Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 17:07:03
The midweek line is open.
Oh, but by the way, Sen. Blanche Lincoln has joined a handful of Democratic senators standing in the way of student college lending reform. The bill they're blocking would expand student aid, but also end millions in government subsidies to private lenders
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 16:38:09
The Pulaski County School Board will have yet another "emergency" school board meeting at 5:30 p.m. tonight, this one "for investigation into improper dissemination of personnel matter at board level only."
The Board faction that backed Rob McGill for superintendent is apparently going to produce a circus over the leak of the report that more or less cleared him of making an insensitive racial remark.
The witch hunt is a needless continuation of hostilities. The investigation should have been released immediately anyway. McGill wanted it released. Those quoted in the report should not have had their names redacted. It was not a personnel matter about them, but about McGill. The racially polarized fight has gotten deeply personal. Nobody will win, least of all the school district. If there's a better illustration of the board's failure to get beyond race -- even as it tries to free itself from desegregation supervision -- I can't think of it.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 15:19:04
U.S. Attorney Jane Duke today announced the indictment of 31 people in a two-year investigation of meth and pot dealing in Prairie and Lonoke counties. The probe, known as Operation Evil Eye, also produced a number of firearm charges (possession by convicted felons).
Here's the news release.
Here's the full indictment.
Check the indictment for a southern-fried alleged crime family. The AKAs for the suspects include Trash Man, Hacksaw, Lil Joe, Flat Head, Rock, Big Ben, Stinger, Sonny and Tennessee.
Why Evil Eye? Said a spokesman for Duke:
The lead defendant, Norman Berry’s very prominent tattoo on the back of his shaved head of a single eye.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 15:11:01
There is no there there. The scandal is that the vast right-wing conspiracy kept it alive for 14 years. From Joe Conason:
"Filegate" is a term that always deserved scare quotes, because the putative scandal concerning the misuse of FBI files in the Clinton White House was so clearly, from its very beginning in 1996, no scandal at all. But the obvious absence of any credible evidence that Bill or Hillary Clinton or any of their employees or associates had ordered up such files, or committed any abuse of them, did nothing to dissuade mainstream media, right-wing outlets, or Republican politicians from hysterically promoting the pseudo-scandal.
...
Yesterday the last wheeze of hype was squeezed from that old controversy, when U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth dismissed the remaining civil lawsuit against former Clinton administration officials in the FBI files affair. Brought by eccentric attorney Larry Klayman, who became a favorite of cable television and conservative funders during the Clinton era, those costly lawsuits were described in the judge's decision as essentially baseless.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 14:22:08
-- Brian Chilson photo
The Little Rock Zoo today showed off Bakari, its new lion, as a promo for a coming zoo event. Coleman Dairy sponsorship will mean a dollar admission this Saturday.
Am I too sensitive? Something just struck me funny about reading that zoo officials planned to have the lion lap from a bowl of milk and play with a milk carton as part of the show.
UPDATE: Zoo spokeswoman Susan Altrui comments:
Our lions actually get regular milk treats and enjoy the treats very much. Placing cardboard boxes in their exhibit is something the keepers do regularly as enrichment for the animals. The boxes are usually stuffed with treats or a certain smell is applied to them to encourage the cats to attack the box. This is stimulating for the mind and provides exercise for the cats and is something we do regularly as part of our enrichment program for animals.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 14:02:04
Gov. Mike Beebe spoke to reporters at length today about the surprise Justice Department action yesterday to enjoin further admissions of young people to the Conway Human Development Center, which cares for more than 500 people with severe retardation. The following account is from his spokesman, Matt DeCample:
The governor believes the underlying dispute is one of philosophy. In general, the Department of Justice wants to move disabled people from large facilities to homes or community-based services. The governor agrees that home or community care is the ideal option. However, he says there are many cases where it's not possible. Many families believe the institutional setting is the best option. It's a last resort, but a service that needs to be there, Beebe believes.
On allegations of excessive use of restraints and improper medication: The governor believes that there are standards of care and the state works to make sure that everything is done by the book. If it is found that someone is not following proper procedures, whoever is responsible will be fired, he said. (If Justice is correct, and Arkansas has become a holdout on use of restraints, you do have to wonder who defines "proper".)
Bottom line: DOJ wants these mass institutions to become relics of the past. The state of Arkansas doesn't.
The state said it was caught by surprise by the legal action yesterday because the Justice Department had only recently asked for a continuance in a scheduled court hearing.
My core problem remains this: Has the state investigated cases cited by Justice on deaths and improper care? What were the findings (specifics, not just a state finding of 'no foul')? If rules were broken, were there consequences for employees? Nobody will tell me. That's confidential in the state's view. I will never have any degree of confidence in the state's care of the least among us (not just in Conway but in any branch of the giant Human Services Department) until it will talk in detail about cases where abuse has been alleged and where children have died. This can be done without violating patient privacy. Until officials do, their protestations of good faith inspire little trust.
UPDATE: DHS has also responded. It faults the Justice Department's tactics and findings, defends its care and says the state has increased the number of people receiving community-based care. Again, there is no offer to detail specifics in cases of allegations of improper or negligent treatment.
Continue Reading »
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 13:49:37
Again the call for comment from Republican candidates for Congress on how enthusiastically they plan to get behind Rep. Paul Ryan's widely touted budget plan. It would cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. It would make more money for insurance companies. But wait .... there's apparently more.
An analysis indicates that his plan would cut taxes by raising taxes on 90 percent of the American people and lowering them dramatically on the top 10 percent. The top 1 percent would make out like bandits, as they always do in the Republican world.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 13:28:16
From a 5-4 Court of Appeals decision today:
A Jonesboro nursing home assistant, injured when she fell and broke her arm as she stepped outside to smoke while waiting for a line of employees to receive paychecks, isn't entitled to workers compensation.
The Workers Comp commission had upheld a law judge who said the employee was waiting as instructed to receive a paycheck and on the clock until she received the check and thus was entitled to benefits. The majority said she was "not where she was supposed to be or doing what she was directed to do." Dissenters took a sharply different view. They said the employee was doing as instructed, waiting to take a flu shot and receive a paycheck, and thus advancing her employer's interest, a standard for determining benefits.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 13:19:58
Channel 4 reports on pre-trial hearing today in the case against Betsey Wright, Bill Clinton's former chief of staff, on charges of attempting to bring contrabad (tattoo needles and other items) into a prison unit.
The account says she'll be allowed to take a video deposition from an inmate she planned to visit -- Don Davis -- who's scheduled to be executed in April. She's also been given access to information on other contraband cases.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 11:16:08
Chief Justice John Roberts wants his cake -- legislating his ideology from the bench -- and to eat it without political criticism. Tough.
And, for once, good for the Obama administration for telling this dishonest hypocrite he's out of line.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 10:47:51
The irony of Sen. Blanche Lincoln running against Washington insiders and depicting the city as a bunch of children throwing stacks of dollar bills around was not lost on the Washington Post's Ezra Klein.
The fact that the economy is getting a bit better isn't evidence that the crisis is over. It's evidence that the interventions are working, or at least appear to be working.
Which is why it's a good thing that the Senate broke a filibuster yesterday to move forward with $150 billion in aid for the unemployed and tax breaks. Oh, and while we're on the subject, don't ever let Blanche Lincoln talk about the evils of backroom deals: The bill "includes more than $1 billion in emergency agricultural aid sought by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who faces a tough reelection race."
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 09:25:27
A writer for The New Yorker has been in town this week as part of ongoing research for a major profile on Mike Huckabee, media star and potential future presidential candidate. Look for it in April. Lucky writer was in the crowd for the Huckabee-backed Pat Boone singalong on "Exodus" during his recent trip to Israel.
I told her we'd had a disagreement or two (or 12), but that he stood tall, and I thought sincerely, on a couple of major policy issues -- expanded government spending on education and expansion of government health insurance for children.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 09:22:30
Arkansas's unemployment rate held steady at 7.6 percent in January.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 09:15:08
Stand News, the weekly newspaper that targets the African-American community, reports a surge in political filings by black candidates, a development it characterizes as a side effect of excitement about President Obama.
Nearly 14 months ago America watched as Barack Obama took the oath to become the first African-American president of the United States. His victory set off an increased pride and confidence among Blacks, especially youth. It appears that his message of hope has resonated with many aspiring Black Arkansans as 46 candidates, including two independents, filed last week for various positions; a staggering 64 percent more than in the 2008 election.
Let us hope that translates into a surge of black voting this year.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 07:02:12
Slow day so far. So I'll grumble about an item in the D-G (sub. reqd.) about a Little Rock city hall committee that recommended a reduction in local business taxes. The committee was led by city director and flower shop owner Stacy Hurst and, save one retired city employee, was composed entirely of business people, notably including a representative of the historically tax-averse Little Rock Regional Chamber of Conmmerce. It isn't exactly stunning to hear them recommend a tax cut.
They may even be right. Business license fees may need changes. It is also no fault of the self-interested business people that the only realistic source of makeup money should they get a tax cut is to shift the burden to people's groceries and other necessities of life through a sales tax increase. That's how the city has always rolled.
Here's my complaint. City taxpayers are subsidizing the Chamber of Commerce to the tune of $200,000 a year. The chamber is well-financed by its members. It historically has been quite capable of lobbying for lower taxes, suppression of unions, defeat of health care reform and all the rest without help from the biscuit cookers. Why in hell must city taxpayers pay the chamber to lobby against them? (I know. The city will say its payments to the chamber are for subcontracting "economic development services." That's baloney. It's a straight subsidy to the chamber with no specific accounting of how the money is spent. City money supports chamber employees who wear multiple hats, such as lobbying against the rights of working men and women and for tax cuts.)
End the subsidy.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 17:29:13
The long-bubbling federal review of the Conway Human Development Center seems to have come to a full boil today.
The Justice Department today filed a motion in federal court to enjoin the admission of developmentally disabled children to the center to prevent their placement in "dangerous conditions" and to allow continued investigation of accusations of "imminent and serious threats to the safety of the facility's more than 500 residents."
Here's a copy of the motion (link repaired) for an injunction.
Justice filed a complaint against the state in January 2009. It said it had concluded that residents face "increasing and grave risk of harm each day that deficiencies are ignored." It cites, among others, the state's failure to move residents into community-based programs. Also:
The United States has concluded that children at the facility are particularly vulnerable given allegations that CHDC residents are subjected to dangerous medication mismanagement and harmful, unnecessary restraints. In recent years, at least three CHDC residents have died, suffered possible permanent organ damage or been at risk of hemorrhaging to death because of psychotropic medication mismanagement. CHDC also continues to utilize 41 different forms of mechanical restraints on both children and adults, including straitjackets, restraint chairs and papoose boards - practices that have been largely barred from other facilities for years.
I've sought comments from the state on today's development.
UPDATE: Said Matt DeCample in the governor's office:
As you know, Arkansas has been working with DOJ officials for many years to address their concerns at CHDC. Nothing in that working relationship had changed to our knowledge, and we had no warning or indication that they were going to pursue this course of action.
This is an old story. Here, for example, is a five-year-old Justice Department investigation report sent to Gov. Mike Huckabee with similar allegations. The state has always exhibited a certain blindness about operations at Conway, as evidenced when this suit was filed more than a year ago and a state spokesman described Conway services as "wonderful." More than 500 people live there, most with profound or severe retardation. Some are in fragile health. In 2005, according to the Disability Rights Center, about three dozen were school-aged children. This link carries multiple links to the progress of this ongoing probe.
It is an unrelated divison of the state Human Services Department, but this news happens to come on a day I've received continuing tips about shortcomings in the state's child protective services, an agency whose work was highlighted in this week's cover story by David Koon. There is more to come from a former official about personnel qualifications and responsiveness at the agency. How many children fall through the cracks in Arkansas? And how long will legislators tolerate the lack of accountability from the agency, which won't discuss specifics of their cases and won't reveal what, if any consequences, were meted out to workers involved? The governor continues to disappoint in this field. Children pay the price. The Justice Department has the power to pull the covers off.
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 17:03:35
It's open.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 16:51:43
The debate challenges have begun. In the 1st Congressional District, Democratic candidate Chad Causey calls for one. Tim Wooldridge and Steve Bryles promptly second the motion and Bryles adds to the stew by labeling Causey, a former top hand for U.S. Rep. Marion (Thank God He's Retiring) Berry, a Washington insider.
Welcome home, Chad.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 14:52:33
First Lady Michelle Obama will speak at UAPB's commencement May 8, one of several graduation appearances she has planned this year.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 14:18:17
Sen. Blanche Lincoln's day was disrupted by confusion over where she stands on a health care reconciliation vote. (At a minimum, her confusing reply to a question seems to have given rise to the issue.)
Opponent Bill Halter, meanwhile, staked out four simple objectives: 1) a promise to reject automatic congressional pay raises; 2) a vow to post his schedule on-line; 3) a vow to hold a town hall in all 75 counties every year; 4) a promise never to become a lobbyist. You can watch the entire announcement here.
At a news conference on those promises, he said in response to a question that he's in favor of the reconciliation process, though he'd have to see the final bill before he made a firm commitment on health care. Asked about some criticism of his candidacy by Democratic establishment figures like Rep. Marion Berry, Halter responded that insiders have no more votes than anyone else and those distinctions lose meaning in the voting booth.
-- Gerard Matthews
Continue Reading »
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 13:26:02
Add former
Little Rock City Director Larry Lichty to
the blogging community. First up, he laments the city's growing infrastructure needs and hopes they won't be forgotten in the current talk about a sales tax for parks.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 11:09:41
Lost in the shuffle of the filing deadline was the Green Party's continued effort to get the recognition it deserves from the state of Arkansas. Its lawsuit challenging its failure to get automatic ballot status because it fell below the required 3 percent vote in the presidential race in 2008 (though state candidates easily exceeded that threshold) won't be tried in time to help ballot access this year.
The party will begin March 20 gathering 10,000 signatures on petitions to certify the party for the ballot, said Green Party state treasurer Mark Jenkins of Little Rock. It has 90 days to obtain the petitions. It has succeeded twice before. Once certified, the party will hold a nominating convention, probably the last weekend in June.
Two Green candidates have announced -- John Gray for U.S. Senate and Ken Adler for 1st District Congress. Jenkins said the party would field a number of other candidates, including a challenger to Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, who is currently unopposed for re-election.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 10:53:29
... it's not likely to be a pretty picture. See Florida, as richly described by the Tampa Tribune, where after 22 years all the familiar lottery themes are evident -- the preying on the poor, the need for new games to keep revenues up, the loss of legislative fervor for programs financed by the lottery, the disproportionate tendency of lottery scholarships to go to middle income families.
Arkansas is in its lottery honeymoon. Players are happy. Current college students with sufficient grades are anticipating a windfall. Check back in 20 years. If I'm still around, I expect I still be glad I voted against it.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 09:47:15
Big news this morning when a news article reported that Sen. Blanche Lincoln might after all vote for health legislation under a simple majority procedure, depending on the contents of companion legislation.
Her earlier announced intention to oppose a so-called reconciliation vote was, at a minimum, pointless, it seemed to me. A lot of political people I talked with last night used rougher terms. Like stupid.
Lincoln was the critical 60th vote in ending the Senate filibuster on health legislation and gave the bill her vote. It was her finest hour. If some health legislation passes, supporters can thank Blanche Lincoln. She was hung with that no matter what she did on subsequent votes.
OH NEVER MIND: After news of the senator's moderation flew around the web for several hours, Senator Lincoln issued a statement saying that the reporter who wrote the story on which her supposed rethinking was premised "mischaracterized" her remark. Here's the reporter's followup account. Whatever the confusion, Lincoln is reiterating now what she has said for sometime, she's a "no" on reconciliation.
Washington – U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln today reiterated her opposition to altering the health insurance reform bill using budget reconciliation.
“Sen. Olympia Snowe and I have proposed a bipartisan way forward on health care and I still hope that my colleagues will consider it,” Lincoln said. “I have promised my constituents that I will not support income tax increases to pay for health care and I will seek bipartisan solutions. This takes budget reconciliation as an alternative means to pass health care reform off the table for me. I have fought for and ensured transparency throughout this process, and I believe we must get over this final hurdle using the regular rules of the Senate."
Lincoln released the following [sic] statement after remarks made to a reporter earlier today were mischaracterized.
So back to pointless and stupid.
PS: Bill Halter says he supports passing health care reform with a simple majority vote.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 09:16:11
Roby Brock provides some info on
D.C. Morrison, the mystery third candidate for U.S. Senate in the Democratic primary. With past votes for Ronald Reagan, Ron Paul and Asa Hutchinson I don't think he's a contender to even be a spoiler in the Arkansas Democratic primary.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 09:09:36
Good quality surveillance photos from yesterday's robbery of the Summit Bank branch in the Heights. The summary from LRPD:
About 5 p.m. Monday, officers responded to a bank robbery at 1800 Taylor, Summit Bank. Upon arrival, officers made contact with employees of the bank. They advised that a white male entered the bank just before closing and approached a teller. The white male reached in his right front pocket and gave him a note stating, “He had a gun and to give him the money." The teller gave the suspect an undetermined amount of money. The suspect then ran southbound on Taylor from the bank, crossing Cantrell during heavy traffic. The suspect was described as a white male, 5’10- 5’11, 150-160 pounds, 25-30 years of age, wearing a red, long sleeved button up shirt, khaki pants, clean shaven, shaved hair cut “brown”, and sunglasses.
UPDATE: The LRPD has identified the suspect as Christopher W. Gable, 29. He's believed to be driving a red Dodge pickup with damage to the bed on the passenger side. He should be presumed to be armed and dangerous.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 06:37:31
Congressional Republicans are making U.S. Rep. Mike Ross a poster child for defeat of health reform, citing his opposition in this story about Obama's last push for the bill. Thanks, Mike.
Ross yesterday even proudly distributed an op-ed he'd contributed to Roll Call. You'd think it was a sermon for health reform as he recites the litany of ills of our system, from the pernicious insurance companies to the desperate poor people with no place to turn. But no. Ross never really specifies what's wrong with the watered-down option remaining on the table. Ross even writes, unbelievably:
One thing in this debate is clear: The status quo is simply not acceptable, nor is it sustainable.
He, of course, will vote for the status quo. His main argument against action is that his voters are confused. Will he set them straight? He is too cowardly to do that, too involved in his own self-preservation to save a few lives.
Read Ernest Dumas' column this week on how poor Arkansas -- in the person of Ross, Marion Berry and Blanche Lincoln -- may be the key to defeat of improving the lot of millions of Americans. It will be a dark day for the state whose former leaders brought old-age insurance and Medicare to U.S. citizens.
Monday, March 08, 2010 - 17:37:47
Another thing before we sign off: Little Rock Police Lt. Terry Hastings says the Summit Bank at 1800 N. Tyler St. just west of the Cantrell Road Kroger grocery store was robbed around 5 p.m. today. A white male dressed in a red polo shirt and slacks and wearing sunglasses told a teller he was armed and left on foot with an undisclosed sum of money. There were customers in the bank at the time, Hastings said, but no one was hurt. Hastings said the robber was 5' 8" and weighed about 170 pounds and he believed the man was described as being in his 30s. Police are still on the scene.
Monday, March 08, 2010 - 16:35:01
Burn it up. But first some odds and ends:
We got this all messed up last week, but the Oyster Bar gathering of politicos who'll drink beer and discuss the coming campaign season now that political filing has closed REALLY is scheduled for tonight, 6-10, Stacy Sells advises.
Stacy was among the select crowd at today's Walton-Hussman gathering of invited business people on education reform issues at the Little Rock Club. She said the program pretty well followed the outline Luke Gordy had outlined to me earlier (second item in linked article) -- no immediate specific major strategy unveiled on the political front.
Also: Several have asked about the more detailed filing expected in the Lindsey bankruptcy case in Northwest Arkansas. Court records indicate an extension on the filing has been granted.
Monday, March 08, 2010 - 15:16:03
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama administration plans to go after civil rights inequities in schools and colleges, notably including racial disparity in discipline.
The campaign will essentially put an enforcement stick behind the carrot of the administration's $4.35 billion Race to the Top program, which holds out the promise of extra federal funding if states revamp their education policies. While Race to the Top will reward school reforms, the civil-rights push will emphasize the potential to punish offending schools.
Recent testimony in Little Rock has highlighted breathtaking racial differences in suspension rates in the North Little Rock and Pulaski County school districts. Arkansas, a holdout state for corporal punishment, also has tended to show a propensity to mete out physical violence as punishment disproportionately to black students.