Jacqueline Froelich

The Marshallese Educational Initiative plans to expand its headquarters and programming this fall using special grant funding. The organization works to illuminate and sustain cultural practices of migrant Marshallese, develop cultural compentency with those who interact with islanders and provide educational opportunities for Marshallese youth.

One of the oldest public structures in northwest Arkansas has been saved from destruction, thanks to the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale. The two-story Shiloh Meeting Hall next to Spring Creek is being restored. The main floor can be seen from 2 to 4 p.m. Sep. 22 during the museum's 50th anniversary family celebration.

Nick Vaughan and Jake Margolin, Houston-based interdisciplinary visual artists, are creating fifty installations connecting LGBTQ histories in all fifty states pre-Stonewall to current day. The couple is currently investigating a mysterious turn-of-the-20th century bi-racial gay couple who lived in Harrison as the subject of their Arkansas exhibit.

Pollution from industrial animal agriculture in Arkansas has attracted a lot of public attention. The proliferations of industrial CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations, and AFOs, animal feeding operations, is being spurred by growing consumer demand for cheap fast-food burgers, nuggets, and wings. To limit environmental impacts, scientists in Arkansas have been developing improved agricultural practices to protect sensitive airsheds and watersheds from industrial farm pollution.

The original Elkhorn Tavern, built in 1833, was a popular stop for the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach. It also served as a staging site for Union troops during the Civil War until Confederate guerrillas torched it in 1863. Rebuilt soon after the war, the structure was transferred to the National Park Service in 1960, and the historic tavern is now undergoing complete reconstruction. Park Superintendent Kevin Eads provides a guided tour.