At his weekly coronavirus response briefing, Gov. Asa Hutchinson made a familiar appeal to Arkansans: get vaccinated against COVID-19. His plea came just hours after the federal government recommended a pause on using Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine following reports of six instances of rare and severe blood clots in women between the ages of 18 and 48. Following a call with the White House, Hutchinson said the state would follow the recommendation from the CDC and FDA, but added the

Jennifer Steel's oldest son is transgender. She says the last couple of months have left her family hurt, sad, angry, disgusted and confused as the Arkansas legislature has passed several laws trans advocates say unfairly target the trans community. But Steel says, she still has hope and there are ways Arkansans can step up to show trans children they have their support.

We continue our look back the first 150 years of the University of Arkansas with the history of one of the most iconic features on campus: the Senior Walk. Charlie Alison with university relations tells us how a skirmish led to the unique tradition.

The University of Arkansas Fort Smith will be going through some changes at the start of the new fiscal year in July. Chancellor Terisa Riley discusses the reorganization, which she says will not come with a loss of degree programs or jobs.

A proposed Arkansas law to protect teachers and school administrators who misgender public school and college students is expected to be approved by the state legislature. House Bill 1749 , which prohibits requiring public school and college employees from identifying students by genders inconsistent with a student’s biological sex, was approved by the House and is now being considered by the Senate. It's one of nearly a dozen anti-transgender bills proposed this session.

Professional cycling athletes put their support for Arkansas's transgender community on display this weekend at the first round of the U.S. Cup Olympic qualifier events in Fayetteville. Ellen Noble, who races for Trek Bikes and Red Bull, donned temporary tattoos of the LGBTQ and trans flags on her legs during the short track race. She says she wanted to make it clear she opposes the laws that have been passed in Arkansas.

Roby Brock, with our partner Talk Business and Politics , and John Brummett, political columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette , discuss the writing legacy of the late Pulitzer-prize winning columnist Paul Greenberg and whether legislation some are calling a hate crimes bill can actually be considered a hate crimes bill.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed two bills Monday that will raise the median teacher salary by $2,000 to $51,822 across the state. Senate Bill 504 and House Bill 1614 also create the Teacher Salary Equalization Fund, which dedicates $25 million in state funding to provide $185 dollars per student to districts that are below the median salary and can't meet the goal otherwise.

Our Militant Grammarian, Katherine Shurlds, loves a quiz. This week, she has one involving common language and grammar mistakes.

When a global pandemic was declared, many researchers based at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock immediately pivoted to investigating ways to detect and treat COVID-19. UAMS Vice Chancellor for Research, Shuk-Mei Ho, Ph.D., who leads the Division of Research and Innovation , highlights key research.