By Ray King

In an address that lasted just 38 minutes, Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington on Thursday laid out some of the challenges the city faced last year and her hopes for the future.

Washington got a standing ovation as she began her State of the City Address.

Among the early challenges was the announcement by Governor Asa Hutchinson, on March 11, that the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the state was in Pine Bluff at Jefferson Regional Hospital. Washington said a group was set up immediately which soon became the Pine Bluff JeffersonCounty COVID task force.

She went on to say that during the early days of the pandemic, testing was low so a test site was set up at the football stadium at UAPB where more than 80 volunteers tested 400 individuals. That site was the first in the nation at a historically black college or university.

In 2021, Washington said the goal is to continue encouraging people to get vaccinated when it is their turn.

She also talked about improvements to the economy of the city and a bright future.

Among the other topics the Mayor touched on was the shooting death of Officer Kevin D. Collins.

She wrapped up her address by saying it is time to get to work.