Delta Digital News Service reporters report on efforts to complete the 2020 Census.
Editor’s Note: Feature image courtesy of Bullitt County Public Schools
By Brooke Buckner
Delta Digital News Service
More than half of 18-24 year-olds in the United States live with their parents and will be counted in the 2020 Census, but the other 45% of young adults do not live with their parents which makes it harder to include them in the Census.
Many young and mobile people between the ages 18 and 24 are the youngest members of the millennial group or older members of Generation Z who were born after 1996.
Photo credit: Bullitt County Public Schools
More than 39% say they are not familiar with the 2020 Census and over 18% say they are unlikely to respond, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Demographer for the Arkansas Economic and Development Institute, Diego Caraballo, said “what you want to keep in mind is you’re going to be counted wherever you expect to be for most of the year.”
This can apply to college students who live in dorms on campus. They will still be counted through the University instead of their parents’ household.
The Census is more important than the young and mobile people realize because communities depend on it. The Census Bureau is recruiting applicants on college campuses across the United States to fill up 500,000 temporary positions to help count everyone in the country.
In regards to being counted in the Census, Caraballo said, “It helps everyone around you even if you feel it doesn’t do much for you personally.”
Photo by Enayet Raheem on Unsplash
Students from the Multimedia Reporting course report on the benefits of buying local
Editor’s Note: Feature Photo shows The Edge Coffee House owner Brian Nobles as he examines his shop’s gardens. Photo by Krishnan Collins
By James Cain
DDNS Correspondent
EL DORADO – The Congressional App Challenge encourages students each year to develop their own individual apps for a chance to win recognition and other awards.
The winning teams will have their app displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol Building, be invited to the #HouseofCode Capitol Hill Reception in Washington, D.C. and receive $250 in Amazon Web Services credits per winner.The first official Congressional App Challenge launched under the leadership of the inaugural CAC Co-Chairs Reps. Mimi Walters, R-Calif. and Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif. and Seth Moulton, D-Mass. took over as co-chairs in 2016, and in the first two years of the Challenge, the CAC reached nearly 4,000 students across 33 states.
Reps. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. were co-chairs in 2017.
In 2018, Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. and French Hill, R-Ark. became the co-chairs for a two-year term.Rounding out the fourth year of the Challenge, the CAC has inspired over 14,000 students across 48 states to program an app and practice program coding through the contest.
The deadline to enter is Nov. 1. Registration and other information is available at the Congressional App Challenge website, congressionalappchallenge.us.
Editor’s Note: Featured photo by James Cain.
By Nik Perry
DDNS Correspondent
EL DORADO, Ark. – Community members and students came together for a Moms Demand Action rally in honor of El Dorado High School student and Wildcat football player Octavius ‘Tay’ Critton on Aug. 17.
Former El Dorado High School students cry during a time of remembrance for those in their communities lost to gun violence. During a Moms Demand Action Recess Rally held on Aug. 17, attendees paused for 100 seconds of silence to remember the 100 people per day killed by gun violence.
Police started an investigation after Critton was found dead following a shooting in his neighborhood. Critton, 17, was an incoming senior and varsity cornerback for the El Dorado Wildcats. Critton’s case is still under investigation.
The rally, attended by students and community members, offered a safe place to talk about ways to prevent gun violence, like the incident that claimed Critton.
The rally included 100 seconds of silence in recognition of the statistic from everytownresearch.org stating that 100 people are killed every day due to gun violence. Candles were lit and participants were encouraged to think of those they know affected by gun violence. Those attending the rally held at Mattocks Park, included Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer, who spoke on how gun violence has impacted our city.
“It is a people issue. They feel like a life isn’t worth anything anymore,” Creer said. “People kill so much, that [life] is almost worth nothing anymore. One hundred people are lost daily due to gun violence.”
Ward 3 Alderman Willie McGhee, founder of the Stop the Violence movement in El Dorado, spoke of how gun violence has affected him and those close to him.
“Dropping my son off at school in the morning, it makes me feel like I’m sending him off to a war zone armed with only a backpack,” McGhee said.
He continued by saying that rallies like these are for the children, not for them to necessarily attend, but to protect them. McGhee also said, “We get so caught up in the Second Amendment, we forget how long ago it was written.” He explained that times have changed, and the threats that amendment was intended to protect against have changed as America has changed.
El Dorado High School senior Anna Craig lights a candle of remembrance during the 100 seconds of silence at a Moms Demand Action Recess Rally against gun violence held on Aug. 17.
“We as Americans are almost too smart to figure out this problem. We know our laws and stick to them, but we fail to see the length of time between when it was written and now,” he said.
The rally was hosted by Kelly Reyes, a Washington Middle School teacher, who is an active member of the Moms Demand Action group. Moms Demand Action lobbies for causes to prevent violence that the youth of America is becoming accustomed to. She referred to current events on the national level as part of the problem, referencing U. S. Senate majority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky).
Reyes said, “Mitch McConnell refused a bill on universal background checks on all guns,” she said. “The people in office should listen to us, because 93% of people agree that they would vote for universal background checks on guns.”
For more information on Moms Demand Action and their rallies, visit www.momsdemandaction.org. Reyes said the group is in the process of also building a local Students Demand Action chapter, that encourages younger activists to speak up about ways to stop the violence.
Editor’s Note: Feature Photo – El Dorado High School students and community members listen to others tell how they have been affected by gun violence in their communities. EHS students helped organize and advertise the Moms Demand Action Recess Rally on Aug. 17, painting posters and handing out fliers for the event. Photo by Nik Perry
Charles Haven seeks assistance on Red Wolf Boulevard. (Photo by Jessica Ladd)
Students from the Multimedia Reporting course investigated homelessness in the Delta.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), Democratic candidate Jared Henderson and Libertarian candidate Mark West prepare for the first gubernatorial debate of the year during the Arkansas Press Association’s 2018 SuperConvention. Moderator Rusty Turner provided questions about proposed work requirements for Medicaid recipients, reduced tax rates for affluent citizens, teacher pay, legislative scandals, highway funding and Sunshine Law support.
Students from the Spring 2018 Advanced Reporting and Reporting for Electronic Media courses investigated the 20th anniversary of the Westside Middle School shootings and the ramifications of Arkansas’ soon-to-be-implemented college campus concealed-carry law.
Ammar Taqi of the Advanced Photography class provided featured pictures of the Westside Middle School Memorial Garden. View the full pictures below.
By Savannah Strickland
Special to the Delta Digital News Service
Lisa Strickland
JONESBORO – The Arkansas Legislature passed Paul’s Law to harshly punish those who text and drive because they are putting other drivers and passengers in danger.
Even though a year has passed, Lisa Strickland still reflects on a near-fatal accident back in November 2016. The 57-year-old Jonesboro native and employee at Joe’s Tire and Auto survived a head-on collision due to a woman typing out a text message to a friend.
Strickland traveled across the Windover overpass on a Sunday afternoon. She said she remembers seeing a woman coming towards her, clearly distracted. The car drove over the center line and hit Strickland head-on, knocking off her SUV’s rear tire, flipping and spinning her vehicle, and leaving her hanging upside down by her seat belt for 8 minutes.
The wreckage of Strickland’s SUV. She keeps pictures on her cellphone as a testament to not text-and-drive and to wear a seat belt. Photo courtesy of the Strickland family
Strickland purchased her vehicle just nine days before the accident. When police arrived on the scene, officers told Strickland the wreck would have killed her immediately had her vehicle been smaller.
Strickland said before the accident occurred, she used to text while driving. But now she keeps her phone zipped inside of her purse in her back seat. She stays more aware of her surroundings, and makes sure those driving around her are paying attention to the road and not their phone.
Hannah Aldridge, a 21-year-old Arkansas State University senior, drives for Uber. Her job affected her views on texting while driving.
“Before I was an Uber driver, I would text and drive,” Aldridge said, although noting she wouldn’t do it while baby-sitting. “I am very grateful to be driving with Uber because it taught me that texting and driving is not safe, and that getting a text sent to one of my friends can wait until I have arrived safely at my destination.”
Hailey Wright, a 19-year-old freshman from Paragould, has not been a a victim of a texting-and-driving accident. But she has heard horror stories from family members and friends who knew people who had been injured as a result from another driver texting while driving.
“I think texting and driving is extremely ridiculous,” she said. “There is no text worth endangering and possibly killing yourself and other people. Choosing to text and drive is choosing to put yourself and others at risk.”
Retired Arkansas State Police Lt. Robert Speer saw many driving accidents caused by a driver texting while driving.
“Once I was called to the scene of an accident because I was the closest officer,” he recalled. “Upon arrival, I learned that the car had crashed because the passenger had received a funny picture through text and was showing it to the driver of the vehicle, which caused the car to veer off the road and run head-on into a telephone pole.
“Neither passenger sustained injuries, but it taught them a lesson on the distractions that cellphones can cause when inside of a vehicle.”
Albert Austin “Sonny” Burgess, a 2002 Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee, died Aug. 18. He lived 88 years.
Born May 28, 1929 to Albert and Esta Burgess in Anderson, Arkansas, Sonny learned to play guitar at an early age and started playing rhythm guitar with his uncles. A lifelong Newport resident, he graduated from Newport High School in 1948. Following a three-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, Burgess joined Johnny Ray Hubbard, Gerald Jackson and Kern Kennedy and formed the Moonlighters. The band opened for Elvis Presley during an October 1955 show at Newport’s Silver Moon Club.
Presley recommended the band record with Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis. The band added Joe Lewis and Jack Nance, then changed its name to Sonny Burgess and the Pacers. Their hits included the Burgess-penned classics “We Wanna Boogie” and “Red Headed Woman,” which sold more than 90,000 copies. Razorback Records released his 1965 hit, “The Short Squashed Texan.” AVI Records released “Hitting That Jug: The Best of Sonny Burgess” in 1995.
Although contemporaries of Elvis, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison, the band never received the same recognition. Yet a “frantic” stage act led to a degree of notoriety. The group disbanded in 1971, but gained a European following. He later toured with the Sun Rhythm Section before reforming his final band, Sonny Burgess & the Legendary Pacers.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of Europe inducted Sonny in 1999. A year later, the Legendary Pacers released “Still Rockin’ and Rollin’,” voted as the best new album in the country and roots field in Europe. A 2016 documentary short entitled, “The Arkansas Wild Man,” chronicled Burgess’ trip to England to play for his fanbase.
The Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame inducted the band in 2007. Memphis’ Rock and Soul Museum devotes an entire wall to the Pacers. Arkansas State University bestowed an honorary doctorate of music on Burgess in 2011. Burgess co-hosted the weekly radio program “We Wanna Boogie” with June Taylor on KASU, 91.9FM in Jonesboro until his death.
Preceded in death by his son, Peyton, survivors include a son, John, and former spouse, Joann Adams.
For more information, see the Encyclopedia of Arkansas entry, the MusicianGuide biography and articles posted to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Sun Records promotional photograph courtesy of Sonny Burgess.
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(Editor’s note: Burgess was born in 1929, not 1931; this made him 88 years old.)
The Multimedia Reporting course (Spring 2017) investigated the Opioid Crisis in the Delta:
Banner made by adapting frankieleon’s “pop life” [CC BY-SA 2.0]
Click the picture to view special topic index.
Most commonly found in painkillers, opioids act as pain relievers, and are most commonly found in heroin and prescription drugs such as hydrocodone and oxycodone. Jonesboro Police Department’s Sgt. Cassie Brandon said the rate of controlled substance charges for the area is steadily increasing.
“It is against the law to possess a controlled prescription medication if you don’t have a prescription for it,” Brandon said.
In 2015 more than a million Americans were arrested for possession of a controlled substance.
“We have officers within the department that are specifically trained to do some evaluations or assessments with people to determine what it is that they are under the influence of,” Brandon said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses killed more than 50,000 Americans during 2015. Dr. Mark Sifford of the St. Bernard’s Medical Center said introducing unfamiliar drugs to your body can slow down your breathing, lower your blood pressure and alter your level of consciousness.
“They will neglect their own health just to pursue what they have to do to get the medicine they’re addicted to now,” Sifford said.
Sifford said it’s no surprise that the use of heroin is growing in popularity since it is a cheaper alternative to morphine and pain relievers.
“That’ll develop a physical dependence on it where they’re hooked and essentially have to take the medicine or they’ll have problems coming off of it,” Sifford said.
Some prescription pain relievers such as hydrocodone can develop dependencies in as early as three weeks.
“It may be to the point where they’re no longer needing pain relief, they’re just getting the euphoria from it and your brain can’t separate that out,” Sifford said.
The use of narcotics and opioids in the presence of children can be especially dangerous, often requiring involvement from the Department of Human Services. Brandon said if abuse of a prescribed or an unprescribed drug is detected, DHS should be contacted immediately.
“You just don’t need to expose children to that,” Brandon said.
The Jonesboro Police Department is actively working to help diminish the abuse of opioids in the area and asks others to do their part in assisting the fight to end the national epidemic.
by Austin Hayslip
Courtesy of A-State Department of Media
JONESBORO — “Downtown is a very happening place to be in during the holidays,” Downtown Jonesboro Association Executive Director Hailey Knight said.
The holidays in downtown Jonesboro have always been full of activities. This year, Knight said they’re adding more to the holiday experience in downtown.
“This year in addition to our Winter Wonderland, we also have this wonderful new ice skating rink that was donated by First Community Bank,” she said.
Winter Wonderland is a building full of Christmas spirit. There are booths that are set up full of Christmas décor that the community can walk through and experience. Knight said the location is what makes it so great.
Residents skate at the Wonderland Rink sponsored by First Community Bank. The Downtown Jonesboro Association hopes the rink will become an annual tradition.
“There’s been a lot of people down here. It’s really neat because they can visit Winter Wonderland, which is right across the street, and see the different holiday-themed booths inside Winter Wonderland, and then come right across the street after that with their friends or family and ice skate.”
All you need is $5; that will buy you 45 minutes of skate time. Knight said the community response has been overwhelming.
“It’s really cool to see all the people coming downtown. Normally about 5 p.m. when we come out of the office, we’ll see all kinds of kids over here because they’re out of school and they’re ready to ice skate,” she said.
The ice skating rink is something that Knight hopes will be a staple in the holiday traditions downtown. It will be open through Jan. 1 Monday-Friday from 4 p.m.-10 p.m.; Saturdays from 1 p.m. – 10 p.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m.-6 p.m. To schedule a group event, call 870-933-4604.
More information can be found online or on the Downtown Jonesboro Association Facebook page.
Delta Digital News Service 