Voters in a trio of Southern states will head to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the midterm primary elections.

Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia take their turn this week selecting their candidates for November’s general election. Plus, Texas and Minnesota host a handful of runoff elections.

While the Democrats will appear on the ballot in all of the states, it's the GOP that will headline the night, featuring a number of races that will certainly shine a light on the future of the party.

A former White House press secretary, a football legend and a few hard-pressed incumbents take center stage Tuesday night.

Here's what to watch for:

Huckabee Sanders poised for Arkansas governorship?

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary for former President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019, is the runaway favorite to become the next governor of Arkansas.

Sanders, whose father, Mike Huckabee, served as governor for 10 years, is facing one long-shot challenger in Francis "Doc" Washburn, a fiery radio personality and podcaster from Little Rock.

The 39-year-old Sanders boasts endorsements from Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tom Cotton, a long list of state officials and musician Kid Rock. The latest polling shows her up nearly 60 points on Washburn.

Chris Jones, a nuclear physicist and ordained minister, is the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination.

The other notable race in Arkansas is the GOP primary for U.S. Senate. Sen. John Boozman, who has held the seat since 2011, is seeking reelection.

Also riding a Trump endorsement, Boozman is facing an aggressive challenge from his right by former NFL player Jake Bequette, however, polling shows the incumbent safely in the lead. Jan Morgan, who’s been endorsed by former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, conservative political consultant Roger Stone and musician Ted Nugent, is also vying for the nomination.

Jack Foster, Natalie James and Dan Whitfield will duke it out for the Democratic nomination.

Heisman Trophy winner leads pack, sitting governor under attack

Sen. Raphael Warnock has only been in the U.S. Senate for just over a year, defeating former Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a runoff election in January 2021.

He will be back on the ballot in 2022, though he's basically running unopposed in the primary. Tamara Johnson-Shealey is the only challenger.

It's the GOP primary that will attract the most eyes. Six Republicans are contending for the Republican nod, including top candidates Herschel Walker, a former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star, and Gary Black, the current Georgia agriculture commissioner.

Walker, who has endorsements from Trump, former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, currently holds a sizable lead over Black in polling — 55% according to the latest aggregation.

The GOP race for governor will also garner some attention, as Gov. Brian Kemp tries to fend off former Sen. David Perdue.

Kemp, who has served as governor since 2019, boasts endorsements from Pence, former President George W. Bush and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Meanwhile, Trump is in Perdue's corner, as well as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The latest aggregation of polling shows Kemp in the lead by roughly 23 points. But a late surge by Perdue could make Tuesday night interesting.

What will be less interesting is the Democratic primary, which features one candidate — Stacey Abrams.

Abrams is expected to give whoever is the GOP's nominee a run for their money come November, testing whether Georgia will remain a blue state after flipping in the 2020 presidential election.

Alabama may be headed for multiple runoffs

The biggest draw Tuesday night in Alabama is the three-person race for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.

Katie Britt, a lawyer and former chief of staff for Sen. Richard Shelby, who is vacating the seat, has emerged as the leader of the pack.

Britt, who is attempting to become Alabama's first female senator, overtook Rep. Mo Brooks in polling earlier this year.

It's been a fall from grace for Brooks, who, on top of losing his lead in polling, also lost his endorsement from Trump in March after Brooks started falling behind. Trump has slammed Brooks for not being strong enough in backing the unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

Additionally, Brooks had endorsements rescinded by former Senior Advisor Stephen Miller and Michael Flynn.

Meanwhile, Britt enjoys a deep bench of endorsements from state officials as well as Sens. Joni Ernst and Lindsey Graham.

Rounding out the three-person race is U.S. Army pilot and businessman Mike Durant, who remains within earshot with endorsements from Flynn, Ted Nugent and former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Important to remember is that Alabama is a runoff state for its primary elections, so if no candidate reaches the 50% threshold, the top two will face off again on June 21.

Will Boyd, Brandaun Dean and Lanny Jackson will battle for the Democratic nomination.

Also on the ballot Tuesday is the governor's race. Gov. Kay Ivey holds a steady lead in polling, but she will face a challenge reaching that 50% threshold with two strong candidates nipping at her heels — former Ambassador to Slovenia Lynda Blanchard and businessman Tim James, who is the son of former Gov. Fob James.

Activist and educator Yolanda Flowers is the presumed front runner for the Democratic nod.

Reproductive rights on the ballot in conesequential Texas runoff

Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar is being pushed to the brink of being unseated by progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros.

This is the second cycle in a row Cisneros has run against Cuellar, falling 51.8% to 48.2% in 2020.

Reproductive rights has become a top issue in this race as Cuellar has come under fire for his anti-abortion stance — which is especially poignant now with Roe v. Wade's future uncertain.

Moderates and the Democratic establishment have stood by Cuellar, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.

On the other side, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Katie Porter and numerous labor unions are backing Cisneros.

During the first round of voting on March 3, Cuellar edged out Cisneros 48.7% to 46.6%. But things are quite different this time around. First, it's head-to-head, so there won't be a third candidate to dilute the vote count. And second, this election is taking place after the Supreme Court draft opinion leaked indicating Roe v. Wade may be overturned.

The outcome of this race could signal a changing of the guard within the Democratic Party, or it could be a doubling-down on the same old. Either way, every Democrat in Congress will be watching.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —

Two brothers from Australia found themselves making a bittersweet memory before the University of Cincinnati vs. the University of Arkansas season opener game on Saturday.

Mason Fletcher, sophomore punter for the Bearcats has a younger brother, Max Fletcher, who just so happens to be the freshman punter for the Razorbacks.

The two brothers from Melbourne were reunited on Saturday's game and Mason got to reunite with his mom.

He hadn't seen her in two years.

The Cincinnati Bearcats Football Twitter account posted the video of the reunion.

UC captioned the video "We're not crying, you’re crying! (Okay… we're crying too.) Mason Fletcher's family flew in from Australia to watch him and his brother play against each other tomorrow at Arkansas."

Watch video below to see the reunion.

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Fletcher had posted a picture of him and his brother in uniform to his Twitter prior to the season opener game and said "Fair to say mum and dad are tailgate ready," with a few laughing emojis.

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Max, who hadn't seen his parents in eight months, also took to Twitter to post a family picture.

"Good to see mum and dad for the first time in 8 months, excited for Saturday #woopig," the freshman punter said.

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Although the game didn't rule in Cincinnati's favor when Arkansas defeated them 31-24, it was still a win for the Fletcher brothers.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —

A monster storm system tore through the South and Midwest on Friday, spawning deadly tornadoes that shredded homes and shopping centers, overturned vehicles and uprooted trees as people raced for shelter.

At least one person was killed and two dozen or more were hurt, some critically, in the Little Rock area, authorities said. The town of Wynne in northeastern Arkansas was also devastated, and officials reported two dead there, along with destroyed homes and people trapped in the debris.

There were more confirmed twisters in Iowa, damaging hail fell in Illinois and wind-whipped grass fires blazed in Oklahoma, as the storm system threatened a broad swath of the country home to some 85 million people.

The destructive weather came as President Joe Biden toured the aftermath of a deadly tornado that struck in Mississippi a week ago and promised the government would help the area recover.

The Little Rock tornado tore first through neighborhoods in the western part of the city and shredded a small shopping center that included a Kroger grocery store. It then crossed the Arkansas River into North Little Rock and surrounding cities, where widespread damage was reported to homes, businesses and vehicles.

Video below: Firefighters assess damage after Little Rock tornado

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock was operating at a mass casualty level and preparing for up to 20 patients, spokesperson Leslie Taylor said. Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock officials told KATV in the afternoon that 21 people had checked in there with tornado-caused injuries, including five in critical condition.

Mayor Frank Scott Jr., who announced that he was requesting assistance from the National Guard, tweeted in the evening that officials were aware of 24 people who had been hospitalized in the city but no fatalities at the moment.

"Property damage is extensive and we are still responding,” he said.

Resident Niki Scott took cover in the bathroom after her husband called to say a tornado was headed her way. She could hear glass shattering as the tornado roared past, and emerged afterward to find that her house was one of the few on her street that didn’t have a tree fall on it.

“It’s just like everyone says. It got really quiet, then it got really loud,” Scott said afterward, as chainsaws roared and sirens blared in the area.

Outside a Little Rock Guitar Center, five people were captured on video aiming their phones at the swirling sky. “Uh, no, that’s an actual tornado, y’all. It’s coming this way,” Red Padilla, a singer and songwriter in the band Red and the Revelers, said in the video.

Padilla told The Associated Press that he and five bandmates sheltered inside the store for around 15 minutes with over a dozen others while the tornado passed. The power went out, and they used the flashlights on their phones to see.

“It was real tense,” Padilla said.

At Clinton National Airport, passengers and workers sheltered temporarily in bathrooms.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency and said there was “significant damage” in the central part of the state.

“Praying for all those who were and remain in the path of this storm,” she tweeted. “Arkansans must continue to stay weather aware as storms are continuing to move through.”

Also hit was the town of Wynne, about 50 miles west of Memphis, Tennessee, which Sanders said saw “widespread damage” from a tornado.

Video above: Possible tornado in Little Rock, Arkansas

City Councilmember Lisa Powell Carter told AP by phone that Wynne was without power and roads were full of debris.

“I’m in a panic trying to get home, but we can’t get home,” she said. “Wynne is so demolished. ... There’s houses destroyed, trees down on streets.”

Police Chief Richard Dennis told WHBQ-TV that the city suffered “total destruction” and multiple people were trapped.

Nearly 70,000 customers in Arkansas lost power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages.

About 32,000 were without electricity in neighboring Oklahoma, where where wind gusts of up to 60 mph fueled fast-moving grass fires. People were urged to evacuate homes in far northeast Oklahoma City, and troopers shut down portions of Interstate 35 near the suburb of Edmond.

More outages were reported in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

Multiple tornadoes were reported moving through parts of eastern Iowa, with sporadic damage to homes, barns and other buildings.

One tornado veered just west of Iowa City, home to the University of Iowa, which cancelled a watch party at an on-campus arena for the women’s basketball Final Four game. Video from KCRG-TV showed toppled power poles and roofs ripped off an apartment building in the suburb of Coralville and significantly damaged homes in the city of Hills.

In Illinois, Ben Wagner, chief radar operator for the Woodford County Emergency Management Agency, said hail broke windows on cars and buildings in the area of Roanoke, northeast of Peoria.

Fire crews were battling several blazes near El Dorado, Kansas, and some residents were asked to evacuate, including about 250 elementary school children who were relocated to a high school.

Massive storms brewing over at least 15 states in the Midwest and southern U.S. on Friday had meteorologists urging people to brace for dangerous weather including tornadoes, saying the conditions are similar to those a week ago that unleashed a devastating twister that killed at least 21 people in Mississippi.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center forecast called for an unusually large outbreak of thunderstorms with the potential to cause hail, damaging wind gusts and strong tornadoes that could move for long distances over the ground.

Such “intense supercell thunderstorms " are only expected to become more common, especially in Southern states, as temperatures rise around the world.

At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a traffic management program was put into effect that caused arriving planes to be delayed by nearly two hours on average, WFLD-TV reported.

Authorities in Belvidere, Illinois, also reported injuries after the Apollo Theater roof collapsed during a tornado.

Last Friday night, a vicious tornado in Mississippi killed at least 21 people, injured dozens and flattened entire blocks as it carved a path of destruction for more than an hour. About 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The toll was especially steep in western Mississippi's Sharkey County, where 13 people were killed in a county of 3,700 residents. Winds of up to 200 mph barreled through the rural farming town of Rolling Fork, reducing homes to piles of rubble, flipping cars and toppling the town’s water tower.

Gensini said Friday’s atmospheric setup is similar to the conditions that were present during Mississippi’s deadly storm.

Video below: Little Rock tornado damage

The hazardous forecast is a result of strong southerly winds transporting copious amounts of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico north, where they will interact with the strengthening storm system.

The weather service is forecasting another batch of intense storms next Tuesday in the same general area as last week. At least the first 10 days of April will be rough, Accuweather meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said earlier this week.

___

Associated Press writers Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Harm Venhuizenin in Madison, Wisconsin, Isabella O'Malley in Philadelphia, Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, and Michael Goldberg in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.

Since 18-year-old Elizabeth was paired with her dog Bella, she's had fewer emergencies and fewer hospital trips from her disability.

"Bella holds Elizabeth's life in her service," said Pam Macdade, Elizabeth's mother.

Elizabeth was born with cerebral palsy. She's nonverbal and bound to a wheelchair.

"We have reached as far as we could go with medications and surgeries," Pam Macdade said. "We had to start thinking outside the box."

This led them to Bella, a service dog.

Elizabeth also suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called west syndrome.

"It's not anything we can pinpoint or predict," Pam Macdade said. "I needed Bella to be able to sense the seizure before it came on so I could give Elizabeth rescue meds."

Watch the video above for the full story.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —

Four inmates at an Arkansas jail have filed a federal lawsuit after they said they were unknowingly prescribed an anti-parasitic drug to treat their COVID-19.

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed the lawsuit against the Washington County jail, Sheriff Tim Helder and jail physician Dr. Robert Karas.

The four inmates that the ACLU is representing said they were prescribed ivermectin to treat COVID-19 without them even knowing.

"They were told they were getting vitamins or steroids to make them feel better. They weren’t told about any side effects. Basically, they were used as guinea pigs," Gary Sullivan, legal director at ACLU of Arkansas said.

Sullivan said last summer, the four inmates in the lawsuit were given ivermectin to treat COVID-19. All four inmates reported side effects.

"Some have had diarrhea, severe stomach pain," he said. "What we have determined from the dosages that we saw in our clients’ medical records they were given much higher doses of this drug that you should even get for conditions that the FDA has approved this drug for treatment."

Ivermectin is approved for use by people and animals for some parasitic worms, head lice and skin conditions. The drug is not approved for treating COVID-19.

"In the records we have obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, probably as early as 2020, was when ivermectin was used," Sullivan said.

According to the lawsuit, "As of August 25, 2021, Dr. Karas stated publicly that there had been 531 confirmed covid-19 cases at WCDC, Dr. Karas has admitted publicly to administering Ivermectin to such confined persons."

Sullivan said now they are asking the court to enter an injunction to Washington County Sheriff Helder and Dr. Karis to stop the administration of ivermectin in the jail.

"The sheriff has a constitutional duty to make sure the people in the jail receive adequate medical care and so far he’s violated those constitutional mandates," Sullivan said.

Arkansas sister station 40/29 reached out to Sheriff Helder’s office. His spokesperson said they can’t comment due to the pending litigation. Helder in August revealed the prisoners had been prescribed ivermectin to treat COVID-19.

Dr. Karas’s spokesperson said they did not have any comment on the lawsuit.

The inmates in the lawsuit are still in this jail according to the ACLU.

An 18-wheeler carrying sawdust overturned in Arkansas early Wednesday morning, downing a traffic light and hitting another vehicle before bursting into flames.

The accident happened around 6 a.m. After the semi-truck overturned, the sawdust inside the trailer caught fire and caused an explosion, shown in a nearby surveillance video.

It took crews hours to clean the sawdust from the roadway.

Police said amazingly, only the truck driver－a 33-year old man－was transported to a medical center with minor injuries. The semi slid and struck a car waiting to turn at the intersection. The 59-year-old woman driving the car was uninjured.

Watch the video above for the full story.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have added three new states to the tri-state travel advisory as more areas across the nation see an uptick in coronavirus cases.

The advisory requires travelers from certain states hit hard by COVID-19 to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the tri-state area.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo first announced Tuesday that Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma will now join the growing list. Soon after, New Jersey and Connecticut added the states to their lists.

States under the travel advisory must have an infection rate above 10 cases per 100,000 people, or if 10% of the total population tests positive. Both metrics will be monitored on a rolling seven-day average.

As of July 7, there are currently 19 states that meet the criteria:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Arizona
• California
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Iowa
• Idaho
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• Nevada
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah

"As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening," Gov. Cuomo said. "Our entire response to this pandemic has been by the numbers, and we've set metrics for community spread just as we set metrics for everything."

Of the 56,736 COVID-19 tests conducted Monday in New York, only 588 of them – or about 1.04% – came back positive, Cuomo said.

The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut imposed a 14-day quarantine on people traveling to the tri-state area from states with a high transmission rate of coronavirus last week.

The advisory also applies to tri-state area residents who are traveling back to their home state from areas with a high rate of transmission.

The travel advisory comes as all three states continue to make great strides in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

The tri-state area was considered the epicenter of the country's coronavirus outbreak as the number of cases in March and April soared into the hundreds of thousands and the death toll continued to climb for weeks.

Towering over the town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the Crescent Hotel has long been one of Arkansas' best-known pieces of architecture. Built in 1886, the Crescent has become a popular site for weddings.

But it's also billed as "America's most haunted hotel."

Visitors have reported seeing spirits, hearing strange noises and even feeling ghosts.

Ghost hunters from across the country have visited the Crescent, claiming to find evidence of the paranormal.

In 2019, archaeologists found hundreds of artifacts, including partial human remains.

Over 400 bottles and medical jars were found.

Archeologists have connected the artifacts to the infamous Dr. Norman Baker from the 1930s.

Baker was an entrepreneur and convicted swindler who claimed to have a cure for cancer. He used the basement of the Crescent as his morgue and the rest of the building as his hospital.

The building is a functioning hotel and is open for bookings. It offers Crescent Ghost Tours and haunted activities.

Watch the video above for the full story.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas sheriff's deputy has been charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a white teenager whose death has drawn the attention of civil rights activists nationally.

A special prosecutor on Friday announced the felony charge against former Lonoke County sheriff's deputy Sgt. Michael Davis in the fatal shooting of Hunter Brittain.

According to the Associated Press, Davis shot Brittain outside an auto repair shop during a traffic stop on June 23 in Cabot, located 30 miles northeast of Little Rock.

Davis, white, was fired in July for not turning on his body camera until the shooting occurred.

The arrest affidavit says Davis told investigators he shot Brittain after the teen reached into the back of his truck and did not comply with commands to show his hands.

According to the court affidavit, the teen was shot once in the neck, the AP reported.

The arrest affidavit stated Brittain was holding a container, which his family said was antifreeze.

Police did not find evidence of firearms in or near the truck.

Brittain was eulogized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and attorneys for George Floyd's family.

This month, Hearst Television is celebrating Black history by having courageous conversations. The fight for civil rights and justice goes back generations and has looked different each decade. We’re speaking with community leaders, elders – those who have lived through victories and troubled times, to talk about their experiences, and compare them with what we still struggle with today.

Virginia Smith Denton, 82, said she was at home with her mom when she learned about the Supreme Court's milestone Brown v. Board of Education decision.

The court ruled in 1954 that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional.

In the fall of 1954, the then 16-year-old and six other teens became the first Black students to attend Fayetteville High School.

"We weren't scared. We were a little nervous," Smith Denton said.

On the first day of school in September 1954, Smith Denton walked to school with her cousins Roberta Lackey and Elnora Lackey.

It was her first year in high school and one that would make history.

That year, seven Black students joined more than 500 white students, learning together for the first time.

Smith Denton said when she and her cousins arrived, they were not greeted by an angry mob, police or weapons.

Instead, waiting for them at the entrance were Mary Ann Sharp and Sara Trager — two white classmates Smith Denton would later call friends.

"We saw them standing out there. We didn't know what to think. But they were so nice, and they welcomed us," Smith Denton said.

It was a very different scene than some others playing out in the deep south.

Smith Denton said her teachers at Fayetteville High School were welcoming.

"They were nice to me. Yes, they were. Well, except for one. I didn't like her. She didn't like me either," Smith Denton said, with a laugh.

Smith Denton recalled one incident with a classmate.

"In my history class, we had this one guy, and the guy told this little (racist slur) joke. So he got suspended. Yes, but he got to come back. He got suspended for a while. They weren't taking any you know what. They weren't going to start that taking no stuff like that," Smith Denton said when asked how she what she remembers about her classmates during desegregation.

However, Smith Denton says Black students faced a different reality outside of Fayetteville High School. She said Black families avoided going to several nearby cities and towns after dark.

"We couldn't go to Springdale and be there up there after dark. We couldn't go to Bentonville. I mean, I think those towns were still kind of, you know, they weren't ready for us," Smith Denton said. "But, now we can go wherever we want. Yeah, you couldn't be there after sundown."

Ify Egbosimba, an anchor with sister station KHBS/KHOG, asked Smith Denton what would happen if a Black person went to neighboring communities after dark.

"They probably would have shot them," Smith Denton said. "You couldn't be up there after dark, but we went through there. I mean, still, we just didn't stop, you know, in the stores because we were going through there to go to Tulsa and stuff. I just couldn't stop. It was kind of bad back then. Couldn't go to Farmington. It was just terrible back then."

Nearly 70 years later, Smith Denton still calls Fayetteville home.

Her kids and grandkids are also graduates of Fayetteville High School. Soon, her great-grandkids will be, too.

Smith Denton said Northwest Arkansas is not the same community it was in 1954, but there is still more work to be done.

"Some things have changed," Smith Denton said. "I just hope everybody can be as one. We're all God's children. I think that would be a good thing."

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' governor has vetoed legislation that would have made his state the first to ban gender confirming treatments for transgender youth.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Monday rejected the measure that prohibits doctors from providing gender-confirming hormone treatment or surgery to minors, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment.

The move followed pleas from pediatricians, social workers, and the parents of trans youth.

The bill was among several targeting transgender people that have easily advanced in Arkansas.

Hutchinson's veto can be overridden by a simple majority of the Legislature.

Last week, the Arkansas Senate approved a bill that would prohibit doctors from providing gender-confirming treatments for minors.

According to The Associated Press, laws banning transgender girls and women from competing on school sports teams were signed by governors in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.