UAMS working on adding midwifery program to address maternal mortality

Image by Devon Divine

KUAR | By Ronak Patel

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) plans to start training students in a midwifery program by 2026. A midwife is a nurse that specializes in helping patients during childbirth.

In an interview with Arkansas PBS, Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, said this type of program is needed to help lower the maternal mortality rate in the state.

“Unfortunately for a lot of our young women in the state, all of our women really, they lack access to that care whether it be because they’re not covered through Medicaid, or they’re falling between the crack, or they’re in a rural area where they are not able to to a provider,” he said. “We hope this new program at UAMS is helping to bring that gap of care.”

UAMS working on adding midwifery program to address maternal mortality

Attempt to limit Arkansas PBS spending authority fails

KUAR | By Daniel Breen

Arkansas lawmakers have voted down an attempt to limit the spending authority of the state’s public television network.

Members of the Joint Budget Committee spent nearly an hour Thursday debating whether or not to cut Arkansas PBS’ cash appropriation by 20%, from just under $9 million to just over $7 million. The broadcaster would have needed approval from the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council to spend beyond that amount. The agency’s entire budget totals just over $15 million.

The proposal was presented as an amendment to Arkansas PBS’ budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The amendment’s author, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, said lawmakers should monitor the agency’s spending more closely given the results of a recent audit revealing questionable spending practices.

Attempt to limit Arkansas PBS spending authority fails

John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate

An attempt to limit the spending authority of Arkansas PBS failed in a legislative committee Thursday.

State's broadband director provides update on state's efforts to expand broadband

KUAR | By Ronak Patel

In a recent report ranking the broadband connectivity of the states, Arkansas ranked 49th. In an interview with Arkansas PBS, Glen Howie, the state’s broadband director, said the report does not reflect the progress the state has made.

“When you look at the remaining locations of 115,000 homes and businesses across the state that lack quality internet, you compare that to our geographic neighbors in the region and we’re ahead of them,” he said.

Howie said the state’s proactive approach to improving broadband access will help the state move forward. He said the state has already provided $550 million to communities to improve their internet. According to the Arkansas Department of Commerce, Arkansas is expected to receive about $1 billion in federal funding for broadband from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was passed by Congress in 2021.

State's broadband director provides update on state's efforts to expand broadband

Glen Howie Twitter Page

Glen Howie is responsible for helping the state expand broadband. He has been in the position of the state's broadband director since 2022.

U.S Rep. French Hill provides update on his trip to Ukraine

KUAR | By Ronak Patel

Last month, U.S Rep. French Hill of Arkansas’ Second Congressional District visited Ukraine. In an interview with Arkansas PBS, Hill said he wanted to get a better understanding of what was happening with the war and find out how military aid was being used.

"As I evaluate President Biden’s request for additional aid for Ukraine, this visit in country will inform me as to the most effective use of further funding for Ukraine as they continue their defense of their nation against Russian aggression,” Hill said in a press release.

There are members of Hill’s party, the Republicans, who are reluctant to provide more aid. Hill said those members are reluctant to support more aid because they believe Europe needs to provide more aid.

U.S Rep. French Hill provides update on his trip to Ukraine

Office Of Congressman French Hill

U.S Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, spoke about his recent trip to Ukraine. He said he made the trip with fellow lawmakers to get a better understanding of what was happening in Ukraine.

U.S Rep. Bruce Westerman explains lithium development in south Arkansas

KUAR | By Ronak Patel

Earlier this year, Exxonmobil acquired the rights for a lithium brine reservoir in south Arkansas. Lithium is a key component that is used in electric vehicle batteries.

In an interview with Arkansas PBS’ Arkansas Week, U.S Rep. Bruce Westerman, R- Hot Springs, said the southern region of Arkansas potentially has enough lithium to produce about 15% of the world’s lithium. Westerman said the lithium in south Arkansas could grow the economy in that region.

“Now that lithium is a valuable commodity investors are anxious to be able to extract the lithium to meet even more demand. There’s talks the value of lithium could be more than the value of all the oil and gas produced in South Arkansas,” he said.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2023-08-20/u-s-rep-bruce-westerman-explains-lithium-development-in-south-arkansas

Arkansas PBS

In an interview with Arkansas PBS' Arkansas Week, U.S Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, sees lithium as a boom to the local economy. The congressman also shared concerns about the region having the resources needed to accommodate the potential boom to the region.

AUDIO: Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | Arkansas Dairy Bars: Nostalgic and Pandemic Perfect

LITTLE ROCK – Today I’d like to talk about a sector of our culinary industry that is the perfect business model for dining establishments during a pandemic.

Ninety-four of these eateries dot the Natural State’s rural landscape, and next week, Arkansas PBS will release a documentary about these short-order diners.

The subject of the film is the Arkansas dairy bar, a remnant of the time before the proliferation of franchised restaurants.

The idea for this project came to Arkansas foodie Kat Robinson in the early months of COVID-19. Kat, a 1995 broadcasting graduate of Arkansas Tech, has made her name as a food historian, author, and foodie, with some public television shows thrown in. She is a member of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame’s selection committee. She grew up eating sugar on her rice for breakfast and country-fried venison. Her books include Another Slice of Arkansas Pie and two volumes of Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die.

One day when Kat was hankering for an ice cream, as she says, she traveled to Malvern to see whether the dairy bar from her childhood was still in business. Mel's Dairy Bar was still standing, it looked just like she remembered, and the place was hopping. That’s when she decided to write a book. In March, she and the team at Arkansas PBS began to work on the companion documentary.

The documentary, Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats & Cool Treats, will premiere at 7 p.m. Thursday, August 19, on Arkansas PBS. This week, Arkansas PBS hosted a free advance screening at the Kenda Drive-In in Marshall.

Dairy bars evoke nostalgia for many of us who had the good fortune to live in a town with a dairy bar or whose grandparents lived near one. That was the initial appeal for Kat.

But as she traveled more than eight thousand miles to visit all ninety-four of Arkansas’s diners, she realized that by their very design, dairy bars may be the perfect restaurant for a pandemic.

Think about it. A dairy bar generally doesn’t have a dining room. You order your food through a window. You eat in a car or at a picnic table. Textbook social distancing.

Arkansas PBS sustained the social-distancing theme by holding its premiere of Arkansas Dairy Bars at a drive-in theater. The Arkansas PBS event was perfectly crafted as public family entertainment during a worldwide pandemic.

Kat is an Arkansan who understands Arkansans. Like the 3 million other people who live here, Kat took the pandemic head-on and blazed a different route. In one of her books, she writes about the character of her state. “Arkansas is a stubborn, hang-on-by-your-teeth subsistence land that adapts to weather, new folks, and the lay of the land.” That’s an accurate description.

With this documentary, Kat Robinson and Arkansas PBS preserve a piece of our culinary history. They also demonstrate that with imagination, sweat of the brow, and a dash of courage, we can work our way through anything.