City Council to meet, address tax
The Pine Bluff City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Detective Kevin Collins Center at the Civic Center, at 200 E. Eighth Ave. The agenda includes a proposed ordinance calling a special election for a one percent sales and use tax, up for the first reading.
The agenda also includes the second reading of a proposed ordinance to abolish the Urban Renewal Agency and second reading of a proposed ordinance changing the classification of personnel within the Police Department.
For the full agenda and other details, visit https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yfr6M80icyW2hcQWDB5yMnm90YpLCg0u/view?usp=sharing.
UAPB alumni set virtual town hall
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff/AM&N National Alumni Association will host a Virtual Alumni Town Hall Meeting, where Chancellor Anthony Graham and members the executive cabinet will share updates, answer questions, and provide space for open dialogue for topics discussed on the call.
The virtual town hall will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 3 via Zoom and alumni are invited to participate.
“During the Town Hall, we will discuss key initiatives, upcoming events, and opportunities to stay engaged. This is also your chance to share feedback, ask questions, and hear directly from our university’s senior leadership team. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us. Your participation strengthens our alumni community and ensures we continue moving forward together,” according to the news release.
To register to attend, visit https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ZeFdwtBFRpqZxLVnEr83cg#/registration.
Tanesha Thompson is president of the UAPB/AM&N National Alumni Association.
Area Agency tells menu
Area Agency on Aging of Southeast Arkansas offers lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays at the senior centers. Next week’s menu includes:
Dec. 1 — Chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, carrots, peaches and milk.
Dec. 2 — Ham with pineapple sauce, yams, green beans, roll, pie and milk.
Dec. 3 — Chili cheese coney dog, coleslaw with grated carrots, fruit, cookie and milk.
Dec. 4 — Loaded baked potato with meat, cheese, and vegetables, roasted Brussels sprouts, peanut butter silk pie and milk.
Dec. 5 — Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, pears and milk.
Game & Fish reports trout shortage
Winter trout stockings for Family and Community Fishing Locations will see a shortened season this year after recent losses in trout production at two of the three publicly owned coldwater fish hatcheries in Arkansas earlier this year.
Although the total trout available has been reduced, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission staff is committed to delivering trout for the Christmas holiday to all FCFP locations that traditionally see the winter bonus fishing opportunity, according to a news release.
Spring floods wreaked havoc at the Jim Hinkle Spring River State Fish Hatchery in Mammoth Spring, damaging equipment and infrastructure and washing many trout out of the raceways before they had a chance to grow to catchable size. During October, additional setbacks at Norfork National Fish Hatchery caused it to lose up to 80 percent of its rainbow trout stock, resulting in the commission redistributing trout planned for other locations around the state to be used in the Beaver, Norfork and Bull Shoals tailwaters. Emergency regulations were also placed on many trout-fishing destinations to enable the stocked trout and high-quality fishing experiences they provide to last longer.
“Instead of having no trout available for three of our most popular fishing destinations in the north half of the state, we needed to adjust stocking rates at all of our fishing locations, but that also comes with the price tag of having to share the burden across the state,” Christy Graham, Game and Fish Trout Program coordinator, said.
With less than a quarter of the typical supply available for the winter, FCFP staff decided the best course of action was to stock all of the program ponds that normally receive winter trout one time in December instead of stocking multiple times at only a few locations.
“We know some locations are more popular than others, but the idea of the trout stockings is to give people across the state the opportunity to catch a trout while the water temperature will let those fish live,” Clint Coleman, FCFP assistant coordinator, said. “With only about 13,500 rainbow trout to distribute, we need to wait until the week before Christmas to make sure the fish are in ponds and hungry right when people are out of school or have taken off work for the holidays, so they are more apt to enjoy a trip or two this winter.”
Once stocked in December, rainbow trout will be available for harvest at 38 of the 50 FCFP locations, and anglers will be allowed to keep up to five trout per day.
Visit www.agfc.com/familyfishing for more information and to see a list of stocked locations throughout the state.