George Jared

Nearly three-quarters of the state of Arkansas is under some type of drought designation, and wildfires are becoming an increasing danger as dry weather continues to loom across the Natural State.

The 44th annual Arkansas Scottish Festival – ScotsFest – the largest annual festival in Independence County's will start Friday and run through Sunday (Oct. 18-20), on the Lyon College campus. Bagpipes, Highland athletics and a myriad of homecoming events are slated.

The SHRM Foundation has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor's Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities (WORC) program to launch an initiative in Arkansas, “Keeping It Local: Employers Driving Good Jobs in Rural Arkansas.”

Jonesboro incumbent Mayor Harold Copenhaver and his three opponents have engaged in a series of debates in different forums throughout Northeast Arkansas' hub city during the month of October. Challengers L.J. Bryant, Thomas Elwood and Jeremy Terrell are vying for the seat. A number of issues were broached at these debates and each of the candidates spent time explaining how they would tackle them.

The Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center projects an income decline for Arkansas farmers for the second straight year in 2024. It will be slightly offset by small declines in input costs.

No firm dates have been set for DNA testing evidence in the West Memphis Three case, but Damien Echols and his legal team plan to ask for items to be tested, Echols defense team member Lonnie Soury told Talk Business & Politics.

Jonesboro city officials have determined that the best course of action is to demolish the former Citizens Bank building in the city's downtown. A bulge was detected in one of the building's outer walls about a month ago, and engineers have subsequently deemed it to be a safety hazard.

Arkansas was not directly impacted by hurricanes that hit Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and others several weeks ago, but remnants of those systems did have the potential to affect growers in the eastern part of the state.

The Greene County Cooperative Extension Service has a new stand-alone building. The $4 million project was recently completed and a grand opening was held in late October.

There will be a runoff in the Jonesboro mayoral race. One-term incumbent Mayor Harold Copenhaver will square off against challenger and alderman L.J. Bryant after they were the top two finishers in the race on Tuesday (Nov. 5).