation with Apple, Meta and Google, were intended to shield non-social media services from the bill’s age requirements and to focus attention on new accounts created by children, not existing adult accounts.

    “There’s other services that Google offers … like cloud storage, et cetera,” Dees said. “So that’s really the intent of carving out — like LinkedIn, that is a social – I’m sorry, that is a business networking site, and so that’s the intent of those bills.”

    Microsoft-owned LinkedIn is apparently exempt from SB396 under a provision that carves out companies that provide “career development opportunities, including professional networking, job skills, learning certifications, and job posting and application services.”

    Other lawmakers have questioned whether the legislation — which has now become law — exempts a giant of the social media industry: YouTube, whose auto-play features and algorithmic recommendation engine have been accused of promoting extremism and radicalizing viewers.

    The confusion over YouTube appears to stem from the carveout for businesses that offer cloud storage and that make less than 25% of their revenue from social media.

    What is unclear is whether YouTube is subject to SB396 because it is a distinct company within Google whose revenue comes almost entirely from operating a social media platform, or whether it is not covered because YouTube is a part of Google and Google is exempt because it derives only a small share of its revenues from YouTube.

    In response to questions by CNN, Dees said SB396 targets platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, but omitted any mention of Google and declined to answer whether YouTube specifically would be covered by the law.

    “The purpose of this bill was to empower parents and protect kids from social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat,” Dees said in a statement. “We worked with stakeholders to ensure that email, text messaging, video streaming, and networking websites were not covered by the bill.”

    In remarks at Wednesday’s bill signing, Sanders told reporters that Google and Amazon are exempted from the law, implying that YouTube will not be subject to the age verification requirements imposed on other major social media sites.

    Meanwhile, Dees’ statement appeared to contradict the language in SB396 that purports to exempt any company that “allows a user to generate short video clips of dancing, voice overs, or other acts of entertainment in which the primary purpose is not educational or informative” — content that can be commonly found on TikTok, Snapchat and the other social media platforms Deese named.

    According to Meta spokesperson, “We want teens to be safe online. We’ve developed more than 30 tools to support teens and families, including tools that let parents and teens work together to limit the amount of time teens spend on Instagram, and age-verification technology that helps teens have age-appropriate experiences.”

    Meta “automatically set teens’ accounts to private when they join Instagram, we’ve further restricted the options advertisers have to reach teens, as well as the information we use to show ads to teens… and we don’t allow content that promotes suicide, self-harm or eating disorders,” according to the spokesperson, who added: “We’ll continue to work closely with experts, policymakers and parents on these important issues.”

    Spokespeople for Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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