From Our Blog

The Importance of Transparency

transparency arkansas

The citizens of Arkansas have taken notice of this problem and are making their voices heard in their State Legislature, which has become run by the same political party for the last two decades. The citizens of Arkansas know that if their Representatives are not fully committed to transparency in their government then they will not work to keep them in office. They know if the media reports about how little they know about transparency Arkansas laws and such, then they will lose their credibility with the people of their district. Therefore, when people vote for these folks in the upcoming elections, they will not be voting for those who truly understand what is going on and they will vote against the people who are trying to make the government transparent.

“What’s transparency?” you might be asking. Well, it is a simple concept, if we could see all of the information that is being provided to the American People by our elected officials, including the executive branch and the U.S. Congress then we would have a clear view of exactly what is going on in our country. You see, as citizens of the United States of America we all have the right to know what our elected leaders are doing what they are supposed to be doing. In fact the very first amendment of the United States Constitution clearly states that all Bills of Attain or Death should be submitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate for scrutiny and then published for general public consumption. If this nation was to cease to exist as we know it today because we do not have a level of transparency in our government.

However, this would completely destroy our representative system of government, which is based on the idea of representative government. Without transparency in our government the concept of representative government as we know it today will no longer exist. What would happen if all of the elected officials were to simply hide behind the bushes as they always seem to do, and then no one would ever know what they did? Would there be less transparency in that government? Of course there would be, and sooner or later we would turn into a banana republic rather than a representative constitutional government.

There is hope though, and not just for the citizens of Arkansas but for the rest of the United States of America. There are people in other states who want to bring the same level of transparency to government as is currently experienced in Arkansas. So, if you live in a state other than Arkansas why not learn all you can about the workings of your representative and how they get elected and how you can vote them out if they are not doing their job. There is a resource out there that will show you how to do just that. It’s called voting Democrat, and it’s designed to help the citizens of each and every state move their representative to the House and Senate where they can start to make changes to our government.

If you live in Arkansas, you owe it to the people to learn more about your representative and how he or she got elected. It may surprise you to learn that some of your state representatives are actually closet insiders for the political party that just happened to pick them. It is very important that you learn all you can about the people who are representing you in Washington. You owe it to yourself, your family, and your children to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to do and you have every right to do so. With the transparency initiative of voting you can make sure your representatives are truly committed to serving the people of their state and not just their party.

If you live in another state, it is very important that you take a serious look at the election laws for that state. Sometimes people think they can take what they want and that is the bottom line. They forget that they have a representative in place in Washington and they need to pay attention. Our representatives are there to represent us not to give us what we want. Get informed, get involved, and make sure that you know what is going on in your state.

The Best Dating Site In Arkansas

Dating Site

Arkansas is one of the states in the United States of America. If you live here, I am sure you know that it is a wonderful spot. It is also very beautiful and known for its ideal date type locations. In this particular guide, I’m going to be talking about the best dating site in Arkansas.

Little Rock

I’m going to be talking about eHarmony.

This site will ask you your personal details first. It is a free site, when you are enrolling. First, ask you your gender, and then it will ask you what you are looking for. It will also ask you which gender you are interested in. You will be able to find singles in Fayetteville, Jonesboro and Little Rock as well.

The exquisite state is very apt for the perfect love story. No other state can actually beat the natural states beauty or the solidarity. If you are embarking on a dating adventure, the local towns and cities are your best bet when you are looking for dating options. You will be able to meet fantastic singles in Arkansas, and you will be able to make some incredible memories as well. Dating in the any city in Arkansas actually implies an amazing and unique chance to explore the expensive and vast wilderness with a special person.

You will actually have tons of options. The benefits of dating the traditional way in Arkansas are very simple. It is the state of opportunity and singles makeup almost 48% of the population. If you’re looking for a partner, it is a really good state to start in. You can go apple picking in autumn, and you can attend some carnivals in the fall.

This place has some very beautiful landscapes as well.

Here are some stunning cities for singles in Arkansas.

Arkansas

  1. Hot Springs has some very beautiful and enchanting locations where you might bump into some special people. It has amazing nightlife as well. The place has some really good sports bars and cosy cocktail hangout spots.
  2. Little Rock he is an amazing city for singles who are on the lookout to mingle. The population of this capital city is one of the main reasons why there are a lot of single men and women in Little Rock.

I don’t feel that online dating is definitely the path to finding true love in Arkansas. Online dating and some other apps will provide you with a medium through which you can have some meaningful interactions. This is especially useful if you are new to Arkansas. That is why, I suggest eHarmony as it is an amazing platform that works for love.

It is a fantastic side that matches you with people who are of your wavelength.

7 Incredible Things You Can Do in Arkansas

Incredible Things

Arkansas is a southern state in America that is known for its natural beauty, wilderness, hot springs, rivers, mountains, and caves. If you are planning to visit Arkansas with your family, here are the top ten things that you can do in Arkansas.

 Visit Anthony Chapel

The Anthony Chapel is one of America’s best wedding locations. This building is located deep in the Garvan Woodland Gardens, surrounded by hot springs. It is a place to be at for accumulating peace unless there is a wedding function happening. Usually, Anthony Chapel is booked every week for a wedding.

Anthony Chapel

Dine at Doe’s Eat Place

After the presidential campaign of 1992, this quiet and comfortable dining place in Little Rock became famous as the hangout spot for Bill Clinton and his team. The restaurant chef from the time of the campaign confirms that Clinton’s favorite dish was jalapeno cheeseburgers with tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise, and onions. You can still eat the same cheeseburger at Doe’s Eat Place for under $10.

Stand on the edge of the world

Hawksbill Crag is among the most scenic locations in Arkansas, known for its forest walls and beautiful Buffalo River scenery. It is also a popular place for proposals. The best time to visit the place is early morning when there will be fewer tourists, and you can enjoy more of this beautiful place.

Try out the Arkansas possum pie

Possum pie is a specialty of Arkansas and definitely does not contain possum meat. It is made with pecans, chocolate, cream, and custard. Topped with cream cheese, this pie is something you cannot miss out on trying when you are there. Take it a step further and explore possum pies from different towns in Arkansas.

Visit the underground waterfall

This amazing waterfall is located in the Ozarks National Park. It is one of the natural wonders in Arkansas that you cannot miss out on. A creek running through the park has drilled a hole through a rock. It has formed a 30ft-high waterfall that runs under into a cave below the ground level. The best time to visit here is after heavy rainfall.

Visit the supermarket museum

This unique Walmart Museum in Bentonville is something that can be part of your itinerary as you are passing through. This supermarket museum contains the history of Walmart, explaining how it became the world’s largest company. You can find the Spark Café soda fountain and the ice cream at the museum as the top attractions.

Stay at the most haunted hotel

The Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs is known to be the most haunted hotel in the country. It was once a cancer treatment center run by a crook doctor. Today it is said to have the ghosts of the patients and the medical staff. You can stay a night at the hotel and see if you can experience anything supernatural.

Visitors To the Crater of Diamond State Park Large Diamonds

State Park

Visitors found two large diamonds while exploring the Crater of Diamond State Park. It is one of the only few places in the US where the public can search for diamonds in the original volcanic source. The secretary, Stacy Hurst, says that this park is one of the state’s unique attractions. She has had several reports of visitors finding gems. The staff at the park is cooperative to help the guests work with the gems they find. They provide the information for the gem their visitors find and record their stories of how they found them.

Serendipity Diamond – 12th largest since 1972

Dr. Mindy Pomtree from Benton was on her trip to the park in June when she found her diamond. She spotted something glittering on top of the ground when she was near Beatty’s Hill. She first did not know what it was, so she kept it in her zipper and continued to search. However, she knew she had found something good. “I kept feeling of my pocket throughout the day to make sure it was still there,” says Mindy.

State Park

After returning home, Mindy took her shiny little stone to a jeweler who broke the news that she has found an amazing genuine diamond. Park Superintendent Caleb Howell connected with Mindy and arranged for her return to get the diamond weighed and registered. Howell confirms that she has found one of the biggest (12th largest) diamonds that has ever been found in the park since 1972. With a weight of 6.39 carats, this diamond is the size of a pumpkin seed.

2.73-carat diamond

Willian David Dempsey from Athens, Alaska, was very keen on coming to the Crater of Diamonds State Park after hearing several stories of people finding their own diamonds. He had been planning for it for over 30 years. Demsey says then he was sifting some gravel on the ground when he spotted the diamond. His son came to tell him that lunch was ready when they both spotted the diamond shining in the gravel. Dempsey found his diamond near the site where another large diamond named the Strawn-Wagner was discovered in 1990. Demsey chose to name his gem the Dempsey-Ducharme Diamond as a tribute to his experience with his family at the park. He has plans to get his diamond examined before deciding whether he will keep it or sell it.

The diamonds discovered at the Crater of Diamonds State Park come in different colors and sizes, but the most common colors for diamonds are white, brown, and yellow. Over 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the park ever since the first diamond was discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston. John Huddleston has a farm in the area where the park is situated today. The largest diamond ever found in the park was Uncle Sam, which weighed 40.23 carats.

Sports Betting Guide for Arkansas

Sports Betting

Arkansas is one of the US states that allow sports betting. It was the decision made based on the votes that approved the constitutional amendment. The state permits people to bet on sports, while all the legal bets must be made in-person at the licensed betting locations. Arkansas amended the state’s constitution to permit four casino licenses in 2018, which allowed the sports bets. Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort became the first location to host sports bet in July 2019. Southland Park in West Memphis also opened its sportsbook to take bets on Super Bowl. After the amendment, these two locations were granted the license to create full-scale casinos that will also provide structural updates and new gaming options.

Casino Resort

The latest casino facility is in Jefferson County, which is estimated to open by the end of 2020. The fourth and final facility will be in Pope County, but it is still going through the legal process between the local officials and casino stakeholders. Until its approval, there will be three options for people to place their bets on all types of sports.

The Arkansas Casino Gaming Amendment did not mention mobile betting platforms while announcing their decision. It only means that until any further notice, there will not be any mobile betting platforms and betting sites available to the users. All the bets will be made live at sports betting counters. Any bets taking place outside the above three mentioned facilities will be considered illegal. This number will become four once Pope County gets its dispute solved and gets added to the list.

Legalization of sports betting in Arkansas

Sports betting was first approved with a public referendum in November 2018 after Issue 4 was passed by voters. Colorado became the second state after Arkansas to do the same. The voters in Arkansas approved sports betting at the Oaklawn Racing Casino. It is the top racing track in the state and hosts Arkansas Derby every April.

The Saracen Casino Resort in Jefferson County also hosts a casino and sports betting resort run by Quapaw Nation. The casino resort has been approved by the racing commission and was opened in 2019. The complete casino opened in June 2020. The first bet in Oaklawn Racing Casino was taken in July 2019, making it the first legal bet to ever get placed in Arkansas.

sports betting

The process of making sports betting legal in Arkansas is now recent. The Arkansas state constitution mentioned gaming once to mention that lotteries are banned. It implied that all other types of gaming are allowed. Betting on horse races was first legalized in 1929. In 1967, the authorities had to shut down the illegal gambling operations running in Arkansas by criminal organizations. Arkansas later also approved the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Act under the Arkansas Lottery Commission in 2008.

Arkansas and the Presidential Election

Presidential Election

We are all aware of how the Presidential election turned out to be and how the outcome went ahead to upset the current President. While the Trump administration continues to deny the result, there is not much they can do in terms of claiming it all back. Due to that, the results have been declared, and America will now have a new President. But if we were to look into specific states, especially Arkansas, the result wasn’t something that we expected. People went ahead to take a different turn, and here’s what you need to know about the same.

The Presidential Race Through Arkansas

While there wasn’t an official deadline to mail a ballot in Arkansas, the suggested date was October 27th, and all the Ballots were supposed to be received by November 3rd. Thanks to that, counting was started in the right order, and everything went ahead to work fine. Voters in Arkansas were given the option to choose between mail-in ballot or vote early in-person. As top statistics suggest, around 87% chose to vote in-person compared to 13% who went ahead with the mail-in option.

The State of the Republican

By all means, one can classify Arkansas to be a Republican stronghold as Trump was declared the winner, and the people wanted him to be President. While Trump took the lead with 62.4%, Biden was far behind with 34.8%. Yes, that’s right. The Republican party enjoys strong support from Arkansas, and it is not a new phenomenon to enter the public domain. Back in 2016, Trump received 60% of votes from Arkansas, while Hillary Clinton could only manage 34%.

The case was the same in 2012 when Barack Obama received 36.9% of the votes, and Mitt Romney got about 60.6%. This particular trend has always been a part of the picture, and there is nothing new to talk about it. In fact, the last democratic candidates to win in Arkansas were Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Even the mail-in ballots requested for the Democratic party stood still at 33%, while the Grand-old Party received about 52%.

The Senate Elections

Senate Elections

When it comes to the Senate elections, Arkansas continues to project the same image. Republican candidate Tom Cotton received 66.5% of the vote, while Ricky Harrington received about 33.5%. Despite all this, the results went ahead in favour of the Democrats, and that might not have been pleasing for the people of Arkansas. But since election results are always about the majority, one can clearly say that the majority has voted and made their voice clear about the situation.

Hence, that was a simple take on the state of Arkansas and how it voted for the election.

Sports News from the State of Arkansas

Sports News

If you have been a sports enthusiast, you might be following the news and keeping yourself updated with everything. But if you haven’t, then we are here to set things straight with sports news from Arkansas. As the year comes to a close, a few exciting events are turning up, and you don’t want to miss out on the same. So here is all the top sports news from the state of Arkansas.

Sports

The Texas Bowl: The Razorbacks vs. TCU

Concluding the year in style calls for a small celebration, and that can be achieved in the form of a match between the Razorbacks and TCU. Scheduled to play on 31st December at NRG Stadium in Houston, the game will begin at 7 and will also be televised by ESPN. The game is going to be interesting because both the teams hadn’t met each other ever since 2017 when TCU took over the game with figures like 28-7. Before that, Arkansas came strong in 2016 with double overtime and figures of 41-3. Due to all that, this specific game is one that you don’t want to miss.

With a three winning streak, TCS has entered the bowl game in style, and nothing seems to be stopping their victory run. On the other hand, Arkansas has entered the bowl game for the very first time since 2016, and this year’s bowl game will be the Razorbacks 43rd in program history. Due to that, there will be a lot of pressure on both sides, and everyone wants to give the people a perfect adieu to a devastating year known as 2020.

The Razorbacks and Oral Roberts

With a career-high of 17 rebounds, Justin Smith scored 22 points, and Arkansas had a huge second half to beat Oral Roberts in Sunday’s match. Although there was a rebounding advantage of 58-32 and a 57-point second half, Oral Roberts was not easy to defeat. The last 84 seconds had various moments where Arkansas’ Desi Sills fouled Francis Lacis with his 3-point shot attempt, which eventually sent him to the foul line. Towards halftime, Oral Roberts took the lead and made use of Arkansas’ 30% shooting, which also included 14 misses.

Razorbacks

However, soon after the break, Arkansas got time to settle and used its advantage to take control of things and made 20 of 37 and went ahead to shoot eight 3s. Kevin Obanir also scored 21 points with 10 rebounds for the Eagles.

Conclusion

From the Texas Bowl to Razorbacks challenge to Oral Roberts, there is a lot happening in the state of Kansas. So stay tuned to grab more of the action and experience the world of sports in style.

The Best Places to Visit in Arkansas

Best Places

The state of Arkansas is known for being a haven for tourists as they go about venturing into the city to visit various destinations. As a culturally rich and diverse state, exploring Arkansas will help you get used to the experience, and you will be glad about the same. But you need to know more about the places, including the best ones you need to visit. So to hit you with such information, here are the best places to visit in Arkansas.

Little Rock Central High School Historic Site

Starting your trip with a visit to a historic site is the best way to get your history lessons for the day. Moreover, Little Rock Central High School was a place where the army had to escort nine black teenagers for their first day at school, back in 1957. This particular event is being celebrated as an essential moment in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. Apart from being historic. The school is still going strong on education, with more than 2,500 students receiving the lessons of life.

Buffalo National River

Buffalo National River

If you’re in the mood for experiencing nature at its best, then the Buffalo National River needs to be your pick. It is an unpolluted and free-flowing river that also has designated wilderness areas nearby. It is home to deer, bobcats, and other wildlife that have chosen the place for the best. Apart from that, you can also engage in activities around the place, and some of them include camping, horseback riding, canoes, hiking, and so on. Due to that, a visit to Buffalo National River is a complete experience that you will love.

Hot Springs National Park

Although the Hot Springs National Park was established in 1921, it has had visitors for much longer. The hot springs have always been a vital source of interest, and American Indians even believed that it has healing properties. Paying a visit to the park will help you understand the different attractions that it has as you can proceed to perform a number of activities inside the park. With a touch of history and the classic experience of hot springs, this is a park that you need to visit.

Arkansas Air Museum

As the name suggests, Arkansas Air Museum is a place that displays racing planes, big planes of the 1920s and 30s. It also contains information regarding the history of military aviation, thus helping you venture into a whole new world. Apart from that, the place also has a few permanent exhibits that include many military ground vehicles and various other artifacts. To make matters all the more impressive, one will also find a tribute to Louise McPhetridge, the second-most famous American female pilot.