The Central Arkansas Library System spent over $50,000 on a recent promotional campaign featuring University of Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green.
The campaign’s elements included a photo shoot, an in-person signing event with Green in November and digital advertising.
Arkansas
Language for ‘Direct democracy’ amendment submitted to ease Arkansas’ ballot initiative process
From the Arkansas Advocate:
A civic group on Monday proposed language for a constitutional amendment intended to reform Arkansas’ ballot initiative process.
The measure would change parts of the initiative process that have frustrated ballot groups, including ballot title review and signature verification.
It would also limit the General Assembly’s power to make changes to constitutional amendments enacted by the people or the initiative process itself.
David Couch, an attorney known for his work on ballot measures, submitted the ballot title and popular name for the proposal on Monday. It is backed by the League of Women Voters and a coalition of direct-democracy advocates.
“As Arkansans, we have always been appreciative of and have jealously protected our right to direct democracy, and recently, the General Assembly and constitutional officers have shown a disregard for the people’s rights,” Couch said. “So this amendment is just another arrow in the quiver of the people’s effort to protect themselves from the politicians.”
If qualified and approved, the proposal would also require the state Legislature to take separate votes on bills and their corresponding emergency clauses at least 24 hours apart — an issue brought to the forefront last year by the LEARNS Act and litigation challenging its effective date.
Attorney General Tim Griffin has 10 days to decide whether to accept the submitted ballot title and popular name. If accepted, supporters would have until July 5 to gather 90,704 voters’ signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
The proposal joins a growing number of ballot initiatives trying for this year’s general election ballot. Arkansas is one of 15 states where citizens can propose constitutional amendments, state laws or referendums to veto legislative action.
Ballot title review
Arkansas’ attorney general long reviewed ballot titles and popular names until the General Assembly, with support of then-Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, shifted ballot title certification responsibility to the State Board of Election Commissioners in 2019.
That lasted only one cycle, and early last year, Act 194 of 2023 shifted this power back to the attorney general’s office.
Ballot groups have been frustrated with Griffin and his predecessors, feeling they often overstepped. This cycle has been no different, with a pair of groups appealing to the Arkansas Supreme Court over Griffin’s repeated rejections of their ballot language. (One group dropped its suit last week.)
The amendment offered Monday would remove the option for the attorney general to reject a measure’s ballot title and popular name outright. It would give him the option of approving the submitted language or substituting language he felt better summarizes the proposal.
Jeff LeMaster, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office, confirmed Monday that the ballot title had been received and would receive the same review process as every ballot title does.
No legislative amending
People around the state Capitol have long debated whether the Legislature has the authority to make changes to constitutional amendments.
The Supreme Court is expected to soon be asked to decide this question in a case related to the 2016 amendment that legalized medical marijuana.
Under the measure submitted Monday, language would be added to the Constitution explicitly barring state lawmakers from amending or repealing any constitutional amendment approved by a vote of the people.
The Legislature would maintain the power to amend initiated acts through a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate.
The measure would also mandate that the ballot titles and popular names for referendums match the names and titles assigned by the General Assembly to the law that a referendum is seeking to repeal.
No legislative changes to initiative process
Monday’s proposed initiative would also prohibit the Legislature from making changes to the initiative and referendum process.
Last year, the Legislature enacted a law increasing the number of counties from which ballot initiative groups must gather signatures to 50 from 15.
That law is being challenged in court by the League of Women Voters and state Sen. Bryan King.
Last year’s law came after a string of efforts to make the canvassing and initiative process more difficult.
In 2022, Arkansans voted down a legislatively referred amendment to raise the threshold for passing constitutional amendments and initiated acts from a simple majority to 60%.
In 2020, the Legislature referred an amendment to require canvassers to gather signatures from at least 45 counties and move up several petition deadlines, but roughly 56% of Arkansas voters rejected it.
Other legislative efforts to make canvassing more difficult have been struck down by the courts.
Monday’s submission would also allow canvassers to submit signatures for ballot measures by signing a declaration under the penalty of perjury that the signatures are legitimate to their knowledge rather than requiring the presence of a notary.
Lastly, the proposed amendment would prohibit future amendments from creating monopolies or giving specific powers, privileges or authority to individuals, corporations or private business entities.
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Arkansas
Promotional campaign featuring Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green cost Central Arkansas Library System over $50,000 | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
A brilliant stretch of offense to close the nonconference schedule had Arkansas basketball feeling optimistic about the roster’s overall shooting. Entering the SEC opener against No. 1 Tennessee, the Razorbacks ranked fourth nationally in field-goal percentage (50.8%) while hitting 3-pointers at a 36.8% rate.
But preseason concerns appeared to be justified Saturday. The Hogs (11-3, 0-1 SEC) shot a season-low 37.7% from the floor against the Volunteers (14-0, 1-0), going 6 for 29 on 3-pointers and, even worse, 6 for 13 at the free-throw line.
Add it all up, and Arkansas got run out the gym in a 76-52 loss that represented the worst offensive performance of the year.
“Look, you don’t have to make all your 3s, but you can’t miss them all,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said. “You can’t miss 10 in-a-row, or you’re not going to win.”
DJ Wagner and Karter Knox hit on the first two attempts from downtown, but Arkansas then proceeded to miss 19 of its next 21 3-pointers. That drought coincided with a dominant Tennessee run that stretched the lead to double figures, and the Vols led 42-27 at halftime.
The offensive malaise wasn’t a total surprise. Tennessee leads the country in 3-point defense and is second in scoring defense, but it was a giant step back. Arkansas had scored at least 80 points in four straight games.
Boogie Fland and Johnell Davis represented Arkansas’ biggest disappointments from behind the arc. That duo combined to go 2 for 12, with Davis missing all four of his attempts. Davis had missed the Hogs’ previous two games with a wrist injury.
The Razorbacks’ leading 3-point shooter on the season is 7-foot-2 big man Zvonimir Ivisic, who entered Saturday 20 of 44. He went 1 for 2 against Tennessee, but he continues to struggle on the defensive end and has seen his minutes dramatically decrease in recent weeks.
Calipari needs to find a way to keep Ivisic on the floor. His impact stretching opposing defenses is too valuable. The Hogs play most possessions with at least two players who aren’t threats from the outside.
After the game, Calipari said the bad shooting numbers weren’t a product of poor offense. He thought his team generated quality looks, but the shots just would not fall.
However, he didn’t like how the misses negatively affected the Razorbacks in other dimensions.
“If we created a good look, and we miss some of them, I looked at them and said, ‘Guys, you’re not going to make every shot. Just keep playing. Fight.’ You’ve got to learn to fight when you’re not playing well. So this was a great learning experience for this team,” he said.
There are other, more important factors that played into the blowout loss.
Tennessee won the rebounding margin 51-29 and got 29 points from Chaz Lanier. Zakai Zeigler won the battle of New York City point guards against Boogie Fland, and Arkansas couldn’t have asked for a more difficult start to the conference schedule than a road game against the top-ranked team in the country.
Arkansas now has three days to regroup before a home game against No. 23 Ole Miss.
Peyton Bolling was crowned Miss America’s Teen 2025 on Saturday night in Orlando, Florida.
Bolling, who competed as Miss Arkansas’ Teen, is from Rogers and attends Bentonville High School. She performed a jazz dance in the pageant’s talent competition on Saturday. The teen pageant — which includes talent, evening gown and on-stage question segments — is part of the Miss America organization.
Along with the title of Miss America’s Teen, Bolling will receive $50,000 in scholarship money and a yearlong reign, according to the Miss America organization. During her year as Miss America’s Teen, Bolling will travel across the country and use her platform to raise awareness about her philanthropic effort, known as Simple Acts of Citizenship. She’ll also serve as a role model for young girls and a brand ambassador for the Miss America’s Teen program.
Ali Mims, Miss Alabama’s Teen, was named first-runner up for Miss America’s Teen on Saturday and earned $10,000 in scholarship money. Mims, from Harpersville, was featured throughout the finals event and performed a soprano aria during the talent competition, singing “O Mio Babbino Caro” (“Oh, my Dear Papa”) from Giacomo Puccini’s 1918 opera “Gianni Schicchi.”
Also, Mims was one of three winners in Tuesday’s evening gown preliminary for Miss America’s Teen, earning a $3,000 scholarship.
Mims is a student at Chelsea High School. Her philanthropic platform for Miss Alabama’s Teen is the Joyful Noise Foundation: Music Education for the Special Needs Community, It raises money to put musical instruments in special needs classes.
Ali Mims of Harpersville, Alabama, was named first runner-up for Miss America’s Teen on Jan. 4, 2025, in Orlando Florida. Mims competed as Miss Alabama’s Teen in the national pageant.(Courtesy of Miss America IP LLC)
A total of 51 teens were in the running for 2025, competing in preliminary events this week and the finals on Saturday at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando. All had previously been crowned at pageants in their home states or Puerto Rico.
Aside from Bolling and Mims, the top five finalists were:
- Brooke Bumgarner, Miss Mississippi’s Teen 2024 (second-runner up)
- Abigail Mignucci, Miss New Jersey’s Teen 2024 (third runner-up)
- Macie Krause, Miss Texas’ Teen 2024 (fourth runner-up)
As runners-up, Bumgarner, Mignucci and Krause each earned $10,000 in scholarship money, according to the Miss America organization. The finals were livestreamed on the Miss America YouTube channel and PageantVision.com.
The top 11 contestants for Miss America’s Teen were:
- Ali Mims, Miss Alabama’s Teen 2024
- Keira Bixler, Miss California’s Teen 2024
- Melissa Le, Miss Louisiana’s Teen 2024
- Peyton Bolling, Miss Arkansas’ Teen 2024
- Nicole McClain, Miss Hawaii’s Teen 2024
- Kynlee Schultheis, Miss Oklahoma’s Teen 2024
- Macie Krause, Miss Texas’ Teen 2024
- Abigail Mignucci, Miss New Jersey’s Teen 2024
- Carrington Manous, Miss Georgia’s Teen 2024
- Avery Bradley, Miss Iowa’s Teen 2024
- Brooke Bumgarner, Miss Mississippi’s Teen 2024
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