|
|
| |
| Fri, Dec. 5, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Bookout to honored with tree on state Capitol grounds Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission approved plans Tuesday to plant a white oak tree on the south lawn of the state Capitol in honor of the late Sen. Jerry Bookout of Jonesboro. Bookout died of cancer in February. He was 72. The tree in Bookout's honor will be planted next to the law enforcement memorial on the south side of the Capitol, near a white oak tree that is to be planted in honor of the late Patricia "Pat" Daniels, wife of Secretary of State Charlie Daniels, who died last year from a brain tumor. The commission previously approved the memorial for Mrs. Daniels. Bookout, a Democrat, served a total of 32 years in both the House and Senate. He served 28 years - four terms in the House and four terms in the Senate - before retiring in 1996. He returned to the Senate in 2002. In 1991 he was elected president pro tempore of the Senate. Bookout's son, former state Rep. Paul Bookout, D-Jonesboro, was running unopposed in a special election to complete his father's term in the Senate. The younger Bookout served three terms in the House and left the Legislature in 2003 under term limits. Commission member Ann Cornwell, who is chief fiscal officer of the state Senate, said Tuesday that Paul Bookout is scheduled to be sworn into office on Friday during a ceremony in the Senate chambers. Cathy Bradshaw, chief deputy in the secretary of state's office, said the House Democratic Caucus has agreed to pay the $500 cost of purchasing and planting the tree honoring Mrs. Daniels. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has agreed to pay for the tree honoring Jerry Bookout. Also Tuesday, the commission was told that a photographer with Southern Living magazine would be at the Capitol on Friday taking photographs of the new Little Rock Nine memorial for an article being planned in the magazine. |
