EL DORADO – Residents across much of South Arkansas should stay alert for the potential of heavy rain and localized flash flooding today and into the evening.

The National Weather Service has placed much of the southern two-thirds of the region under a Marginal Risk (Level 1 of 4) for excessive rainfall, with the greatest concern centered on areas including El Dorado, Texarkana, and surrounding communities. Forecasters say slow-moving thunderstorms and repeated rounds of rain could produce rainfall rates of 1 inch or more per hour, increasing the risk of flash flooding in low-lying and poor-drainage areas.

Additional rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches are expected across the region, with isolated locations receiving even higher amounts where storms repeatedly track over the same areas.

Motorists are urged to use caution if heavy rain develops. Roads can quickly become flooded, especially in areas that have already received significant rainfall. Officials remind drivers to never attempt to drive through flooded roadways and to remember the safety message: “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”

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Rain and thunderstorm activity is expected to gradually diminish later this evening, but residents should continue monitoring the latest forecasts and be prepared to act if a Flash Flood Warning is issued.

EL DORADO – Business leaders, entrepreneurs and community members will have an opportunity to expand their professional networks later this month during the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce’s July Business Hour.

The monthly networking event will be hosted by South Arkansas College on Tuesday, July 21, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the college’s Health Sciences Building, located at 401 W. Wesson Street in El Dorado.

The Business Hour is designed to bring together Chamber members and local professionals for an informal hour of networking, conversation and relationship building. Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour SouthArk’s Health Sciences Building while connecting with fellow business leaders, community partners and area professionals.

Chamber officials say the event is a chance for attendees to make new business connections, strengthen existing relationships and stay engaged with the local business community. The networking event is open to Chamber members and those interested in becoming more involved in the area’s business community.

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The El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce encourages anyone looking to grow their professional network and learn more about South Arkansas College’s Health Sciences programs and facilities to attend. The event is free to attend and no formal program is scheduled, allowing participants to network at their own pace.

MAGNOLIA – Southern Arkansas University recently recognized 75 faculty members for their scholarly accomplishments. The event, titled the All-Star Scholars Celebration, was held to recognize the research and scholarship produced by faculty.

“It was a wonderful event to acknowledge what our faculty are doing,” said Dr. Robin Sronce, provost and vice president for academic affairs at SAU. “It was to recognize that even though these faculty members are busy with teaching and advising students, they still remain active in the subjects that they teach.”

There were a total of over 280 scholarly activities reported by faculty members in the most recent academic year. They were in the categories of creative expressions, publications, presentations, and grants.

During the 2024 academic year, SAU faculty members produced 46 publications, gave over 140 presentations, presented 50 creative expressions, and wrote 52 grants.

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The scholarly work by faculty members also benefits current students at SAU.

“This scholarly work allows them to bring new ideas to the classroom,” added Sronce.

Dr. Tim Wise, professor of management, agrees that his research allows him to stay fresh in his field while presenting new ideas to his students.

Wise enjoys engaging in case research. One of his recent cases centered on the local restaurants MuleKick and Lefty’s.

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“I like to use case research because it’s something I can use in the classroom,” said Wise. “I talked with the owner of Lefty’s and MuleKick. She talked about how she started the restaurant, how she managed her restaurant, and a lot of other details that go into opening a restaurant and making a business successful.”

“I try to relate my case studies to topics we study in class and from the textbook,” added Wise.

Dr. Stacey Stanberry, assistant professor of education and director of elementary education and Rider Residency lead, said she uses research as a way to stay current in her field and to help students as they prepare for careers in education.

“My research is more centered around public education to help prepare educators,” said Stanberry. “Most of my research recently has been around our residency program and how it affects school districts.”

Sronce said the All-Star Scholars Celebration was a way of honoring and recognizing faculty members for their scholarly work. And she hoped the event would encourage faculty members to continue with that work.

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“We want to encourage faculty members to be lifelong learners and contributors to their fields,” said Sronce.

EL DORADO, AR — Representatives from Paradox Data LLC opened the doors of their Industrial Road facility to Union County residents on Thursday, July 9, 2026, hosting an informational tour and community Q&A session. The event was organized to directly address public questions following the viral spread of a recent regulatory filing involving the local digital infrastructure company.

Jeffrey Harris, founder and Chief Technology Officer of Paradox Data, who was also recently appointed Global CTO of the publicly traded computing firm Z Squared Inc. (NASDAQ: ZSQR), led the presentation. Harris sought to clarify local rumors regarding the scope, timeline, and utility demands of the data center’s planned operations.

Clarifying the Z Squared “Letter of Intent” and Timelines

Addressing a widespread rumor that a massive tech campus would be built in 30 days, Harris emphasized that state and utility regulations make such a timeline legally and logistically impossible. Under current protocols enforced by state authorities and utility provider Entergy Arkansas, a minimum of 18 months must elapse before any physical groundbreaking (“shovel in the ground”) can begin on a new phase.

Furthermore, Harris clarified the current status of the corporate relationship between Paradox Data and Z Squared. Because Z Squared is a publicly traded company, it is legally required to disclose public filings, which led to the publication of a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire a majority interest in Paradox. While the transaction has not officially closed, the companies are actively partnering, and Harris has assumed his overarching dual-CTO role to guide future engineering strategy.

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Management explicitly noted that the facility is not a “hyperscale” data center, the gigawatt-scale infrastructures typically operated by companies like Amazon, nor is it a Large Language Model (LLM) training facility. Instead, the intended path involves an upscaled version of Paradox’s current local footprint, prioritizing organic growth within Union County’s existing industrial sector.

The Waterless Technology: 100% Immersion Fluid

A major focus of the presentation detailed the facility’s specialized cooling system. Unlike standard data centers that require millions of gallons of water or heavy exterior air conditioning units, Paradox is “internally cooled” using a 100% liquid immersion technique.

Facility mechanics and environmental footprints outlined during the tour include:

• Zero Water Usage: The facility utilizes no water for equipment cooling on the grounds. To maintain a strict zero-water footprint, the campus relies on self-contained temporary sanitation (portapotties) rather than connecting to standard municipal water lines.
• Biodegradable Fluid: The immersion cooling liquid used is a specialized medical-grade discovery that is non-toxic to touch or ingest. It features a 20-year shelf life, leaves no chemical waste, and naturally degrades or evaporates rather than being dumped.
• Structural Containment: To serve as a secondary safety measure, the facility’s interior is lined with Phenicon HS, a high-performance industrial epoxy phenolic novolac coating engineered specifically for heavy-duty chemical and fluid containment. This paint is commonly used on NASA spacecraft. 
• Energy and Noise Reduction: Liquid immersion naturally absorbs and drowns out computer processor noise. Exterior decibel levels are actively monitored to ensure they do not exceed the sound of a few standard household air conditioning units. Because it avoids traditional air-chilling hardware, the design operates with 40% less energy than comparable facilities of its size.

Company organizers noted that while an air- or water-cooled setup would have been significantly cheaper and faster to construct, they deliberately invested in the immersion-cooled layout to proactively protect the surrounding community from noise and heavy resource depletion.

Grid Integration, Emergency Cut-offs, and Safety Controls

Data centers often face scrutiny over their strain on the electrical grid. To address this, Harris mapped out the strict legal and corporate boundaries dictating their energy usage:

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Arkansas State Law Requirements: Under state mandates, Paradox is legally required to fully fund any and all infrastructure or grid upgrades required to support their operations. No costs are passed on to the public grid or local taxpayers.

• Entergy Curtailment Authority: Entergy Arkansas retains the absolute authority to throttle or completely cut off power to the data center during periods of peak grid stress or emergency weather.
• Community Power Offsets: To put the facility’s power scale in context, an average local hospital operates on roughly 15 to 30 kilowatt-hours (kWh). In the event that Entergy curtails the data center’s power supply during an emergency, the diverted electricity is large enough to power a significant portion of the surrounding municipal grid.
• Backup Generator Caps: Should the facility need to rely on backup generators, Arkansas law strictly caps their operation at a maximum of 100 hours per calendar year.
• 30-Second Kill Switch: The facility features hardwired safety overrides, enabling operators to completely shut down 100% of the data center’s operations within 30 seconds during an emergency.

Local Economic and Tax Breakdown

Project developers confirmed they are not requesting any specialized tax exemptions, municipal incentives, or subsidies from local governments. Based on current capacity and future scaling milestones, the direct tax projections provided to the county include:

Moving forward, Paradox organizers stated they are adopting an “open-book” policy to maintain public transparency. The company has committed to openly sharing ongoing real-time power consumption metrics as well as the exact chemical composition of their proprietary immersion fluid with both local regulators and the general public. As part of this ongoing transparency effort, Harris has agreed to sit down for an upcoming video interview with South Arkansas Now to personally answer questions directly from the community. 

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