The organization will award $1,000 grants to organizations responding to the immediate needs of vulnerable populations affected by the virus, including any organization with 501c3 status including churches, hospitals, schools, or givernment entities based anywhere in Arkansas.

Priority will be given to organizations that:

• Provide human services and emergency assistance (for example, food, shelter, transportation, living expenses, rent/utility assistance, etc.)
• Primarily serve vulnerable populations, including children who are out of school and families without childcare, people who have lost a source of income due to the pandemic, people who are at high risk medically, people who are homeless or incarcerated and individuals who lack paid sick leave or health insurance.  
• Disseminate factual safety and response information to vulnerable communities such as non-English speaking residents, rural residents, senior citizens, etc. 

The organizations may use the funding to support clients’ basic needs, cover costs associated with decreased staffing or remote-working due to quarantine/social distancing, provide mental health programming for clients or staff, coordinate/facilitate in-kind donations to sites and organizations that provide human services and serve vulnerable populations. 

Arkansas Community Foundation is also seeking donations for its COVID-19 fund. Donations can be made online at arcf.org/covid19, by mailing a check to Arkansas Community Foundation, 5 Allied Drive, Suite 51110, Little Rock, AR 72202 or by contacting the Community Foundation directly at 888-220-2723.

To apply for the grants, visit arcf.org/covid19.

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Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville will reschedule all non-urgent surgeries, procedures and diagnostic tests to preserve resources, supplies and staffing in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The news was announced Thursday afternoon in a press release. The new measure is effective March 21, and will be reevaluated on a weekly basis, according to the release.

Updated screening clinic hours
Washington Regional also changed the hours of operation for its coronavirus screening clinic on North Hills Boulevard in Fayetteville. The clinic will now be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Map courtesy of Washington Regional

BBK owner Justin Urso / Courtesy

With our calendar temporarily suspended (there was nothing to put on it anyway) because of the global coronavirus pandemic, it probably doesn’t make much sense to write a Weekend Flyer this week.

That said, we’re all about consistency here at the Flyer. We’re a little bit stubborn. We don’t want to let you down.

We know of a few virtual events happening this weekend. Smoke and Barrel Tavern will host a virtual hangout via Facebook Live at 7 p.m. on Saturday night. The event will include cocktails with your favorite Smoke & Barrel Bartenders, music from Fayetteville artists, and “some ambient bar experiences.” Here’s more.

On Sunday night, Pinpoint and Big Box Karaoke will host an event via Facebook Live called All About Namazake at 4 p.m.. The event will feature Big Box owner Justin Urso and Pinpoint owner Bo Counts tasting some sake from Brooklyn Kura – the only sake brewery in New York, and discussing. There may even be an opportunity to pick up some sake to-go to taste along with them (we’ll have more details later today). You can even buy tickets, though they are not required, to help out the local businesses during these difficult times. Here’s more.

We assume there will be more of this kind of online socializing to come, though we don’t know of anything else at the moment.

Feel free to let us know about anything like this you know about in the comments below.

Other than that, you know, maybe watch some concerts from your favorite local musicians on YouTube? Grab some take out from a local restaurant, have some local beer delivered, and have a Zoom chat or Google Hangout with some buds?

Check on your musician friends. Take care of each other.

Be safe, everyone.

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The Walton Arts Center on Thursday announced an extended suspension that will halt all productions through May 9, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The center had previously planned to resume programming after April 5.

Newly affected events include the Mosaix Festival, Artosphere Festival and Fiddler on the Roof.

The decision was made based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and directives from state and local officials to suspend large events and mass gatherings for eight weeks.

For a list of events that are suspended, canceled or postponed, visit waltonartscenter.org/ticketing-updates.

WAC officials said anyone with tickets to shows will be contacted by a box office representative to discuss their options. Patrons can choose to have their tickets refunded, they can receive a ticket credit for an upcoming show or they can donate the amount of their tickets to the center.

Just as all Razorback fans are traversing new ground in this age of the COVID-19 virus so are Arkansas’ coaches and players.

Spring is usually the busiest time of year for college athletics with nearly every team either competing or going through pivotal spring conditioning and workouts for the forthcoming season.

At the forefront of all of that, of course, would be the NCAA Tournament. In a less virulent world, we’d be in the throes of March Madness today (March 20). Sixteen of the first round games would have been played Thursday (March 19), with 16 more on tap for this afternoon and evening. The second round would then play out Saturday and Sunday.

My guess is the Razorbacks would likely be playing in the NIT rather than the NCAA Tournament, but that’s just my opinion.

The Hogs were scheduled to play South Carolina in the second round of the SEC Tournament last Thursday when play was suspended by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey that morning, and later the NCAA suspended play of all athletic championships for the spring semester in accordance with recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. government. Certainly, those moves were shocking but necessary for competitors and fans alike.

Earlier this week, Arkansas released an emotional partial video of Musselman speaking to his team last Thursday in Nashville, the site of the SEC Tournament, on Arkansas basketball’s various social media platforms. Though just a minute or so long, the video is worth seeking out.

It not only contains Musselman breaking the news to the players that their season had ended abruptly, but it also contains Musselman’s opinion that if the Razorbacks had defeated South Carolina in their upcoming game, that they would have made the NCAA Tournament field.

Musselman, an analytics junkie, made that declaration based on crunching numbers with Anthony Ruta, Arkansas director of basketball operations.

While at this time, the point is moot for the Hogs or their fans, it is heartening to know that if things were different the Razorbacks might have pulled off an upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament or at least gotten their feet wet in post-season play.

As it stands, though, the Hog finished the season 20-12 with an easier than expected 86-73 victory over Vanderbilt in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

It’s only the third time in 40 plus years of following Razorback basketball that the Hogs ended the season with a victory. In 1978, Arkansas beat Notre Dame, 71-69, in the Final Four consolation game after falling to eventual national champion Kentucky, 64-59, in the semifinals. Though Sidney Moncrief returned for his senior year in 1978-79, that game was the final one for The Triplets since Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph were seniors. The next year, the NCAA dropped the consolation game.

The other time the Hogs finished the season with a victory was, of course, in 1994 when the Razorbacks, led by Corliss Williamson, Scotty Thurman, and Corey Beck, captured Arkansas’ lone national title with a victory over Duke, 76-72.

While the 2019-20 Razorbacks weren’t nearly as strong as either of those teams, this was a solid start to the Musselman era. Despite being short on height and depth, this Razorback squad had plenty of heart. It did not back down from any opponent.

The five-game losing streak when Isaiah Joe was out with a knee injury was gut-turning, not because of poor play, but because the Hogs were ever so close to winning in four of the five games. The Hogs closed the year, winning four of their last six games, and what I will remember most about this team is their scrappy and resilient nature.

Of course, the elephant in the room — whether co-SEC player of the year Mason Jones and Joe return for their senior season — can’t really be answered right now.

So much is up in the air with the NBA season being suspended and the site of the June 25 draft, Brooklyn, N.Y., being very near the most intensive break-out of the coronavirus in the United States.

Currently the deadline for declaring for the draft is April 26 with the deadline for withdrawal being June 15. All that could change, though.

One suspects, the NBA will hold the draft if at all possible, but the timing is uncertain.

Musselman said in his media teleconference Thursday that neither Jones nor Joe has informed him of their decision, but that they know he is there to help with the process in any way he can.

Musselman, who served as head coach at Sacramento and Golden State as well as an assistant for number other NBA teams, is as connected to the NBA as any coach in college basketball. No doubt his counsel will be very useful to both players.

If the draft were held today, published NBA Draft projections show Joe as a mid to late second-round pick in the two-round, 60-selection draft.

Despite posting a truly fantastic season where he scored 30 or more points nine times as well as leading Arkansas in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals for the season, Jones isn’t projected to be drafted.

Analysts say it’s questionable whether Jones’ speed, ball-handling skills, and defense are up to NBA standards. While I’m no expert, I think some team would take a chance and draft him, but I’m biased.

In a world without the coronavirus, there definitely would be options for Jones and Joe to play for pay overseas, but who knows how the pandemic will affect those opportunities for the upcoming season?

And that’s the thing, right now no one really knows much. We all hope things will be back to normal by the time August rolls around, but we don’t know that they actually will.

There’s too much money to be made for team athletics not to rebound on the professional and college level, but just when it will happen is up to debate.

Bike Rack and Hawk Moth have partnered to offer beer deliveries in Benton and Washington counties.

Photo: Bike Rack Brewing Co.

Small businesses across the country are suffering due to the rapid onset of the COVID-19 virus and the resulting drop in consumer traffic. Instead of spending their money on goods and services, people are staying home and hoping to ride out the storm in good health.

This new reality is impacting the brewing industry here in Northwest Arkansas. Many local breweries saw their taproom traffic drop significantly over the past week, with most choosing to end on-site consumption and move to carryout service in the last few days.

Others have been trying to alleviate concerns by closely following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control, including extra cleaning and reduced seating to slow transmission of the virus. Even with these measures, each passing day has seen another local brewery closing their taproom.

Crisis Brewing Company polled fans on social media to gauge interest in home delivery.

Courtesy photo

It is a troubling time for area brewers. Most depend on direct-to-consumer sales to keep their businesses solvent.

Columbus House Brewery’s Carey Ashworth says the support from customers has been good given the circumstances. Many are purchasing four-packs to go, or they’re having a quick pint before heading out the door. But the situation is changing rapidly, and every day brings a new set of challenges.

Despite the uncertainty, Ashworth’s focus is clear.

“Our main concerns ebb and flow daily and hourly,” she says. “But right now, we are most concerned with making sure we can continue to pay our employees.”

Yesterday Governor Asa Hutchinson closed all bars and restaurants for onsite consumption, effectively ending taproom traffic for the foreseeable future.

But in a surprise move, he also issued emergency rules allowing distilleries, small breweries, and small farm wineries to deliver their products directly to consumers.

Restaurants and microbrewery restaurants (otherwise known as brewpubs) currently licensed to sell beer and wine can deliver those beverages along with food orders.

Also, retail liquor stores can offer curbside pickup and make deliveries to consumers.

The governor’s rules will remain in effect for 30 days.

As of Friday morning, several local breweries had indicated their intent to start making beer deliveries. They include Columbus House, Fossil Cove, Natural State, and New Province. Bike Rack and Hawk Moth have partnered to offer beer deliveries as well.

Fayetteville’s Crisis Brewing Co. is also considering a delivery service, having gauged interest via social media late Thursday night.

The other breweries in Northwest Arkansas have yet to decide on deliveries, but most are offering to-go or curbside service in the meantime. Some are taking orders via email, while others are allowing for walkup orders. Check with each brewery for the most up-to-date protocols for pickup.

The governor’s move will help in the near-term, but the long-term impact of the virus and the damage to the local economy could have a lasting effect.

Ashworth opened Columbus House in Fayetteville five years ago this April. She is concerned about the future of the local beer industry, but is at the same time hopeful.

“I worry that once this is all said and done, it’s going to be a long recovery process and people might not have extra cash to spend on going out,” she says. “We are taking it one day at a time, and hopefully in these uncertain and scary times our beer can provide a little normalcy and relief.”

And thankfully, for the next 30 days, local beer can be delivered to your front door.

The 30-day rule is effective immediately, and applies to any restaurant licensed to sell beer and wine.

Licensed restaurants may sell corked or sealed bottles of wine with the purchase of food, consistent with their existing ability to allow a customer to take home an unfinished bottle of wine that was purchased with food.

Additionally, any restaurant licensed to sell beer under any permit, may sell sealed cans and bottles of beer to customers with the purchase of food.

During the emergency period, distilleries, small breweries and small farm wineries will be allowed to offer delivery of their products as long as they’re not delivered by a third party company.

Mixed drinks and hard liquor are not part of the emergency order, and cannot to be sold for off-site consumption, although mixers and setups are allowed without spirits.

Courtesy

The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees voted this week to postpone all spring commencement ceremonies until after June 1, UA officials announced on Friday.

All other University of Arkansas campus events have already been canceled for the remainder of the semester due to concerns related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The postponement only affects the commencement ceremonies, as UA graduation processes and awarding of degrees will proceed as normal.

“I promise you, we know how important commencement is to our students, parents, families and friends as well as our entire university community,” Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said. “With that in mind, we will continue to assess all options to recognize our graduates for what is one of life’s most important and meaningful accomplishments. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we deal with this unprecedented situation together.”

The UA’s commencement committee will continue to assess the situation, officials said, and will provide an update on when commencement ceremonies could potentially be held later on in the spring.

During his Thursday press conference, Hutchinson ordered all restaurants and bars in Arkansas to cease dine-in services to help limit the spread of the virus.

In light of that new directive, Mayor Jordan issued an amended policy, effectively immediately, that repeals and replaces a rule set earlier this week which limited occupancy in Fayetteville restaurants and bars.

From the mayor:

• Bars and restaurants are allowed to provide takeout, curbside and home delivery services only.
• Restaurants are hereby granted temporary suspension of any and all city regulations that might prevent them from operating as grocery stores/food markets or home delivery service.
• The maximum occupancy of any bar or restaurant providing the services above shall not exceed 10 people.
• Licensed restaurants, microbrewery restaurants, distilleries, small breweries, small farm wineries or liquor stores may operate pursuant to the emergency rule enacted by Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control
• All restaurants and bars shall continue to abide by all Department of Health regulations.

Jordan also issued a new policy regulating occupancy rates and distancing rules in other types of establishments, effective immediately:

• Theaters, auditoriums, meeting halls, and banquet facilities are required to observe an occupancy rate of no more than fifty (50) and performance restrictions to ensure no patron is seated within six (6) feet of another patron and that ensures any and all performers, actors, speakers, and staff remain at least six (6) feet away from any and all other patrons.
• Auditoriums and sanctuaries of religions institutions are encouraged to follow this policy for the safety of their members, but are not required to follow all limitations within this policy.

For a full list of city policies, ordinances and resolutions related to the coronavirus outbreak, visit www.fayetteville-ar.gov/3893/City-Policies-Ordinances-and-Resolutions.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday issued new statewide directives as part of an ongoing effort to help limit the spread of coronavirus.

Hutchinson said in a Thursday press conference that K-12 schools are to remain closed for an additional three weeks until April 17. At that time, the situation will be reevaluated, he said. Alternate methods of instruction (AMI) are to continue through the closure.

The governor also ordered all restaurants and bars in Arkansas to stop dine-in services as of Friday, March 20. Carryout, drive-thru and delivery services can continue. Restaurants licensed to sell alcohol may provide corked or sealed bottles of wine with food purchases, he said.

Hutchinson also said indoor venues, such as gyms, shall be closed to non-essential functions.

During the press conference, Hutchinson said the number of Arkansas coronavirus cases has increased to 62.

Watch the full press conference embedded above, or visit the governor’s YouTube channel.

Courtesy graphic

A local company has created a website for businesses to sell their gift cards to the public while many are seeing reduced revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Movista, a software development company based in Bentonville, created a website, SupportLocalNWA.com, which will soon allow local businesses to offer their gift cards online with 100% of the proceeds going directly to local small businesses.

Fayetteville resident and Movista employee Liz Slape, who owns Crisis Brewing Company and whose family owns Penguin Ed’s Barbecue, has been spearheading the project. Slape said that outside of the third-party fees charged by Paypal, Venmo, etc., Movista will not be charge any fees to purchase the gift cards.

The site is currently seeking businesses to register for the service, and plans to begin selling to the public by this Friday, March 20.

From the site:

SupportLocalNWA.com is an online marketplace to purchase gift card vouchers to locally-owned, small businesses across Northwest Arkansas. Our goal is to help local businesses survive this crisis, and thrive once it has passed. If no action is taken, some of these businesses may not be around 8 weeks from now.

We’re not asking for charity. We simply ask you to lean in a little bit to support those businesses you already frequent. They get some cash to help keep their doors open, pay their bills and support their employees — your friends and neighbors in the community.

100% of the money spent on this site goes directly to our local businesses. This site exists solely to support our friends and neighbors in a time of need.

You can redeem these gift card vouchers now or at your leisure.

Businesses can register here.

We’ll post an update on the Flyer once the site is ready to begin selling gift cards.

Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer

The Fayetteville parks department has closed all but six of the public restrooms in the city’s parks system in an effort to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The restrooms that will remain open are in heavily used areas, and parks staff plan to sanitize those restroom two to three times per day, according to a news release.

Restrooms that will remain open:

• Walker Park (by the baseball complex and Razorback Greenway)
• Wilson Park
• Kessler Mountain Regional Park (at the soccer complex)
• Gordon Long Park
• Lake Fayetteville (at the softball complex)
• Veterans Memorial Park

The city’s Parks and Recreation office at 1455 Happy Hollow Road is also closed to the public until further notice. Staff will still be answering calls at 479-444-3471 and emails at parks@fayetteville-ar.gov on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Our parks and trails are a safe place for the people of Fayetteville to be active in the open air and to keep healthy,” said Connie Edmonston, the city’s director of parks and recreation. “We are encouraging people to use the parks and trails to ease stress during these challenging times, however, we are emphasizing the importance of practicing social distancing and other recommendations by the CDC.”

File photo

With the first case of coronavirus confirmed in Fayetteville, University of Arkansas officials announced the school will shift to online and remote operations beginning Thursday, March 19, and that on-campus housing will close on April 3.

“While no members of the University of Arkansas community have been diagnosed with COVID-19, you may be aware that the first presumptive positive case has been confirmed in Northwest Arkansas,” said UA Chancellor Joe Steinmetz. “Our primary concern is to reduce the spread of the virus while continuing to serve our campus community to the best of our abilities.”

More information about working remotely at the UA is available here.

Students may petition for an exemption from housing closures with University Housing for reasons including personal safety, access to internet, no other available housing, academic stress, or other reasons. More info about housing is available here.

The chancellor also announced the following additional measures in response to coronavirus:

Events: While online course instruction will continue, all on-site campus events are canceled until further notice.

Offsite Operations: All university operations and activities – other than essential operations – should be shifted to online or other remote means to the maximum extent possible, effective immediately.

Essential Operations: Certain limited university operations that need to occur on-campus, including public safety, health, dining and transit, will continue at this time. In these spaces and everywhere, we must adhere to social distancing and other preventive measures at all times. University staff and contractors will continue to tirelessly work to keep surfaces clean and disinfected.

Campus Housing: Due to the emergency caused by the outbreak, students with active housing contracts will not be able to return to the residence halls, apartments, or Greek houses managed by University Housing after Friday, April 3. Students may petition for an exception with University Housing for reasons including personal safety, access to Internet, no other available housing, academic distress or other legitimate reasons. University Housing will provide additional information directly to impacted students. More detailed information is available at housing.uark.edu/coronavirus.

Computer Labs: Some computer labs will be closed from 5 p.m. Friday, March 20, through March 29, the end of spring break. Information about open labs will be added soon to the university’s Coronavirus Update site.

Health Center: Pat Walker Health Center remains open. If you experience symptoms common to COVID-19, immediately call your medical provider or the health center at 479-575-4451. Please call before showing up at the health center or at any other health care facility. This will ensure your provider can take special measures to protect other people in the clinic.

Research: Deans may only authorize the continuation of essential research if the principles of social distancing are strictly adhered to (in cases where research may involve more than one individual). For additional details from Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Dan Sui, please read his letter to campus.

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Fayetteville will temporarily suspend curbside recycling beginning Monday, March 23 to help limit the spread of coronavirus. Residential and small commercial trash collection will continue, along with residential yard waste compost collection.

Extra bag charges for residential trash pickup will be waived during the suspension.

Because the curbside recycling program requires hand sorting of materials and there are still many unknowns about how long the virus can live on surfaces, city officials said the idea is to limit workers’ potential exposure to the virus and to reduce chances of community spread.

The newer small apartment recycling program, which uses green 18-gallon bins with black domed lids will also be suspended. Recycling bins at those locations will be picked up and removed to avoid trash accumulating on site during the suspension period.

Because of the suspension, recycling drop-off will be available 24 hours a day beginning March 23 at the following locations:

Recycling drop-off locations

Happy Hollow Recycling Drop-Off – 1420 S. Happy Hollow Road
Marion Orton Recycling Drop-Off – 735 W. North Street
Boys and Girls Club – 560 N. Rupple Road
Lokomotion Family Fun Park – 4520 N. College Ave.
Gary Hampton Field – 2790 N. Salem Road
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church – 2925 Old Missouri Road

Officials said attendants at the Happy Hollow and Marion Orton drop-off sites will be practicing social distancing as recommended by the CDC and will not be helping with materials.

Collection of automated recycling services will continue as normal, including regular pickup of commercial cardboard dumpsters, commercial paper dumpsters, glass carts and food waste carts. The $5 fee charged to businesses that currently participate in the curbside recycling collection in the 18-gallon bins with black domed lids will be waived until the service is reinstated, according to a news release.

Courtesy photo

Walmart has shortened store hours again, set purchase limits on certain items, and added a weekly senior-only shopping event due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Stores will now be open from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. local time to give employees more time to clean and sanitize. Stores that open later than 7 a.m. will continue their regular starting hours. While the store hours have changed for customers, employees will still have access to their regular scheduled shifts and full hours, the company stated in a news release.

Purchase limits have been set in certain categories, including paper products, milk, eggs, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, water, diapers, wipes, formula and baby food.

Because older customers could be more vulnerable to the coronavirus, stores will host an hour-long senior shopping event for people aged 60 and older every Tuesday beginning March 24 and lasting through April 28. This will start one hour before stores open, and will include pharmacies and vision centers.

The company has temporarily shut down its automotive centers and will move those employees into new roles to help stock and clean the stores.

Walmart vision centers will operate on their normal schedules, but will only provide essential services only such as glasses repair and helping customers pick up existing orders. Officials said there will be at least one associate available at each vision center, but other vision center employees will shift to work in other parts of the stores.

City Attorney Kit Williams speaks at a press conference. / Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan held a press conference on Wednesday, March 18 along with Fire Chief Brad Hardin, Police Chief Mike Reynolds, City Attorney Kit Williams, and Devin Howland, the city’s director of economic development.

Jordan said as reported earlier, the first local coronavirus case was announced today in Fayetteville. He said it was inevitable that COVID-19 would appear in this region, but staff have been taking steps for weeks to be prepared for this day.

Jordan said although City Hall is scheduled to close to the public tomorrow (May 19), his staff has developed a plan to protect the city’s core services.

After yesterday’s decision to cut occupancy by half for restaurants and bars, Jordan said he was thankful that the local business community had responded “positively and quickly” in efforts help to promote social distancing.

He urged residents to continue to stay away from crowded places and avoid unnecessary gatherings.

“My friends, please stay home if you can,” Jordan said. “And employers, please allow your employees to work from home, if possible.”

When asked if any businesses would be ordered to close, City Attorney Kit Williams said there are no plans for that.

“I don’t think it’s in the cards anywhere that Mayor Jordan would want to close our restaurants and bars,” said Williams. “He doesn’t feel like that’s necessary. He’s just asked them to comply with CDC recommendations.”

Watch the mayor’s full press conference embedded below, or at the city’s YouTube channel.

Because of the closure, in-person payments for bills and invoices will not be available. However, the payments office will continue to be staffed which means customers may use the drop-boxes outside of the building (check or money order only) or make payments through the mail or electronically through the city’s payments page.

Officials have said water and trash customers will not have their services disconnected due to non-payment during the coronavirus outbreak.

Requests for new service can be made by calling 479-521-1258 or emailing ws_office@fayetteville-ar.gov.

It’s the first presumptive positive case in Northwest Arkansas.

“At this time, we will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly,” stated the release. “We urge the public to follow all recommendations of the Arkansas Department of Health.”

» Visit the Arkansas Department of Health website

Arkansas Gov. Asa Huthcinson will hold a press release to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation at 1:30 p.m. A live video of the event can be viewed on the governor’s YouTube channel. Following Hutchinson’s event, Mayor Jordan will address the media at Fayetteville City Hall.

For more information, see our list of Fayetteville-area updates.

Courtesy Malco Theatres, Inc.

Movie theaters in Fayetteville and in the surrounding cities of Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville are temporarily closed to comply with social distancing measures outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday.

The CDC announcement of recommending that gatherings be limited to no more than 10 people prompted the closures by the chain-owned theaters. The Fiesta Square 12, owned by AMC, the second-largest movie chain in the United States, suspended operations Monday along with the chain’s 629 other outlets for the next six to 12 weeks.

The Malco chain, based in Memphis, announced Tuesday all its theaters would temporarily close to comply with the CDC recommendations, which includes the Razorback Cinema Grill and IMAX in Fayetteville, The Springdale Cinema Grill, and The Towne Cinema and Pinnacle Hills Cinema in Rogers.

The independently owned Skylight Cinema in Bentonville also announced its temporary closure Tuesday. The 112 Drive In in Fayetteville announced it would postpone its planned March 27 opening until a later date.

The Siloam Springs 6, owned by Center Cinemas of Oklahoma, has showings scheduled for Wednesday afternoon and evening, according to its website Wednesday morning, but calls to the theater for confirmation went unanswered Tuesday and Wednesday.

Obviously, the CDC recommendations played an important role in the decision by the chain theaters to suspend operations, but movie studios holding back the release of major films scheduled for spring no doubt played a role in the decision.

Prior to the theater closures, studios such as Disney, Universal, and Paramount pulled the release dates for major films like “Black Widow,” “A Quiet Place: Part II,” “Mulan,” and the James Bond adventure “No Time to Die,” holding the movies to be released for when patrons would feel more comfortable sitting in a roomful of people they don’t know.

With only stale releases left to exhibit and more and more film dates being pushed back daily, the decision by film chains to close temporarily was likely easier than we might think, even without the CDC tightening its recommendations for gatherings from 250 to 50 to 10 in just days.

After the box-office record-breaking year of 2019, 2020 had already been slow, but the legitimate threat of the coronavirus pandemic led to the lowest weekend box-office take in 20 years in the United States and Canada for March 13-15.

Domestic ticket sales were just $55.3 million, a 44 percent plunge from the previous weekend, despite three new films – “I Still Believe,” “Bloodshot,” and The Hunt” — opening, according to Comscore, which compiles box-office data. The next lowest cumulative for ticket sales dates back to Sept, 17, 2000 at $54.5 million.

Newer films going to on-demand

Even more interesting for consumers is that studios are responding to the theater closures by offering some newer films to video-on-demand (VOD) sites more quickly.

Studios and theaters had a 90-day VOD window negotiated where studios would not offer their films on streaming or cable platforms until at least 90 days after the film opened theatrically. However, with theaters closed, the studios don’t have to comply with the agreement.

Universal announced Monday that it would make “The Invisible Man,” “Emma,” and “The Hunt,” available on VOD this Friday for a 48-hour rental for $19.99.

In response, Warner Bros. announced the DC Comics-based “Birds of Prey” and the civil-justice courtroom drama “Just Mercy” will be available on VOD on March 24 for a similar rental period and price as the Universal releases. Expect other studios to follow suit.

Other than “The Hunt,” all of those films had already done the bulk of the business they were going to do in theaters even if the coronavirus hadn’t cratered attendance last weekend.

However, the trial balloon to watch during this time of quickly shifting sands is the release of “Trolls World Tour” to VOD on April 10, which was the date the DreamWorks Animation sequel was supposed to be released in theaters.

How the family-friendly film does on VOD could impact the future of the way some films are released.

Theaters in the past resisted allowing day-and-date release of films in theaters and on VOD to protect the business model of both industries. Obviously the theaters didn’t want the competition, but studios complied because the 90-day window between release in theaters and on VOD gave them two revenue sources from the same product.

Theatrical release also offered the potential for a much higher revenue stream because individual tickets must be bought by each movie-goer. With VOD, a family of four or 15 could watch the same movie for the price of one rental.

That’s why at the moment studios are pushing back the dates on films that stand to be big-time money makers in theaters rather than opting for VOD release like “Trolls World Tour.”

Once the pandemic subsides, the thought is that Americans will be even more starved for new content as well as the communal experience of watching movies in a theater.

Pushing the films back also help fill the pipeline with new material for the gap that will be caused by the suspension of production and filming of movies during this time of social distancing.

TV programming expected to take major hit

This gap will affect the film industry in untold ways, costing it billions by some estimates, but it will likely be even harder on television programming, particularly for new shows expected for next fall.

If the need for social distancing extends into the mid and possibly late summer as Vice President Pence and President Trump suggested in a press conference Tuesday, there are very likely films and television shows in production as recently as the weekend that might not go forward.

The money might not be there.

Some TV analysts are suggesting the pilot season, where one episode of a new show is filmed to sell it to networks for the fall season, is out the window for this year.

Those who enjoy the scads of new Christmas movies that fill the schedule for Hallmark and other channels in November and December will likely feel the pinch, too. Many of those movies are shot in spring and summer before airing during the holiday season.

The good thing for film and TV fans who are self distancing is that there has never been more available through streaming and cable services than now. This is the time to try out different shows and films — new and old — with those closest to you.

There’s a bevy of material available. We’d love to hear what you’ll be watching and what you’d suggest we and others should check out.