clif

Legislation that looks to abolish an Arkansas commission and board cleared its first major hurdle on Monday.

Senate Bill 184 would abolish the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) commission and the state library board. It cleared the Senate Monday in a 23-8 vote and is headed to the House.

The legislation is sponsored by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Jonesboro) and Rep. Wayne Long (R-Bradford). It is co-sponsored by Rep. Stephen Meeks (R-Greenbrier).

In November 2024, former Arkansas senator and current Arkansas State Library Board member Jason Rapert called for the library board to be dissolved due to its failure in “protecting children from sexually explicit materials.”

A bill introduced in the Arkansas legislature would end the state’s ability to hold moratoriums on permits along the Buffalo River and other watersheds.

If Senate Bill 84 becomes law, it will end the state moratorium on issuing, for example, confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) permits along the Buffalo River watershed.

The state currently maintains a temporary moratorium on issuing new permits for medium and large CAFOs along the Buffalo. The Department of Environmental Quality initiated the moratorium in 2014 after environmental concerns about the waste generated by a large-scale hog farm near the river. The farm closed in late 2019 when the state purchased its assets.

I've got several of these empty steel propane tanks from heating the chicken coop during the recent cold weather before I got an adapter to run the heater off of a larger refillable tank. Any ideas on what they could be repurposed for?

Seems like there should be some use for them besides tossing them in the recycling. I'd assume I'd need to poke a hole in them before recycling since they are/were pressure vessels.

I know there are adapters out there to refill them but now that I can use a larger, more easily refillable, tank I don't really have any inclination to do so.

My only thought so far was to cut the top off, drill some holes, and make a little stick burning camp stove. But, that's not something I'll ever use.

I've got a fairly extensive workshop and metal working tools so pretty much everything is on the table. I can even do really shitty welding if required.

We showing odd eggs now? Here's mine.

EDIT: Fixing post so the image is in the post instead of in the body. I'm dumb, sorry.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24626086

An Arkansas state representative filed a resolution Wednesday to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

If approved, State Rep. Aaron Pilkington’s resolution would also require all state agencies to use the term “Gulf of America.”

The Republican, who represents parts of Johnson and Pope counties in northwest Arkansas, said renaming the gulf would “reinforce the role it plays in supporting the prosperity and security of the United States.”

An Arkansas state representative filed a resolution Wednesday to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

If approved, State Rep. Aaron Pilkington’s resolution would also require all state agencies to use the term “Gulf of America.”

The Republican, who represents parts of Johnson and Pope counties in northwest Arkansas, said renaming the gulf would “reinforce the role it plays in supporting the prosperity and security of the United States.”

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered that Arkansas flags and United States flags at state buildings be raised to their full height on Jan. 20 for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Flags were previously ordered to half-staff until Jan. 28 by President Joe Biden in honor of former President Jimmy Carter after his death on Dec. 29.

A federal judge on Monday struck down key parts of an Arkansas law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks found that elements of the law are unconstitutional.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22314576

Summary

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders proposed a $6.5 billion budget for the next fiscal year, with half of the $182.5 million spending increase allocated to a school voucher program.

The plan boosts funding for private and home-school expenses to $187 million and sets aside $90 million in reserves for the program.

Critics warn the program could divert resources from public schools, potentially leaving them underfunded as voucher costs grow

The budget also includes $13 million for maternal health, $50 million for corrections, and $3 million to raise state employee pay, but some lawmakers criticized reliance on one-time funds.

Bills filed in the Arkansas legislature on Wednesday would repeal the requirement for fluoride in the Natural State’s drinking water.

Senate Bill 2 would repeal Arkansas Code § 20-7-136 that mandates the use of fluoride and places the Department of Health in charge of setting limits. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Clint Penzo (R-Springdale) and Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest), with cosponsors Rep. Matt Duffield (R-Russellville) and Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R-Knoxville).

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21555013

Nearly 5,000 students who received vouchers in Year One continued into Year Two of the program. They were joined by more than 9,000 new enrollees who joined the program this year, for a total enrollment of 14,297. As with Year One, the overwhelming majority of the new enrollees — 83% — did not attend public school in the prior year.

Either way, the program has to date mostly provided vouchers to students who are not moving over from public schools. These results fit a consistent pattern in other similar statewide voucher programs nationwide. Most of the public cash doled out winds up boosting the bank accounts of families who were never in the public school system to begin with.

Nearly 5,000 students who received vouchers in Year One continued into Year Two of the program. They were joined by more than 9,000 new enrollees who joined the program this year, for a total enrollment of 14,297. As with Year One, the overwhelming majority of the new enrollees — 83% — did not attend public school in the prior year.

Either way, the program has to date mostly provided vouchers to students who are not moving over from public schools. These results fit a consistent pattern in other similar statewide voucher programs nationwide. Most of the public cash doled out winds up boosting the bank accounts of families who were never in the public school system to begin with.