Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette NWA Democrat-Gazette

In this week’s Know the News podcast, we look at the impact of the May 26 storms in Northwest Arkansas.
Podcast host Chris Swindle speaks with National Weather Service meteorologist Craig Sullivan, Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman, Benton County Judge Barry Moehring and NWA Democrat-Gazette reporter Tracy Neal.
Two Benton County residents who are working to assess and clean up damage to property also speak about what they experienced and what comes next.

In this week’s Know the News segment, host Greg Harton is joined by Tom Jenkins, who retired as fire chief in Rogers last year after 15 years in the role. We discuss risks and the firefighting challenges involved in the increasing use of lithium-ion batteries for everything from cell phones and yard tools to the small but growing segment of electric vehicles. Emergency responders in Northwest Arkansas are modifying how they fight vehicle fires, for example, because of the reaction batteries can have to heat.
 
The podcast also features previews of stories coming up during the Memorial Day weekend in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette and in the River Valley.

The Arkansas Legislature just wrapped up its 2024 fiscal session.
On this week’s edition of the Know the News podcast, we talk to a few Northwest Arkansas legislators — Sen. Joshua Bryant, R-Rogers; and state Reps. Denise Garner, D-Fayetteville; and Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs — for their takes on what happened during the session.

Elizabeth Forester was not expected to live past her first day when she was born 22 weeks into her mother’s pregnancy. The now 20-year-old Forester — a nonverbal quadriplegic — will be among this year’s class of special education students graduating from Bentonville High School next week.
Pam MacDade, Forester’s mother, tells us about how Forester made it to this point on this week’s edition of the Know the News podcast.

In this episode of the Know the News podcast, host Greg Harton speaks with Jennifer Price, executive director of the Washington County Election Commission, on the issue of security related to elections and voting machines.
As mentioned in the podcast, the election commission’s meetings are available for the public on its YouTube channel.
Information about Washington County elections is available at votewashco.com.
Registered voters can also check their registration information and see which wards and districts they are in by visiting https://www.voterview.org.

On today's "Know the News," Arts Editor Becca Martin-Brown chats with Barry Cobbs, founder of the Rogers Short Film Festival, about this year's event and why short films are such a great portal to filmmaking.