Arkansas news

• The heat dome is hellacious; hide from it in your local bookstore

  04-09-2026 20:55 via arktimes.com
  
  Alpha-gal syndrome is spreading like wildfire across the state, Entergy and Google have been seeking restraining orders against local newsrooms (including this one), and the heat index values this afternoon are projected to be between 105 and 110 degrees. But you know what’s going swimmingly in Central Arkansas right now? The burgeoning bookstore scene.We had great bookstores in the Little Rock area before 2026, to be clear. WordsWorth Books continues to be a bastion for bibliophiles in T
  
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• Tiny Towns drops first new song in 3 years

  10-09-2026 17:05 via arktimes.com
  
  When I spoke with the members of Tiny Towns ahead of the release of their 2023 EP “Let Me Into Your Heart,” it seemed like the fate of the Jonesboro indie-rock band was up in the air. The group was radio silent for a little while, but a full-fledged breakup never took hold, and now they’re back with their first new single in three years. “Bitter,” which came out on Friday, is classic Tiny Towns: tight and energetic yet simultaneously full of listless self-cont
  
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• Vulnerable Arkie Republicans mum on whether they’ll bend the knee at Trump-a-palooza

  10-09-2026 16:54 via arktimes.com
  
  Emails to the comms teams for both U.S. Rep. French Hill and Sen. Tom Cotton went unanswered, so we don’t know if Arkansas’ most vulnerable Republican candidates are in Dallas today or not.
  The unusual off-year convention, a ploy to energize and then herd conservative voters to the polls during a midterm election that threatens to bust the Republicans’ White House-Senate-House trifecta in D.C., offers a speaker lineup of the usual suspects: Secretary of Health and Human Servic
  
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• Here’s your list of the smartest kids around

  09-09-2026 23:33 via arktimes.com
  
  Every year, a list of National Merit Scholar semifinalists arrives in our inboxes, listing the names of Arkansas’ brightest high school seniors.
  These impressive young scholars made scores on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test high enough to rank among the top 1% in their class.Arkansas’ semifinalists this year come from public, private and homeschool classrooms across the state. They now have a shot at becoming finalists by submitting applications that i
  
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• Grappling with tight finances and school closures, LRSD board members ask for your input

  09-09-2026 18:59 via arktimes.com
  
  How does LRSD shrink in order to grow? The Little Rock School District board of directors spent a couple hours Tuesday discussing LRSD Forward, the administration’s plan to address declining enrollment, financial pressures and an aging and underused school building footprint. Superintendent Jermall Wright said the recommendations are intended to address the district’s immediate financial needs without making larger attendance-zone changes before a broader review of the district
  
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• Cinema I/O to host free screening of ‘Mikey and Nicky’ (1976) Tuesday at Ron Robinson Theater

  09-09-2026 16:00 via arktimes.com
  
  CINEMA I/O PRESENTS: ‘MIKEY AND NICKY’
  TUESDAY 9/15. CALS Ron Robinson Theater. 7 p.m. Free.After Elaine May released “Ishtar” in 1987, the movie was dubbed one of the worst films of all time, landing her in “director’s jail,” where she struggled thereafter to find financing for future projects. But something curious started to happen in the 2010s: May’s entire (and criminally scant) body of work as a filmmaker was rediscovered and reclaimed. Sudd
  
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• Aid program for disabled Arkansans that took priority for Hutchinson languishes under Sanders

  09-09-2026 00:45 via arktimes.com
  
  One might think a state whose leaders tout a $655 million surplus could and would snap its collective fingers and find $50 million to clear a years-long waitlist for a program that helps those with severe mental and physical disabilities. But when that state is Arkansas, currently run by Gov. Sarah Sanders, it’s those long-suffering families who may soon snap. The program run by the Department of Human Services has an unassuming name: the Community and Employment Support Waiver.
  
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• Data center backlash reveals bugs in the political system — or are they features?

  08-09-2026 23:33 via arktimes.com
  
  When I attended a protest in April against Google’s proposed data center in Little Rock, I complimented a woman on her sign that read “We can’t drink data!” She replied, somewhat to my dismay, “Thanks! I used AI to create it!” (The sign was handwritten so I assume she employed a Large Language Model, or LLM, to brainstorm catchy slogans.) This exchange encapsulates the multitudes, and contradictions, that exist within the coalition of everyday people resistin
  
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• Update: LRPD uses pepper spray to disperse crowd of students watching fight. Again. 

  08-09-2026 22:28 via arktimes.com
  
  This story has been updated to include a statement from LRSD spokesperson Pam SmithThe Little Rock Police Department once again used pepper spray to stop a fight and disperse a crowd of onlookers at Central High School on Friday, according to a statement Central High School Principal April Rike sent to parents. “We are sending you this message to inform you of a fight involving five students today that resulted in a large crowd of students gathering to watch,” the message read.
  
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• LRPD uses pepper spray to disperse crowd of students watching fight. Again. 

  08-09-2026 22:28 via arktimes.com
  
  The Little Rock Police Department once again used pepper spray to stop a fight and disperse a crowd of onlookers at Central High School on Friday, according to a statement Central High School Principal April Rike sent to parents. “We are sending you this message to inform you of a fight involving five students today that resulted in a large crowd of students gathering to watch,” the message read. Little Rock police spokesperson Mark Edwards told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazet
  
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• Lights, camera, catfish: On the set of ‘TrueSouth’ in Hazen with food writer John T. Edge

  08-09-2026 17:44 via arktimes.com
  
  A boom microphone hovers over a plate of catfish as a two-man camera crew works to position themselves around a long table of cheerful diners. A production assistant silently and approvingly observes from beyond her clipboard. Conversations from customers bubble to the surface as I eavesdrop on the surrounding tables: one about an abruptly decommissioned John Deere tractor, another about an alleged moonshiner’s recent run-in with the law. The elderly couple seated at the table next to min
  
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• Arkansas students learn about 9/11 attacks through oral histories 

  08-09-2026 17:41 via arktimes.com
  
  Army veteran Wesley Jackson remembers his confusion when co-workers told him two planes struck the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. After processing the news of the terrorist attacks, Jackson realized his days as a peacetime soldier were over, and it was only a matter of time before he was deployed to the Middle East. “My whole life changed in an instant,” he said. Twenty-five years later, Jackson is teaching Arkansas State University students abou
  
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• LRSD Forward: The Little Rock School District’s Plan to Close Schools, Reimagine Programs, and Remain Financially Solvent

  04-09-2026 21:36 via arktimes.com
  
  At a news conference on Friday, the Little Rock School District presented a proposal to close several schools, expand or relocate certain programs, and create new academic options designed to make LRSD more attractive to students and families. The district says declining enrollment, rising operating costs, competition for students, and underused facilities have created a financial gap of approximately $4 million to $7 million that must be addressed to achieve long-term stability. Supe
  
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• LRSD Forward: District shares plan to close schools, reimagine programs, remain financially solvent

  04-09-2026 21:36 via arktimes.com
  
  At a news conference on Friday, the Little Rock School District presented a proposal to close several schools, expand or relocate certain programs, and create new academic options designed to make LRSD more attractive to students and families. The district says declining enrollment, rising operating costs, competition for students, and underused facilities have created a financial gap of approximately $4 million to $7 million that must be addressed to achieve long-term stability. Supe
  
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• Pearls About Swine: A game by game preview of the 2026 football season

  04-09-2026 21:26 via arktimes.com
  
  Big spoiler alert right out of the gate: I am NOT going with a rosy prediction for your 2026 Arkansas Razorback football team. Do I think this team will sniff bowl eligibility? To use common parlance, LOL. Do I think there’s an upset or two on the schedule? I do.Arkansas enters this season with a new coach and old expectations. Ryan Silverfield voluntarily agreed to take on this mess, and he’s saying the right things about how he plans to proceed. None of it may matter. I
  
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• ACANSA Arts Festival returns Sept. 10-Sept. 26

  04-09-2026 16:00 via arktimes.com
  
  ACANSA ARTS FESTIVAL OF THE SOUTH
  THURSDAY 9/10-SATURDAY 9/26. Various venues. Free-$250.Depending on what your idea of a festival is, the ACANSA Arts Festival of the South may surprise you. Rather than compress a single medium of programming into just a few frenzied days, ACANSA spreads its many offerings — across music, theater and visual art — over three weekends, allowing you to slot whatever events work best for you into your otherwise-busy schedule. Highlights of the 11th annu
  
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• Is Google paying for Cypress Solar—or are you?

  04-09-2026 15:49 via arktimes.com
  
  Is Google paying in full for its massive solar farm to power its West Memphis data center or not? One would think it is a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. On a damage-control press tour after a tumultuous week that included splashy disclosures of secret documents and an emergency trip to the federal courthouse, three Entergy officials visited our office on Wednesday morning to plead their case. In a 45-minute interview, they said Google is still paying the full tab, and then
  
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• Is Google paying for Cypress Solar — or are you?

  04-09-2026 15:49 via arktimes.com
  
  Is Google paying in full for its massive solar farm to power its West Memphis data center or not? One would think it is a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. On a damage-control press tour after a tumultuous week that included splashy disclosures of secret documents and an emergency trip to the federal courthouse, three Entergy officials visited our office on Wednesday morning to plead their case. In a 45-minute interview, they said Google is still paying the full tab, and then
  
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• SHS? She’s running.

  03-09-2026 23:16 via arktimes.com
  
  Watchers of Arkansas politics and Republican politics in general have long suspected (read: known) that Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was just biding her time in Arkansas until she could jump to a better position back in Washington, D.C. Her gubernatorial reign has always felt like an audition for a presidential or vice presidential run.Like so many would-be candidates before her, Sanders has authored a book touting her successes and listing her conservative bona fides. The new book, Unapologetic
  
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• As local libraries navigate censorship law, national group calls for repeal

  03-09-2026 21:33 via arktimes.com
  
  When the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of censorship in July, overturning a lower court’s injunction against a law that potentially exposes librarians to criminal charges if a minor checks out something “harmful,” many folks predicted implementation of the law would lead to drastic changes in many libraries around the state.Just over a month later, those predictions are proving prescient, with libraries making wholesale changes to how and what minors can check
  
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• ‘Side by Side by Sondheim’ opens Wednesday at The Rep

  03-09-2026 16:00 via arktimes.com
  
  ‘SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM’
  WEDNESDAY 9/9-SUNDAY 9/20. Arkansas Repertory Theatre. $25-$70.One of the rare giants of American theater who wrote both the music and lyrics for his shows, Stephen Sondheim’s legacy lives on through well over a dozen beloved musicals, including “Sweeney Todd,” “Into the Woods” and “Sunday in the Park with George.” He’s also been immortalized through five major revues — not dissimilar from “greate
  
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• The Observer considers multiple facets at the Crater of Diamonds

  03-09-2026 15:00 via arktimes.com
  
  Diamonds are not foreverShortly after The Observer’s parents separated for the first time, but not the final time, we all — my parents, my younger brother and I — took a trip to the Crater of Diamonds State Park at Murfreesboro in an effort to remain as much of a family as possible despite the fresh schism. I don’t really know what I expected from the diamond mine. The Observer doesn’t remember a whole lot from that period anyway. But I do recall that digging
  
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• Federal judge: Free speech trumps trade secrets

  02-09-2026 21:35 via arktimes.com
  
  A federal judge weighing free speech rights against a request by Entergy to rein in those rights sided with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday morning as he denied a temporary restraining order that, if granted, would have barred the newspaper from further publishing documents obtained regarding the utility’s secret relationship with Google. That decision could change as the case now proceeds in the next few days or weeks to the preliminary injunction phase, where the pa
  
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• Ruling to come soon on governor’s attempts to sidestep court order

  02-09-2026 21:34 via arktimes.com
  
  Gov. Sarah Sanders’ ongoing efforts to undo a court ruling against her had another day in court on Wednesday. Following an hour or so of legal arguments, Circuit Judge Patti James said she anticipated ruling on the case within 30 days. At issue is an October 2025 ruling by James that two laws passed by the Legislature in 2023 — Acts 185 and 659 — were unconstitutional. Those acts improperly transferred day-to-day control of the state’s corrections divisions to the g
  
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• TICK, TICK, BOOM! Alpha-gal syndrome, the severe tick-borne allergy, is spreading rapidly

  02-09-2026 21:31 via arktimes.com
  
  Standing under an eastern hemlock tree near a thicket of lizard’s tail in her backyard — a tick’s dream — Casey Hamaker had flashbacks to the day she first contracted alpha-gal syndrome, a mysterious illness spreading rapidly across the United States. “This is the scene of the crime,” she said. As she was clearing brush in her garden in the spring of 2024, three ticks — likely lone stars, the aggressive hunters known for causing most cases of alpha-gal
  
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• TICK, TICK, BOOM! Alpha-gal syndrome is spreading rapidly. Arkansas may hold clues to why.

  02-09-2026 21:31 via arktimes.com
  
  Standing under an eastern hemlock tree near a thicket of lizard’s tail in her backyard — a tick’s dream — Casey Hamaker had flashbacks to the day she first contracted alpha-gal syndrome, a mysterious illness spreading rapidly across the United States. “This is the scene of the crime,” she said. As she was clearing brush in her garden in the spring of 2024, three ticks — likely lone stars, the aggressive hunters known for causing most cases of alpha-gal
  
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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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