Housing agencies’ grant totals vary

WASHINGTON - Sixteen Arkansas public housing authorities joined hundreds of similar groups across the country to split nearly $57 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The grants are through the department’s Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency Program and go toward hiring people to help residents who receive housing assistance access education, job training and employment. The grants were awarded Tuesday.

To participate in the program, housing-assistance residents sign a contract requiring the head of the household to find a job and no longer receive welfare assistance within five years. As the family’s income rises, a portion of that increased income is deposited in an interest-bearing escrow account. If the family successfully completes its contract, the family receives the escrow funds.

Grant recipients are: Housing Authority of North Little Rock, $25,115; Fort Smith Housing Authority, $51,150; Northwest Regional Housing Authority, $40,326; Housing Authority of the City of Pine Bluff, $57,024; Housing Authority of the City of West Memphis, $44,213; Housing Authority of the City of Hot Springs, $47,073; Wynne Housing Authority, $33,762; Housing Authority of Lonoke County, $36,882; Jonesboro Urban Renewal and Housing Authority, $41,746; Conway County Housing Authority, $38,878; White River Regional Housing Authority, $38,928; Pope County Public Facilities Board, $35,445; Mississippi County Public Facilities Board, $38,653; Lee County Housing Authority, $27,132; Pulaski County Housing Agency, $43,234; and McGehee Public Residential Housing Facilities Board, $39,140.

U.S. Senate race makes review lists

Arkansas’ U.S. Senate race made several year-in-review lists created by national publications.

CQ Rollcall, which primarily focuses on congressional news, listed the campaign between U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton as one of the 12 “most fascinating races of 2014,” with some saying it’s a must-win seat if Republicans want to gain control of the Senate.

The publication also listed a campaign ad in which Pryor discusses his faith as one of the most memorable campaign ads of 2013.

National Journal, a weekly political magazine, named Cotton as one of its biggest political winners of 2013 for having the support of both Tea Party activists and establishment Republicans, two groups that are clashing in some other political races.

The publication lists “redstate Democratic senators” including Pryor among its 2013 losers.

Census releases ’13 state estimate

An estimated 2.96 million people lived in Arkansas in 2013, according to nationwide estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state’s population was about 2.92 million as of the last full census, which took place in 2010.

The annual Census Bureau estimate was released Tuesday. The bureau estimates are used to determine how much federal funding states, counties and towns receive.

The national population in 2013 rose to 316 million from 308 million in 2010.

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Front Section, Pages 11 on 01/05/2014