Sen. Stephanie Flowers (file photo) Two bills aiming to regulate crypto mines — Senate Bill 78 and Senate Bill 79 — today passed out of the Senate. The bills will now head to the House City, County, and Local Affairs committee on Tuesday. The bills aim to regulate crypto mining and address some of the problems created by Act 851 of 2023, which sharply curtailed the ability of Arkansas cities and counties to regulate the industry. Crypto “mining” is the process by which bitcoin confirms transactions and creates new bitcoin, using a network of high-powered computers. Unfortunately, this b ..read more

A fresh crop of talent is graduating from college journalism programs this time of year, and the Arkansas Times has picked Phillip Powell to be our new environment and agriculture reporter. Powell will join our editorial team this summer as part of Report for America’s Mississippi River Basin Ag and Water Desk. Report for America is a national program that recruits emerging journalists and places them in newsrooms to cover under-reported topics and communities. We’re excited to partner with Report for America and thrilled Powell will be joining us. We’ve been remiss in covering Arkansas’s ..read more

Graphic by Mandy KeenerBIG DAY: Medical marijuana sales nearly tripled on 4/20 this year. (Graphic by Mandy Keener) Marijuana sales on 4/20, the unofficial cannabis holiday, nearly tripled the daily average for medical marijuana sales in Arkansas this year.  Medical marijuana patients in Arkansas bought 630 pounds of products for $2,113,198 at the state’s 38 dispensaries on Saturday. The sales were almost triple the daily average of $780,000 for dispensary sales.  The number of pounds purchased was more than the approximately 500 pounds purchased for $2.38 million on 4/20 last year ..read more

Blake Tierney, a Little Rock resident with a focus on childhood development, curbing homelessness and bringing a more data-driven approach to city government, recently announced his candidacy for a spot on the Little Rock Board of Directors. The election is in November, and Tierney, 32, is going up against longtime board member Joan Adcock. Adcock, 84, has held a seat on the city board for more than 30 years, winning her first election in 1992 and every one since. She’s the longest-serving director in the city’s history. Adcock is one of three at-large members on the 10-person board, which mea ..read more

Jennifer LenowRed-spotted purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis) in Little Rock — at least, that’s what we think it is Over to you. The post Wednesday open line appeared first on Arkansas Times ..read more

There’s a new Friday night dinner option in North Little Rock’s Park Hill neighborhood. Erika Gee, host of the popular Ease Supper Club, is opening Ease Bistro this Friday night in a cottage space right off JFK Boulevard at 100 West B Ave. Gee said the bistro is a sister concept to the supper clubs she began hosting a little over a year ago. It’s inspired by European bistros, she said. Gee described the vibe as relaxed and unpretentious with great food and wine options. “It’s really just intended to be a place to come with your friends to hang out for a few hours,” she said. The bistro can se ..read more

Little Rock attorney Jack Wagoner III died Tuesday, according to a post on his law firm’s Facebook page. He was 62. Wagnoner was known in Arkansas legal circles as one of the best domestic relations attorneys in the state. Other Arkansans are more likely to remember him as one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the case that first legalized same-sex marriage in the state in 2014. Wagoner’s plaintiffs won in circuit court, but the case was appealed to the state Supreme Court and stalled there until 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges declared same-sex marriage legal ..read more

Brian ChilsonThe Cummins Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction The Appeal, a nonprofit news organization focusing on criminal justice, last week published an excellent report on commissary price gouging in U.S. prisons. It includes a database of prison commissary lists from 46 states, the first of its kind, according to The Appeal. The list reveals shocking markups versus regular prices at retail stores, including basic health and hygiene products, food and religious items. From the intro: Taken together, the prices reveal an exploitative, inconsistent system that requires incarcerate ..read more

VOTER REGISTRATION: Vote.org condemned a rule disallowing most electronic signatures for voter registration. Vote.org, a national, nonpartisan voter registration organization, is condemning yesterday’s decision by the State Board of Election Commissioners to disallow most electronic signatures for voter registration. A rule approved by the board yesterday said electronic signatures are only accepted on voter registrations forms filled out at state revenue offices or a few other government agencies. Otherwise, the forms will require a “wet signatures,” meaning traditional pen on paper. Vote.o ..read more

Need a little help getting the in the summer mood? CALS Ron Robinson Theater — where May film screenings include such school’s-out teen classics as “Dazed and Confused” and “American Graffiti” — is happy to oblige. The rest of the lineup for May is less explicitly balmy, but I’d argue that “Footloose” and “Spaceballs“ both have a way of honoring summertime lawlessness, albeit for entirely different reasons. Also on the always-eclectic docket of picks are “The Matrix,“ which might be the most big screen-friendly option this month, and the unintentionally campy “Mommie Dearest,“ which may o ..read more