A Thursday news roundup includes a visit to Arkansas by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a new parking app in Eureka Springs and the Razorbacks' takeover of the SEC Network.

The Northwest Arkansas African-American Heritage Association and volunteers organized through Facebook have begun clearing and cleanup of East Mountain Cemetery on Fayetteville's Mount Sequoyah. The cemetery was the final resting place for some of Fayetteville's earliest residents and slaves who belonged to some of the city's first settlers, according to the NWA African-American Heritage Association, which was deeded the cemetery property in 2014. The long-term goal for the land is to create a

Northwest Technical Institute will use a $3 million gift from state and industry partners to expand its Ammonia Refrigeration Training Center and teaching program. Few schools around the country provide training for industrial refrigeration, and the demand for new technicians is high because about 40 percent of that workforce is nearing retirement age. Tyson Foods donated $1 million toward the expansion, another $1 million comes from the state's discretionary funds, and the rest comes in the

Nate Powell is a New York Times best-selling graphic novelist who was born in Little Rock. His new work Come Again takes place in an intentional community in the 1970s Ozarks. He’ll be in Fayetteville Friday for events at the Fayetteville Public Library and Nightbird Books .

Del Shores will perform his one-man show, “ Six Characters in Search of a Play ” at 8 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Eureka Springs City Auditorium, as part of Summer Diversity Weekend. Shores says his six characters are based on real-life encounters. Shores is best known for the feature film and cult-hit, Sordid Lives . Tickets for the one-night only engagement are available here .

Twenty-three college students from various regions of Iraq spent the last two and a half weeks in Northwest Arkansas as part of the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program . They camped on the Buffalo River, visited Crystal Bridges, took part in seminars led by University of Arkansas instructors and got to know American students through workshops. Five of them also stopped by the Carver Center for Public Radio to reflect on their visit.

EngageNWA, which is part of the Northwest Arkansas Council, has launched a strategic plan focused on the region's diverse community of immigrants and newcomers. The effort, which is funded by Tyson Foods and the Walmart Foundation, focuses on inclusion in five areas: economic development, government leadership, civic engagement, safe and connected communities, and education. EngageNWA is partnering with city leaders and community organizations to carry out the initiatives and goals outlined in

Our Militant Grammarian returns to discuss synecdoches, a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole or vice versa.

Girl Scouts of the USA is releasing 30 new badges to address issues like environmental advocacy, mechanical engineering and space exploration. The decision to create more badges dealing with STEM was based on feedback from participants.

A Tuesday news roundup includes the state attorney general's approval of a ballot initiative, a planned protest of a Ten Commmandments monument on Arkansas State Capitol grounds and revised earnings forecast for Tyson Foods.