As tourism departments across the country celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week , Arkansas Tourism Director Jim Dailey discusses what attracts visitors to the Natural State and the expanding opportunities to attract more of them thanks to cultural institutions like Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and amenities like mountain biking trails.

Beaver Water District is celebrating Drinking Water Week. The American Water Works Assocation created the event more than 30 years ago. BWD serves nearly 350,000 customers in northwest Arkansas.

On November 20, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will celebrate the birth of the Arkansas Gazette, the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. This week, Roby Brock from Talk Business and Politics talks with Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist John Brummett about some of the history of the Gazette.

Women Make Arkansas: Conversations With 50 Creatives tells the story of the state’s poet laureate, a drag queen, a hatter, a fire performer and many others. The new book, which is published by Et Alia Press, is available now.

TheatreSquared is bringing " The Legend of Georgia McBride" to life this month. We find out how the show about drag queens is brought to life from the costume designer and director.

The 14-minute film Misdirection , written and directed by Carly Usdin, features a college freshman with OCD suffering from a failed crush who discovers the healing power of street magic. The queer comedy will be shown during a third round competition for film shorts, which begins at 3:15 p.m. May 11 in the Walmart Museum World Room.

The Washington County sheriff has spent the last few months going before the Quorum Court to make his case for a $38 million jail expansion project that would be funded through a new tax, but opposition to the proposal is mounting. Residents and activists say they would like the county to invest in more alternatives to incarceration instead of an expansion.

A new meal voucher program is designed to help University of Arkansas students facing food insecurity. Students can apply for meals here .

The documentary Bamboo and Barbed Wire examines the history of a Japanese internment camp in Idaho. The director, Karen Day, will screen the movie Friday afternoon at the Walmart World Room and Satuday afternoon at the Skylight Cinema as part of the Bentonville Film Festival.

The online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, which launched in 2006, is undergoing a major redesign. The new, more mobile-friendly website will debut May 15. Story Update: The website redesign launch has been delayed for several weeks, and is expected to go live no later than June 1st.