Gas prices down 2.4 cents in state

LITTLE ROCK — In a time where every penny counts, average gasoline prices in Arkansas have fallen 3.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.49/gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 1,826 stations in Arkansas.

Prices in Arkansas are still 38.9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand $1.75/gallon higher than a year ago. The price of diesel has dropped 2.6 cents nationally in the past week and stands at $5.80 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Arkansas was priced at $3.84/gallon Monday, while the most expensive was $5.61/gallon, a difference of $1.77/gallon.

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 4.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.97/gallon Monday. The national average is up 37.3 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands $1.92/gallon higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.

Neighboring areas and their current gas prices: • Memphis- $4.61/g, down 4.7 cents per gallon from last week’s $4.66/g.

• St. Louis- $4.42/g, down 5.2 cents per gallon from last week’s $4.47/g.

• Shreveport- $4.49/g, down 3.1 cents per gallon from last week’s $4.52/g.

“Finally some relief! For the first time in nine weeks, gasoline prices have fallen, following a broad sell-off in oil markets last week, pushing the national average back under the $5 level with most states seeing relief at the pump,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “I’m hopeful the trend may continue this week, especially as concerns appear to be mounting that we may be on the cusp of an economic slowdown, putting downward pressure on oil. But the coast isn’t yet entirely clear. We could see the national average fall another 15 to 30 cents, if we’re lucky, by the time fireworks are flying, barring any unexpected shutdowns at a time when the market is extremely sensitive to such.”

***

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Director Austin Booth applauded the passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act on June 14 by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Booth compared HR 2773 as the modern-day equivalent of the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Acts. These two pieces of legislation have funded the conservation efforts that fueled the greatest comeback story for wildlife management in the history of the world, Booth said.

“The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation has proven that, with the commitment of outdoorsmen, hunters and anglers, we can reverse the trend of many declining game species,” Booth explained.

“RAWA is a once in a generation opportunity to increase funding for all species, game and nongame alike. It is our duty to our children to leave our wild places better than we find them, so that they can one day tell us about how valuable conservation is to their lives as well.”

Each state has developed a wildlife action plan to identify species in need of additional efforts to prevent further population declines, but most states don’t have adequate funding to implement the strategies. Some species, such as eastern collared lizards, diana fritillary butterflies (Arkansas’s state butterfly), and a vari-

Continued on Page 10 STATE NEWS (cont.)

ety of songbirds, may not be recognizable by most Arkansans and often get left out of wildlife management conversations, but they actually are very important ecologically and serve as indicators of good habitat. When these species thrive, so do many others that are more recognizable, such as quail and turkeys.

Other species on Arkansas’s Wildlife Action Plan include game animals such as northern bobwhite and the American black duck. The plan also includes many pollinator species essential to agricultural crops throughout The Natural State.

According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and approximately 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators. Good habitat benefits a whole host of wildlife species and provides other benefits such as improved water quality.

Rep. French Hill, who voted in favor of this bipartisan legislation, explained that the legislation will dedicate money to state fish and wildlife agencies to conserve rare and declining

species.

“To me, being a conservationist means protecting our natural environment through reasonable and realistic means, and this bipartisan bill will provide funds to support state agencies like the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in state and locally-led conservation efforts for wildlife and habitat,” Hill said. “June is Great Outdoors Month, and I can think of no better way to celebrate than by supporting this bill that builds on previous successes like the Great American Outdoors Act.”

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is supported by more than 1,500 organizations including the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas Wildlife Federation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, The Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.

RAWA now goes to the Senate, where it is listed as Senate Bill 2372 and is cosponsored by Arkansas U.S. Sen. John Boozman.

***

SEARCY — Sgt. Jason McGlawn, of the Searcy Police Department, is one of four people running for mayor of Searcy. McGlawn faces incumbent Mayor Kyle Osborne, Searcy High School English teacher April Butler and Searcy business owner Mat Faulkner in the November election.

McGlawn’s social media hashtag is #literallyrunningformayor. He said this is because he is running through neighborhoods in Searcy, meeting citizens and asking them what issues stand out in their minds.

He graduated from Fox High School in Arnold, Missouri in 1996 and then came to Harding University. McGlawn said his brother went to Harding University and he used to come to visit him for things like Spring Sing and learned more about Searcy.

His wife Penny is from Detroit, Michigan. Her parents were police officers.

She came to Harding University in 1998. Their children are Rachel, 4, and Joshua, 9. They married in 2001 and McGlawn landed a job at Harding University as the assistant to the director of the Math and Science Center. “More or less, I help the dean with grants and that kind of stuff and technology.” He said while he was there he started his own business with a college buddy. The did videos, websites and more.

Eventually, McGlawn said he left his job at Harding to do his other job full-time for a couple of years. The business was called J and J Multimedia. He said their work included the Searcy School District’s website.

Next, McGlawn said he and his wife got involved in doing foster care, moving into a children’s home at Main and Moore. “We went from zero to eight kids overnight. It was really, really eye-opening.”

McGlawn at one point, turned his business into a nonprofit to help train people. He said it was called “Up.”

McGlawn majored in Communicatons and he said it is kind of like half Communications and half Business.

He also earned a Master of Science in Education from Harding and in 2008 he got his MBA Degree. In 2012, McGlawn got his started in law enforcement and was an Arkansas State Trooper in Magnolia in Columbia County.