More than 500 Arkansas National Guard members will go to Louisiana between today and tomorrow to help those affected by Hurricane Ida, the state’s National Guard spokesperson Bob Oldham tells Axios.

What's happening: Louisiana requested Arkansas' help, Oldham says. Gov. Asa Hutchinson approved an initial deployment of 575 National Guard members, his spokesperson Shealyn Sowers tells Axios.

• Sowers said Monday that 40 civilians were on the way to help with search and rescue efforts, and two emergency management planners were already in Louisiana working as liaisons between the states and coordinating emergency response.

Details: National Guard members of the 142nd Field Artillery Brigade (most of whom live in NWA) will assist with high-water vehicle recovery to help people who are stranded because of floods to safety.

• Members of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (who live across the state) will assist with route clearance, such as removing trees and debris from roads, Oldham says.
• National Guard members may also help with traffic control.

Context: Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana Sunday, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

• This latest storm, among the strongest hurricanes to strike Louisiana, still has many residents without power, some unaccounted for and evacuees unable to return home.

Read more.

Fayetteville wants to replace its traditional parking meters with "smart" meters and hike metered parking prices.

What's happening: The city is proposing that 275 single-space, coin-operated meters in downtown Fayetteville be replaced with seven pay stations where you enter your license plate number and can pay by credit card.

Details: To cover the cost of operating the new machines (software, transaction fees, etc.), the fee for long-term spaces would increase from 15 cents to 25 cents an hour, and all other spaces would jump from 25 cents to 50 cents per hour.

What's next: The city council will discuss the issue at today's meeting, but likely won’t vote until at least next week. The meeting is at 4:30pm at City Hall. You can also register here to watch online.

A living wage for a single adult with no children in Northwest Arkansas is $13.76 an hour, according to MIT's Living Wage Calculator, updated earlier this year.

• The hourly rate needed for a living wage is $31.15 if that adult has just one child — a 126% increase. That's just under $65,000 per year.

Context: Creators define each geographic area's living wage based on a family's minimum food, child care, health care, insurance, housing, transportation and basic needs costs.

By the numbers: The minimum wage in Arkansas is $11 per hour, roughly $22,880 a year before taxes.

• The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, about $15,000 a year.

Driving the news: Prices for consumer goods keep climbing (up 5.4% in the past year, according to Bloomberg), along with housing prices, which jumped 8.5% in NWA this past year, according to Realtor.com.

• Minimum wage increases aren't keeping up. The last federal minimum wage hike was in 2009.
• Following Arkansas' raise to $11 per hour from $10 on Jan. 1, there are no plans to raise the state minimum wage further.

What he's saying: Rep. Steve Womack recently told the Siloam Springs Herald-Leader that it's unlikely the legislature will pass a federal $15 an hour minimum wage.

A new academic and athletic complex is coming to Fayetteville High School, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

Details: A student wellness and academic center will include a football field house (replacing one south of Harmon Field), locker rooms for football, soccer and cross country teams. The facility will also be equipped with technology to teach broadcasting and materials for sports medicine instruction.

• The Bulldog Teams Center will feature space for cheer and dance practice, batting cages for baseball and softball, and storage space for a marching band and color guard, the NWA Democrat-Gazette reports.

By the numbers: The cost of the project remains TBD, but it's part of the $111 million bond restructuring for facility improvements and construction that voters supported in 2020.

What's next: The school district expects to break ground on the project this December, Steve Janski, district director of athletics, told the newspaper.

👋 Worth here. As a short person, I had to laugh at this video of Arkansas Razorback head men's basketball coach Eric Musselman reaching for the paper in Connor Vanover's hand.

• Vanover is 7 feet, 3 inches tall.
• Musselman is 5 feet, 7 inches tall (same as me).

⛹️‍♂️ ICYMI: There's a follow-up video where Davonte Davis saves the day for coach Muss.