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Warmer weather will bring live music outside.

Here's a concert update with shows that have been announced for the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion this summer:

The College Board on Wednesday released the curriculum for its new Advanced Placement African American Studies course, excluding some of the content that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) had criticized in recent weeks.

Driving the news: Before the revisions were announced, Arkansas' Division of Elementary and Secondary Education asked the board for information about course content — a reaction to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' executive order to "prohibit indoctrination and critical race theory" in the state's public schools.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) is set to deliver the Republican response to President Biden's State of the Union next Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced.

Driving the news: McCarthy on Thursday touted Sanders as "fighting on behalf of parents, small businesses, and ordinary taxpayers" in his announcement.

Benefits for workers at two of Northwest Arkansas' largest employers are growing more generous.

The latest: Springdale-based Tyson Foods publicly announced Tuesday that the company began offering eight weeks of paid leave starting Jan. 1 to new mothers and two weeks of paid leave to employees whose spouses or partners recently gave birth.

The Biden administration is weighing a possible public health emergency declaration that would free up resources to help people access abortions, including in Arkansas, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez writes.

State of play: Abortion is illegal in Arkansas except in cases to save a pregnant person's life, to treat ectopic pregnancies or to remove a fetus with no heartbeat.

The state's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education is seeking information about the content of an Advanced Placement course on African American studies, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

• The class is being piloted in 60 U.S. high schools, including two in Arkansas.

U.S. Sen. John Boozman hopes to champion passage of a farm bill this year, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

• The Arkansas Republican is the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.

If "learn something new" was on your list of New Year's resolutions but you're not sure how to start or are feeling discouraged with February on the horizon, here are a few ideas:

Bicycle maintenance — Novice cyclists who want to learn more about bike upkeep can check out workshops at Northwest Arkansas Community College.