✅ Marijuana ballot struggle

🍁 Welcome to the first weekend of October ... almost.

Sun with highs in the low 90s today.

• 🔥 Sounds like H-O-T-T-O-G-O.

⚽️ Situational awareness: NWA's pro soccer team announced last year will be called Ozark United FC.

• "The interwoven 'O-Z' monogram is symbolic of the interconnectedness and individuality of the communities in our region," the club said in a news release Thursday.

Today's newsletter is 743 words — a 3-minute read.

The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Secretary of State John Thurston must continue verifying signatures to put an amendment loosening medical marijuana laws on the November ballot, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

Why it matters: If Thurston had been allowed to throw out the 18,000 signatures in question, the amendment would not have a chance of having enough verified signatures and the votes for or against it wouldn't count.

• Without counting any of these signatures, 88,040 of the necessary 90,704 signatures have been verified.

Context: Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin had said Thurston couldn't count the signatures because they were collected by paid canvassers during a 30-day cure period, which gave the petitioners more time to collect signatures in August, the newspaper reported.

Zoom in: The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 seeks to allow patients ages 21 and up to grow and process marijuana plants at home. It would also open up eligibility for any medical conditions that a healthcare practitioner considers debilitating instead of the existing qualifying conditions.

• The amendment also creates a trigger law so that if recreational marijuana becomes federally legal, existing dispensaries in Arkansas would be able to sell recreational marijuana. In that case, adults could legally possess up to one 1 ounce of marijuana.

What's next: Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the amendment, says it's confident it will have enough verified signatures for the votes to count.

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Here's how to get out this weekend.

🎨 Art Fair — This free event on the trails outside Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art includes artwork for sale plus food trucks and live art demos. 10am-8pm Saturday and 10am-4pm Sunday.

🛍 Homegrown Festival — Shop locally made goods and enjoy food trucks and live music. 9am-5pm Saturday in downtown Siloam Springs.

🎬 Short films — See short horror films from Arkansas filmmakers at 2:30pm Sunday at the Fayetteville Public Library. This is for people 18 and up.

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📺 Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin's office on Monday filed a lawsuit against YouTube and parent company Alphabet, accusing the platform of being deliberately addictive and fueling a mental health crisis among youth in the state. (AP)

🗳 The State Board of Election Commissioners on Wednesday voted to sanction election officials in an unnamed county where several hand-counted ballot mistakes occurred during the primary election. Only officials in Searcy County hand-counted ballots in March. (Arkansas Advocate)

🍔 Eclectic Kitchen in Fayetteville has closed — before Alex had a chance to go. A new restaurant, Old Guys Burgers, is set to open its place. (Fayetteville Flyer)

The challenge: You can't DIY foundation repair, especially during storm season. Water-saturated soil can make problems worse.

The solution: Call a certified professional to ensure your foundation is properly repaired and protected.

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If you're into fishing, there's a super-niche evening of movies coming from the Fly Fishing Film Tour to get you revved up.

Why it matters: More than $236,000 was spent on Arkansas trout fishing, according to 5,000 respondents of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's 2023 survey.

• Each angler took an average of 2.6 trips during that year, spending more than $700 each time, and Arkansas had visitors from 38 states looking for trout.

The caveat: Not all trout fishing is fly-fishing and not all fly-fishing is trout fishing.

What's happening: Eight short films focused on the sport will be screened Oct. 17 at TheaterSquared in Fayetteville. Doors open at 5:30pm and the evening concludes at 10pm.

• Films focused on the waters of Michigan, Norway, the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and the Amazon River will be featured.
• Beverages and hors d'oeuvres will be served.

Go to the show: Tickets are $25.

Pop star Chappell Roan's concert at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion drew thousands of fans, many standing in a long line for hours decked out in mermaid attire and colorful makeup.

Flashback: Tickets sold out before going on sale to the public, a first for the Walmart AMP.

What they're saying: Concert-goer Jessica Znidarsic told Axios she waited in the online presale queue for seven hours and scored a pit ticket. She came from Shawnee, Kansas about three hours away from Rogers for the concert and was in line — nowhere near the front — at 3:45pm on Wednesday ahead of the 7pm show.

• Pop had been on a plateau but now it's a fun time for the genre with artists like Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish in the spotlight, she said. She also wants to support a pop star from the Midwest.
• Chappell Roan is from Missouri and called the Hogs at her concert.

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As weather patterns change, basement waterproofing is crucial for Arkansas homeowners.

• Addressing leaks and moisture damage can prevent costly repairs.

Schedule a free inspection with Foundation Recovery Systems to keep your basement dry and safeguard your home's structural integrity.

Thanks to Fadel Allassan for editing this newsletter.

🎤 Alex is listening to "Pink Pony Club" by Chappell Roan.

🧐 Worth is considering a digital-free day.