Listen Now

In 2018, the Batesville School District voted to work with Entegrity Partners to go solar to make room in its budget for salary increases for teachers. Now, Entegrity is working with 20 other school districts to harness the power of the sun to save money. Aside from becoming more affordable overall, Arkansas laws like the Solar Access Act of 2019, have made it more economically feasible for public entities like school districts to make the switch to solar power.

Steve Wiegenstein 's collection of short stories, Scattered Lights , is one of the five finalists for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award. His stories are set in the Ozarks and feature people in circumstances often beyond their control.

Arkansas is among the first states to strictly regulate licensed professional massage therapy education to protect public health. Over the past decade, the commercialization of massage spas, by franchises such as Massage Envy, has created high demand for skilled therapists. An Arkansas legislator is sponsoring a bill that he claims will facilitate easier access to massage therapy licensure. But opponents claim the measure specifically aims to supply chain massage clinics with low-wage therapists.

Last week, Becca Martin-Brown, the feature editor for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette , delivered a long list of opportunities to experience live music this spring. This week, another sign entertainment is making its way back: theater is cautiously returning to the stage.

On today's show, we hear from Hendrix College researchers about the value of restoring abandoned oil and natural gas extractions sites. Plus, we speak with Rev. Nancy Frausto of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach, California about whether the COVID-19 pandemic has changed houses of worship. And, we discuss COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, which remains high in Arkansas, and ways to encourage more residents to get the immunization.

A team of Hendrix College professors and students have determined the value of ecological services delivered by abandoned oil and natural gas extraction sites which have been environmentally restored. The team's findings are newly published in the journal Nature Sustainability .

After more than a year of a global pandemic, will houses of worship be forever changed? Rev. Nancy Frausto, associate rector at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach, California, will deliver a pair of talks on the the subject this weekend. The virtual events are part of St. Paul's Tippy McMichael Lecture Series.

On this week's edition of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal Report, we hear from Ray Hanley, the president and CEO of the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, about the high rate of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Arkansas and what can be done to encourage more people to get vaccinated, especially as the reluctance was escalated by the federal government’s recommendation this week to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

University of Arkansas Music Professor Lia Uribe introduces us to the diversity of classical music with pieces from non-binary composer Inti Figgis-Vizueta, who is challenging traditionally white institutions, and the Ensemble HanSori, which consists of Moon-Sook Park, Er-Gene Kahng, Hanna Waldo, Dominic Na, and Hyun Kim. The ensemble recently collaborated with Crystal Bridges to create a tribute to the eight victims of the mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16, 2021.

On today's show, we learn about a nonprofit immigrant legal aid organization that helps undocumented youth obtain DACA credentials. Plus, we have information about Northwest Technical Institute's plans for a new medical building. And, we speak with the mom of a trans man about this year's legislative session and the ways in which Arkansans can show their support to the trans community in face of numerous laws targeting trans youth and athletes.

ImmigrationHelp , a nonprofit immigrant legal aid center founded in 2019 by Harvard University lawyers and students, now independently operated, helps undocumented youth across the U.S., including in Arkansas, obtain federal DACA credentials. Fernando Urbina, outreach director for ImmigrationHelp, describes how the legal team works.

Northwest Technical Institute has established a nonprofit foundation to help support the construction of a new medical building. The $10,000 million, 55,000-square-foot building will allow NWTI to educate more students who can fill vaccant positions in the region's healthcare industry.

At his weekly coronavirus response briefing, Gov. Asa Hutchinson made a familiar appeal to Arkansans: get vaccinated against COVID-19. His plea came just hours after the federal government recommended a pause on using Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine following reports of six instances of rare and severe blood clots in women between the ages of 18 and 48. Following a call with the White House, Hutchinson said the state would follow the recommendation from the CDC and FDA, but added the Arkansas Department of Health still has confidence in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and emphasized the pause is intended to allow medical officials to understand the best way to respond to the adverse reaction. Although the state paused its use of the single-dose vaccine, Hutchinson said that should not dissuade Arkansans from receiving either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead. So far, about 25 percent of people have been fully immunized against COVID-19 and another 15 percent are

Jennifer Steel's oldest son is transgender. She says the last couple of months have left her family hurt, sad, angry, disgusted and confused as the Arkansas legislature has passed several laws trans advocates say unfairly target the trans community. But Steel says, she still has hope and there are ways Arkansans can step up to show trans children they have their support.

We continue our look back the first 150 years of the University of Arkansas with the history of one of the most iconic features on campus: the Senior Walk. Charlie Alison with university relations tells us how a skirmish led to the unique tradition.

The University of Arkansas Fort Smith will be going through some changes at the start of the new fiscal year in July. Chancellor Terisa Riley discusses the reorganization, which she says will not come with a loss of degree programs or jobs.

A proposed Arkansas law to protect teachers and school administrators who misgender public school and college students is expected to be approved by the state legislature. House Bill 1749 , which prohibits requiring public school and college employees from identifying students by genders inconsistent with a student’s biological sex, was approved by the House and is now being considered by the Senate. It's one of nearly a dozen anti-transgender bills proposed this session.

Professional cycling athletes put their support for Arkansas's transgender community on display this weekend at the first round of the U.S. Cup Olympic qualifier events in Fayetteville. Ellen Noble, who races for Trek Bikes and Red Bull, donned temporary tattoos of the LGBTQ and trans flags on her legs during the short track race. She says she wanted to make it clear she opposes the laws that have been passed in Arkansas.

Roby Brock, with our partner Talk Business and Politics , and John Brummett, political columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette , discuss the writing legacy of the late Pulitzer-prize winning columnist Paul Greenberg and whether legislation some are calling a hate crimes bill can actually be considered a hate crimes bill.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed two bills Monday that will raise the median teacher salary by $2,000 to $51,822 across the state. Senate Bill 504 and House Bill 1614 also create the Teacher Salary Equalization Fund, which dedicates $25 million in state funding to provide $185 dollars per student to districts that are below the median salary and can't meet the goal otherwise.