Next Monday night, the 24th, (ret) General Wesley Clark will deliver the years' first Pryor Center Presents lecture, virtually, at 6:00 p.m. We listen back to part of a conversation he had with us last year about the challenges the United States faces at home and abroad.

Top news for a Friday includes almost 13,000 new virus cases in Arkansas, Rogers schools pivoting because of staff shortages and a first-ever gymnastics meet in Bud Walton Arena.

Michael Tilley, with our partner Talk Business and Politics , says the fate of a dog park and the future of I-49 were topics of conversation across the Arkansas River Valley this week.

Canopy of Northwest Arkansas , the state's only resettlement agency began recieving Afghan evacuees in October of 2021. Joanna Krause, the agency's executive director, says they have onboarded at least one new arrival each week since then.

With the spread of COVID-19 continuing, UAFS is moving to mostly virtual instruction next week.

Christopher Schulte, endowed associate professor of art education and assistant director of the School of Art at the University of Arkansas, is founding and directing the new Center for the Study of Childhood Art , the first such instutite in country, he says.

There are things to do this weekend. Becca Martin Brown, the features editor with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette , gives us highlights. She also says with a chance of snow and the continued spread of the virus, we should check on the status of any event before going to it.

One Penny Shy is scheduled to play at the Fayetteville Public Library Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 . We talked with Becky and Jacob last night about the show and their EP, Grown .

Arkansas recorded nearly 11,000 new cases of COVID-19 , a new single-day record. Also in the news: Arkansas' senior US Senator defends the filibuster and the Razorback men's basketball team gets a big victory.

The first shipment of at-home COVID-19 tests are being given away across the state at local libraries and other community partners . Dr. Jennifer Dillaha says that the high positivity rate is an indication that more testing is needed.