FAA bill includes Little Rock port provision
The version of the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act that passed in the U.S. House on Wednesday evening included a provision aimed at helping the Little Rock Port Authority.
Economic development efforts have been complicated by the location of a navigation aid that sits between two large parcels of Port Authority property.
With the navigation station moved, it would be easier to develop the 464 acres on either side of the device, officials say.
The Senate is expected to take up the legislation as early as this week.
Once the legislation is signed into law, the FAA would have 30 days to brief congressional committees "on the agreement between the FAA and the Little Rock Port Authority to relocate the Little Rock Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range with Collated Tactical Air Control and Navigation."
The navigational equipment is in a remote area between the port and David D. Terry Lock and Dam and southeast of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field.
The omnidirectional technology was developed after World War II and was widely installed in the 1950s, becoming the major navigation system for aircraft in the 1960s.
U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Little Rock, had pushed to include the language in the bill. U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, has championed the proposal in the Senate.
"I am proud of the House for delivering a path for FAA modernization and appreciative that this bill includes my provision to advance the Little Rock Port's effort to bring more economic growth to central Arkansas by freeing up land where the FAA's VOR cone now sits. I am grateful to Senator Boozman for his partnership in ensuring FAA accountability and to see that the Little Rock Port has the opportunity to expand its property to promote economic development and job creation," Hill said in a written statement.
Ashdown principal recognized in D.C.
Arkansas' high school principal of the year was honored in the nation's capital last week in a ceremony at the Willard Hotel and during a speech on Capitol Hill.
Kay York, who oversees Ashdown High School, joined top principals from the other states at the meeting in Washington. In 2010, she was also honored as Arkansas' elementary school principal of the year.
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, a Republican from Hot Springs whose district includes Ashdown, also praised York's accomplishments during a one-minute speech Wednesday on the House floor.
Westerman said York "has dedicated her life to teaching the next generation."
In an interview, York said this is her 39th year in education. In addition to being a principal, she has also served as a teacher, a librarian and a school counselor.
She has worked in Ashdown since 1989.
Ashdown High School has 433 students in grades nine through 12.
While in the capital, York met with Westerman, U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Rogers and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle.
She also sat in on testimony concerning the Every Student Succeeds Act, which helps set the nation's education policies for grades kindergarten-12th grade.
The trip to Washington was rewarding and worthwhile, York said.
"I met so many great principals from around the country that are doing so many innovative things. The professional development that I received was awesome as well as the cultural [opportunities]and the visit with the congressman," she said.
U.S. funds urged for global health
Dr. David Smith, chairman of the Haiti Christian Development Project in Little Rock, traveled to Washington last week to call for continued funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
A cardiologist and a palliative care physician, Smith is a deacon at the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ, according to the group's website.
Smith, who met with U.S. Sen. John Boozman on Wednesday, was part of "a broad range of representatives from the faith community," according to Melany Ethridge of A. Larry Ross Communications.
The global fund received $1.35 billion in federal funding for fiscal 2018.
The organization estimates that it has helped save more than 22 million lives since it was founded in 2002.
Also last week, six Arkansans visited Washington and lobbied for funding for cancer-prevention and treatment efforts.
According to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the Arkansans included: Dr. Aime Franco, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock; Jennifer Clack, an election coordinator in Jonesboro; Blake Pond, the chief of staff/special assistant to the director at the Myeloma Center at UAMS; Susan Rima, director of volunteer services at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs; Travis Montgomery, the cancer network's Arkansas grass-roots manager from Conway; and William Coulter, a Cancer Action Network national board member from Mountain Home.
The visitors met with Boozman, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman and U.S. Rep. French Hill, according to network spokeswoman Adrienne Lynch.
Information for this article was contributed by Noel Oman of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Planning to visit the nation's capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (202) 662-7690 or flockwood@arkansasonline.com. Want the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Washington bureau? It's available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.
SundayMonday on 09/30/2018