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January 17 – January 20: TUESDAY, Breakfast: Pancake on Stick, or Choice of Cereal, Fruit Juice, Milk Lunch: Chicken Quesadilla, Green Leafy Salad, Cooked Vegetables, Graham Crackers, Fruit, Milk WEDNESDAY, Breakfast: Sausage, Egg Biscuit, or Choice of Cereal Fruit Juice, Milk Lunch: Old Fashioned Beans and Ham, Oven Fried Tators, Cooked Carrots, Cornbread, Fruit, Milk THURSDAY, Breakfast: Breakfast Burrito, or Choice of Cereal, Fruit Juice, Milk Lunch: Orange Chicken, Oriental Fried Rice, Oriental Vegetables Egg Roll (712), Fortune Cookie, Fruit, Milk FRIDAY, Breakfast: Biscuit & Gravy, or Choice of Cereal, Fruit Juice, Milk Lunch: Cheeseburger, Sandwich Fixins, Oven Fries, Ice Cream, Fruit, Milk .

Average gasoline prices in Arkansas have fallen 2.0 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.92/g today, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 1,826 stations in Arkansas. Prices in Arkansas are 23.7 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 0.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 7.2 cents in the last week and stands at $4.56 per gallon.

FAYETTEVILLE – Arvest Bank is pleased to announce the Arvest Opportunity Fund, a wholly owned non-bank subsidiary currently providing loans and lines of credit to small businesses that fall just below bank loan policy requirements. As part of the Arvest Opportunity Fund program, loan recipients agree to receive financial education coaching for 12 months after funding. The financial education program, delivered by professional educators and community partners, is designed to improve the financial standing of recipients to the point where they can eventually meet traditional bank lending standards. “We are committed to bringing opportunity through access to lending and financial education to all groups in the markets we serve,” Arvest Bank president and CEO Kevin Sabin said. “That includes the underbanked. In addition to being the right way to do business, we believe the efforts of the Arvest Opportunity Fund are crucial to the economic health, stability and security of the communities we serve.” Arvest Opportunity Fund candidates are determined when a loan application is submitted to Arvest Bank online or in person and the applicant opts in for consideration from the Arvest Opportunity Fund. If the applicant’s credit file does not meet Arvest Bank loan policy requirements, the application is automatically reviewed by the Arvest Opportunity Fund for consideration. After beta market testing in mid-2022, the Arvest Opportunity Fund was launched across Arvest’s four-state footprint in August. As of Jan. 6, the Arvest Opportunity Fund has delivered more than $1.2 million in small business loans. The Arvest Opportunity Fund is led by executive director Hillis Schild, who is based in Little Rock and has more than 30 years of industry experience, including 17 in community development banking. In her role as executive director, Schild provides strategic leadership for the Arvest Opportunity Fund. Schild serves on the board of directors or advisory committees for

From our start, the mission of the VA History Office has been to tackle two big, but complementary, tasks simultaneously: 1.) Stand up a VA History Program to provide basic information and services typical of most governmental history offices (a primarily virtual undertaking).

This week, the House voted on the H.R. 22, Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act, of which I was an early co-sponsor. This legislation prevents the Secretary of Energy from selling any Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) oil to an entity affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or any entity that plans to export it to China.

LITTLE ROCK — Brandon J. Lohse was recently selected as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.