Today, April 13, Bentonville voters will be asked to consider a bond extension that would support infrastructure and public safety improvement projects in a special election held by the city.

• Nutshell: The bond extension up for vote will allow infrastructure, public safety, and efficiency improvements without a tax increase, utilizing the continuation of the City one-cent sales tax. This bond extension was previously approved by voters in 2003 and 2007.

• The deets: Voters will be asked to consider a total of nine ballot questions, all needing individual approval. Among these are ​questions concerning street improvements, parks and recreation improvements, public library improvements, public safety radio communication system, fire training facility, police training facility, drainage improvements, refunding bonds, and sales and use tax extension.

• Where you come in: If you're a registered voter in Bentonville, you can cast your vote today from 7:30am to 7:30pm at the Bentonville Church of Christ or First Landmark Baptist Church.

Want to learn more? Listen to the full story on KUAF.

Recent data from Johns Hopkins University showed that Arkansas' number of new coronavirus cases per capita during the past two weeks is now the lowest in the nation. Specifically, Arkansas has about 72.6 new cases per 100,000 residents, ranking lowest in the US.

• Listen to the data talk: The Arkansas Department of Health reported 332,053 total cases since the onset of the pandemic, with 5,661 deaths due to COVID-19. According to the Johns Hopkins data, the average number of deaths in Arkansas over the last two weeks has fallen from 7.7 per day to 3.8.

• Are we out of the woods? No. Arkansas will need to ramp up vaccine distribution in order to reach herd immunity, said Ray Hanley, CEO of The Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care.

• Local news: Benton County has had a total of 28,352 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. Washington County is slightly higher at 30,397 confirmed cases. However, neither county has had a covid related death in the past 3 days.

However, neither county had a covid related death in the past 3 days

Read the full article HERE.

Core Brewing & Distilling of Springdale has just announced the release of its new ready-to-drink craft cocktail, just in time for darty season. From the makers of Scarlett Letter Seltzer, Core Brewing has partnered with Pink House Alchemy to bring 25th State Craft Cocktails to a shelf near you.

• Pick your poison: The 25th State Craft lineup includes The Hotspur (gin-based), the Johnson County (vodka-based) and the Shipwreck (rum-based). Each with its own unique flavor, there's no way you can go wrong.

• 21+: The cocktails will be available in four-packs, coming soon to your local beverage store. For more information, check out the company's instagram or head over to their website.

10 startups have been selected to participate in Plug and Play Northwest Arkansas’ fourth Supply Chain & Logistics Program. Through this program, startups can develop pilot programs and other initiatives with leading companies, including Fortune 500 companies based in Arkansas.

• Plug and what? Plug and Play NWA "combines Silicon Valley's established startup ecosystem with NWA's world-leading corporations to create the ultimate Supply Chain & Logistics innovation ecosystem."

• The 10 companies picked to star in the latest program include: Aanika Biosciences, AVATOUR, Dapster, Elementary Robotics, Fillogic, Shipium, Slip Robotics, Tag N Trac, Tive, and Voxel. During the 12-week program, the selected startups will interact with Arkansas heavy-hitters such as Walmart, J.B. Hunt, Tyson Foods and Georgia Pacific.

• Quote: “Although 2020 was a challenging year, the Plug and Play Innovation Program was able to successfully adapt the way we engage with our startups and corporate partners,” said Farzin Shadpour, Plug and Play Supply Chain managing director. “This has led to the acceleration of several supply chain innovation projects that keep products moving efficiently across the country.”

You can read more HERE.

Fayetteville native, Madison Watkins, made it by judges choice to the round of 12 on American Idol last night.

• Dazzling the judges with her dress and voice and singing Hotline Bling by Drake, Madison impressed the judges enough to be chosen as one of the two contestants to be 'saved' and progress to the next round.

• Madison is set to perform on Sunday night live where the group of 12 will be trimmed down to 9. If you missed her performance last night, you can re-watch it HERE.

Quote: "It's not over 'til it's over" - Madison's mom