XNA celebrates 25 years
Northwest Arkansas National Airport is a quarter-century old today. The airport, known as Northwest Arkansas *Regional* Airport when it opened for business in 1998, has produced a celebratory video featuring a few familiar faces, including former President Bill Clinton
"I'm glad to join with all of you celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Northwest Arkansas National Airport," Clinton said. "I will never forget flying in on Air Force One in November of 1998 to the opening ceremony and looking down at all the backroads on know so well and knowing that northwest Arkansas finally has its airport."
The video includes recollections of the creation of the airport from Scott Van Lanningham, the airport’s first CEO, Alice Walton and former Governor Asa Hutchinson. The video can be seen on the XNA channel on YouTube.
2023 Razorhack Cyber Challenge
An upcoming hacking and cyber challenge in Fayetteville will provide a chance for people interested in the Arkansas cyber community to meet. The 2023 Razorhack Cyber Challengebegins in the Arkansas Union on the University of Arkansas campus on Friday evening and lasts through noon Sunday. Christopher Wright, a partner with Sullivan Wright Technologies in Little Rock, says events like this weekend’s cyber challenge help place a spotlight on the cyber and cyber security jobs in Arkansas.
"Most heavily centered in Northwest Arkansas obviously and Central Arkansas, but Walmart has an outstanding Information Security Department up there," Wright said. "You've got info-sec folks at Tyson and JB Hunt. You've got them at our best is another one up in Northwest Arkansas has a very prominent info-sec group down here in Central Arkansas. We've got, obviously, banks. But you'll find you'll find other ones like the UA system. A lot of the different schools of UAMS has a fairly a fairly large apparatus there."
Wright isn’t an organizer of this weekend’s event in Fayetteville, but has been a part of the Jolt Cyber Challenge in Little Rock for the past several years. He says these weekends can help retain talented cyber professionals in Arkansas:
"So you're retaining that homegrown Arkansas talent," he said. "Somebody who went to an Arkansas High School, somebody went to an Arkansas College, they're going to stay, and they're going to work for an Arkansas company."
UAMS ranks 86th in nation
US News and World Report ranks the undergraduate nursing program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 86th in the country out of more than 650 programs. The magazine places the University of Arkansas at 154 on the 2023 list. US News says the rankings are based on the average of scores received by top academics and officials at nursing schools or departments. Duke, the University of Pennsylvania and Emory University were the top three ranked schools in the new report.
Projected lower heating costs
Black Hills Energy is expecting lower natural gas heating costs this winter, compared to last year. In a press release, Marc Eyre, the vice-president of operations at the utility, says increased production and above-average storage should provide a stable market to provide power this winter. The release also includes a comparison of anticipated heating costs for this winter, compared to last year: The winter cost of gas rate for Arkansas customers will be $0.47 per Ccf or hundred cubic feet, which is approximately 33% lower compared to last winter’s $0.70 per Ccf cost of gas rate.
Razorback soccer heads to SEC semi-finals
The 10th-rankedArkansas Razorback soccer teamis advancing to the SEC Tournament’s semifinals. Arkansas, the regular-season champs, shut out Auburn 4-0 last night in Pensacola and now faces No. 18 Mississippi State Thursday night in the semifinals.
UALR Trojans soccer moving forward to semi-finals
The Little Rock Trojan soccer teammeets #1 seed Tennessee Tech in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinals tomorrow.
Razorback volleyball travels to Georgia
The No. 10 Razorback volleyball squadplays at Georgia tonight. It’s the fifth consecutive match away from home for Arkansas. The Razorbacks have won three of the previous matches during the road stretch and return home Sunday for an afternoon contest against Mississippi State.
