On this week’s Sound Perimeter, University of Arkansas Music Professor Lia Uribe celebrates the return of spring with music selections from Lili Boulanger, Jonathan Harvey and Chen Yi.

On today's show, we head to Bentonville where residents are voting in a special election to extend a band that would support the funding of infrastructure and public safety improvement projects. Plus, we speak with a doctor from the University of Oklahoma about overcoming COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Oklahoma and elsewhere. And, we find out why some environmentalists say karst designations are critical to conserving watersheds as the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service considers

Early voting for a special election in Bentonville is underway. Election Day is Apr. 13. Voters are being asked to consider a bond extension that would support infrastructure and public safety improvement projects. A public meeting about the measure is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Apr. 8.

There were 17 patients in COVID-19 wards across Washington and Benton Counties on Tuesday, which is a significant drop from the early January average of 128 COVID-19 patients per days. Hospitalizations have also fallen across the state, but at his weekly coronavirus response briefing, Gov. Asa Hutchinson urged Arkansans not to become complacent about taking precautions against the virus. The governor said he's most concerned about the increase numbers of COVID-19 variants that are being detected

Many people remain hesitant about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine . Dr. Douglas Drevets with the University of Oklahoma and a representative of the Infectious Diseases Society of America offers ways to encourage people to get the vaccine.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is calling for public comment on a proposal to remove the term “karst” from its National Handbook of Conservation Practices, regarding sinkholes. Ozarks environmental consultant Dane Schumacher says karst designations are critical to conserving watersheds. The deadline to comment has been extended to Thursday, Apr. 22, 2021.

By a simple majority, Republican members of the Arkansas House and Senate voted Tuesday to overturn a veto issued the previous day by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of a bill banning gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. The governor said the law is extreme and places children at risk. Arkansas is now the first state in the nation to enact such a ban.

Ouizi , an artist from Detroit, is creating a two-story mural in downtown Bentonville. She explains her method of transferring work from a digital drawing to paint on a building facade.

Calls to Arkansas's child abuse hotline have increased after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions. We learn about how the pandemic has impacted the process of identifying and supporting abused children.

In our monthly conversation with the assistant editors of ArkansasCovid.com , we discuss the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of hospitalizations and new cases in March declined to levels not seen since the start of the pandemic a year ago.