At a community forum in 2024, Helena-West Helena residents were asked to tell the difference between images of their downtown and war-torn Kyiv, Ukraine. As the city’s mayor, Joseph Whitfield, put it, “We asked them to identify the differences between these pictures, and you couldn’t really tell.” Like other towns in the Arkansas Delta, Helena-West Helena has experienced population loss and divestment over the last 50-plus years. Whitfield, who was appointed to the post by Gov.