The 11 biggest Arkansas stories of 2024

Friday, June 21, 2024, was a day that the people of Fordyce won't soon forget.

Just after 11:00 a.m., the day was marked with tragedy as a gunman identified as Travis Posey opened fire at the Mad Butcher grocery store shooting 15 people in total and tragically killing four of them.

People across the small town of Fordyce were all shocked to learn the news of what happened.

"It was just a regular day, and then it all happened so fast," said one woman who was inside the store at the time of the shooting.

The victims were identified as Callie Weems, Shirley Kay Taylor, Roy Sturgis, and Ellen Shrum.

Weems was a 23-year-old mother and nurse who tragically lost her life while trying to help others inside the store.

"Instead of fleeing from the obvious dangers, Callie Weems began using her training as a nurse to render aid to a gunshot victim," said Arkansas State Police Director Mike Hagar. 

"[It was] very emotional. Our team lost a team member, and they had to treat that team member when she arrived, so that's exceptionally hard," said David Mantz, CEO of the Dallas County Medical Center. "Really, the perspective is that probably 80% of the people on that team knew every victim that came. In a town of 4,300, that's not hard, and they even knew the suspect."

Silas Compton is one of the surviving victims who was injured during the shooting who shared his frustrations in regard to the incident.

"It saddens me every time I see it, and it just angers me, because it's not something that should be going on," Compton said.

However, in the face of tragedy, Compton also expressed how he wouldn't let anything keep him down. 

"I trust in the Lord that he'll heal me, I believe he'll make things better for me, you know, and I may not be able to see it naturally, but I put my trust in him, and he will take care of me," he added.

Even in the midst of tragedy, the community never stopped showcasing how "Fordyce Strong" it really is.

Posey is being charged with four counts of capital murder and 11 counts of attempted capital murder, all of which he previously pleaded not guilty to.

Judge Silverston set a tentative trial date of February 3, 2025. However, he also explained how it's highly unlikely that the trial will officially start that day.

At about 1:12 a.m. on October 8, 2024 deputies were called to a Lonoke County home with reports of a missing 14-year-old girl.

Meanwhile, reports showed that the father of the teen, Aaron Spencer, had reportedly found the teen inside a vehicle with a man later identified as Michael Fosler. 

A confrontation between the two men began and ended in Fosler being shot. He was pronounced dead while still at the scene.

Spencer was taken into custody and transported to the Lonoke County Detention Center where he is facing a murder charge for the alleged shooting of Fosler. According to court files, authorities said Fosler had been previously charged with two counts of alleged internet stalking of a child, two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, and two counts of sexual indecency with a child. 

During an arraignment that was held at the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office on December 2, 2024, Spencer pleaded not guilty. He is currently out on bond and his jury trial date has been set for March 19, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. 

On Monday, April 8, 2024 thousands of people across the state of Arkansas had the opportunity to experience a truly out-of-this-world event. 

Tourists from all over the world, including France, Brazil, Denmark, and more, flooded into the Natural State to witness the total solar eclipse from within the path of totality. 

NASA and French astronomers also made their way to the state to witness the solar phenomenon.

Ahead of the big day, thousands of businesses across the state prepared by offering specialty-themed cookies, eclipse-themed beer, selling shirts, and so much more. They also made sure they were prepared for the influx of people that would be coming.

Several events took place all across the state including a once-in-a-lifetime event where 100 couples got married during the historic total solar eclipse.

Not only was the eclipse an extraordinary event for humans, but some animals also got to participate in the egg-cellent experience thanks to human creativity.

A new study conducted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment (ADEE) discovered a method to "quantify the amount of lithium present in brines located in a geological unit known as the Smackover Formation." 

Researchers say that the Smackover Formation is described as a "relic of an ancient sea that left an extensive, porous, and permeable limestone geologic unit."

This geological unit dates back to the Jurassic geological time period and currently stretches underneath some parts of Arkansas, along with Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.  

The United States relies on imports to sustain over 25% of its lithium. That's where the extraction of lithium in Arkansas comes into play.

USGS researchers believe that there's enough lithium in southern Arkansas to cover the current estimated lithium consumption for the U.S. 

They explained how the low-end estimate is that there are 5 million tons of lithium present in Smackover brines. This would be equivalent to over nine times the International Energy Agency’s projection of global lithium demand for electric vehicles in 2030.

Fans of the hip-hop world took notice when Kendrick Lamar released a new song on his Instagram on September 11, 2024.

The five-minute untitled track on his Instagram account featured a pair of black Nike Air Force 1 shoes as the cover art.

However, internet sleuths quickly deduced that the shoes came from an eBay listing based out of North Little Rock, from an account called “Good2BYou.”

That account belongs to Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson, who have been together for 20 years and have run the account for the past three years.

Other eBay users let them know that their shoes—which were quickly snatched up for $70 after not seeing any interest since being listed in June 2023—were now a piece of hip-hop history.

Once the pair learned of what was happening, they canceled the initial $70 order. They then tried to sell the shoes in an auction, starting at $5,000 and with a buy-now price of $75,000.

The couple also said that since they own the image, they plan to sell t-shirts. Lingo already has one. 

Meanwhile, Lamar’s song has garnered much attention since its release, with over three million likes and 120,000 comments.

As of December 2024, the eBay link for the shoes shows that the listing was ended on September 27 because "the item is no longer available."

On Wednesday, April 10, 2024, a new reality show was unveiled on Netflix— however, this time there was a twist and a connection to the Natural State.

Unlocked: A Jail Experiment is an experimental reality show that was filmed inside the walls of the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility in Little Rock.

The series focuses on an experiment implemented by Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins, which lets inmates manage themselves without locks and guards.

Shortly before its release Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement on the new Netflix series that had been generating a lot of controversy around the state in which she referred to the experiment as "reckless."

"This is a reckless decision by the Pulaski County Sheriff and highlights the need for our new state prison to keep repeat violent offenders off our streets and our communities safe,” Gov. Sanders said in the statement. 

After its release, county, and state officials expressed backlash over the experiment and the series. In response to the backlash, Higgins held a press conference to address any questions.

Higgins explained how he had been approached by Lucky 8, a television production company, to do the series after they discovered the success of the sheriff's re-entry program.

He also said Lucky 8 was not obligated to give them money, but when the agreement was signed, the production company was to pay $1,000 for each inmate in the show.

"There was no obligation for them to do that," Higgins said. "That was something they wanted to put in the agreement that they wanted to do."

However, after the docuseries premiered, Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde returned the $60,000 check to Lucky 8.

Shortly after its release in April, the series showed success in the United States, and streaming tracking sites show that Unlocked: A Jail Experiment was the No. 1 show in Canada and No. 3 in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

According to authorities, nearly three months after the series first premiered, John "Eastside" McAllister, an inmate featured in the Netflix series, passed away.

He died while at a prison in Pine Bluff where he had been transferred to in October 2023. 

Officials said that there was no suspected foul play involved and that suicide was ruled out as a cause of death. He was initially taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

In early April, it was reported that former University of Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari had been in "serious talks" with Arkansas in regard to the Razorbacks' open coaching position following Eric Musselman's departure to USC. 

Days later, on April 9, 2024, Coach Cal made the big news that he would be leaving UK official via a four-minute-long video posted to his X account.

"[My wife and I] loved it here, but we think it's time for us to step away," Calipari said. "There have been opportunities presented to us and we're discussing them as a family."

On April 10, fireworks went off inside Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville as fans were officially introduced to Calipari as the new head coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team.

He signed a five-year contract with an annual base salary of $7 million which runs through April 2029 with a maximum of two automatic rollover years for NCAA Tournament appearances that would extend the length of the contract to 2031. 

Calipari's deal includes a $1 million signing bonus and features retention bonuses of $500,000 each year of the contract including one-time bonuses for making it to the NCAA Tournament, reaching the second round, Sweet 16, Final Four, and winning a national championship.

On November 6, 2024, Coach Cal won his debut as Arkansas head coach when the Hogs held off a second-half rally by Lipscomb and they were able to walk away with a 76-60 victory.

Years after the I-30 crossing project first began, the Arkansas Department of Transportation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in early December where they announced that it had finally been completed. 

It was a project years in the making which first began back in 2020. ARDOT Director Lorie Tudor explained how the crews were actually able to finish the project about six months earlier than they had initially planned. 

Now that it has been completed, the I-30 crossing project will be able to connect several major interstates that people travel on daily— such as I-30, I-530, I-440, I-630, I-40, and Interstate 57.

It also connects North Little Rock and downtown Little Rock.

North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick said that the completion of the project will allow the community to come together as one big family.

Meanwhile, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. shared that while he was against the project initially, he has been happy to see how it has truly connected communities instead of dividing them.

The total cost of the project is said to have been nearly $540 million.

During the overnight hours of May 8, 2024, an EF-2 tornado touched down in Hot Springs.

The powerful winds knocked out power to several homes, threw trees onto nearby homes and vehicles causing multiple roads to be impassable.

They also caused devastation in a trailer park after winds toppled dozens of trees, crushing several mobile homes and vehicles.

Although the tornado was a time of unexpected tragedy, it brought out the best in the community as they all rallied behind each other providing support. Multiple community members and non-profits worked tirelessly to help in the recovery process.

On Memorial Day weekend, there were at least seven tornadoes which the National Weather Service confirmed to have hit Benton County.

The tornadoes on May 26, 2024, all ranged in strength from a rating of EF-1 to EF-3. 

There were two in Decatur, two in Centerton, one each in Rogers and War Eagle and lastly, one in Clifty which then crossed over into Madison County. 

There were at least two injuries reported as a result of one of the tornadoes in Decatur, which simultaneously proved to have been the strongest of all of them with a max wind speed of 155 miles per hour and an EF-3 rating.

The tragic tornadoes that happened in Northwest Arkansas once again proved to be an opportunity for human connection as the recovery process began.

People in the Walnut Valley neighborhood in Little Rock who had been impacted by the devastating tornado on March 31, 2023, wanted to help those who had been impacted by the tornadoes in NWA.

To help, people in the neighborhood took to Facebook where they shared their advice on how to navigate insurance procedures, the cleanup process, and also offered them advice on how to deal with stress.

During the early morning hours of March 19, 2024, agents with ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrived at a home in west Little Rock to serve a federal search warrant.

As they were serving the warrant at the home of the Little Rock airport director identified as 53-year-old Bryan Malinowski, he allegedly shot at the agents, striking one of them. 

That's when authorities said that a second agent then returned fire at Malinowski. The agent who was shot was taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, Malinowski was treated for his gunshot wounds by paramedics while at the scene and then taken to the hospital. About two days later, Shane Carter, the director of public affairs and governmental relations for the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, announced that Malinowski died.

According to an affidavit we received from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Malinowski had purchased more than 150 guns between May 2021 and February 2024.

The affidavit then explained how at least six of those firearms were later recovered in separate crimes across the U.S., while three more were bought in undercover purchases by the ATF.

Malinowski was put under active surveillance after the ATF Little Rock Field Office received a tip following Canadian officials having received a photo of guns from a confidential informant. 

The serial numbers on some of the guns that were in the photos were ultimately traced back to Malinowski. The affidavit said he would legally purchase the firearms, indicating on a form that the weapon was for personal use.

Malinowski would then allegedly resell those guns at gun shows. He has also been accused of selling guns without the proper licensure and not completing the correct steps when making a firearm sale.

Since the day of the incident, several Arkansas legislators have gathered during a conference at the state capitol where they demanded answers from the ATF about what exactly happened, and why things ended the way that they did. 

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin also called on the ATF to release the body camera video footage from the morning of the incident. 

However, one month after the deadly incident, on April 19, 2024, Senators Tom Cotton and John Boozman released a joint statement saying how they had been informed by the Department of Justice that the ATF agents "involved in the execution of a search warrant" at Malinowski's home did not have on body camera

Following the release of their statement, U.S. House of Representatives Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to ATF Director Steven Dettelbach where he asked for all the documents and communications relating to the search warrant, including an unredacted copy of the affidavit and all audio recordings from the raid.

In May, the death of Bryan Malinowski took to the national stage on Capitol Hill.

After months of questions surrounding the ATF search warrant that led to a deadly shootout, a House panel was able to hear from the lawyer of the former airport director.

After they heard the testimony from Malinowski's attorney, U.S. lawmakers said that they wanted a few things answered, including questions about how agents got inside the home.

Days after the House panel heard from Malinowski's lawyer, they had the opportunity to hear from ATF Director Steven Dettelbach. 

Dettelbach faced more than three hours of questioning by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee where he mainly deferred to the local investigation into the deadly shooting.

Those deferrals created some heated exchanges as Republican panel members pressed for explanations as to why Malinowski landed on the ATF's radar and why the agents ultimately executed the search in the manner that they did.

Months after four Arkansas Republican congressmen along with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) requested documents from the Arkansas State Police on the raid, Will Jones, prosecuting attorney for the Sixth Judicial District, ultimately ruled that the use of deadly force during the ATF raid was justified, according to Arkansas law.

He explained how Arkansas law states that a law enforcement officer is "justified in using deadly physical force if the officer reasonably believes that the use of force is necessary to defend himself or a third person from the use of deadly force."

Now, Arkansas lawmakers are still searching for answers in the death of Malinowski, and the Malinowski family has since filed a wrongful death claim against the FBI.

"This isn't going away and I think after today if anybody thought this had been swept under the rug they're wrong. This will be pursued and the truth will eventually come out," said Bud Cummins, the Malinowski family attorney.

In June, the investigation into the highly scrutinized purchase of a $19,000 lectern by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Office in 2023 finally came to a close.

Prosecutors came to the conclusion that charges were not warranted following an audit into the purchase of the $19K lectern.

Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones explained how the review of the purchase found that Gov. Sanders was consistent with Arkansas law and that having bought the lectern wasn't improper nor was it illegal. 

The prosecutors' decision hinged upon three key factors: the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), invoice notations, and the application of the General Accounting and Budgetary Procedures Law (GABPL).

Jones also said that there was "insufficient evidence" for the FOIA responses, the GABPL provisions, and the invoice notations.

This decision also comes after state legislators met at the Arkansas State Capitol in April to discuss the findings of an audit report into the purchase of the lectern, where that report showed at least seven instances of potentially violating state law when it came to buying the lectern and its transfer to the Republican Party of Arkansas.