Phillip Powell

1 month ago | cityfarmer.info | Phillip Powell |Michael Levenston

“I come from a bloodline of sharecroppers,” El-Bey said. “As far as I can remember I was chopping cotton, harvesting peas, selling watermelons, whatever. It’s an agriculture town, a sharecropping town where I’m from.”By Phillip PowellArkansas TimesMarch 14, 2025Excerpt:On a small plot in south Little Rock that was once a junkyard, chef Margie Raimondo leans on her Italian heritage to shape the mission of her nonprofit urban farm, Urbana Farmstead.

Jan 29, 2025 | arktimes.com | Benjamin Hardy |Phillip Powell

A bill to advance the Arkansas “Raw Milk Revolution” cleared the House agriculture committee with unanimous support Wednesday. Several members of the public praised House Bill 1048, Rep. Cameron Cooper’s (R-Romance) bill to increase access to raw, unpasteurized dairy products. Even before public testimony began, Rep. Denise Garner (D-Fayetteville) made a motion to pass Cooper’s bill.

Jan 3, 2025 | arktimes.com | Phillip Powell

In its upcoming 2025 session, state lawmakers will be considering legislation that would place more regulations on cryptocurrency mining operations across the state. Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest) has submitted a bill that would regulate the environmental footprint of the energy-intensive data centers that are used to mine cryptocurrency. Such operations have been opening up across the country, including in more rural states, like Arkansas.

Dec 31, 2024 | arktimes.com | Phillip Powell

Southern Arkansas University has received a grant of $2.75 million to develop workforce training and a “talent pipeline” for Arkansas’s nascent lithium industry. SAU said it would use the funding “build avenues for individuals to enter the workforce directly upon leaving high school, provide re-skilling/up-skilling, and create routes to enter degree programs,” through their LiTHIUMLEARNS program.

Dec 25, 2024 | arktimes.com | Phillip Powell

Merry Christmas Open Liners! Post your favorite Christmas memory and the best story of 2024 down below. Give us some reason to hope people! Phillip Powell writes about agriculture and the environment for Arkansas Times as a Report for America Corps Member.