Little Rock Ar

The man accused of killing a soldier and wounding another outside a military recruiting office in Little Rock, Ark., pleaded not guilty Tuesday. Prosecutors charged Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, a 23-year-old Muslim convert, with capital murder and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act in connection with Monday's shooting, which left Army Pvt. William Long, 23, dead, and Army Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, injured. Muhammad was ordered held without bail.

Fifty years ago, nine black students faced down a mob to integrate Little Rock Central High School. Now, they are being honored on a commemorative silver coin. The U.S. Mint introduced the coin Saturday at the NAACP's Daisy Bates Education Summit, which pays tribute to the Arkansas NAACP leader who served as advisor to the Little Rock Nine. One side of the $1 coin depicts a group of students being escorted by a soldier. It features the phrase "Desegregation in Education" and contains nine stars.

After a yearlong project to replace the city's former moniker, "City of Roses," Little Rock unveiled its new nickname: "The Rock." Mayor Jim Dailey said he wasn't concerned that "The Rock" would be confused with the former Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay or with the professional wrestler-turned-actor. "The Rock kind of portrays something pretty solid," Dailey said. "A rock -- there is something substantive about it."

About 300 bus drivers went on strike over a pay dispute, leaving 18,000 Little Rock students without their regular rides to school. The drivers walked out over the school district's decision to stop paying them for the time they run their buses without passengers. Although some teachers took the day off in support of the drivers, all schools near Little Rock were open.

More than 30,000 people are expected Thursday when former President Clinton opens his $165-million presidential library, and civic leaders say the campus is already functioning as a catalyst for a renaissance here, helping to spur a building boom. The presidential library -- the nation's 12th, and the largest private development in Little Rock history -- has been built on a 30-acre site that had housed abandoned warehouses and trash for as long as anyone can remember.

A judge ended more than 40 years of court-supervised desegregation in Little Rock's schools, closing a chapter in a battle over integration that began in the 1950s. U.S. District Judge William Wilson's ruling came in response to Little Rock's claims that it has met the terms of a 1998 desegregation plan to improve the performance of minority students.

As Congress went through the grave paces of impeaching President Clinton on Saturday, longtime Clinton critic Paul Greenberg watched TV sporadically, took a bicycle ride and got his hair cut. For Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a certain weariness had set in after month upon month of scrutinizing the political agonies of Arkansas' most famous son. "I could read about the rest of it in the newspaper," Greenberg said. "A lot of it was undramatic."

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was cheered by old friends and admirers in her adopted hometown Tuesday as she began a 10-city tour intended to promote her new book and answer questions about the Whitewater investigation. The beleaguered first lady clearly enjoyed the warm reception that awaited her after days of hostile public exchanges with Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) and other critics who say she has lied about her role in Whitewater. But if Mrs.