@ArkNewsOrg

ANNN is an independent, nonpartisan news project dedicated to producing journalism that matters to Arkansans

 Arkansas, USA
arknews.org
Joined May 2017
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For years, thousands of Ark. families have been waiting for help for their developmentally disabled kids and loved ones. The state has promised to clear that waitlist. But there's another problem: A huge worker shortage. 1/ From reporter @JSchulmanHall arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…
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Syard Evans, CEO at provider Arkansas Support Network, put it like this: “Fast food can add 50 cents to every combo meal and generate additional revenue to raise their minimum wages to $15, $16, $17 an hour — we cannot. We're locked into state Medicaid reimbursements." 4/
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Before the pandemic, Evans said, ASN usually had about 100 job openings a month and ~120 applications. As of April 2022, they had 182 open positions and just 90 apps. About 40 families referred to ASN for services face delays in getting help due to the staffing shortage. 5/
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The Arkansas Nonprofit News Network retweeted
Juliet Schulman-Hall@JSchulmanHall23 May 2022
New article for @ArkNewsOrg Grateful to have learned more from caretakers and providers who have endured the brunt of staffing shortages and unpaid labor in Arkansas. Written and reported alongside the great @unbenji arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…
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The ASU System will gradually eliminate 25 degree programs at Henderson, including those in English, math, history, Spanish, geography, social science, early childhood development and theater arts. Others may be added for deletion later. arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…
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New from reporter Debra Hale-Shelton (@nottalking): The story of a small south Arkansas university buried in debt. Layoffs of tenured faculty are coming soon to Henderson State. Its academic programs could shrink by "30-40%." arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…

Program cuts coming to cash-strapped Henderson State - Arkansas Nonprofit News Network

Three years ago, Henderson State University was on the brink of insolvency, its balance sheet loaded with millions of dollars in uncollectible student accounts. Only an emergency $6 million loan from...

arknews.org
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Faculty with tenure may be laid off under a "financial exigency" process recently approved by the ASU board. A committee is now reviewing which academic programs to cut. The mood on campus is “pretty depressed," one professor said. "Nobody feels like their job is secure.”
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“I hear rallying cries: ‘Henderson will survive. We’ll be stronger for it,'" the professor contiued. "But not for everybody." arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…

Program cuts coming to cash-strapped Henderson State - Arkansas Nonprofit News Network

Three years ago, Henderson State University was on the brink of insolvency, its balance sheet loaded with millions of dollars in uncollectible student accounts. Only an emergency $6 million loan from...

arknews.org
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New from ANNN by @science_ari: A sad-but-hopeful story of suffocating trees, bad land/water management practices, and a new (and expensive) push to restore Arkansas's bottomland hardwoods for future generations. arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…
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Remember the crack that shut down the I-40 Memphis bridge last summer? Our new investigation suggests inspection missteps go back some 40 years. 1/ arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…

Slipped through the cracks: How highway authorities missed the flaw that nearly brought down the...

On May 11, a catastrophe was narrowly averted on the I-40 Hernando DeSoto bridge, a 3.3-mile-long structure that crosses the Mississippi River and connects Memphis and Arkansas. A contractor working...

arknews.org
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The feds told states they needed to inspect tie girder welds on such bridges with ultrasonic methods. But the I-40 bridge had already undergone an ultrasonic test, back in 1982. So Arkansas opted not to do another round of testing. 9/ arknews.org/index.php/2022/0…

Slipped through the cracks: How highway authorities missed the flaw that nearly brought down the...

On May 11, a catastrophe was narrowly averted on the I-40 Hernando DeSoto bridge, a 3.3-mile-long structure that crosses the Mississippi River and connects Memphis and Arkansas. A contractor working...

arknews.org
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It's not clear when the crack became visible, but photos show it easily could be seen by 2016. The state's annual visual inspections should have found it then, of course. But for some reason, the annual inspections kept missing it, year after year.
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