By Andrew DeMillo | Editor-in-Chief
Good morning, Advocate readers! The debate over data centers in Arkansas keeps growing, and so has the list of the communities looking at pausing them. We check in on the latest developments on what’s emerging as a top issue this election year. And the editor’s commentary this week looks at how Arkansas once led the way on childhood vaccinations. You can find more Arkansas government and politics at the Advocate site here.
And be sure to catch Deputy Editor Antoinette Grajeda discuss the top issues in the Arkansas governor’s race with 5News.
A crane and the beginnings of a data center in Clarksville, Arkansas on July 13, 2026. (Photo by Ainsley Platt/Arkansas Advocate)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By Ainsley Platt
The number of Arkansas communities rejecting or imposing new limits on data centers is growing faster than the list of places considering such projects publicly.
Vials of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are displayed on a counter at a Walgreens Pharmacy on Jan. 26, 2015 in Mill Valley, California. (Photo by Illustration Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Andrew DeMillo
History shows that Arkansas can be a leader on vaccinations and in battling misinformation about them.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled earlier this month that the state of Idaho cannot regulate abortion when a pregnancy threatens a person’s physical or mental health. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador has appealed the decision. (Otto Kitsinger for the Idaho Capital Sun)
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
By DC Bureau
A federal court ruling out of Idaho has potential implications for exceptions in abortion bans nationwide and could eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide.
MORE NEWS
As temperatures get hotter, pesticides are more dangerous to farmworkers | Inside Climate News
USDA wants to revive the cotton industry. Experts aren’t sure that’s possible. | Investigate Midwest
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