Monticello Live

We have all been frustrated watching gasoline and diesel prices constantly fluctuate in recent years. In Arkansas, we continue our efforts to develop and promote alternative fuels. This past August, the Arkansas Energy Office created a $1.2 million, federally-funded program to increase the number of vehicles in Arkansas that run on compressed natural gas, also known as CNG. CNG is made by compressing natural gas to less than one percent of its volume at standard atmospheric pressure. Consisting mostly of methane, CNG is odorless, colorless, clean and inexpensive.

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Since taking office in 2007, I have worked to make state government more accessible to Arkansans and more efficient in its delivery of services. Recently, Arkansas’s official Web site was redesigned to help further those efforts.

More than ever before, Arkansans are accessing government services online, and the recent updates provide an even more user-friendly experience on your computer or smart phone. To see the new Web portal, go to arkansas.gov. It’s designed to keep you informed about our state, and it provides links that can take you to our online services, to people who can help you, and to recent news stories.

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Of our three branches of government, most people are least familiar with the judicial branch. While voters choose the judges who sit on the Arkansas Supreme Court and Arkansas Court of Appeals, these judges keep much lower profiles than legislators or constitutional officers. Very few Arkansans will ever be personally involved in cases heard before our highest state courts, but the decisions of these courts impact the lives of all our citizens on a daily basis.

I have emphasized for years that the best way to restore the faith of our people in their government is through candor, access, and citizen involvement. This is why I was especially glad this week to take part in an announcement by the Arkansas Supreme Court, which is taking those very tenets to heart. (more…)

 Governor Mike Beebe released $2 million from the state’s General Improvement Fund Monday morning to help the University of Arkansas at Monticello construct a new wing to the school’s forest resources complex.
            The formal announcement was made at a ceremony in the John F. Gibson University Center. The $2 million released by Governor Beebe will be added to a $1.7 million appropriation made by the General Assembly during the 2007 legislative session and a $1 million private gift from Mrs. Maxine Clippert of Camden, bringing the total to $4.7 million.
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