Arkansas news

• Libertarian candidate for governor picks Facebook fight about abortion, gets an education

  31-08-2026 23:55 via arktimes.com
  
  Women did a lot of unpaid work over the weekend, this time teaching Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Colt Shelby about their reproductive choices (and lack thereof under Arkansas’s draconian abortion laws) and their thwarted efforts to wrest control over their own bodies from the state government. It was as if Shelby, not aware of our extreme abortion ban, had been born yesterday — pun intended — and dropped into the chat.Shelby, the dark horse candidate from Franklin Count
  
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• End of rental aid creates uncertainty for central Arkansas families facing eviction, homelessness

  02-09-2026 17:52 via arktimes.com
  
  Alexis Mitchell’s teenage nephew and son took a recent day off from school to help move the family’s laundry machines, bed frames and mattresses from their southwest Little Rock house into a storage unit.They brought bags of clothes to the hotel where they’ve stayed for over a week after being evicted from the place they called home since 2020. Mitchell saved some photos of herself and her children, and her 8-year-old son kept his stuffed animals.“Pretty much all of the
  
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• In a panic over mistakenly shared documents, Entergy lawyers ask judge to restrain journalists

  02-09-2026 03:54 via arktimes.com
  
  Sharp-suited attorneys for Entergy Arkansas got a nearly four-hour hearing with U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky Tuesday in their pursuit of a temporary restraining order that would prevent the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette from publishing anything else about Google’s sweetheart utility deal, or any other “trade secrets” the Arkansas Public Service Commission mistakenly turned over to a curious FOI-wielding citizen.Rudofsky did not make a decision Tuesday night, but said he expect
  
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• 3 takeaways from the Dem-Gaz data center scoop

  01-09-2026 22:33 via arktimes.com
  
  Jessica Kivell, who calls herself a nosy mom, is a health provider by day, but she sends out Freedom of Information requests like a seasoned journalist in her spare time. As part of her effort to mine the details of Entergy’s relationship with data centers, she sent FOI requests to the state Public Service Commission, which is charged with making sure utilities charge fair rates. What she got back was more than she bargained for. Kivell received documents that Entergy had asked to be
  
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• Entergy blows a fuse over mistakenly shared documents revealing who’s paying data center bills

  01-09-2026 21:16 via arktimes.com
  
  Explosive revelations in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today show that Google, the Silicon Valley giant building data centers in Little Rock and West Memphis, will pay only about a third of the price tag of its 600-megawatt solar facility in Jefferson County. The documents also reveal the full power draw of its 1,100-acre West Memphis project for the first time.These revelations raise new questions about Entergy Arkansas’ repeated assurances (here and here) that Google — rather than
  
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• New Natural History Museum at UA Little Rock will be Scientific Outreach to Community

  01-09-2026 21:01 via arktimes.com
  
  The University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s planned Museum of Natural History will feature “so many really amazing items from our collection, bring more people to campus, (and accomplish) scientific outreach” through its myriad displays, according to Dr. Sinéad Ní Chadhain, associate professor and chair of the biology department. “Our hope is to engage people — curious about the world around them — in science,” said&nbs
  
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• Too hot to eat? Never! Our August best bites

  01-09-2026 19:02 via arktimes.com
  
  It is with great sadness that we report the ’90s heroin chic fad is back, and the starlets are once again aspiring to Kate Moss levels of boniness.
  We at the Arkansas Times reject the scrawny aesthetic! Ever at your service, we dutifully gnawed our way through August despite the appetite-suppressing triple-digit heat. Here are our favorites.Chocolate pie and beef tallow fries at Hazel’sHazel’s pies, surprisingly sturdy. Credit: Daniel GrearHazel’s Public House, Big Whisk
  
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• Get Berry Loud for democracy at Loblolly today

  01-09-2026 18:08 via arktimes.com
  
  If there are two things we love here at the Arkansas Times, it’s Loblolly ice cream and direct democracy. So you can imagine our collective giddiness when we learned that the best ice cream maker in The Natural State was partnering with Get Loud Arkansas, a nonprofit outreach organization that always has the scoop on how to engage more voters. According to a press release from Get Loud, Lobolly “will launch a new limited run ice cream to encourage and support voter registration
  
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• Get Berry Loud for democracy at Loblolly

  01-09-2026 18:08 via arktimes.com
  
  If there are two things we love here at the Arkansas Times, it’s Loblolly ice cream and direct democracy. So you can imagine our collective giddiness when we learned that the best ice cream maker in The Natural State was partnering with Get Loud Arkansas, a nonprofit outreach organization that always has the scoop on how to engage more voters. According to a press release from Get Loud, Lobolly “will launch a new limited run ice cream to encourage and support voter registration
  
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• Video shows Arkansas State Police trooper slugging another young Black person in the face

  01-09-2026 01:11 via arktimes.com
  
  What fresh hell will the Arkansas State Police unleash on the state’s roadways this week?After multiple incidents this year of controlled-crash PIT maneuvers gone wrong and a distressing video of a white trooper punching a Black 18-year-old girl in the face, more news is now circulating about upsetting footage that captures a different trooper punching a different young Black person in the face.Stan Morris, the journalist behind Northeast Arkansas Report, broke the news this weekend about
  
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• When Gov. Sarah Sanders wants an attorney, she gets an attorney

  31-08-2026 20:37 via arktimes.com
  
  In any number of times and ways, members of the Arkansas Board of Corrections have asked for legal representation in their fights against the Arkansas Attorney General, but those requests have been denied. Now that a hearing of particular importance to Gov. Sarah Sanders is scheduled for Wednesday, she has appointed an outside attorney to represent the board, thereby ensuring that her attempts to take control of the Corrections Department are well-defended.The hearing, to be held in front
  
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• Little Rock, big ideas: Can Ward 3 candidate Lake Smith drain the swamp in City Hall?

  31-08-2026 19:24 via arktimes.com
  
  Lake Smith, the 25-year-old whippersnapper running for the Little Rock Board of Directors, is offering voters a fresh face and fresh ideas. Originally from Fort Smith, Smith works at the Hillcrest burger-and-gyro institution Leo’s Greek Castle in Ward 3, the area of Little Rock she hopes to represent. With a background in labor organizing and a Zohran Mamdani-inspired campaign strategy of posting short-form videos about issues in Little Rock and knocking on doors, she hopes to unseat
  
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• Noise-rock legends Unsane at White Water Tavern on Sunday

  31-08-2026 16:00 via arktimes.com
  
  UNSANE
  SUNDAY 9/6. White Water Tavern. 6 p.m. $15.Geologists: Do not be alarmed if your seismometers start going crazy the night of Sept. 6. It’s not a localized tectonic event, just New York noise-rock trio Unsane shaking the foundation of the White Water Tavern. Described by AllMusic’s Patrick Kennedy as having a “hammering, power-press rhythm section, a searing Telecaster howl, and distorted vocals that resembled nothing if not the sound of a man trapped in the New York Sub
  
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• Giga-what?! AVAIO comes clean about big plans in Wrightsville 

  29-08-2026 00:11 via arktimes.com
  
  If you had any doubt the data center headed for the outskirts of Wrightsville was going to grow into a ginormous 1 gigawatt data center, consider Teresa Tsung.An article in DataCentre Magazine, an online publication based in Norwich, U.K., says AVAIO has hired Tsung, whose fastball is to shepherd data centers small and large into existence. Her title is vice president of product controls.
  AVAIO is the company that is trying its hardest to put in a 150 megawatt data center in the Wrightsville ar
  
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• Vic Snyder on Dolly, DEI and why he thinks ‘democratic socialism’ is bad marketing

  28-08-2026 23:31 via arktimes.com
  
  Vic Snyder, the former state senator and U.S. representative who served Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District, showed up to his sold-out Arkansas Times  Lecture Series Thursday with props and name-drops. He brought a plastic sack of books and mementos for his history and pop culture-infused talk on issues facing Democrats, from attacks on DEI to the rise of democratic socialism, which Snyder frets is alienating voters. Snyder also spoke of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and
  
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• New music from Willi Carlisle, Modeling, Jude Brothers and Zilla

  28-08-2026 22:09 via arktimes.com
  
  “Marlboro Vinyasa” — Willi Carlisle
  The fact that country star Tyler Childers is the producer of Fayetteville singer-songwriter Willi Carlisle’s forthcoming album, “The Universal Bubba,” wasn’t plainly evident on the record’s lead single, “The Mason Jar at the Center of the World.” Sneak peek No. 2, “Marlboro Vinyasa,” makes it much more clear. The tune marks the first time we’ve ever heard Carlisle accompanied by a s
  
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• Fired librarian Patty Hector gets payday over Saline County judge 

  28-08-2026 19:35 via arktimes.com
  
  Patty Hector, the Saline County librarian — eventually the fired Saline County librarian — who wouldn’t bend the knee to Republican demands to hide books they didn’t like, came out $275,000 to the good in a lawsuit she filed against the county.In October 2023, after months of controversy and harassment over the placement of books on gender and race, Hector was fired by Saline County Judge Matt Brumley after the all-Republican Quorum Court stripped the power to hire and f
  
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• Fired librarian Patty Hector gets payday from Saline County 

  28-08-2026 19:35 via arktimes.com
  
  Patty Hector, the Saline County librarian — eventually the fired Saline County librarian — who wouldn’t bend the knee to Republican demands to hide books they didn’t like, came out $275,000 to the good in a lawsuit she filed against the county.In October 2023, after months of controversy and harassment over the placement of books on gender and race, Hector was fired by Saline County Judge Matt Brumley after the all-Republican Quorum Court stripped the power to hire and f
  
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• New zones adopted to make way for West Little Rock high school

  28-08-2026 19:22 via arktimes.com
  
  The Little Rock School Board adopted new zone lines Thursday to make way for the district’s brand-new high school set to open in West Little Rock next year. You can delve into the newly adopted map here.But they also adopted a resolution establishing paths for parents to sending students to their high school of choice, regardless of where in the district they live. Board members also got the long-awaited report on special education programs and discussed Sankofa Academy, It was a ful
  
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• Annie and the Caldwells at AMFA on Thursday

  28-08-2026 16:00 via arktimes.com
  ANNIE AND THE CALDWELLS
  THURSDAY 9/3. Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. 7:30 p.m. $42-$47.West Point, Mississippi, native Annie Caldwell, the 60-something lead singer and matriarch of Annie and the Caldwells, has been making music with her husband and children since the 1980s. But if there’s ever been a time to see the gospel-by-way-of-disco family band in action, it’s now. Four years ago, Talking Heads frontman David Byrne discovered the group, and with his help, they released their br
  
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• Sheridan player deemed eligible as he awaits trial

  28-08-2026 00:11 via arktimes.com
  
  An 18-year-old standout football player who has been charged with manslaughter and aggravated robbery, and who is wearing an ankle monitor while he awaits trial, has been practicing with the Sheridan High School football team and will be eligible to play on Friday night, the Yellowjackets’ first game of the season.Hayden Sublette, who was 17 at the time of the alleged crime, was arrested last year in Conway along with three others in what could only be described as a drug deal gone bad. A
  
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• Military industrial summit in Bentonville draws major participation and protest

  27-08-2026 21:25 via arktimes.com
  
  The two-day 2026 Mid-America Aerospace and Defense Summit in Bentonville this week attracted more than 300 professionals from a hundred companies, government agencies and higher education institutions.Hosted by the Arkansas Aerospace and Defense Alliance, previous summits have been staged close to weapons manufacturing facilities in central and southeast Arkansas.That changed this year, reflecting that aerospace and defense companies are increasingly locating in northwest Arkansas, Executive Di
  
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• Hot-button issues: A tour through election memorabilia from Arkansas campaigns of yore

  27-08-2026 17:35 via arktimes.com
  
  Arkansas has many museums, but the Museum of American History in Cabot is the only one operated by students. Located at 811 S. Pine St., the museum was established in 1985 as part of the Cabot School District, giving students hands-on experience in collecting, preserving and interpreting historical artifacts. Notable among those artifacts is a large collection relating to Arkansas political campaigns of years gone by. Cabot High School history teacher Mike Polston, who also works as the staff hi
  
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• Don’t let E. coli spoil your day at the beach

  27-08-2026 00:51 via arktimes.com
  
  It’s hot, the kids and you need to cool off. What could be better than hitting one of Arkansas’ many lakes and jumping in? The easy answer is “grab the bathing suits.” But do some checking before you go to make sure your favorite swim area isn’t closed (there are a few closed now) due to Escherichia coli, E. coli for short, and quite possibly pronounced ick.This is the time of year when levels of the bacteria can become unsafe. As it’s described by Clean Lake
  
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• Survey: New food insecurity numbers near 40%

  27-08-2026 00:16 via arktimes.com
  
  Food insecurity in Arkansas appears to keep getting worse.That was one of the takeaways from a news conference held Wednesday by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, which has formed a consortium with six Feeding America food banks in Arkansas.Information gleaned from the Arkansas Hunger Survey, which included 3,500 paper surveys and 1,700 phone interviews, showed that 37% of residents “don’t have enough food to meet their needs,” according to a news release. Arkansas is
  
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• Survey: New food insecurity number nears 40%

  27-08-2026 00:16 via arktimes.com
  
  Food insecurity in Arkansas appears to keep getting worse.That was one of the takeaways from a news conference held Wednesday by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, which has formed a consortium with six Feeding America food banks in Arkansas.Information gleaned from the Arkansas Hunger Survey, which included 3,500 paper surveys and 1,700 phone interviews, showed that 37% of residents “don’t have enough food to meet their needs,” according to a news release. Arkansas is
  
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• LRSD’s lovely lunch ladies (and gentlemen) wow with Wing Wednesdays

  27-08-2026 00:00 via arktimes.com
  
  Wing Wednesday is a big deal in the Little Rock School District. First launched in 2023 as a one-off special occasion, the poultry proved so popular that Wing Wednesday has become an enduring districtwide tradition that students look forward to each week. Besides its significance as a weekly ritual, the popularity of Wing Wednesday serves as an indicator that the district’s commitment to providing free, quality meals to students at all but three of its schools is paying off. The
  
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• Arkansas gets $173 million in Meta teen safety settlement

  26-08-2026 23:23 via arktimes.com
  
  Meta, the tech giant behind the giant time-sucks we know as Instagram and Facebook, has reached a $17.1 billion settlement in a landmark multistate lawsuit accusing the company of knowingly building addictive and harmful features into its platforms, features that a raft of research has linked to negative mental health impacts for children and teens.In addition to the settlement, of which Arkansas will receive $173 million, Meta has agreed to some important changes to its social media platforms,
  
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• Memories of Dolly Parton at the Driftwood Barn in Mountain View

  26-08-2026 23:00 via arktimes.com
  
  The benevolent country music icon Dolly Parton died Tuesday at the age of 80, and we at the Arkansas Times have been doing our best to keep our shit together.One thing that’s helped is looking through some pictures from Times photographer Brian Chilson of Parton’s last performance in Central Arkansas in 2016. The Aug. 13 show at Verizon Arena (now Simmons Bank Arena) was almost exactly 10 years ago. Dolly Parton at Verizon Arena (now Simmons Bank Arena) on Aug. 13, 2016. Credit
  
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• Eli Cranor awarded Booker Worthen Literary Prize

  26-08-2026 22:03 via arktimes.com
  
  The 2026 Booker Worthen Literary Prize, presented annually in honor of the best book of fiction or nonfiction by an author living in Arkansas over a three-year eligibility period, has been awarded to Pope County writer Eli Cranor. Cranor, who lives in Russellville and teaches at Arkansas Tech University, received the prize for his novel “Mississippi Blue 42,” which was excerpted in the Arkansas Times before its publication in August 2025. Focused on the criminal underpinni
  
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