Arkansas launches community grant program
Why it matters: The program is designed to fill funding gaps for "projects that fight childhood food insecurity, address unemployment, promote education, offer resources for victims of crime, and provide housing, nutrition or emergency services to promote self-sufficiency," according to a news release Monday announcing the effort.
State of play: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will ask the Arkansas Legislative Council for $15 million to fund it, but it's not yet listed on the council's agenda.
Eligible community-based nonprofits will be able to apply for up to $1.5 million per year.
Yes, but: Applicants will be required to match grant awards with cash, in-kind labor or in-kind land.
What they're saying:"If we're going to help every corner of our state thrive, then the effort is going to come from the bottom up – not just from the top down," Sanders said in the news release.
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41-year-old American lives on $3,633 a month in France: 'I wish I had the courage to move sooner'
When Adriel Sanders first visited Paris in 2017, she immediately felt at home, she says. "It instantly clicked. I was like, 'This is your home. This is where you're supposed to be in the world and this is where you will always be. I knew I had to move to Paris," Sanders tells CNBC Make It. Sanders returned to Paris several times while continuing to work as a general counsel for a publicly traded company in Washington, D.C. At the time, she was earning $286,656 a year and lived in a studio apartment where she paid approximately $3,000 a month in rent, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. "I didn't enjoy the work and the expectation to work all the time and I will probably be one of the only attorneys who says it, but I don't think it's that intellectually stimulating," Sanders says. "I was deeply and truly miserable at the very depths of my little heart and little soul. I knew that it was not sustainable." Three years after that initial trip to Paris, Sanders quit her job, broke her lease and started the process of obtaining a French visa. She landed in the city the day before France closed its borders due to the covid-19 pandemic. "The slowness of the world meant that France sped up. We were all operating from the same level of confusion, so the good thing is that I was confused by what was happening, but so was everyone else," Sanders says. "I arrived the day before the lockdown, so there was no one and it was a complete dystopia." When Sanders first moved, she lived in a few short-term rentals before signing a lease for a one-bedroom apartment. She paid 1,550 euros or $1,815 USD and lived in it for two years. Since moving out of that apartment, Sanders has been living in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment where she pays $2,540 USD a month in rent. 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She started looking two years ago, but stopped after touring many places that she felt were overpriced. "With the advice of friends who have recently purchased in Paris, I am determined again. Finding the right place will be a grind, but I am tired of renting in Paris," Sanders says. I desperately need more space and I want to get a dog." While Sanders wants to set down roots in Paris, she also hopes to eventually buy a home in the countryside too. "I don't think it would be nice to put a dog like a golden retriever in central Paris, where he doesn't have a backyard, so that is my dream," she says. Living in France has also inspired Sanders to finally pursue her real dreams of starting her own fashion brand, Adriel Felise. Sanders says she's taking $200,000 from her business account and $70,000 from her personal savings and putting that towards her new business venture. That money and her income from content creation is helping fund her dreams. "I love fashion and I'm so happy that I can now just say that and be upfront about it because for so long it was treated as something that made me less serious," she says. Sanders is self-funding the production of her initial samples and prototypes, but hopes to raise at least $2 million and have her 10-piece collection ready for launch in 2026. When Sanders was working as a lawyer, she used to take walks around her office building and dream about starting a fashion line, and now seeing it come to life still doesn't feel real. "There's still a part of me that strives and pushes for more so I don't know if I'm fully ready to say I'm proud but I feel like I'm actually happy, which I wasn't for so long and that's huge for me," she says. "My goal and desire is to inspire women — particularly black and brown women — to just pursue their dreams and goals. When they do it does not matter. The most important thing is that they be bold, move wisely, and just go for it." 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'I Know It's A Radical Idea,' Says Bernie Sanders, 'But We Need A Government That Represents Working Families, Not Billionaires'
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Axios
2 days ago
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Judge blocks Arkansas Ten Commandments law in 4 NWA school districts
Editor's note: The headline, URL and content of this story were corrected to reflect that the judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect in four districts (not in the entire state). A federal judge Aug. 4 temporarily blocked in four school districts an Arkansas law that now requires public school classrooms to prominently display the Ten Commandments. Why it matters: Some supporters of the change see the Ten Commandments as a historical document that helped shape U.S. law, but the plaintiffs in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Springdale and Siloam Springs argue that displaying the document in public schools infringes on their constitutional right to freedom of religion. State of play: Arkansas Act 573, passed by the state Legislature this year and signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, requires that every "public institution of higher education and elementary and secondary school library and classroom in the state" prominently display a copy of the "historical representation of the Ten Commandments." The posters areto be at least 16 inches by 20 inches and in a legible typeface. All copies are to be donated or purchased through private funds, but if a donated copy doesn't meet the requirements, the school can replace it using public funds. The big picture: In his ruling, U.S. Western District of Arkansas Judge Timothy Brooks cited similar laws in nearby Louisiana and Texas. The Louisiana law has been declared unconstitutional, and the Texas law is being challenged, though a ruling hasn't yet been declared. Oklahoma's state superintendent issued guidelines last year that every classroom have a copy of the Bible and the Ten Commandments and that teachers should include the documents in the curriculum. The guidance is being challenged. At least 15 other states had proposed some form of the law as of February. What they're saying: "Forty-five years ago, the Supreme Court struck down a Ten Commandments law nearly identical to the one the Arkansas General Assembly passed earlier this year. That precedent remains binding on this Court and renders Arkansas Act 573 plainly unconstitutional," Brooks wrote in the ruling. "Why would Arkansas pass an obviously unconstitutional law? Most likely because the State is part of a coordinated strategy among several states to inject Christian religious doctrine into public-school classrooms." The other side: "In Arkansas, we do in fact believe that murder is wrong and stealing is bad. It is entirely appropriate to display the Ten Commandments — the basis of all Western law and morality — as a reminder to students, state employees, and every Arkansan who enters a government building," Sanders said in a statement emailed to Axios. Several state lawmakers sponsoring the bill did not immediately respond to Axios' inquiries.
