Axios Northwest Arkansas

Springdale, Bentonville and Rogers city councils meet tonight. Here's what you need to know.

Springdale will consider becoming a member of the Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange (CACHE), the arts nonprofit arm of the Northwest Arkansas Council intended to be a regional resource for the arts.

• Details: If approved, the city will pay $26,440 for a one-year membership, according to city documents. The membership includes access to resources such as consulting services for improving community arts and help with fundraising.
• Context: The city of Rogers, which has made strides in ramping up arts and culture over the past few years, also has a membership with CACHE.

Springdale will also decide whether to issue $10.2 million in bonds to Today's Power, Inc. to help finance the construction of a solar energy project.

• Context: Today's Power is owned by the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas and wants to develop a solar project for the Springdale school district next to Sonora Middle School.

Bentonville will decide whether to support putting in an art installation at Train Station Park.

• Details: A rendering of the work, "Found" by Tim Jorgensen, shows letters spelling "Bentonville" piled on top of each other. The project will cost the city $35,000 for production, installation and the artist's fee.

Rogers will vote to replace a traffic signal at the intersection of West Hudson Road and North Second Street that was lost in an accident in January.

• Details: The contract with All Services Electric, Inc. could be up to $51,144.

Go to the meetings: Springdale at 6pm at the new criminal justice building on Spring Street; Bentonville at 6pm at the Community Development building on Southwest A St.; Rogers at 6:30pm at City Hall on West Chestnut Street.

Alex, here. I've scouted out NWA's newest Italian restaurant, Isabellas Italian in Fayetteville, that opened last week.

Background: This upscale, dinner-only restaurant is the latest project by Todd and Nickki Golden, who own Mermaids and TJ's Sandwich Shop in Fayetteville.

What it is: They definitely had some fun putting this menu together. With the exception of a few familiar classics like lasagna and chicken parmesan, it's not exactly basic Italian.

• Instead, you can find dishes like veal Isabella — a roasted veal New York strip served with grilled eggplant, portobello mushrooms, fontina cheese, port wine marinara, roasted red peppers and Kalamata olives.

What to order: The orecchiette — spicy sausage, mushrooms and red peppers in a white sauce.

• And for you cheese-lovers, the beggars' purses dish is a ricotta-and-mozzarella-stuffed pasta that does not disappoint.

Of note: Even though there's no cocktail or dessert menu, they've got 'em. Just ask.

Where and when: It's open 5–8:30pm Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 5–9pm Friday and Saturday at 908 E. Rolling Hills Drive in Fayetteville.

Today is the deadline for the U.S. attorney general to join a lawsuit that challenges Arkansas' redrawn legislative districts, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports.

What's happening: U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky ruled last week that the suit, which claims the redrawn legislative districts dilute Black voting power in the state, should be dismissed.

"After a thorough analysis of the text and structure of the Voting Rights Act, and a painstaking journey through relevant case law, the Court has concluded that this case may be brought only by the Attorney General of the United States," Rudofsky wrote in the ruling.

• He left a window of five calendar days for the federal Justice Department to join the case before it is officially dismissed.

Why it matters: If the Arkansas Board of Apportionment's new map remains intact, it will impact the representation of residents in the Arkansas General Assembly for the next decade.

Flashback: The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed the suit at the end of December on behalf of the state's conference of the NAACP against the Arkansas Board of Apportionment.

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🏳️‍🌈 NWA Fashion Week on March 10–12 will feature 17 trans, nonbinary, and intersex models wearing clothing from The Transition Closet this year. (KFSM-TV)

🏥 After serving as interim CEO since October, Jose Echavarria has been named to lead Northwest Medical Center in Springdale. (Arkansas Business)

👩‍⚕️ Many Arkansas pharmacies are understaffed, causing delays in filling prescriptions for some residents. Walgreens said it has reduced hours in 43 of its 73 pharmacies in the state. (KWNA-TV)

🏀 The Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team jumped five spots and is now ranked No. 18 on the Associated Press poll, following a 76-57 win against Missouri University last week. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

🎨 The Fayetteville Arts Council has selected four finalists in the public call to design two murals on the retaining wall along Archibald Yell Boulevard. (Fayetteville Flyer)

💸 The state's anticipated $500 million budget surplus has grown greener due to taxes on pot sales.

What's happening: Total tax collections on medical marijuana in January were $2.84 million, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration reports. January was up almost 17% from December.

Why it matters: Arkansas has collected more than $60 million in taxes from medical marijuana sales since mid-2019 when it became legal.

• NWA's five dispensaries account for 23% (more than 865 pounds) of the total 3,731 pounds of pot sold in the state during January.

Context: Arkansas collects 10.5% of pot sales purchased for medicinal reasons.

• A 6.5% state tax goes to general revenue and state government.
• A 4% privilege tax goes to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, specifically for the establishment of a National Cancer Institute.
• Both taxes apply to every purchase. The privilege tax also applies to sales from growers to dispensaries.