Bernie Sanders discusses better pay at Walmart meeting
BENTONVILLE — Walmart executives spent a majority of time during the no-frills shareholder business meeting touting progress made in raising worker wages more than 50 percent and the $4.5 billion in additional pay to hourly workers in the past four years. The gathering was held amidst a group of anti- Walmart protestors gathered outside the John Q. Hammons Center last Wednesday.
The big attraction of the meeting was the attendance of U.S. Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who read a proposal from United For Respect, a shareholder group asking Walmart to consider a $15 starting wage and allowing an hourly worker a seat on the retailer’s board of directors.
Walmart Board Chairman Greg Penner welcomed Sanders to the event saying, “We are always honored when a member of Congress takes the time to join us.” A short video showed ahead of the meeting also touted the company’s effort to raise wages, expand benefits and the $1 per day college degree program that 7,500 employees have joined.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon also welcomed Sanders to the business meeting attended by about 200 people. He said Walmart will continue to invest in its people and technology because without it the retailer would likely perish.
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LITTLE ROCK — A man who was found unresponsive after tubing with his family on the Buffalo River later died, park officials reported Thursday.
Melvin Doyle Perkins, 67, of West Orange, Texas, had tubed along the river from Dillard’s Ferry to Buffalo Point on Wednesday, according to a news release. He got out of the river about 1:30 p.m. to cool off, while his family stayed.
When his family left the river, they found Perkins unresponsive, the release says.
National Park Service rangers and medics treated Perkins at the scene but he was later pronounced dead. His cause of death was not reported.
Temperatures in the area were reported to be in the 80s with high humidity. Floating conditions were moderate.
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Chronic Wasting Disease still a threat to Arkansas deer
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has expanded the Chronic Wasting Disease Management Zone to include Baxter, Scott and Stone counties following the confirmation of CWD-positive deer in or near these counties.
AGFC biologists identified 241 new positive cases of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer and five elk during the 2018-19 deer hunting season. Among these were positive cases on the northern edge of Scott County and the eastern edge of Searcy County.
“As we continue to learn about CWD in Arkansas and determine the outer edge of the disease, we have to adjust our management zone’s boundaries in an effort to help contain the disease and slow its spread,” said Cory Gray, chief of the AGFC’s Research, Evaluation and Compliance Division. “Supplemental feeding and baiting of wildlife concentrates animals in close quarters, which increases the frequency of direct contact between animals and increases the chances of disease transmission.”
Food plots may be used year-round in the CWD Management Zone as they do not concentrate deer in such close quarters as feeders, salt licks or bait piles. Certain baits also may be used for trapping and bear hunting purposes, with bear baiting allowed from 30 days before bear season opens until the end of bear season.
Bear baits may only be dog food, cat food, pastries/bread, grease, non-wildlife meat scraps, popped popcorn, fish and fish byproducts. Exceptions to this feeding and baiting rule include Incidental feeding from active livestock or normal agricultural operations as well as feeding birds and squirrels with common bird feeders and squirrel feeders.
