Weekly Updates

Census workers across Arkansas will be knocking on doors until the end of September in a last-ditch effort to make sure that as many people as possible get counted in the 2020 U.S. Census.

Before this year, the legislature had already laid the groundwork for expansions of broadband capability in education and health care. In response to the changing needs of schools and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, legislators have accelerated the pace of projects that expand broadband access in rural Arkansas and in small towns.

County clerks are preparing for a sharp increase in the number of absentee ballots that they expect to be turned in for the November 3 general election.

Arkansas legislators approved a plan to add $300 a week to unemployment benefits, to extend the extra benefits available during the coronavirus pandemic.

Arkansas teachers and students are beginning the most challenging school year in living memory.

The Transportation Department is upgrading its web site to make it easier for Arkansas drivers to follow the progress of highway construction projects.

More than 28,000 Arkansas residents work in the forest products industry, cutting trees, producing paper and pulp, manufacturing furniture and shipping wood products across the world.

The state Education Department will spend $10 million to expand Internet access in every school district in Arkansas.

The average debt that a student incurs to earn a bachelor’s degree in Arkansas is almost $2,000 less than the national average. Over the course of a 30-year career, a person with a bachelor’s degree will earn an estimated $1.25 million, compared to $550,000 that a college dropout will earn over the same period.

Arkansas will hold its annual sales tax holiday on Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2.