News

As the nation pauses today to honor veterans for their sacrifice, more women are speaking out about life in the military and getting help from the VA.

The VA reports that 1 in 5 women seen by the Veterans Health Administration say they've experienced military sexual trauma, or abuse. Diann Chatterton Terry is a 27-year Army veteran. She arrived at the VA women's health center in Little Rock using a cane to maneuver around the hallways. Terry says military women also have to fight deep-seated stereotypes.

Singer-songwriter James McMurtry sat down with KUAR's Michael Hibblen to talk about his music and play a couple of songs.

For more than two decades he's been releasing albums with often bleak lyrics, developing a loyal following.  Author Stephen King has called him "the truest, fiercest songwriters of his generation.

McMurtry came by KUAR for the interview July 20, 2010 before a show that evening at Juanita's in Little Rock.   You can learn more about him at: www.jamesmcmurtry.com.

An Arkansas singer is hoping to show how the childhood of Bill Clinton helped shape the future president. She is putting together an opera that is a day in the life of the then 14-year-old Clinton growing up in Hot Springs.

The production is to be called Billy Blythe, which is the name Clinton went by until he adopted his step-father's last name in high school.  It's the brainchild of 30-year-old Bonnie Montgomery.

Many Veterans wrestle with feelings of depression and loneliness when they return home from battle. The agony of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), amputations and Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can at times be unbearable.

In order to help these servicemen and women overcome physical and mental injuries, a professor from the University of Central Arkansas started a lecture series that inspires vets by connecting them with art from ancient warrior cultures. FM 89's Malcolm Glover filed this report on an innovative program that's changing lives.

Includes personal reflections by KUAR's Michael Hibblen.

Work is finally getting underway to renovate the 111-year-old Rock Island Bridge adjacent to the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. Former President Bill Clinton is to lead a groundbreaking ceremony Friday morning at the bridge, which at one time was slated to be torn down.

The pledge to renovate the railroad bridge was made nine years ago, but beginning the work was repeatedly delayed, prompting some to wonder if it ever would happen. Now, after securing funding from numerous sources, the $10.5 million project is finally ready to get underway.

“We are standing at the foot on the south side of the Rock Island Bridge, now known as the Clinton Park Bridge.  It was renamed last week by Little Rock City Board of Directors," said Clinton Foundation spokesman Jordan Johnson.

It will serve as the eastern end of the 14 mile river trial.

“This will be a ramped pedestrian bridge, completely ADA compliant," said Jordan.  "We're looking at the trusses here and there will be, in essence, a bridge built inside the existing structure.  So we're going to preserve the existing structure, but also build a footpath through it that will level off at the lift span and then gradually go back down to the North Little Rock side."

As a wave of veterans returns from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the backlog of disability claims continues to mount. The tangled process of ensuring veterans get financial compensation for their injuries leaves many vets feeling like their twisting in the wind. A program underway at the Veterans Administration in Little Rock aims to tackle that perception.

The nine African-Americans who integrated Central High School in 1957 are being featured in this week's issue of the New Yorker that looks at civil rights icons.

Standing in front of the school, the nine posed for the renowned photographer known as Platon, who has taken portraits of presidents and world leaders and was brought to Little Rock by the magazine for the assignment.

Members of the Little Rock Nine are now in their late 60s.  Only three live in Arkansas today, with the rest spread out around the world.

Since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan almost 70 Arkansas soldiers and marines have died, according to an online database by The Washington Post that tracks the number of U.S. service members who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

When soldiers return home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan many of them want an advocate to help them navigate the difficult terrain of government agencies and private programs that offer the services they desperately need.

FM 89's Malcolm Glover reports on the work of the Army Wounded Warrior Program in Arkansas.

Click here to learn more about the Army Wounded Warrior Program.

A battle is brewing in Saline County between community leaders who want to build a highway over an abandoned railroad bed and homeowners who say it would encroach on their property.  It would provide another route connecting Benton and Little Rock.

Walking on a clear path where tracks once carried the trains of the Rock Island Railroad, Irene Thompson said, "Looking at it, it's unbelievable isn't it?" But she and her husband Tommy dread the thought of a highway being constructed on their property.