Arkansas

Jim Guy Tucker to lie in state at the Capitol | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

1 year ago

February 18, 2025

Jim Guy Tucker to lie in state at the Capitol | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker will lie in state in the second floor rotunda of the state Capitol building on Friday, and flags have been ordered to be flown at half-staff in recognition of his death.

Tucker, who died Thursday, will lie in state from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” according to a news release from Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester’s office. “Friends, family, and the public are welcome to come and pay their respects.”

Beginning at sunrise Wednesday and ending at sunset on Monday, the United States and Arkansas flags will be flown at half-staff “in tribute to the memory of Jim Guy Tucker and as an expression of public sorrow,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in an order on Tuesday.

Sanders described Tucker in her order as “part of a generation of Arkansas leaders who left a deep impression on the state and whose legacy lives on.”

Tucker, who was Arkansas’ 43rd governor, died from complications of ulcerative colitis at the age of 81, according to his stepson, Lance Alworth Jr. He was born in Oklahoma City on June 13, 1943, but was raised in Little Rock.

In addition to serving as governor, Tucker was at various times the state’s lieutenant governor, a U.S. congressman, the state’s attorney general and a prosecuting attorney.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

7 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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