By Ray King

Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington appeared on the Oldies 101.3 morning show Friday morning to talk about the fireworks show that is scheduled for Saturday.

Since the first case of COVID-19 in Arkansas was reported in Pine Bluff, Washington was asked about the city’s current status with regard to the pandemic.

Washington said most residents have been pretty compliant with guidelines to slow or stop the spread of the virus but thinks more can be done.

She said she had been to several stores Thursday and was pleased to see most people were wearing masks and with the holiday weekend coming up, said when people gather, they need to do so in family groups and stay with smaller groups, less than 10 people. If there are more than 10, practice social distancing as much as possible.

While the City of Pine Bluff has had a bad reputation statewide, a recent column in the state’s newspaper suggested that Russellville, which is to be the home of a casino could take lessons from Pine Bluff in how to do things the right way. The column went on to suggest that Little Rock could take lessons from Pine Bluff in how to successfully handle protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

Washington was asked about that column and about the city moving forward.