Max Brantley

Forty-six years ago this week I visited Little Rock in hopes of getting a job at the Arkansas Gazette. Then-Managing Editor Robert Douglas was friendly, but said (with good reason) that I was a little green.

While I was away, Frank Scott Jr. won a historic victory in a runoff with Baker Kurrus to succeed Mark Stodola as Little Rock mayor.

Baker Kurrus is trying to brand himself as an agent for change as mayor of Little Rock, but labors under a handicap.

Election results in Arkansas were discouraging for Democrats and progressive voters.

Events in the Little Rock School District prompt me to say more about the Little Rock mayor's race in favor of Baker Kurrus.

Early voting has begun and most of the choices are easy on my ballot.

Some recent news, not all fit for immediate print in the state's largest newspaper.

A state Senate committee this week began firming up new ethics rules to govern members. Call me wary.

State Sen. Joyce Elliott (D-Little Rock) last week exposed a plan to begin privatizing Arkansas prisons without going through the legislature. Smells like a swamp to me.

So many provocations, so little space.

Governor Hutchinson has promised to soon reveal his ideas for "transforming government" — a reorganization aimed at reducing the number of departments that report to the governor.

Jon Woods, the former state senator, got a whopping 18-year federal prison sentence last week from Judge Timothy Brooks, who described Woods' criminality as "grotesque" and "depraved."

The Arkansas School Safety Commission heard belatedly last week about ideas to make schools safer that don't put more guns at the top of the list of solutions.

Governor Hutchinson signaled his preferred approach to state taxation and services last week — keep pinching services to provide a tax cut for the rich.

An initiated act to raise the state minimum wage qualified for the November ballot last week and instantly became a defining political issue.

The Hutchinson administration has riled the teachers union in the Little Rock School District.

Signature counting and legal challenges aren't done, but the November ballot is shaping up as a rich opportunity to side with your choice of people or corporations.

Basketball star LeBron James, in partnership with the Akron public school district, opened an I Promise school for third and fourth graders this week to serve at-risk kids such as he once was.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's veteran education reporter, Cynthia Howell, wrote this week about the third-year use of a new standardized test, ACT Aspire, for judging public school students. A key factor was missing in the discussion about Little Rock schools.

If you read the daily newspaper or the Arkansas Blog you might have seen reporting on activities of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System.