Nearly 6,000 entries were submitted to NPR's Student Podcast Challenge . Two students from Thaden School in Bentonville were selected as finalists. You can listen to Inti Rios' podcast here and Aurielle Dickerson's podcast here . Meanwhile, s tudents at Lakeside Jr. High School in Springdale were one of 300 groups to get an honorable mention. You can listen to their podcast here .

The ruby-throated hummingbird can now be spotted throughout Arkansas as the little birds make their migration route from Central America and Southern Mexico to the eastern U.S where they breed. Joan Reynolds, a volunteer with the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society , tells us how to use feeders and native plants to attract the hummingbirds to your home.

He says. She says. They say. Our Militant Grammarian, Katherine Shurlds, explains why the word "says" is so important for journalists.

A new, online interactive map and accompanying report assembled from research done by the Center for Governmental Research, which was funded by the Walmart Foundation, shows users food outlets throughout Benton and Washington Counties. We learn how the map can help people in need of food find assistance and how charitable meal organizations can use it to identify gaps in services.

White-nose syndrome , a fungal disease which has killed millions of cave-dwelling bats in North America including in Arkansas, continues to spread. This month a coalition of Wisconsin wildlife scientists reported a breakthrough citing experiments where bats vaccinated orally or by injection survived at a higher rate and also developed specific anti-fungal immune responses.

The American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, is hosting a CycleNation event Oct. 5 in Bentonville. Officials hosted a kickoff May 17 as an introduction to the event which will raise awareness and funds for heart and stroke research.

In today's local news roundup, we discuss new headquarters for Walmart , a dip in the unemployment rate in Arkansas and the chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas reacts to the impact of trade tariffs on farmers.

Elle Nash, who lives in northwest Arkansas, says it is fine if the protagonist of her first novel is not likeable. She discussed Animals Eat Each Other during a recent visit to the Carver Center for Public Radio.

Becca Martin-Brown from the NWA Democrat-Gazette recently spoke with the captain of the Showboat Branson Belle . She shares what she learned about the boat, which has remained in Table Rock Lake since it was christened in 1995.

The nonprofit ChildCare Aware of Northwest Arkansas, headquartered in Rogers, educates and trains childcare facility staff how to prepare for an array of emergencies. Springdale Early Learning Academy West , one among hundreds of childcare centers now certified, shows us the drill.