Facebook, Clint McCance and a teaching moment about hate
But was anything learned during Midland's opportunity? No.
Vol 37 • No 26
Read the print version
2011 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Three: Sea Nanners
Sea Nanners plays the third round of the Musicians Showcase this Thursday night.
Six will vie for Diamond Chef
The popular annual competition among the brightest and most promising up-and-coming chefs in Central Arkansas begins Wednesday.
Harmonic Hendrix dances to architecture
On March 9, architect/artist/composer Christopher Janney will unveil the latest of Janney's urban musical series, "Harmonic Pass: Hendrix."
Don't know much about history
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank, has evaluated the states' standards for teaching U.S. history in school and found that a majority of the standards, including Arkansas's, are "mediocre to awful."
'Wreak not, lest you be wreaked'
"Can one wreak anything besides havoc, and can havoc come about by any means other than wreaking?"
Q. How does this legislature and this Congress rank with those of the past?
A. The Arkansas legislature is a cross-section of all that is bad about Arkansas.
Pierre's Pizza rolls
The new pizza truck is good - but that's the problem.
Kent's closes
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration recently closed the barbecue and home cookin' booth in the River Market's Ottenheimer Hall for non-payment of sales tax.
The debut of Toad Suck Review, Nicholas Sparks to UCA and more.
The new incarnation of the UCA Department of Writing-based Exquisite Corpse Annual, will celebrate its release on Friday, March 4, with the "Toad Suck Review Launchapalooza" on the rooftop of Michelangelo's in Conway.
'I have been a member of both Republican and Democrat parties...'
'...but not of any Tea Party or any other groups you call 'fringe''
Wrapping up Musicians Showcase 2011 with a double header
Last semi-final Thursday; finals Friday at Revolution.
The nadir of Nicolas Cage?
'Drive Angry' mostly bad bad, occasionally so-bad-it's-good bad.
An alternative news outlet in Conway
The Conway Post site a good test for smaller markets.
The Observer's new neighbors
The Observer lives down in Capitol View, and the house next door to us has been empty for awhile. Then, one night this week, we saw a young couple unloading their small SUV to the door.
The To-Do List: The Reparations release a new album at White Water Tavern
Also: The Buckinghams and Blood, Sweat & Tears at UCA; Homebrewers Showcase 2011 and Queer Prom 2 at ACAC; Sugarland at Verizon; True Soul Revue at White Water Tavern; Little Rock Marathon this weekend.
Double-dip watch
The Insider was tipped to take a look at Rep. Allen Kerr's recent uncomfortable appearance before the House to endorse bringing the Arkansas State Highway Employees retirement system into compliance with federal law.
First Thursday in Hillcrest
Also, Isaac Alexander & Co. at The Afterthought, The Yipps at Town Pump and Cuban jazz legend Arturo Sandoval at Fayetteville's Walton Arts Center.
Bottom line
Flowers has been a popular and effective highway director with unprecedented tenure. He'll retire with a benefit that exceeds his pay, but likely nowhere near the multiple some former legislators.
Long-term employee
Highway and Transportation Director Dan Flowers, who makes $157,430 a year and has been department director since 1994, is in a favorable retirement situation because of a convergence of events.
Former speaker of the house Robbie Wills working for a lenders' group
Consider it a chance for the newly empowered Republican Party to show its legislative muscle as well as its good intentions.
Enter the loan sharks
Wills and the industry paint legislation to remove the interest cap on loans of less than $5,000 as almost a public service for needy people.
Richard Hofstadter and today's paranoid politics
That great historian of American political thought would have a keen fascination with the wacky politics of the day.
Huckabee behaving like a money-chasing celebrity
...rather than a serious candidate for president
Looking for gas under Greers Ferry
Concern grows over seismic testing.
Good week: Sheffield Neson
The former gas exec and Republican gubernatorial candidate continues his crusade for severance taxes from gas production.
No suds for Junior
If you work in a bar or restaurant that serves alcohol, look out: ABC is constantly on the prowl for those selling to minors.
Congressional districting rumor mill UPDATE II
Move Fayetteville to the Fourth Congressional District? Hah.
The highway chief's $195,000 pension — and more
The new Arkansas Times is now on the web. I thought I'd call attention to some items of current interest:
* The Insider explains a mysterious and impenetrably worded bill, now law, that passed the House recently with reluctant support from pension reform hawk Allen Kerr.
Republican tax cutters at work
Stephens Media has a few more details today on the item I reported yesterday — the effort by a group of House Republicans to block spending bills that contain spending increases.
Tax cut imperils state budgets
A tax cut signed by President Obama allows, in the name of stimulus, a huge tax cut for business.
Jumbo Gumbo coming April 8th
Got a good gumbo? Like competition? Here's a chance to show off yours.
Funeral protestors win at Supreme Court
Bad facts make proper law. The despicable Topeka family that has used the occasion of military funerals to pursue its anti-gay and other agendas has won an 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court decision denying the award of damages to a family that sued over protests at their son's funeral.
Arkansas football ranks high in SI-CBS crime report
Arkansas football is ranked second in a new top 25 from Sports Illustrated and CBS. In this case, that's a bad thing.
State money report: mixed
As Republican legislators mobilize to cut spending a touch to justify humongous tax breaks for the wealthy, the state issues its February revenue report.
Arkansauce is out
The inaugural issue of Arkansauce, the Journal of Arkansas Foodways is out and available to you, free of charge. Click through to find out how to obtain your copy.
Republicans push spending increase for 'checkbook'
The Republicans' bill for a website to review state expenditures came up in a House committee this morning and it was an occasion to point up some growing tension over the movement that developed yesterday among conservative Republicans to block spending bills with even small increases — a total of $200,000 on the three bills.
Chef Lee wins!
It's official! Chef Lee Richardson of Ashley's at the Capital l and Capital Bar & Grill has been selected by readers in Food and Wine Magazine's competition for Top New Chef of 2011: Midwest.
The South loves Huckabee
Politico must love Mike Huckabee. It wraps up polling of primary voters in 11 Southern states by saying Huckabee "swamps" the competition for the Republican nomination.
Fox News suspends Gingrich, Santorum
Neither Rick Santorum nor Newt Gingrich has announced a presidential candidacy, but Fox News has suspended them as contributors for 60 days, when they will be terminated unless they are not running.
Bill advances on LR airport parking operator
Legislative committee votes to roll back the Little Rock National Airport's big sales tax on a parking lot competitor.
Corporations: People or not?
Several readers have commented today on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that, when it comes to an invasion of privacy exception to the Freedom of Information, law, corporations are not people and cannot claim the protection.
2011 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Five: This Holy House
The harmonic indie rockers play tomorrow's final round of the 2011 ATMS.
2011 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Five: The Pink Drapes
The shoegaze pop act plays tomorrow's final round of the 2011 ATMS.
2011 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Five: Michael Leonard Witham
The folkie brings his one man show to tomorrow's final round of the 2011 ATMS.
2011 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Five: Brethren
The big-name blues act plays tomorrow's final round of the 2011 ATMS.
The help: Texas can't quit it
Thanks to JC for a tip to this amusement from Texas:
It's one thing to get tough on immigrants and people who hire the undocumented.
Fluoride bill passes
The Arkansas House today passed SB 359 by Sen. David Johnson to require sufficient fluoridation of water supplies in Arkansas to prevent tooth decay.
UPDATE: Chef Cindy East-Malik finalist for Diamond Chef
Chef Cindy East-Malik of Pulaski Technical College pulled out a victory in the final round of the preliminaries. She will go on to face Chef Daniel Capello June 7th in the final competition.
Republicans' spending blockade continues
A minority of the House — a Republican clique — continues to hold up appropriation bills in the House.
Merit selection of appellate judges
A proposal is filed for merit selection of Arkansas Court of Appeals judges.
The line is open
Little Rock looks for school superintendent. Fired state trooper is reinstated. Mike Huckabee catches hell for misstatement about Barack Obama.
Talk about the budget axe UPDATE
I'm seeking more information, but a reliable tipster says a proposal is in the hopper this afternoon before Joint Budget to chop $17 MILLION out of the budget of the state Game and Fish Commission.
God and gays at Harding University
A group of current and former gay and lesbian students at Harding University have put together a publication on their lives and experiences at the Church of Christ college.
Thursday To-Do: The Reparations release 'Ride or Die'
White Water Tavern hosts an album release show for the local roots rockers.
Welfare for AT&T
John Brummett gets into the fine print of legislation speeding to approval that boils down to a multi-million-dollar subsidy for AT&T, not to mention some potential work for the utility contractor/citizen legislator who's sponsoring it.
Women at work: The norm
Nobody much cared about the item here the other day about the federal report on the status of women.
Winning political friends with corporate money
Interesting article with Arkansas relevance in today's New York Times on how corporations, limited in the amount of money than can give to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have poured money into his wife's foundation.The foundation supports schools and Mrs. Jindal receives no pay.
Burger joint of the week: Crazee's Cool Cafe
A Facebook fan turns Kat onto the Cantrell Road bar on the search for the state's best burgers.
Harding responds on blocking gay website
David Crouch, director of public relations at Harding University, got back to me this morning with a university statement in response to a publication and website by current and former gay students at Harding and the university's decision to block access to the website on its computer network:
Harding University is a private Christian university whose mission and policies are rooted in biblical principles.
Steamboat Mary Woods can't be saved
The Mary Woods 2, a former working steamboat that was a prime attraction at Jacksonport State Park, near Newport can't be saved, park officials say.
Tax cuts stymied in House; a new tax plan emerges UPDATE
A House committee today indicated it didn't want to consider tax cut bills from the Senate. Also, a new income tax plan emerged.
Mike Huckabee: Lies-misspeaks again
Mike Huckabee continues to dig himself deeper on branding President Obama a Kenyan. Media Matters notes Huckabee's interview with Bill O'Reilly in which he cites a reference in his own book that a check shows didn't exist.
Congressional redistricting: the Fayetteville plan
Sen. Sue Madison confirms (sorry only subscribers can read full story) that congressional redistricting plans under consideration include one that would grow the Fourth through Franklin and Madison counties in Fayetteville.
Pollster: Social issues hold peril for Republicans
Interesting poll results from North Carolina, a Southern state. A majority of voters support either civil unions or marriage for same sex couples.
Committee defeats bill for guns on college campus
Rep. Charlie Collins of Fayetteville ran into some hostile questions in committee today on his bill to allow faculty and staff of colleges to carry concealed handguns.
Internet sales tax bill filed
At last, the bill to level the playing field between Arkansas-based retailers and on-line merchants has been introduced.
Two electrocuted on home project
Channel 4 reports that two workers were killed in a house project on H Street, just west of North Martin in Hillcrest about 3:30 p.m. this afternoon.
The Thursday line
Marching penguins. Republican Sen. Gilbert Baker had a bad day. Republican Rep. Bryan King wants to make it harder to vote. Loan sharks entertain black legislators. Just another open line.
Two Arkansas bars make Imbibe's 100 Best Places To Drink In The South
Smoke & Barrel, Capital Bar & Grill cited in the latest issue
Moore on tax cuts, severance tax
Robert Moore takes questions after the House session today.
Weekend: Colin Hay, Arturo Sandoval, Showcase finals (!!!)
Our regular weekend round-up features the former frontman for Men at Work in Juanita's, a Cuban jazz legend in Fayetteville and, yes, our Musicians Showcase finals!
Friday To-Do: The Buckinghams-Blood, Sweat & Tears
Two "golden oldie" bands visit Conway to close out UCA's "Nostalgia Series."
Friday To-Do: Homebrewers Showcase 2011
Members of the Central Arkansas Fermenters Association march out an array of home-crafted brews at ACAC.
Friday To-Do: Sugarland
The superstar nu-country duo comes to Verizon with Little Big Town and 'American Idol' contestant Casey James.
Friday To-Do: True Soul Revue
The pride of Arkansas soul-funk returns to White Water for its first show since October.
Saturday To-Do: Queer Prom 2 - "Dirty South"
The second annual LGBT-friendly blowout returns with a slate of local bands.
Huckabee: He doesn't tell the truth
The bad reviews keep piling up for Mike Huckabee's incendiary comments about Barack Obama (if he wasn't raised by Mau Maus in Kenya he's likely still an anti-American schooled by Muslims).
Dermott School District begins staff cuts
A lively thread developed last month on news that the Dermott School District was considering cuts in extracurricular activities — including football, cheereleading and the yearbook — to balance the budget in a district with declining enrollment that's dropping near the point of state-required merger with a neighbor.
Live sex in college
Well, this beats all. A psychology prof at Northwestern University has been rebuked by the college president for inviting a couple into his classroom for a live sex demonstration involving use of a sex toy.
Pieday: Cinnamon Cream at Franke's Cafeteria
If there were ever an unheralded pie place in Little Rock, I would suspect Franke’s would be it.
Justus, Hazard-Bishop, more
Galleries are open late tonight in Hot Springs for the monthly stroll.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Five goes to This Holy House
The finals are tonight.
Two dead in SWLR
Police Lt. Terry Hastings is en route to the 3300 block of Pine Cone in Southwest Little Rock where he says two people have been found dead, perhaps victims of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator running in the house.
Senator claims hold on agency budget
Sen. Jason Rapert, the puffed-up peacock of a freshman senator from Bigelow who's angling to inherit predecessor Bob Johnson's Death Start crown, is back at it.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Five video recap
Video recap of round five of the Ark. Times Musicians Showcase.
Democratic Party opposes closed primaries
The Arkansas Democratic Party says a Republican bill to require partisan voter registration to participate in preferential primaries is just another Republican effort to discourage voting.
Companies to stop injection wells in Faulkner
You can go here to follow Fox 16 Twitter reports from the Arkansas Geology Commission, where the subject is stopping injection wells in Faulkner County that might have some relationship to recent earthquakes in the region.
School bribery case with Arkansas tie
Specifics were not revealed, but a man has pleaded guilty to bribery charges in Louisiana over kickbacks to Louisiana and Arkansas school officials for school library computer services contracts.
AT&T gets its welfare payment
The very day John Brummett explained how AT&T was angling to hang onto a $3 million corporate welfare payment provided by a phone tax, the House passed the legislation to allow it with 90 votes in favor.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round Five recap
Conway trio This Holy House advances to tonight's finals.
Tales from the Capitol
A legislative story going around:
It was during the battle over the bill to fluoridate water supplies.
Harding president addresses gay website UPDATE
Dr. David Burks, Harding University president, addressed the new website and publication by gay students at Harding, HUqueerpress, at a talk at daily chapel yesterday.
Police identify one electrocution victim
Police say one of the workers electrocuted yesterday in an H Street home renovation project was Ignacio Camarillo, 33, of 7308 Shady Grove.
Rep. Jon Hubbard back at work
A conservative women's group whose interests include punitive legislation aimed at immigrants has announced that Rep. Jon Hubbard, a sponsor of the legislation targeting benefits provided people without legal residency documents, will be back at work next week after hospitalization for a mild heart attack.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finalists: Tyrannosaurus Chicken
ATMS 2011 finalists Tyrannosaurus Chicken.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finalists: Year of the Tiger
ATMS 2011 finalists Year of the Tiger.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finalists: Sea Nanners
ATMS 2011 finalists Sea Nanners.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finalists: This Holy House
ATMS 2011 finalists This Holy House
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finalists: Mandy McBryde & the Unholy Ghost
ATMS 2011 finalists Mandy McBryde & the Unholy Ghost.
Marion Humphrey considering congressional run
With talk about congressional redistricting underway, it's not too early to talk about congressional candidates in 2012.
Sister Rosetta doc streaming online
The recent BB4 documentary about the Arkansas-born guitar hero is streaming on YouTube
Prosecutors endorse prison bill
The Arkansas prosecuting attorneys association has announced its endorsement of Gov. Mike Beebe's prison reform bill — a giant measure to alter sentencing, beef up probation and parole and otherwise find ways to curb the growth in expensive prisons.
The Friday night line
Let the weekend roar. Mike Huckabee. Natalie Portman. Double-dipping county officials. Child abuse. Walton money. All in the final roundup.
Masala: Gone for good
Sad to say, Masala Grill + Teahouse (the only Pakistani restaurant in Little Rock) will not reopen.
Lu Hardin resigns from Florida college
Lu Hardin, the former Arkansas senator and head of the University of Central Arkansas, has resigned as president of Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Ark. Times Week in Review Podcast: new and improved
After two early outings fraught with sound problems, we're finally inching closer to what we want the podcast to sound like.
Fayetteville to the 4th District? Maybe
John Brummett explains, as I did the other day, that growing the 4th Congressional District into Fayetteville is not so strange as it first appeared.
Talking the talk in the 3rd District
Amusing to read Twitters from this morning's gathering of Republican legislators in Northwest Arkansas. There's defense of the $2.3 billion tax increase for highways.
Harding paper covers HU Queer Press
The Harding University student newspaper provides through, straightforward cover of the HU Queer Press zine and website about the gay experience at Harding.
Winner winner Chicken dinner!
Tyrannosaurus Chicken wins the 2011 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase.
Saturday line
I'm throwing it out early. Noted:
Tax deadbeat Ed Garner praised Mike Masterson's column today as proving his point of the need for his proposed capital gains tax cut for the wealthy.
Follow the candidates' money
A reader, decrying the corporate influence she found in the campaign finance records for one of Arkansas's current members of Congres, used the campaignmoney.com website to illustrate.
Hits on Mike Huckabee keep coming
My in-box is full of links to national news articles and commentary about Mike Huckabee's very bad week — his over-the-top and erroneous comments about Barack Obama's childhood and Natalie Portman's pregnancy and his unwillingness to man up and give a simple apology.
The 'well-being' index for Arkansas
The New York Times has one of those interactive features today, a nationwide look — broken down by congressional district — on ongoing Gallup polling of a fixed panel on their well-being.
Arkansas priority: Jockdom
The Democrat-Gazette today published the names and salaries of the highest paid state and university employees.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finals video recap
Video from Friday night's ATMS finals round.
Sunday delights: Shopping and shooting
Sunday morning was a great time to go grocery shopping. I'm going to say it one more time because it's ended my frustration over the "new" Kroger in my Hillcrest neighborhood: there's no better total grocery shopping experience than the new Edwards Food Giant in Tanglewood, at least within reasonable range of my house.
The Sunday line
It's yours. I don't have anything else to say.
Skippy peanut butter recall
Channel 4 reports a "limited" Skippy peanut butter recall, of some reduced-fat blends that may have been distributed in Arkansas.
Ex-Hog fighting cancer
The New York Times today features Darrel Akerfelds, a former Razorback linebacker and now a coach with the San Diego Padres, who continues to work while undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Better education: Is it really an economic cure?
Here's a counter-intuitive Paul Krugman column. Is the problem really the need to train more people for the presumed greater education demands of the information age?
Gov. Beebe vs. legislature: No contest
The Talk Business/Hendrix College poll has some numbers today on the approval rating of Gov. Mike Beebe and the approval rating of the legislature.
Poll: Public opposes highway taxes
More from the Talk Business/Hendrix College polling:
What a shock. The public doesn't agree with plutocrats like high-flying Jonathan Barnett and Madison Murphy that we need to increase the diesel tax and sales tax on everything to pay for a four-lane program to nowhere.
Lu Hardin pleads to wire fraud, money laundering UPDATE
Former UCA president Lu Hardin pleaded guilty today in federal court to wire fraud and money laundering charges.
Your tax dollars at work
Do we really need to waste time on:
* Rep. Tracy Steele's bill to require schools — which are already all over this topic — to go after students who were saggy pants.
Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Finals photos
Times photomaster Brian Chilson has the visual roundup of Friday's big shebang.
Marion Berry gives $250,000 to staff
Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today. About departing members of Congress who divvied up surplus office funds in the form of pay increases or bonuses before they left office.
Artists: Half off art supplies
Half Off Depot, which provides half-off coupons from Little Rock retailers, has Art Outfitters coupons to buy.
Garland County: politics get religion
How ugly are the people now calling the shots for the Republican Party in Garland County?
Tasting New Orleans on St. Patty's Day
UALR's Alumni Association hosts Taste of New Orleans to benefit students who need financial assistance. Plenty of fabulous Creole and Cajun hits to be served up, for sure.
More legislative danger
House legislation would try to end court review of power plant decisions by state regulators, such as the coal-fired plant SWEPCO is building in Hempstead County.
Burlsworth on College Football Hall of Fame ballot
The late Brandon Burlsworth, a walk-on Arkansas Razorback football player who finished his career a second-team All-American, is on the ballot for the 2011 College Football Hall of Fame.
Study: Charter schools succeed on demographics
Charter school performance is more about demographic makeup of student bodies than educational strategies. So concludes a report by the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and the Arkansas Education Association.
Bob Dorough to Afterthought
The "Schoolhouse Rock" composer and cool jazz icon returns to his home state for a show at the Hillcrest jazz bar.
Monday night line
It's open. Closing notes:
* Fayetteville's Dickson Street "lost a piece of its soul," the Fayetteville Flyer reported today.
After Hardin: Mike Beebe stands alone
From a perspective of long legislative coverage, John Brummett beholds the Lu Hardin guilty plea yesterday and thinks back to a group of "young reformers" who once roamed the Senate.
The birther party
Some new polling for Daily Kos by Tom Jensen shows that about half of Republican voters think President Obama should be impeached.
Bible bill passes education committee
A bill that would allow public schools to teach a course on the Bible passed the house education committee this morning.
Framing the education debate
I don't know if anyone other than Jake da Snake and Luke Gordy will take the time to read this, but if you have any interest at all in the debate on education reform, charter schools, merit pay, high-stakes testing and media coverage of these issues I'd urge you to read this cover story in Columbia Journalism Review.
The Tea Party's new poison: health care reform
Rep. Ed Garner has put off plans to seek Senate committee approval Wednesday of his tax break for rich people.
Looking ahead: Gomez, Coleman, Henley, Schulten, Woodyard
Students and their teacher join for a group show.
Wisconsin takes its country back
Heh. Town hall meetings in Wisconsin suddenly aren't so comfortable for Republican politicians.
Forget what Scott Walker told you about pensions
Another good piece of reporting from McClatchy's Washington bureau:
WASHINGTON — From state legislatures to Congress to tea party rallies, a vocal backlash is rising against what are perceived as too-generous retirement benefits for state and local government workers.
State checkbook approved
The House completed action on the bill to set up a so-called state checkbook, a website where the public can look at all state expenditures.
Tuesday talk
Ventriloquism. Hog football on TV. UALR women win. Tea Partyers go nuts over Beebe Medicaid plan.
Koch lobbyist Teresa Oelke: hypocrite of the day
Speaking of Tea Party hijinks, I thought I'd pass along an item shortly to be posted on-line in our Insider column:
Do as I say
We did some web-surfing this week on Teresa Oelke, the Arkansas director of Americans for Prosperity, the organization funded by the billionaire Koch brothers to advocate their low-tax, low-regulation gospel through Tea Party organizing.
