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June 11, 2009

Vol 7 • No 22

‘Dr. Satan, come out!’

As the whole world knows, my friend, Dr. George R. Tiller, was murdered on Sunday morning, May 31, 2009, while he was doing his regular Sunday activity, ushering in his Lutheran church in Wichita, Kan.

Thatsa spicy hemi

Chryat? Fysler?

Taking back the streets

This has nothing to do with Arkansas, though the key players probably are represented by similar types in our population.

Shooter won't shut up

The man who says he shot soldiers in an act justified by U.S. military action in the Middle East, apparently is back on the phone today.

Slacker Wednesday

I'm quitting early, though I reserve the right to return. But here's your open line.Or maybe you'd rather go to Movies in the Park.

‘Lost’ in translation

On behalf of all Americans of a certain vintage, I’d like to say: God bless you, Sid and Marty Krofft.

Words, June 11

Call for backup: “Escaped killers have deputies, police on alert”

The televisionist, June 11

Yes, folks, just when you thought you might finally be able to bring yourself to throw away your WTF was I thinking? duds from High School, the early ’90s are back!

A&E news, June 11

Valley of the Vapors, in conjunction with the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, has scored an advance of Bjork’s new film, “Voltaic,” which will be released nationally on June 23.

War Memorial Park

David Caldwell, writing about the fate of Ray Winder Field, said no one is turning green space into a parking lot then goes on to say the only expansion would be where the baseball field is.

In brief, June 11

Kevin Gordon, who’s been giggin’ around town over the last several months more than a lot of local acts, returns on Thursday to White Water Tavern to perform what he calls “indie swamp,” likely including material from his full-length due later this year, 9 p.m., $5.

June 3-9, 2009

It was a GOOD week for … ERNIE PASSAILAIGUE. The director of the South Carolina Lottery was hired to run the new Arkansas lottery for $324,000.

Smart talk, June 11

Arkansas in the recent legislative session revived its publicly financed incentives for the movie industry, adopting a 15 percent rebate on production expenditures in the state.

Health care for who?

If the vote were on whether the country needs to reform the health-care system the legislation would pass Congress 435-0 and 99-0, the latter presuming that Senator Al Franken of Minnesota is still not allowed to take his seat.

Hellbound

It’s a shame, Newt Gingrich was saying the other day, that he and his fellow born-again pilgrims have to live “in a period where we are surrounded by paganism.”

Sandwiches with heft

It says “gyros” on the door, on the sign outside, even on the trailer out back. But Conway sandwich shop Blackwood’s Gyros and Grill has far more to offer than Greek fare.

It’s something

Little Rock now has a sound and comprehensive policy governing the sale of park land (unless the policy is repudiated by the city manager or Board of Directors, and that’s unlikely).

What 's cooking, June 11

After several delays, FatSam’s Louisiana Cafe has opened in the northwest corner of the River Market.

Bard’s back

For its fourth annual Shakespeare Festival, the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre will again offer a quartet of plays, two by the Bard and two by lesser mortals.

Back on the racks

When Localist was first published in 2003, coverage of the local arts and music scene was nearly nonexistent.

Editorial cartoon, June 11

Short takes

The Arkansas Lottery Commission last week hired Ernie Passailaigue, director of the South Carolina lottery, to lead the startup of Arkansas’s lottery. Why would he want to come to Arkansas?

Halter’s heavily illustrated report

State government won’t go broke from the $9,000 or so the office of Lt. Gov. Bill Halter expended to produce and mail about 18,000 copies of a full-color promotional newsletter titled “The Capitol Watch.”

One man’s home is another man’s blight

Do new mobile home regs go too far?

This modern world, June 11

‘Tommy’

You could exhaust yourself trying to apply logic to the plot of “Tommy,” but at the outset, it doesn’t hurt to try.

To-do list, June 11

Cotton Jones, Smoke Up Johnny, Colbie Caillat, Taking Back Sunday, Rodney Block and the Real Music Lovers, Nik and Sam, Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band, Malcolm Holcombe and King Biscuit Benefit are a few of this week's entertainment options.

Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard played a little trick on his audience last Sunday night at Robinson Auditorium.

The observer, June 11

The Observer and friends took a trip to the Ozarks last weekend to the Boxley valley.

Orval, June 11

High-speed Internet

The state library, with help from Bill Gates, is having a worthy meeting today. The Broadband Summit is about getting high-speed Internet access into all parts of the state.

Shooting suspect's father speaks

KATV landed an interview yesterday with the father of the man charged with shooting the Arkansas soldiers.

Piling on Halter

First it was Seven on Your Side. Now John Brummett is having sport with Lt. Gov. Bill Halter's newsletter, crammed with a dozen photos of, who else?, Bill Halter.

The UCA chronicles

The Democrat-Gazette's Debra Hale-Shelton is back today with more UCA funny business, a $2,000-a-month consulting contract given by former President Lu Hardin to politico Bill Vickery.

The UCA chronicles

The Democrat-Gazette's Debra Hale-Shelton is back today with more UCA funny business, a $2,000-a-month consulting contract given by former President Lu Hardin to politico Bill Vickery.

Lottery rolling

Arkansas lottery chief Ernie Passailaigue. is hard at work, Democrat-Gazette indicates, touring potential office sites and attending to a key money-maker, scratchoff tickets.  He's also extended his first job offer.

Thursday To-Do: Cotton Jones

COTTON JONES9 p.m., Sticky Fingerz. $6.Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw, the principals in the dreamy folk-pop band Cotton Jones, call Cumberland, Md., home.

Thursday: Colossus of Roads, Kevin Gordon, Jonathan Wilkins and more

A railroad man for more than 40 years, Gurdon-based artist Colossus of Roads is one of the most-revered boxcar artists around.

Thursday's Happenings

Recycle This: The recycling program put together for this year's Riverfest music festival seems to have been a glowing success.  Festival-goers were incentivized to recycle with free T-shirts.  Roby Brock at Talk Business has an excellent video about the program here.  The program saved 10 tons of recyclables from going into a landfill.  Organizers say the effort proves recycling can be cost-effective. 

Everyone's a media critic

Holocaust Museum shooting story (not just photo). Did it deserve to be on Page One of the Democrat-Gazette today with, or instead of, yet another Twittering story, yet another soldier training story, sheriffs who don't know about the Vienna convention (imagine that!)

Everyone's a media critic

Holocaust Museum shooting story (not just photo). Did it deserve to be on Page One of the Democrat-Gazette today with, or instead of, yet another Twittering story, yet another soldier training story, sheriffs who don't know about the Vienna convention (imagine that!)

Early bird catches the A's

Time magazine reports on research -- including a study at Hendrix College -- into whether night owls or morning people ("larks") score better grades.

Early bird catches the A's

Time magazine reports on research -- including a study at Hendrix College -- into whether night owls or morning people ("larks") score better grades.

Unhappy stockholders sue Dillard's

Arkansas Business has news of new legal action against the Dillard's department store company based in Little Rock.

Judge hangs up jail phone

Abdul Hakim Muhammad won't be making any more Pulaski County Jail calls to reporters. District Judge Alice Lightle sent a letter to the sheriff's office before 8 a.m. this morning asking that the murder suspect no longer be allowed to use the jail phone except to call his lawyer.

Drug company 'ghostwriting'

Public Justice, a public interest law firm based in Washington, has filed a motion in federal court in Little Rock to unseal records in the lawsuits against Wyeth Pharmaceuticals over hormone replacement drugs such as Prempro.

Shoot-em-up Dustin

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is not going to miss an opportunity to demagogue a gun issue, as he does today by joining a minority of U.S. attorney generals in a letter opposing a renewal of U.S. limits on certain types of semi-automatic rifles.

Shoot-em-up Dustin

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is not going to miss an opportunity to demagogue a gun issue, as he does today by joining a minority of U.S. attorney generals in a letter opposing a renewal of U.S. limits on certain types of semi-automatic rifles.

UCA picks president

The University of Central Arkansas Board of Trustees voted 5-2 today to hire Dr. Allen Meadors as the next president of UCA.

Marion Berry called down

Roby Brock picks up an item from D.C. press that indicates U.S. Rep. Marion Berry has underestimated the value of a Washington home on required financial disclosure forms by, oh, a half-million or so.

Senators on public health plan

Will Arkansas's senators approve a health care plan that includes a public option? Paul Barton reports from Washington that they both are still dodging a categorical answer.

Stick a fork in me

I'm done. Over to you.

Free to kill

The brother of a man who fatally bludgeoned their father in May says that if Circuit Judge Willard Proctor hadn’t put his brother on probation on two sequential offenses, the father would still be alive.

The rage among us

Somebody commented on the blog the other day that he saw little difference in news value between the shooting of a fast-food restaurant employee in a Little Rock robbery and the white supremacist's killing of a Holocaust Museum guard en route to who knows what else.

Consequences, unintended or not

Dana Kelley writes a column today in the Democrat-Gazette worth perusing and remembering in years ahead.

Friday: Tom Sweet Band, Eclipse Glasses, the Fuchsia Band and more

Tom Sweet. At Downtown Music, the Tom Sweet Band and its masked front man celebrate the release of its new CD, bound to be a strange collection of ribald garage-folk, with help from the groove-laden, mostly instrumental collective Eclipse Glasses and bizarre industrial rap duo Pyscho Syntax, 8 p.m., $7.

Friday To-Do: Smoke Up Johnny

SMOKE UP JOHNNY 10 p.m., White Water Tavern. $5.Smoke Up Johnny played Young Avenue Deli in Memphis last Saturday and sent “some yuppies” scurrying for the door, according to SUJ front man Alan Disaster.

Paintbox of the (sushi-craving) soul.

There's something great to be said for a well-balanced lunch.  That delicate association between salt and sweet, tangy sharp and bland, cruspy and soft -- the more you put on each side of the see-saw of the tastebuds, the more exciting a meal can be.

Paintbox of the (sushi-craving) soul.

There's something great to be said for a well-balanced lunch.  That delicate association between salt and sweet, tangy sharp and bland, cruspy and soft -- the more you put on each side of the see-saw of the tastebuds, the more exciting a meal can be.

The Clinton brand

I was grumping at cable TV commentators last night as several tried to make the case that the unlikable Terry McAuliffe's defeat in the Virginia gubernatorial primary was somehow a loss for Bill Clinton, who had campaigned for McAuliffe.

Rain on vandal's parade?

The Log Cabin Democrat reports that Conway police may have a lead on the person responsible for talking a Conway hotel employee into triggering the hotel's sprinkler system and causing huge damage.

One of our own

Thanks, though maybe that's not the perfect word, to Libertas for the Arkansas background on Wiley Drake, a Southern Baptist preacher in California who's been making headlines lately for his unusual brand of Christian witness.

Alas, Barack we hardly knew ye

Candidate Obama said the Defense of Marriage Act was "abhorrent" and that he would work to repeal it.

Is your TV running?

Can you catch the digital signals? LR stations are announcing that the analog signals have been turned off.

Wildmon's teabaggers

I had somehow missed until this news release that the TEA Party protests were the work of the Religious Right crusader Donald Wildmon's American Family Association.

Heifer details job cuts

Heifer International, the hunger relief charity based in Little Rock, has announced that it had completed layoffs of 61 people in the U.S., 28 in Little Rock, in the budget reduction it said last month would be necessary.

McDaniel to wed

Didn't get an invitation to Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's wedding today? Don't feel blue.

Fee at the LR Zoo

The Little Rock Zoo Board of Governors will be asked at a meeting Monday to approve a $2 parking fee for the zoo lot, now free.

Fee at the LR Zoo

The Little Rock Zoo Board of Governors will be asked at a meeting Monday to approve a $2 parking fee for the zoo lot, now free.

Stormy weather

-- Brian Chilson photo What's the word on weather where you are? A neighbor tells us by telephone of signs of wind damage to Cook Automotive on Main Street.

Review: Cotton Jones at Sticky Fingerz

Thursday night at Sticky Fingerz offered a wide variety of out-of-town talent. Sarah Angela, a singer/songwriter out of Portland, Oregon, began the night with an acoustic set of what she referred to as “small, pretty songs mostly.” With a strong voice and an obvious talent, she belted out songs with a girl-folk, Jewel-like style.

Down to business

The Arkansas Lottery Commission met today and welcomed new lottery director Ernie Passailaigue.  The commission did not take any action today although they did discuss important challenges now facing the commission including promulgating procurement rules and finding suitable office space.  The big attraction at today's meeting, however, was the director's report.  In it, Passailaigue offered his thoughts on how the lottery should be organized, suggesting a vertical organization led by two vice presidents with lottery experience who would be paid around $200,000 per year.  He also defended his salary, which has drawn some criticism, saying that starting a lottery from scratch, and running an existing one, are two completely different things.  Passailaigue said he expects to be selling tickets by early November.       Get all the details on the jump.

Show Me the Money.

You’re walking down the street and you see a person drop a $50 dollar bill on the ground.

Have an open line

It's free. No carrying charges.

Have an open line

It's free. No carrying charges.

Lu CA

John Brummett reviews the matter of then-UCA President Lu Hardin's consulting contract with Bill Vickery.

Katrina's toll

On a slow morning, consider the Washington Post's account of the ongoing failure of housing recovery programs to get Hurricane Katrina victims back into permanent housing almost four years after the storm.

'Not a job for sissies'

Andrew DeMillo analyzes the pick of Ernie Passailaigue as new lottery boss and noise about process and pay.

'Peaceful transfer of power'

I always get a little sore when TV talking heads talk of the wonders of the "peaceful transfer of power" in the U.S. at elections.

Open line

The Hogs appear headed to victory in the opening round of the College World Series (men's baseball, if you didn't know -- UPDATE: 10-6 Hog win).

Streamlining the sales tax

More coverage here of dips in sales tax revenue in many Arkansas cities. Some local officials think it's because of the so-called "streamlined sales tax" legislation that directs taxes to the point of sale, not the location of the store that made a sale.

A modest proposal

Give up on saving every little hardscrabble town in the Delta and concentrate instead on consolidating populations in more efficient larger towns.

A modest proposal

Give up on saving every little hardscrabble town in the Delta and concentrate instead on consolidating populations in more efficient larger towns.

Why do the heathens rage?

Frank Rich takes his stab today at the anger on the right, an anger so palpable it's drawn words of warning on Fox.

Why do the heathens rage?

Frank Rich takes his stab today at the anger on the right, an anger so palpable it's drawn words of warning on Fox.

Dog days

I got nothing. You?

NLR's gain ...

... is Peoria's loss. Thanks to Pat Lynch for a link to Chicago business article about Caterpillar's strategic moves.

Whose side is God on?

Brummett tees up the question as the Right targets President Obama for asserting that the U.S. is not a Christian nation, that Muslims are people, too, etc.

Bush v. Gore, Iran-style

Unprecedented. Ayatollah orders review of election complaints.

Comics watch

Is the comics decency watch at the Democrat-Gazette out of gas? Saturday's Lio:

Comics watch

Is the comics decency watch at the Democrat-Gazette out of gas? Saturday's Lio:

Salad Days.

That might not look very exciting, but it's actually one of the more refreshing options I've recently enjoyed at Za Za's, the pizza and salad joint up in the old Height's Theater building on Kavanaugh.  It's the Tandoori Chicken Salad ($8.95), way too much salad for one person, which is okay because hey, who couldn't eat that twice in a day?

Crime Lab priorities

John Lyon of Stephens Media follows up on the state Crime Lab's effort to adopt policies that explain why it fast-tracks some cases and not others.

Selig to Clinton Center

News release says Mike Selig, late of the late Vermillion, is the new food and beverage director at Forty Two, the restaurant and catering operation at the Clinton Presidential Center.

LR developer's defaults mount

Arkansas Business reports $17 million in loan defaults by Steve Clary, a Little Rock developer behind the Shackleford Crossings shopping center.

Monday To-Do: Malcolm Holcombe

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE9 p.m., White Water. $6.Malcolm Holcombe comes from Weaverville, N.C., deep in Appalachia.

Mad bombers

Channel 4 reports that, for the second time in three days, a house in SWLR has been set fire by someone who tossed a Molotov cocktail.

17 ways to say no thanks to dudes hustling CDs on the street

Epiphany and Sean Fresh (West) get meta in this new video promoting their mixtape, "The Excuse."

Free enterprise at work

From President Obama's remarks today to the American Medical Association. Today, we are spending over $2 trillion a year on health care - almost 50 percent more per person than the next most costly nation.

Free enterprise at work

From President Obama's remarks today to the American Medical Association. Today, we are spending over $2 trillion a year on health care - almost 50 percent more per person than the next most costly nation.

Live by new media ...

Word comes from John Robinson of the National Weather Service of a hoax tornado call that made it to TV air in Northwest Arkansas during last week's round of storms.

Charter schools -- a mixed report

Stanford University has announced what it describes as a comprehensive study of charter school performance in 16 states, including Arkansas.

The Princes do Bonnaroo

Henson Flye won the Princes' Bonnaroo tix give-away with this design. Shortly, I'll post Sam Eifling's Bonnaroo recap with photos.

News: A Case of the Mondays

Natty Gas: Blanche Lincoln loves it. Playing Defense: McClendon defends fat pay package.

Bonnaroo recap

From Sunday. Photo by Sam Eifling.

Ready, aim ....

The gun nuts are in control in Tennessee. Guns in parks.

Teabagger for Senate

One of the Arkie Tea Party enthusiasts is running for U.S. Senate as a Republican.

Over to you

Weird day. Maybe you can do better.

Chump change

Brummett defends the new lottery director's $324,000 pay (and don't forget the $105,000 or so he can now start drawing in South Carolina retirement as an added incentive) because it's a small amount against lottery revenues.

Chump change

Brummett defends the new lottery director's $324,000 pay (and don't forget the $105,000 or so he can now start drawing in South Carolina retirement as an added incentive) because it's a small amount against lottery revenues.

Bloodsuckers yield

NY Times reports that credit card companies -- finally even they are feeling some economic pain -- are bargaining down card balances.

Letterman's bad joke

Under immense pressure from Republican critics, David Letterman apologized last night for a joke about Sarah Palin's daughter.

Letterman's bad joke

Under immense pressure from Republican critics, David Letterman apologized last night for a joke about Sarah Palin's daughter.

Not Just Kids Food.

Thank goodness for The Purple Cow.  Not just for the incredible shakes and delectable ice cream treats, but because it serves "grown up" food, too.

Three-way for Capitol job

Land Commissioner Mark Wilcox announced his expected candidacy for secretary of state today. Makes at least three Democrats, including Pulaski Clerk Pat O'Brien and Sebastian County Clerk Doris Tate.

Springdale horror

Two children -- ages 4 and 5 -- found dead in trunk of family car.

Tuesday's News: We're All Going to Die!

Bleak: A report released today by the Obama administration, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the US," outlines a worst-case scenario of what could happen if Americans don't act to curb climate change.  For example: "floods in lower Manhattan; a quadrupling of heat waves deaths in Chicago; withering on the vineyards of California; the disappearance of wildflowers from the slopes of the Rockies; and the extinction of Alaska's wild polar bears in the next 75 years."  It's part of a larger strategy to win support for Obama's climate change agenda and to boost support for a bill making its way through Congress. 

Help the animals

Tracy Roark at  Little Rock Animal Services asks for our assistance in publicizing their effort to round up the necessary 300 signatures to authorize a special decal for state license plates that, under a new law, will produce income for a fund supporting animal services.

Prosecutor: Pressly suspect confessed

Curtis Lavelle Vance, accused of the murder of TV anchor Anne Pressly, appeared in Circuit Court this morning.

Keith Urban coming to Alltel

Not exactly breaking news (still catching up from being out last week): Aussie country star and Nicole Kidman's main squeeze is coming to Alltel on August 6 on his "Escape the World Together" world tour.

The Times wants to give you a ticket to the American Idol concert

So yesterday Alltel sent out a press release saying that tickets to American Idols Live!

A short history of Nate Powell, musician

Soophie. It's sweet that in all the press coverage that's followed Nate Powell's rise in the comics world, his music invariably comes up.

Korto to singlehandedly save Dillard's with new handbag line

A Korto creation from 2008. "Project Runway's" Korto Momolu is teaming with local men's wear and women's accessories label Tre Vero to design a line of handbags, due in 2010 in Dillard's nationally.

Card check update

Washington press continues to report that U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin is intent on forcing a vote on the Employee Free Choice Act, the union-backed legislation to restore some balance to labor negotiations.

OK, OK -- wishful thinking

About ninetyleven people want me to post that wishful Democrats are still saying -- as I had reported earlier -- that there might be multiple Democratic candidates for Congress in the Third Congressional District.

OK, OK -- wishful thinking

About ninetyleven people want me to post that wishful Democrats are still saying -- as I had reported earlier -- that there might be multiple Democratic candidates for Congress in the Third Congressional District.

State fights WM3 evidence

For West Memphis Three junkies: The state attorney general doesn't want the Supreme Court to consider a lawyer's affidavit that suggests improper communication by a juror who convicted and sentenced Damien Echols to die in the deaths of three West Memphis children.

Prater for Senate

Former state Rep. Sandra Prater of Jacksonville,a Democrat, announced her candidacy today for term-limted Sen. John Paul Capps; Senate seat.

UPDATE: UCA finalizes offer

The UCA Board of Trustees met by conference call this afternoon to formalize a contract offer for Dr. Allen Meadors, the North Carolina college administrator and UCA alum who's been picked by the Board to be the Conway school's next president.

Pipemaker backing out of LR Port deal

An Indian company that had announced plans to hire 300 for a pipe-making plant at the Little Rock Port apparently is backing out of the deal, the Democrat-Gazette is reporting.

Top of the evening

Here's an open line. Sorry for the delay.

From Congress to Costco

A video camera captures one side of a conversation between Sen. Blanche Lincoln, incumbent Democrat from Arkansas, and one of her [then] 10-year-old twin boys as she drives along a freeway wearing a cell phone headset.

Bargaining power

How do you get someone to leave a highly respected university system in another state to come to Arkansas for essentially the same pay, alma mater or no alma mater?

Justice for Janie

The Democrat-Gazette reports today, in the most unobtrusive way possible, that the Janie Ward death investigation is closed.

Justice for Janie

The Democrat-Gazette reports today, in the most unobtrusive way possible, that the Janie Ward death investigation is closed.

Out and About.

Ever long for dining companions to share your food experiences?  That was the whole idea behind the first gathering this week... a planned small gathering of Facebook friends that turned into around 50 people invading Capi's this past Monday night.  Sure, it was a gathering of friends -- friends interested in promoting local restaurants, friends looking for someone to share dinner with and help out the local economy, too.

UA names Fulbright College dean

The University of Arkansas has ended a national search and named William Schwab dean of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Why do Republicans hate the troops?

Only five Republicans -- not including U.S. Rep. John Boozman -- voted for President Obama's war funding bill.

Wednesday's News

A Small Victory: The Arkansas Public Service Commission did what it should have and ruled in favor of letting the Sierra Club and Audubon Arkansas have a place at the table when it comes to talk about energy rate hikes.  PSC staff and SWEPCO were trying to keep the groups at bay.  The PSC did rule, however, that a citizen's advocacy group organized by the two organizations could not intervene in the proceedings.  Go to GreenAR by the Day for more.  AR Business also had an item about the ruling.  One quick thing to point out is that the PSC did offer one condition to the environmental groups' participation - that they could not revisit the economic viability of the Turk Plant.  Now, it seems to me that if you're about to take up a $50 million rate increase, based partly on construction costs of an already irrelevant plant, that an evaluation of the economic viability of that plant is not only pertinent, but essential.    

Art Note: Ben Whitehouse and Jun Kaneko at the Arts Center

From Whitehouse's Central Park video. Thanks to the medium of video, the Ben Whitehouse and Jun Kaneko exhibits at the Arkansas Arts Center require more than just a casual drop-in.

Camera in court

Hmmm. Fox 16 had a camera running in court yesterday during Curtis Vance's hearing before Judge Chris Piazza on questions about mental evaluations for the man suspected of killing TV anchor Anne Pressly.

Write a screenplay, win money

The Ozark Foothills FilmFest is accepting entries for its third annual Screenwriting Competition. Only those who've never seen their work produced or optioned ar eligible.

Fools gold

Arkansas Business has a report on a $32 million bankruptcy by Donald Hillis, a would-be Rogers developer You have to wonder how secure the security is on a $26 million bank loan tied to a subdivision.

The Gossip on the Gossip

Another video for "Heavy Cross," this time featuring the band. Beth Ditto vogues.

Time to live vicariously, parents

The Collins Kids covering "High School Confidential." In an effort to bring book-hating local teens into the fold, the Central Arkansas Library System is hosting a battle of the bands on Saturday, June 27 in the Cox Creative Center for kids ages 12-19.

The race for clerk

With Pulaski County Clerk Pat O'Brien planning a race for secretary of state, the question arises of who'll run to succeed him at the courthouse.

The Pickensmobile

Thanks to Arkansas Business for a tip to a story that's buzzing through the auto press.

Wednesday: 'Batman Begins,' 'Tommy,' Skindred and more

Christian Bale growls in "Batman Begins" at Movies in the Park in the Riverfest Amphitheater, sundown, free.Skindred melds reggae and metal at Juanita's with Memphis' wildout rockers Joecephus and the George Jonestown Massacre, 8 p.m., $10.

Wednesday To-Do: King Biscuit Fundraiser

Courtesy of the Arkansas History Commission via Encyclopedia of Arkansas. KING BISCUIT BENEFIT8 p.m., White Water Tavern.

A Moran for Crystal Bridges

Crystal Bridges, the museum rising in Bentonville, didn't have to go far to acquire Hudson River school painter Thomas Moran's "Autumn Landscape."

LR school watch

The Little Rock School Board meets tomorrow. At a special meeting, the Board will consider Superintendent Linda Watson's request to create a deputy superintendent position.

LR school watch

The Little Rock School Board meets tomorrow. At a special meeting, the Board will consider Superintendent Linda Watson's request to create a deputy superintendent position.

Just Peachy.

Festival season is in full swing, and among this weekend's offerings:  the 67th Annual Johnson County Peach Festival.  Though the festivities include such Arkansas-centric activities as greased pig racing and frog jumping contests, peaches are the true center and glory of the weekend, with peach eating contests and pit spitting competitions.  For foodies, there are also contests for best peach cobbler, best peach jam and peach jelly.  Oh, and something tells me there will be peaches around.  Go figure.  I'll let you know what I find on my trip westward.  Want some more info?  Check out the event website.
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