Arkansas

ABHOF awards $50,000 in grants to benefit under-served Arkansas communities – Daily News in Arkadelphia, Arkansas

Published

2 years ago

June 7, 2024

Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation (ABHOF) awarded $50,000 in grants to projects benefiting minority and under-served communities in an online grant presentation May 30. These grants support projects focused on education, health and wellness, youth development, strengthening families and economic development in Arkansas.

“We are pleased to support the efforts of grassroots and other nonprofit organizations in Arkansas through our grant program,” said Charles Stewart, ABHOF Foundation chairman. “Their work validates the mission of Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation. We are proud of our partnership with these great Arkansas institutions.”

Over the past 20 years, ABHOF has made $767,000 in grants to Arkansas nonprofits. This year’s grant recipients:

Arkansas Repertory Theater – Celebrating African Americans’ Journey Through an Artistic Lens
This performance will incorporate classical literature, and music, along with other artistic contributions of African American artists and historical excerpts.

CASA of the Ouachita Region – Ouachita Children’s Coalition
This organizationserves abused and neglected children in Polk, Montgomery, Scott, and Sevier Counties. With this grant, they will offer bilingual advocates to help with resource navigation for their clients.

City Connections – Operation Restore “Back to Work Kits”
Operation Restore (OR) is a temporary employment agency serving those emerging from incarceration or drug/alcohol rehabilitation programs in central Arkansas.

Conway Cradle Care – Adolescent Parent Mentoring Program
This program focuses on educating young parents on child development, birth, and childcare as well as helping advance their education and potential through tutoring and individualized life plans.

Girls on the Run of Central Arkansas – Scholarships for Superstars
This grant will enable Girls on the Run to deliver their after-school program to 15 girls at the Dalton Whetstone Boys and Girls Club.

Goodwill Arkansas Education Initiative – Excel Center
The first and only tuition-free adult high school in the state, this grant will help students overcome the barriers they face to earn their high school diploma. Barriers like transportation and access to healthy food for children who are cared for in Goodwill’s childcare center.

Haven of Northeast Arkansas
The only safehouse for victims of domestic abuse in Mississippi County, this organization collaborates with several programs in the community to initiate services to help their clientele.

Hispanic Community Services/El Centro Hispano – Emprendiendo, “Entrepreneurship”
This is the second year of the 9-week bilingual course for Hispanic and immigrant individuals interested in opening businesses.

Jamison’s Center of Kindness – ENRICHing the Weak Links
This project involves purchasing materials to expand the existing E.N.R.I.C.H. (Educate-Nurture-Reach-Instruct-Coach-Help) Community Garden with fresh fruits and vegetables. It serves the Pinehurst neighborhood, a low-income, food-insecurity community in Texarkana.

Lee Street Community Center
This grant will be used to purchase supplies and pay a small stipend to tutors. Because of the distance from Elaine to school – 30 miles away – most students do not have an opportunity to attend after-school programs or participate in tutoring offered after school.

Life Skills for Youth – Summer STEAM Academy
These funds will support the LSY STEAM Academy expanding to Harrison Elementary School in North Little Rock.

Little Rock Diamond Foundation – Kappa League/Huddle Up
Hosting two main programs, the Little Rock Kappa League and HuddleUP, both programs are in Little Rock and primarily serve minority African American students from lower-income families.

OneCommunity – Feed Your Brain, Alimenta Tu Cerebro
This organization offers a bilingual family literacy program designed to increase reading, reduce summer learning loss, and provide families with bilingual and culturally responsive books.

Prevention Education Programs – Grand Prairie Healthy Families
Focusing on single, pregnant first-time mothers under the age of 25, this program enrolls mothers during the pre-natal period, or before their child is 3-months old. Once enrolled they continue to receive services until the child turns three. The program primarily serving residents who reside in Arkansas County or the southern area of Prairie County or Monroe County.

Second Baptist Church – Healthy Highrise
This program was developed to address three key challenges faced by low-income residents in three downtown Little Rock high-rises close to the church. The goals are to improve access to healthy and diverse food options by providing transportation weekly to a grocery store; provide quarterly Lunch & Learn programming on health and wellness; and build connections to health-related community services and programs.

Village Place – The Experiential Learning Lab
Serving the South End community and surrounding areas, the lab provides hands-on opportunities for middle and high school students to learn trade skills like carpentry, masonry, beekeeping, welding, farming, plumbing, electrical work, and HVAC repair, and pathways to trade careers.

Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation aims to provide an environment in which future generations of African American achievers with Arkansas roots will thrive and succeed. Arkansas Black Hall of Fame honors the contributions of African Americans through its annual Black Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and awards grants to support charitable endeavors in underserved communities. Learn more at www.arblackhalloffame.org.

Arkansas Community Foundation, a statewide nonprofit organization, provides resources, insight and inspiration to build stronger Arkansas communities – communities where our kids will want to raise their kids. The Community Foundation is the largest grantmaker in the state in the number of grants made each year. Since 1976, the Foundation has provided more than $460 million in grants to nonprofits. The Foundation staff works directly with donors, professional advisors and nonprofits to help strengthen Arkansas communities through strategic philanthropy and focusing on local needs. Its assets rank among the top 60 out of more than 900 community foundations in the United States. Serving statewide and local initiatives, the Community Foundation helps connect those who want to give to the causes they care about. Contributions to Arkansas Community Foundation, its funds and any of its 29 affiliates are fully tax deductible.

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Arkansas

Tulsa WWII veteran laid to rest 77 years after disappearing in Arkansas River

Published

9 hours ago

April 28, 2026

Press Room

Tulsa WWII veteran laid to rest 77 years after disappearing in Arkansas River

SKIATOOK, Okla. –

A World War II veteran who worked for the City of Tulsa was finally laid to rest Monday after his remains went unidentified for nearly 80 years.

Floyd Harper, 22, was one of several City of Tulsa workers killed when a city barge overturned on the Arkansas River on Feb. 10, 1949. His remains were not identified at the time, and his family spent decades without answers.

His daughter, Linda Schrader, never got the chance to know him. She was two months old when he died.

“He died in the Arkansas River when I was exactly two months old,” Schrader said. “So I knew absolutely nothing about any of this wonderful stuff.”

Harper’s wife and family were left guessing what happened to him. According to Schrader, her mother never stopped looking.

“They said that she used to walk the banks of the Arkansas River for years, trying to find something of him where he died,” Schrader said.

Eventually, Schrader’s mother remarried, and the family began to accept they’d never get a chance to say goodbye. That changed last summer.

Tulsa Police Homicide Detective Brandon Watkins looked into human remains the department had discovered along the river in 1985. Using genealogy research, he tracked down Schrader, who now lives in Boise, Idaho. He flew out himself to administer a DNA test.

It was a match.

“We wanted to know who those human remains belong to. That’s important,” Watkins said. “Families deserve to have this moment.”

For Schrader, the confirmation set off a whirlwind. She discovered she had 29 first cousins she never knew, and attended a family reunion.

“I was just blown away with finding out I had 29 first cousins. And all of this going on. It’s just — it’s been insane,” she said.

For Watkins, solving the case stands as a career milestone.

“It’s one of the most rewarding things I think I’ve done in my career, is be part of this,” he said. “And I’m real happy for his family.”

Monday, after a gun salute and 77 years of wondering, Harper was finally laid to rest alongside other family members. Schrader said she’s grateful she can spend the rest of her life knowing how her father’s story ends.

“I’m just so happy he gets to be with his momma now,” she said.

Timeline: Floyd Harper’s 77-year journey home

Feb. 10, 1949 — Floyd Harper, a WWII veteran and City of Tulsa worker, dies when a city barge overturns on the Arkansas River. He is 22 years old. His daughter Linda is two months old.

1949–1985 — Harper’s family, including his wife, searches for answers. His remains are never found. Linda’s mother remarries; the family moves.

1985 — Human remains are discovered along the Arkansas River. Tulsa Police preserve them but are unable to make an identification at the time.

Summer 2025 — TPD Homicide Detective Brandon Watkins reopens the case, conducts genealogy research, and locates Linda Schrader in Idaho. He flies out personally to collect a DNA sample.

Mid-2025 — DNA results confirm the remains belong to Floyd Harper.

April 27, 2026 — Floyd Harper is laid to rest alongside family members in Skiatook, 77 years after his death. An honor guard renders a gun salute.

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Arkansas

Herron and Johnson Selected to AUSL Reserve Pool

Published

21 hours ago

April 27, 2026

Press Room

Herron and Johnson Selected to AUSL Reserve Pool

Hunter Corneliusen
April 27, 2026

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.– Arkansas senior LHP Robyn Herron and senior OF Reagan Johnson were selected as provisional picks in the 2026 AUSL College Draft and have been named to the league’s reserve athlete pool, the organization announced Sunday evening.

AUSL provisional picks in the 2026 College Draft were selected to allow teams to secure the draft picks’ rights and give teams added flexibility. The AUSL Reserve Pool is an opportunity for players to potentially be called up, compete, and earn full-time roster spots. For example, Reserve Pool athletes will be utilized at the start of the season when select AUSL players compete overseas in the Japan Diamond League.

Herron is among the all-time Arkansas greats in the circle with 111 career appearances, 73 starts, 52 wins and a 2.18 ERA while registering 554 strikeouts and limiting opposing hitters to a program-record .180 batting average. She has also registered 16 10+ strikeout games in her Arkansas career, which is tied for Mary Haff (2018-2022) as the most in program history. This season, Herron is 14-4 with a 1.99 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 91.1 innings pitched. She currently ranks among the top pitchers nationally in fewest hits allowed per seven innings (14th, 4.45), saves (15th, 4), and strikeouts per seven innings (5th, 11.0).

Johnson is the all-time Arkansas career hits leader with 272, while her 68 career stolen bases are the third-most in program history. She has posted a .331 batting average this season with 48 hits, four doubles, a triple, and 14 RBI while drawing 27 walks, scoring 50 runs, and stealing 18 bases. Defensively, Johnson is among the best center fielders the game has seen during her four years on The Hill with a .988 career fielding percentage. She is on a 122-game errorless streak dating back to April 6, 2024, which is the longest errorless streak by an Arkansas outfielder on record (since at least 2001).

In addition to Herron and Johnson’s provisional selections, Dakota Kennedy previously received an AUSL Golden Ticket on April 6. The 2026 AUSL College Draft is set for Monday, May 4, at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

No. 6/9 Arkansas (39-9, 13-8 SEC) will wrap up the regular season with a three-game series at Texas (April 30-May 2). Thursday’s contest will be at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network, while Friday and Saturday’s first pitch times are set for 2 p.m. and noon on SEC Network+.

For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.

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Arkansas

Arkansas State rallies for 8-3 win over Louisiana Baseball

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas State rallies for 8-3 win over Louisiana Baseball

JONESBORO, Ark. (KLFY)– Home runs by Cason Campbell and Evan Griffis highlighted a seven-run outburst through the middle three innings and helped Arkansas State rally for an 8-3 victory
over Louisiana in the final game of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series on Sunday at
Slayton Family Field at Tomlinson Stadium.

Dylan Farley (7-1) scattered three hits over 5.1 innings and combined with two relievers to help
A-State (26-17, 10-11 SBC) avoid a three-game sweep at home.

Louisiana (25-18, 9-12 SBC) trailed 1-0 after the Red Wolves scored an unearned run in the first
inning before Mark Collins lined a two-run homer down the left-field line in the third. The
Ragin’ Cajuns added an unearned run in the fourth, capitalizing on the Red Wolves’ second
error of the inning and third of the game.

Drew Markle lined a two-out single to right field and scored when Collins hit a dribbler just past
the plate, and an A-State throw sailed past Campbell at first and into right field.
Arkansas State, which scored two runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and two in the sixth, tied
the game at 3-3 in the bottom half of the inning as Lane Walton hit an RBI single to right before
Patrick Engskov scored on a fielder’s choice.

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The Red Wolves took the lead for good when Ashton Quiller’s RBI grounder to second scored
Kaden Amundson before Campbell followed two pitches later with a two-run homer to center.
Griffis added a two-run homer in the sixth for the Red Wolves to cap the seven-run rally.
JR Tollett (4-3) took the loss in relief for Louisiana after surrendering four runs in 1.2 innings.

Ty Roman tossed 3.1 innings in a starting role for the Ragin’ Cajuns while freshman Hayden
Pearson tossed a season-high 3.0 innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Collins and Markle combined for four of Louisiana’s six hits in the game. Rigoberto Hernandez
added a third-inning double for Louisiana before Griffin Hebert reached on a pinch-hit single in
the ninth.

Louisiana will open a six-game homestand beginning on Tuesday when it hosts in-state
opponent Southern University in a 6 p.m. contest at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field at Russo Park.
The Ragin’ Cajuns will host another in-state foe – Nicholls – on Wednesday at 6 p.m., before
opening a three-game Sun Belt Conference series against Georgia State on Friday.