The state’s committee in charge of allocating $1.25 billion from the 2020 federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security or CARES Act, voted Wednesday to extend the spending timeline for certain projects until the end of the year.

According to Larry Walther, Secretary for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, several projects the CARES Act Steering Committee already approved and gave funds to had an initial spending deadline of June 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

An Arkansas sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a 17-year-old male during a traffic stop early Wednesday, but authorities aren’t saying what led to the fatal shooting.

The Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office said it has turned the investigation of the shooting that occurred at about 3 a.m. over to Arkansas State Police. State police say the circumstances of the traffic stop and what led to the deputy to fire his gun at Hunter Brittain “will be documented in the investigation.”

Brittain was driving the truck that was stopped by the deputy, state police said.

Dr. Anthony Bland fell short in his 2018 attempt to win the lieutenant governor’s race in Arkansas, but that did not deter the Democrat from Little Rock from setting his sights on the state’s top job.

Bland, 43, told Talk Business & Politics he intends to seek the Democratic nomination for governor during the 2022 election cycle. He formally launched his campaign Wednesday in Hot Springs.

“I’ve been advocating for change in this state for a long time,” he said.

Farmers in five counties in southeastern Arkansas suffered more than $200 million in direct losses to major crops after the major flooding and storm event in early June, according to a preliminary estimate by experts with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

A new television program is being launched by an Arkansas native who aims to educate short-term rental landlords on ways to make their properties more accessible to people with disabilities.

Conway-native Lorraine Berry Woodward is developing the show, called Becoming rentABLE, in partnership with the national Easterseals organization.

North Little Rock’s Wastewater Utility is now being powered in part by a new solar array. Completion of the $1.4 million facility was celebrated Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Director Michael Clayton says the solar panels will provide about 20% of the electricity needed to power the utility, which typically costs about $900,000 a year. It serves about 42,000 customers in North Little Rock, Sherwood and Maumelle.

Arkansas on Tuesday reported 485 new coronavirus cases, its biggest one-day jump in more than three months.

The Department of Health said it was the biggest one-day increase since the state reported 570 new cases on March 5. The state has had 346,180 cases since the pandemic began last year.

The state’s active cases, meaning ones that don’t include people who have died or recovered, rose by 251 to 2,570. The state’s COVID-19 deaths rose by eight to 5,884. Hospitalizations rose by four to 285.

UA Little Rock Public Radio is celebrating the success of its KUAR News team for its honors in the 2021 Diamond Journalism Award contest.

The contest, sponsored by the Arkansas Pro Chapter, Society of Professional Journalists considered work from journalists in Arkansas and six neighboring states.

Arkansas’ Republican governor is voicing his support for federal legislation addressing the disparity in sentencing for crimes related to cocaine and crack cocaine.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson testified Tuesday in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, in support of a proposed bill known as the EQUAL Act, sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Monday the creation of the Arkansas Office of Outdoor Recreation and the expansion of outdoor recreation in the state that includes an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service.

“It is exciting to see all that Arkansas has to offer,” Hutchinson said. “We consider these Arkansas treasures, but it’s really that Arkansas is a national treasure when it comes to outdoor recreation.”