Mary Hennigan, Arkansas Advocate, Author at Mountain Home Observer

Mary Hennigan, Arkansas Advocate

Mary is a tenacious, award-winning journalist who writes for the Arkansas Advocate. Her coverage spans city government to housing policy. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

36 articles published

Arkansas’ rising 3rd graders will be first to be held back under new literacy standards

Arkansas students entering the third grade at public schools and open enrollment charter schools this fall will be the first cohort to be retained if they don’t meet literacy expectations, a policy established by the 2023 LEARNS Act. “By the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, if a public school student has not met the…

May 20, 2025

‘Wildlife are in crisis’: Arkansas expert opines on proposed change to Endangered Species Act

A proposed change to the federal Endangered Species Act would send Arkansas preservation efforts backwards amid an ongoing crisis, one state wildlife expert said. Terri Lane, director of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, said a recently proposed rule from President Donald Trump’s administration “removes an important level of protections, paving the way for increased habitat destruction.”…

May 13, 2025

High cost of naloxone prompts rural Arkansas pharmacists to keep life-saving medicine behind counter

The life-saving medicine naloxone was approved for nonprescription sale more than two years ago, but many rural Arkansas pharmacies still keep the overdose-reversal kit behind the counter. Of 15 pharmacies the Advocate contacted for this article, all but two kept naloxone behind the counter. Pharmacists and business owners said requests for the drug have been…

April 23, 2025

Arkansas food banks say they’ll lose dependable protein sources under $1 billion USDA program cuts

A $1 billion cut to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to remove dependable protein sources for food banks in Arkansas, where one in five people lacked access to adequate food in 2023 — the nation’s highest rate. The cuts are also expected to slash significant earnings for local farmers who participated in the…

April 8, 2025

Committee halts public comment, approves bill to require reports from Arkansas disability nonprofit

Legislation to require a disability advocacy group to supply reports to the Legislature earned initial approval from Arkansas lawmakers Tuesday. Separately, the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor also sent the governor’s Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act on to the full House for consideration. Under Rep. Jack Ladyman’s House Bill 1382, Disability Rights…

February 13, 2025

Current legislation a mixed bag for advocates of Arkansas’ children, nonprofit leader says

Across Arkansas’ political spectrum, children are often a focus of proposed legislation. But without the ability to vote themselves, advocates and parents often voice what they think is best for kids’ growing brains and bodies. On Monday, Arkansas Advocates for Childrens and Families opened the floor for 10-year-old Olivia Stallings to share her thoughts on…

February 12, 2025

Innovative nonprofit helps curb food insecurity, especially among Arkansas children

On paper, it seems like Ronnie Ritter is a one-man operation. But while he’s the only person on staff at Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry, Ritter’s innovations have amassed statewide support from deer processors, food pantries, school districts and hunting clubs to fight hunger in Arkansas, where food insecurity ranks worst in the nation. The…

February 11, 2025

Arkansas’ Buffalo River watershed squabble a ‘long, hard battle,’ advocate says

Marti Olesen has now driven the five-hour round trip from Ponca to Little Rock three times in recent weeks with the intention to learn about lawmakers’ plans for the Buffalo River watershed. Once when the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy and Environment brought a pair of rules regarding permit moratoriums through…

February 6, 2025

Arkansas lawmakers step in to remedy Jefferson County’s budget impasse

County employees haven’t been paid in 2025 Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, flanked by several lawmakers, announced legislation Monday that would require municipalities that refuse to pass an annual budget to follow the previous year’s plan. Such would be the solution in Jefferson County, where public employees have not received pay this year while still attempting…

February 4, 2025

Arkansas law enforcement arrests four in human trafficking operation, AG says

Four suspected human trafficking perpetrators are in custody following a statewide raid dubbed “Operation Obscured Vision,” Attorney General Tim Griffin announced Friday. The initiative focused on 12 “illicit massage parlors” in Jonesboro, Russellville, Hot Springs, Rogers, Harrison and a Little Rock hotel, Griffin said. Seventeen purported trafficking victims were identified, aged 29-65, and 16 accepted…

January 27, 2025

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