May | 2024 | Delta Digital News Service

Monthly Archives: May 2024

Legends BBQ a thriving figure of the NEA black community

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Avery Jones

Legends BBQ Smokehouse and Lounge, owned by Reginald and Ruthie Prunty, continues to exemplify resilience against discrimination

Delta Digital News Service

Friday, May 31, 2024

JONESBORO, Ark. — The restaurant Legends BBQ Smokehouse & Lounge in Jonesboro has had quite the journey to get where they are today. Owned by husband and wife duo Reginald and Ruthie Prunty, the business has been running for around thirty years.

Reginald Prunty, born and raised in Jonesboro, is a prominent figure in the Jonesboro African-American community. He and Ruthie—who is originally from Dumas, Arkansas–have donated to, contributed to, and volunteered for many local community efforts over the years.

For example, Reginald was the founder of Jonesboro CityYouth Ministries, a Christian after-school program for young children. Before it was established, Reginald stated, there was no place for African-American kids to get together and have activities.

In addition, Reginald has been chairman for Crowley’s Ridge Development Council, a board member of Crimestoppers and the community transportation committee JETS, and a member of Community-Oriented Policing (COPS). He has even ran for State Representative of District 59 twice.

Reginald (right) and Ruthie (left) Prunty.

“I grew up in the community, and I cared a lot to make a change,” Reginald said.

The Legends restaurant is another culmination of the Pruntys’ community efforts. Originally, the business started out as a private club called Envision. However, the official name of the business was Arkansas Scholarship Fund, doing business as Legends 1025.

The Pruntys established this club because they saw a good opportunity to give back to the community, according to Reginald. People of course enjoy drinking alcohol, so why not turn that into money to benefit others?

The money that was paid for a club membership was later put into a scholarship fund. Every year, the Pruntys would give a scholarship, funded by this money, to a student who needed it. The money made at the bar was used to provide food for CityYouth.

The scholarship effort was retired when the state stopped requiring that businesses have a certain amount of members in order to retain a liquor license. However, the Pruntys still donate to various community services, in addition to catering for many community events.

The Pruntys had to work day jobs while they were running their business until they retired recently. Reginald worked as a technician for Xerox and frequently traveled, while Ruthie worked for St. Bernards in catering. Reginald has an associate’s degree in electrical engineering, and Ruthie has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in management along with a certification in dietary management.

When the Pruntys first opened their club back in the ‘90s, it was the first business owned by an African-American in Jonesboro to have a liquor license. Prunty believes that this is what opened up the rest of the clubs in Jonesboro to accepting more African-Americans.

However, the club faced many difficulties, as trailblazers often do.

“Jonesboro wasn’t ready for an African-American to have a liquor license or a club,” Reginald said.

“Jonesboro wasn’t ready for an African-American to have a liquor license or a club,”
Reginald Prunty

There was some negative press surrounding their business. It was even printed in the Jonesboro Sun at one point that “There’s no way that the young man can make a private club successful on West Johnson, not even one of the Rockefellers could,” according to Reginald.

“Well, I’ve been here thirty years…if I could tell him now, maybe I’m not a Rockefeller, maybe a cousin…” Reginald said, and laughed.

In addition, even though they had all the qualifications for a liquor license, they didn’t get the license until much later than they should have. First, they were accused of not being in the right location, said Ruthie—even though it’s clear that their building on West Johnson is very far from any churches or schools—and then they were told that they had to get their business up and running within six months or the license would be revoked.

However, this proved to be an issue because at the time, according to Reginald, very few people in Jonesboro were willing to come work for an African-American. For example, the people who did the electrical work kept their vehicles hidden. The people who worked on the walls would only work at night.

Furthermore, when picking up alcohol, Reginald was frequently pulled over and forced to show his permit. They would unload the truck on the side of the road as if he was carrying drugs. The club was subjected to frequent shakedowns, as well, in which customers were patted down and told to show their IDs.

“They would come in when we got customers…they were running through the building…and tell us ‘Turn the lights on right now, right now!’” Ruthie said. “A lot of nights, they’ll set up over here across the street in the fields with the police lights off on the vehicles…they were sitting out there, waiting to see what they can get us for.”

According to Reginald, before his club opened, there was no other club in Jonesboro that African-Americans could go to. It wasn’t socially accepted for African-Americans to attend any of the other private clubs.

His club paved the way for African-Americans to be accepted into other clubs because it was becoming so popular that it was attracting customers from other clubs. Reginald emphasized that his business wasn’t just for black people but for everyone. He called it “the neutral zone.”

The club used to host themed nights based on types of music they would play on those nights which would attract different crowds. For instance, there was blues night, rock night, R’n’B night, and Hispanic music night. As a result, they had a good turnout of not just African-Americans, but also white people and Hispanic people.

“They came out in droves,” Ruthie said.

“Everybody would leave the 501, everybody would leave Sage Meadows, everybody left Ridgepointe, and they were here, because this is what the happening was,” Reginald said.

However, this is when everything started to go downhill for the club. It was because the club was affecting the other clubs’ business, according to Reginald.

In 2010, the Pruntys had to go to a public safety hearing as a result of allegations about violence near the club. The owner of Brickhouse was also there due to violence around his club as well. KAIT8 aired the hearing on TV.

The Jonesboro City Councilman at the time, Chris Moore, gave the owner of Brickhouse, Dr. Dan Johnson, a warning that if he appeared again before the committee, he was in danger of having his business shut down.

However, when it was aired on TV, KAIT8 made it seem like the councilman was talking to Reginald rather than Johnson. They replaced the clip of Johnson with a clip of Reginald.

“Now how fair is that?” Ruthie said. “I was so upset…To shine a bad light on him, they aired it on TV.”

In addition, Reginald said that when he was asked if he overserved alcohol and answered in the negative, the police chief jumped up and accused him of lying, claiming that he overserved and that his club always smelled of marijuana.

The committee decided to suspend the Pruntys’ license for three months and put them on probation for a year, but they later contested this and sued the city, claiming that they were in compliance with the alcohol regulations and that he was being treated unfairly due to his race. A restraining order was granted to prevent the suspension.

“It happened in front of the entire city of Jonesboro. The city of Jonesboro allowed that to happen, the city attorney allowed it to happen, and we had a full house like it was a lynching,” Reginald said. “That’s exactly what it felt like.”

According to Reginald, there hasn’t been another hearing bringing in private clubs for any similar incidents since then.

Once the other clubs got wind of the fact that the Pruntys’ club was actually making a significant amount of money and had a strong clientele base, they started recruiting customers from the club, according to Reginald. As a result, the Pruntys were later forced to close their business for three months to rebrand themselves and renovate their building due to a loss of customers.

In 2017, their business reopened as a BBQ restaurant which also has a bar. They have their own smoker and process their own meats, so everything is made in-house. They even have their own seasoning mix that took five years to develop, which became so popular that many people asked if they would sell it.

They’ve also catered for many events, such as the grand opening of Natural Grocers in 2017. The event was supposed to be small, and they didn’t originally plan to cook very much, but more people started arriving because word got around that it was so good. They were supposed to only be there for two hours, but five hours later, Reginald said, people were still coming.

They also host events at the restaurant. On this upcoming June 1, they’re hosting the kickoff for the Juneteenth in Jonesboro celebration from three p.m. to six p.m. There’s going to be vendor popups, food, music, and a couple of speeches.

Reginald says he wants to eventually publish a book in which he tells his story along with the controversy it inspired, of course using all the required documentation and evidence. However, he also plans to include and give due credit to all of the people who have supported him throughout the years.

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Avery Jones is a senior in The Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She can be reached at avery.jones@smail.astate.edu

NEA celebrates local diversity with cultural expo

Posted on May 23, 2024 by Avery Jones

The NEA Cultural Expo, arranged by Research Solutions, hosts inaugural event

Delta Digital News Service

Thursday, May 23, 2024

By Avery Jones | Editor

JONESBORO, Ark. — On Saturday, May 18, the local nonprofit organization Research Solutions hosted their first NEA Cultural Expo. The event lasted from 10 AM to 7 PM at the Centennial Plaza in downtown Jonesboro and was free to attend.

The event featured crafts, food, and other goods from various local vendors and small businesses as well as live music. According to the executive director of Research Solutions, the purpose of the event was to display the variety of different cultures thriving in Northeast Arkansas.

“We have so many people from around the country and around the world who live in this area, and we all bring something that contributes to the community but we don’t interact a lot,” stated Lisa Perry. “I’d like to see something that celebrates all that everyone brings to the area.”

Although this was only the first time this event has happened, they’re hoping that they’ll be able to arrange it next year as well and are already making plans to do so. Perry used to live in another city–Columbus, Indiana–that hosted a cultural expo every year, which is how she came up with the idea.

When Perry moved here to Jonesboro, she noticed that this area has just as much diversity as Columbus, but there was no similar event. In her last city, the cultural expo was a great way to connect people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions.

“We really don’t have anything that kind of tries to bridge that gap, and having the other city as an example of something that was working, I thought, why not try it here?” Perry said.

Their hope is that although the expo was instigated by Research Solutions and they plan to remain involved, it will eventually become a community-led event. However, even though this first event was mainly run by Research Solutions, there were many people in the community who did help, such as sponsorship from local businesses.

Research Solutions, established in 2022, does research on social sciences and public services. They work primarily on substance abuse and overdose prevention. They’re the fiscal agent for the Arkansas HOPE Coalition, a group of organizations that supports programs for underprivileged youth.

Some of the cultures that were to be represented at the Cultural Expo included Southern, Hawaiian, African-American, Muslim, Mexican, Filipino, and others. There were at least thirty vendors slated to be there.

One of the many culturally diverse vendors at the event was NowaraCo, a scarf and hijab company owned by Dr. Nora Bouzihay. It’s the first hijab company in Arkansas and was established in 2018.

Dr. Bouzihay, who has a doctorate in education, currently works at Southeast Missouri State University. Her grandmother used to call her “Nowara,” which means flower in Arabic. This is how her company got its name.

All of the scarves are handmade, and the fabric is imported from Morocco. For every three scarves sold, NowaraCo donates a scarf to a refugee in the Middle East. NowaraCo also sells no-snag magnets as a substitute for safety pins.

Bouzihay started wearing a hijab herself in 2016. She says that she never felt “beautiful” until she started wearing it. Additionally, after her grandmother passed away, she wanted a way to keep her legacy alive.

“Because I felt so beautiful with scarves, I thought what better way to bring all women and young girls together and feel beauty through scarves in all forms?” Bouzihay said.

Although the scarves are frequently bought as hijabs, they can be used for any purpose, says Bouzihay. Women who are suffering from hair loss also enjoy these scarves, and of course, they can be used as neck scarves as well.

Bouzihay is originally from Morocco but grew up in Jonesboro. During college, she studied abroad in Dubai and Morocco, which is what inspired her to assist women in the Middle East.

Another vendor at the expo was KO Treats: Taste of the Valley, an independent candy company ran by duo Kiara Riojas and Oliver Quiroz. It was first established in 2022.

KO Treats sells chamoy-covered candy. Chamoy is a type of sauce often used in Mexican cuisine, made from pickled fruit and blended with chili peppers, lime, and spices.

When she moved to Jonesboro from South Texas, Riojas found herself missing all of the authentic Mexican snacks that could easily be found in any convenience store down there. Riojas decided to remedy this problem herself and sell her own Mexican snacks, bringing the unique flavor of the Rio Grande Valley to Jonesboro.

Riojas and Quiroz currently sell the candy from home in Lake City, but they provide delivery for Jonesboro and surrounding areas. They also frequently sell at events in Jonesboro similar to the expo.

Graceful Threads, an inspirational apparel business owned by Ninmah Wallace, was also at the expo. The shop sells clothing featuring Christian and inspirational quotes.

Wallace is originally from Chicago. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management.

Wallace started her business in 2020; she loved designing faith-based apparel for herself, so this business was the natural next step for her. Additionally, she’s a Christian, so she prays and feels inspired about what to design.

“It was something I knew that I wanted to do because I love to create and design different apparel,” Wallace said. “It’s just something that I was inspired to do…just to be able to support and provide something for families to wear.”

She has another similar business called SheMadeYaLook, of which Graceful Threads is an extension. SheMadeYaLook is a personal styling service that helps people to find pieces that suit them, match their personal taste, and look good together. Wallace puts together a “StyleBox” and delivers it to the client.

Graceful Threads sells online and ships the purchases. New designs are released every season.

There were several other small businesses featured at the Cultural Expo, including the food truck Filipino Chow, Wise Women Crafts, Vaughn’s Pit Stop BBQ, the bakery Delightful Bites, and much more.

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Avery Jones is a senior in The Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She can be reached at avery.jones@smail.astate.edu

Culture

CityYouth a destination for youth when school ends

Posted on May 2, 2024 by deltadnews

Local ministry provides a variety programs for disadvantaged children

Delta Digital News Service

Thursday, May 2, 2024

By Amelia Young | Contributor

JONESBORO, Ark.- With only a few programs similar to it in the state of Arkansas, CityYouth Ministries plays an important role in the Jonesboro community and in the lives of the children who attend.

Located just inside downtown Jonesboro, CityYouth Ministries, is an after-school program for underprivileged children in first through sixth grade in surrounding school districts, with the hope to soon open their doors to the kindergarten center. Through various grants, partnerships from local churches, individual donations, and more, the program is able to be offered to the children and their families at no cost, which is unlike most other programs in Northeast Arkansas as they require families to pay to attend.

From left to right: Brooklyn Givans seven-years-old (first grade) and Ca’Linda Mucherson seven-years-old (first grade) paint some pictures for the upcoming Art With Heart Fundraiser (April 11th) Photo By Shamara Pittman

Though CityYouth is an after-school program they are also a ministry, which means Jesus is at the center of everything they do. Although many in the community may think it, CityYouth is not just a community center. It’s a place where the kids are exposed daily and possibly introduced to the Gospel.

“One of my favorite things about working at CityYouth is the worship and devotion time. A lot of these kids just haven’t heard the gospel, so it’s great to see them doing that every day,” Kelsie Harris, administrative assistant said.

While at the program the kids participate in a multitude of different academic and extracurricular activities including tutoring, speech therapy, yoga, arts and crafts, outside play, worship, and many more.

“My favorite thing is art because we get to make stuff… my favorite thing was the penguin we made at Christmas,” Karter King, an eight-year-old second grader, said.

The activities are chosen based on what season it is, when the weather is warmer the kids play tennis but once it gets colder they switch to a more appropriate activity.

Kelsie Harris

“My favorite thing to do at CityYouth is to go outside, I like to talk to all of my friends,” A’miyah McCauley, an 11-year-old sixth grader, said.

No two days look the exact same, but one thing that stays consistent is the worship and deviation time at the beginning of each day. Every day, all the kids arrive by 3:30 p.m. and they immediately have dinner. Once dinner is finished everyone, group leaders included, sing two to three worship songs, then grades split off to do a small devotional lesson. At 5:30 p.m. all the kids are picked up and group leaders clean up and get ready to do it all again the next day.

One of CityYouths biggest supporters is the community. It takes about $30,000 a month to keep CityYouth up and running and they’re able to continue their ministry through the abundant community support. Not only do different community members and organizations donate money so the program is free for the children, but they also donate their time and items CityYouth might need including Lysol wipes, toilet paper, band-aids, hand soap, etc.

“The community is our backbone, we’re so thankful to have a community that rallies together, ” Hannah Caddy, Executive Director of CityYouth, said.

Some local businesses also donate meals for the kids. Once a week Lost Pizza Co. donates multiple cheese and pepperoni pizzas and a salad for dinner. Every Thursday, since October 2023 each kid, who signs up, gets to take home a drawstring bag full of food donated and packaged by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and every Thursday before the bags arrive at CityYouth at least one kid asks “do we get a green bag today?”

“The food is purchased by sorority members or donated to the sorority by community partners, and then members of the sorority pack the bags on the weekends,” Tiffany Mosley, co-chair of the Empower our Families initiative at the sorority, said.

CityYouth began from an idea between several church and community leaders that believed Jonesboro could benefit from having a youth center. Since opening their doors in 1999 CityYouth has been able to impact not only the 95 kids on the roster today, but the thousands of kids who have attended in the past 25 years.

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Amelia Young

Amelia Young is a Multimedia Journalism major in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at amelia.young1@smail.astate.edu

NOTE: Feature Photo: From left to right: Makaylee Brisco-Ellis, 7, (first grade), Audree McCray, 7, (first grade), Brooklyn Siggers, 6, (first grade), and Judah Mhoon, 7, (first grade) eating Chick-Fil-A donated by Centennial Bank. Photo by Ashtyn Kimble

Religion

NEA Baptist Urgent Care Plus opens imaging center

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Brayden Morse

Outpatient imaging center provides computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, X-ray and lab testing in an urgent care setting.

Delta Digital News Service

By Brayden Morse | Contributor

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

JONESBORO, Ark. – The Northeast Arkansas Baptist Urgent Care Plus Clinic opened an outpatient imaging center March 4, providing computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, X-ray and lab testing in the urgent care setting.

The outpatient imaging center, located in the middle of the building, right off I-555 and Red Wolf Boulevard. The urgent care side of the building, located on the north side of the building.

Andrea Simpson, executive director at NEA Baptist, provided what stands out with the new outpatient imaging center.

“What stands this building apart from our other urgent cares in our community today, is our advanced lab equipment and our high-tech imaging. Hopefully this will keep those patients from having to go to our emergency room setting, and free up our ERs for true emergent patients,” Simpson said. “We really want to take care of those sicker patients, more than just flu-type symptoms that we treat today in urgent care. Like lacerations, belly pain, appendicitis, sports injuries, minor fractures, things like that we want to be able to treat in this setting.”

Urgent Care Plus creates a higher level of care for citizens than their typical urgent care setting. Treatment for more serious, yet non-life-threatening illness and injury will be provided.

Urgent Care Plus staffed by emergency trained physicians and open from 8 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. Nurses, lab staff, imaging technologists and ER-trained physicians provided, with extended hours for added convenience.

The building took about 18 months to complete because of staffing positions, installing imaging equipment, and tearing down a pharmacy and the old medical building.

The advanced imaging equipment needed American College of Radiology accreditation to use on patients in the clinic setting, taking an extra 90 days to complete. As mentioned earlier, sports injuries will be treated as well.

Simpson shared the importance of having the ability to treat sports injuries.

“We are there and available to treat sports injuries much faster than an emergency room can,” Simpson said.

Ty Jones, director of marketing at NEA Baptist, expressed how this clinic impacts the community.

“It’s going to provide a side of town that has to travel to get their healthcare. This is us putting a higher level of care back on that side of town for our patients who may have to travel from the Harrisburg area or from the Valley View side of Jonesboro,” Jones said. “Something as simple as an imaging service, that’s going to be much more convenient for you if you’re on that side of our service area, to pop in that imaging center rather than having to come all the way to the hospital.”

Simpson also shared her thoughts on finally opening new parts of the clinic.

“The construction took about 18 months, but I’ve been planning this for about two and a half years. Finally opening the Urgent Care Plus side is very exciting and kind of a checkbox for me. I’m excited for our community to be able to use it,” Simpson said.

The family practice side of the building, known as the Red Wolf Clinic of 47 years, will continue to function. New equipment and technology added to that side of the building as well.

“New Imaging Technology in Naples” by U.S. Navy Medicine/ CC0 1.0

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Brayden Morse is a multimedia journalism major in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He can be reached at brayden.morse@smail.astate.edu.

News

Mental health: where the gym comes in handy

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Brayden Morse

Delta Digital News Service

Monday, May 1, 2024

By Brayden Morse | Contributor

JONESBORO, Ark–Beyond the weights and treadmills lies a place not just for physical health, but for mental health too.

Many people tell wonderful stories about how they got into the gym and how it benefited their mental health, along with work life. A citizen of Craighead County, Elizabeth Almanza, explained what got her into the gym as well as how her mental health was affected because of the gym.

“I started going to the gym mainly to lose weight, and I was already on antidepressants and anxiety medicine. I started getting better as far as physically and mentally it has helped me. I’m not on any of those medicines (antidepressants and anxiety medicine) anymore. It’s definitely a stress reliever. I love the physical aspect of it, but it’s mainly mental for me,” Almanza said.

She went on to discuss how the gym impacts her work life.

“It definitely helps me stay focused at work because I do let out a lot of stress at the gym. If things are bothering me at work, I come to the gym. I work out then go back to work and it’s better,” Almanza said.

According to an article by KARK, Arkansas ranks fifth as most overweight & obese state in study | KARK and Most Overweight and Obese Cities in the U.S. in 2024 article by WalletHub in 2024, Arkansas ranks fifth as most overweight and obese state in the United States.

Heidi Rigsbee, a health, physical education and sports sciences professor from Arkansas State University with a master’s and bachelor’s degree in exercise science, bachelor’s in dietetics and certified exercise physiologist, explained how people can set realistic goals and maintain their goals once achieved.

“Exercise is a use it or lose it concept. If you’re not going to continue to do the behaviors that got you to the point you wanted to be, then you will regress or your body will go back to its previous self. I think reminding people that it takes long-term consistency to have the positive adaptations that take place in exercise is the key,” Rigsbee said.

She also explained how the gym benefits your mental health.

“Exercise is probably one of the most underutilized and under prescribed antidepressants and anti-anxiety medicine. That goes all to the endocrine system and what’s happening with your endorphins and your dopamine. Exercise releases all of those feel good hormones, just like a drug would do. It’s a natural way to help mental health,” Rigsbee said.

Lots of people who are new to the gym or do not know how to work out properly, rely on a personal trainer to help achieve their goals. Without the trainer’s help, people can lose motivation and a sense of direction within their fitness goals.

A 10 Fitness personal trainer and former Arkansas State and NFL tight end, Darion Griswold, explained how he keeps his clients motivated to reach their goals.

“Making sure everybody is seeing the gains. Making sure I’m tailored to what my clients want and members want. Getting feedback from them. Making it a safe environment for everybody. Going to the gym is already hard enough. Finding 30 minutes out of the day (to workout) is important for overall health and for the mind in general. Showing people that gym time will pay off over time,” Griswold said.

Griswold also shared his thoughts on citizens of Arkansas setting realistic goals to achieve, when there is a high obese rate in the state.

“Everybody wants the fast results. I’m not saying that can’t happen but you have to put in the work, eat right, hydrate your body right and get enough sleep. The average person in Arkansas works a lot of hours so gym is something that is in the back of their mind. Everybody has kids and priorities. Once you make that gym life a priority of yours, that’s when you’ll notice the gains and difference in weight loss. It’s giving people more to look forward to,” Griswold said.

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Brayden Morse is a junior in the multimedia journalism program in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He can be reached at brayden.morse@smail.astate.edu.

NOTE: Feature photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash

Recreation

Mama 2 Mama, a local nonprofit organization and podcast, provides free diapers and shelter to needy mothers

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Avery Jones

Organization provides mother with housing

Delta Digital News Service

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

By Avery Jones | Editor

JONESBORO, Ark. – Mama 2 Mama, a new nonprofit organization in Jonesboro, recently celebrated their one year anniversary. They were officially established in 2023 on International Women’s Day, March 8.

Mama 2 Mama provides services, advice, and connection for mothers, especially those who struggle financially. They also host a podcast in which they discuss the struggles of motherhood and promote resources for mothers.

“Mama 2 Mama was established to lift the physical, psychological, and financial wellbeings of mothers,” said Brionna Palmer, the executive director. “Regardless of their hardship, we are aiming to help with their development and create a path to motherhood success. We want to lift those barriers and be able to provide services and supplies for immediate and long-term needs.”

Currently, Mama 2 Mama has a diaper assistance program and a rapid rehousing rental assistance program. The diaper assistance program provides free diapers to those who need them, and the rehousing assistance helps to get struggling mothers a place to live.

The diaper assistance program began as a diaper drive in which they collected donations to provide free diapers to the local community, which they still do frequently. Palmer wanted to not only alleviate the need, but also spread awareness about it.

According to Palmer, one in two U.S. families struggle to afford diapers. The cost of diapers has increased from $80 to $100 per month for most families. She wants to eventually be able to provide enough diapers for up to three months at a time for each family that needs it.

At their most recent diaper drive on March 30, they were able to provide diapers for over 66 families. Altogether, from their first diaper drive, they have been able to serve 154 families.

Their rehousing assistance program aims to help mothers get their own place to live. Most of their participants rent, not own, so it can sometimes be a struggle to stay stably housed, especially considering inflation.

“It’s always a mother’s dream to have a room set aside and decorate it for her child,” Palmer said.

Palmer (left) with Ms. Garza (right), the mother who they rehoused.

The program provides the deposit and the first month’s rent to allow the mother to find her bearings. It’s a very new program, so they’ve only had one beneficiary so far. The mother, who has three children, was staying with a relative. Mama 2 Mama partnered with Cox-Wortham Real Estate to help her find affordable housing.

“Staying on someone’s couch was not appropriate for her family,” Palmer stated.

Mama 2 Mama started out with a podcast, of which they still periodically release episodes. Palmer launched the podcast with her cohost and current business partner, Jada Alloway. They collaborated with KLEK, a local radio station.

“We just started inviting other local business owners, entrepreneurs, women, mothers that are out serving the community of Northeast Arkansas,” Palmer said. “We just bring them all to uplift and encourage other mothers that it is possible to obtain your dreams and be around like minded women, individuals in Jonesboro and other counties as well.”

On the podcasts, they typically discuss the daily life of being a mother, their dreams, their faith, ways to network, and their upcoming events. They also bring awareness to other organizations, businesses, and resources for mothers.

Palmer was inspired to start Mama 2 Mama because she was feeling overwhelmed herself due to her career and her job as a mother. Palmer previously worked for another nonprofit organization at which she began to feel overloaded.

“I just felt like I was limited to the resources here,” Palmer said. “I started doing some research and trying to find some mom groups and some organizations that help mothers…I saw that there wasn’t too many.”

From here, she branched out and researched the diaper need as well. She realized that this was something she could do herself; she had the skills from her previous job and didn’t see any reason why she couldn’t found her own organization for mothers.

She wanted for mothers like her to feel connected and appreciated, regardless of their financial situation or employment status. As a mother, she knows that motherhood is a full-time job in itself. Her goal is to help mothers reach their best life.

Currently, Mama 2 Mama is funded primarily by banks and other local businesses and organizations that engage in community reinvestment. They haven’t received any grants as of yet, but hope to soon and are preparing to be grant-ready.

Palmer’s future vision for Mama 2 Mama is to have their own facility, which will be called a “community hub.” She wants to offer childbirth education, therapy and counseling services especially for postpartum depression, financial literacy courses, and a computer lab for mothers to do research and apply for jobs.

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Avery Jones is a junior in The Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She can be reached at avery.jones@smail.astate.edu

Note: Featured image shows Jada Alloway (left) and Brionna Palmer (right).

Brent Floating Farms aims to “revolutionize agriculture”

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Avery Jones

Brent Floating Farms, a local agricultural initiative started by a husband-and-wife duo, is the beginning of a dream to discover more sustainable methods of farming

Delta Digital News Service

Monday, May 13, 2024

By Avery Jones | Editor

PARAGOULD, Ar. — Brent Floating Farms, a company headquartered in Paragould, is experimenting with sustainable agricultural methods. Headed by husband-and-wife duo Frank and Cinda Brent, the goal is to grow food in a way that is environmentally conscious and organic while at the same time profitable and accessible.

According to Frank Brent, their method is aquaponics, which he describes as “hydroponics and aquaculture mixed together.”

Essentially, they grow plants in repurposed shipping containers, and the plants are grown in water without soil which is fertilized by fish. The water is cleaned by the plants. This results in a “closed-loop” system.

The Brents have been studying this method for at least 25 years. When they first started, they were living in Marianna, Arkansas, and were “avid gardeners.” They decided to move their garden inside a greenhouse to do aquaponics because they didn’t want to use pesticides anymore.

They also researched and worked for 7 years at University of Arkansas Pine Bluff on aquaponic methods, where their systems are still in use. They did many tests, including on what to feed the fish and how this affects plant growth.

Frank Brent has been a farmer since 1979, so he has much experience with traditional farming methods. He says that he “gave up” on row crop farming because he didn’t think it was very profitable due to the equipment costs. Less conventional methods of growing food offered a new perspective.

“I really enjoyed the symbiotic relationship…and circular agriculture,” Frank Brent said.

Chemical drift, also known as pesticide drift, became a problem for them. Pesticide drift happens when pesticides negatively or unintentionally affect humans, environment, and crops.

They decided to expand their operation by moving to Paragould and buying a 100-acre farm. However, they knew that pests would always be an issue and wanted a way to circumvent that.

The Brents don’t believe in using chemicals for growing plants. They want their crops to be organic. However, it can be difficult to grow this way and remain profitable.

According to Frank Brent, commercial farms produce about 40% waste but organic farms produce 70% waste. This is why organic produce can be so expensive.

“So I decided that, what would be better than taking it inside a container and taking it to sea?” Frank Brent said.

This was how the idea of Brent Floating Farms was born. Growing plants inside a container using only water and fish works well to prevent pests, and the temperature-controlled containers have the added bonus of allowing the growth of off-season crops.

However, there can still be issues with unintentionally letting insects inside the container when the door is opened. Furthermore, air still needs to be provided for the plants, and pests come with that as well. Their first year at Paragould, their plants were completely wiped out due to these issues.

1 week old test crop with the Brents’ new design.

“Everything was perfect, it was beautiful, it was huge. We grew so much more per square foot than…any other method of farming,” Frank Brent said. “It was a pretty sore and sad moment to watch our produce all go down the tubes.”

“Everything was perfect, it was beautiful, it was huge. We grew so much more per square foot than…any other method of farming…It was a pretty sore and sad moment to watch our produce all go down the tubes.”

— Frank Brent

Brent had another idea for their farm which would avoid the problem of pests altogether. He used to work in the Navy and noticed that there were no pests at sea. By putting the aquaponic farms in the shipping containers on ships at sea, they would have no more problems with pests.

Of course, neither aquaponics nor “floating farms” are a new concept. Both of these methods can be traced back to the Aztecs who practiced an early form of this type of agriculture, called “chinampas.” Currently, this method has been revived in Mexico City, and the world’s first large-scale floating farm was conceived in the Netherlands.

The Brents, however, hope to eventually take their operation to a larger scale. They used to be set up in Louisiana, but when they were finally starting to gain traction, the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida took them out.

They’re still working on rebuilding. They recently purchased another farm called Chicken Town Egg Farm, which was in trouble financially, and are in the process of doubling that operation.

When they’re able to get Brent Floating Farms back on track, their goal is to manufacture 350 containers for their crops on land in Louisiana and eventually put some containers at sea as well.

On land, their hope is that waste will be at 15% while at sea, expected waste will be between 3% to 5%. Aquaponics also uses 90% less water than traditional soil and irrigation methods. The Brents recognize that energy usage can be an environmental issue, but they have looked into alternative energy methods.

Furthermore, their method doesn’t have to just use water and fish. With the use of black soldier fly larva, they can use any type of organic waste, and the insects will break that down. Insects that are beneficial to plants rather than pests can also be introduced inside the container.

Leigh Ann Weidner, CEO of Brent Floating Farms.

Because the crops won’t be subject to the environment, they will be able to produce a higher yield as well. According to Frank Brent, they can produce 12,000 heads of lettuce in 30 days in an average container.

The team behind Brent Floating Farms includes co-founders Frank and Cinda Brent as well as Leigh Ann Weidner, their CEO. Frank is the COO, and his focus is the technical, agricultural aspects while Cinda is the CAO and focuses on marketing. Weidner, who is working remotely from Wisconsin due to another job, specializes in sales.

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Avery Jones is a junior in The Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. She can be reached at avery.jones@smail.astate.edu

Note: Featured image provided by Shutterstock.

Agriculture

Medicaid unwinding affects over 13,000 Jonesboro residents

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Brayden Morse

Over 13,000 Jonesboro residents lost coverage

Delta Digital News Service

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

By Brayden Morse | Contributor

JONESBORO, Ark. – Since Medicaid began unwinding in a year ago, 13,147 Jonesboro residents lost coverage, including 4,693 children.

After a long hiatus of no doctor’s visits, families might take their children to get their once-a-year wellness check or physical and realize they are no longer covered. Families might not understand how they are no longer covered and may not understand how the unwinding process began.

Anna Strong, executive director of the Arkansas Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics, explains what factors led to the unwinding.

“During the COVID-19 public health emergency, state Medicaid agencies received enhanced federal funding to keep people from losing their coverage during the pandemic. After the public health emergency ended, states had to re-evaluate the eligibility for everyone on the Medicaid roster. Because individuals may have moved, changed phone numbers, divorced, married, had children, or otherwise changed their circumstances, they may have missed efforts to reach them to update information and renew their eligibility. After a period of time, Medicaid had to remove them from the program if they had not received updated information,” Strong said.

Families and children have been impacted in many ways. According to the Arkansas Department of Health, nearly 1 in 3 children ages 3-17 have reported one or more mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral health problems. Identifying and treating these issues such as depression, anxiety, and addiction requires specialist treatment.

Healthy children are more likely to attend school regularly and more likely to reach the cognitive, social and emotional milestones needed to ensure success in the classroom and beyond.

Jonesboro pediatrician at The Children’s Clinic, Dr. Jane Sneed, details some challenges she has seen people face.

“Raising kids is difficult enough, but thinking you have medical coverage and then finding out that you don’t is a major stressor for families. Insurance is really important for those unpredictable moments. You never know when you’ll break an arm, step on a piece of glass and need stitches, or something worse that you never saw coming,” Sneed said.

Sneed also explained how people and the profession have been impacted.

“We have done a lot of legwork since the unwinding began, sending text messages, making calls sending portal reminders to people who were going to be affected. We wanted to make sure our patients were able to re-enroll as quickly as possible in Medicaid or find another option. Still, we lost about 30 percent of our Medicaid patients. That’s certainly affected our clinic, but you really worry about the patients,” Sneed said.

Fortunately, Arkansans can still find affordable options for healthcare coverage. Applications for Arkansas Medicaid, ARHOME, and ARKids First are accepted year-round, and those impacted by coverage losses when their Medicaid eligibility is ending has an extended open enrollment period through the My Arkansas Insurance marketplace.

The Arkansas Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics made a few notes on why families need insurance coverage. Medical debt is the No. 1 cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., which causes lots of financial stress for families. Families may find it difficult to maintain their standard of living and their savings due to the rapidly rising cost of medical coverage.

When parents know their children are covered by medical insurance, it reduces stress and anxiety about medical bills and unplanned medical emergencies. Coverage lets parents focus on their child’s health and well-being instead of constantly worrying about the finances. In the long run, having health insurance translates to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Re-enrollment enables parents to guarantee that their kids get the healthcare they require, resulting in happier, more cohesive families and communities.