News headlines and the open line.

Karla Hughes is retiring as chancellor of University of Arkansas Monticello.

Judge Chip Welch has announced for a seat on the Arkansas Supreme Court, currently held by Justice Jo Hart.

A new Facebook page caught my attention earlier this year. The page, titled "Shame of Bentonville," lists its purpose as a place to share facts, documents and solutions related to removing the Confederate statue from the Bentonville Square. The recent vandalism of the monument has it back in the news.

Columbus Day history: A difficult immigration at its root as much as the famous explorer.

Fox News not pro-Trump enough? He thinks so.

The open line and a link to report on sexual assault victims unhappy with a plea bargain struck with the massage therapist they'd accused of rape.

Add the Wall Street Journal to the list of those reporting on the failure of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's work rule for Medicaid coverage.

With billions at play to shape American education to its will, the Walton Family Foundation is, if not constantly in the news itself, often a significant unnamed player in the news.

Fall and the Hillcrest Harvest Festival. A good way to start an open line.

In “Incandescent,” the voices behind the poems are passionate. They don’t over-rationalize humanity or pan its essence through long-winded metaphors. Sometimes they’re overcome with uncontrollable emotion. Sometimes they can’t say anything at all. Sometimes they find fire and life in the unexpected, in a slosh of memory, in the cycles of the natural world.

"Memphysema" really does capture buzz of energy and excitement the band possessed in those days. As a re-introduction to Ho-Hum 25 years on, few bands or fans could ask for anything better.

We ran into new owner Chris Tanner there last week and got a look at the new menu: Blue crab cakes. Fish tacos. Smoked salmon chowder. And more.

Former Nylon Editor-in-Chief Gabrielle Korn told Thursday night's audience that representation of people of color, size inclusivity and an emphasis on sustainability were already emerging as elements in the Arkansas designers' collections, a welcome departure from the hegemony still largely present in many elements of New York Fashion Week. 

Maybe it was Jett’s long-sharpened road-dog skills or her devoted vegetarian diet, or whatever soothing tonic was in Ann Wilson’s ceramic coffee cup, but neither showed a shred of evidence of vocal atrophy, and both were surrounded by the kind of musicians and engineers who can make their music work in a stadium setting.

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We note the passing of Bud Kenny, founder of the long-tenured Wednesday Night Poetry sessions in Hot Springs.

How Little Rock designer Korto Momolu brought a weed-inspired collection to New York Fashion Week.

Ahead of Lethem’s visit to Arkansas as one of UA Fayetteville's 2018-19 2019-20 McIlroy Family Visiting Professors, we spoke to him about his love of used bookshops — he spent years working in them — gentrification, and what the election of Trump says about us as a society.

M'Shay Victoria Foster — also known as Joel Little — is a Little Rock native and the winner of Miss Gay Diamond America 2019, a regional competition and a preliminary to the Miss Gay America pageant. Now living outside of Dallas, Foster is competing in the MGA pageant for the fourth time next week, and M'Shay thinks this may be her year to take it all.

Clear your calendar, beer lovers. The party of the year is just around the corner. The Arkansas Times Craft Beer Festival returns to North Little Rock on Friday, Oct. 25, 6-9 p.m.

Welcome to Arkansas beer country.

We ran into new owner Chris Tanner there last week and got a look at the new menu: Blue crab cakes. Fish tacos. Smoked salmon chowder. And more.

Our annual event took place on Saturday in Argenta.

Time does wonderful things to pork, and it’s done wonderful things for Arkansas Times’ annual Hog Roast, too — now matured into a block party that celebrates the best parts of the pig. Tickets for the Saturday event, held from 1-5 p.m., are on sale for $15 through tonight. They'll be $20 at the door.

Feast Mode! Bone’s Chophouse in Hot Springs, Arkansas is no stranger to carving premium cuts of beef and more.

This is a milestone year for Lisa Zhang. It’s the fifth anniversary of Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling Co., her wildly popular authentic Chinese restaurant in downtown Little Rock, and her 20th year in the United States. It also marks a year of expansion with the opening in May of her Chinese chicken restaurant Haybird (“Where East Meats West”), and the development of a new 9,000-square-foot project in Riverdale, slated to open next year, which will house three concepts: an expanded and relocated Haybird; Eastern Pantry, a sort of deli with take-home meal options; and a sake brewery. 

It’s growing, and new styles are taking hold.

Taco Mama is a staple of the Hot Springs food scene. We’re meeting up with the one and only Chef Diana Marez Bratton. 'The' Taco Mama! Diana has been turning heads with her culinary delights for years.

Hill Station, a new restaurant run by Tara and Brandon Brown of Hillcrest Artisan Meats, is slated to open in Hillcrest at the end of October. Tara, who will be the restaurant's general manager, said Hill Station will serve a lunch and dinner menu that includes many favorites from the couple's artisan butcher shop across the street.