A bunch of late stuff to relate:

* PULASKI/NLR SCHOOL WOES: The Pulaski County School District AND the North Little Rock School District face a fiscal distress finding by the state Education Department. The Pulaski District has scheduled an emergency board meeting tonight to discuss it. Maybe KIPP could take it over. More details here. The district, which got a calamitous audit report in 2009. hasn’t made sufficient progress, the state Education Department thinks. Here’s the letter notifying the Pulaski district of the department finding and a May 9 state Board of Education meeting on it. Here’s another letter with further details on district problems.

Advertisement

Here’s the state’s fiscal distress letter that went to the North Little Rock district. Here’s an earlier letter outlining some specifics, including an unreconciled bank account. Could the state take over TWO of the state’s biggest school districts? UPDATE: If I read correctly, NLR is making a point of noting that this week’s notice is based on exceptions in 2008 and 2009 audits, not current practices.

Said Department spokesman Seth Blomeley:

Advertisement

We’ve given each district time to correct problems and provide evidence to us of such action. But they have not done that to our satisfaction. We have worked closely with each district and each district has been cooperative and understands our role.

We’re not being punitive. We’re doing our job to ensure the integrity of the education system in the districts for the children. We hope this will be a wake-up call for the districts and we will make every effort to work with them to correct the problems.

* CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING: Doesn’t look like it will get worked out by tomorrow. But the House Democrats’ bill is in a position to be pulled out of Senate Committee by a majority vote. It couldn’t be passed tomorrow, when the session is supposed to more or less close, without an unlikely rules suspension. But the Senate can reconvene before the formal end of the session in late April and vote on the bill. I’ll try to update this this evening, but I have some places to go. FYI: This is NOT about Fayetteville. Resistance in the Senate comes from Democratic senators and where THEY want to be. As I’ve said all along — and I think Republicans actually harmed themselves by their focus — LOTS more people are affected by redistricting than Fayetteville. Look to South Arkansas, for starters.

* MARRIAGE BLOWUP: Sangeeta Mann filed for divorce Tuesday from Dr. Randeep Mann, convicted in a plot to bomb the chairman of the state Medical Board. He’s serving a life prison term. Sangeeta Mann is free while appealing convictions for obstructing the prosecution. Mann seeks a no-fault divorce on ground of 18 months separation. There is some rank speculation in legal circles that the divorce could be strategic, in terms of protecting some of the Manns’ assets in a property division from potential legal action against him.

Advertisement

* LU HARDIN: The Arkansas Supreme Court accepted the former UCA president’s voluntary surrender of his law license. Its order said he acknowledged the federal fraud charges to which he pleaded guilty constituted serious misconduct.

* COCAINE BLUES: The Cabot bookie whose case was entangled with indictments of a couple of former North Little Rock alderman got 10 years in the federal prison today on cocaine-related charges.

Advertisement

* LOTTERY LOSERS: Bills to ban lottery vending machines and to modestly increase spending from lottery proceeds for a program to prevent gambling addiction failed in House committee today. The Arkansas Lottery wants to keep the machines. Sen. Sue Madison, who sponsored the measure, said she understood the desire to protect scholarship money but that further thought should be given to risk of children using the vending machines and the dangers of problem gambling.

* DELAY FOR HOMELESS AGENCY: Because three of nine commissioner won’t be attending the meeting, SOAR, the agency hoping to put on office for its homeless outreach program on West Roosevelt Road has delayed consideration of its application before the Capitol Zoning District Commission. This is the program City Director Erma Hendrix is fiercely resisting. It’s not a shelter, but an office for an agency that seeks homeless where they live to offer services.

Advertisement

* TIMBER DAMAGES REVERSED: The state Game and Fish Commission reports a federal appeals panel has overturned a $5.8 million damage award it won for timber damage caused by Army Corps of Engineers water management that flooded the Dave Donaldson Black River Wildlife Management Area. Game and Fish may appeal. More on jump.

Be a Part of the Fight

Step up and make a difference by subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times, the progressive, alternative newspaper in Little Rock that's been fighting for truth for 50 years. Our tough, determined, and feisty journalism has earned us over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, all of whom value our commitment to holding the powerful accountable. But we need your help to do even more. By subscribing or donating, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be supporting our efforts to hire more writers and expand our coverage. Join us in the fight for truth by subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times today.

Previous article Philander’s Kimbrough on list for Southern job Next article Magic Springs announces 2011 Concert Series