Governor pardons turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving holiday

LITTLE ROCK — At Thanksgiving, it’s all about the turkey — but at least two lucky birds have been spared from being the centerpiece of a Thanksgiving feast.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders pardoned “Hank” and “Davie” during a Turkey Week Celebration on Friday at the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock. The event, coordinated by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture, recognizes the value that turkey producers bring to the state’s agricultural industry.

“We want to continue to support, grow and do all we can to increase the agriculture industry here in Arkansas,” Sanders told a group of more than 100 industry officials, legislators, members of Arkansas 4-H and Future Farmers of America and other guests.

“Agriculture is our state’s largest industry, and turkey production plays a role in that,” Arkansas Department of Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward said.

Poultry production is the leading agricultural industry in Arkansas. Currently, Arkansas ranks second in the nation for turkey production, according to the Poultry Federation. Last year, 26 million turkeys were processed in Arkansas, equating to 556 million pounds of poultry, valued at $594 million, Poultry Federation President Marvin Childers said.

“We’re fortunate to have two of the largest turkey producers operating plants here in Arkansas,” Childers said, referring to Cargill and Butterball. “Every whole turkey sold by Butterball at Thanksgiving and Christmas is processed here in Arkansas.”

Cargill has also donated a quarter of a million pounds of poultry to Arkansas’ food banks, Sanders said.

This year’s lucky turkeys were raised by Jackson Barber, 15, of Cabot, who has provided the turkeys for the governor’s pardon for three years now. Barber, son of Tom and Scharidi Barber, is part of FFA and Arkansas 4-H.

While it was Barber’s third turkey pardon in Arkansas, it was Sanders’ first as governor, and she called the pardons a “fun and nonpartisan way to encourage Americans to give thanks.”

Sanders said she was pardoning Davie and Hanks “so they can enjoy a peaceful Thanksgiving.”

“We don’t want to see them anywhere other than right here,” she said.

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SALINE COUNTY — A 39-year-old Shannon Hills man died as a result of injuries sustained in an officer-involved shooting that occurred Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in Saline County.

The Saline County Sheriff’s Office asked ASP’s Criminal Investigation Division to investigate the incident.

Saline County deputies were called to a home on Wasson Lane in Shannon Hills by a resident who reported that Jeremy Dale Adams was intoxicated and making terroristic threats. A physical altercation occurred after Adams was combative and did not comply with orders from the deputies, who then attempted to gain control of Adams by deploying a taser. During the encounter, a deputy fired his service weapon at Adams, striking him more than once.

Adams was flown to UAMS in Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead at 7:15 p.m.

The deceased was transported to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, where manner and cause of death will be determined. The investigation is ongoing.

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An investigative case file will be presented to the prosecuting attorney, who will determine whether the use of deadly force by officers was consistent with Arkansas law. ***

Extension receives grant to help communities

LITTLE ROCK — The U.S.

Economic Development Administration recently awarded a $650,000, five-year grant to the Cooperative Extension Service’s Community, Professional and Economic Development department to establish and operate a University Center. The center will serve extension’s mission to strengthen Arkansans and their communities by connecting them with research-based resources throughout the state. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Extension Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development will not be a physical location, but rather a resource serving the state’s “economic development ecosystem,” with a particular focus on rural marginalized populations, including Hispanic and Marshallese communities.

Hunter Goodman, extension director of the University Center for the Division of Agriculture, said an economic development ecosystem “includes all of the organizations and groups that focus on improving local economies, which might include chambers of commerce, business consulting organizations, cities, counties, regional nonprofits and lenders, as well as county extension offices.”

Goodman said this work will be done in partnership with Arkansas’ eight Planning and Development Districts, or PDDs, which are funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. PDDs are multi-jurisdictional entities, commonly composed of multiple counties and sometimes across state borders.

Goodman said PDDs develop local and regional strategies for comprehensive economic development, and they partner with public, private and nonprofit sectors to implement these strategies.

Working with these PDDs, extension will offer training and workshops for their staff and community partners – such as municipalities, council members, chambers of commerce or quorum courts – on strategic planning and facilitation, grant writing, data literacy and more. This training will also involve teaching staff how to develop culturally relevant outreach opportunities for marginalized communities.

Brandon L. Mathews, extension program manager for the University Center, said staff from the PDDs “expressed a desire to connect to rural, Hispanic and Marshallese communities, but needed assistance developing the right resources, personnel, and networks.”

“There are organizations that support these three populations, and extension wants to be a statewide resource that brings these organizations together to provide workshops and training to communities who need them,” Mathews said. “Across the state, these organizations provide business consulting to entrepreneurs and small business owners, and they have a vested interest in the same three communities.”

Mathews said that by creating better communication among these organizations and the populations they seek to assist, more opportunities for economic development can be made available – such as county or regional job fairs with information about small business support, employee trainings, financing and capital, and mentoring opportunities.

Tracking workforce data Extension’s University Center will also develop a data resource center focusing on workforce data. The University Center will partner with Heartland Forward, a Bentonville-based nonprofit that studies “broad economic trends and builds data-driven and community-tested partnerships, programs and policies to address local needs,” Mathews said.

“Heartland Forward is excited to partner with extension to deliver data tools and build capacity at the local and regional levels in Arkansas around workforce development,” said Dave Shideler, chief research officer for Heartland Forward.

“Heartland Forward will create interactive data dashboards called ‘labor market observatories’ for the eight PDDs, which will focus on workforce data primarily for rural, Hispanic and Marshallese populations,” Mathews said. These dashboards will be used to identify and analyze labor market trends and opportunities for future programming – workshops, trainings and other extension outreach.

Goodman said Heartland Forward staff will coach extension county agents through a curriculum that teaches them workforce development skills, helps them identify and address the needs of workers and employers in rural communities, and equips them as trainers to then share these resources within their Planning and Development Districts.

The University Center began work on Oct. 1, and Goodman said an official announcement of program activities will be released later this year.

To learn more about the Center for Rural Resilience and Workforce Development, contact Goodman at hgoodman@ uada.edu or Mathews at bmathews@uada.edu.