News

A few weeks ago, we reminded Arkansans of the upcoming deadline for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship. This week, we received word that the deadline has been extended to August 1. Unlike in prior years, students who are already receiving the scholarship, have a sufficient number of hours and have earned satisfactory academic progress before […]

There were 322 additional cases of COVID-19 reported in Arkansas today. Of those, 46 were in Washington County, 33 were in Benton County, and 23 were in Pulaski County. There were 11 additional deaths. Of those, 10 were Arkansans over the age of 65. The Governor announced today he is extending the Health Emergency order […]

There were 415 new cases of COVID-19 reported today in Arkansas. Of those, 90 are in Washington County, 81 are in Benton County, 24 are in Lee County, and 21 are in Pulaski County.The Governor announced today that visitation at long-term care facilities can resume July 1.This will only apply to facilities that have completed […]

The Governor held his daily COVID-19 update in Hot Springs. The health department reports 274 additional cases and 6 additional deaths since yesterday afternoon.State Epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Dillaha broke down the age groups of positive cases to date. They are as follows:Ages 0-17-             1357 cases (10%)Ages 18-24-     […]

The Governor signed three executive orders today addressing liability issues related to COVID-19. The Governor was joined by House Speaker Matthew Shepherd and several members of the General Assembly who worked with the Governor to address the issues and avoid the need for a special session during the pandemic. The orders address three issues:Workers CompensationMedical […]

This week, the House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee reviewed the 2019 Annual Report from Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division. This report along with the quarterly reports from the Department of Human Services’ Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) are difficult to review but necessary in guiding our […]

There were 731 new cases of COVID-19 reported today. This is the largest single-day increase in Arkansas since the health emergency began.Of the 731 cases, 220 were from Washington County, 91 were from Benton County and 32 were from Madison County.The Governor said Tyson tested 1100 team members of which 199 has positive results for […]

Of today’s cases, Washington County reported 143 new cases, Benton County reported 78, and Pulaski County reported 37. All other counties reporting new cases posted fewer than 20. Department of Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith noted that 93% of Washington County’s 143 cases today come from Springdale, and that many are in the Latinx community. […]

The Governor announced today that Arkansas will enter Phase 2 of re-opening on June 15. This re-opening will be statewide and not a regional approach as previously discussed. Phase 2 will allow businesses such as restaurants, gyms, and salons to increase from 1/3 to 2/3 capacity providing that customers can maintain at least a 6-foot […]

There were 340 new cases and 6 additional deaths reported today.The Governor delivered the daily COVID-19 briefing from Jefferson Regional in Pine Bluff today where the first case in the state was reported more than 2 months ago.The Southeast Region of the state has 148 active cases. The region has a higher testing rate per […]

Of today’s new 314 cases, Washington County accounted for 86 and Benton County accounted for 41. All other counties with new cases reported 20 or fewer. Pulaski (18), Sabine (11, Sebastian (11), and Sevier (11) make up the top six counties. Governor Hutchinson noted that the daily positivity rate isn’t a useful number since it […]

There were 226 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours.At the daily briefing this afternoon, the Governor showed how contact tracing was able to determine that from the 190 cases reported Monday, an additional 220 people were identified as having contact with known cases.There are now 240 staffers working on contact tracing, […]