Good morning, Fort Smith.

A fellow first responder organized an online fundraiser and softball event for deputy Robin Gaines, who suffered severe burns on June 3 in Dyer while trying to rescue a woman from a burning home.

Fort Smith honored 12 Black women known as the Rainbow Girls with a new street sign near the historic hospital where they raised funds in the 1940s.

The event marked a long-awaited tribute to a legacy of community care (a point of pride for locals).

Arkansas PBS will remain with PBS after the Educational Television Commission reversed its decision to leave.

The board voted 8—0 Thursday after a fundraising campaign raised over $2 million from major donors and households, ensuring PBS shows continue through at least 2027.

On Wednesday, May 27, Fort Smith organizations participated in a simulation at the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education’s Research Institute Health and Wellness Center to experience low-income challenges including job, housing, transportation, and child care hurdles (designed to help service providers understand poverty).

Baptist Health has cut 70 additional jobs at its Fort Smith hospital — a follow-up to 150 earlier cuts — saying lower service volumes and role duplication led to the decision.

Severance and job placement help are provided for affected employees, with services remaining unchanged.