=UNIVERSITY AVENUE. A Dallas developer finally began moving dirt on Midtowne Little Rock, an open-air shopping center that could — depending on the still unknown tenants — give significant new life to University Avenue. Now if only landowners could get out of a lease with Simon Property Group, which has ruined the nearby University Mall.
DRESS CODES. Pulaski County Clerk Pat O’Brien adopted an office dress code, mercifully shorn of a once-proposed clean underwear policy. But it still smacks of junior high down at O’Brien’s office, where assigned essays and other homework are also part of the curriculum. The office now has written rules on cargo and Capri pants, skirts (no more than three inches above the knee) and a Friday-only allowance for untucked polo shirts, as long as the shirts are neither too short nor too long. How about T-shirts with messages, or simply a drawing of Mickey Mouse?
RAIN. Hurricane Rita finally brought some moisture to parched Arkansas. Unfortunately, it also brought some tornadoes.
DRINKING IN CONWAY. Add Outback, the popular steakhouse chain, to the restaurants in Conway that may now served mixed drinks under “private club” permits.
IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR …
The HOGS. And then there were three losses in a row, the latest to Alabama.
ENTERGY. The power company’s New Orleans subsidiary filed for bankruptcy protection because of hurricane damage. Arkansas Entergy customers seem likely to help pay for this sooner or later.
UALR PROVOST DAVID O. BELCHER. He was forced to apologize after a tart e-mail he wrote was made public (first in our Arkansas Blog). It said faculty deans and department chairmen would be expected to contribute at least $1,000 to UALR or otherwise expect no help from him. “It was an over-stated, ill-conceived e-mail that I regret,” he said.