Little Rock’s citywide curfew will be pushed back to 10 p.m. on Friday, June 5, with the intent to remove it altogether on Monday, June 8, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced today.
In addition, Scott reported that city is rolling out a new initiative allowing restaurants to apply for dine-out service, as well as applications for the second round of Small Business Emergency Assistance loans opened this afternoon.
Scott began the press conference alongside Chief Keith Humphrey of the Little Rock Police Department to address the city’s appreciation for continued peaceful protests. In recent days, only eight to 10 arrests have been made in Little Rock, all of which were for obstruction of government operations. Humphrey confirmed that the presence of “outside forces” at the protests remains, with additional protests planned this weekend. Scott said that their intention is to fully remove the curfew on Monday but will reassess after the weekend.
“These curfews are not intended to stifle the voices of our people and the press,” Scott said. “We respect the work and stand in solidarity with all the peaceful protestors.”
As for the dining-out initiative for restaurants, Jamie Collins, director of planning and development for Little Rock, explained that this will allow restaurants, bars and clubs to expand their dine-out services to include tables on the “parking lot, sidewalks, lawns…as long as they are in a social distanced way.”
The applications for this new dine-out initiative will open on Tuesday, June 9, and the department is “committed to turning all applications submitted to us around within three days of applying.” If the restaurant serves alcohol, the department will have the request turned into the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board within three days.
In addition, Scott announced that the application for the second round of Small Business Emergency Assistance loans opened at noon today. This second round of funding, intended for sole proprietors and independent contractors, totals $300,000 and is available for application at littlerock.gov.
READ MORE: Four JCPenney Stores Closing in Arkansas