👨‍💼 Rogers mayoral match

It's Friday, folks.

🌤 Weekend weather: Watch for possible showers today, and plan on a mostly sunny weekend with highs in the upper 70s.

🎂 Happy early birthday to our Axios NW Arkansas member Jim Prince!

Today's newsletter is 849 words — a 3-minute read.

Incumbent Greg Hines faces challenger Chris Latimer in the race for mayor of Rogers.

Why it matters: With about 73,000 residents, Rogers is NWA's second-largest city.

Greg Hines

Rogers mayor Greg Hines still has things he wants to do for the city before he walks away from job, he told Axios.

• He hopes to use the term to prepare the city for long-term succession planning by declaring that this will be his last bid for the top seat.

What they're saying: If elected, Hines would like to usher in a new bond issue, which would be the extension of a one-cent capital improvement tax. Some of the projects intended for the 2018 bond haven't yet been completed due largely to rising labor and material costs, Hines said.

• He also hopes to set some "guardrails" for how the city spends its reserve capital, which is about $80 million now, he said.
• Another item on Hines' agenda is to help restore the city following the tornadoes in May that caused an estimated $33 million in damage just to city facilities.

On the city budget: "I want to make sure that that, by ordinance … the city council is able to determine how much of [the reserves] should be strategic reserves that can only be used for certain things, how much of it could be used for, 'hey, there's a nice, shiny toy over here we'd like to have' … because that's, that's a lot of money."

Chris Latimer

Chris Latimer wants to make Rogers a safer city and reactivate its gang task force. He claimed there is increased gang-related activity in the town and noted a safe city ranking from this spring that didn't include Rogers.

What they're saying: Latimer told Axios public service and being involved in the community are important to him. As it grows, Rogers is facing crime and infrastructure issues, and Latimer feels like the city needs new leadership.

On safety: "If you have a crime rate that is elevated — that is higher — you don't have a prosperous city a lot of times … you don't have a city that people want to move into, that businesses want to open business in.

• "I really want to make sure that Rogers continues to be a thriving, safe environment and a safe city for our residents."

Read the candidates' background

You know you're in Arkansas if you walk into The Home Depot in Fayetteville.

• How better to judge the size of the freezer needed this year?

Why it matters: Archery season begins today.

I tried my hand at cake decorating — a first for this home chef who sticks to all things besides dessert.

🍰 State of play: A friend and I signed up for a floral cake decorating class at Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville. It was like getting to go rogue in an art class, except you get cake afterward.

👩‍🍳 How it works: We had the option of either chocolate or white cake. Each person started with a plainly iced single-layer round 8-inch cake plus five colors of frosting ready to go. The instructor went over how to make three kinds of flowers and leaves so everyone could decorate from there.

• We got more frosting than needed, which came in handy because we had to discard some attempts at flowers.

😋 The intrigue: This was a low-stakes way to learn this skill, instead of while in a rush to decorate a cake for an occasion. And it's a fun after-work weekday activity.

• And even if it goes poorly for you, you still get to take home a cake. Not a bad worst-case scenario.

🗓 Zoom out: Rick's regularly offers various dessert decorating classes at its Fayetteville and Rogers shops. October includes spooky tutorials like this cauldron cake or a kid-friendly haunted gingerbread house.

💰 By the numbers: The tickets for this class were $35, including the cake.

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Welcome to Time Loop by Klip Collective — a nighttime light and sound experience exclusive to Crystal Bridges.

What to expect: Roam six outdoor installations that blend art, nature and technology to create a unique journey across time and space, set in the museum's North Forest.

Explore now.

🧑‍⚖️ The Arkansas State Supreme Court may decide whether election officials are required to offer early voting in West Memphis. (Arkansas Advocate)

🍻 The Springdale City Council voted to expand the outdoor dining district downtown, which means the area where you're allowed to drink alcoholic beverages outdoors just got bigger and includes more businesses. (Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

💰 John Brown University in Siloam Springs received $25.1 million in gifts and pledged gifts in the past fiscal year, a 35.6% increase from the previous year. (Northwest Arkansas Business Journal)

NWA has you covered this weekend.

🍻 Fayetteville Falltoberfest — Downtown businesses are going all in on this free family-friendly festival that includes activities like a pickle eating contest at Pickleman's, a Mr. Oktoberfest pageant at King Fish, art vendors, live music and a beer sampling.

• Noon to 6pm Sunday.

🎡 Benton County Fair — The fair kicked off earlier this week and continues through Sunday. Last chance for the carnival and fair food.

🍽 BITE NWA — Sample bites from NWA restaurants at this food festival that complements the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship golf tournament today, Saturday and Sunday. Get tickets for $50 per day.

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Fall is prime for fun outdoor experiences — like seeing your favorite award-winning artists live on the Momentary's Momentary Green.

Next steps: See recent decades' most impactful musical acts, including…

• Omar Apollo on Sept. 24.
• Kaskade on Sept. 27.
• Thee Sacred Souls on Oct. 27.

Here's the lineup.

Thanks to Fadel Allassan for editing this newsletter.

😅 Alex is glad to be back home after getting stuck overnight in Atlanta on the way back from the Axios retreat in Minneapolis.

🏝 Worth is out today, but not stuck in Atlanta.