Talk Politics

Covering Arkansas Politics

ACLU preparing legal challenge to abortion ban

Editor’s note: This first of a two-part series on legislation passed during the 2021 Arkansas Legislative Session will focus on Act 309. The second part will focus on Act 626…

NEA leaders update on I-57 possibilities

Generations of civic and business leaders in Northeast Arkansas have dreamed of U.S. 67 being transformed into a complete, four-lane interstate highway stretching to the Missouri border. If the route…

Groundbreaking held for Grand Prairie Irrigation Project

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the White River Irrigation District hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Friday (May 7) west of DeValls Bluff for the first phase of construction…

Tourism Secretary Hurst touts legislative accomplishments, speaks to state image

Stacy Hurst, Arkansas’ secretary of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, said while the recent legislative session spiked emails to her agency due to negative national headlines, there were also a number…

Arkansas to stop $300-a-week federal jobless benefits; U.S. April job numbers below estimates

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Friday (May 7) stopped the state’s participation in federal supplemental jobless benefits which provided an extra $300 a week to those who qualified. The move comes…

The sound of business

It had been nearly 50 years since I’d spent any time in northern Alabama before a brief trip there last week. I was interested to see not only what had…

Pellet production group to invest $40 million in three Arkansas plants

Drax Group announced Thursday (May 6) it will begin constructing the first of three new “satellite” pellet plants in Arkansas. Drax Group is a worldwide sustainable biomass production and supply…

AG Rutledge gets $2.6 million judgment against Bentonville timeshare exit firm

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Wednesday (May 5) a $2.6 million judgment against Real Travel, LLC, and the company’s founder Brian Scroggs. Real Travel, the now-defunct Bentonville-based company, through…

UA Little Rock professors receive grant to examine Muslim hate crimes in Arkansas

Two criminal justice professors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have been awarded a $324,987 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund a three-year program to…

Gov. Hutchinson sets vaccination goal; state to expand number of pop-up vaccine clinics

Gov. Asa Hutchinson wants more than 50% of Arkansans to receive at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose by early August, and state officials will pursue the goal by using pop-up…

Arkansas tax revenue surplus more than $700 million; year-to-date collections up 11.1%

Calendar shifts with tax filing, an improving economy and federal stimulus payments helped boost April tax revenue almost 20% more than the forecast, and pushed the state’s year-to-date revenue surplus…

Former GOP chair Doyle Webb jumps in Lt. Governor’s race

Former Arkansas GOP chairman Doyle Webb announced Tuesday (May 4) he will enter the race for Lt. Governor in 2022. Webb, a former state senator from Benton, previously worked in…

Alec Farmer elected to Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield board of directors

The Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield board of directors announced the election of Alec Farmer of Jonesboro, president of Farmer Enterprises, Inc., to its board on Monday (May 3)….

Attorney Jason Davis enters Attorney General’s race

Former Republican Jason Davis announced Monday (May 3) he will seek the Democratic nomination in 2022 for Arkansas Attorney General. Davis, 34, is an attorney with Davis Law Firm in…

Riff Raff: It’s gonna be like this for awhile

Those outraged by legislation promulgated by the majority Republican legislative bodies during this unprecedented Arkansas Legislative Session should know it’s not personal. Many legislators believe their actions are in your…

USDA predicts corn, soybean acres to soar; rice to plunge

There has been growing optimism through the late spring and early summer that several row crops, including soybeans and corn, might add acres in 2021. The expectations are becoming a…

Airports see benefits in additional funding from Biden plan

Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) in Highfill and Fort Smith Regional Airport could start sooner on infrastructure projects if they were to receive additional money from President Joe Biden’s plan…

Economist: Tax cuts will help low income; businesses must spend to overcome ‘reputational harm’

UA Walton College economist Mervin Jebaraj said new tax cuts and those proposed for later this year could help in a variety of ways, especially for lower income Arkansans, and…

War Memorial Stadium to host national junior college football championship in 2021 through 2023

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), along with the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Arkansas Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, announced Friday (April 30) that Little Rock will…

Windsor Door to add 42 new jobs in Little Rock

Windsor Door announced Thursday (April 29) it will add a third production line and second shift at its Little Rock manufacturing center. The expansion will create 42 new jobs bringing…