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The Arkansas Times and KUARFM 89.

Hello again everyone.

Thanks very much for joining us.

How many of us Arkansans are there and where in Arkansas do we live?

The answer will determine who represents us at the federal and state level and the answer is not guaranteed to Please.

More on that in the Minutes ahead as well as an economic update.

How strong the recovery in Arkansas but first COVID in Arkansas has the Delta variant reversed.

Whatever progress we've made in fighting the pandemic and booster shots for whom?

And how soon up top in this edition doctor Cam Patterson, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

As always doctor.

Thanks very much for being with us.

The watchword, it seems.

In the past several days anyway has been booster shots and to repeat myself for whom, when, where.

They're they're here now and they are coming quickly to everyone.

For right now.

The third shot, the booster is approved for people who are at high risk, elderly people, people who have a history of cancer.

People who are immunocompromised for any reason should be getting their third shot now.

And on September 20th, everyone who has been vaccinated with two shots will be eligible for a third shot.

See, I think that this is good news.

For all of us, it means that those of us who have been vaccinated can continue to have good immunity against COVID-19 even the more nefarious variants, like the Delta variant.

Now, in terms of breakthrough infections, doctor, where do we stand on that now?

We've, uh, we are seeing some breakthrough infections.

They're small in number.

They're mostly in people who have been immunocompromised for some reason.

They've had an organ transplant.

They're on immunosuppressive drugs, and they tend to be much milder infections.

It's a small number.

The vast majority of the infections that we're seeing, especially those who are being hospitalized, are in people who have not been vaccinated yet.

Any number of parents want eager and teachers the entire state wanted to win.

Can younger Arkansans younger Americans begin to receive the vaccine?

Any word from DC on that?

You know we're listening every day and trying to get a sense of when that will be.

I think it will be towards the end of this calendar year that children under the age of 12 will be approved for this, but it can't come fast enough, can it?

Parents anyway, and hopefully a majority of parents and let me follow up on that based on what we know now, after what, 18 months or so of of this pandemic?

Is there any reason why the average Arkansan should not take the vaccine?

No, there's absolutely no reason why someone who's eligible for the vaccine should turn it down.

Look, Steve.

We've got about 60 patients in the hospital right now with complications from COVID.

We've never had a patient in the hospital with complications from the vaccine.

It's sad to see people on respirators.

It's sad to see people who pass away because of COVID-19, and right now those are completely preventable problems.

We keep hearing, Sir about variants and how the the virus shapeshifts.

Where does that?

How does that alter the dynamic?

I mean, where does that leave us right now?

There's now.

There's word of a Lambda variant, right?

Well, this is what viruses do.

They they mutate, the more we allow the virus to transmit within our community, the more opportunities we give the virus to create new new variants that may be more dangerous than the ones that we're seeing now.

The Delta variant obviously is almost a completely different disease than what we were experiencing last year.

Right now the Lambda variant looks like it may be more of a flash in the pan, but there will be more and the more that we can do to tamp down transmission of the virus, the less ability of the virus will have to create more variance that potentially will cause more problems.

The biggest problem Steve with the variance is if we have variance set become resistant to the vaccines that we have, and then.

It becomes a game of continually trying to catch up with the virus.

So the more that we can do now to reduce transmission, the less likely that we will have more and potentially worse variants circulating.

Here in Arkansas.

One final question, Doctor School is back in session and the new case rate is pretty in the four figures it's pretty forbidding.

Is is the worst still to come.

Well, we were we worry about that, don't we?

We worry about that because schools back in session will re congregating, we have too many school systems that are not enforcing masking in the school system.

And frankly, we have too many people who are in our school systems who are eligible to be vaccinated who chosen not to be vaccinated.

So that's probably also let's not forget we.

We've got the Labor Day weekend coming up and we we know what happens.

Two weeks after a big holiday, so we're preparing for the worst.

We're hoping for the best.

All right Doctor Cam Patterson Chancellor the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Thank you very much for being with us and.

Best of luck in your endeavors.

And we'll be right back.

And we're back.

The nation does it every 10 years counts its citizens, but COVID delayed the results of the latest census until a few days ago, those numbers are crucial.

Of course, in shaping any number of public policies, including the amount of federal aid Arkansas and its cities counties received.

But they also shape those numbers.

They also shape the districts for state legislators and our four US representatives.

Every decade brings fresh concern for the impact and this year is no exception.

Joining us now, Mayor Kevin Smith of Helena, West Helena, and Shelby Johnson, the state Geographic Information Officer.

Gentleman thanks very much for coming in.

Shelby will begin with you.

Are you satisfied with the count as we know it today?

I am satisfied in the sense that it job well done or sufficiently.

I think the job was phenomenal given the extraordinary circumstances.

The Census Bureau, just like a lot of other.

Organizations suffered through the pandemic.

Their workforce was affected just like other workforce, and I think that they did the best job that they could do.

One of the things that was unique in this census was the ability for Arkansans and Americans to respond online and so that did facilitate some increased response and our response rate.

In Arkansas, the numbers were pretty good, all things considered.

I'm always worried about undercount a little bit, and that's always going to be a concern, but I believe, given the circumstances they did the best job that they could possibly do under the circumstances.

And all things considered, you say, given that so many people were sheltering during COVID and much of the economy was shut down or sheltered, are you house concerned?

Are you about an undercount well?

We always have statistics.

Tell us that we always have an under count for.

The very Young population Group, Age 5 and under is historically undercounted, and then we always say of our homeless population that is undercounted.

Generally, they just don't have an address, so those are two segments that are always undercounted by some by some amount.

But you're right in this season that were in there were Arkansans who were reluctant to.

Open their door to a stranger, which would be a census taker and response.

So there is that concern that we may have had some undercount, but given the circumstances and the follow up the level of effort that went into this particular census, I feel pretty good about the numbers.

Mayor Smith.

You correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't feel quite so good about the numbers.

I don't.

I mean I, I agree with Shelby.

Under the circumstances, the Census Bureau had a very difficult time doing the census this year, and I'm not wagging my finger at any particular person at the census.

But we're in the Delta's, poorest regions of the country.

We don't have a lot of people who can go online and who had the ability to or know how to, and those typically tend to be your your most poor residents anyway and we have had we we.

There's no question we've lost people in the delta and in my city, I think we were braced for that.

The problem is.

The politics that that were involved in the census long before really COVID even started was a concerted effort by the administration and others with political motivations to suppress.

They talked about suppression of votes but but the thing that option I saw was a suppression of counting our people and in in the first or second article of our Constitution that says we have to enumerate the numerator.

Our population it's in the Constitution, the antonym of enumerate is miscount and confuse.

Enumerate is very specific.

You enumerate powers, you enumerate how many people we have.

We didn't do that.

We just didn't do that and COVID came in.

On top of that.

Politics and made it inordinately more difficult.

So yeah, have we lost people.

I'm sure we have have we lost as many as they say?

I've doubted very seriously.

And it means a lot to the places that need this the most.

The folks that are rural, the folks that are poor, the folks that need and rely on their government the most, and in addition to losing legislative representation in Little Rock, it means we're going to lose actual dollars here.

And so it makes a big difference.

But the mayor is correct, Sir, in Shelby.

Is he not in the sense that there was litigation involving the former Commerce secretary, Secretary Ross?

A great deal of confusion and litigation at the federal level?

And on top of that there is also the traditional apprehension that arises, and particularly in the Latino community, even those who may be documented or sometimes reluctant.

To be counted there.

There has been.

However, I'm harkening back to last year.

Where are the governors?

Complete Count Committee worked.

There was a lot of outreach, a lot of public education, not as much as we would have liked due to the fact that you couldn't have large gatherings during the pandemic.

But there is this notion among some in Arkansas and elsewhere that they don't want the government to find me.

Which is a flawed thinking and can result in some people not responding to the census.

And it's very important, as Meyer Smith said, cities, counties, policymakers, making decisions on these numbers and so to encourage participation.

We worked really hard the last three years really in trying to get everyone to join in and participate and be counted, but you always will have a small segment that chooses not to participate.

And that's where those enumerators then go to knock on doors.

If no one ever answers that door, then there's going to be a household that potentially isn't counted.

Kevin Smith, is there anything that you would propose as a remedy that's realistic?

Well, yes, I think the problem we.

In our case we're here in the trenches.

Our office, the Mayor's office, coordinating very closely with the census.

We had at least two, maybe three, supervisor changes in a very short period of time.

I got the sense and others that the Census Bureau was in a state of chaos.

Administratively, because of Kovid because of the politics of it and.

The the the we have a conscious constitutional obligation to get this right.

And I believe that they should go back and do a recount.

Because they they flooded, it didn't work and you have to do it.

It's a constitutional requirement.

I know we have to move on with with redistricting and what Shelby has to do is take the numbers he's got and he has no choice but to do that.

And and they do an excellent job.

And the Census Bureau did the best they could.

But that wasn't saying much because they had so much trouble from above and doing their job.

They weren't allowed to do it.

And of course, COVID.

Made it hard to go door to door, which is traditionally how we do it.

So do it again that feasible.

It would be a daunting task to have a complete recount nationwide.

Yeah, I just can't even imagine the logistics.

It's probably worthwhile pointing out that planning for the 30 thirty 2030 census is underway.

Now.

The Census Bureau has a really long planning horizon for planning each decennial census.

A complete national recount.

It would just be daunting, at the very least, well, Mayor Smith, let me go back to you because you mentioned a moment ago, the obvious political implicate implications in terms of congressional and well, certainly in legislative will.

In both capitals, representation a Little Rock, and in Washington DC, they are really profound, your district, the first Congressional District, is about to get a lot bigger.

That's not a surprise, and the third district, the 4th district, is about to get bigger.

And the third is about to get a lot smaller.

No, that's right, and that, and with that representation goes power.

And there's been a real shift of that, and some of that is not a surprise, but we're losing.

We get over $1,000,000 to state turn back we're going to lose a quarter of that.

That's we have an $8 million budget.

It's $1.1 million.

That's a big hit.

We're going to lose 250, but we also lose the representation in those places that we need.

They have.

They're not even going to come out with how to request a recount until as early and maybe December, it's the latest.

And or the earliest.

I'm sorry and.

You're going to have so many cities asking for a recount.

Why not just plan for that now?

Instead of trying to figure out 2030, they plan for 2020.

They couldn't have planned for COVID.

They couldn't plan for the administration they had, but you know what?

We can plan right now for the next year.

Go ahead and re district.

But allow us to.

Not go through bureaucratic process to recant.

Just plan for that.

Now.

Implement it now and do it broadly.

You don't have to do it everywhere.

A lot of people wouldn't want it.

But don't make the process to ask for it so difficult, bureaucratic make it easier.

Provide the resources for it got ended there gentlemen, because we're simply out of time.

Mayor, thank you Shelby Johnson.

Thank you.

And we'll be right back.

Back again, no one, no one disputes what the census underscored that the bulk of Arkansas's population growth in the past decade was in our northwest corner.

It's economic growth as well, but here to consider the outlook for all four quadrants is Mike Preston, Governor Hutchinson, Secretary of Commerce and Tab Townsell executive director.

Of metroplan, the Council of Central Arkansas.

Local governments.

Mr Secretary, thanks for coming in.

Both of you gentlemen, thanks for coming in and Miss Secretary.

Let me begin with you and a quote that I got from Mr Townsel just a second ago.

Before the broadcast, he said, it's we're living in really strange times, economic, cultural, etc.

I would offer you the chance to pick up on that Mr Secretary from an economic standpoint.

Strange times indeed, this strange times indeed.

But you know, I got to look at this as an opportunity for Arkansas.

We certainly learned a lot from the census.

That I don't think it was, you know, shocking to anybody to see where the growth had taken place in Northwest Arkansas.

And I mean, really, it continues to be a, you know, one of the fastest growing regions in the entire country.

Central Arkansas saw growth as well and we saw pockets around the state and northeast and Jonesboro and Paragould and and other parts of the state.

But because we are in these strange times, it's got to be an opportunity.

We have to look at this as an opportunity to say how can we build upon what we already have here in Arkansas.

How can we look at these rural counties that may be lost population to bring in new people and new companies and new opportunities?

And with the shift to remote work and so many things that we're now seeing and hopefully what will soon be post pandemic life, we need to capitalize on that.

So despite the troubling and difficult times were in, there's light at the end of the tunnel, and I think Arkansas can help lead that way.

Well, what is post pandemic Mr Secretary, because we keep hearing that there is one variant of COVID after another coming and the economy continues to shape shift.

What is the out?

Where is the opportunity there?

Well, if I if I could tell you exactly what post pandemic looks like, I you know I I'd have a crystal ball and I certainly don't.

I just know that when we were, you know, getting back to life as normal when the vaccine was out there and people were taking the vaccine and we're seeing our numbers decrease.

And you know, early part of summer it felt like life was getting back to normal.

Now you see this spike with the Delta variant and now you know Lambda, whatever comes after that, you know post pandemic is when we get a handle on this and we have more more of our population.

Vaccinated and we get to a life that is resembles what we had before.

You know who's to say where the pandemic?

Just just you know, goes away.

Eventually one day or it's with us for the long term and we have to get a you know updated shot like we do the flu shots every year.

I can't answer that, but what I can't answer is regardless of what that looks like, we need to start focusing now on what that future holds and that future is opportunities like remote work, opportunities for advanced manufacturing, opportunities for emerging technology that are consulted on a great job of laying there.

Foundation for and the groundwork.

Now we need to take that next step and recruit those companies.

Recruit those people in here into our state so we continue to grow as a state and we don't end up one of those states who actually lost population during the census of the last 10 years.

This is really, truly a remarkable time for us to be in, and we can lead through this.

Yeah, tab Townsell, not just specific to Central Arkansas, but certainly.

Especially for Central Arkansas, this post pandemic era our recovery, as it were, seems to be fitful.

I think it's a good way of describing it strange times.

Has meant a fitful recovery.

We see some sectors doing very well.

We see other sectors that are still struggling.

We see a job market that is still down below pre pandemic levels.

So it is fitful.

And you know there's winners and losers.

Retail sales you know.

Surprisingly, as opposed to across the country, have done well in Central Arkansas.

So you don't know you, you look at different sectors.

You see different stories.

So fretful is fretful is the proper word for it.

It seemed the recovery thus far seems to have been beneficial mostly for the middle class and above.

Correct, I would, I would think so yes, that seems to be a lot of the job losses that aren't coming back seems to be they haven't come back yet.

Seemed to be in in the lower echelons of our economic system.

Secretary Preston a moment ago we're talking about the opportunities well across statewide.

Apply that if you would.

Where do you see the opportunities in the metropolitan areas?

And again, not just Central Arkansas with the northwest?

Or the northeast.

Certainly that Jonesboro Paragould corridor and Central Arkansas as well.

I think we we see, and certainly in Central Arkansas we are.

We are driven a large part by what I would call secondary industries a lot of times we service the industry statewide.

You know whether it's the accounting sector, the legal sector, the insurance sectors, the banking and financial sectors, we service that financial sector in Central Arkansas has done extremely well.

We are still a growing area.

Although the bloom is off the Rose versus growth rates a decade ago across the board, small cities large cities incorporated unincorporated have all grown recently, just not as much as Northwest Arkansas.

So you play to your strengths.

You go back to those things that have historically done very well.

We will recover in lots of those areas that we struggled with, but we had to patch up what we can in those areas.

We struggled and emphasize those places where we have shown.

Surprising strength, such as the financial sector in fintech, right?

Mr Secretary accepting those pockets of growth that you noted, Jonesboro, maybe Eldorado down that area East and South Arkansas are going to take a hit.

I took a hit in the census.

What's next for them?

What?

What are their options now as you see it in terms of economic development?

Yeah, there's still a lot of economic development opportunities for both of those areas of the state.

I really look at South Arkansas and the strength that they have in the timber industry and that she talked about.

You know certain industries doing well and some you know hurting through the pandemic.

The timber industry is one that has done exceptionally well over the last year or so.

We've seen lumber prices, you know, increased to you know heights we never seen before as a state or as a country, so there's certainly an opportunity there within our our timber and logging industry for us to bounce back.

In South Arkansas, and continue to be a, you know, a destination for folks.

Natural gas resources that we have in in the South part of our state.

Other energy opportunities down there.

E Arkansas.

When you look at the logistics that that speaks to and the transportation and logistics sector.

We've seen such an explosion of e-commerce now throughout the pandemic, there's going to be more and more opportunities for distribution logistic centers in East Arkansas as prime opportunity, prime real estate to take advantage of that.

But we even as we are going to press here, so to speak, the Employment, Security division or Workforce Services Division reported a tenth of 1% decline in our jobless rate.

And nobody would.

Yeah, nobody is unhappy about that.

But I'm also looking at new research here.

Sir reported just this morning that indicates that an early termination of jobless benefits supplemental benefits may have.

While it did compel apparently some employees to return to the workforce, it may in the long term have done more.

Harm than good?

Do you have a response to that?

Do you regret that Arkansas did that?

No, I don't regret that Arkansas did did that.

I think it was the right decision.

I think we did see a spike in new applications and people returning to the workforce when those additional benefits were were terminated.

I think you can look at the numbers themselves to see when we're down to four point.

3% unemployment in our state and we have some 6070 thousand job openings.

We need to get people going back to work.

You know there's other funds that are now available through.

You know the the upfront payment of the child care tax credit, which is becoming a payment.

Other stimulus funds that are really preventing people from wanting or having to go back to work.

Arkansas is not the only state that's seeing it.

Other states are seeing it across the country.

What you need to do.

Make sure that we're getting people back into into the workforce.

We have training funds available, so if it's an upskilling that we're talking about that some of these lower end jobs that went away and aren't coming back, but we have funds available.

If they would just call it apartment of workforce services and start looking for a new job.

We can upskill them into a better job that's going to lead them into a career path, so there's plenty of opportunities.

I think we did make the right decision, and I think in the long term you'll see that that that does play out for itself.

Who knows what the federal government does in the next couple of weeks?

If they implement new benefits or or new rounds of stimulus funding.

But in Arkansas we weather the storm and we're ready to get back to work full scale.

Gotta end it there, gentlemen, because we're simply out of time.

Secretary Preston Tab townsell.

Thanks to both of you for coming in.

Thank you.

Come back soon.

And that's our broadcast for this week.

Thanks very much for joining us.

We'll see you next week.

Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The Arkansas Times and KUARFM 89.