“Just Roll with It” Serving up Recipes and Humor
By Sheri Hopkins, Lifestyle Contributor
Hello everyone! We got some much-needed rain in the River Valley today. Such beautiful weather we are having. It’s mowing season, and I have already had the yard mowed. The only reason I had it mowed this early is because JR, my four-pound chihuahua, would go out to do his business and it was taller than him.
One summer when the boys were teenagers, I decided to buy a push mower so they could start mowing the yard. I came home and I said, “boys, I have bought y’all a present.” They wanted to know what it was. I said, “I have bought y’all a push lawn mower, so y’all can start mowing the yard.” As serious as he could be and I mean serious, Evan says, “Nana, why did you buy us a lawnmower when it’s hot weather, why didn’t you wait till the wintertime.” Well, I said, “Evan the yard does not have to be mowed in the wintertime.” I decided to make them take turns mowing and I never thought about showing them how. So, Evan goes first, and he is out there just a mowing away and I decided to go check on him. If y’all can visualize this in your mind, the figure eight was an understatement. He had mowed in every direction possible. Just willy nilly all over the front yard. I had to laugh because it looked like a blind person had mowed. Let’s just say his mowing career never took off.
It’s that time of year, lawn mowers going, birds a singing, ants everywhere, red wasps flying around and flies everywhere. Y’all have a great week and enjoy the pretty weather!
This week’s recipe is for a peach cobbler:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1 cup of butter
1 large can peaches with syrup
Melt butter in a 9×13 baking dish in a 350-degree oven and set aside. Mix all dry ingredients and add milk, blending well. Pour batter evenly into a baking dish. Pour sliced peaches with syrup on top of the batter, do not mix. Place in a 350-degree oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 45 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
State Capitol Week in Review from Senator Terry Rice
LITTLE ROCK – Beginning on May 7, Arkansas residents will need to produce a “Real ID” in order to board a domestic flight, enter a federal building or visit a military base.
If you don’t have a Real ID, you must present additional forms of identification along with your driver’s license.
On May 7 the federal government will no longer accept drivers’ licenses and ID cards issued by states that do not include the additional security measures required to get a Real ID. Arkansas has been issuing the enhanced licenses and ID card to participate in the national effort to stop identity theft and combat terrorism.
You can get a Real ID driver’s license at your local revenue office, where you have always gone to get a traditional driver’s license and renew you motor vehicle tags. The Real ID costs the same as the old licenses, $40. If it isn’t time to renew your license, it will cost $10, which is the cost of getting a duplicate.
You will have to bring more documentation than before. For example, you must provide a birth certificate or current passport to indicate you were born in the United States. As proof of identity bring a current driver’s license, a concealed carry permit, a student ID, a vehicle registration title, a military ID, a tax return dated within the past year, a marriage certificate, a pilot’s license or a prison release document.
You must show a Social Security card or a DD214 document showing your certificate of release or discharge from active duty.
To prove your residency you must bring two documents, such as utility bills, with your name and address. Bank statements, lease agreements, health or auto insurance bills, tax returns, personal property tax receipts, voter registration, medical or dental bills, pay slips, tuition invoice or school records.
You can still get a Real ID after May 7.
Infrastructure Funding
The Senate passed legislation to continue a loan program administered by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, which will issue $500 million in bonds and make loans available for water, waste disposal, pollution control, abatement, flood control, irrigation and drainage projects. Irrigation projects may account for no more than $165 million of the total.
The measure is Senate Bill 421. The general obligation bonds must be approved in a statewide election in November of 2026, unless the governor calls a special election before then.
In related news the House of Representatives approved House Bill 1681 to create a $50 million grant program within the Natural Resource Commission for water and sewage treatment facilities. Even the bill’s sponsors admitted that deteriorating water and sewer infrastructure throughout Arkansas is so extensive, the grants funded by HB 1681 would only be a “band-aid.”
Under the bill, 80 percent of the grants will go to “shovel-ready projects” in cities with more than 1,200 people, or rural water and wastewater systems serving more than 1,200 customers.
The other 20 percent of funding will go to cities and rural water systems with fewer than 1,200 people, with no requirement that projects be shovel-ready.
