July 8-14, 2009
It was a GOOD week for …
A CHANGE OF SCENERY. The house at 4910 Club Road where KATV’s Anne Pressly was fatally beaten in October won’t become a historical curiosity. A new owner demolished it to make way for a new house.
A CRIME SPREE. Todd Bostian went on a two-day spree of burglary, robbery and vehicle theft in Central Arkansas with police in hot pursuit. The chase finally ended in a shootout at a Hot Springs home. Bostian was killed. So was his pregnant girlfriend, whom he’d been using as a shield. A woman who lived in the house was also wounded.
ARKANSAS SCHOOL KIDS. For the first time ever, more than 60 percent of the students in every grade scored proficient on literacy and math benchmark tests. Progress was reported on other standardized testing as well.
KATV. The Little Rock TV station gave 50 years worth of video news archives to the University of Arkansas. Someday, it will all be on-line.
A LOTTERY JACKPOT. Grant County Sheriff Lance Huey got a pay raise of nearly $70,000 — to $115,644 — to become security director of the state lottery, almost $8,000 more than Arkansas pays the director of the State Police.
The LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL BOARD. Rather than rubber-stamping a routine contract extension for Superintendent Linda Watson, the board set some performance objectives for the superintendent. It’s a sign of board unity on goals of streamlining administration and improving student achievement.
It was a BAD week for …
The RIVER MARKET. The neighborhood lost a quality retailer and long-time good citizen, the River Market ArtSpace. Owner Debra Wood said she couldn’t work out a new lease.
The NATIONAL FEDERATION OF YOUNG REPUBLICANS. By a narrow margin, delegates in Indianapolis elected Arkansas native Audra Shay, 38, of New Orleans to lead the organization. The election boiled down to whether YRs would repudiate the racial remarks made by Shay and her supporters on social networks. The Southern strategy lives on, apparently.