Sam Pittman was fired Sunday as Arkansas' head football coach, a day after a 56-13 loss to Notre Dame, the University of Arkansas' athletics department announced.

State of play: Offensive coordinator and former head coach Bobby Petrino will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season, which has seven more scheduled games.

• The leadership change comes as the team is headed for a bye week before playing an away game against the University of Tennessee Volunteers on Oct. 11.
• The Razorbacks also lost to the Ole Miss Rebels and the Memphis Tigers this season.

What they're saying: Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek expressed appreciation to Pittman in a statement, saying, "From Day 1, you could tell how much this opportunity meant to him."

• "At this time, however, I feel a change is necessary to put our student-athletes and program in the best position to be successful," Yurachek said.
• "The goal for our football program is to be highly competitive within the Southeastern Conference and compete for a national championship."

Flashback: Pittman was hired in December 2019, and Petrino was hired in November 2023, following a rough season for the Razorbacks.

• Petrino was fired in 2012 as head coach after hiring a woman with whom he was in a romantic relationship, which came to light after an infamous motorcycle accident with her as the passenger.

What's next: Arkansas will immediately begin a national search for its next head coach, and "that search will include Coach Petrino, who has expressed his desire to be a candidate for the full-time job," Yurachek said in his statement.

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Coffee prices rose in almost every U.S. state, including Arkansas, over the last year, per new Toast data shared with Axios.

Why it matters: Coffee is among many commodities affected both by general inflation and the Trump administration's import tariffs.

• Coffee plants are also vulnerable to extreme weather conditions associated with climate change, including droughts and heatwaves.

By the numbers: The median price of a regular cup of coffee in Arkansas was $3.17 in August, a 5.9% increase from August 2024.

Driving the news: The median nationwide cost of a regular coffee hit $3.52 this past August, Toast says, up 2.9% from the same time last year.

• The median cold brew cost rose to $5.47, a 4.6% increase.
• That's compared to general inflation of about 2.9% over the period.

Zoom in: Hot coffee prices rose the most in South Carolina (+9.6%), Nevada (+9%) and Florida (+8.3%).

• They stayed flat in a handful of states, including Idaho, Indiana, Montana and Pennsylvania.

How it works: These prices are based on restaurants that use Toast's point-of-sale technology.

What's next: The Trump administration recently opened the door to lower tariffs on coffee and more, Axios' Ben Berkowitz reports — but that's dependent on dealmaking with other countries.

New litmus test for determining where someone lives: Does coconut coffee creamer sound good or gross?

Why it matters: Instacart's data on the most uniquely popular coffee creamers by state tells a story of regional flavor preferences.

By the numbers: Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Alaska and Hawaii are into the coconut flavor.

• The Carolinas and Virginias prefer the sweet cream variety.
• And Massachusetts digs into coffee cake creamer.

Between the lines: The most uniquely popular creamers were identified by calculating the share of orders for a flavor in each state and comparing it to the national number of orders for that specific flavor.

Yes, but: If you just ranked the top flavored creamers by state, it's vanilla across the map.

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🏗️ Walmart plans to start construction on a supercenter in Centerton in the spring. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

🩺 A new clinic dedicated to treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) recently opened at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville. (Northwest Arkansas Business Journal)

🗳️ Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders changed the date of the general election to fill the vacant District 26 Senate seat from November 2026 to June 2026 after pushback from members of the Republican Party. (Arkansas Advocate)

Knowledge is power, and we believe in empowering our community through reliable, local journalism.

Join our Axios Northwest Arkansas membership with contributions starting at $25 a year, and you can support our efforts to keep you in the know of what's happening around town.

Together, we can ensure our neighbors stay informed.

Loma is in a Rogers building I often visit, but I didn't know it was there until recently because it's on the third floor.

• Also, I'm usually only in the area during the day and Loma just recently started lunch service, so it makes sense that it wasn't on the food review radar.

The food: The server recommended the crispy stuffed avocado ($9) as a unique and light option.

• It's two halves battered and deep-fried, topped with a ranchero sauce.
• Meat is optional, so I added steak ($9, for a total of $18) for the protein.

The verdict: This looked like a mess, but you know what they say about books and covers — it sometimes applies to food as well.

• There was a lot of sauce, which reduced the "crispy" part of the dish, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.
• The steak was slightly rare, lean and delicious with the savory sauce. The avocado added richness and variety of texture.

The setup: It was an incredible lunch, but there's so much more to explore on this menu. I can't wait to go back, probably for a relaxed evening meal on the rooftop patio.

• The spot is elegant and perfect for date night.

Reality check: I told the server that this was not what I considered "light," but it was a good recommendation.

Stop by: Serving 11am–3pm and 5–9pm Monday–Thursday; 11am–3pm and 5–10pm Friday and Saturday at 5102 W. Pauline Whitaker Parkway, Suite 315 in Rogers.

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