State would get millions; Facebook promises changes

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Meta settlementThe state of Arkansas could collect more than $172 million spread over 10 years from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Meanwhile, the company says it will take steps to reduce its platforms’ potential harms to teens.

Those new developments would come as a result of a settlement announced Wednesday between the company and 48 states along with the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories.

Attorney General Tim Griffin was the nation’s first attorney general to file a lawsuit when he did so in 2023. He argued that Meta had violated Arkansas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act by misleading young people and their parents about its platforms’ addictive properties. 

Eventually every state sued. The company announced Wednesday it was settling with almost all of them, paying a combined $18 billion over 10 years. The exceptions being New Mexico, which has already won at trial, and Florida. The latter’s attorney general called the settlement “peanuts” and said the state is going to court. 

That’s understandable, considering Meta reported revenues of almost $201 billion in 2025. Continue reading →

On your ballot: $500 million to fix leaky water pipes

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$500 million bond issueAs Chris Colclasure puts it, “Water falls free from the sky.” But it’s not free if you want it to come out of a pipe clean enough to drink.

Colclasure is director of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Division. He would help administer a $500 million bond issue for water and wastewater projects if voters approve it this November.

Issue 4 represents the fifth time legislators have asked voters to give the state such authority. Voters have said yes the previous four times. The first was in 1982, and the most recent was in 2008. The latter was for $300 million, with the last of the bonds issued in August. 

The state has identified $20.1 billion in needed upgrades over the next 20 years through its soon-to-be-released State Water Plan update. Issue 4 would help provide that funding for the next 16 years. It would help the state pay for its 20% share for federal matching funds and allow it to fund projects directly with general obligation bonds. The state would loan proceeds to communities, often at a better interest rate than they could obtain on their own. Continue reading →

Poll finds Arkansas races tighter than expected

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Sen. Tom Cotton, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Rep. French Hill  are definitely still the favorites to win in November. But the election just got more interesting.

A Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College poll released over the course of this week found that Cotton, a Republican, was trailing Democrat Hallie Shoffner, 47.4% to 44%. Libertarian Jeff Wadlin was running at 3%, while 5.65% of respondents were undecided. 

The poll also found that in the governor’s race, Sanders was leading Democrat state Sen. Fred Love, 45% to 40%, while Libertarian Colt Shelby trailed with 7%. Another 8% were undecided. 

The poll of 1,217 likely voters was conducted Aug. 11-12 via text message and had a plus-minus margin of error of 4.7%. That’s a 9.4% swing, which means Cotton could be leading his race while Love could be ahead of Sanders. 

In a separate survey of 1,112 likely voters in the 2nd District, Rep. Hill was trailing Democrat Chris Jones, 44% to 48%.

The impossible-to-ignore finding was that more respondents disapproved of President Trump than approved, 53%-46%. Perhaps even more significant was the fact that almost half the respondents (48.3%) strongly disapproved. Less than 5% only somewhat disapproved. In contrast, one-third (32.2%) strongly approved.  Continue reading →

Flock Safety cancellations a drop in the bucket

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At least six Arkansas communities have stopped using Flock Safety public surveillance and license plate reader cameras since July 24. 

But will a backlash ever occur regarding modern life’s other, much bigger privacy encroachments?

Flock Safety operates a nationwide network of cameras that record passing car images and license plate numbers. Law enforcement agencies in 49 states can search the company’s data. The company says that in the month of July it detected more than 1,000 missing people and more than 20,000 stolen cars. 

But some communities have stopped using the technology over privacy concerns. The Washington Post identified nearly 50 examples of police officers being charged or accused of using the technology inappropriately, including for tracking romantic partners or family members.  Continue reading →

Where will mothers deliver babies?

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If a woman gives birth in an Arkansas hospital, there’s a good chance it isn’t in her home county.

Only 22 of Arkansas’ 75 counties now have hospitals that deliver babies, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI). Thirty hospitals overall still do, including counties with more than one. Ten hospitals have closed their obstetrics units since 2019. The latest is National Park Medical Center in Hot Springs following the unexpected death of its only obstetrician-gynecologist. Another local hospital, CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, will continue delivering babies.

Five of the 10 closed their units because of staffing shortages, while five did so for financial reasons, ACHI says. Labor and delivery units are expensive to operate and must be open 24-7, even in rural areas with low patient volumes.

The closures are part of a nationwide trend. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform recently reported that since the end of 2020, 146 rural hospitals have closed their units or announced plans to do so by the end of 2026.  Continue reading →