NW Arkansas

GORP kicks off 5th outdoor recreation incubator

by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com)

The Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP) has launched its spring startup incubator with eight Northwest Arkansas startups, including those that rent outdoor gear and make quivers, according to a Jan. 24 news release.

GORP is a business incubation program led by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (OEI) at the University of Arkansas. GORP is focused on helping outdoor recreation startups and is based at the Collaborative in Bentonville. GORP is supported by a $4.1 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.

Semiannually, GORP has offered 12-week business incubators for early-stage outdoor recreation startups. The incubator offers workshop training, team mentoring and product and service development to help them scale. GORP provides up to $15,000 in non-dilutive seed money per startup. It’s money that doesn’t require the owner to give up equity in the company.

GORP kicks off 5th outdoor recreation incubator

Arkansas nonprofit receives grant to help immigrants apply for citizenship

KUAR | By Maggie Ryan

A nonprofit in Northwest Arkansas has won a grant to help people apply for U.S. citizenship.

Arkansas United supports individuals seeking citizenship in Arkansas. The organization recently received $250,000 dollars from the federal government to improve their outreach efforts.

To use these funds, Arkansas United is forming a new program to help people navigate the path to citizenship. The program, called Together Towards Citizenship, will match those seeking citizenship with resources and materials to help them in their application.

Arkansas nonprofit receives grant to help immigrants apply for citizenship

Wilfredo Lee/AP

Ericka Ames, center, of Nicaragua recites the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Miami.

Eddyline Kayaks relocating from Pacific Northwest to Siloam Springs

by Paul Gatling (pgatling@nwabj.com)

Recreational kayak manufacturer Eddyline Kayaks is moving its corporate address from Washington to Northwest Arkansas.

The move to downtown Siloam Springs will be completed before the end of the year.

“At Eddyline, our purpose is to build quality craft that inspires people to enjoy clean and healthy waterways,” Eddyline president and co-owner Scott Holley said. “The Natural State, Arkansas, resonates deeply with our ethos as a responsible business entity and community participant.”

Eddyline Kayaks relocating from Pacific Northwest to Siloam Springs

Paddleboarders, kayakers and more flock to WOKA Whitewater Park’s grand opening

by Paul Gatling (pgatling@nwabj.com)

One of Northwest Arkansas’ newest tourist draws is just across the border in Oklahoma. But there’s no denying that The Waters of Oklahoma and Arkansas (WOKA) Whitewater Park’s ripple effects will be far-reaching.

“We typically have to go a long way for something like this,” said Jerrid Gelinas of Siloam Springs. He’s an avid paddler and president of the Arkansas Canoe Club’s Northwest Arkansas Chapter. “Normally, we go to Tennessee, West Virginia; this is a new opportunity for a lot of paddlers around here. To be out here surfing paddleboards, boogie boards, kayaks, canoes and tubes is really cool.”

Gelinas was one of several hundred visitors to the 30-acre whitewater adventure park during its opening weekend on Sept. 15-17.

Paddleboarders, kayakers and more flock to WOKA Whitewater Park’s grand opening - Talk Business & Politics


2,000 attendees expected in Northwest Arkansas for tech summit this fall

by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com)

More than 2,000 attendees are expected to attend the 2023 Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit, Director Kris Adams said. The summit will convene at the Rogers Convention Center from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.

They’ll come from as far as Toronto and the East and West coasts. Adams said others will arrive from Austin, Texas; Dallas; the Kansas City metro; and Tulsa. Last year, the event had 1,700 attendees from 28 states.

Adams noted that the programs for the four-day event this year will return to the convention center after outgrowing the various Bentonville spaces where the event was hosted previously. Still, the networking and social aspects of the event will happen in Bentonville.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/09/2000-attendees-expected-in-northwest-arkansas-for-tech-summit-this-fall/

UAMS Breaks Ground in Springdale for Orthopaedics & Sports Performance Center

By David Wise

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) broke ground today on the UAMS Health Orthopaedics & Sports Performance Center in Springdale.

The 115,000-square-foot center will be located in the four-mile stretch of I-49 on the city’s west side, commonly known as the Springdale Care Corridor, which includes a dozen health care providers.

For several years now, an interdisciplinary team of highly trained surgeons and rehab specialists has been providing specialty care at UAMS orthopaedics and sports medicine clinics in Fayetteville and Lowell, as well as serving as the official sports medicine provider for all of the University of Arkansas Razorback athletic programs.

https://news.uams.edu/2023/09/15/uams-breaks-ground-in-springdale-for-orthopaedics-sports-performance-center/

Taking a closer look at headwater streams in light of climate change

By John Lovett
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Up to 35 percent of headwater streams, which make up the vast majority of global river miles, are intermittent, yet the importance of these systems is not well understood due to the recurring wetting and drying cycles. 

HEADWATERS — Kathleen Cutting takes stream monitoring notes on Brush Creek, a headwater stream of the White River and part of the Beaver Lake watershed. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo)

Arkansas researcher Shannon Speir is part of a multi-state team working to learn more about how these small streams can affect lakes and reservoirs that supply our drinking water. The research may have implications for guidance on Clean Water Act regulations and monitoring the primary source of drinking water in northwest Arkansas in response to climate change.

Speir is an assistant professor of water quality in the crop, soil and environmental sciences department for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

With her team of student researchers, they will study the movement of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, in Brush Creek, a tributary of the Beaver Lake watershed. It is part of a larger study across many states that is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to learn more about the impact headwater streams have on major bodies of surface water.

“We are looking at when the tiny streams go dry at the top and then rewet, and dry and rewet, how that affects nutrient transport downstream,” Speir said.

Speir said there is potential for headwaters to be major transporters of nutrients and sediments throughout the year. Intermittent headwater streams tend to flow after heavy rains and carry nutrients downstream. An overabundance of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, Speir said, can cause eutrophication, which increases the amount of plant and algae growth and decreases the amount of available oxygen for fish.

She is teaming up with water quality scientists in five other states to expand the knowledge of how these intermittent stream networks that dry up and fill back up after storms can determine the amount and quality of water that ends up downstream.

“If we can understand how conservation in one part of the watershed might affect the signal downstream, we can start to understand how much conservation we need to make changes downstream,” Speir said. “This grant provides an underlying foundational science backbone supporting more applied work.”

Headwaters researchers

The two-year research project begins this month and is supported by a $2.5 million grant awarded by the Department of Energy through its Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, program. Speir’s lab will receive about $330,000 to purchase new water quality sensors and conduct research on Brush Creek in the Beaver Lake watershed. She said sensors will be “nested” in public access areas of the creek.

The grant proposal was submitted through the University of New Mexico’s Center for Advancement of Spatial Informatics Research and Education. The award is part of a $33 million Department of Energy effort that supports 14 research projects covering a range of research topics, from fundamental science topics to efforts in fusion energy, climate and ecosystem modeling, grid integration, wind energy, and sensors for energy conversion.

Alex Webster, assistant professor in the University of New Mexico’s biology department, is the principal investigator on the project. Her team in New Mexico will study the headwaters of the Santa Fe River and serve as the hub for project data analyses.

“Historically, we treated these headwater watersheds like black boxes. We tend to care about how much water comes out of them and the quality of that water but not so much about the reasons why,” Webster said in a University of New Mexico news release. “There is a lot going on in them; they are changing very quickly because they are very sensitive to climate change, including to changes in snowpack, and because that’s where streams tend to dry up first.”

Co-principal investigators and research areas include:

  • Arial Shogren, University of Alabama biological sciences department; headwaters of the Black Warrior River

  • Joanna Blaszczak, University of Nevada, Reno’s natural resources and environmental science department; headwaters of the Truckee River

  • Adam Wymore, University of New Hampshire’s college of life sciences and agriculture; headwaters of the Great Bay Estuary

  • Yang Hong, University of Oklahoma’s college of engineering; hydrologic modeling

Speir said hydrologic modeling, using computer simulations of watershed reactions, will be the first stage of the study, and this is a specialty of Hong’s team at the University of Oklahoma. The first stage of the study calls for simulating the processes of entire watershed stream networks based on observations of water flow, precipitation, and other factors.

The second stage includes understanding each watershed’s “spatial structure” or how it influences water quality and quantity. The third phase will look at changes over time in response to changing precipitation and drought patterns. Project researchers will also collaborate with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to compare findings to a Tennessee watershed.

With more knowledge of headwater processes, the study could help states better monitor and manage water quality, water quantity, and ecosystem responses to a changing climate, Speir said. For example, it could help water treatment facilities better predict what’s coming into the system and adjust their process accordingly.

Speir’s team on the project includes Kathleen Cutting, a water quality science master’s degree student, and program associate Alana Strauss, both with the crop, soil and environmental sciences department. Her team will conduct “synoptic sampling campaigns,” where they take a snapshot sampling in one day of 20 sites across the watershed.

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.

Whitewater park near Siloam Springs opens this weekend

by Paul Gatling (pgatling@nwabj.com)

The city of Siloam Springs and Oklahoma-based utility Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) have announced the anticipated opening of WOKA Whitewater Park this weekend.

Operating hours are noon to 8 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 15) and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Park officials said a formal grand opening at the park is planned for next spring.

According to a news release, free parking and limited concessions will be available this weekend, with equipment available for rent on a first-come, first-served basis. Whitewater-specific personal equipment is also welcome.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/09/whitewater-park-near-siloam-springs-opens-this-weekend/

Arkansas Graveler bike tour to showcase northern Arkansas

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Arkansas tourism officials and Gov. Sarah Sanders announced Thursday (Aug. 24) a new in-state bike tour event to be called the Arkansas Graveler. The six-day, 300-plus mile bike journey across county and forest backroads in northern Arkansas and will take place in June 2024.

The inaugural event, founded by the Ozark Foundation, will begin in Fayetteville on June 23, 2024, and finish in Jonesboro on June 29. The ride will kick-off at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and conclude at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

Approximately 400 touring and recreational cyclists from across the country are expected to participate in the 336-mile ride which will include five stops in host communities along the route.

Day 1 – Fayetteville to Oark (55 miles)
Day 2 – Oark to Jasper (56 miles)
Day 3 – Jasper to Marshall (55 miles)
Day 4 – Marshall to Mountain View (51 miles)
Day 5 – Mountain View to Cave City (49 miles)
Day 6 – Cave City to Jonesboro (70 miles)

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/08/arkansas-graveler-bike-tour-to-showcase-northern-arkansas/

Photo courtesy Caleb Yarbrough.

Pro soccer, 5,000-seat stadium coming to Northwest Arkansas

by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com)

A Tampa, Fla.-based professional soccer organization is partnering with a new Arkansas team to bring professional soccer to the state.

The United Soccer League (USL) and USL Arkansas announced Wednesday (July 12) plans to establish men’s and women’s soccer teams and build a 5,000-seat stadium in Rogers. Preliminary estimates show the stadium will cost about $15 million, and the aim is for it to open in early 2026.

USL Arkansas is led by co-founders Chris Martinovic and Warren Smith. Martinovic, a former professional and college soccer player, started working to bring pro soccer to Northwest Arkansas about four years ago. Smith, who helped establish the San Diego Loyal SC, joined the effort in late 2022.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/07/pro-soccer-5000-seat-stadium-coming-to-northwest-arkansas/

A rendering shows what the stadium for the new professional soccer team might look like. The goal is for the stadium to open in Rogers in early 2026.

U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith, AR opening to the public on July 1, 2023

The U.S. Marshals Museum expects to tell the story of our nations’ Marshals beginning July 1st, 2023!

Founded in 1817, Fort Smith is now celebrating its bicentennial milestone. With an exciting past, a vibrant present, and a strong future, Fort Smith provides the perfect setting for the U.S. Marshals Museum – and an entertaining travel destination for you and your family. Use this page as a guide to help plan your trip. We look forward to your visit!

Museum Address:  789 Riverfront Drive, Fort Smith, AR 72901.

Hours Of Operation:  Open: 9a-5p Daily starting July 1st, 2023.

Memberships: Learn more about Memberships available.

Contact: info@usmmuseum.org, (479) 242-1789

Our Mission

The Mission of the U.S. Marshals Museum is to form a national center of heritage and legacy, disseminate knowledge, and inspire appreciation for the accomplishments of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Our Vision

The U.S. Marshals Museum will inspire Americans across the country—both now and for future generations—to live with the core values of the U.S. Marshals Service: “Justice, Integrity, and Service.”

Work continues on new Owens Corning plant; could open later this year

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Owens Corning on June 13 received its fourth building permit in the past two years at its new facility at 5401 Excelsior Drive. The recent permit issued by the city of Fort Smith was valued at $47.7 million.

In February 2021 the company began to build a new 550,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, adjacent to its existing plant on Planters Road. The global building and construction materials company announced in October it is investing in machinery and new construction at its existing plant. The estimated $115 million project is expected to add five jobs with an approximate annual salary of $85,000 per year.

The company has three other open building permits for the 5401 Excelsior Drive Location – a $4 million new construction project permitted on Sept. 14, 2021; a $15.4 million project listed as “other” permitted on Oct. 13, 2021; and $3.7 million “other” project permitted on July 2, 2021.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/06/work-continues-on-new-owens-corning-plant-could-open-later-this-year/

First food product rolls out from Expanding Farmers’ Opportunities in northwest Arkansas Program

By Fred Miller
U of A System Division of Agriculture

Aromatic steam rose off a cooking vat in the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station’s Arkansas Food Innovation Center earlier this month while rows of glass jars stood ready to receive a savory, tomato-based sauce. You won’t find this product on your supermarket shelves but at the farmers markets in northwest Arkansas.

VALUE-ADDED — Farmer's Ratatouille from McGarrah Farms is the first product from the Expanding Farmers' Opportunities in Northwest Arkansas. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Fred Miller)

Farmer’s Ratatouille is the first product to roll out of the Expanding Farmers’ Opportunities in Northwest Arkansas Program, a program designed to help cut down on food waste and create value-added products for farmers. In the United States, food waste is estimated at between 30–40 percent of the food supply, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Expanding Farmers’ Opportunities in Northwest Arkansas is a partnership of the University of Arkansas System’s department of food science; Brightwater, A Center for the Study of Food; and The Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

The experiment station is the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Brightwater is a division of Northwest Arkansas Community College.

The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers Market Promotion Program. The grant is provided by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service through its Local Agriculture Market Program.

Renee Threlfall, an experiment station research scientist, said the program helps participating farmers learn to create shelf-stable, value-added food products from their surplus produce. Students at Brightwater develop recipes for foods that are produced at the experiment station’s Arkansas Food Innovation Center, a food manufacturing facility.

Chef Steve Jenkins, department chair at Brightwater and a partner in the Expanding Farmer’s Opportunities in Northwest Arkansas Program, said his students not only develop the recipes, but also team up with University of Arkansas food science students to produce the foods.

“They provide the expertise for farmers who want to turn their surplus produce into value-added products, but who are not trained as chefs or food processors,” Jenkins said.

The Farmer’s Ratatouille is made from tomatoes, squash, zucchini, eggplant and roasted red peppers produced by McGarrah Farms of Pea Ridge. Dennis McGarrah operates the farm at three locations in northwest Arkansas, where his family has been farming since 1824. He’s been farming for 60 years and sells his produce at farmers markets in Fayetteville, Bentonville and Rogers. He also sells produce at Rivercrest Farms, operated by his son, Dennis McGarrah Jr., near Fayetteville.

FARMER'S RATATOUILLE — Dennis McGarrah, left, of McGarrah Farms observes the cooking of Farmer's Ratatouille made with ingredients from his farms. (U of A System Division of Agriculture photo by Fred Miller)

Dennis McGarrah said he had a lot of “seconds” in squash and tomatoes and wanted to come up with a recipe for a shelf-stable product. “Seconds,” or “culls,” are vegetables that may have blemishes that consumers would reject at a farmers market.

“It’s perfectly fine produce that just doesn’t look good enough for the farmers markets,” McGarrah said. “Now I can turn them into products that can be sold year-round.”

Dennis McGarrah said he has worked with the Division of Agriculture on many projects over the years, so he reached out to Threlfall. She connected him with Jenkins, and his Brightwater students developed the recipe.

“I tried it out at home first and thought we had something,” Dennis McGarrah said. “This is the first time we’re scaling up to production level.”

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch and on Instagram at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

Arkansas Children’s CEO hopes to open expanded facilities by 2026

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Arkansas Children’s CEO Marcy Doderer said expansion plans in central and northwest Arkansas are being driven by different factors and she’s optimistic that new facilities can be in service by early 2026.

Over a week ago, Arkansas Children’s announced a $318 million expansion that will add up to 100 new doctors and 400 new support staff.

Appearing on this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics, Doderer said the hospital’s Springdale campus is feeling pressure from the population growth in the region.

“Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) just celebrated five years of being in existence. I can’t believe it’s gone that fast. It was built as a small community hospital knowing that we would probably steadily and readily have to expand it in order to meet the needs of that community,” she said. “As the population continues to really move up in northwest Arkansas, there are more kids demanding services from our state. What we’ve also found though, is being up there in that corner of Arkansas, we are attractive to families in eastern Oklahoma and southern Missouri, so we find it’s now time to expand our spaces at ACNW.”

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/05/arkansas-childrens-ceo-hopes-to-open-expanded-facilities-by-2026/

Rep. Womack tours U.S. Marshals Museum, says it will have ‘amazing impact’

by Michael Tilley (mtilley@talkbusiness.net)

“Wow,” was the first response from U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, following his tour Wednesday (April 12) of the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith. He said what was once considered a “pipe dream” by some will soon be a “magnificent” part of the region.

Construction of the approximately 53,000-square-feet U.S. Marshals Museum was completed — except for exhibits — in early 2020. The facility is on the Arkansas River near downtown Fort Smith. In January 2007, the U.S. Marshals Service selected Fort Smith as the site for the national museum. A ceremonial groundbreaking was held in September 2015, and museum officials initially hoped to have the facility open by late 2017, but struggles to raise enough money delayed the opening.

Exhibit work is ongoing and museum officials have said the museum will open this summer. Once open, the museum will tell the story of the United States’ oldest federal law enforcement agency, which was established by President George Washington.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/04/rep-womack-tours-u-s-marshals-museum-says-it-will-have-amazing-impact/

Student Research Day Continues to Grow with Inclusion of Northwest Campus

By Andrew Vogler

Graduate and professional students, postdoctoral researchers, medical staff and fellows presented their research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Student Research Day, a university-wide event hosted by the Division of Research and Innovation, Academic Affairs, the Graduate School, the Northwest Regional Campus and Academic Senate.

Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health, was present to view projects at Student Research Day.Andrew Vogler

This year’s event was the first in which the Northwest Regional Campus facilitated participation for its students. Participants at the Fayetteville campus and those unable to attend the event in person were able to view the event’s activities remotely.

“Student Research Day has always been one of my favorite events over the years — it not only provides a showcase for our students to let everyone see the work that they have been pursuing but also highlights the remarkable faculty who mentor them,” said Robert E. McGehee Jr., Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School and distinguished professor in the Department of Pediatrics. “The breadth of the projects is also amazing, literally from the frontlines of community-based research projects to the most minute changes in genetic signaling.”

https://news.uams.edu/2023/03/27/student-research-day-continues-to-grow-with-inclusion-of-northwest-campus/

Walmart AMP transitioning to digital tickets

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Digital tickets will be the default method of delivery for the 2023 season at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion (AMP) in Rogers. The change was announced Monday (March 20) in a news release.

Digital tickets are secure, paperless tickets accessible on a smartphone. According to the release, patrons will access their tickets by logging in to a personalized, online ticket wallet with the same username or email and password they use to purchase tickets.

Digital tickets will be delivered to a ticket wallet immediately upon purchase and can be securely shared. They use a rotating QR code so patrons know they have a valid ticket, and it reduces the ability to counterfeit tickets. The rotating QR code for each ticket will be delivered within 24 hours of the performance start time or at a time specified by the tour.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/03/walmart-amp-transitioning-to-digital-tickets/

Jewel performs at the Walmart AMP in Rogers in 2022. The venue's ticket sales were up 71% from last year.

Extension plans soil health workshops for specialty crop growers

By Tracy Courage
U of A System Division of Agriculture

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Specialists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will lead a four-part workshop series in Northwest Arkansas to help fruit and vegetable growers understand soil health on their farms and how to improve it.  

HEALTHY SOIL, HEALTHY VEGETABLES — Specialists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture will lead a four-part workshop series in Northwest Arkansas to help fruit and vegetable growers understand soil health on their farms and how to improve it. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

“Healthy soils help promote efficient specialty crop production,” Amanda McWhirt, extension horticulture production specialist with the Division of Agriculture, said. “Growers increasingly need tools to understand the status of soil health and manage it to increase the productivity and profitability of their crops.”

The series is part of the Northwest Arkansas Specialty Crop Soil Health Program led by McWhirt and Matt Bertucci, assistant professor of sustainable fruit and vegetable production for the Division of Agriculture. They have conducted soil health assessments of the area and are working to educate and train growers on implementing specific management practices that improve on-farm soil health. The program targets specialty crop growers in Benton, Washington, Carroll and Madison counties, who produce a range of fruit and vegetable crops for local markets. However, the workshops are open to all Arkansas growers. 

Workshops will take place at the Division of Agriculture’s Food Science Building, 2650 N. Young Ave., Fayetteville. The cost is $10 per workshop. Register at bit.ly/nwa-soil-trainings.

Presenters will cover soil fertility, pollinator habitats, irrigation and pest management. The workshops will mostly be outdoors, where participants can see demonstrations of soil health best practices. 

Schedule

  • March 14 — Soil health basics, winter cover crops, soil sampling and conservation funding, 1-4 p.m.

  • May 2 — Managing soil fertility, cover crop termination and soil pest management, 3-6 p.m.

  • June 27 — Summer cover crop selection, pollinator habitats, irrigation management and water conservation, 3-6 p.m.

  • 17 — Crop rotations, soil biology, riparian buffers and intercropping,1-4 p.m. 

Bertucci and McWhirt will lead workshops along with Ryan Neal, Benton County agriculture extension agent; Colin Massey, Washington County agriculture extension agent; Jonathan McArthur, farm manager for the Center for Arkansas Farms and Food; and other guest speakers. Mike Whitis with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service will discuss conservation funding opportunities at the March 14 workshop. 

Participants will have a chance to win door prizes, including books, soil knives, cover crop seeds and more. 

The fact sheet “FSA2202: Understanding Soil Health” is available online at https://www.uaex.uada.edu/publications/pdf/FSA2202.pdf.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

Arkansas Medical Board chairman suspended from state Medicaid program

KUAR | By Hunter Field / Arkansas Advocate

The chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board has been suspended from the Arkansas Medicaid Program and is under investigation for Medicaid and Medicare fraud.

State health officials suspended all Medicaid payments to Board Chairman Dr. Brian Hyatt on Friday after determining there was a “credible allegation of fraud,” according to a letter obtained in a public records request.

A search warrant for Hyatt’s phone records, also obtained by the Advocate under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, provides a list of allegations against the Northwest Arkansas psychiatrist being investigated by Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2023-03-01/arkansas-medical-board-chairman-suspended-from-state-medicaid-program

Jenny Kane/AP

Dr. Brian Hyatt is being investigated by Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office for suspected Medicaid fraud.

UAMS, Washington Regional Team Up for New Internal Medicine Residency Program in Northwest Arkansas

By David Wise

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Washington Regional Medical Center launched a new internal medicine residency program that will bring eight new medical residents to Northwest Arkansas each year.

The UAMS-Washington Regional Internal Medicine Program is a community-based, academic-affiliated residency program rooted in training skilled internists. The curriculum consists of clinical experiences at Washington Regional, the region’s largest hospital, with access to every internal medicine subspecialty, a dedicated research-training curriculum and a comprehensive didactic curriculum.

The two medical institutions are actively recruiting for the first residency class, which will start in July 2023. The program is accredited through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

https://news.uams.edu/2022/11/07/uams-washington-regional-team-up-for-new-internal-medicine-residency-program-in-northwest-arkansas/