From Benton County Government January Recap of the Quorum Court Meeting:

“The Benton County Quorum Court voted to create the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) with three amendments. Amendment one would protect Benton County residents from eminent domain authority. Any cases within the county would be brought back to the Benton County Quorum Court for approval. The second amendment allows any board member appointed to the IDA by the Benton County Quorum Court to be removed by the court with a 2/3rd majority vote. The final amendment protects the original ordinance from being deemed invalid by a Court of Law if the provisions added are deemed invalid. The creation of the IDA ordinance, with the three amendments, was passed by a vote of 12 in favor, one opposed [JP5 Perrien-Smith], and one member abstained [JP7 Bollinger]. Washington and Madison Quorum Courts will also vote to approve a similar ordinance. If approved by all three Quorum Courts, the County Judges will petition the Circuit Court to form the IDA.”

Read more about the Industrial Development Authority Ordinance from Thomas Saccente’s reporting in the NWA Dem Gazz HERE.

Upcoming County Government meetings at the Admin Building in downtown Bentonville:

“Having the same guidelines for stormwater management throughout Northwest Arkansas would go far toward coping with the problem of runoff, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission decided in a unanimous vote Wednesday [Jan. 28]. The commission voted to join a grant application to draw up such a plan. The nonprofit Beaver Watershed Alliance hopes to submit its application for such a grant Friday, supported by a variety of cities and groups that now include the Regional Planning Commission.” Read the full recap from Doug Thompson with the NWA Dem Gazz HERE.

The Milken Institutes Best Performing Cities 2026 Report was released last week and the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers region was the named the top performing large city region. Access the summary and full report from the Milken Institutes website HERE. Listen to KUAF Matthew Moore’s interview about the report HERE.

Thanks to the folks at For AR People for the following content:

Late last month, a lawsuit was filed challenging the constitutionality of Arkansas’s abortion ban. Here’s why this lawsuit matters.

For the past three years, we’ve heard from patients and doctors across our state about what abortion bans actually do in real life: they delay emergency medical care, force families to leave Arkansas for treatment, and put moms and kids at risk. Healthcare providers are unable to practice medicine without fear of being punished by politicians that don’t have any medical training.

Extremist politicians deny this reality and play politics with people’s lives; we think they should stay out of private healthcare decisions.

The lawsuit names plaintiffs with heartbreaking stories that could have been avoided if we didn’t live under an abortion ban. It’s important for us to elevate these stories and educate Arkansans about the real-world consequences of politicians interfering in the exam room. The stories behind this moment are the same ones we’ve already heard – families facing devastating diagnoses and doctors whose hands are tied by fear and uncertainty.

Additional Reporting:

Thanks to State Senator Greg Leding for the following content:

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders no longer has to worry about the Arkansas Board of Corrections not doing whatever she wants. Thanks to her three new appointees, which include her former deputy chief of staff, Governor Sanders now controls a majority of the board’s seven seats.

To recap: Our governor and the board spent quite a bit of her first three years in office fighting one another, with the board even firing her first secretary of corrections, Joe Profiri, in December 2023. (Profiri went on to become a “senior advisor” to the governor, earning more than any other member of the governor’s staff.)

Governor Sanders has used board members’ expiring terms as an opportunity to replace those members with handpicked people who’ll do whatever she says. Last Friday’s [Jan. 23] special meeting of the board—called with the minimum two hours’ notice required by state law—was the first since our governor named Jamie Barker, Nathan Lee, and Boyce Hamlet to the board.

Barker only recently left his role as Governor Sanders' deputy chief of staff. (Barker’s also the son of Representative Sonia Eubanks Barker of Smackover.) He conveniently left the position to become a lobbyist just two weeks before our governor named him to the board.

The governor’s four yes-ma’am appointees quickly voted to replace Dub Byers—who’d served as chair since former chair Benny Magness’ term expired last month—with Barker. They then voted Lee to serve as vice-chair and Hamlet as secretary.

These votes took place despite the fact that they weren’t on the agenda. The board chair is responsible for placing items on the agenda, and it seems Byers hadn’t expected leadership changes. Prior to the votes, Byers asked the board to consider holding off electing new leadership for 30 to 60 days, time enough for all members to get to know one another.

But that’s not what our governor wanted.

Indeed, Byers’ concerns that the new members “don’t know about the Department of Corrections,” and that “they haven’t learned anything yet,” are unfortunately irrelevant in an administration that prioritizes control and obedience above things like qualifications and experience. (Byers, by the way, has served on the board for a decade and worked for the Arkansas Department of Corrections for 39 years.)

Additional Reporting:

The March 3rd Election is coming soon! This is a good time for you to start reviewing your sample ballot (options: Democratic, Republican, or Nonpartisan) from the Arkansas Voter View website. Early voting will start on Feb. 17th in Benton County.

Expect to get my voter guide email next week! Meanwhile, you can use the following references to start reviewing your options:

Please consider attending one or more of the following upcoming events to learn more about and support candidates running for office in Arkansas.

Arkansas U.S. Senate: Candidate Hallie Shoffner (all Arkansas voters in the Democratic primary) fundraiser in Rogers - NOTE, the UPDATED date and time for this event is Wednesday, Feb. 11th from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m..

Arkansas U.S. House Of Representatives District 3: Democratic Candidate Robb Ryerse (all Arkansas voters in the 3rd congressional district) meet and greet in Rogers