Author Archives: Brooke Buckner

Craighead County employment policy gets amended

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Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO – An amendment was made to update ordinance 2014-3 regarding updating the Craighead County employment policy for “per hours paid” and “per hours worked.”

There was confusion in Monday’s Quorum Court meeting regarding whether or not the ordinance should be changed to per hour worked instead of what it was originally going to be, which was per hours paid.

County Clerk Kade Holliday said if it was changed to hours worked, he would need new software to configure time and hours worked. Jason Price said the time paid is all that should matter.

The court made a final decision to leave the ordinance as it originally was and to keep it to hours paid.

Editor’s Note: Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash

Quorum makes changes to employment policy

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Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO – An amendment was made to change Ordinance 2014-3 at Monday’s Quorum Court meeting.

The ordinance was made to update the Craighead County employment policy for vacation and paid time off, and for other purposes. The Court’s goal is to ensure a fair distribution of employees time.

There was some confusion in the room when the last line in the last paragraph in the ordinance was brought up. It read “Employees will be able to continue to accrue time up to a maximum of 720 hours but cannot be paid out more than what was recorded at the time of the ordinance.”

Judge Marvin Day said at the date of this ordinance passing, workers amount of personal time would freeze at that moment and be recorded. There was another concern about people who are under 480 hours right now can’t accrue up to 480. Jason Price clarified that they can use it but they will not be paid for it at the end.

“You get paid for what you have accrued at the time if you leave at that time. You can get up to 480 and use that time, but if you leave you will only get paid out at what your snapshot was of your personal time,” Judge Day said.

New employees will have no payouts on personal time going forward.

May 1 is the earliest the ordinance can be passed.

Editor’s Note: Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash

Fitness buffs embrace new earbuds

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By Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO — Anticipation of the next generation of fitness earbuds and Apple AirPods is at an all-time high.

Fitness earbuds are wireless earbuds that have Bluetooth capabilities. Walmart employee Katherine Martin said, “Fitness earbuds are only called fitness to appeal to the fitness crowd… it is good advertising.”

The perks of fitness earbuds are that they are convenient for those with disabilities. The devices are water resistant and because of their design, stay in your ears well.

Martin not only sells earbuds at the retail store, but also uses the product. However, Martin said she chooses to wear normal earbuds because she hasn’t found the need to wear the wireless ones.

Logan Bonner, an AirPods owner, said he prefers fitness earbuds because they are more convenient, especially when he travels.

Bonner thinks people buy fitness earbuds like AirPods more than regular earbuds because, “even if they are not into fitness, they are more convenient.”

AirPods are compatible with most phones and have a microphone in each bud. This allows for voice calls while wearing them.

Bonner said when he works out, he prefers wearing beats wireless headphones because they are better at staying in place during intense movement.

Bonner said he would recommend AirPods because they are quick and easy to operate.

Target store employee Billy Simpson said although the fitness earbuds don’t have wires and are more portable with noise cancellation, he uses regular earbuds and thinks his store sells more of the regular type compared to the fitness.

Simpson predicts they will sell more of the next generation AirPods, once they are released, instead of the original AirPods and that he would recommend Beats brand to somebody looking to purchase fitness earbuds.

Google Introduces new game streaming system

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By Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

Source: Google

JONESBORO — Google has introduced a video game streaming service that only requires a controller.

The difference between the new game system called Google Stadia, and the Microsoft Xbox or Sony Playstation is that it is streamed and does not have a bulky console that uses discs. It relies on a Wi-Fi signal to stream games, much like Netflix does with movies and TV shows.

Google Stadia is convenient because you can play games on any device— smartphone, laptop, tablet or television.

In regards to specific age appeal, Matt Shimasaki of Game X Change said, “I guess it wouldn’t be a success for like my generation and older generations.” Shimasaki said he could see this product being sold at places like Game Stop and Walmart because Game X Change doesn’t sell new products because they are a buy, sell and trade business.

Shimasaki said that he would not invest his money into the Google Stadia because he has always been an Xbox fan and nothing will change that.

James Mcquay, an Xbox owner, said he prefers Xbox because, “I would rather have a physical disc and have it on hand.” When something is being streamed over the internet, there is a chance the server could crash and the game could lag. That is another reason why people feel more comfortable having a physical disc inside a game console.

Mcquay also said that he believes Google Stadia will take away sales from businesses like Game X Change because there won’t be a need for trading game discs anymore when all the games are available on a digital streaming service.

Kieron Sims at Greenback Games said he could see the Google Stadia being a success because, “it will catch on to the trend of digital media.”

Sims also said he would invest in the Google Stadia because he thinks it has good potential. He also said that Greenback Games doesn’t sell new products just like Game X Change.

Sims said he doesn’t think it would affect his business because they primarily sell retro games and he doesn’t think Google Stadia will make that big of an impact in the video game world because big companies will run them out.

Google Stadia is set to be released this November.

Water-resistant and waterproof cellphones defined

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By Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO — Phone companies are creating what they call waterproof phones, but not all of them are necessarily waterproof.

The difference between waterproof smartphones and water-resistant smartphones is that water is incapable of getting inside a waterproof phone, however, a water-resistant phone may get water inside of it.

Sprint employee Ken Daley said they sell more water-resistant phones than non-water-resistant phones and he would rather splurge and buy a water-resistant phone instead of buying an ordinary one and getting a water-proof case for it.

“I would say the Samsung Note 9 is the best when it comes to water-resistant phones,” said Daley.

If you are looking to buy a waterproof phone case, he said Lifeproof is the only fully waterproof one. When it comes to waterproof cases, he said they sell the most of Insipio and Otterbox brands.

Stevie Ivy at T-Mobile said, “The resistance for iPhone and Samsung is 6 feet for 30 minutes,” which is pretty good, but he still doesn’t recommend that people take their phones in the shower.

Ivy said there is a big price difference between water-resistant phones and ordinary phones and he would be willing to pay more money to have a water-resistant phone rather than buying a non-water-resistant phone and getting a fancy phone case for it.

T-Mobile has a selection of phone cases to pick from and Ivy said, “We sell most of Otterbox cases.”

Bishal Verma from Neha Wireless gave a few tips on how to try to fix a phone with water damage. He said don’t try to charge it and to try and dry it as much as possible.

Neha Wireless video

“The best water absorber is rice,” said Verma.

Verma said most of the time his company sells iPhones and that Samsung is better than iPhone in regards to being waterproof.

Neha Wireless sells a variety of phone cases as well.

 

Editor’s Note: Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash

Nonprofits play pivotal role in helping homeless

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By Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO — Nonprofits provide resources for the increasing homeless community.

The Salvation Army is the only homeless shelter in Jonesboro, but there are many other resources for the homeless.

United Way of Northeast Arkansas and The Hub help the homeless community, but don’t house them.

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Nanette Heard and Shaila Creekmore at United Way of NEA. (photo by Brooke Buckner)

United Way helps the working people and serves eight counties. They provide a backpack program for kids in need of food with the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas and fund a program called Homeless to Self-Sufficient with Mission Outreach of Northeast Arkansas.

Nanette Heard, executive director of United Way, said, “A lot of what we do is raise funds for programs. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of shelters in our area.”

UWNA helps people get back to work by providing work clothing, boots, childcare and transportation. Most of their programs are geared toward kids.

Gwendolyn Zugarek, executive director of The Hub, said the 2-year-old resource center provides a 90-day program for the homeless. The first step to helping people is tracking down their birth certificate or getting them an ID so that they can move forward from there.

HUB“The main thing that we do is we sit down with our guests and we talk to them about what is going on in their life,” Zugarek said.

The Hub offers a bike program allowing guests who don’t have transportation to ride a bike to their job. The guest’s responsibility is to buy the bike lock.

Currently, the Hub is a community-funded organization. They usually see an estimated 40 new homeless individuals every month and they helped 532 individuals in their first year of being open. Their mail center helps the less fortunate receive benefits.

Shelters Outside of Jonesboro

Shelters in Blytheville and Paragould provide help year-round for the homeless.

Blytheville’s Mississippi Union County Mission helps women, children and men. Most of the children who come in are 17 to 18 years of age. The majority of residents are single.

There’s no time restraint for living at the Mission, but the average time is three to four months.

Mission Outreach of Northeast Arkansas in Paragould takes all ages and people can live there for up to two years. Director Cheri Peters said she sees more single people coming into the shelter. In 2018, Mission Outreach of NEA provided shelter for 452 people.

The Mission houses 55 and Mission Outreach houses 58 people. Both of these shelters house increasing numbers during the winter and summer.

In addition to housing and feeding residents, Mission Outreach helps residents with birth certificates, employment and insurance.

Lisa Willard, executive director of The Mission, said they offer a work program consisting of yard work or odd jobs. The charge for the community is $10 per hour and the workers get paid $8.50 per hour.

Similarly, Mission Outreach offers jobs and provides transportation for their working residents like United Way does.

Both of these shelters feed the less fortunate by serving food boxes. The Mission serves 100 food boxes per week.

Mission Outreach’s food pantry feeds low-to-moderate income families. These families can come once a month to get food boxes. They also have a soup kitchen that prepares three meals per day.

“For the food box, you have to be a Greene County resident,” Peters said.

Willard and Peters said they enjoy working at these shelters because they watch lives transform.

The community can help each of these organizations by volunteering or donating toiletry items, canned goods, blankets and furniture.

Robotic Lawnmowers Provide Quiet Cut

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By Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

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Danielle Trent displays the Husqvarna robotic lawnmower at Lowes. (Photo by Brooke Buckner)

JONESBORO — Robotic lawnmowers are the new trend in outdoor hardware when it comes to yardwork because it requires very little effort to cut grass. Since they are electric, they’re quiet and have low maintenance.

Home Depot in Jonesboro sells a few different brands and styles, with cutting sizes ranging from 7 inches to 11 inches.

David Blankenship at Home Depot said, “Anything battery-powered is becoming a trend.”

Ryobi and Ego make the best-selling brands due to their convenience and quietness. Currently, these robotic lawnmowers can only be purchased online.

Tractor Supply Co. sells a handful of robotic lawnmowers at its store, including McGulloch, Robomow and Worx brands. It also sells robotic lawnmowers online.

Craig Swanner from Tractor Supply Co. in Jonesboro said, “Half acre is the biggest one we have on our website.”

Swanner said Husqvarna is the most popular robotic lawnmower. The Robomow RS622 cuts grass down to an inch and uses boundary wires that must be set up by a professional.

Lowes in Jonesboro displayed the Husqvarna lawnmower, which mows half an acre of land. It features a timer and even works in the rain, but doesn’t handle tall grass well. Danielle Trent at Lowes said the boundary wiring is “similar to a dog fence.”

Trent said she would rather invest her money in an electric lawnmower because of the convenience factor.

Theater Upgrades Seats, Sounds

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by Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service

JONESBORO — Malco Hollywood Cinema movie-goers will soon see and hear a difference.

In addition to getting luxury recliner seats and a new grill, select auditoriums are upgrading their sound to Dolby Atmos.

Seasonal employee Zachary Ridgeway said movie watchers will be able to tell it apart from standard sound systems because the bass is much more defined. With surround speakers, it should provide the best movie experience.

Crystal Richard from Best Buy called Dolby Atmos one of the top brands for sound because it features a new audio format for playing back multichannel soundtracks.

“Dolby Atmos uses three-dimensional effect for sound, which allows surround sound to your device,” she said.

Dolby is used in much more than just movie theaters. Many brands like Pioneer, Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Definitive Technology, Onkyo, MartinLogan, Samsung and Sony use Dolby sound in their products.

Richard said the Dolby products that aren’t used in movie theaters are typically sound bars and subwoofers.

According to the Dolby website, Dolby Atmos redefines moves sound all around, adds an overhead dimension, produces breathtaking sound quality and creates a moving entertainment experience.

The renovation at Malco Hollywood Cinema in Jonesboro will be completed by this summer.