Arkansas
These are the most livable ‘small’ cities in Arkansas: study
![These are the most livable ‘small’ cities in Arkansas: study These are the most livable ‘small’ cities in Arkansas: study](https://www.fox16.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/84/2024/07/GettyImages-2079438724-e1712178970919.jpg?w=1280)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Wonder if you live in one of the most “livable” cities in the Natural State. Half of them are in Northwest Arkansas.
Financial technology company SmartAsset ranked 281 “small” cities with populations between 65,000 and 100,000.
“Housing affordability, the spread of business offerings, financial standing and unemployment levels, average commute times and healthcare coverage can all affect the well-being and comfort of the community as a whole,” SmartAsset said.
To determine the rankings, SmartAsset looked at
- Housing costs as a percentage of household income
- Percentage of residents below the poverty line
- Unemployment rate
- Percentage of residents with health insurance
- Average commute time
Here are the top cities in Arkansas:
Conway
No. 1 in Arkansas (No. 76 in U.S.)
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 17.7%
- Population below poverty level: 17.3%
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses: 1.1%
- Commute time: 19.9 minutes
Jonesboro
No. 2 in Arkansas (No. 79 in U.S.)
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 17.8%
- Population below poverty level: 19.2%
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses: 1.1%
- Commute time: 19.2 minutes
Fort Smith
No. 3 in Arkansas (No. 100 in U.S.)
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 19.3%
- Population below poverty level: 19.9%
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses: 1.1%
- Commute time: 16.5 minutes
Springdale
No. 4 in Arkansas (No. 104 in U.S.)
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 19.6%
- Population below poverty level: 14.9%
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses: 1.3%
- Commute time: 18.3 minutes
Rogers
No. 5 in Arkansas (No. 121 in U.S.)
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 17.8%
- Population below poverty level: 12.3%
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses: 1.4%
- Commute time: 20.5 minutes
Fayetteville
No. 6 in Arkansas (No. 137 in U.S.)
- Annual housing costs as a percent of income: 22.6%
- Population below poverty level: 22.2%
- Arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses: 1.3%
- Commute time: 18.5 minutes
To see the full rankings, visit SmartAsset’s website.
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Arkansas
Casmir Chavis Inks with Razorbacks
FAYETTEVILLE – Razorback head coach John Calipari announced that guard Casmir Chavis, the No. 4 overall prospect in Minnesota for the Class of 2024, has signed with the Razorback basketball program.
Chavis originally signed with the Washington Huskies last fall but was released from his National Letter of Intent. His name is pronounced CASH-mere CHAY-vis
Casmir Chavis
6-2, 180, G, Fr.
Minneapolis, Minn. / Park Center Senior HS
X – @CasmirChavis11 • Instagram @jiggy.cash11
On3 3 star 133 national 19 PG 4 Minn.
On3 Composite 3 star 172 national 27 PG 6 Minn.
247 Composite 3 star 177 national 22 CG 4 Minn.
247 3 star — national 22 CG 4 Minn.
ESPN 3 star — national 57 PG 7 Minn.
High School:
Rated a 3-star prospect and the fourth-best prospect from Minnesota … On3 ranks him the #19 point guard in the country while 247 has him as the #22 combo guard in the country … Was 1 of 5 finalists for the Minnesota Mr. Basketball … Named PrepHoops.com AAAA Player of the Year, AAAA first team All-State and overall Senior All-State team … Tabbed first team All-Metro by the Star Tribune for 2023-24 … Averaged 23.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.4 assist and 2.5 steals as a senior … As a junior, named to the Star Tribune second team All-Metro team … Won a state championship as a sophomore and is a three-time conference champion … Also played wide receiver on the Park Center football team.
For more information on Arkansas Men’s Basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on X.
Arkansas
Pro-crypto super PACs pouring tens of millions into 2024 elections • Arkansas Advocate
![Pro-crypto super PACs pouring tens of millions into 2024 elections • Arkansas Advocate Pro-crypto super PACs pouring tens of millions into 2024 elections • Arkansas Advocate](https://arkansasadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bitcoin-on-dollars.jpg)
Former president Donald Trump’s selection of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), as his running mate is expected to turbocharge the cryptocurrency industry’s spending in the 2024 election cycle.
Vance, who owns up to $250,000 in Bitcoin, is a recent champion of the digital asset industry. During his time in the Senate, Vance has drafted legislation that would rework how the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulate the crypto community — much to the liking of crypto investors.
Crypto-backed super PACs are already pouring tens of millions of dollars into congressional races.
One pro-crypto super PAC launched in December 2023, Fairshake, has already spent $14.4 million to independently bolster the campaigns of crypto-friendly congressional candidates in the 2024 election cycle. The bulk of that spending has gone to attacking Democratic candidates in primaries but Fairshake has also spent to support candidates on both sides of the aisle.
Fairshake ended June with nearly $120 million cash on hand, an OpenSecrets analysis of new campaign finance reports filed July 20 found.
On its website, Fairshake pledges to “support candidates committed to securing the United States as the home to innovators building the next generation of the internet.”
“Providing blockchain innovators the ability to develop their networks under a clearer regulatory and legal framework is vital if the broader open blockchain economy is to grow to its full potential here in the United States.”
Since corporations themselves cannot donate directly to political candidates or party committees and individual donors are subject to strict contribution limits, cryptocurrency companies and their executives are taking advantage of making unlimited contributions to super PACs — which are allowed to raise unlimited sums of money to support and oppose candidates thanks to the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC.
Fairshake has received over $46.5 million in donations from Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the U.S. A blockchain-based digital payment network called Ripple has also deepened Fairshake’s pockets with contributions totalling $45 million.
Executives at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm called Andreessen Horowitz have given over $44 million to Fairshake since its inception. After Trump’s selection of Vance as his running mate, those executives — Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz — told employees that they plan to make large contributions to pro-Trump super PACs in the 2024 election cycle.
Trump — once a staunch critic of cryptocurrency — released his presidential platform saying, “Republicans will end Democrats’ unlawful and un-American crypto crackdown and oppose the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency.”
In contrast, President Joe Biden’s administration has taken what some industry players have described as a “hardline” stance on cryptocurrency with the White House pushing for more regulation and appointing Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, to chair the SEC.
“We don’t need more digital currency,” Gensler stated in 2023. “We already have digital currency, it’s called the U.S. dollar.”
In the hours following Biden’s announcement ending his campaign, the price of Bitcoin briefly topped
$68,000, the highest increase for the cryptocurrency since June. The crypto community is increasingly curious to see whether Vice President Kamala Harris, who took over Biden’s campaign after his withdrawal from the race, will prolong Biden’s tight clamp on companies like Coinbase and Ripple or forge a new stance altogether.
Fairshake is affiliated with two super PACs. Defend American Jobs has spent $17.1 million to support pro-crypto Republican candidates in the 2024 elections while Protect Progress has spent $13.5 million supporting Democrats in the 2024 cycle. Together, the three pro-crypto super PACs have over $127.2 million on hand.
Like Fairshake, both of its affiliated super PACs are supported by Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, Ripple, and Multicoin Capital.
Since its inception, over $12 million of Fairshake’s spending has gone to oppose two Democratic candidates, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) — both of whom lost their primaries. Fairshake launched attack ads on Porter, who has a history of allying with anti-crypto figures, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Porter’s campaign called the claims in Fairshake’s attack ads “false.”
“We are making sure the 8 million crypto owners in California – who are disproportionately young voters who support Democrats – know about her hostility toward the technology and how that would hurt American jobs,” said Josh Vlasto, a spokesman for Fairshake, told CoinDesk, a cryptocurrency-focused news site.
Fairshake has supported pro-crypto congressional candidates across the political spectrum and has not yet commented on whether it will be supporting any presidential candidates.
As of July 24, the super PAC has spent over $702,000 to support Democrats including Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) and Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.). On the other side of the aisle, Fairshake has spent $551,600 to support Republicans including Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).
Emmer and Nickel are cosponsors on multiple pieces of crypto-centered legislation that have circulated in the 117th and 118th Congress, including the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, and the Digital Commodity Exchange Act — both of which seek to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets.
In a statement about the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, Gensler wrote, “The crypto industry’s record of failures, frauds, and bankruptcies is not because we don’t have rules or because the rules are unclear. It’s because many players in the crypto industry don’t play by the rules.” He continued, “We should make the policy choice to protect the investing public over facilitating business models of noncompliant firms.”
On July 27, Trump made an appearance at a Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tenn., where digital asset leaders gathered to discuss the future of cryptocurrency. Attendees had the option of paying $844,600 for an exclusive event after Trump’s keynote — the ticket price being the maximum amount an individual can legally contribute to Trump’s campaign in 2024.
At the event, Trumplaid out his “plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world.”
Arkansas
Arkansas track has 31 affiliated athletes set to begin at Paris Olympics | Whole Hog Sports
![Arkansas track has 31 affiliated athletes set to begin at Paris Olympics | Whole Hog Sports Arkansas track has 31 affiliated athletes set to begin at Paris Olympics | Whole Hog Sports](https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2024/06/28/Arkansas_junior_Rachel_Glenn_t600.png?4326734cdb8e39baa3579048ef63ad7b451e7676)
FAYETTEVILLE — Team Arkansas will have a busy day at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Athletes with ties to the University of Arkansas competing Friday include junior and two-time NCAA champion Rachel Glenn for the United States in the high jump qualifying; former Arkansas national champion Ayden Owens-Delerme (Puerto Rico) in the decathlon; two-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser (U.S.) in the shot put; Arkansas sophomore Sanu Jallow (Gambia) and former Razorback Shafiqua Maloney (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) in the first round of the 800 meters.
Mixed 1,600 relays — with men and women on the teams — also will have first-round races Friday that could involve Razorbacks competing for the U.S., Jamaica and Great Britain.
That’s just the start of performing in track and field on the world’s biggest stage for the Razorbacks. There isn’t officially a Team Arkansas, but the reference seems fitting.
It’s a nickname for a group of 31 track and field athletes representing 10 countries at the Olympics, including 21 current and former Razorbacks and 10 athletes who train at the UA.
“To have this type of representation at the Olympics for Arkansas is more than a lot of countries have in the sport of track and field,” said Chris Johnson, who in his first year as the Razorbacks’ women’s coach led them to NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles. “It speaks volumes about the history of our men’s and women’s programs side and our forward movement of track and field.”
“It’s a testament to the support from our administration, the great coaches and staff that we have that work with our athletes. It tells you track is a big deal at Arkansas — and it’s a big deal because the results say so.”
Arkansas’ 21 current and former athletes is the most of any U.S. college followed by a top 10 that includes 6 SEC schools with Georgia (17), Florida (15), LSU (14), Texas Tech (11), Texas (10), Tennessee (10) and Texas A&M (10), Southern Cal (10) and Stanford (10).
“I think it really goes to show the level of athleticism that track and field has in the SEC,” said Arkansas men’s Coach Chris Bucknam. “It’s just an amazing development in having those kind of numbers at the Olympic Games.”
Athletes with Arkansas ties, including those who train at the UA but didn’t compete for the Razorbacks, are entered in a combined 17 men’s and women’s events. Of the 120 athletes on the United States team, 12 have Arkansas ties.
“I think it just reinforces the fact that we call ourselves ‘The Track Capital of the World,’ ” said Taliyah Brooks, a former Arkansas NCAA champion competing in the heptathlon for the U.S. “It’s really cool coming to practice knowing most of us achieved the goal of being able to go to Paris together.”
Brooks said that whenever athletes training together reach exhaustion at the end of practice and lay down to get some rest, there is always someone to help them up.
“We help each other off the ground, cheer for each other during workouts,” she said. “It’s just cool that we’re all going through this together and are able to see each other reap the benefits of our hard work.”
Bucknam said having so many Olympians with Arkansas ties represents the vision John McDonnell — who led the Razorbacks’ men’s teams to 40 national championships during his 36-year his before retiring in 2008 — had for the program as well as the foundation enhanced by Lance Harter, the UA’s women’s coach from 1990-2023 and winner of seven national titles.
McDonnell died in 2021 at age 82.
“I think Arkansas’ impact at the Olympics is part of John McDonnell’s ultimate dream,” Bucknam said of getting the Randal Tyson Center built as a world-class indoor track as well as rebuilding the outdoor track named John McDonnell Field with his statue at its entrance. “I believe John is smiling when he looks down and sees what’s happened here.
“We’re a global sport and the Olympics are putting the University of Arkansas and the state of Arkansas on the international map when it comes to track and field.”
Crouser, who is from Oregon and was an NCAA champion at Texas, moved to Arkansas several years ago for training and is a volunteer assistant coach for the Razorbacks.
Bucknam credited Crouser with helping Roje Stona, who became an All-American in the shot-put at Arkansas this year after transferring from Clemson, for making the Jamaican team in Paris.
Crouser lives in Farmington, where his neighbors gave him a patriotic sendoff several days ago when he left for London to compete in a Diamond League meet as a final Olympic tuneup.
“It was an absolutely fantastic, awesome sendoff,” Crouser said in an interview in London. “I think it’s a testament to the kind of community we have.
“The whole street, a lot of the high school, came out. The neighborhood kids were all there and so excited. It was just a special, special feeling pulling out of the driveway and seeing everything our neighbors had done.
“They’d gotten all the [American] flags, gotten everybody in Team USA gear. Being able to share that moment with the community is something I’ll always remember.”
Long jumper Wayne Pinnock, an Arkansas senior this year and the NCAA Indoor champion, is among eight Razorbacks competing for Jamaica.
“It’s just mind blowing the athletes we have at Arkansas,” Pinnock, a silver medalist at last year’s World Championships, said of the total group of Razorbacks in Paris. “You can see what the program has produced. I am forever grateful to be a Razorback.
“For us as Jamaicans here at the University of Arkansas, I’m just happy to have everyone around me. I know everyone is going to do well. I want everyone to earn a medal.”
Sports Illustrated projects several athletes with Arkansas ties will earn Olympic medals.
In men’s events:
• Pinnock and his Jamaican teammate, former Razorback Carey McLeod, are projected for silver and bronze medals.
• Crouser, who has been recovering from an arm injury, is projected for a silver medal.
• The U.S. 1,600 relay, including former Razorback Chris Bailey, is projected to win the gold medal.
In women’s events:
• Former Razorback NCAA champion Nickisha Pryce, running for Jamaica, is projected for silver medals in the 400 and 1,600 relay.
• Tara Davis-Woodhall, who trains at Arkansas, is projected to win a gold medal in the long jump.
• Former Razorback NCAA champion Ackera Nugent, competing for Jamaica, is projected for a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles.
• The U.S. 1,600 relay is projected to win the gold medal with Razorbacks freshman Kaylyn Brown and incoming senior transfer Isabella Whittaker in the relay pool along with Shamier Little, who trains at Arkansas.
Jaydon Hibbert, who swept NCAA and SEC triple jump titles as a freshman in 2023 for the Razorbacks and now competes professionally, also figures to be in medal contention for Jamaica.
Hibbert, 19, ranks No. 3 in the world triple jump rankings with a best mark of 58-2 1/2 this year.
“Jaydon is a wonderful kid,” Pinnock said. “He really does get locked into what he wants.
“The dedication he puts in as a youngster on the world stage is impressive. I think he could do tremendously well at the Olympics. He really knows what he wants as a 19-year-old. He’s dedicated himself to this sport and his event.”
It’s been a long freshman season for Brown, the NCAA runner-up in the 400 outdoors to Pryce and the fourth-place finisher at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
But Brown said she’s excited to run on the 1,600 relay in Paris after being part of Arkansas’ team that ran 3:19.96 at the NCAA meet to break their own collegiate record.
“I thank Coach Johnson for always getting me mentally and physically prepared,” Brown said. “I don’t feel tired at all. It feels like I’m still in-season for college.
“Just staying grounded and putting that work back in for the Olympics. The job is not done yet.”
For Team Arkansas, the job starts Friday.
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