Earth Day is a day where we recognize how awesome our little corner of the universe is and demonstrate support for environmental protections and conservation. If you want to get in the spirit, here are a few fun Earth Day themed tidbits for your entertainment:

• The Trust for Public Land has a 2020 park score index to tell you how 'park friendly' your city or town might be, which includes % of population within a 10 min walk of a park, % of city land used for parks space, and how the city might consider expanding their green-space footprint. How did your town rank?

• Bentonville: 36% of residents live within a 10 min walk of a park
• Rogers: 33%
• Springdale: 15%
• Fayetteville: 53%

Google Earth recently released a timelapse component to their aerial views where the viewer can see the physical development and expansion of cities in real time. HERE is a time laps of the Bentonville/Rogers area showing the development beginning in 1984!

Be on the lookout tomorrow for events this weekend in support of Earth Day.

It has been a week since Bentonville passed the special election, and now the Bentonville city officials are looking into projects that will receive the first infusion of cash provided by the bond issues approved by voters.

• Recap: Voters backed the city's $266 million bond plan for capital projects and bond refinancing by approving all nine questions on the special election ballot by at least 76%. The city will pay for the bonds by extending a 1-cent sales tax. The tax was approved in 2003 and extended in 2007.

• Revenue from the initial bond is estimated at $100 million, and city officials will finalize the first bond plan. According to the City, the first issue will most likely be used to pay for a new radio system, training facilities for Fire and Police departments, the downtown Quilt of Parks, Phillips Park, design for the library and all 25 drainage projects.-NWA Democrat-Gazette

View the full list of election results HERE.

Just in time for Earth Day, the City of Fayetteville's Environmental Action Committee announced recipients of the 2021 Mayor's Environmental Stewardship Award.

• What is this? The annual awards recognize excellence in environmental stewardship demonstrated through sustainable practices, programs or projects undertaken by community members, non-profits, businesses and educators.

• Quote: The City of Fayetteville believes the award recipients selected are "truly outstanding examples of environmental stewardship within our community, and the committee believes their enduring efforts have made a significant impact."

The winners are:

Pack Rat Outdoor Store - Business

Arkansas Myriad - Industry/Manufacturing

Pattie Erwin - Individual/Educator

We and the earth give you a round of applause #teamgreen

The 7th annual Bentonville Film Festival, which is scheduled for later this year, will take place as a hybrid event with virtual showings and limited in person events.

• In 2020, over 30,000 active viewers engaged during the week of the virtual Festival which included the most diverse and inclusive film program to date.

• Quote: "In 2021, our goal is to share with audiences and partners our most diverse, equitable film festival yet. A true vision of what the future of media can, and should, look like,” says Academy Award Winner Geena Davis who will be Chair of the 2021 Festival. The dates will be Aug. 3-8, 2021

• Just can't wait? check out BFF's Movie Monday. BFF supports a monthly screening on a Monday to bring back BFF Alumni and specific projects from the film industry to share with the BFF audience year around.

Despite the challenges of 2020, Priority Bank out of Fayetteville had a solid run, generating the highest Return on Assets out of any of the 29 privately held banks in Northwest Arkansas.

• ROA: Return on Assets is a measure (used primarily in banking) of the efficiency of a company at generating income with the assets on its balance sheet represented as a percentage of income to assets. The higher the percentage, the more profit there is per $ of assets. Priority Bank's ROA was 2.21%.

• Second place was First Security Bank with a 1.91% ROA, and Citizens Bank & Trust took bronze with a 1.57% ROA. You can view the full list of ROAs of all privately and publicly held regional banks, here.

Want to know more? You can find the full article HERE.