W O RDS
Chicks and spikes February 24, 2013
Join us at The Embassy Suites Hotel in Little Rock to walk the red carpet and celebrate a night of great films and advocacy for a one-of-a-kind, once-a-year black tie event that helps support a very important place of hope.
SponSorShipS available Presenting: 20K Platinum: 10K Gold: 5K Silver: 3K Bronze: $1,750 Bronze Elite: $600
10 Tickets: $1,500 • Individual Seats: $150 Sponsors & VIP Pre-party Starts At 5:30 All proceeds benefit the Wolfe Street Foundation, Inc.
Make reServationS now!
Please visit us online at www.wolfestreet.org or call us at 501.372.5662 the only event in arkanSaS Sanctioned by ©a.M.p.a.S.® “The Wolfe Street Foundation saves lives; offering a solution to families suffering from the effects of alcoholism.” Co-chairs: Kathy C. Swanson & Karen Holderfield
Roosters and chickens and fowl, oh my: “Damien Thompson feeds pizza to roosters and chickens at the Dunbar Community Garden in Little Rock after collecting eggs Monday.” I’m glad both the roosters AND the chickens got fed. It’ll make for better relations between them. That said, I have to admit I had no idea that roosters and chickens eat pizza. I wonder what kind they like best. And whether they get beer with it. “After sliding with his spikes up toward Ed Reed’s groin in the AFC Championship Game, Tom Brady was fined $10,000.” The last time I was in a football uniform the forward pass hadn’t yet been invented. Apparently there’ve been other changes since then too, in either gear or terminology. In the old days, only baseball players wore spikes and went sliding spikes up into unfortunate infielders. Really mean ballplayers like Ty Cobb were said to sharpen their spikes before games. The things football players had on the bottoms of their shoes for traction were called “cleats.” (You still hear TV football announcers refer to someone as having been “decleated” — that is, blocked or tackled so hard as to be knocked out of one’s shoes.)
“From his humble roots in rural Lawrence County, Arkansas, he achieved the greatest of sucDOUG cesses by foraging SMITH long and meaningdougsmith@arktimes.com ful relationships throughout the state and beyond.” I guess we’ve all foraged for relationships from time to time, but in this case, I think the writer intended to say that his subject had forged long and meaningful relationships. For our continuing series Not Quite the Right Preposition, Michael Klossner submits “By removing the French presence from North America, the war deprived Native Americans from an ally they needed to combat Anglo-American settlers who were determined to expand westward.” Deprived of is the norm. Another entry: “The Sporting News article said Haynes, Petrino and Smith said they didn’t hold any grudges with Long or with Arkansas’ administration and that they were treated well by the school.” Grudges generally are held against, not with.
WEEK THAT WAS
It was a good week for… KOCH INTERESTS DIVIDED. It was revealed this week that Koch Industries has committed $60 million to the Big River Steel “super project” in Mississippi County that Gov. Mike Beebe has asked the Arkansas legislature to support, through approval of $125 million in financing. Koch Industries is owned by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, who are active in right-wing and libertarian political causes. They’ve spent heavily to oppose environmental regulation, fight taxes of all sorts and universal health care, and work to elect Republicans who incessantly champion “free enterprise” and attack “government handouts.” Ironically, the Koch-funded political advocacy group, Americans for Prosperity, says it does not support subsidies for the steel mill. THE MEDICAID SHORTFALL. New budget estimates from the Department of Human Services project a shortfall of $61 million for Arkansas Medicaid next fiscal year. That’s a $77 million improvement from the earlier forecast of a $138 million shortfall after the governor’s recommendation for putting $90 million in new money and $70 million from reserves into the program. 10
FEBRUARY 6, 2013
ARKANSAS TIMES
KELLY RODGERS. The North Little Rock School District named Rodgers, formerly superintendent of the Terrell Independent School District in Terrell, Texas, as its new superintendent of schools. A NEW BRIDGE. The Pulaski County Quorum Court voted 10 to 5 in favor of Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines’ proposal to devote $20 million of road and bridge money toward a new Broadway Bridge. We’ll see if that means the bridge will be adorned with Villines’ proposed red, white and blue color scheme.
It was a bad week for… COLLECTION PLATE THIEVES. As predicted in this space last week, a bill to allow concealed weapon permit holders to carry a handgun in church by Sen. Bryan King (R-Green Forest) sailed through the House. The governor has said he’ll sign the bill, though he may ask for more legislation to clarify matters of liability. WOMEN. See this week’s cover story. Rep. Andy Mayberry’s unconstitutional ban on abortions after 20 weeks passed the House and Sen. Jason Rapert’s ban on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected passed the Senate.