Advocates are pushing to make permanent a temporary pandemic food benefit program that provides free or price-reduced lunch for kids.

Why it matters: Roughly 15% of kids in NWA are food insecure, according to Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. This has long-term negative effects on their health, including iron deficiency, neurological problems, poorer performance in school and anxiety.

The backdrop: The Pandemic EBT program was created last March to provide families whose kids receive free or price-reduced lunch with extra money for groceries while schools were closed due to COVID-19.

• President Biden's American Rescue Plan extended the benefits through this summer when those lunch programs typically take a hiatus.

Now Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families plans to push Congress to make the essentially year-round program permanent, said Laura Kellams, Northwest Arkansas director.

• Kellams says the debit-like EBT cards issued during the pandemic give families more flexibility to feed their kids, plus don't require them to find transportation to summer feeding programs when school's out.
• Families are also eligible regardless of whether they receive SNAP benefits, which Kellams says is important for reaching immigrant families, including many Marshallese residents in NWA.

Of note: The Arkansas Department of Human Services does not yet have a timeline for when families will receive this summer's benefits, spokesperson Amy Webb tells Axios.

• "Last year, it was really hard to get it to everyone who needed it," Kellams says. "We're really concerned and want to make sure families know this is coming in."

Resources: If you need help or would like to learn how to lend a hand, check out the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank or the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

• Also, some school districts offer free meals to anyone 18 or younger in various locations throughout the summer.

An expected group of 120 policymakers, community leaders and bicycle advocates will gather in Bentonville today for a summit focused solely on bike safety.

Why it matters: An expanding bike culture here coupled with our ever-growing motor traffic means drivers have to make more split-second life and death decisions.

What's happening: Arkansas Good Roads Foundation is hosting the day-long, invitation-only event.

• Speakers include Rachael Maney, national director of Bike Law, and Kimberly Mundell of Sherwood, whose husband died as a result of a bike-car crash in 2019.
• Executive director of the foundation, Joe Quinn, tells Axios these types of conversations are critical to raising awareness, educating the community and creating good policy.

One of the issues: There's no consistency in reporting cycling-related incidents, so there's a lack of good data that could show the breadth of the problem.

• The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's database indicates 42 of 53 reported bike-car crashes in Arkansas resulted in fatalities between 2010 and 2019.
• More than 7,700 cyclists died in that period across the U.S.
• Experts believe the numbers across the board are likely higher.

The bottom line: Both Maney and Quinn tell Axios they hope the summit will lead the various municipalities in NWA to take common approaches to safety, like signage and road construction.

Of note: Outside magazine maintains a website dedicated to the cycling deaths with its own estimates.

McClard's Bar-B-Q is open in Rogers.

Context: A Hot Springs institution since 1928, the restaurant sold last May and is for the first time in its history controlled by people who aren't part of the McClard family.

A Little Rock food truck that opened in November was its first-ever expansion.

Now the Rogers location offers an expanded menu that includes wings, salads (salads?!) and loaded cheese fries, while still offering the famous tamale spread.

Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 11am-10pm, Sunday 11am-9pm.

The University of Arkansas is cautiously reopening its study abroad programs after taking a hiatus because of the pandemic, Sarah Malloy, study abroad director, tells Axios.

What's happening: The university has reopened its Rome Center to 40% capacity. Thirty UA students will study there this summer, while most of the other study abroad students will be in Spain or the UK.

UA expects to send about 100 students abroad this summer, compared to about 1,200 in summer 2019.

• The university considered countries' COVID-19 vaccination rates in determining where to reopen.

Why it matters: Studying abroad gives young adults a chance to learn about other cultures. The university typically encourages students to study abroad and offers a diverse range of programs all over the world.

Flashback: UA began canceling some study abroad trips in January 2020 before canceling all of them last summer.

• Of note: The Office of Study Abroad ramped up remote international internship programs in 2020 in an effort to expose students to other cultures and give them experience in the global workforce, Malloy says.

With the finishing touches on the mural at 326 Holcomb St., a series of seven murals in downtown Springdale is now complete.

The Downtown Springdale Alliance launched an incentive program to help create the murals in December. The Walton Family Foundation provided financial support through matching grants with building owners.

Why it matters: Murals improve overall aesthetics, give local artists exposure and potentially attract tourism.

Keep an eye out: The Alliance will sell T-shirts of each mural on its website sometime in early June. But only for 10 days.

• The proceeds will be split between the artists and the Alliance.
• A reception to celebrate the artists — and pick up your limited-edition shirt — is set for June 24 at Walter Turnbow Park, downtown.