On the first day of his second presidency, Donald Trump pardoned all eight Arkansans among more than 1,500 of his supporters convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the nation’s Capitol.

Among them were the state’s two highest-profile defendants, Richard “Bigo” Barnett, who became notorious for a photo taken in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, and Peter Stager, who admitted to beating a police officer with a flagpole.

Barnett, 64, of Gravette was sentenced to 54 months in prison after a federal court jury convicted him in May 2023. He has been incarcerated in a prison in Seagoville, Texas. He wasn’t scheduled for release until July 17, 2026.

Stager, 45, of Conway was released from prison in October. He had been jailed since shortly after his arrest in 2021. Stager pleaded guilty in February 2023 to one count of assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon in exchange for additional charges being dropped. Stager beat the officer with a flagpole; the officer suffered bruises and abrasions.

Other Arkansans pardoned by Trump were:

Nathan Earl Hughes of Bentonville, who had not yet begun to serve a 25-month prison sentence handed down recently. Hughes pleaded guilty in August to three charges: civil disorder and aiding and abetting; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; and impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings.

David Michael Camden of Tontitown, who was sentenced to one year and one day in prison recently after pleading guilty in September to assaulting a police officer, apparently had not gone to prison yet. He is not listed on the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ inmate registry.

Jon Thomas Mott of Yellville, convicted of a misdemeanor, was ordered to serve 30 days in prison and given probation in 2023.

Robert Thomas Snow of Heber Springs was sentenced in 2022 to one year probation for entering the U.S. Capitol during the riots.

This story first appeared on the Arkansas Times Arkansas Blog.

BTC block reward miners have come under fire in the U.S. for their noise pollution. In Arkansas, legislators are aiming at the sector for a new reason: building close to military facilities.

A new bill tabled before the Arkansas Senate seeks to prohibit miners from operating within 30 miles of a U.S. military facility. Senate Bill 60, sponsored by Sen. Ricky Hill and House Speaker Brian Evans, raises national security concerns, which have sprung up elsewhere in the U.S. recently as Chinese miners expand operations in the country.

The bill seeks to amend the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 to add a new section that states: “Operation of digital asset mining business within a thirty-mile radius of a military facility is prohibited.”

It defines a military facility as a physical location in the state that is operated by the United States Armed Forces or the National Guard to house military personnel or equipment, support training and operations or serve as a command center. This includes bases and camps, hospitals and clinics and arsenals.

The bill demands that all miners operating within this radius shut down their mining farms as soon as it’s signed into law by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. However, any miner that was operational before December 31, 2024, can continue to operate, but if the operation changes hands, it must shut down.

According to local outlets, the new bill seems to target a new mining facility under construction in Cabot, Lonoke County. The facility is located just five miles from the Little Rock Air Force Base, which the Department of Defense uses to train pilots, navigators, and flight engineers.

The mine, owned by Florida-based and local businessman Steve Landers Jr.-owned Interstate Holdings, has been heavily criticized by locals and their leaders since construction started. In December, county officials, led by Cabot Mayor Ken Kincade, held a press conference in which they criticized the mine’s noise pollution.

“We will not stand for this, and we will fight vehemently to address this company’s efforts. We will join with our neighbors in Lonoke County and our state senators and our representatives and legally do anything within our power to remove this from our community,” the mayor stated.

Sen. Hill, who sponsored the latest Senate bill, was among the speakers, and he raised national security concerns.

“Why did they pick this facility that’s less than five miles away from our air base? This is a national security concern.”

Interstate has pushed back against the bill, with the company’s Vice President, Dustin Curtis, noting that the company has never violated noise laws and is not linked to China, which are the two most common criticisms for miners.

“This bill would make Arkansas the only state in America with anything like this. No one from the governor’s office or attorney general’s office asked for this,” he told a local outlet.

Landers, the local auto dealer who owns Interstate, further criticized the bill as ‘anti-Trump.’ The Republican president has insisted that he wants to make the U.S. the mining capital.

“We’re proud Americans and just want to be good neighbors and help give Arkansans a chance to take advantage of what we believe to be a good investment,” Landers stated.

Watch: Gorilla Pool provides end to end solution for ASIC mining

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Northwest Arkansas shelters were full over the weekend as a result of arctic air blowing in Friday evening.

While some shelters were able to take in people beyond capacity, others had to turn people away due to lack of room.

Temperatures in the area over the weekend and through Monday morning were the coldest of the season so far, reaching as low as 7 degrees in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.

Fayetteville’s Collaborative Response for Extreme Weather initiative has been a successful community effort providing safe, warm spaces for people to go when temperatures reach a wind chill of or feel like 15 degrees or below, according to Becci Sisson, 7Hills homeless shelter CEO.

The partnerships between the city of Fayetteville, 7Hills, Potter’s House, Genesis Church and the Salvation Army in Fayetteville have put the city in the best position it has ever been in for extreme weather response, Sisson said.

The first stint of cold earlier this month went really well, “and when it came time to ramp up again on Saturday, we felt very prepared,” she said.

The 7Hills overnight shelter has 64 beds year-round and a capacity of 72 through extreme weather. Sisson said the overflow from the 7Hills overnight shelter goes to Genesis Church, and its capacity is around 100 people.

Since Friday, 7Hills and Genesis had around 180 people per night come for a place to stay out of the cold.

“We did not turn anyone away,” Sisson said. Staff and volunteers were able to make room beyond capacity, even if someone had to sleep on a pallet on the floor, she added.

Fayetteville is fortunate to have such a collaborative system, she said.

When the weather forecasts temperatures that feel like 15 degrees or below, people can go to the 7Hills day shelter at Jefferson Elementary School around 5:30 p.m. to be assigned a bed at either the night shelter or Genesis Church, Sisson said.

The church then provides transportation to take people where they need to go, she added.

The overnight shelters operate from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. during extreme weather, and the 7Hills day center is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those who need shelter during the day are transported to the day center, Sisson said.

Though the system has been working, 7Hills has been getting more calls from outside the city, and Fayetteville’s response team cannot be the solution for sheltering everyone in surrounding cities, she said.

“One of the things that needs to happen is each community really needs to have a cold weather response,” she said, because though Fayetteville can respond, it needs help.

While the system is functioning, the situation is not ideal right now, Sisson said. Space is limited; everyone is making the most of it because they know how important it is to be inside where it is safe, she said.

The extreme weather response in Fayetteville will close down at noon Wednesday, due to temperatures rising, Sisson added.

When it comes time to prepare for the next cold spell, she said for people to check the 7Hills Facebook page for opportunities to volunteer or donate.

In Benton County, there are not as many options for people to take shelter against the cold, and shelters have had a more difficult time over the past few days, according to a Rogers shelter director.

People are stressed and anxious trying to find places that can take them in during extreme cold, said Bradley Clyne, director of the WayStation, a shelter and resource center in Rogers.

Clyne said WayStation has two emergency rooms where up to 12 people can stay for two weeks. Recently he converted two offices into spaces where up to six more people can stay, he added.

The facility’s landlords will not allow the organization to shelter any additional people overnight in main areas, he said, so the only option is to send people to the Benton County Salvation Army, Clyne said.

He had to send mothers and children away over the weekend due to a lack of room, he added.

Clyne said he is grateful for the Salvation Army shelter, though it is not a place he wants to send anybody because people end up sleeping on a mat on the floor.

“I would normally never ever be able to turn someone away, but we are so full,” he added.

In the daytime, WayStation can hold between 30 and 50 people, though it is packed when it gets above 40, Clyne said.

“We try to take care of our own, but it’s quite difficult,” Clyne said.

People can donate hand warmers, sleeping bags, men’s shoes, and old blankets and quilts for WayStation to distribute during these cold months, he said.

Patrick Connelly, commander for The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas, said the Bentonville shelter saw an 88.7% occupancy use over the weekend, and the Fayetteville shelter saw 73.2%. Between the two shelters, there is a capacity for 96 people, then 50 extra people during cold weather that is 32 degrees or below.

He added there were 14 children accommodated for cold weather over the weekend, the youngest being 1 year old. He said the shelters turn away registered sex offenders because of the population they serve.

Check-in times are normally 6 to 9 p.m., but during temperatures 32 degrees or below, emergency overflow space is opened and intake can happen earlier, Connelly said.

Because the Salvation Army shelters operate every night of the year, expanding capacity for those who need shelter during cold weather is routine, he said.

Clean socks are the most requested item at Salvation Army shelters and are always in short supply, Connelly said. Additional partnerships are also always needed to provide more options for unsheltered people to go, he added.