A new report grading over 500 cities in the U.S. on LGBTQ equality shows Little Rock leading the eight Arkansas cities surveyed.

The Human Rights Campaign’s annual Municipal Equality Index scores cities on policies, such as non-discrimination laws and transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, on a scale of zero to 100.

Xavier Persad is senior legislative counsel with the Human Rights Campaign. He says the report looks at several indicators to gauge the overall state of equality in individual cities.

Arkansas’ CARES Act Steering Committee has approved of the distribution of $50 million to the state’s hospitals and nursing home facilities as the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise.

Gains in retail and vehicle sales, along with a shift in individual income tax payments, continue to show up in Arkansas tax revenue that beats estimates. For the first five fiscal months (July-November), gross revenue is up almost 12% compared with the same period in 2019.

The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration reported Wednesday that gross revenue for fiscal year-to-date is $3.092 billion, up 11.9% compared with the same period in 2019 and up 11% over the budget forecast.

A White House panel says Arkansas remains in the “red zone" for new coronavirus cases and 88% of the state's counties have moderate or high community transmission of the virus.

The White House Coronavirus Task Force issued its latest findings in a report released Wednesday by the state.

The panel said Arkansas last week ranked 24th in the country for new cases per capita and 30th for test positivity. The report also said the COVID-19 risk to all Americans is at a historic high.

Arkansas' COVID-19 hospitalizations have been reaching new record highs.

The debate over the use of dicamba use continues to rage throughout the country and in the courtroom and it will soon affect crop planning for 2021.

The broad-spectrum herbicide, which was first developed and registered in the late 1960s, has been the foundation of several marketed weed control measures and, more recently, genetically modified seed technologies.

North Little Rock voters will decide who will serve as their next mayor in a runoff election Tuesday. The two candidates, former mayor Terry Hartwick and former Democratic state lawmaker Tracy Steele, failed to get more than 50% of the vote in what was a four-person contest on Election Day. Steele says he’s confident he’ll emerge victorious from the runoff.

The hits just keep coming. COVID-19 hospitalizations and patients on ventilators again set new daily records in Monday’s report from the Arkansas Department of Health. Total cases and deaths rose 38.5% and 26%, respectively, between Nov. 2 and Nov. 30.

ADH numbers show 1,063 hospitalizations in Monday’s report, a new record and up 33 over the daily record set Sunday. COVID-19 patients on ventilators rose by 16 to a new record of 201. Total cumulative known confirmed and probable cases increased Monday by 1,112 to 157,359. Total deaths rose by 32 to 2,502.

Arkansas health officials report more than 1,200 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 more deaths linked to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Authorities reported 1,030 Arkansas residents were hospitalized with COVID-19 Sunday, 20 more than on Saturday. The Arkansas Department of Health says the state added 1,221 confirmed and probable cases Sunday. 

"I think about the loss to so many families and the stress on our health care workers," Gov. Asa Huthinson said on Twitter. "We have a lot of work to do between now and Christmas."