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Central Arkansas couple on “Wheel of Fortune” | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Central Arkansas couple on “Wheel of Fortune” | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


Amy Robbins has been watching “Wheel of Fortune” since she was a child growing up in Little Rock in the 1980s. When she and Joe Robbins, who have been married for 12 years, first got together, she introduced him to the popular game show, creating another avid “wheel” fan.

“We watch it every night, pretty much while we’re eating dinner,” Amy said. “We always watch it, and we love it.”

Over the years, Amy said she and Joe often thought about being on the show, which pits contestants against each other in solving word puzzles for prizes ranging from cash to trips to automobiles. The 30-minute program, hosted by Pat Sajak with co-star Vanna White, airs at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on ABC.

“We wanted to do it together, like explicitly, because it’s almost like we solve it for each other,” Amy said. “If I know one word, he knows the other word.”

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Amy is such a “wheel” fan that she subscribes to the show’s email newsletter. In November, she got an email announcing auditions for the 2024 season of Sweethearts Week in which married couples join as teams to compete against other couples. “I was like, well, that is what we’ve always wanted to do; let me just apply,” she said. “And, so, I did that on a whim. I didn’t even tell Joe about it.”

Two week later, in early December, the show’s producers contacted her to ask if they wanted to audition. By then she had told Joe, and he was up for it. They agreed and participated in a “meet and greet” session on Zoom where the producers evaluated the potential candidates for their personalities and energy, Amy said. “We were like, we don’t know if they’re even going to call again,” Amy said. But, call they did, and the couple went through round two, a Zoom session where they did word puzzles similar to the show and even competed with other couples.

“After that, we were like, ‘OK, they’re definitely not going call us now,’” Amy said. “We didn’t think we did that well. You know, we were like, ‘whatever, that was fun.’” But, lo and behold, they did do well and were invited to California in January to tape the show, which will be aired on Wednesday — Valentine’s Day.

Being on the set, located in Culver City, Calif., was “almost surreal,” Amy said, adding that they spent 12 hours at the studio, which included rehearsing taping their episode. They also met Vanna White, the show’s glamorous co-star, before the show. “She was just so nice,” Amy said, adding that the contestants had assistance with their makeup and hair, “which was also glamorous.”

Once the show began, it was over quickly. Show producers told them it would be “the fastest 20 minutes of your life,” Amy said. And they were right. “It almost feels like a blur because you’re just so excited and so nervous and trying to do your best,” Amy added.

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So how did they do? You will have to wait and watch on Wednesday. Show policy prohibits contestants from talking about the results prior to the airing of their episode. And even their closest friends and family, who will be joining them for a watch party at the couple’s home in Alexander, will have to wait to see who wins. “They tried every tactic to get it out of us, and we have not shared,” she said.



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Arkansas lithium boom hits milestone with first buyer; 8,000 tonne-a-year deal signed

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Arkansas lithium boom hits milestone with first buyer; 8,000 tonne-a-year deal signed


A major milestone has been reached in Arkansas’ highly anticipated lithium boom—its first customers.

Smackover Lithium has secured the first binding offtake agreement with a commercial client for lithium extracted in Arkansas.

“So this lithium from Arkansas will find its way into global markets, ex China,” said Jesse Edmondson, Standard Lithium’s director of government relations.

Commodity trading firm Trafigura Trading has just signed a 10-year agreement to buy 8,000 metric tonnes of battery-quality lithium carbonate per year from Smackover Lithium’s South West Arkansas Project, a joint venture between Standard Lithium and Equinor, a Norwegian company.

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For context, the U.S. as a whole only produces about 5,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium a year.

“The SWA project, once in full production, will produce 22,500 tonnes per year,” Edmondson said. “So this 8,000-tonne-per-year agreement is significant, right? That’s over a third of our annual offtake.”

Last year, Standard Lithium received a $225 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance lithium extraction from the Smackover Formation, a briny aquifer beneath southern Arkansas that many hail as what could be America’s best domestic source of the critical mineral.

Beating companies like Chevron and Exxon to the punch, Standard Lithium pioneered direct lithium extraction and since 2020 has operated a demo plant in El Dorado. The company is building a larger facility in Lafayette County that is set to begin operation in 2028.

“We’ve got the only proven technology that works in the Smackover that’s been done through our commercial demonstration plant in El Dorado since May of 2020. And really that has been the proving ground which has unlocked a lot of the federal opportunities for us. So we’re the largest recipient of a DOE grant in the critical mineral space in this hemisphere,” Edmondson told KATV.

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“So [we’re] really excited to bring lithium production to the state of Arkansas and really back to the United States. The U.S. used to be a leader in lithium production 40, 50 years ago. So it’s time to reclaim that status,” he said.

The market price of a tonne of battery-grade lithium is volatile, but has recently ranged between $10,000 to $12,000, so the value of what Standard Lithium alone is expected to produce could exceed a quarter of a billion dollars annually.

That’s not counting what Exxon, Chevron, and other companies may produce once they get up and running.



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Arkansas needs balanced strategy to address educator concerns about AI

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Arkansas needs balanced strategy to address educator concerns about AI


COMMENTARY: While AI can offer transformative support for students who need it, it also risks eroding the foundational skills we are trying to help them acquire. Arkansas needs a balanced strategy that prioritizes accessibility without sacrificing rigor.



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Congressional subcommittee to hold hearing in Little Rock on ‘failures’ of local housing authority | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Congressional subcommittee to hold hearing in Little Rock on ‘failures’ of local housing authority | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


Joseph Flaherty

jflaherty@adgnewsroom.com

Joseph Flaherty covers the city of Little Rock for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A graduate of Middlebury College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, he has worked for the newspaper since 2020.

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