SUMMARY: Police are investigating two violent attacks in Oregon and Colorado. In Salem, Oregon, a man staying at a homeless shelter stabbed 11 people, including staff, just across from the police department. The suspect is in custody, but victim conditions remain unclear. In Boulder, Colorado, 45-year-old Muhammad Sabri Sulaman used a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to attack peaceful marchers supporting Israeli hostages in Gaza, injuring eight people aged 52 to 88. The FBI is treating the attack as terrorism. Sulaman, an Egyptian national who overstayed his visa, was arrested at the scene. Boulder’s Jewish community expressed deep concern over the targeted violence.

Police are investigating after a stabbing spree in Oregon injured 11 people, and a man in Colorado attacked a crowd rallying for Israeli hostages in Gaza.

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by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
May 29, 2025

The Arkansas State Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to dissolve the Blytheville School Board and place the district under a Level 5-Intensive Support classification due to ongoing academic, financial and administrative issues. 

The board authorized Education Secretary Jacob Oliva to assume the board’s duties, appoint a superintendent and pursue the possibility of a transformation contract, a provision of the LEARNS Act that allows struggling public schools to partner with an open-enrollment public charter school or another state board-approved entity to create “a public school district transformation campus.”

Education secretary to recommend increased support for east Arkansas school district

Oliva notified the board on May 8 of his intent to recommend the state’s highest support classification. He initially alerted the board to his concerns with the Northeast Arkansas school district last July. 

Over the last year, the Arkansas Department of Education has provided on-site support to the district, ADE Deputy Commissioner Stacy Smith said at the state board’s special meeting in Blytheville Thursday. 

The district is one of the lowest-performing in the state, struggles with declining enrollment and has financial issues, Smith said. Fiscal year 2025 revenue is down by about 15%, and the district has spent $1.5 million that was not budgeted, she said. 

Teachers and administrators have been receptive to the state’s help, and Blytheville has “a bright future,” but more assistance is needed, Smith said.

“People are showing up, but this is a district that is in need of a lot of support to be able to get them out of the hole that they’re currently in,” she said.  

Oliva notified the Blytheville School District of his recommendation of a Level 5-Intensive Support classification and the state board’s special meeting via a letter dated May 14. An ongoing lack of a permanent superintendent, delayed staffing decisions and stalled hiring processes have led to “organizational instability, weakened strategic planning efforts, and impeded the district’s capacity to effectively support students and staff,” according to the letter. 

In addition to an “absence of coherent leadership,” the letter also cited “inconsistent governance structure” and “chronic student underachievement.”

The district appealed the recommendation in a May 21 letter, which prompted a hearing at Thursday’s special meeting. The letter, signed by Interim Superintendent Jennnifer Blankenship and board President Desmond Hammett, argued the district has “worked tirelessly” to implement the education department’s recommendations and “demonstrated both measurable academic progress and consistent good faith efforts to comply with all directives.”

Specific actions include hiring a school improvement consulting firm, increasing the number of fully licensed educators and assigning mentors to novice teachers, the district leaders wrote. The letter also rebuts “chronic student underachievement,” noting that one school improved from an “F” ranking to a “C” ranking in one academic year. 

Additionally, the district’s letter takes issue with Oliva’s past characterization of it as a “failure factory,” which “undermines the morale of educators and students,” its authors said. 

“It is difficult to accept the designation of Level 5-Intensive Support while actively doing everything we were advised to do,” the letter states. “Rather than punitive reclassification, we respectfully submit that BSD’s path would be better supported by continued partnership, encouragement, and recognition of its progress.”

The letter’s authors said they also “strongly disagree” with Oliva’s comments about a lack of “coherent leadership” and “inconsistent governance.” 

Blytheville has had two full-time superintendents and three interim superintendents since 2018, Smith said at the state board’s May 8 meeting. Blankenship was appointed as the current interim superintendent on June 12, 2024. She also served in the interim role from July through December 2021. 

After the previous superintendent was officially terminated last August, the board reviewed candidates in late November and decided to keep Blankenship. A consulting firm hired in February presented two of 13 applicants in late April, but the board declined to interview them and reposted the position, Smith said.

According to the district’s letter, the board voted to delay interviews because it hadn’t received certain requested information.

“Unfortunately, the ADE observer left the meeting without seeking clarification, which may have inadvertently contributed to subsequent misunderstandings about governance stability,” the letter states. 

At Thursday’s meeting, Hammett said the board didn’t refuse to interview the two candidates, but instead extended the application deadline by two weeks to gather a larger pool of applicants.

Arkansas education board removes Lee County’s fiscal distress status

Smith confirmed that Blytheville’s school board decided at its May 22 meeting to interview three applicants. One interview was scheduled for Thursday, and Smith said she “would be embarrassed” to interview a superintendent on the same day that the state board is considering whether to dissolve the school board. 

“While it may be embarrassing to some,” Hammett said, the board was committed to continuing its work. Blytheville has only been working with the state for a year, Hammett said, and he believes the district can continue to improve. 

The state board’s discussion of Blytheville’s circumstances at its May 8 meeting was “disappointing and discouraging,” but the school board “rose to the challenge,” he said. 

“We didn’t tuck our tails, we didn’t run away from the challenge,” he said. “We became more committed, more engaged to show that we’re not dysfunctional, that we’re willing to do the work.”  

Much of Thursday’s discussion centered on frustration with the board’s actions, or lack thereof. Oliva discussed “frustration of how much we have to babysit the people that are elected to govern the district.” 

Meanwhile, members of the public like Blytheville native Bradley Ballard requested the state board dissolve the school board “before more damage is done.”

“This [mess] is the result of a board that is too prideful to lead and too fractured to function,” Ballard said. “We cannot keep pointing fingers while our children fall through the cracks. Today you have the power to stop this. You can cut through the chaos and bring order, accountability and hope back to our schools.”

The state board granted his request and voted to dissolve Blytheville’s school board and give the district a Level 5-Intensive Support classification. Blytheville joins four other districts that already have the state’s highest support classification — Earle, Lee County, Helena-West Helena and Marvell-Elaine. 

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post Arkansas education board dissolves Blytheville school board appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article provides a factual and balanced account of the Arkansas State Board of Education’s decision to dissolve the Blytheville School Board due to academic and administrative failures. It includes statements from both state officials advocating for intervention and district representatives defending their progress, offering multiple perspectives without apparent editorializing. The tone is neutral, focusing on governance, accountability, and educational outcomes without promoting a particular political ideology or partisan framing. Overall, the content adheres to straightforward reporting on policy and administrative actions within public education.

SUMMARY: The manhunt for escaped killer Grant Harden, former Northwest Arkansas police chief, continues into its fifth day in North Central Arkansas. Harden fled the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, where he was imprisoned for a deadly shooting and rape in Benton County. US Marshals searched Faulner County following a tip, but no confirmed sightings have occurred since Harden’s Sunday escape. Authorities believe a corrections officer opened the gate, allowing Harden, disguised in a makeshift uniform, to flee. Hundreds of officers face challenges navigating narrow terrain as they conduct meticulous searches. Experts say Harden’s law enforcement background makes him particularly dangerous but likely still hiding nearby.

Officials are investigating a new lead as the search for escaped inmate Grant Hardin enters the fifth day. Here’s what we know so far.

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