Local Events
Wed., Oct. 1 at 5:30 p.m. - Drinks & Dialogue hosted by the League of Women Voters in Washington County featuring guest speaker, Irvin Camacho, co-founder of Alliance for Immigrant Respect and Education (AIRE) at Crisis Brewing (210 S. Nelson Hackett Blvd.) in Fayetteville
Sun., Oct. 5 starting at 1 p.m. - Democratic Party of Benton County (DPBC) Little Flock Picnic at 1500 Little Flock Dr; Come hear from Democratic Party of Arkansas chairperson, Marcus Jones, and the DPBC leadership team while enjoying the standard picnic fixings. Kids are welcome and free to attend. Get your tickets HERE.
Wed., Oct. 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. - Groundwork’s Annual Housing Summit: Foundation for the Future at The Record in downtown Bentonville; convening of regional leaders (elected officials, planning staff, community orgs, financial institutions, funders, residents, and housing advocates) to explore what it takes to meet NWA’s growing housing needs with bold, actionable solutions. Get tickets ($39.19) HERE. Learn more about the event from an Ozarks at Large interview HERE.
Mon., Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. - DPBC Monthly Meeting at the NWACC Peterson Auditorium (900 SE Eagle Way, Bentonville); the meeting will feature information from the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition—a powerhouse organization advocating for smart, compassionate criminal justice reform across our state. Come hear how their work is shaping policy and empowering communities, and learn how you can be part of the movement.
Sat., Oct. 18 from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. - Indivisible NWA No Kings protest in Rogers; Meet on the public sidewalks at the intersection of South Promenade Boulevard & Crown Lane, Rogers. Because this is not a march, do not gather beforehand. Ample parking is nearby, and there will be trained marshals (peacekeepers) and volunteers to help you find your way to a spot on the sidewalks. Rally is expected to end in plenty of time for the Arkansas-Texas A&M game. Sign up for updates through Mobilize HERE.
Municipal Government Awareness
Bella Vista
Next Council Mtng: Monday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. (2483 Forest Hills Blvd)
Items of Note:
Free Senior Expo is on Thursday, Oct. 2nd from 9 a.m. - noon at St. Bernard Church (1 St Bernard Lane)
Bentonville
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. (305 SW A St.)
Items of Note:
If you are interested in serving as a member of the Bentonville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the deadline to apply is Friday, November 7. Board members must be registered voters, reside in the corporate limits of Bentonville, attend regular monthly meetings, and commit to a three year term. Applications are available online HERE.
From Sam Hoisington at The Bentonville Bulletin, “Construction Begins on Downtown Event Park - A stage and amphitheater lawn are part of the $12.2 million redesign of Dave Peel Park”
Cave Springs
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. (134 N. Main St.)
Items of Note:
Cave Spring Fire Department annual pancake breakfast will be this Sat., Oct. 4th from 6 - 10 a.m. at 142 Healing Springs Road.
Centerton
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. (210 Municipal Dr.)
Items of Note:
From KNWA, “A Walmart Supercenter is coming to Centerton”
Centerton fall tree giveaway will be on Fri., Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Sat., Oct. 18 from 8 a.m. until they run out at the Kinyon Sports Complex (1598 Gamble Rd.)
Gravette
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. (202 Main St. NE)
Highfill
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. (2560 W Hwy 12)
Items of Note:
At the last city council meeting, Sarah Summitt was appointed to fill the City Recorder and Elise Brown was appointed to fill the Planning Commission vacancies
Lowell
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. (216 N. Lincoln St.)
Pea Ridge
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. (911 Weston St.)
Items of Note:
Retired Pea Ridge resident Michael Alldredge, 70, was appointed to fill the ward 2, position 2 vacancy on the city council
Citizens are welcome to join the October Round Table with Mayor See on Friday, Oct. 3rd, at City Hall from 8 - 9:30 a.m.
Fall tree giveaway will be on Friday, Oct. 3rd from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (or while supplies last) at City Hall (975 Weston St. - South Driveway)
Pea Ridge Mule Jump is Sat., Oct. 11th; learn more about the event HERE
Rogers
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. (301 W. Chestnut)
Items of Note:
Get updates on the city’s progress addressing damage from the 2024 tornado at their website HERE
Siloam Springs
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. (400 N. Broadway)
Items of Note:
The Siloam Springs Sanitation Department will provide free bulky household item collection for residents on their regular trash service day during the first full week of October. Go HERE for a list of accepted items.
Join the city for a Community Litter Pick-Up event on October 10th & 11th. Register HERE.
Springdale
Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. (201 Spring St.)
Items of Note:
From Tom Sissom in the NWA Dem Gazz, “$1.8 million Springdale library expansion nears completion, will add about 32,600 square feet of programming space - Officials expect project to wrap by November”
County Government Awareness
**** Property Tax Deadline is October 15th! ****
Benton County Quorum Court
From Thomas Saccente’s reporting in the NWA Dem Gazz, “Ron Maloney, the [Northwest Arkansas] Council's director of economic development, briefed the Benton County Quorum Court on Tuesday on the possibility of forming a regional industrial development authority with Washington and Madison counties. They, along with Benton County, comprise the federal Northwest Arkansas metropolitan statistical area… Benton County Judge Barry Moehring said he plans to have Maloney give another presentation about the proposed authority at the Quorum Court's Committee of the Whole meeting Oct. 21. Maloney will also introduce an ordinance to establish the authority.”
Upcoming County Government meetings at the Admin Building in downtown Bentonville:
Budget Committee Meeting - Sept. 30 at 6 p.m.
Planning Board Meeting - Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.
Budget Committee Meeting - Oct. 7 at 6 p.m.
Development Review Committee - Oct. 8 at 10 a.m.
Budget Committee Meeting - Oct. 8 at 6 p.m.
Northwest Arkansas National Airport (XNA) Board Meeting
From Jeff Della Rosa at Talk Business & Politics, “On Tuesday (Sept. 23), the XNA Board of Directors heard early estimates for the 88,939-square-foot West Concourse [$109.4 million] expansion... Construction would take two years to complete. Construction is set to start in September 2026, according to the existing program schedule… Other items the XNA board approved:
Order to detach from Highfill to be filed with Benton County Court. XNA and Highfill previously approved an agreement to resolve the detachment case. XNA would become detached from Highfill after the county judge signs the order, which could be as early as this week or next week.
Purchase of nearly 100 acres east of XNA on Norris Road for appraised value, not to exceed $5.5 million. The land is in the planned path for a future runway.
A 20-year ground lease for PetroPlus LLC to build a convenience store on airport property at Airport Boulevard and Regional Avenue. Plans include a 4,625-square-foot convenience store with 16 pumps.”
Growing Home NWA Roadshow Recap
From Worth Sparkman at Axios NWA, “Unity key as Northwest Arkansas cities face growth strain”.
State Government Awareness
95th General Legislative Assembly:
🚨BIG DEAL ALERT🚨 - From Antoinette Grajeda at Arkansas Advocate, “The Arkansas Department of Education issued a press release Friday [September 19] announcing that a sliding-scale reimbursement structure would take effect Oct. 1 for its School Readiness Assistance Program… “Now, reimbursement rates will be a flat rate system, with the rate set depending on the type of care provided, like infant or school-aged,” [Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families] said. “Participating child care providers in most of the state will experience an average decrease in reimbursement of 18.5%. Some providers will lose $39 per day for each eligible infant enrolled in their programs… These changes will likely result in child care staff losing jobs, lower quality child care programs, increased prices for private payers, providers struggling even more to make ends meet, families who cannot afford the copayment losing access to child care, and ultimately, a harsher system for the families who need support the most...”” The big takeaway here is that both families and program managers were blindsided by a funding change that will take effect with ONLY TWO WEEKS NOTICE. Read the entire article HERE.
From Ainsley Platt at Arkansas Advocates, “‘A dire strait’: 1 in 3 farms could close without aid, Arkansas agriculture leaders tell lawmakers - Farmers are reaching a breaking point, legislators told” and “Feds considering immigration detention facility at Franklin County prison site - Sheriff’s deputy spots ICE agents, Joe Profiri at property”
From Nathan Ansell in the NWA Dem Gazz, “More Arkansas children went without health insurance in 2024, according to Census report”:
“The percentage of Arkansas children who lack health insurance rose from 6.7% in 2023 to 7.7% last year, according to recently released federal data, tied for the 13th-highest increase in the nation. Arkansas' uninsured rate for children in 2024 ranks 40th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., the highest mark in more than 10 years and above the 6% national average, a report from the U.S. Census Bureau indicated.”
Election Information
Youth Vote
Read this post from Salma Eid (Arkansas High School Senior) in Arkansas Strong, “Apathy or Exclusion: Unpacking the Youth Vote - In the 2022 midterm elections, Arkansas ranked last, 50th out of 50 states, in voter turnout. Among young Arkansans, the numbers were even more alarming: only 33% voted, the lowest youth turnout in the country. That statistic isn’t just disappointing — it’s a warning sign.”
Ethics Complaint
From Sonny Albarado’s reporting for Arkansas Advocate, “Janie Ginocchio alleges that Attorney General Tim Griffin, state Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle, and state Sen. Ben Gilmore, R-Crossett, and PACs associated with them violated campaign contribution limits and prohibitions on illegal coordination of contributions, the use of public property for campaign purposes and public servants receiving outside payment for carrying out official duties… The package of complaints include allegations that:
Griffin illegally accepted over-the-limit campaign contributions, used state resources for campaign purposes and “convert[ed] campaign funds into a personal slush fund to pay for official government operations.
Griffin’s political action committee, Jobs and Growth PAC, violated state ethics law by using a state vehicle owned by the attorney general’s office for campaign-related purposes.
Ray improperly accepted more than $130,000 in cash from Griffin’s campaign during legislative sessions, “constituting unlawful outside compensation for his official duties as a state legislator” and that the payments coincided with Ray’s sponsorship of several bills that expanded the power of the attorney general’s office.
A network of PACs controlled by Griffin, Gilmore, Ray and Gilmore Strategy Group, owned by the senator’s brother Jon Gilmore, “worked in concert” to conceal the true source of funds to Griffin’s campaign.
Gilmore Strategy Group PAC made contributions over the campaign finance maximum of $3,300 per election to Griffin’s campaign, and
Base Point PAC, the senator’s political action committee, made over-the-limit contributions to Griffin’s campaign.”
Read entire report HERE.
2026 Benton County Democratic Candidate Filing Fees
The DPBC approved the 2026 filing fees to run as a Democrat for county level elected positions at the September meeting earlier this month. The approved fees were kept at the same amounts as previous recent elections with the addition of a signature gathering option for candidates wishing to avoid the fee.
Approved Fees are as follows:
County Wide Executive Positions (e.g., County Judge, County Clerk) - $100 or 50 signatures
Constables - $50 or 35 signatures
Justices of the Peace - $50 or 25 signatures
If a candidate wishes to collect signatures, they will need to use the form linked HERE and scan the forms by Friday, October 31st to the following email address: [email protected]. Forms received after the deadline will not be counted.
In the Ear
Check out the I Am Northwest Arkansas latest episode, “ORT On Demand” with Joel Gardner - host Randy Wilburn sat down with Joel Gardner, Executive Director at Ozark Regional Transit (ORT), for an in-depth discussion on the region’s evolving transit landscape. With decades of experience, from Reno to now NWA, Joel’s insights hit right at the intersection of growth, innovation, and community stewardship.
Also - you should subscribe to Randy’s excellent newsletter:
Odds & Ends
From Chabeli Carrazana, “When it comes to rising costs, women are more worried than men — about everything: A new 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll found that women — especially women of color — were more worried about covering the cost of groceries, housing, medical bills, child care and rent.”
Join in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with this info from Keisha Pittman McKinney in Only In Arkansas, “Hispanic Heritage Trail: A Road Trip Through Western Arkansas”
From Jessica Valenti, writer of the Abortion, Every Day Substack, “Ezra Klein is Wrong About Abortion - Abortion IS a big tent issue”