School boards took the spotlight during the week with Bentonville and Fayetteville boards hearing about facilities improvements, Fayetteville and Rogers approving salary schedules for the coming year and Gravette considering a real estate offer.

On the government side, Fayetteville approved the expansion of its Farmer's Market, Prairie Grove moved forward with its downtown street work, Springdale officials discussed updates to its downtown form-based codes, Bentonville and Lowell would have vacancies in their councils, Benton County put the idea of an industrial development authority to rest and regional agencies discussed road construction and a possible merger of solid waste districts.

Our Benton County Extension report speaks about a new nutrition trend, while our Comment from the Capitol talks about efforts to renew the FISA Act.

And our trip off the beaten path takes us to Houston, Texas, where a citizen learned it was a good idea to check his pockets before going to the court house.

We have another busy week in the region as the Bentonville City Council updated its Plan Bentonville comprehensive plan update, the Springdale School District started work on Westwood Elementary School and the Washington County Quorum Court adopted an ordinance subjecting most resolutions to committee hearings before being introduced in the full body.

Our Comment from the Capitol describes the week in Washington following Easter recess for Congress.

And our trip off the beaten path takes us to New Jersey, where the promoter of the Santa Con bar crawl put himself on Santa's naughty list, which coincided with the Manhattan District Court's docket.

The first full week of April featured the Fayetteville City Council discussing the expansion of the Farmers Market, while the Arkansas General Assembly convened its fiscal session and the Arkansas Department of Transportation presented its plans for the Western North-South Connector Road.

Northwest Arkansas Congressman Steve Womack spoke with the operator of the Oz Bike Trail and Chair Life in Bella Vista about their opening in May.

Our trip off the beaten path takes us to northwestern Georgia, where a youth softball tournament made the news for the wrong reasons.

The week featured a recap of the March 31 runoff elections in Arkansas along with the introduction of a new north-south connector road west of the Northwest Arkansas National Airport and the dedication of the Bella Vista Bypass segment of Interstate 49 in honor of former Governor Asa Hutchinson.

Our Benton County Extension report prepares homeowners for the canning season.

And our trip off the beaten path focuses on the theft of Kit Kat bars in Europe.

The week of Spring Break saw light government action with the Bella Vista State of the City report, the presentation of plans for Ramay Junior High School and the filling of the vacant seat in the U.S. Senate with the confirmation of Markwayne Mullin to head the Department of Homeland Security.

School boards were the focus this week in Bentonville, Rogers and Fayetteville, while Fayetteville welcomed the arrival of a new commercial pilot training program to operate at Drake Field.

We hear from Northwest Arkansas Congressman Steve Womack during his Comment from the Capitol.

And our trip off the beaten path takes us to Ohio for the latest Trial of the Century.

During the second week of March. the Springdale and Centerton mayors presented their State of the City addresses while the Springdale School Board would explore repurposing Jones Elementary School.

This week includes a report on the March 3 primary elections.

Other highlights include the Washington County Quorum Court tabling indefinitely the establishment of a Regional Industrial Development Authority and the Siloam Springs Board of Directors hearing a presentation on a waste-to-energy project.

The final week of February featured State of the City addresses in Bentonville and Rogers along with plans for the current Ramay Junior High School in Fayetteville to convert to a magnet high school.

The Champions for Children Give-a-thon took place as the 479 Media Group hoped to raise funds towards the expansion of Arkansas Children's Northwest in Springdale.

The week in the 479 featured school board meetings in Bentonville and Rogers, the Fayetteville and Springdale city council meetings, the earnings report for Wal-Mart and the Washington County Quorum Court,

Our extension report focuses on the new nutrition guidelines.

And our trip off the beaten path features a canine appearance in an Olympic cross-country ski race.