Arkansas heads into the weekend with another day of more than 2,000 new cases of COVID-19. The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting 2,061 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus, along with 24 additional deaths. Hospitalizations also reached a new high of 935. At a briefing in Little Rock today, Dr. Cam Patterson, the chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and member of the governor's Winter COVID-19 Task Force, discussed new guidelines for healthcare workers

As the pandemic moves into a ninth month, home sales continue to be strong in the Arkansas River Valley. Michael Tilley, with our partner Talk Business and Politics , explains the phenomenon.

Ben Hovland, a Carroll County, Arkansas native who chairs the independent bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission , has come forward to counter allegations made by President Trump that the 2020 presidential election was rigged to favor President-Elect Joe Biden. Hovland attributes a fair, accurate and record voter turnout — despite a raging pandemic — to thousands of dedicated bipartisan state and local election officials and volunteer poll workers. Update: We report that President-elect

Saturday evening, The Momentary and Symphony of Northwest Arkansas will host "Virtually There: Sounds of a Moment with SoNA." The virtual concert will feature a 21-piece string symphony performing works from Tchaikovsky, Vivian Fung and more from the Fermentation Hall at The Momentary. We speak with Riley Nicholson, executive director of SoNA, about the concert and about what else the symphony is doing differently this year.

Becca Martin-Brown, the features editor with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette , gives us a preview of yuletide events. She says the pandemic is changing how we go about both parades and community lighting ceremonies this holiday season.

Heading into November, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the establishment of the Winter COVID-19 Task Force. One of the task force members is Larry Shackelford, the president and CEO of Washington Regional Medical System . Shackelford discusses his role in the group, regional hospital capacity and his concerns about the numerous holidays coming up in the next few weeks.

With support from The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation , the second episode of “The Movement That Never Was: A People’s Guide to Anti-Racism in the South and Arkansas” looks at working class solidarity in anti-racist movements, and how organizing for the rights of the working class has created integrated anti-racist groups in the past, like The Rainbow Coalition in South Chicago in the 1960s, and in current projects like the Belford County Listening Project in Shelbyville, Tennessee. This is

Both Governor Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas Secretary of Health Dr. Jose Romero issued grim warnings at Tuesday's weekly coronavirus response briefing. Hutchinson addressed the White House COVID-19 Task Force report for the state and said if Arkansas continues at the pace established over the first few days of this week, there will be an additional 1,000 deaths from the virus before Christmas. Meanwhile, Romero warned the state is on the precipice of a significant and possibly uncontrollable rise

The Northwest Arkansas Council is taking applications for its Life Works Here initiative , which comes with a $10,000 incentive and other perks aimed at attracting STEAM talent to the region. The effort has drawn excitement as well as criticism from those who believe the organization and its funders should also focus on Northwest Arkansans struggling during the pandemic.

Leaves are falling across the Ozarks, and rather than bagging them up or composting, certain urban property owners, rake and blow leaves into streets to be washed away by rains. But all those dead leaves can impair drainage systems as well as water quality, says Trish Ouei, Extension Service Urban Stormwater Education Program director for Washington and Benton Counties.