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COMMENT

Cut administrators to save schools When I listened to Claudio Sanchez’s Aug. 20 story on NPR about the increased performance of Miami-Dade County’s perennially troubled schools, I shouted out loud, “I told you so!” For years I have espoused that many of the budget shortfalls suffered by school districts since the George W. Bush era’s assault on public schools began could be helped tremendously by making the cuts in more logical ways, namely, against the bloated and often redundant salaries of district administrators. Yes, school districts need administrators.

Nonetheless, many administrator positions do not add critical services to students.

Trimming those superfluous services can save millions of dollars that could be better spent on direct services to students.

Sanchez spotlighted Miami-Dade County School District’s superintendent, Alberto Carvalho, who took over back in 2008. Since that time, Carvalho has seen impressive gains in school performance.

His trick? Developing positive relationships with school board members and cutting unnecessary administrative positions.

Quoting the program, “[Carvalho] fired, he laid-off massive numbers of administrators. So millions and millions of dollars were saved ...”

Amazingly, not a single teacher’s job was cut. Indeed, for this school year, Carvalho is issuing a 2.7 percent pay raise for teachers.

This breath of fresh air is sorely needed to boost the hammered morale of teachers nationwide.

The problems at Miami-Dade County School District’s schools have not miraculously disappeared. Much hard work remains to be done. Still, the gains are impressive and the means attainable.

Arkansas’s school districts could stand for similar measures. I wonder if the state’s superintendents have the courage to implement what appears to be rather promising practice.

Leeann Bennett Little Rock

Marshal, not Ranger Although I would probably be characterized by many as an “old white guy” and am certainly not a student of the old West, I recognized Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves the moment I saw his picture on the front of the Arkansas Times.

What was a little confusing was the reference to the “Lone (Black) Ranger.” This because Deputy Reeves was never a Ranger, which at the time was best described as a 4

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

territorial militia, whether in Arizona or Texas. On the other hand, the Marshal’s Service is the oldest federal law enforcement agency. The title on the cover notwithstanding, the article was excellent, and I will have to have a copy of “Black Gun, Silver Star.” “Black, Red and Deadly” also sounds intriguing. What I find disturbing is that Deputy Marshal Reeves will probably never have his picture on classroom walls during Black History Month. There are many black people who have made significant contributions to American society, but receive no recognition because they were not directly involved in the civil rights

movement. What about Elizabeth Cotton, who learned to play finger-style guitar left handed without re-stringing the guitar, and without the benefit of any lessons? Or Colin Powell, one of the great military leaders and statesmen of our times? Condoleeza Rice? The Red Tails, Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, or B.B. King? We can do better.

Clifford Terry Sheridan

Reminded of Pryor’s virtues Thanks to all the anti-Pryor ads, I now know that Mark voted along Demo-

J U N E 7 T H — S E P T. 8 T H , 2 0 1 3

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cratic Party lines much more often than I thought! Great! When the time comes, I will vote for him again. Yes, some folks in our state still believe in the two-party system.

L. Rhodes Little Rock

Wrong on Core The article on Common Core by Benjamin Hardy (“Avoiding Core Meltdown,” Aug. 22) has a number of merits. He brings in a number of facts, shows some historical perspective, and otherwise presents what reads like a sensible narrative. However, there are significant flaws.

First and foremost, he does not bring the same facts or historical perspective to Common Core as he does to Arkansas’s struggles with public education. Now, I have not checked lately, but for the longest time, Arkansas was at or near the bottom in educational rankings through the ’80s and ’90s. Such a backdrop can explain the willingness to consider a “national curriculum” sold as “raising the bar.” The problem is no one in Arkansas, least of all Mr. Hardy, did their homework.

Using a car dealership as an example, I believe few people would walk onto a particular lot and make such a significant purchase decision based solely on the pitch by the salesman. But that is precisely what has happened with Common Core in most of the states, including Arkansas.

Common Core has been in development since at least 2007. However, the development was all top-loaded first in order to get the states to sign on. It was never “state led.” Do the homework and you will see. You will also learn that the standards were written in less than a year, which is highly unprofessional. There was never any true research and field-testing even though they claim they did it.

Demands to produce the evidence are only met with silence.

Unfortunately, each state has to fight its own battle against Common Core. We are not going away, and we will not quit until Common Core is most very dead, most sincerely dead.

Common Core is an absolutely mediocre curriculum. The evidence is there. You just have to look past the snow job produced by the Fordham Institute.

Cort Wrotnowski Greenwich, Conn.

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AUGUST 29, 2013

5

EDITORIAL

EYE ON ARKANSAS

Protect voters

Save democracy

S

peaking of restoration, and democracy, and the Supreme Court, it is terribly important that American democracy be returned to its former healthy state, by undoing the Court’s noisome Citizens United decision. The decision said, more or less straight-facedly, that corporations are people, possessing the same First Amendment rights as living, breathing Americans. (The decision prompted an apt T-shirt slogan: “I’ll believe that corporations are people when Texas executes one.”) The Court’s ruling allows corporations to spend limitless amounts of money to influence elections; they spent a billion or so in 2012.

If the Citizens United ruling stands, huge sums will be spent in Arkansas alone next year, to defeat Mark Pryor and other Democratic office-holders and candidates.

There’s a movement under way for adoption of a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United. More than 100 members of Congress have endorsed such an amendment. So have President Obama, and numerous good-government organizations. Two-thirds of the members of Congress are needed to pass a constitutional amendment through Congress and on to the states for ratification. Difficult, yes; not impossible. Individuals should ask their senators and representatives to endorse the amendment.

(So far, none from Arkansas have.) Public Citizen, a prominent public-interest group, is raising money for the fight.

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ARKANSAS TIMES

BRIAN CORMACK

M

ark Pryor and Democrats generally believe that people should be allowed to vote. Arkansas Republicans, including presumably Tom Cotton, believe that people should be allowed to vote if they’ll vote the right way. This additional requirement for participation in American democracy is a large issue in the U.S. Senate race.

This week is the 50th anniversary of the historic civil rights march on Washington that led to, among other things, passage of the federal Voting Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination against blacks seeking to vote. But, as Senator Pryor has said, “Earlier this year, the Supreme Court invalidated a key section of the Voting Rights Act, effectively making it possible for states to discriminate against minority voters at the ballot box. It opened the doors to discriminatory voter ID laws and gerrymandered districts. We need to fix this. Voting is a right that’s fundamental to our democracy. … [J]oin several of my colleagues and me in demanding Congress act to restore the Voting Rights Act.” The Republican-appointee majority of the Supreme Court surely knew the Court’s action would lead to new attempts at discrimination against black voters, as it has. The Scalia gang is not naive. It’s far worse.

Pryor is right in trying to repair the Voting Rights Act. Congress made a noble promise to America 50 years ago. The Supreme Court shouldn’t be allowed to break it for partisan purposes.

HOME COOKING NO LONGER SERVED DAILY: Brian Cormack submitted this photo of Bullock’s, an abandoned restaurant in Helena, to our Eye On Arkansas Flickr group.

Now Mark Darr in ethics barrel

I

wrote last week that the ethics violations by Sen. Paul Bookout were only the beginning of the story.

No kidding. Hours later, the Blue Hog Report website rolled out an examination of the campaign finance reports Lt. Gov. Mark Darr has filed since he won election in 2010. He ended the campaign owing himself $115,000. In the three years since then, he’s raised $127,000, but paid down only $97,0000 of the debt.

How’s that? Darr has been using his campaign account like an ATM. He charged it tank after tank of gas. He charged restaurant meals. He bought clothing at men’s, women’s and children’s stores. He bought season football tickets for University of Arkansas games in 2011 in both Fayetteville and Little Rock.

He made fraudulent statements about these personal expenditures, calling them “supplies” or “fund-raising.”

He and other politicians claim that Razorback tickets are a necessity to get out in public to meet the kinds of people that can help you retire your debt. But four seats? Not just one? The same question could be asked when Darr uses campaign or public expense in taking his wife along on out-of-state trips.

Yes, some of the $30,000 Darr spent went to campaign fund-raising — a golf tournament, for example. But thousands did not.

After the Ethics Commission reprimanded Paul Bookout, the outcry from Republicans was immediate and justified. They wanted him gone and prosecuted.

In less than a week, he resigned. And a Democratic prosecutor has put a special prosecutor to work.

Darr is in the process of amending his campaign reports to remove the lies. He’ll say he just made a mistake. That he should have reported money spent on himself as loan payback. Yes, he should have. But he didn’t. Because the scam he operated allowed him to raise money in excess of loan payback and pocket some boodle for himself.

Darr hopes for the kidglove treatment Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson got when he “selfreported” his mistress’ use of campaign money in his Senate campaign in 2010. The Ethics MAX Commission took Hutchinson at BRANTLEY maxbrantley@arktimes.com his word that a couple of checks were all that was wrong with his campaign, an iffy proposition given his train wreck of a personal life and a girlfriend with access to his campaign checkbook.

If Darr’s campaign gets the searching look it deserves, he should be in line for sanctions as serious as those meted out to Paul Bookout. Darr turned himself in only after being caught red-handed. He didn’t maintain adequate records. He spent campaign money on personal use. He misrepresented the nature of the expenditures. Darr has added problems in explaining some expenses from his taxpayer-financed office expense account.

Note this: As the noise about Bookout grew, a number of Democrats expressed disapproval of what he’d done and several called for his resignation. To date, not a single Republican has stepped forward to criticize Darr, much less call for his resignation or a special prosecutor’s review.

Among many changes needed in the state ethics laws is stiffer punishment. As it stands a violation of campaign finance reporting, including personal use of the money, is punishable only as a misdemeanor.

There’s no reason why the violation shouldn’t be promoted to a felony when the amount of money misuse reaches an amount necessary to file a felony theft charge — $1,000. You can see where that might make a politician like Mark Darr a little nervous. His clothing bill alone at Belk, Dillard’s, Walker Brothers, New York and Co. and Justice (for kids) exceeded that.

OPINION

Interpreting the dream

F

ifty years today back in the mists of history, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech changed America, but it is anybody’s guess whether they produced something approximating King’s vision of “a beautiful symphony of brotherhood,” merely drove racism underground, or did something else entirely. A century may offer a clearer lens.

Here in our little part of the mosaic, where fear and loathing of a black president drives every political discussion, you would have to say that blacks and whites largely view those events and their progeny over the half century quite differently, and both with alienation: What else do they want from us?

The march and King’s epochal speech, the most electrifying in American history because of its eloquence and its global reach at the dawn of the television age, are celebrated again this week by declamations from current leaders and by endless columns and essays that do not do justice to the event.

King’s was the last of a litany of civil rights speeches that otherwise seemed perfunctory that day, especially given that hotspurs like James Baldwin were banned or had their remarks censored so as not to offend the Kennedy White House. (Robert F. Kennedy had sicced J. Edgar Hoover and the

at Little Rock to drive his Volkswagen coupe to Washington for the march, the events did not seem profoundly transformational, either then or in the fevered imaginations FBI on the march’s of his later years when he tried to cast himleaders a couple of self in the translucent light of noble calling. months earlier after But he could never recall to his satisfaction one or two of them had made fun of his exactly why he went, whether to commit defense of gradualhimself personally to the cause (as a reporter ERNEST ism — his Irish forehe had to maintain objectivity) or whether, DUMAS bears, he told them, like Forrest Gump, merely to place himself had overcome discrimination without the at the juncture of history. government’s help.)

That spring and summer, kids at PhilanThe speech and the march have always der Smith College, joined by a few adults been credited with transforming the Ken- like Ozell Sutton, had tried to get lunch at nedys and the enactment a year later of the Main Street lunch counters but met abuse Civil Rights Act and after another year the by white customers and denial by the staff.

Voting Rights Act, the latter virtually legis- He had covered one or two of those and had lated out of existence this summer by the begun to reflect for the first time and more Supreme Court. poignantly after the march on his own casual More eloquent have been accounts of daily encounters with racial inequality as a ordinary people who were in the multitude white boy in the woods of Champagnolle of 300,000 that engorged the mall and the Road. What ever happened, he wondered, to federal parklands from the Potomac to the Dock, Mary, Sam, Haywood, Willie, Cato’s Capitol on that hot August 28, 1963. The girls and all the rest who, unlike him, didn’t country may not have been transformed, go to school because the county provided no but they were. Some said they felt like a real school for them or at least no teachers? No human for the first time. An African-Ameri- demonstrations had called attention to the can woman from Alabama told about having manifest injustices of their lives, and it had an older white man in the moiling throng at never occurred to him that it was any of his the Reflecting Pool apologize profusely for business to care.

He got to hear Litle Rock’s Daisy Bates’ stepping on her foot. She had never in her life experienced deference from a white person. brief words — she was the only woman who For the most inconsequential participant spoke at the memorial — but he was trampin the 300,000, a white South Arkansas man ing back toward the hotel when King’s soarwho took a vacation from his newspaper job ing voice stopped him in the shade of a tree

Back to school

T

hose of us who spend the bulk of our professional lives in the classroom get the benefit of two “new years” each year. In addition to Jan. 1, we get an opportunity every August for another round of reflections and resolutions. As I complete my syllabi this week for the new semester, the reflective moments seem a little more pronounced than usual. For one, this marks my 20th year as a professor on a small liberalarts college campus. Second, the last year has seen emphatic questioning of the continued value of a liberal arts education with the arrival of MOOCs (massive online open courses). MOOCs are THE topic of conversation in higher education circles with many, like the University of Arkansas System president, arguing for a central role for online courses in higher education’s future.

So, what is it about a more personalized (and therefore more costly) liberal arts college education that provides it ongoing relevance in 2013 and beyond? Having spent more than half my life on a liberal arts campus, I’ve come to see that such colleges are fundamentally reinventors — of their stu-

This is not to deny that scores of students have their lives changed each year through educational experiences in the array of other dents, their fachigher education institutions. I see it personulty members, and, ally in my work with Single Parent Scholincreasingly, of the arship Fund; those students’ newly gained skills, often at public universities and techinstitutions themselves. The priority nical colleges, fundamentally change the JAY placed on innovaeconomic futures of themselves and their BARTH tion and experimenchildren. However, liberal arts colleges are tation in today’s liberal arts colleges is what unique in their commitment to thinking makes them uniquely transformative places about the “whole student” in the growth to teach and learn. that can occur during the undergraduate Many students’ transformations are fun- years and, just as important, in the preparadamentally academic in nature. However, tion of students for a lifetime of intellectual personal reinventions are not brought about and personal growth. In short, liberal arts just by what happens inside the classroom colleges change lives but, more importantly, or through course-related work like under- prepare students for lives of change. graduate research. Students’ work outside Liberal arts campuses also provide a the classroom (in student organizations and rare (indeed, almost unique) environment on playing fields) or even away from cam- in higher education for faculty lives to be pus just as often the source for change. And, changed because of the freedom afforded perhaps most important, the small liberal them to take real chances intellectually and arts college creates a safe zone for some of professionally. Among my faculty colleagues, the most difficult of personal reinventions. I have witnessed a classicist become a chilWatching this growth at close range over dren’s literature expert and a researcher a four-year period is, indeed, the greatest of American political institutions become gift of being a professor at a small liberal a scholar of Hannah Arendt. These shifts arts college. have required deep investments of brain-

off Constitution Avenue. He would recall being transfixed — the intense booming voice, the purple metaphors that flowed one after the other, filling every sentence with vivid images. (He had always struggled with metaphors.) It was the next morning, as he headed out of town with the souvenir Washington Post — it ignored King’s speech — on the seat beside him that he got the full brunt of King’s speech over the radio.

He thought he might have been present at history’s making, but nothing much seemed to change. Two weeks later, Gov. George C. Wallace said Alabama needed “a few first-class funerals” to stop integration so a bunch of Klansmen got together and bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church at Birmingham, the seat of a black voter-registration drive, killing four little girls. Downtown Little Rock businessmen that fall agreed to let blacks eat at the lunch counters, but it would be a couple of years before they agreed to hire a few black clerks. Arkansas’s delegation in Washington united against the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts.

King gradually turned from pariah to hero, even begrudgingly in the South. Now it is standard editorial fare — see the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and other papers — to use the great man’s speech (that part about the content of a person’s character) as a hammer against affirmative action, voting rights or any effort to correct social and economic inequities. They never heard the message. power and time in new subject matter that offer students outstanding modeling of lifelong learning and personal reinvention. For myself, I have had the freedom to engage in the public arena as a component of my professional development.

The rapid change in higher education during the first decades of this century convinces us liberal arts colleges must embrace this spirit of reinvention exhibited by their students and faculty if they are to continue to thrive. Indeed, some of these innovations will incorporate digital technology but in ways that maintain the personal connections at the heart and soul of successful liberal arts education. Successful innovation is possible when a place has confidence in its mission of “whole person” education.

However, even those of us who are not products (and employees) of liberal arts institutions should care deeply about their survival in the United States. That is because the liberal arts model offers a distinctive space within American higher education where students and faculty alike can continue to practice the joy (and, in the modern era, the necessity) of ongoing reinvention that is the ultimate preparation for life and work in 21st century America. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

7

W O RDS

Run, rarebit A food columnist’s reference to “Welsh rarebit” did not go down well with Stanley Johnson, who notes that the original term was “Welsh rabbit,” an English coinage poking fun at the Welsh.

(There’s no rabbit in Welsh rabbit.) “Class snobbery,” Johnson calls it. “Welsh rarebit” was created later, possibly to sooth sore Welsh feelings. Johnson continues: “What, I wonder, should be made of the other names for the dish, such as Scotch gamecock and Oxford hare. The dish is basically toasted cheese, and has been around as long as there has been bread and cheese. … I’m sure you can think of other examples of adjectives of origin used pejoratively. In my youth, in Nebraska, we called the act of slowing and rolling through a red light a ‘Texas stop.’ ” I remember being deeply shocked when I read that beans had sometimes been referred to as “Arkansas strawberries.”

I’ve since seen the names of other states used for the same purpose – “Tennessee strawberries,” etc. Doesn’t help.

The verb grind – meaning roughly persevere – has become popular in sports journalism. I see that it has a different past tense than the regular grind.

“RAYS 4, ORIOLES 3 Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce homered and [pitcher] David Price DOUG grinded through SMITH dougsmith@arktimes.com five challenging innings to win his fourth consecutive decision …” Perhaps the writer feared that “David Price ground through five challenging innings” would lead to confusion with grounded. A batter who hits a ground ball to a fielder who then throws the batter out is said to have grounded out. (This should have accompanied last week’s item about flied out, but I didn’t see it in time.)

“Johnson hasn’t contested his detainment until trial.” A reader says, “On Wiktionary it looks as if detainment is a simple synonym of detention. Why use it?”

Why indeed? Maybe it’s the same people who use the longer and uglier abolishment instead of abolition. (I feel compelled to admit that, ugly or not, both detainment and abolishment are recognized by Random House.)

WEEK THAT WAS

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A CHANGE IN RHETORIC. In 2012, Rep. Tim Griffin introduced a bill to freeze new regulations on federal agencies because he said they cost the economy. On Monday, he said federal regulations weren’t strong enough to stop the ExxonMobil pipeline leak.

DOUBLE STANDARDS. Lt. Gov. Mark Darr spent campaign money for meals, clothing, travel — personal expenses. But he called the spending a payback from loans he made to his campaign. Yet he raised $12,000 more than he loaned himself. An ethics complaint has been filed against Darr (he’s also filed one against himself), but it’s unlikely he’ll face the same consequences as Sen. Paul Bookout (see below).

It was a bad week for ...

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8

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

SEN. PAUL BOOKOUT. The Jonesboro legislator, who last week resigned from his job in administration at St. Bernards Healthcare in Jonesboro after the state Ethics Commission found he’d spent

campaign contributions on personal items, resigned from the state Senate. A special prosecutor has been named to determine whether criminal charges should be brought.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS ADMINISTRATION. Vice Chancellor Chris Wyrick fired the university’s top spokesman, John Diamond, because, according to Diamond, he’d complained the administration wasn’t fully responsive to the public in disclosing its activities under the Freedom of Information Act. Wyrick said it was Diamond’s insubordination that got him fired.

Chancellor David Gearhart said Diamond, hired by Brad Choate, himself terminated, could not get along with Wyrick. Here’s the known fact: Diamond will continue to pull down his $173,000 pay until Sept. 22.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT. An FOIA on another matter turned up the news that the U of A sells coveted priority seats to Razorback football games to public officials without requiring they pay the $3,000 customarily donated to the Razorback Foundation for the seats. Gov. Mike Beebe, Lt. Gov. Mark Darr and former Secretary of State Charlie Daniels have taken advantage of the UA policy that sets public officials above average Joes. The state Ethics Commission has ruled in the past that’s not a gift. Huh?

THE OBSERVER NOTES ON THE PASSING SCENE

August adieu

BY THE TIME YOU LAY HANDS on a paper copy of this issue (does anybody really do that anymore? Somebody must, as the boxes we pass are nearly always empty), August will be almost done. No “thank God” necessary this year, not like last year, when the temperatures rose past 115 and the skyscrapers downtown were seen to noticeably wilt toward any patch of shade.

This year, August in Arkansas has been a virtual lamb of a month, with one long cool spell in its midst that routinely convinced The Observer we’d somehow fell asleep in July and snoozed into early October, the mornings chill as autumn and the grass dew-covered — the kind of summer that we’ve heard only happens way up North but not in Arkansas, which sometimes seems to be the backyard of Hades. We were sure for a couple summers there that this state was on its way to becoming a sun-blasted province of Texas, the oak trees withered to burnt matchsticks and the corn stunted and the great lawns of the Heights and Hillcrest and West Little Rock scooped up by the wind and blown away, leaving only a Dorothea Lange portrait of quiet, sepia-toned desperation. Then came this August, so mild and lovely, with even a few days of rain. It gave us hope that we can stave off the Desert of Arkansas for at least a few more years.

And now, here we are, ready to leave summer behind, the hot-knobbed door of August soon to coast shut, the kiddies and their teachers frowning into their textbooks for over a week now. Two days ago, Spouse took the wool coats down from their hook behind the door, beat the dust out of them, put The Observer’s camel-colored, carpet-sized drape over the arm of the couch so it could be ferried to the dry cleaners and readied for another winter. “So soon?” we heard ourself say. Soon, we know, we’ll be saying: September so soon?

Halloween so soon? First frost so soon?

Thanksgiving so soon? Christmas? New Years? All so soon?

Such is life, kiddies. Look up from your books a minute and listen. Though your summers last forever, here’s the

secret: It all speeds up as you get older.

Soon, the days will flip past like the calendar pages in an old movie. One day will bleed into the next until the months blur into seasons, and then even the seasons will bleed into sensations: Hot to chilly to cold to warm to hot again, the years become bicycle spokes clicking past. Sooner or later, The Observer fears, our years will simply become days: spring at dawn, summer through noon, autumn afternoon, winter at dusk.

Here is the further secret, kids: do all you can to slow them down. Make the days last. Claw at their hems and stuff them with experience. It’s the best any of us mortals can do.

JUNIOR IS 13, and as is the case with many 13 year olds, our beloved son believes that every sentient being in the world is studying his every move. Part of that is his insistence on turning the radio down every time we pull up to school in the morning. The Observer loves music, but Junior seems to believe that if even the barest note of one of our lame old fart songs were to leak out the car door, everyone in Hillcrest would be shocked to learn that his driver is not, in fact, a carpiloting automaton who powers down in the parking lot out back until it’s time to pick him up in the afternoon.

Feeling particularly chipper on Friday morning, The Observer was listening to an old metalhead song as we motored to the temple of knowledge, with Junior dutifully reaching over and turning it down as we eased to the curb. We said our goodbyes, and the door swung open.

At that point, just because it’s kinda our job to be embarrassing sometimes, The Observer cranked the stereo to 11, with a blast of screeching, hair-metal guitar ejecting our boy out onto the sidewalk.

“ROCK ON, DUDE!” hateful ol’ Dad said, then flashed him the Ronnie James Dio devil horns. Do we have to add that he slammed the car door so hard that it created a visible ripple in The Matrix?

We feel kinda guilty about that.

Kinda. Sure, we’ll share a laugh about it someday. For the next few years, though, it’s probably better not to mention it.

W E I N V I T E Y O U T O J O I N T H E F U N AT W E I N V I T E Y O U T O J O I N T H E F U N AT

9.19.13 9.19.13

ReStore and After features furniture and h i tAefmt es r f rf eoand Roe m S tefeatures od r eé caonrdfurniture amt uHhome r ea sb iftuadécor rtn’ si t R uitems re eS taonrfrom de ReStore and After Habitat’s r eh soaml ee sdhéocposr, ittreamn ss ffor romme dH ai nb ti toa w t ’ os rRk es Sotfo ra er t ReStore resale and brye slashops, olcea ls haotransformed r pt iss, t st r a n ds f osinto or m l de works i lweart no rt kby asu oclocal . di n i na t soof ft i aorntartists P rboyc el auction. lalue cdfun-filled oe cd as l f ra or tmiProceeds s t hs ias nrde lfrom saoxl eddthis i na nadrelaxed sfiul enn- ft iand t ieovne.n t sold in a silent event b i tt ahti sf or re lH P r bo ec ne e df ist fH oam xuemda anni tdy fiunn t- h f iel li er df i eg vhet n t benefit Habitat for rHumanity in atheir fight against poverty housing. t ya nh iotuy s i n gt. h e i r f i g h t b e n e f i t H a gb ai ti ants tf opro vHeur m against poverty housing.

Next Level Events at Union Station N e x t L e 1v 4e 0l 0E W. v e nM t sa rakt hUa nmi oSnt .S t a t i o n 1L4i 0 k h6a m S t. . t t0l eW.R oMc akr • p.m Little Rock • 6 p.m.

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Tickets may be purchased online in advancetofor $35 or at the door for $40.

Visit habitatpulaski.org to purchase. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

9

PEARLS ABOUT SWINE

Cajuns could give Hogs trouble

E

September 3 – OctOber 5

When a conservative radio host announces on the air that he and his wife will renew their vows in Sin City, all of the residents of Tuna, Texas come along for the ride. Favorite characters from past Tuna productions return, and new ones are introduced! “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens when Tuna hits the slots may lodge delightfully in your head for a lifetime.” - L.A. Times

7th & Thayer · Little Rock · (501) 375-8400

Friday, august 30

Mad Nomad

saturday, august 31

KABF 88.3 Birthday Bash! tuesday, september 3

Austin Lucas w/ John Moreland

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10

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

thursday, september 5

Michael Shipp Band

check out additional shows at

whitewatertavern.com

very coaching chapter of Arkansas’s sometimes-tortured football history has its own wrinkle.

The natural progression of things is that an incoming coach is there because the predecessor measurably faltered in some way.

Bret Bielema starts authoring his portion of the anthology Saturday afternoon at Fayetteville against LouisianaLafayette, and it’s only fitting that he’d start in a season bearing a traditionally hexed number like ’13. This columnist projects that the team will fare marginally better than the consensus anticipates, as detailed in prior weeks, but if there’s one dominant opinion about this squad, it’s that nobody seems to have a grasp on what it will look like.

For those reasons, most generally peg this as a .500 team, give or take a win, but the events of the past year and the seismic shift in coaching philosophies amplifies the conjecture. It’s even been awhile since the Razorback program had an opener quite like this one.

Mark Hudspeth quietly surfaced as a candidate for a number of higher-level jobs over the past two seasons based not only on how he shepherded the Ragin’ Cajuns to consecutive 9-4 seasons, but also upon an impeccable eight-season run at Division II power North Alabama. Lafayette has won the last two New Orleans Bowls after spending the prior two decades anchored to the bottom rung of FBS football.

And it’s no doubt caught Bielema’s attention that the Cajuns mounted a fierce challenge to Florida last year at Gainesville. The Gators had a particularly lazy second-half showing in a 27-20 November win that they frankly didn’t earn. Tied at 20 in the waning seconds, Will Muschamp called a timeout to force the Cajuns to punt on fourth down, hoping for a special teams spark. His longodds betting paid off: Loucheiz Purifoy stuffed the kick and Jelani Jenkins came up with a 36-yard scoring return with only two seconds left.

It wasn’t a game that caught as much attention as it should have, largely because it happened the same day that Texas A&M rattled the SEC cage with a win at Tuscaloosa. And because Florida was roundly viewed as a bit of a pretender on the national scene last fall, the narrow edge on which the Gators

skated against the Cajuns just didn’t carry the kind of sex appeal that a Sun Belt-overSEC team norBEAU mally would genWILCOX erate (after all, the Hogs’ flatlining loss to Louisiana-Monroe two months earlier had pretty much taken the luster off that gem).

But Hudspeth has constructed a viable, rounded team in short order, and his Cajuns have that sour experience juicing them for a possible seasonopening upset. You might also recall that Bielema’s Wisconsin teams were, from time to time, a little shaky out of the gates against weak foes. So it’s not a game that anyone on either side is leaving to chance.

In an immediate departure from the Petrino years, the defense is the unit that will move the Hogs’ needle.

There is experience there and depth is, by comparison, less of a concern than it has been. With the Cajuns having an electric dual-threat quarterback (Terrance Broadway) and a well-built tailback (Alonzo Harris) to grind up turf, the challenge is readily apparent.

The mystery, then, is whether this offensive unit will be steady on its collective feet against a ULL defense that was far from imposing last fall but did progress nicely over the latter half of the season. Brandon Allen has the reins of the team and is not looking over his shoulder at the departed Brandon Mitchell, but a rash of ailments and defections over the summer left him with few proven targets in the passing game.

This should accordingly present the first of many opportunities for two of the few experienced skill players — Julian Horton and Javontee Herndon — to exhibit a little leadership. Last year, even with Cobi Hamilton still logging most of the labor at flanker, Horton and Herndon were able to see enough field to snag 35 balls between them. That’s not much more than pedestrian output to most, but it did show measurable progress (Horton and Herndon had 23 career grabs between them over 201011) for two players that were stuck in a logjam at the position early in their careers.

THE COLORS FLASH AND SWIRL BECAUSE WE USE THE SAME CHEMICAL FOUND IN

ANTI-FREEZE.

What if cigarette ads told you the way things really were? Like the fact that tobacco smoke contains methanol, one of the main ingredients used to make anti-freeze. Gulp. Don’t fall for Big Tobacco’s pack of lies. If you’re ready to quit, we can help. Just call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

11

Arkansas Reporter

THE

IN S IDE R

The belated inspection of Lt. Gov. Mark Darr’s spending of campaign money on personal uses — $1,500 for Razorback season tickets, for example — opened up a related line of inquiry.

The Arkansas Times learned through an FOI request that Darr got seats between the 10- and 20-yard-lines in Fayetteville and Little Rock that normally require a $3,000 contribution to the Razorback Foundation, in addition to the face value of the tickets.

How could this be?

It turns out the university has a long-standing policy of giving “priority seating” to any state constitutional officer, state legislator, Higher Education Policy Board member or UA faculty/ staff member. No additional contribution is required, as it is of thousands of other garden-variety Hog fans.

We asked Chancellor David Gearhart how he justified this. He laughed.

Then he referred questions to, variously, the Razorback Foundation, which doesn’t talk to the press, and Athletic Director Jeff Long, who mostly speaks through Kevin Trainor.

Trainor hasn’t ever explained how the university justifies giving special treatment to some. But he did dredge up a 2000 advisory opinion from the Ethics Commission that said the obvious monetary benefit of priority seating is not a monetary benefit because these are not “leased” seats or skybox seats.

We think that opinion needs to be reopened, in that the priority seating program was a lot less institutionalized in 2000 than it is today. Season tickets cost a whopping $100 in 2000, not enough for a single ticket at Fayetteville today.

Our inquiries have dislodged so far that Gov. Mike Beebe and former Secretary of State Charlie Daniels also have purchased season tickets without being required to pay tribute to the Razorback Foundation. They have seats near the 50-yard-line, normally requiring at least a $10,000 contribution from first-time Razorback Foundation contributors.

We still have an FOI request pending for what seats state legislators hold without the payments expected of garden-variety fans and the number of faculty/staff holding cut-rate Hog tickets by virtue of their jobs.

In the meanwhile, Matt Campbell at the Blue Hog Report, who dug up CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 12

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

CAW fights to move pipe Short of relocation, the water utility takes steps to mitigate risk.

BY ELIZABETH MCGOWAN

C

entral Arkansas Water is aware that its push to relocate the compromised Pegasus oil pipeline out of its watershed will likely become a NIMBY issue.

But that hasn’t stopped the utility from continuing its bulldog-like push for ExxonMobil to remove 13.5 miles of mostly buried pipeline from the northern edge of Lake Maumelle. The man-made lake provides 67 million gallons of water per day to 400,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in and around Little Rock.

“We want zero risk,” said John Tynan, the utility’s watershed protection manager.

“That’s why we’re asking for the relocation.

Our question is, how do we make this a reality?”

Tynan said he and his colleagues are beginning a conversation that should include everyone who has a stake in the lake or the pipeline. He and other Central Arkansas Water officials broached the topic again Monday with Exxon brass meeting in Little Rock to present the company’s latest findings to the utility and other public officials.

Karen Tyrone, an Exxon vice-president, said the company wouldn’t submit a plan to restart the pipeline to federal regulators “until we understand what happened and believe that we have the actions to prevent it from happening again.”

Arkansas officials in turn insisted that if the line is reopened, Exxon must surpass federal guidelines in maintaining the pipe around Lake Maumelle. The utility still wants the line moved out of the watershed.

But if that doesn’t happen, Tynan said, every measure should be taken to reduce the risk of a spill.

That project will be anything but cheap.

On an episode of “The Diane Rehm Show” last week dedicated to oil pipeline issues, Andrew Black, president and CEO of the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, said “a rule of thumb” on pipeline construction is $2.5 million to $3 million per mile. “Not a practical suggestion, as I understand it,” Black said of relocating the pipeline out of the Lake Maumelle watershed.

BRIAN CHILSON

Special Hog fans

TYNAN: “We want zero risk.”

To move the pipeline to the western edge of the watershed (away from Little Rock) and then back to its current path past Lake Winona would add at least 40 miles to the Pegasus, by a reporter’s informal calculation. That would suggest a $100 million minimum cost to move the pipeline out of the watershed, a figure that naturally would escalate if a longer route turned out to be necessary.

“We haven’t decided on where Pegasus should go because we’re not oil pipeline specialists,” Tynan said. “That’s where Exxon, its contractors and the people who eat, sleep and breathe pipelines need to come in and decide where it goes. It’s something local, state and federal officials need to be discussing, and we’re encouraging that dialogue to start.”

The Pegasus hasn’t pumped any oil since the Mayflower spill on March 29. Exxon has hinted that the 65-year-old pipeline, which stretches 850 miles across four states from Patoka, Ill., to Nederland, Texas, might never re-open.

Despite that, Central Arkansas Water is still pursuing the rerouting angle.

“People expect us to ask the questions we do,” said Robert Hart, the utility’s technical services officer. “They want us to push and

not be laid-back and assume that everything is being taken care of. Where all of this will end up, we just don’t know.”

Central Arkansas Water began worrying about a spill on the Pegasus long before the gusher in Mayflower of 5,000 barrels of heavy crude oil just eight pipeline miles northeast of Lake Maumelle.

In May 2009, the utility created a risk mitigation plan with a heavy emphasis on the pipeline. It has conducted tabletop and field exercises with emergency responders that simulated spills in creeks the Pegasus crosses and is outfitting a lakeside trailer with oil-spill-response equipment that can be quickly deployed. The utility has also partnered with Exxon to install a storage facility on the lake’s north shore equipped with 3,000 feet of boom.

Utility staffers keep an eye on the pipeline when making their regular rounds and do inspections on an all-terrain vehicle twice a year. Exxon patrols the pipeline via airplane twice a week.

After the spill in Mayflower, the utility redoubled its efforts.

In a May 15 letter to the Arkansas Department of Health, Gov. Mike Beebe, and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, CAW outlined 17 corrective actions that Exxon should be forced to take to protect the watershed. The list includes burying any pipe that is exposed, constructing diversion berms as a preventive measure in case of a rupture, funding annual emergency response exercises with state and local responders, encasing the pipeline at stream crossings, installing external leak detection technology, and installing remotely controlled shut-off valves and check valves.

Currently, only one shut-off valve exists along the pipeline in the watershed. It’s at the western end of Lake Maumelle and an Exxon representative would have to drive to the site to manually close it. The utility figures at least two hours would pass from the time a rupture is detected to the time the valve could be closed — and that by then about 1.2 million gallons of oil could escape into the watershed.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 28

THE ARKANSAS TIMES INQUIZATOR: ASHLIE ATKINSON

THE

BIG PICTURE

B

orn in Little Rock in 1977, Ashlie Atkinson is an Arkansas girl made good in theater, film and now on TV. (She’s also a former Arkansas Times intern.) Her new show “Us and Them,” an American remake of the British comedy “Gavin and Stacey,” is currently being shot as a midseason replacement for Fox. A former roller derby queen, Atkinson won the 2005 Theater World Award for Breakthrough Performance as Helen in playwright Neil Labute’s “Fat Pig.” From there, her acting career was off to the races, with roles in two different incarnations of the “Law & Order” franchise along with spots on “30 Rock,” “Boardwalk Empire,” a recurring role on “Rescue Me,” plus supporting roles in the indie thriller “Compliance,” and the Spike Lee/Denzel Washington heist flick “Inside Man.” Coming soon to a theater near you, Atkinson can be seen in Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and an indie called “Cold Comes the Night,” starring “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston. She answered the summons of the Inquizator via e-mail from her home in New York.

When and where did you eat the best meal of your life, and what was it?

Every time I eat biscuits and gravy at my parents’ kitchen table, it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Second is a steak [actor friend] Tommy Sadoski bought me in Hong Kong. I would be gracious, but seriously, I earned that sucker.

If you couldn’t be an actress and money was no object, what would you rather be doing?

I’d be an activist, I think. I get real riled up.

Tell us your best Denzel Washington story. What did he smell like? Please say “butterscotch candy.”

Oh my God, how did you know?

Honestly, though: He smelled expensive as all get out. My mom sent me all these clippings before I went to work, telling me I had to thank Denzel for her! He had toured these small homes attached to a military hospital in Atlanta, where military families can stay close to their injured soldier when she or he gets shipped stateside. They told him there was a big wait list. He asked how much one of the houses cost, they told him, and he wrote a check on the spot. AMAZING. As the sister of an infantryman, I couldn’t thank him enough.

If you’re ever on “Celebrity Jeopardy,” what’s the category in which you would totally kick the asses of Katy Perry and Stephen Hawking?

The Monkees. Trust me.

What’s your hidden talent?

Whistling the intro to

Guns N’ Roses’ “Patience,” and matchmaking.

Beer, wine or hard liquor?

Yes, please, thank you honey.

GOOD NEWS: We’ve created a time machine that allows you to communicate with yourself at any point in your past!

BAD NEWS: You can only send one sentence of five words or less. What sentence do you send, and when do you send it to?

May 2000: “Don’t let her leave town.”

Politics: patriotic spectacle, necessary evil or just evil?

In the classic sense of folks influencing each other civically, I think it’s necessary. However, I think our current state of affairs is a big ole pageant to make 99 percent of Americans feel like they’re being heard and considered, even though they’re not.

What’s the worst piece of advice you ever received?

A semi-well-known actress with very famous parents came to my alma mater to speak once and told a theater full of drama students: “If you’re female and you want to be an actress, you better be beautiful.”

What a crock. I’m hoping the second part of that sound bite ends up being equally false, since she went on to say: “And even then, you won’t work after 40.”

Explain why people should watch your new show on Fox, “Us and Them.” Difficulty: in the form of a haiku poem.

Gavin and Stacey But we’re American so Way more dick jokes here.

LISTEN UP

Tune in to the Times’ “Week In Review” podcast each Friday.

Available on iTunes & arktimes.com

INSIDER, CONT. Mark Darr’s personal spending on gas, meals, clothes and other stuff, still wonders how the Ethics Commission possibly could approve such rich special privileges for elected officials in light of statute 21-8-304: “(a) No public servant shall use or attempt to use his or her official position to secure special privileges or exemptions for himself or herself or his or her spouse, child, parents, or other persons standing in the first degree of relationship, or for those with whom he or she has a substantial financial relationship that are not available to others except as may be otherwise provided by law.”

Cotton on race Tom Cotton’s abundant writing as a Harvard student for the campus newspaper and other organs continues to produce paydirt for those seeking a window on the soul of someone who was a dedicated right-winger from an early age.

Slate recently found a book review he’d written in the conservative Harvard Salient on the book “America in Black and White,” which apparently argued that Democrats wouldn’t accept how much progress black people had made.

Cotton cheered the notion heartily.

He wrote, after mentioning “racehustling charlatans” like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and some mainstream black people like Roger Wilkins: “They and other leaders of the civilrights establishment — one of those many groups that lives off the capital of a noble heritage — blithely ignore all data on racial attitudes in America, as well as all trends of behavior that prove the sincerity of those attitudes. They state that racism is still ‘as virulent and as obvious as weeds in a garden,’ racism is ‘worse today than it was in the ‘60s,’ and that ‘white men are the most lying creatures on the face of the earth.’

“These are not unintelligent people.

They could pass the QRR and can analyze trends and data. They know, however, that to acknowledge the incontrovertible arguments of this book would be to marginalize themselves even more than has already been done. If race relations are better now than at any time in our history and would almost certainly improve if we stopped emphasizing race in our public life, what would the self-appointed ‘civil rights leaders’ have to do with themselves?”

Our bet is that some “not unintelligent” black people will be supporting Mark Pryor come 2014. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

13

THE

PATH PEGASUS OF THE

Exxon’s pipeline cuts across the watersheds that provide drinking water for 770,000 Arkansans.

BY SAM EIFLING, DAVID KOON AND ELIZABETH MCGOWAN

T

he oil that erupted in Mayflower back in March began its trip in an Illinois hamlet named Patoka, 90 minutes east of St. Louis. It shot down ExxonMobil’s 20-inch Pegasus pipeline, under farms and forests, over the Mississippi River via a state highway bridge, through the Missouri Ozarks, across the Arkansas state line and, a few miles later, near the workplace of one Glenda Jones, whom you can find on a summer Saturday at her bar job, watching the Cardinals thump the Cubs.

The other bartender here at the Rolling Hills Country Club in the town of Pocahontas is named Brenda, so anyone visiting the golf course in far Northeast Arkansas is bound to meet one of the Endas, as they’re known around the club. At 5 p.m. it’s quiet in the 10-table lounge but for a Fox broadcaster making Jones’s day: “Molina deep ... back to the wall ... it’s gone!” Jones, the proud Enda and part-time house cleaner who refers to the Cardinals as “we,” hollers, “Yes, finally!”

Ask her about Pocahontas, and she’s quick to tout its famous five rivers (the Spring, the Black, the Current, the Fourche, the Eleven Point).

And the people are sure friendly. “Course they are,” she says. “We’re in the middle of the Bible Belt. Know what I mean? Everybody’s nice here.” If one thing gives her pause about this area, it might be the Pegasus. It runs right under her yard, and she worries about it rust-

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AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

ing. “Stuff like that only SPECIAL lasts so long,” she says.

REPORT The Pegasus spill surprised many people in Mayflower, in part because many of them had no idea they were living atop an oil superhighway. So we got to wondering: Where does the Pegasus go? To find out, we traced its path using maps publicly available from the federal agency that regulates pipelines, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). We got precise with Google Earth, following the pipeline’s easement — the broad, bald line where trees are kept off the pipe — through the 13 Arkansas counties the Pegasus crosses on its way to Texas. From satellite images, we could see what another break in the Exxon pipeline could directly threaten: pastures, national forest, rivers, creeks, homes, churches, at least one school, this golf course. It also crosses watersheds for 18 drinking water sources that, together, serve about 770,000 people, a quarter of the state’s population. We asked the people in those areas how the pipeline affects their lives.

The prospect of a spill makes most of them fretful, while one man thought a spill would punch

his ticket to better places.

The 858-mile Pegasus, now well into its seventh decade, has lain unused since March 29, when it burst open in the otherwise pleasant Mayflower neighborhood of Northwoods and belched up 210,000 gallons of heavy crude, by Exxon’s tally.

The old pipe spends most of its time underground and is, in any case, just a long, steel conduit, without much character. Ah, but the places it traverses in Arkansas — nearly 300 miles of them! — are full of characters. They’ve lived with the pipeline underfoot since the 1940s, so long that many have never given it a thought.

Many Arkansans we visited — Glenda Jones among them — didn’t realize until a reporter called that their local pipeline was the same one that cracked open in Mayflower. And because they’re living on top of a pipeline that’s now been shown to crack itself open with no apparent provocation, and which a forensic report after the spill cited for manufacturing defects, they get to wonder the obvious.

“If it burst, right here, right now?” asks Derik Fitzgerald, the voluble golf course superintendent, at the Endas’ bar. “What do you do?”

Fitzgerald knows and respects the Pegasus.

Tuesdays and Thursdays Exxon flies a plane over to scope it out. One time Fitzgerald and another man on his crew were fixing an irrigation line maybe 40 feet from the pipe, on Hole 5, when Fitzgerald’s friend heard the plane

turn. “He said, ‘That plane just seen us doing something.’ ” They got a friendly visit from an Exxon rep after that one, just to be sure they knew to call in any projects within 200 feet of the pipeline. They also got a visit the time a flood piled branches and logs against the exposed pipeline in a creek. Fitzgerald called, and Exxon was out in a jiffy, yanking timber off the pipe and supervising the burning of the brush.

“I hate to take up for oil companies, I hate it,” Fitzgerald says. “But they seem like they’re on top of it.” When he needs to notify the company that he’s working near the pipe, Fitzgerald rings a guy. In his cell phone the contact reads “Billy Exon.”

The trip from the clubhouse to the Pegasus takes five minutes. Fitzgerald steers a golf cart down a knobby asphalt path, through hairpin turns between trees, and to the creek where the pipe is exposed, parallel to a little bridge.

It’s a mottled, muddled thing, speckled with lichen and splotched with some tarry coating.

When the pipe was operating, 4 million gallons of crude would shoot through here at a pressure of 700 or 800 pounds per square inch. The crack that opened in Mayflower was some 22 feet long, roughly the length of this exposed segment. If there were another break, odds are people here would know it before the pipeline’s built-in remote sensors. PHMSA records show that of the 960 spills in the United

SAM EIFLING

PLAYING THROUGH: The Pegasus crosses a creek at Rolling Hills Country Club.

POCAHONTAS

ROLLING HILLS COUNTRY CLUB

States between 2002 and 2012, the general public reported 22 percent of them. Oil company employees found 62 percent. Sensors caught only 5 percent. That makes people like Jones and Fitzgerald part of the state’s first line of defense in a spill.

Fitzgerald heads back to the clubhouse for a

Reuben with blue cheese dressing and to order a Miller Lite from Jones. As he picks his way through the trees he ponders life in Pocahontas.

“Play golf and drink beer,” he says. “And call for a driver. ... Thank God for wives. Understanding wives.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

15

THE PIPELINE’S PATH THROUGH ARKANSAS

Randolph County

Lawrence County Independence County WHITE RIVER

LITTLE RED RIVER Faulkner County

White County

CONWAY MAYFLOWER LAKE MAUMELLE

Pulaski County

JESSIEVILLE OUACHITA RIVER Montgomery County GLENWOOD Howard County Sevier County

Garland County

Saline County

CADDO RIVER

Pike County

Little River County RED RIVER

FOLLOW THE PIPELINE: See a dynamic map of Pegasus’ route through Arkansas at arktimes.com/pipelinemap.

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AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

SAM EIFLING

ON THE PIPELINE SHELF: Lowell Myers looks across to the Pegasus easement on the Little Red River.

LAWRENCE COUNTY

T

wo months after the Mayflower spill, Nathaniel Smith, director of the Arkansas Department of Health, sent a letter to Exxon and PHMSA asking that the pipeline company and federal regulators act on eight measures to guarantee that the Pegasus pipeline does not harm the 18 watersheds from which Arkansans drink.

Those recommendations include removing the pipeline from critical drinking water sources and installing isolation valves and protective encasement of the pipeline at all stream crossings. The letter also called on Exxon to update its emergency response plans and stockpile enough equipment to address spills promptly and thoroughly.

Jeff Stone, director of the health department’s engineering section, says the state felt obligated to speak out after the spill. “Mayflower was a wakeup call for everyone,” Stone says.

One of the water sources in northeast Arkansas is the Spring River, which the Pegasus crosses just before the Spring dumps into the Black River. When the hazardous materials team in Lawrence County considers the possibility of an oil spill, that near-convergence of the Pegasus, the Spring and the Black emerges as a particular bugbear.

“As firefighters, emergency response here, we don’t clean anything up, we just try to stop it as soon as possible,” says Joe Chappell, the medical officer for the county’s hazmat team.

“We mitigate the circumstances with it and wait for professional teams.” They hold classes, they stock booms, they stay ready. The county hasn’t been through a pipeline break, but it has seen a couple of train derailments, and an overturned propane truck that prompted the evacuation of a nearby school but which did not, thank goodness, explode.

“We always considered ourselves real lucky,” Chappell says.

THE LITTLE RED: Milepost 366

L

owell Myers apologizes for his murky river. “This is normally crystal-clear,” he says, but high rains have brought in mud from the hundred-odd upstream creeks that empty into this world-class fishery. Myers has guided here full-time for three years, and, for the 18 years before that, parttime while he managed the business side of Downtown Church of Christ in nearby Searcy.

In the house of God, Myers spent his weekdays futzing with spreadsheets. He loved that job, but now he gets to guide people from all over the country, 12 months a year, on the river. “There’s a great quote, and I can’t remember what it is,” he says. “Something about being in church, thinking about God, and being outside, being with God.” Close enough.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18 www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

17

SAM EIFLING

LITTLE RED RIVER

RIVER MAN: Fishing guide Lowell Myers.

Myers is heavyset, with an easy smile and snowy stubble that glints against deeply tanned cheeks. His flat-bottomed boat is 21 feet long and seats three comfortably. He backs it down the ramp at Ramsey’s Access, a launch point on the Little Red River downstream from Pangburn. A blue heron loiters on a log as Myers aims the boat downriver.

The river is low, and the pregnant clouds overhead suggest why. With so much flooding downriver, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers isn’t releasing water from Greers Ferry Lake — the impound that births this clear, cold current. Myers cranks up his outboard and steers around a slough. Cypress trees hunch along the banks, their knees jagging the shallows. A turtle slides off a log; dragonflies constellate overhead. It’s a summer Tuesday, and there’s not another person in sight.

These waters produced a world record brown trout once — 40 pounds and 4 ounces, caught by Rip Collins in 1992 — and remains a factory for brown and stocked rainbow trout.

The river bottom’s rocky moss beds breed insects like caddisflies and blue-winged olives and sowbugs, which feed trout. The trout, in turn, feed people.

The banks of the Little Red are lined with floating docks that range from the ramshackle to the ornate. The fancier roosts have padlocked rod closets, barbecue grills, picnic tables. They carry etched wooden plaques with names like Lloyd’s Lodge and Lazy A Trout Dock.

Two dozen such platforms pass, then stillness. Myers points to a blurry smudge perpendicular below the surface, prominent enough to roil the current. There, two feet down, is the line of rocks that armors the Pegasus as it pierces the Little Red River.

“We call it the pipeline shelf,” Myers says.

“It’s good fishing right behind it, where the water comes over and drops off over those rocks and into the deeper pool. Fish just hang out.”

Myers figures no one on the river connects this pipeline to the Mayflower spill. Despite the slouching yellow warning signs at the top of the bank, the pipe and the rocks that protect 18

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

PANGBURN

SEARCY

it are, to fishermen, simply another feature to navigate and exploit, akin to a manmade sandbar or boulder.

“I’ve been over that pipe, pshew, a hundred times,” he says. “I had no clue that was the same line as in Mayflower. And it could have easily been here instead of there. Why Mayflower instead of right in the middle of the Little Red? “One rupture, one leak, one bad episode in a pipeline history, it could devastate our fishing industry.”

WHITE COUNTY

“W

e always plan for worst-case scenarios,” Tamara Jenkins says on the phone. She coordinates the Arkansas Department of Emergency Response in White County, and once every two years, her crews and Exxon conduct drills that suppose the unthinkable.

If the pipeline were to break in the Little Red River, three things would happen immediately. Searcy, a town of 23,000 people 23 miles away, would shut off the intake valve that slurps drinking water from the Little Red. First responders would lace absorbent booms across the river to corral the oil. The Army Corps of Engineers would stanch the river at its source, by closing the hydroelectric dam at the base of Greers Ferry Lake.

The severed river would continue to spill across the pipe for at least half a day. “It’s like trying to stop a train on a dime,” Jenkins says.

Counties have reciprocal agreements to

help one another in times of crisis. White borders Faulkner County, home to Mayflower.

The drive from the Little Red’s intersection with the Pegasus to Conway, Faulkner’s county seat, is a winding ride beneath bursts of forest canopy, through rolling pastures. The highway passes natural gas pads, an honor-system $6 watermelon stand, the Cleburne County livestock auction barn, a long-gone gas station, now just a bare slab and a sign for $1.39 unleaded. From there it’s just a few miles of asphalt to the largest Arkansas city the Pegasus crosses.

CONWAY: Milepost 322

M

egan Brown picked up her road map at the Chamber of Commerce. If you need your own, she says, just walk in and say you’re looking to buy a home in town.

They’ll give you one for free. She modified hers with a black marker, on the lower right corner: the cameo appearance the Pegasus makes in this college town of 52,000.

“I wanted to know where it was, because I live here,” the young mother says. “If it spills and a mile away the kids are sick, I want to know, where is it?” Lately she’s been thinking about what would happen if the Pegasus — fallow for five months and counting, gunked up with stale sludge — re-opened. If they flip the switch, could the pressure build in Conway, so near the rupture site?

(We ran this scenario past Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert in Washington state,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

CONWAY CARTOGRAPHER: Megan Brown traced the Pegasus through her hometown.

BRIAN CHILSON

and he said the chance of a blowout during a restart is remote. “It’ll mix pretty quick again,” he said. “They could run a cleaning pig [pipeline robot] to help get the thing moving, if it started to tar out.”)

But when Brown asked Pegasus-related questions around Conway, she didn’t get far.

She says she called her city councilmember Mary Smith, who according to Brown said the pipe doesn’t go through Conway and suggested she should direct her questions to Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson, who has led the Unified Command that responded to the spill.

“I was like, ‘Aw, man. Really?’ ” Brown says.

Brown’s an environmental geology student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and her view of her surroundings is decidedly topographical, rather than political. The PHMSA maps put the lie to the reassuring notion: The pipeline runs through Conway proper, full of places where another break would become its own unique species of calamity.

On Amity Road, the Pegasus runs beneath a Halliburton-owned outfit called Multi-Chem, all vats and big trucks and metal staircases.

Everything considered, this might be the most convenient spot for a Conway spill.

At the southeast edge of town, near the north tip of Lake Conway, the Pegasus goes within an eyelash of Caney Creek, a feeder for the fishing lake. Then it burrows under the yard behind

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8/27/13 1:17 PM

SAM EIFLING

NOT IN MY BACK YARD: The aftermath of clean-up efforts behind Mayflower homes at the rupture site.

CONWAY

DAYCARE TRUE HOLINESS LIFE CENTER CANEY CREEK MULTI-CHEM

DOWNTOWN CONWAY

the True Holiness Family Life Center, a boxy, metal-sided church.

In the adjacent neighborhood, it runs under a little berry farm where you can pick your own and where silver ribbons on strings flutter to deter birds. It runs under an above-ground pool in a backyard and near a yard that’s full of alpacas. Then, onward, just outside town.

The pipe goes under a neighborhood on Skunk Hollow Road, just beyond the city limits, and cuts beneath the backyard of the Little Dumplings daycare. On a recent Friday afternoon, the front yard was full of dumplings scampering around plastic playsets. Everything considered, this might be the least convenient spot for a Conway spill.

“I hear, ‘Well what can I do about it?’ ” Brown says. “ ‘Is there a petition, can I sign a petition?’

Even from people who are uncertain about what really happened in Mayflower, even those people say, ‘Don’t turn it back on.’ ”

A

MAYFLOWER: Milepost 314.77

t sunset one evening, Ryan Senia, a displaced former resident of the Northwoods subdivision, walks around his side yard, and into a wide orange clayscape.

This area used to be backyards, until crude

20

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

LAKE MAUMELLE

CONWAY

ROLAND

LITTLE ROCK

swamped it and Exxon’s crews stripped away trees and exhumed tons of earth. “This is all new dirt,” Senia says over the thrum of a generator powering a tall light. He walks behind a neighbor’s empty home where the remnants of a former yard — a bike, a hose, a lawnmower, a propane grill, part of a birdbath — clutter the back porch. “Come up over here, you can see they’ve dug up under the slab,” he says. “You can see how deep they’ve dug it. So you know the oil is underground.”

He turns to another home’s foundation.

There, in a grey puddle a foot beneath the brick, floats a glossy black blob the size of a fried egg.

“It’s eye-opening to see the oil right there,” Senia says. “I know it’s not a large amount, but that’s only what you can see. The oil’s under the house.”

This is 20 weeks after the spill. Unified Command has cleared 19 of the 22 homes that were under mandatory evacuation as safe for re-entry, Senia’s included, and Exxon notes that some people are moving back. By an informal count, maybe three homes are back to normal. Senia, for one, just sold his home to Exxon. At sundown on a weeknight, the driveways of Starlite Road North are blank, the windows are dark and all is quiet but for the generator and the yo-yoing moans of cicadas.

LAKE MAUMELLE

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

MILEPOST 299.3: At the western edge of the Lake Maumelle watershed.

BRIAN CHILSON

U

p state Highway 113 near the western side of Lake Maumelle in Pulaski County is a “Jesus Saves” sign tacked to an oak tree. The wooden, hand-lettered

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AUGUST 29, 2013

21

BRIAN CHILSON

SCHOOL’S IN: Superintendent Andy Curry, at Jessieville High School.

sign points like a welcoming arrow to an opening in the forest where hikers can merge onto the Ouachita National Forest Trail, which wends its way along the northern edge of the impound lake.

This section of the trail roughly parallels the 13.5 miles of pipe that snakes through a watershed that provides water for 400,000 people in and around Little Rock. About one in seven Arkansans drinks, bathes, cooks and cleans with water from the reservoir.

Like the drone of cicadas and the babble of creeks, the Pegasus — with its distinctive red, yellow and black markers — is pretty much a constant hiking partner. Sometimes the trail runs right atop the buried spine of the pipeline itself. In places, rain has rutted gullies in the reddish soil, exposing the top of the pipeline to the elements.

Expansive views of the 8,900-acre lake are never far away. At points, the Pegasus skirts within 600 feet of the lake’s edge. West of Highway 113 it’s easy to count the spots — one, two, three — where the Pegasus crosses the Maumelle River, which Little Rock’s water utility dammed in 1957 to create the lake. East of Highway 113, the Pegasus runs through 22

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

miles of rugged, steep terrain without road access. At least half a dozen robust creeks drain that area, carving a direct path to the lake below.

There’s only one shut-off valve for the Pegasus in the 88,000-acre watershed, a fact that makes Central Arkansas Water nervous. The valve is at the western end of Lake Maumelle and would require at least one Exxon representative to drive to the site to manually close it. The utility figures at least two hours would pass from the time a rupture was detected to the time the valve was closed. By then, the utility estimates that about 1.2 million gallons of oil could escape from the pipeline into the watershed.

The utility’s auxiliary water supply, little Lake Winona, can supply only 38 percent of water required on a daily basis. If Lake Maumelle took a shot of oil, Central Arkansas Water would have to draw and treat water pulled from beneath the Arkansas River, a highway for barges. “The Arkansas River ... would not be anybody’s second, third or fourth choice” as a drinking water source, said Graham Rich, the utility’s chief executive officer.

U

JESSIEVILLE: Milepost 271.8

p state Highway 7 from the sprawl of drug stores and restaurants at the west gate of Hot Springs Village, the sleepy burg of Jessieville sits like a jewel in rolling hills and deep greenery.

Jessieville High School’s stern main building resembles schools from little towns all over Arkansas, with puzzle-piece stonework walls built by the WPA. The Pegasus runs about 800 feet beyond the back fence of the property. Before he fielded a reporter’s call, Andy Curry, the superintendent of the 910-student district, didn’t know his school might be nearer to the Pegasus than any other in Arkansas. Though Curry knew a pipeline was nearby (hunters install deer stands along the easement, he said) he didn’t know it carried petroleum, and he didn’t know it was the same line that ruptured in Mayflower. During his three-year tenure, he says, Exxon hasn’t contacted the school with instructions on what to do in case of a leak.

By his reading, the Mayflower story faded quickly from news coverage in his area. To Curry, it was just like the Gulf spill that he says BP “PR’ed” to death.

“Our society is about the big news story of the day,” Curry says. “Everybody forgets about it, and there’s something new the next day, and we forget about that. ... It seems like [a spill] on the mainland, around people, would be a huge news story for awhile. But you really haven’t heard anything else about it.”

South of the school, 100 yards from where the pipeline crosses Highway 7, Todd Breedlove and 9-year-old Todd Jr. are carrying boxes into an old storefront he rents as storage for his small business. The Breedloves live in Hot Springs Village.

The father says he had no idea the pipeline he drives above several times a week carried petroleum, or that it is the one Mayflower made famous. In a perfect world, Breedlove says, nobody would have a pipeline running near their home. Instead, we all have to shoulder some risk. Oil companies irritate him, constantly hiking gas prices while shipping crude overseas. But, he says, “oil greases the wheels of democracy, and it’s just one of those things where you’ve got to have it in the future.”

Even so, Breedlove admits he found parts of Exxon’s response to the Mayflower pipeline breach “disturbing.”

“It’s a scary thing when, with the kind of money they have, they can come in and say: ‘Why don’t we just buy you a new house and you shut up?’ ” Breedlove says, looking down at his son from time to time. “That’s when we all have to say: ‘What’s right is right. I’m not going to go after you, but I’m not going to sell out either.’ ”

JESSIEVILLE

JESSIEVILLE SCHOOL

OUACHITA RIVER: Milepost 257.7

SWIMMERS: T.J. Lute (right) and Dakota Blackburn on the Ouachita River.

DAVID KOON

D

an Rubio lives by the Hot Springs airport, where he works on planes. His friend Tim Lute lives in the trailer park on the hill above the pipeline. On a summer afternoon, Lute and Rubio pull up in a creaking 1971 Chevy pickup — a former Coca-Cola Bottling truck apparently held together with prayer. In the back, Tim’s son T.J. and his friend Dakota Blackburn had come down to swim with Lute’s blue heeler puppy, in the spot between Lakes Ouachita and Hamilton where the pipeline intersects the Ouachita River.

The park features a playground, concrete picnic tables, a boat dock, and a tree with a rope swing that leans out over the wide, deep, lovely river.

Homes with backyard boathouses surround the park, secluded in a maze of switchback streets.

Crickets squeal in the grass, and boats putt past.

Half a mile upstream the county’s water authority has an intake point. Downstream is open water and Lake Hamilton.

T.J. scales the tree with the swing. The rope arches out over the water, and the boy drops with a whoop and a splash. Rubio stands by a picnic table and looks out at the Ouachita. He was a fisherman in Alaska in March 1989, when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound. Though CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

23

OUACHITA RIVER MOUNTAIN PINE

LAKE OUACHITA

HOT SPRINGS LAKE HAMILTON

he’s leaving Arkansas soon for work, Rubio says he wants to return to Garland County, buy a place, and live near the water for the rest of his life. The prospect of oil escaping into this river petrifies him.

“Everybody I know hunts and fishes. When you walk along the lakes here, you see the fish, you see the deer,” he says. “To me, there’s nothing wrong with progress and doing what we have to do. ... But they can’t have any chance of what happened in Mayflower happening here. ... Here, the impact would be catastrophic.”

A couple of times a year, Exxon updates the county on what to do in such an event. Joy Sanders, director of Garland County Emergency Management, says that once, during a drill, Exxon dumped truckloads of flax seed into the spot where the Pegasus crosses the Ouachita River, to see whether a spill there could pollute the drinking water intake upstream that serves some 90,000 people. The seeds traveled into coves, but never reached the upstream dam.

While that test convinced Sanders that a breach wouldn’t poison the water supply, she says the “cascading event” would still overwhelm emergency services. “We’re depending on Exxon and their response team to be there,” she says. “Honestly, with the equipment and resources that are available in Garland County, we wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

The odds of an accident happening here are slim. But then, the Pegasus has cracked open in Garland County before, in 1995, where the pipeline crosses Glazypeau Road, five miles from the county’s emergency management headquarters.

“Evidently the county road grader got too deep 24

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

“Everybody I know hunts and fishes. When you walk along the lakes here, you see the fish, you see the deer. To me, there’s nothing wrong with progress and doing what we have to do. ... But they can’t have any chance of what happened in Mayflower happening here. ... Here, the impact would be catastrophic.”

after grading over and over and over,” Sanders says, “and finally it got down low enough that it hit the pipeline.”

Department of Transportation records show that moment of carelessness resulted in a 600-barrel spill, about one-eighth of what the Pegasus would dump in Mayflower 18 years later.

O

CADDO RIVER: Milepost 233.3

ne of the few people in Arkansas who would see an instant upside in case of a disaster is a property owner on the Caddo, upstream of DeGray Lake. Frank Canale — loud, outspoken, tanned a uniform bronze — rents cabins in Glenwood, near where the Pegasus crosses the

Caddo close to Mud Lake Road.

Originally from Memphis, Canale long made his living as an international real estate developer.

He built the cabins on the Caddo when he came to Arkansas to care for his ailing mother, intending to sell them. Then the real estate market seized up in the credit crunch, trapping Canale in this Arkansas paradise.

His cabins on the Caddo, about 200 yards upriver from the pipeline, are picturesque: secluded, landscaped, with a terraced deck in the cool shade and steps that lead down to the waterline. The Caddo here lies in a cradle of stone rimmed by mountains, in a channel cut by a thousand-thousand years of flood. Most of the sunburnt paddlers who descend on weekends hail from Louisiana CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

PUB TITLE • ISSUE DATE, 2011 1

BRIAN CHILSON

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: The Caddo, 200 yards upstream from the pipeline crossing.

and Texas, he said, flatlanders craving trees and contours.

On a recent day, he was waiting to talk with someone from an auction company. He’s ready to cash out. He’s headed to Ecuador, he says, where some opportunities have opened. A spill? Why, that would certainly be one way out.

“Really, that would probably be my savior if that thing were to bust and wipe me out,” he says, laughing. “I’d probably get more from [Exxon] than I could ever sell the place for.”

A day later, up the river in Glenwood, Jim Smedley, owner of Arrowhead Cabin and Canoe, is shuttling canoeists back and forth in one of his white buses. A resident of Little Rock who flies helicopters for the National Guard, Smedley says he didn’t know the pipeline that ruptured in Mayflower also crosses the river he has floated dozens of times. A spill on the Caddo, he says, would be devastating.

“I understand we’ve got to have oil to function,” he says. “At the same time, if there has to be risk involved, there’s got to be some sort of inspection procedure. I’m not sure how they do it, but if that pipeline is that old, I’m sure it’s weak in a lot of places. There’s been land shift faults and everything else.”

Smedley says he’d like to think that Exxon and other oil companies would do the right thing to protect places like the Caddo River. But the spills 26

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

in the Gulf and in Mayflower undermine that faith.

“I think the risk and the reward have to be balanced — the environmental impact,” he says. “I think they wait for something like this to happen to fix a problem they already knew about. Maybe they knew about it, maybe they didn’t. Maybe it was going to be too expensive to fix it.”

I

RED RIVER: Half of a mile south of milepost 160.1

n far Southwest Arkansas, take state Highway 108 past a vast concrete plant that squats on land flat as a cast iron griddle to a place called Matteson’s Gin. From there, turn south past a cornfield, where the brown August crop presses in and turns the road into a gutter that fills with dust in the rearview. Pass an abandoned house trailer. Pass an Exxon valve slumbering in a chain link and barbed wire cage. Round a bend. Turn off at a wide, graveled spot, and finally you can drive onto the easement of the Pegasus pipeline itself, two brown ruts cutting through the high grass, the edge of the wide boulevard to nowhere guarded by deer stands on stilts.

Walk along the pipeline markers and a string of oak stakes tied with red ribbon. The grass is high, and on a cool morning, your jeans will soon be drenched in dew to the hip. In the under-

brush, doves coo and sigh. There is the smell of wild mint.

Finally, a bright spot in the sky up ahead, the sound of water, a little rise, and then a view — the low bluff over the Red River, where Arkansas hands the Pegasus to Texas.

It’s ironic that when the pipeline was built in the 1940s, engineers chose to have it cross the Red here — an old steamboat landing once called Lakeport, according to a cast-aluminum historical marker up on the highway. When the pipeline is running, 95,000 barrels a day blast through that spot, part of the network built to deliver the fossil fuels that long ago elbowed the steamboats off this river.

It’s beautiful here. The Red gleams in the sun, with sandy banks wide and blond. A great, bone-white snag breaks the current in a rippling V. On the far shore, birds drink at the edge of the water, then spin away. There is nothing of people in sight, except for the yellow and black pipeline markers.

This story is part of a joint investigative project

by Arkansas Times and Pulitzer Prize winning InsideClimate News. Funding for the project comes from readers who donated to an ioby.org crowdfunding campaign that raised nearly $27,000 and from the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

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Contamination of Lake Maumelle medic for 36 years. “A leak would be much could stymie the utility because the aux- more difficult to identify there.” iliary water supply, Lake Winona to the One of the most challenging situations west, is capable of supplying only 38 per- would be a spill near the river or a creek, cent of water required on a daily basis. he said. The Pegasus crosses the Maumelle Exxon has told Central Arkansas Water River three times. It also crosses two of the it plans to add a second valve as an extra river’s large tributaries: one that drains to precaution. But the company has not the river and the other to the lake. yet responded to the utility on the other In addition, at least half a dozen robust requests. creeks drain a five-and-a-half mile roadIn early August, the utility’s board less stretch of the watershed near the pipehired New York-based Tectonic Engi- line. They carve direct paths to the lake neering and Surveying Consultants P.C. to below. The terrain there is rugged, steep assess vulnerabilities of the 88,000-acre and accessible only via all-terrain vehicles. watershed to the Pegasus. The study was The natural topography on the north planned before the Mayflower spill, but is side of the lake would likely capture now scheduled to be completed next year much of the oil, so it would take a masinstead of 2015. sive amount of oil to reach the lake, Traf“As horrible and sad as [the spill] was fanstedt said. But that same benefit could for the people of Mayflower, it gave us also create a giant headache for cleanup a chance to learn what happens when a crews wielding heavy equipment.

If oil did reach the 12-mile-wide lake, pipeline like that actually breaks,” said Graham Rich, the utility’s chief execu- the goal would be to keep it away from tive officer. the intake pipes at the eastern end, he The consultants, who will begin their said. That’s why emergency responders vulnerability assessment in October, will are making sure they have equipment such be figuring not only the probability and as booms, boats and an amphibious allconsequences of a spill, but also what stan- terrain vehicle on hand.

“Are we 100 percent there?” he asked. dards are in place to prevent or mitigate a spill. That could well include whether the “No. But we’re getting closer to having type of oil the Pegasus carries — diluted what we need to respond.”

The Pegasus has been part of Central bitumen, or dilbit — creates unique Arkansas’s landscape for more than half cleanup challenges.

From the 1940s to 2006, the Pegasus a century. When built in the late 1940s, transported sweet light crude from the it crossed the Maumelle River. Central Texas Gulf Coast to the Midwest. In 2006, Arkansas Water dammed that river in 1957 Exxon not only reversed the flow of the oil, to create Lake Maumelle. By 1958, the utilbut it also changed the type to Wabasca ity reached an agreement with Magnolia heavy crude, a dilbit produced in Canada. Pipeline Co., which operated the line back In 2010, a million-gallon spill in Michi- then, to move it north of the lake.

Hart cringes when he thinks about oil gan’s Kalamazoo River proved difficult to clean up because the heavy oil in the dilbit spilling into the lake.

“ExxonMobil doesn’t know our watersank into the riverbed. That cleanup conshed like we do,” he said. “We want to be tinues more than three years later.

Hart, the utility’s technical services on their list so we can confirm what their officer, said that when the utility included data about the pipeline is telling us. We the threat of a pipeline spill in its 2009 want to make sure we have the appropriemergency response plan, the risk mitiga- ate backup measures.” tion was based on oil that floats — not sinks.

Even if a spill were cleaned up, he “How do you remediate against that?” said, the utility might have to upgrade he asked. “The more that I learn, the more or replace costly treatment technology frustrated I get.” to meet drinking water standards. And “It’s a matter of perspective,” he said then there’s the issue of how consumers about what unfolded in Mayflower. “An would respond, he added.

850-mile pipeline is one thing to Exxon.

“If confidence in the water supply is But to somebody who lives near where shaken,” Hart said, “that’s a huge hurdle the leak happened, their lives have been to overcome.” turned upside down.”

Andy Traffanstedt, the emergency Sam Eifling contributed to this report. manager for Pulaski County, was with a crew that rushed to the scene of the This story is part of a joint investigative Mayflower spill. He is also involved in project by Arkansas Times and Pulitzer preparing for a worst-case scenario at Prize-winning InsideClimate News. FundLake Maumelle. ing for the project comes from readers who “Unlike Mayflower, where it popped donated to an ioby.org crowdfunding camup in a neighborhood, the lake is a more paign that raised nearly $27,000 and from remote location,” said Traffanstedt, a para- the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

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AUGUST 29, 2013

29

Arts Entertainment

COURTESY RENAUD BROTHERS

AND

ON LOCATION: Brent Renaud filming in Chicago.

RENAUDS FIND NEW OUTLET:

AL JAZEERA AMERICA Work from Little Rock filmmaking brothers.

C

BY LINDSEY MILLAR

raig and Brent Renaud know how to film difficult settings. The filmmaker brothers from Little Rock have made documentaries about wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the drug war in Juarez and post-earthquake Haiti. But according to Brent Renaud, none of those compare to a recent shoot in Egypt, where the fledgling news network Al Jazeera America sent him and the correspondent Christof Putzel a few weeks ago.

“The anti-Americanism is so intense on both sides, but particularly on the military side, the more moderate Muslim side that’s against the Muslim Brotherhood who’s protesting in the streets. They believe the U.S. has been pro-Muslim Brotherhood.

They believe the foreign press has been pro-Muslim Brotherhood. The general of the military has fanned the flames, telling the public that they should be suspicious 30

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

of all foreigners, especially Americans.

Because of that, bringing out your camera in the street is extremely dangerous, almost impossible.”

Brent said that he and Putzel made it inside a massive Muslim Brotherhood protest once and were relatively safe, aside from the risk of sniper fire. But he said trying to get inside the protest was another story.

“If you’re on the periphery trying to get in, supporters of the military, or basically roving thugs of young men, some allegedly paid by the military, are looking for foreigners and cameras, and they will attack you.

“In one case, [the supporters of the military] had picked off a Muslim Brotherhood protester on the outskirts of the crowd and the mob was beating him, and they dragged him right past us, and I pulled out a small Handycam I was using and

attempted to film that. They were beating him half to death. The military saw it, and started shooting machine guns up in the air to break up the crowd. And then as the crowd began to disperse, they saw me filming it. And then the crowd turned on us. They hit me on the back of the head. I started running for the car. Christof started running to the car. We had a translator with us. He was at first not able to reach the car. The driver thought he was in the car and started driving, but we managed to stop down the road and let him in just as the crowd started beating on the car.”

Footage from that harrowing chase as well as interviews Brent and Putzel did with a supporter of the military and the mother of a Muslim Brotherhood protester who was killed led the Aug. 20 debut broadcast of “America Tonight,” Al Jazeera America’s flagship nightly news program anchored by CNN veteran Joie Chen. The network, a spin-off from the Qatar-funded media conglomerate, has made much noise about staking a unique position among cable news outlets.

“Viewers will see a news channel unlike the others, as our programming proves Al Jazeera America will air fact-based, unbiased and in-depth news,” Ehab Al Shihabi, the channel’s acting chief executive, told the New York Times. “There will be less opinion, less yelling and fewer celebrity sightings.”

Al Jazeera acquired Current TV in January for $500 million. In the run-up to the

launch of the network, it hired some 900 employees.

But its launch has not been smooth.

AT&T dropped the network from its lineup in the 11th hour, which kept millions of potential viewers from seeing the channels launch. Al Jazeera America promptly sued.

The Renaud brothers said that they’re excited about working with Al Jazeera America. Already, they’ve done two projects for “America Tonight” — the dispatch from Egypt and a feature on Chicago gangs that was shown in four parts and will eventually appear on the channel as a feature special. Each featured Putzel, but tended more towards the Renauds’ verite style than something you’d see on “60 Minutes.”

In one especially harrowing scene it the Chicago feature, the camera follows the mother of a man shot by police as she views his dead body for the first time. In lingers on her and the body with no commentary for half a minute.

“We wouldn’t be able to do that [treatment of the scene] with a lot of different networks,” said Craig.

This new partnership with Al Jazeera America isn’t the Renauds’ only focus.

They’re now employing several editors, and Al Jazeera America employs translators, transcribers and assistant producers that help them turn around projects quickly.

“We’re able to do a lot more managing, so we can get ourselves out there more,” said Brent.

On the horizon: In the fall, they hope to finish a documentary commissioned

by Participant Media’s new cable channel, Pivot, on a pair of Haitian children who suffered traumatic injuries during the earthquake that decimated that country. In the spring, they hope to finish “My Brother’s Heart,” which tracks a 10-yearold boy as his twin brother receives a heart transplant at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

When the Arcade, the Central Arkansas Library System’s new theater space in the River Market, opens — likely in December — they’ll begin supervising film programming. They said they’re working on a number of ideas, but envisioned regular theme nights. Maybe “Music Mondays” for a series of music documentaries, they said. Alamo Drafthouse’s diverse array of programming is a model.

In Little Rock, Al Jazeera America can be found on Channel 107 on Comcast, 358 on Direct TV and 215 on Dish.

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A&E NEWS

NEXT WEDNESDAY, WHITE WATER TAVERN continues its series showing local films on the first Wednesday of the Local Goodies From month (they really need a catchy name for Local People this; word is they’re brainstorming now).

Loblolly Creamery will be offering up Downtown Little Rock boozy milkshakes from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. At 300 River Market Ave, Ste 105 9, they’ll screen a series of shorts: “SpaFind Us On Facebook & Instagram nola Pepper Sauce Company,� directed LOW FIDELITY LOGO [BLUE]

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by Daniel Campbell. Karaoke after the screenings. No cover.

THE HOT SPRINGS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL will host a kickoff event at the Clinton Presidential Center Great Hall in Little Rock next Thursday, Sept. 5, at 7:30 p.m. In addition to various festival announcements, there will be a special advance screening of George Francisco’s “The Big Shootout: The Life & Times of 1969,� a look back at college football’s “Game of the Century� between Texas and Arkansas, and the tumultuous times in which it was played. There will be multiple special guests (Frank Broyles?) from the film participating in a Q&A after the screening. Tickets are $25 and available online at football-101.ticketleap.com/ the-big-shootout or by phone at 501-6611037. The 2013 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival takes place in mid-October at the Arlington Hotel.

PHILANDER SMITH COLLEGE has announced the schedule for its free and open-to-the-public “Bless the Mic� lecture series and it’s full of interesting names. The schedule: Sept. 19: Emmy-award winning actor Charles S. Dutton.

Oct. 17: Daymond John, entrepreneur, investor, author and cast member of ABC’s Shark Tank. The founder and CEO of FUBU brand clothing, a $4 billion per year corporation.

Nov. 14: TV producer Bryant Huddleston. A native of Imboden (where he was disinvited from speaking at the highschool graduation last fall because he is openly gay), Huddleston began his career in news before jointing NBC’s “Access Hollywood.� He later launched the Bravo reality series, “Property Envy.�

Jan. 9: Judy Smith, founder and president of Smith & Co., a strategic and crisis communications firm with offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., which served as the inspiration for the ABC series “Scandal.�

Feb. 13: Poet and spoken word artist Mayda del Valle.

March 20: Evangelist Paula White.

All lectures are held on Thursdays and start at 7 p.m. in the M.L. Harris Auditorium. Entry is on a first-come-first-seated basis. Tickets are not required. For more information, call 370-5354.

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AUGUST 29, 2013

31

6/20/13 10:54 AM

THE TO-DO

LIST

THURSDAY 8/29MONDAY 9/2

FRIDAY 8/30

ARKANSAS TRAVELERS

9 p.m. Stickyz. $6.

Various times. Dickey-Stephens Park. $4-$12.

It is a sure sign that summer’s winding down: the end of the regular season of minor league baseball. The Arkansas Travelers will finish the 2013 regular season with a seven-game home stretch that started Tuesday and continues through Labor Day. If the Travs make the playoffs, there will be home games on Sept. 6 and, if needed, Sept. 7 and 8. The home team faces off against the Springfield Cardinals through Friday at 7:10 p.m. Starting Saturday, they’ll take on their in-state rivals, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, starting at 7:10 p.m. Saturday, 2:10 p.m. Sunday and 1:10 p.m. Monday. Sunday is the day when kids can run around the bases after the game. That right there sounds like some very wholesome fun.

THURSDAY 8/29SUNDAY 9/1

HOT SPRINGS BLUES FESTIVAL

Various times and venues. $10 per day or $15 for full pass.

Blues fans, y’all probably will want to head down to The Spa City this weekend for the 17th Annual Hot Springs Blues Festival. Things kick off with Samantha Fish at The Ohio Club. Friday will see performances from The Ghost Town Blues band at Big Chill; Little G Weevil at the Ohio Club; Bart Walker Band at Fat Jack’s, and Youngblood Blues Jam (all-ages) at Classics Bar & Grill in the Clarion hotel. Saturday has workshops at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs from noon-3 p.m. (including one from Bluesboy Jag on how to build your own cigar-box guitar — it’s $40). Gates open at 2:30 p.m. at Hill Wheatley Plaza and the headliners are Shakura S’aida and Zac Harmon. After-parties kick off at 9 p.m. There are more workshops Sunday from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., after which the gates open up again, with music kicking off at 3:30 p.m. Headliners are Bart Walker Band and Southern Hospitality, and after-parties start up again at 9 p.m. Should be a great time for blues lovers and at $15 for a full pass, it’s a helluva deal.

32

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

BY ROBERT BELL

BLOODLESS COOTIES

There are far, far too many bands out there that decide on a name, write a handful of songs and then release their debut album or EP approximately 30 minutes after their first practice. Not The Bloodless Cooties. This Dogtown crew has been honing its off-kilter racket off and on for 20 years, gleefully rampaging through the history of rock ’n’ roll like a screaming drunk dude in a record shop, stumbling all over the place and sweating and bleeding all over the rare garage rock 45s.

The trio is made up of father-son duo Jerry and Jeremy Colburn on drums and guitar, respectively, and bassist Louisa Rook. Jerry Colburn was in Psychotic Car Woman and does solo and experimental music under the banners of Herding Kittens and Empty Boat People. Rook played guitar for my all-time favorite Little Rock band, The Stranger Steals. The Cooties mostly play cover tunes, ranging from ’60s pop hits to ’50s country weepers to rockabilly rave-ups to garage-psych classics to obscure numbers from the oddest of oddball outsiders. While it took 20

CASE OF COOTIES: The Bloodless Cooties play a record-release show Friday at Stickyz.

years to arrive, this album-release show will no doubt prove to have been worth the wait. Oh yeah, the cover art for the album was created by none other than Raymond Pettibon, who created some of the most iconic punk album covers

ever for the likes of Black Flag, Minutemen and Sonic Youth. Pretty awesome.

Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth open this 18-and-older show, and Selector Fast Weapons helms the steel wheels to crank out the jams.

FRIDAY 8/30

THE HOOD INTERNET 9 p.m. Revolution. $15.

Were you ever, like, listening to a song while you were walking to class or Pinterest-ing or raging at a killer party or something and you thought, “Dog, this whole thing would be so much more mega if it was like, another song, but while also still being the first song, like for instance if this Vampire Weekend song had Ghostface rapping over it instead of dude singing whatever, it’d be more, uh, dope? Or whatever?” Yeah, me neither. Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to listen to one song at a time.

BUT, and this is important: It does not matter if this whole mashup thing is vexing to you or me (and it is to me, primarily because I’m skeptical of nearly all music recorded after about 1993 and also, “Damn kids! Get off my lawn!”). If you too find mashups to be, like, huh?, then all that probably means is that you’re most likely 31-35 years old or older (this is not always the case, only

MASHUP MAESTROS: The Hood Internet performs at Revolution Saturday.

most of the time). So face it, Gramps, your time is over! Now step aside! For the record, that Girl Talk guy is largely responsible for this whole situation, so you can blame him in your angry letter to the editor about how they’re

not even making their own songs anymore. (Side note: remember that Album Tacos Tumblr that was a thing a while back? These dudes in The Hood Internet, that’s their thing.) It’s 18-and-older, by the way.

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 8/29

FRIDAY 8/30-SATURDAY 8/31

‘PREGNANT BY THE PASTOR: THE AFTERMATH’ Various times, prices and venues.

You’ll recall that nearly two years ago, we witnessed the premiere of the film “Pregnant by the Pastor,” from author and filmmaker SaTonya Ford.

The film, shot in Central Arkansas, was “a story of betrayal, deceit and sin,” and how “one man’s faith gets twisted and leads him down a path of confusion and unrighteousness.” See, it turns out that Pastor Norman was

maybe tending some of the members of the flock a little too closely, if you catch my drift. Or as the first film put it, “We’ve got a player in the pulpit.”

As with the original, the sequel is filled with drama and intrigue, as private investigators and other concerned parties try to get to the bottom of the situation. But don’t come to the film with a judgmental attitude. Remember: we all have our weaknesses. This weekend is packed with events centering around the film. On Friday, you can

mingle with the creators at the redcarpet premiere at the Grand Ballroom of the Doubletree. It’s from 7 p.m. to midnight and it’s $20 for singles or $35 for couples. Then on Saturday, there’ll be a live taping of The SaTonya Ford Show from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

She’ll interview a number of people about their personal travails and the importance of their faith. Then there’ll be screenings of “Pregnant by the Pastor: The Aftermath” at 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Tickets at $10.

The Little Rock 48 Hour Film Project will screen films from its latest two-day moviemaking scramble at the Marriot Hotel Downtown (formerly The Peabody) Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m., $8. The Funkanites bring the vintage funk vibes to The Joint, 9:30 p.m., $7. National Park Radio will perform for a taping of “AETN Presents: On the Front Row” at the AETN headquarters in Conway, 6:30 p.m., free. It’s a night of singer/songwriters at Juanita’s, with Jesse Lasfer, Treva Blomquist, Cliff Hutchison and Alisyn Reid, 8:30 p.m., $5. Joe Pitts plays a benefit show for local musician Don Garrett at Thirst n’ Howl, 7 p.m. Jason Eady, a singer/ songwriter out of Fort Worth, plays at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $7. The annual Toast & Roast benefitting Big Brothers & Big Sisters will honor Sharon Priest this year, with a reception, dinner and live auction, Doubletree Hotel, 6 p.m., $150

FRIDAY 8/30

Interstate Buffalo and Brick Fields take to the stage at Maxine’s, 8 p.m. Joecephus soundtracks the good times at Midtown, 12:30 a.m., $5. White Water Tavern hosts Mad Nomad and Mainland Divide, 10 p.m., $5. Over at Downtown Music Hall, you can check out The Supporting Cast, Wreckless Endeavor and Stuart Thomas, 8 p.m., $5.

SATURDAY 8/31

White Water Tavern hosts a KABF 88.3-FM Birthday Bash, with The Burnt, Nick Devlin & Amy Garland, 12 Tone Elevator and F.A.C.T.S., 9 p.m. Staying up late? Stephen Neeper and The Wild Hearts and Mad Nomad can help you out with that, Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $5. Country singer/songwriter Gary Ray plays at Juanita’s, with Ward Davis and David Adam Byrnes, 9:30 p.m., $8 adv., $10 day of. Oh, and there’s a sporting event up in Fayetteville that some folks might be interested in: The Arkansas Razorbacks football team takes on the Ragin’ Cajuns of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 3 p.m., Donald W. Reynolds Stadium, $45.

MONDAY 9/2

MEMPHIS MASTERMIND: DJ Paul, of Three 6 Mafia renown, will be at Discovery Saturday night.

SATURDAY 8/31

DJ PAUL

9 p.m.-5 a.m. Discovery Nightclub. $10-$15.

Wanna get hella hedonistic this Labor Day Weekend? Here is your surest bet: Three 6 Mafia co-founder DJ Paul’s gonna be at Discovery Saturday, doing a set of Triple 6 classic hits as well as an extended DJ set. Now, as you might’ve

Alt-rockers Fuel play at Juanita’s, with The Revolutioners opening, 8 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of.

TUESDAY 9/3 noticed, despite the rumblings about a reunion of the groundbreaking Memphis outfit, we’ve still yet to see anything for certain. Vibe caught up with Paul last month to chat about the album he’s working with Yelawolf. At this point, it looks like the Three 6 reunion will happen sans Juicy J (who you’ll likely recall was in town a few weeks back for a show at the Metroplex). He told Vibe:

“For the reunion, it’s going to be Lord Infamous, Gangsta Boo and Crunchy Black. That’s the main group. We have just been recording records so I just got to see what direction I’m going to take it but it’ll definitely be something that will come out within the year.” Dude stays very busy, so don’t miss this chance to catch him. He’ll probably go on around late-ish o’clock.

Singer/songwriters Austin Lucas and John Moreland play White Water Tavern with The Parish Festival, 9:30 p.m.

Air Review plays an 18-and-older show at Stickyz with local indie-pop outfit Knox Hamilton, 9 p.m., $7.

WEDNESDAY 9/4

Texas alt-country vets Slobberbone play an all-ages show at Revolution, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

33

AFTER DARK All events are in the Greater Little Rock area unless otherwise noted. To place an event in the Arkansas Times calendar, please e-mail the listing and all pertinent information, including date, time, location, price and contact information, to calendar@arktimes.com.

tegocafe.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. Tribute to Grandpa Jones with David Holt.

With Ramona Jones and The Jones Family Band. Ozark Folk Center State Park. 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View.

“YOLO.” Featuring four DJs and beach volleyball, 18-and-older. Flying DD, $5. 4601 S. University.

501-773-9990. flyingdd.com.

THURSDAY, AUG. 29

MUSIC

17th Annual Hot Springs Blues Festival. Various times and locations through Sept. 1, check SpaCityBlues.org for more details. Hill Wheatley Plaza, $10 per day or $15 for full pass. Central Avenue downtown, Hot Springs.

Adam Faucett. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com.

Apothecary. Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m., $5.

211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownmusichall.com.

Benefit for Don Garrett. With Joe Pitts. Thirst n’ Howl, 7 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-3798189. www.thirst-n-howl.com.

Chris DeClerk. The Tavern Sports Grill, 7 p.m., free. 17815 Chenal Parkway. 501-830-2100. www. thetavernsportsgrill.com.

Dee Dee Jones. Ladies night, $5 after 9 p.m., free before. Montego Cafe, 8 p.m. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www.montegocafe.com.

Funkanites. The Joint, 9:30 p.m., $7. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

“Inferno.” DJs play pop, electro, house and more, plus drink specials and $1 cover before 11 p.m.

Sway, 9 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582.

Jason Eady. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $7. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com.

Jesse Lasfer & Treva Blomquist, Cliff Hutchison, Alisyn Reid. Juanita’s, 8:30 p.m., $5. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.com.

Jocko Deal. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m., free. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

Karaoke. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Karaoke with Kevin & Cara. MacDaddy’s Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 314 N. Maple St., NLR. Krush Thursdays with DJ Kavaleer. Club Climax, free before 11 p.m. 824 W. Capitol. 501-554-3437.

Michael Eubanks. Newk’s Express Cafe, 6:30 p.m. 4317 Warden Road, NLR. 501-753-8826. newks.com.

National Park Radio. The band performs for a taping of “AETN Presents: On the Front Row.” Arkansas Educational Television Network, 6:30 p.m., free. 350 S. Donaghey, Conway. www. aetn.org.

New Era (headliner), Shannon McClung (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

Open jam with The Port Arthur Band. Parrot Beach Cafe, 9 p.m. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994.

RockUsaurus. Senor Tequila, 7-9 p.m. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-224-5505. www. senor-tequila.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. Voice of Addiction, Queen Anne’s Revenge, The Weisenheimers, The Supporting Cast.

34

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

COMEDY

The Main Thing presents “Arkansanity.”

Original two-act comedy play lampooning life in Arkansas. The Joint, 8 p.m., $20. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

Matt Davis, Chad Thornsberry. The Loony Bin, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

Talking Dirty After Dark. With Pierre Edwards, Keef Glason, Marcus Combs, Playa Mook Montego Cafe, 8 p.m., $20-$30. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www.montegocafe.com.

DANCE

WAILING SOUNDS: The Wailers return to town for a show at Revolution, Thursday, 8 p.m., $20.

Vino’s, 9 p.m., $5. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

The Wailers. Revolution, 8 p.m., $17 adv., $20 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

COMEDY

Matt Davis, Chad Thornsberry. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

EVENTS

Toast & Roast Honoring Sharon Priest.

Benefitting Big Brothers & Big Sisters, with a reception, dinner and live auction. Doubletree Hotel, 6 p.m., $150. 424 W. Markham. 501-3724371.

SPORTS

Arkansas Travelers vs. Springfield Cardinals.

Dickey-Stephens Park, 7:10 p.m., $4-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs. com.

FRIDAY, AUG. 30

MUSIC

17th Annual Hot Springs Blues Festival. See Aug. 29.

3 Penny Acre. In conjunction with the opening of the exhibit “This Land.” Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 7 p.m., free. 600 Museum Way, Bentonville. 479-418-5700. crystalbridges.org.

Blake Ryan. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m., $5. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www.westendsmokehouse.net.

Bloodless Cooties (album release), Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth, Selector Fast Weapons. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $6. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com.

Brandon Santini Band. Vino’s. 923 W. 7th St. 501375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

Brian Nahlen. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 8 p.m. 301

Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens. com.

Brian Ramsey. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-3755351. www.cajunswharf.com.

Chris Henry. The Tavern Sports Grill, 7 p.m., free.

17815 Chenal Parkway. 501-830-2100. www.thetavernsportsgrill.com.

Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. Dance night, with DJs, drink specials and bar menu, until 2 a.m.

1620 Savoy, 10 p.m. 1620 Market St. 501-2211620. www.1620savoy.com.

Community Blues Band. Oaklawn, 9 p.m., free.

2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www.oaklawn.com.

Friday night at Sway. Sway, 9 p.m. 412 Louisiana.

501-907-2582.

The Hood Internet. 18-and-older. Revolution, 9 p.m., $15. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-8230090. revroom.com.

Interstate Buffalo, Brick Fields. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub. com.

Joecephus. Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $5.

1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com.

Luau Party with Katmandu. Pool party, with music, food, dancing and more. Maumelle Country Club, 5-11 p.m., $5 (music only), $20 (includes dinner). 100 Club Manor Drive, Maumelle. 501-851-1033. www.maumellecc.com.

Mad Nomad, Mainland Divide. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m., $5. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Mister Lucky. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m., $7. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

The Supporting Cast, Wreckless Endeavor, Stuart Thomas. Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m., $5. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownmusichall.com.

The Swon Brothers. The Center for the Arts, 7 p.m., $15-$25. 2209 S. Knoxville Ave., Russellville.

479-498-6600. www.russellvillecenter.net.

Synergy, DJ Sleepy Genius. Montego Cafe, 8:30 p.m. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www.mon-

Salsa Night. Begins with a one-hour salsa lesson.

Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $8. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.littlerocksalsa.com.

EVENTS

LGBTQ/SGL Youth and Young Adult Group.

Diverse Youth for Social Change is a group for LGBTQ/SGL and straight ally youth and young adults age 14 to 23. For more information, call 244-9690 or search “DYSC” on Facebook. 800 Scott St., 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St.

FILM

48 Hour Film Project screening. Films made over a 48-hour period by local filmmakers; audience will help choose top 10 for Best of Show screening Sept. 14 at Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts. Little Rock Marriott, through Aug. 31, 7 p.m., $8. 3 Statehouse Plaza. 501837-5896.

“Pregnant by the Pastor: The Aftermath.” Redcarpet premiere of the sequel to “Pregnant by the Pastor.” Doubletree Hotel, 7 p.m.-midnight., $20 singles, $35 couples. 424 W. Markham. 501372-4371.

SPORTS

Arkansas Travelers vs. Springfield Cardinals.

Dickey-Stephens Park, 7:10 p.m., $4-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs. com.

SATURDAY, AUG. 31

MUSIC

17th Annual Hot Springs Blues Festival. See Aug. 29.

Ben Miller Band. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $7. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com.

Bone Dancers (headliner), Some Guy Named Robb (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road.

501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

Brian Nahlen & Nick Devlin. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 8 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens.com.

If you’re not HERE, we’re having more fun than you are!

COMEDY

There’s still time, GET HERE!

The Main Thing presents “Arkansanity.”

Original two-act comedy play lampooning life in Arkansas. The Joint, 8 p.m., $20. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

DANCE

Little Rock West Coast Dance Club. Dance lessons. Singles welcome. Ernie Biggs, 7 p.m., $2. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-247-5240. www. arstreetswing.com.

EVENTS

Trim: 2.125x5.875 Bleed: none Live: 1.875x5.625

SPORTS

Closing Date: 8/2/13 QC: CS

FILM

48 Hour Film Project screening. See Aug. 30.

“Pregnant by the Pastor: The Aftermath.”

Statehouse Convention Center, 7:30, 9 and 10:30 p.m. 7 Statehouse Plaza.

it BIGG! Open 7 Days A Week • 8pm-2am Shows Start at 8:30pm

IT’S ONLY WEIRD IF IT DOESN’T WORK

Publication: Arkansas Times

Argenta Farmers Market. Argenta, 7 a.m.-noon.

Main Street, NLR. CALS Job Skills Workshop: Interview Skills. Call 501-918-3003 to register. Main Library, 1:30 p.m.

100 S. Rock St. www.cals.lib.ar.us.

Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell & Cedar Hill Roads.

“Family Festival: An English Garden Party.” With food, games and more. Arkansas Arts Center, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., $5, free for members. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com.

Hillcrest Farmers Market. Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. 2200 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Little Rock Farmers Market. River Market Pavilions, 7 a.m. 400 President Clinton Ave. 3752552. www.rivermarket.info.

Social Soiree. Dancing and music from DJ Uncle Jam. Twelve Modern Lounge, 7 p.m., $10 adv., $15 day of. 1900 W. Third St. 501-301-1200.

A Chicago style Speakeasy & Dueling Piano Bar. This is THE premier place to party in Little Rock. “Dueling Pianos” runs Monday through Saturday. Dance & Club music upstairs on Wed, Fri & Sat. Drink specials and more! Do

Brand: Bud Light Generic Item #:PBP201310480 Job/Order #: 253475

Chris Cagle. Magic Springs’ Timberwood Amphitheater, 8 p.m., $50-$60. 1701 E. Grand Ave., Hot Springs.

Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. See Aug. 30.

Community Blues Band. Oaklawn, 9 p.m., free.

2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www.oaklawn.com.

DJ Paul. With Cain da Ladies Man, Dominique Sanchez & the Disco Dolls Drag Review at midnight, DJs Brandon Peck, Platinumb, Rufio and Crawley. Discovery Nightclub, 9 p.m.-5 a.m., $10-$15. 1021 Jessie Road. 501-664-4784. www. latenightdisco.com.

“Favors for Friends 2.” Hosted by Osyrus Bolly, with Podgy Smith, Koop da Villain, Tre Banks, Top Key, Poppy G, Young Envy, Diamond Life Kingz & Qweenz. 521 Southern Cafe, 9 p.m., $5 (early admission). 521 Center St. 501-413-2182.

Gary Ray, Ward Davis, David Adam Byrnes.

Juanita’s, 9:30 p.m., $8 adv., $10 day of. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.com.

Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com.

KABF 88.3-FM Birthday Bash. With The Burnt, Nick Devlin & Amy Garland, 12 Tone Elevator and F.A.C.T.S. White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Karaoke. Casa Mexicana, 7 p.m. 6929 JFK Blvd., NLR. 501-835-7876.

Karaoke with Kevin & Cara. All-ages, on the restaurant side. Revolution, 9 p.m.-12:45 a.m., free. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

K.I.S.S. Saturdays. Featuring DJ Silky Slim. Dress code enforced. Sway, 10 p.m. 412 Louisiana.

501-492-9802.

Kyle Bragwell and The Motions. Bear’s Den Pizza, 8:30 p.m., free. 235 Farris Road, Conway.

501-328-5556. www.bearsdenpizza.com.

Moment of Fierce Determination, Minerva, Livid, Attack the Mind. Downtown Music Hall, 7 p.m., $5. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownmusichall.com.

Opportunist, Peckerwolf. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com.

Page 9, Stays in Vegas, Ten Sentences, Fortune N Flames, Stella Bizzare. Vino’s, 8 p.m., $5.

923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

Pickin’ Porch. Bring your instrument. All ages welcome. Faulkner County Library, 9:30 a.m. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org.

Ronnie Reno and the Reno Tradition. With Ramona Jones and The Jones Family Band.

Ozark Folk Center State Park, 7 p.m. 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View.

Saturday night at Discovery. Featuring DJs, dancers and more. Discovery Nightclub, 9 p.m., $10. 1021 Jessie Road. 501-664-4784. www.latenightdisco.com.

Singer/Songwriters Showcase. Parrot Beach Cafe, 2-7 p.m., free. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994.

Stephen Neeper and The Wild Hearts, Mad Nomad. Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $5. 1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com.

Tank, Nicky Parrish. Montego Cafe, 8 p.m., $20$40. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www.montegocafe.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG.

Located in the Heart of the River Market District 307 President Clinton Avenue 501.372.4782 www.erniebiggs.com

PARTY AT OUR PLACE!

Book Our Party Room Today!

Arkansas Travelers vs. Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Dickey-Stephens Park, Aug. 31, 7:10 p.m.; Sept. 1, 2:10 p.m.; Sept. 2, 1:10 p.m., $4-$12.

400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 501-664-1555. www. travs.com.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 1

MUSIC

17th Annual Hot Springs Blues Festival. See Aug. 29.

Gorilla Music Finals. Downtown Music Hall, 4 p.m., $7 adv., $9 day of. 211 W. Capitol. 501376-1819. downtownmusichall.com.

Irish Traditional Music Session. Hibernia Irish Tavern, first and third Sunday of every month, 2:30 p.m.; Dec. 29, 2:30 p.m. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com.

Karaoke with DJ Sara. Hardrider Bar & Grill, 7 p.m., free. 6613 John Harden Drive, Cabot.

501-982-1939.

Labor Day Weekend Music Explosion. With Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers and Bijoux, The Eric Ware Trio and a “DJ vs. The Band” segment. Montego Cafe, 9 p.m., $15$20. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www.montegocafe.com.

Michael Eubanks. Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon, 7 p.m. 10901 N. Rodney Parham Road.

501-227-8898. www.lonestarsteakhouse.com.

Reggae Sundays with First Impressions. Stickyz CONTINUED ON PAGE 37

All American Food & Great Place to Watch Your Favorite Event

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK | 11AM - LATE 225 E MARKHAM • LITTLE ROCK, AR

(501) 324-2449

bigwhiskeyslittlerock.com

DRINK LOCAL www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

35

MOVIE REVIEW

‘THE WORLD’S END’: Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Eddie Marsan star.

It’s the end of the world and they feel drunk ‘The World’s End’ does genre mash right.

BY MIKE POWELL

“T

he World’s End” is a sci-fi movie about a dystopian parallel universe in which people are replaced by more efficient versions of themselves, eerily stripped of their human frailties in the name of progress. It’s also a buddy comedy

structured around a bar crawl featuring at least two jokes about people having sex in handicapped bathrooms.

It’s also a bittersweet movie about five estranged friends riding the train back to the quaint English suburb they grew up in and struggling to reconcile the

distance between who they once were and who they’ve let themselves become.

It’s all of these things. Not seamlessly, but effectively: The funny is funny, the sad is sad, the action is by turns slapstick and threatening, and as the movie winds its way into its third act, it starts unpacking science-fiction tropes that feel both familiar but so perfectly suited to the story and characters you’ve been following for the last hour and a half it’s like hearing a beautifully executed cover song — suddenly, it sounds new again.

Written and directed by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg — responsible for the 2004 horror pastiche “Shaun of the Dead” and 2007’s action pastiche “Hot Fuzz” — “The World’s End” follows five boyhood friends embarking on a pub crawl that they almost finished 20 years earlier, on their last day of high school. Turns out their town has been taken over by these Replicant-type creatures. Once discovered as humans, the chase is on, and so forth.

Four of the men are straight: A realtor, a corporate lawyer, an architect, a contractor of some kind. They have wives and children and properly tailored clothing. The fifth, Gary, has the same badass trench coat and Sisters of Mercy T-shirt he wore in high school.

He also has a history of substance abuse and the kind of manic, compulsive interest in fun that people tend to get when they’re at the end of their psychological rope.

It’s Gary, of course, that proposes the pub crawl because it’s Gary who can’t let go of the feeling he had when he was 18 and imagined life would only get better. He thinks he’s doing his old friends a favor by liberating them from their stodgy, middle-class lives; they

think they’re the ones doing the favor because they’re giving his sorry ass a chance to actually finish something he started.

They’re both right, of course. They’re both wrong, too. While the movie goes to great lengths to condemn brainless conformity (the verb “Starbucking” is used), it also slyly condemns the idea that so-called free spirits like Gary — who frantically drinks pints even as enemies are banging down the doors — are any less conforming than the society he imagines himself liberated from.

In the end the movie circles back to a simple message: People want to be left alone to get drunk with their friends and share their flawed, beautiful lives with each other. But for the most part, pathos and message come in discreet flashes. This is where the conceit of the plot comes in handy: It’s hard to get tender for too long when robots are chasing you.

Like “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” “The World’s End” is the kind of nerdy, genre-mashing movie made by people who tend to stay up late watching movies. But it’s also a throwback to something like “Ghostbusters,” which is both a universally loved movie and a cult classic. (Among the few residents in town who seem to really know what’s going on is an elderly man who used to babble about UFOs and the local weed dealer — a nod to a subcultural community that the success of all sci-fi depends on.) It’s smarter than the dumb movies it emulates and funnier than the smart ones. It is not afraid to be tender. The tone jumps but the filmmakers know it, and they know how to control it too.

So they stripped a bunch of genres for parts and built a better machine.

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regeneration fitness Kathleen l. Rea, Ph.D.

(501) 324-1414 117 East Broadway, North Little Rock

www.regenerationfitnessar.com 36

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

Purchase Classes, Fitness Training, or Massage Therapy Online!

www.pawsonthepavement.org September 7, 2013 • 8:00 am • Murray Park

Fun... Games...

Cold Noses...

Pet Training Demonstrations Razorback Ticket Raffles For September 7th Game 57 Foot Inflatable Obstacle Course Food and Beverage Vendors And Much, Much More!

AFTER DARK, CONT.

SPORTS

Arkansas Travelers vs. Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Dickey-Stephens Park, Sept. 1, 2:10 p.m.; Sept. 2, 1:10 p.m., $4-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs. com.

MONDAY, SEPT. 2

MUSIC

Fuel, The Revolutioners. Juanita’s, 8 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

SPORTS

Arkansas Travelers vs. Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Dickey-Stephens Park, 1:10 p.m., $4-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 501-6641555. www.travs.com.

BOOKS

Kerry Peresta. The author of “The Hunting” will sign books. WordsWorth Books & Co., 1-2:30 p.m. 5920 R St. 501-663-9198. www. wordsworthbooks.org.

Monica Hudson. The author will sign copies of her book. WordsWorth Books & Co., 4-5:30 p.m. 5920 R St. 501-663-9198. www.wordsworthbooks.org.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 3

MUSIC

Air Review, Knox Hamilton. 18-and-older.

Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $7. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyz.com.

Austin Lucas, John Moreland, The Parish Festival. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Gil Franklin & Friends. Holiday Inn, North Little Rock, first Tuesday, Wednesday of every month. 120 W. Pershing Blvd., NLR. Karaoke Night. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 8 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

Karaoke Tuesday. Prost, 8 p.m., free. 322 President Clinton Blvd. 501-244-9550.

King Conquer, Betrayal, Aegaeon, To Each His Own, Through the Looking Glass.

Downtown Music Hall, 7 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownmusichall.com.

Lucious Spiller Band. Copeland’s Restaurant of Little Rock, 6-9 p.m. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. 501-312-1616. www.copelandsrestaurantlittlerock.com.

“Latin Night.” Revolution, 7 p.m., $5 regular, $7 under 21. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501823-0090. www.littlerocksalsa.com.

EVENTS

“Affordable Care Act Made Simple.”

Information session about obtaining health insurance through the ACA. Faulkner County Library, Sept. 3, 7 p.m.; Sept. 7, 2 p.m., free.

1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www. fcl.org.

Golden Dragon Acrobats. Arkansas State University at Mountain Home, 7 p.m., $13$25. 1600 S. College Ave., Mountain Home.

Little Rock Farmers Market. River Market Pavilions, 7 a.m. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.

Tales from the South. Authors tell true stories; schedule available on website. Dinner served 5-6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m. Call for reservations.

Starving Artist Cafe, 5 p.m. 411 N. Main St., NLR. 501-372-7976. www.starvingartistcafe.net.

Trivia Bowl. Flying Saucer, 8:30 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-8032. www. beerknurd.com/stores/littlerock.

SPORTS

Little Rock Touchdown Club: Dan Hampton.

Embassy Suites, 11 a.m., $20 members, $30 non-members. 11301 Financial Centre. 501312-9000.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 4

MUSIC

Acoustic Open Mic. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Bleu Edmondson. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $8 adv., $10 day of. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyz.com.

Broken Flesh, Abated Mass of Flesh, Abandon the Artifice, Slamphetamine.

Downtown Music Hall, 7 p.m., $7. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownmusichall. com.

Gil Franklin & Friends. Holiday Inn, North Little Rock, first Tuesday, Wednesday of every month. 120 W. Pershing Blvd., NLR. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com.

Karaoke Extravaganza. Includes drink and food specials and cash prizes. Montego Cafe, 9 p.m., $5. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www. montegocafe.com.

Live Karaoke and Dueling Pianos. Featuring Dell Smith and William Staggers. Montego Cafe, 9 p.m. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www. montegocafe.com.

Oh No Fiasco. Juanita’s, 8 p.m., $6 adv., $8 day of. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

Ricky David Tripp. Rocket Twenty One, 5:30 CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

NE NEW W M O e w n nu er ! s!

t!

a re

De d a ss er

DANCE

d o o F t

G

an

EVENTS

Bernice Garden Farmers Market. The Bernice Garden, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. 1401 S. Main St. www. thebernicegarden.org.

Churchin’ with the Pastors of Arkansas. At Wesley Chapel. Philander Smith College, 5 p.m., free. 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive.

870-850-6818.

“Live from the Back Room.” Spoken word event. Vino’s, 7 p.m. 923 W. 7th St. 501-3758466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

Music Jam. The Joint, 8-11 p.m., free. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

Ricky David Tripp. Rocket Twenty One, 5:30 p.m. 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-603-9208. www.ferneaurestaurant.com.

Sick/Sea. Bear’s Den Pizza, 8:30 p.m., free. 235 Farris Road, Conway. 501-328-5556. www. bearsdenpizza.com.

Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

FR EE

Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 7:30 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com.

Successful Sunday. Featuring live music and DJs. Montego Cafe, 7 p.m. 315 Main St. 501-372-1555. www.montegocafe.com.

Truth & Salvage Co, Wes Sheffield, Four West. Juanita’s, 8 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of.

614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.com.

FREE DESSERT with your entreé purchase in the restaurant Good through 9.30.2013

Enjoy DINNER in either the restaurant or bar Sat & Sun BRUNCH, 10-2 LUNCH Mon-Fri, 11-2

Upcoming Music in the Bar Friday, August 30 Achewater, 9 pm, $7 cover Saturday, August 31 Integrity, 8 pm, $10 cover

Join us in the bar for LIVE MUSIC Monday thru Saturday nights

2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Little Rock

501.663.1196 afterthoughtbistroandbar.com www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

37

AFTER DARK, CONT. p.m. 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-603-9208. www.ferneaurestaurant.com.

Slobberbone. All-ages. Revolution, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www. capitalhotel.com/CBG.

COMEDY

SHOP ‘N’ SIP First thursday each month shop ’til 8pm and enjoy dining in one of the many area restaurants.

HILLCREST SHOPPING & DINING

COME TAILGATE WITH US!

NEW

Fall Clothing, Bags and Jewelry Arriving All the Time!

Come See At Shop & Sip! 4523 WoodlaWn (Historic Hillcrest) 501.666.3600

Happy Hour • T-F 4-7pm $2 Domestic Beer • $3 Wines $4 Wells • $5 Martinis 1/2 oFF apps

(501) 663-6398 2611 Kavanaugh Blvd

TAILGATE IN STYLE!

RHEA DRUG

2801 KAVANAUGH • LITTLE ROCK • 663-4131

38

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

The Joint Venture. Improv comedy group.

The Joint, 8 p.m., $5. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

Scott White, Alycia Cooper. The Loony Bin, Sept. 4-5, 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 6-7, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road.

501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

Standup Open Mic Night. Hosted by local come­di­ans of the com­edy col­lec­tive Come­ di­ans of NWA. UARK Bowl, 9 p.m., free. 644 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-301-2030. uarkbowl.com.

DANCE

Little Rock Bop Club. Beginning dance lessons for ages 10 and older. Singles welcome.

Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 7 p.m., $4 for members, $7 for guests. 12th & Cleveland streets. 501-350-4712. www.littlerockbopclub.

EVENTS

Jeannie Whayne. The University of Arkansas history professor presents “The Memphis Sound and Northeastern Arkansas in the 1950s and 1960s.” Main Library, noon, free.

100 S. Rock St. www.cals.lib.ar.us.

POETRY

Wednesday Night Poetry. 21-and-older show.

Maxine’s, 7 p.m., free. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-321-0909. maxineslive.com/ shows.html.

THIS WEEK IN THEATER

THEATER

2616 Kavanaugh • 661-1167 M-F 10-6, SAT 10-5

we love you, little rock!

501-353-2504 2612 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Find your dream home at www.LiveInLittleRock.com

“Jersey Boys.” Hit Broadway musical about the Four Seasons. Walton Arts Center, Sept. 3-5, 7 p.m.; Sept. 6-7, 8 p.m.; Sept. 7-8, 2 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 8, 7:30 p.m., $44-$84. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

“Pal Joey.” A re-conceived version of the 1940 Rodgers & Hart musical, from director Peter Schneider. Arkansas Repertory Theatre, through Sept. 29: Wed., Thu., Sun., 7 p.m.; Fri., Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; Tue., Sept. 17, 7 p.m.; Tue., Sept. 24, 7 p.m., $47-$57. 601 Main St. 501-378-0405. www.therep.org.

“South Pacific.” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic. Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, through Aug. 31: Tue.-Sat., 6 p.m., $15-$35. 6323 Col. Glenn Road. 501-562-3131. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

“The Spiritualist.” An English widow channels the spirits of dead classical composers in this comedic drama by Robert Ford, artistic director for TheatreSquared. Walton Arts Center’s Nadine Baum Studios, through Sept. 15: Thu.Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2 and 7:30 p.m., $22-$36.

505 W. Spring St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600. theatre2.org.

“Tuna Does Vegas.” A conservative radio host and his wife renew their vows in Vegas, a small Texas town comes along for the ride, hilarity ensues. Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, through Sept. 29: Tue.-Sat., 6 p.m.; Wed., 11 a.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., $15-$35. 6323 Col. Glenn Road. 501-562-3131. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

GALLERIES, MUSEUMS

NEW EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSEUM VISITOR CENTER, Bates and Park: “Legacy of a Dream,” free screenings of film based on “KING: a Filmed Record, Montgomery to Memphis,” every half hour starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m., through Aug. 31, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington; exhibits on the 1957 desegregation of Central and the civil rights movement. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. 374-1957.

L&L BECK, 5705 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “14 Holes of Golf,” paintings by Louis Beck, September; free giclee drawing 7 p.m. Sept.

19. 660-4006.

BENTONVILLE C RY S TA L B R I D G E S M U S E U M O F AMERICAN ART, One Museum Way: “This Land: Picturing a Changing America in the 1930s and 1940s,” 44 paintings, prints and photographs with digital audio tour featuring musical selections by Fayetteville Roots Festival director Byran Hembree, Aug. 29-Jan. 6, live music from 3 Penny Acre 7-8:30 p.m. Aug. 30, Walker Landing; “Angels & Tomboys: Girlhood in 19th-Century American Art,” work by John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt and others, through Sept. 30; “Surveying George Washington,” historical documents, through Sept. 30; permanent collection of American masterworks spanning four centuries. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon., Thu., Sat.Sun.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed.-Fri. 479-418-5700.

CONWAY UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS, Baum Gallery: “Nature/Nurture,” photographs by Jennifer Shaw; “Angle of Repose,” photographs by Maysey Craddock; “Artistic Eye: Works from the Personal Collections of the Art Faculty,” opens with reception 5-7 p.m. Sept. 5, talk

by Craddock 1:40 p.m. Sept. 5, McCastlain Hall 143. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10-7 p.m.

Thu., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 501-450-5793.

EL DORADO SOUTH ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, 110 E. 5th St.: “Third Floor,” work by Hamid Ebrahimifar, Tim Ellison, Catherine Siri Nugent, Dominique Simmons and David Warren, Sept. 3-30, reception 6-8 p.m. Sept.

14. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 870-862-5474.

JONESBORO ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: “Odyssey of Dreams: A Decade of Paintings, 20032012,” 34 works by Basil Alkazzi; “Drawings

by Carroll Cloar,” Bradbury Gallery, Aug. 29-Sept. 29. Noon-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 2-5 p.m.

Sun. 870-972-2567.

CALL FOR ENTRIES

The Arkansas Pastel Society is accepting entries to its national exhibition, “Reflections in Pastel,” set for Nov. 8-Feb 23 at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. Deadline is Sept.

5. More than $5,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded, including a $1500 grand prize. The show will be juried by pastel artist Richard McKinley. For more information email apsreflections@gmail.com.

The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum is accepting entries for its “Portraits of Hope”

AFTER DARK, CONT. exhibition Oct. 24-Nov. 30. All proceeds from sales will benefit the Ozark Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Entries will be accepted through Oct. 13. Call 479-784-2787 for more information.

CONTINUING EXHIBITS

ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: “Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London,” through Sept. 8, $12 adults, $10 seniors, $8 military, $6 students, free to members; “Bauhaus Twenty-21: An Ongoing Legacy,” photographs by Gordon Watkinson, through Sept. 22; “50 Works / 50 Weeks / 50 Years,” Alice Pratt Brown Atrium, through 2013; “Ryan Sniegocki: Museum School Ceramic Artist in Residence,” pottery; “Interwoven: Craft Exhibition,” from the permanent collection, through Nov. 17. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000.

BOSWELL-MOUROT, 5816 Kavanaugh Blvd.: New works by Hye-Young go. 664-0030.

BUTLER CENTER GALLERIES, Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Mid-Southern Watercolorists 43rd Annual Juried Exhibition,” through Oct. 27; “Get a Simple Landscape,” drawings by Jerry Phillips, through Sept. 29. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.Sat. 320-5700.

CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: 4th annual Arkansas League of Artists juried exhibition, through Oct. 29. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mon.-Sat. 224-1335.

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 509 Scott St.: Paintings from the Arkansas League of Artists and Local Colour.

CHROMA GALLERY, 5707 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Work by Robert Reep and other Arkansas artists. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 664-0880.

COX CREATIVE CENTER, 120 River Market Ave.: Arkansas League of Artists Signature Member Show, through August. 918-3095.

THE EDGE, 301B President Clinton Ave.: Paintings by Avila (Fernando Gomez), Eric Freeman, James Hayes, Jerry Colburn, St. Joseph Thomason and Stephen Drive. 9921099.

ELLEN GOLDEN ANTIQUES, 5701 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings by Barry Thomas and Arden Boyce. 664-7746.

GALLERY 221 & ART STUDIOS 221, Pyramid Place: “A Variety of Impressions,” with work

by Jennifer Cox Coleman. 801-0211.

GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Recent work by John Kushmaul, Erin Lang and Brittany McDonald, through Sept. 7. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 664-8996.

GALLERY 360, 900 S. Rodney Parham Road: “7,” seventh exhibition featuring creations by artists and non-artists from found materials. 663-2222.

GINO HOLLANDER GALLERY, 2nd and Center: Paintings and works on paper by Gino Hollander. 801-0211.

GREG THOMPSON FINE ART, 429 Main St., NLR: “Best of the South.” 664-2787.

HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 Wright Ave.: 3726822.

M2 GALLERY, 11525 Cantrell Road: 4th annual “Clothing Optional” online art auction, with work by Kathy Lindsey, Dan Holland and Jeaneen Barnhart for September. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 225-6257.

PAINT BOX GALLERY, 705 Main St., NLR: Jewelry by P.J. Bryant, through Sept. 15. 3742848.

STATE CAPITOL: “Spanning the Century (and more),” photographs of historic bridges by Maxine Payne, drawings, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Highway and Transportation Department, through August.

THEA FOUNDATION, 401 Main St., NLR: Paintings by Eric Forstmann, through Aug. 30, origami cranes by Akeen McDaniel, through Aug. 30. 379-9512.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK, 2801 S. University: “Transformation 8: Contemporary Works in Small Metals,” wearable objects and sculptural objects, Gallery I, through Oct. 2; “Figurative Forms: Work from the UALR Permanent Collection,” Gallery II, through Sept. 25; “David O’Brien, Senior Exhibition,” sculpture and puppet animation video, through Sept. 5. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., also, after Labor Day, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 569-3182.

BENTON DIANNE ROBERTS ART STUDIO AND GALLERY, 110 N. Market St.: Work by Chad Oppenhuizen, Dan McRaven, Gretchen Hendricks, Rachel Carroccio, Kenny Roberts, Taylor Bellott, Jim Cooper and Sue Moore.

10 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 860-7467.

CALICO ROCK CALICO ROCK ARTISTS COOPERATIVE, Hwy. 5 at White River Bridge: Paintings, photographs, jewelry, fiber art, wood, ceramics and other crafts. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. calicorocket.org/artists.

EL DORADO SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, 110 E. 5th St.: “Ebb and Flow,” acrylics, oil pastel and chalk by Melanie Pyron, through Aug. 30. 870-862-5474.

FAYETTEVILLE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: “Low Magic,” mixed media by Luke Knox, through August, Fine Arts Center Gallery, closing reception Aug. 29.

HARRISON ARTISTS OF THE OZARKS, 124 ½ N. Willow St.: Work by Amelia Renkel, Ann Graffy, Christy Dillard, Helen McAllister, Sandy Williams and D. Savannah George. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. 870-4291683.

HOT SPRINGS ARTISTS’ WORKSHOP GALLERY, 810 Central Ave.: Jim Reimer, paintings, and Bonnie Ricci, watercolors, through August. 501-623-6401.

FINE ARTS CENTER, 626 Central Ave.: “Hot Springs National Photography Competition,” through August, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 501-624-0489.

GARVAN GARDENS, 550 Akridge Road: “Three Artists,” work by Millie Steveken, Cynthia Schanink and Pat Langwise, through August in the Magnolia Room; “Splash of Glass: A James Hayes Art Glass Installation,” 225 pieces of art glass in 13 areas of the garden, through September. $10 adults, $9 seniors, $5 children, $5 dogs on leash. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. 501-262-9300.

JUSTUS FINE ART, 827 Central Ave.: Work

by Steve Griffith, Robyn Horn, Dolores Justus, Rebecca Thompson, Dan Thornhill, Emily Wood, Kari Albright, Michael Ashley and othCONTINUED ON PAGE 40

presented by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the Central Arkansas Library System www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

39

AFTER DARK, CONT.

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Get Noticed Running a successful social media campaign takes time and a unique combination of marketing, communication and customer service skills.

That’s where we come in.

Arkansas Times Social Media is staffed by experienced professionals who know how to get maximum benefit from social media engagement.

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To find out more, contact Monika Rued, Director of Arkansas Times Social Media

501-375-2985 40

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

monika@arktimes.com

ers. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. 501-321-2335.

LAKE VILLAGE GUAYACHOYA CULTURAL CENTER, 1652 U.S. 65: 2013 “Small Works on Paper,” through Sept. 24. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Fri. 870-265-6077.

PERRYVILLE SUDS GALLERY, Courthouse Square: Paintings by Dottie Morrissey, Alma Gipson, Al Garrett Jr., Phyllis Loftin, Alene Otts, Mauretta Frantz, Raylene Finkbeiner, Kathy Williams and Evelyn Garrett. Noon-6 p.m.

Wed.-Fri, noon-4 p.m. Sat. 501-766-7584.

ONGOING MUSEUM EXHIBITS

ARKANSAS INLAND MARITIME MUSEUM, North Little Rock: “Captain’s Cabin Exhibit,” photographs, biographies, sea stories from the crew, and personal artifacts, through August. 371-8320.

ARKANSAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME MUSEUM, Verizon Arena, NLR: 10 a.m.4:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 663-4328.

CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “And Freedom for All: the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” photographs by Stanley Tretick of the 1963 march, through Nov. 17; “Oscar de la Renta: American Icon,” designs worn by Laura Bush, Jessica Chastain, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and others, and other couture pieces, through Dec. 1. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $7 adults; $5 college students, seniors, retired military; $3 ages 6-17. 370-8000.

ESSE, 1510 S. Main St.: “What’s Inside: A Century of Women and Handbags (19001999),” purses from the collection of Anita Davis, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sun., $10-$8. 9169022.

HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. Third St.: “Heeding the Call: The Firefighter Collection of Johnny Reep,” through Jan. 5; “The Sense of Nature: David Mudrinich, John Van Horn and Judy Wright Walter,” through Oct. 6; “Jason A. Smith: Stills”; “Arkansas Made,” ongoing; “The Curious World of Patent Models,” through Sept. 29. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9351.

MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS MILITARY HISTORY, MacArthur Park: “Undaunted Courage, Proven Loyalty: Japanese-American Soldiers in World War II,” through August. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun. 376-4602.

MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER, 9th and Broadway: “Shades of Greatness,” collaborative art exhibition inspired by the history of the Negro Leagues; permanent exhibits on African-American entrepreneurship in Arkansas. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 683-3593.

MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY, 500 President Clinton Ave.: “Wiggle Worms,” science program for pre-K children 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. every Tue., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., $10 ages 13 and older, $8 ages 1-12, free to members and children under 1. 396-7050.

OLD STATE HOUSE MUSEUM, 300 W. Markham: “Lights! Camera! Arkansas!”, the state’s ties to Hollywood, including costumes, scripts, film footage, photographs and more, through March 1, 2015; “Things You Need to Hear: Memories of Growing up in Arkansas from 1890 to 1980,” oral histories about community, family, work, school and

leisure, through March 2014. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685.

WITT STEPHENS JR. CENTRAL ARKANSAS NATURE CENTER, Riverfront Park: Exhibits on wildlife and the state Game and Fish Commission.

CALICO ROCK CALICO ROCK MUSEUM, Main Street: Displays on Native American cultures, steamboats, the railroad, and local history. www.calicorockmuseum.com.

ENGLAND TOLTEC MOUNDS STATE PARK, State Hwy. 165: Major prehistoric Indian site with visitors’ center and museum. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun., closed Mon. $3 for adults, $2 for ages 6-12. 961-9442.

FORT SMITH REGIONAL ART MUSEUM, 1601 Rogers Ave.: “65th River Valley Invitational,” through Sept. 1. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 1-5 p.m.

Sun. $8, free to members. 479-784-2787.

HOT SPRINGS MID-AMERICA SCIENCE MUSEUM, 500 Mid-America Blvd.: “Dinosaurs,” robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex and others, through Sept.

2; “SkyCycle,” counterweighted bicycle illustrates the law of “center of gravity,” through Sept. 2; “Tinkering,” new permanent experimental space. 501-767-3461, 800-632-0583.

JACKSONVILLE JACKSONVILLE MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY, 100 Veterans Circle: Exhibits on D-Day; F-105, Vietnam era plane (“The Thud”); the Civil War Battle of Reed’s Bridge, Arkansas Ordnance Plant (AOP) and other military history. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $3 adults; $2 seniors, military; $1 students. 501-241-1943.

MORRILTON MUSEUM OF AUTOMOBILES, Petit Jean Mountain: Permanent exhibit of more than 50 cars from 1904-1967 depicting the evolution of the automobile. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 7 days. 501-727-5427.

POTTSVILLE POTTS INN, 25 E. Ash St.: Preserved 1850s stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route, with period furnishings, log structures, hat museum, doll museum, doctor’s office, antique farm equipment. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Sat. $5 adults, $2 students, 5 and under free. 479968-9369.

ROGERS ROGERS HISTORICAL MUSEUM, 322 S. 2nd St.: “Works in Wood: A Folk Art Sampler,” including selection of Roy Harris carvings from the museum collection, through Sept.

28. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 479-621-1154.

SCOTT PLANTATION AGRICULTURE MUSEUM, U.S. 165 S and Hwy. 161: Artifacts and interactive exhibits on farming in the Arkansas Delta. $3 adults, $2 ages 6-12. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 501-961-1409.

SCOTT PLANTATION SETTLEMENT: 1840s log cabin, one-room school house, tenant houses, smokehouse and artifacts on plantation life. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thu.-Sat. 351-0300. www.scottconnections.org.

Hey, do this!

SEPTEMBER FUN! Food, Music, Entertainment and everything else that’s

AUGUST 30-31

AUGUST 31

Famous for hits like “My Girl” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” this legendary Motown group has been making successful records and touring the world for more than 40 years. Doors open at 7 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35 and available through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com. Choctaw Casino is located in Pocola, Oklahoma, about 20 minutes from Fort Smith on I-540. For more info, visit www.choctawcasinos.com.

Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London with two upcoming events. Attend an English

The Temptations perform live at Choctaw Casino.

SEPT 3

Tuna Does Vegas opens at

Murray’s Dinner Playhouse. The comedy runs through Oct. 5. For tickets and show times, visit www. murrysdinnerplayhouse. com.

SEPT 12

Laman Library presents the Arkansas

Symphony Quapaw Quartet. As part of the

Live at Laman series, the concert is free and begins at 7 p.m. For a list of all upcoming Live at Laman performances, visit www.lamanlibrary.org.

There’s still time to marvel at the masterworks at the Arkansas Arts Center’s

garden party on Saturday, August 31 from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The event is free for members. Admission is $5 for non-members or $20 for the whole family. Last Call for Kenwood House Party is on Sunday, Sept. 8 from 6-8 p.m. This is your very last chance to see the masterpieces, so don’t miss out. Admission is free for members and $20 for nonmembers. For more information, visit www.arkarts.com.

SEPT 4

Taking the Arkansas Repertory Theatre stage in September is a re-conceived version of the Rodgers & Hart 1940 classic Pal Joey. Edgy for its time, Pal Joey is perhaps best known for the 1957 film version starring Frank Sinatra. Director Peter Schneider’s production breathes new life into this classic tale and brings a modern day relevance to the story that unfolds amidst this richly romantic score. For tickets and show times, visit www.therep.org.

SEPT 5

The Baum Gallery on the UCA campus welcomes you to the opening reception of “Angle of Repose,” by Memphis artist Maysey Craddock, whose work features ruins of cathedrals in Estonia, and New Orleans photographer Jennifer Shaw’s “Nature/Nurture,” which includes large scale black-and-white images using traditional darkroom processing. Art from the personal collections of UCA faculty members will also be on display. The reception is on Thursday from 5-7 p.m.

SEPT 14

SEPT 19

The Latin Food and Music Festival takes place at

the Argenta Farmers Market Plaza from 6-10 p.m. Enjoy a night of authentic Latin food and live music by CruzWay, Papa Rap’s Mambo Jam and Mariacha America. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Proceeds benefit the Argenta Arts District.

Bill Maher, political commentator and host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Mahar,” comes to Little Rock’s Robinson Center Music Hall. The event begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $60-86 and available at www.ticketmaster.com.

SEPT 21

Hillcrest Harvestfest has

become one of the most anticipated events of the year. Little Rock’s Kavanaugh Boulevard is closed to traffic all day long for the fun filled, family friendly block party, featuring live music, children’s activities, a car show, cheese dip competition and fashion show. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.harvestfest.us.

SEPT 25-29

SEPT 27-OCT 5

comes to Little Rock’s Robinson Center Music Hall. The Grammy- and Tony-award winning musical takes liberty with the story of the Land of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. Recommended for children 8 and older. Children under 4 will not be admitted.

Tickets are $24-$128. For tickets, call 501-2448800 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.

takes place in various locations, including downtown Conway’s Simon Park, Hendrix and UCA campuses. Enjoy live music, readings, dance, light installations, theater and more. See the Sept. 19 edition of the Arkansas Times for more information.

Wicked, Broadway’s biggest blockbuster,

Conway ArtsFest

SEPT 28

Choctaw Casinos presents the Oak Ridge Boys live in concert. Doors open

at 7 p.m. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and available through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com. Choctaw Casino is located in Pocola, Oklahoma, about 20 minutes from Fort Smith on I-540. For a list of upcoming shows at Choctaw Casino, visit www.choctawcasinos.com.

Habitat for Humanity of Pulaski County hosts ReStore and After 2013. For the annual art auction, more than 40 artists come together and give new life to ReStore donations. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door.

The fundraiser takes place at Next Level Events at 6 p.m. For details, visit www. habitatpulaski.org.

Road Trip!

Destination

YAZOO CITY, MS.

H

It’s a perfect time for a late-summer road trip.

Less than four hours from Little Rock, Yazoo City, Mississippi, welcomes you to the Fire & Feast Festival, celebrating the tradition of barbecue, Sept. 6-7. The event includes food, music, arts and craft and kids’ events. The King of Southern Soul, Sir Charles Jones, headlines the Friday night live music lineup. Tickets are $10. Enjoy free admission all day on Saturday. For more info, visit www.fireandfeast.org. www.arktimes.com AUGUST 29, 2013

41

Dining WHAT’S COOKIN’ RJ TAO’S, the upscale Asian fusion restaurant in the Heights, will become Cafe 5501 in coming weeks. Robert Tju and the Chi family, who also own Sushi Cafe, aren’t selling but changing the restaurant’s menu: Cafe 5501 will offer New American cuisine, “something casual for your everyday diners,” Tju said.

The variety of surf and turf offerings are a bit more familiar than the occasionally outlandish menu at RJ Tao’s (no more kangaroo burgers) and reasonably priced.

Still lots of choices and plenty of flair (pineapple marmalade with the coconut jumbo gulf shrimp, cucumber sunomono salad atop the fried teriyaki burger). Tju said that the menu would change with the seasons.

There’s also a brunch menu, again representing New American standards with some creative touches (lobster ravioli over cheese grits!), and there will be a wine bar within the restaurant. Cafe 5501 will have a pre-opening this week and expects to have a grand opening in about two weeks.

It will be open for breakfast and lunch 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday through Sunday and daily for dinner, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a happy hour 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

As for RJ Tao’s, Tju said that he thought that the concept and food were good but the size and location weren’t right for the upscale steakhouse and lounge. He said that they may try the RJ Tao’s concept again in the future, perhaps on Main Street.

Cafe 5501 is located at 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd. The phone number is 603-0080.

JOSH BLEVINS, owner of The House, said his restaurant will close at the end of August in a statement he sent to patrons and the media. “Restaurants operate on the slimmest of margins, The House exceptionally so,” Hastings said. “I’ve always been able to find ways to make us scrape by, but in the past month, our revenues have dropped considerably, to a degree that for a small operation like ours is simply unsustainable.” An Arkansas Times reviewer panned the restaurant two weeks ago, with further sniping in comments online after the review was posted.

DINING CAPSULES

LITTLE ROCK/ N. LITTLE ROCK

AMERICAN

4 SQUARE CAFE AND GIFTS Salads, soups, wraps and paninis and a broad selection of smoothies. 405 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-244-2622. BLD daily.

ALL AMERICAN WINGS The downtown loca42

AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

PLUMP, TASTY: El Palenque’s al pastor burrito.

Authentic Mex on the north side of town El Palenque does cheap, tasty fare right.

A

ny Little Rock Mexican food enthusiast worth his/her salt already knows that some of the finest south-of-the-border cuisine is readily found south-of-the-630. Southwest Little Rock is a beloved section of town that any resident anxious to explore the more authentic (and notably more affordable) side of Mexican cuisine will wisely visit often.

Those same taqueria aficionados have likely driven down the strip of Rodney Parham Road housing Taqueria El Palenque dozens of times without even noticing it existed. Its placement within this small shopping complex — more likely known for Layla’s — does not exactly allow the small Mexican restaurant to jump out at travelers zipping by on the nearby busy street. It may be hidden from view, but once you’ve eaten there, it’s not likely that you’ll be passing it by again without your stomach noticing.

El Palenque

9501 N. Rodney Parham Road 312-0045 QUICK BITE Stop by for lunch and grab one of their sizable tortas — they’ll easily keep you full until dinner and probably until the next day. If you’d like to slurp your supper they do a nice menudo and a pleasurable tortilla soup. Nothing on the menu will break the bank, and you’ll easily walk out stuffed to the gills for less than $10.

HOURS 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Tuesday until Sunday.

OTHER INFO Beer, credit cards accepted.

On our first visit, perusing El Palenque’s menu, it did not take long to determine what we’d be ordering, being immediately drawn to the prospects of a plump, weighty, al pastor bur-

rito ($5.99). Ordering this was a wise decision, as it was certainly one of the better iterations of burritos we’ve discovered around Little Rock. The components are nothing unexpected, but each part works together to elevate the whole. The soft flour tortilla was tender and chewy, but sturdy enough to support its insides. Most notably, the pork and the Spanish rice were exceptionally good. This rice was a bright orange, well seasoned and rich with tomato and onion. The marinated pork was juicy and tender, spiced with ancho chile and adobo seasoning. The pork was suitably complemented by cooling elements within: white cheese, sour cream, freshly shredded lettuce, and chopped tomato.

Here was a burrito that could hold its own in any part of the country, proving that Little Rock is no stranger to quality Mexican fare.

We also were enticed by the spinach and mushroom quesadilla ($6.99).

Information in our restaurant capsules reflects the opinions of the newspaper staff and its reviewers. The newspaper accepts no advertising or other considerations in exchange for reviews, which are conducted anonymously. We invite the opinions of readers who think we are in error.

Here you’ll find a vegetarian dish that leaves no one yearning for the inclusion of proteins. The quesadilla was not the typical flattened, thin version you may be used to. Instead, El Palenque’s take on the classic quesadilla finds a large flour tortilla rolled and stuffed full, then sliced on the bias. This creates several handheld pieces of bulging quesadilla, perfect for dipping in either of their two house-made salsas. It was engorged with creamy white, melted cheese, whose rich saltiness was at the forefront of the quesadilla’s flavor. Caramelized, slightly sweet bell pepper, sautéed spinach, and mushrooms rounded out this magnificent dish.

Subsequent visits have caused us to be enamored with their take on the chimichanga ($6.99). It’s a large flour tortilla, stuffed full of meat (we typically prefer carne asada), with tomato, onion, cilantro and queso fresco. The whole thing is then deep fried until crispy. It’s topped off with a white queso sauce that’s smooth, creamy, and rich, and adds a good deal of flavor to the deepfried delight. It’s perfect when topped with their tangy, sweet and spicy salsa verde. A finer chimichanga we’ve yet to taste. It comes with a side of soft rice and well-prepared refried beans, both of which we’ve found to be consistently better than average.

Tacos come in all variety — steak, chicken, lengua, carnitas — but it would be a shame to pass up the Tacos Arrieros ($1.99). These represent one of their more “deluxe” taco options, but it’s certainly worth the few cents more for this fine taco specimen. They’re filled with a blend of chorizo and pastor — two forms of pork making one magical taco.

It’s finished with pico de gallo and avocado, a squeeze of lime and a dollop of salsa. Your unsuspecting mouth won’t even know what hit it.

For a part of town not particularly well known for standout Mexican cuisine, El Palenque is a real peach, and we’re lucky to have found it. It hasn’t received the attention it deserves given its rather inconspicuous location, but it’s high time the world knows what El Palenque is proffering. Southwest Little Rock may still be the epicenter of fine Mexican cuisine, but this humble establishment can keep up with anything you’d find in that part of town.

B Breakfast L Lunch D Dinner $ Inexpensive (under $8/person) $$ Moderate ($8-$20/person) $$$ Expensive (over $20/person) CC Accepts credit cards

tion of a small chain of wing shops that feature 13 flavors of wings, from hot to not. 801 W. Markham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-3750000. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. 7706 Cantrell Road.

No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-223-3355. Serving LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. APPLE SPICE JUNCTION A chain sandwich and salad spot with sit-down lunch space and a vibrant box lunch catering business. With a wide range of options and quick service. Order online via applespice.com. 2000 S. University Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-663-7008. L Mon.-Fri. (10 a.m.-3 p.m.).

ARGENTA MARKET The Argenta District’s neighborhood grocery store offers a deli featuring a daily selection of big sandwiches along with fresh fish and meats and salads.

Emphasis here is on Arkansas-farmed foods and organic products. 521 N. Main St. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-379-9980. L daily, D Mon.-Sat., B Sat., BR Sun. ARKANSAS BURGER CO. Good burgers, fries and shakes, plus salads and other entrees. Try the cheese dip. 7410 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-0600. LD Tue.-Sat. ASHLEY’S The premier fine dining restaurant in Little Rock marries Southern traditionalism and haute cuisine. The menu is often daring and always delicious. 111 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-374-7474. BLD Mon.-Sat. BR Sun. BELWOOD DINER Traditional breakfasts and plate lunch specials are the norm at this lostin-time hole in the wall. 3815 MacArthur Drive.

NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-753-1012. BL Mon.-Fri. BEV & GUY’S FISH & CHICKEN Seating is limited to eight, so customers might want to consider the carry-out option. This restaurant specializes in fried catfish fillets and chicken and all the trimmings. 3319 John Barrow Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-224-2981. L Fri.-Sat. D Thu., Sat., Sun. BONEFISH GRILL A half-dozen or more types of fresh fish filets are offered daily at this upscale chain. 11525 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$$.

501-228-0356. D Mon.-Fri., LD Fri.-Sat., BR Sun. BRAVE NEW RESTAURANT The food’s great, portions huge, prices reasonable. Diners can look into the open kitchen and watch the culinary geniuses at work slicing and dicing and sauteeing. It’s great fun, and the fish is special.

2300 Cottondale Lane. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-663-2677. LD Mon.-Fri. D Sat. BRAY GOURMET DELI AND CATERING Turkey spreads in four flavors — original, jalapeno, cajun and dill — and the homemade pimiento cheese are the signature items at Chris Bray’s delicatessen, which serves sandwiches, wraps, soups, stuffed potatoes and salads and sells the turkey spreads to go.

Arkansas Fresh Breads supplies the bread; the olive oil sourdough is an exclusive. You can buy loaves, too. Petit Jean supplies the ham and peppered beef. Breakfast features cinnamon rolls and muffins. 323 Center St. Suite 150. No alcohol, All CC. 501-353-1045. BL Mon.-Fri.

BY THE GLASS A broad but not ridiculously large wine list is studded with interesting, diverse selections, and prices are uniformly CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

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Have a Safe and fun Labor day Weekend!

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LITTLE ROCK’S MOST AWARD WINNING RESTAURANT 1619 Rebsamen Road 501-663-9734

www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 29, 2013

43

DINING CAPSULES, CONT.

The new law: Changes in healTh Care

Michel Leidermann Moderator

Thursday, augusT 29 aT 10:30 PM

Broadcasted in Spanish with English subtitles

aetn.org

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AUGUST 29, 2013

ARKANSAS TIMES

reasonable. The food focus is on high-end items that pair well with wine — olives, hummus, cheese, bread, and some meats and sausages. Happy hour daily from 4-6 p.m.

5713 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$.

501-663-9463. D Mon.-Sat. CAPITAL BAR AND GRILL Big hearty sandwiches, daily lunch specials and fine evening dining all rolled up into one at this landing spot downtown. Surprisingly inexpensive with a great bar staff and a good selection of unique desserts. 111 Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-374-7474. LD daily.

CAPITOL BISTRO Serving breakfast and lunch items, including quiche, sandwiches, coffees and the like. 1401 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-371-9575. BL Mon.-Fri. CATERING TO YOU Painstakingly prepared entrees and great appetizers in this gourmetto-go location, attached to a gift shop. Caters everything from family dinners to weddings and large corporate events. 8121 Cantrell Road.

No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-614-9030. Serving meals to go: LD Mon.-Sat. CATFISH HOLE Downhome place for wellcooked catfish and tasty hushpuppies. 603 E. Spriggs. NLR. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-758-3516.

D Tue.-Sat. CIAO BACI The focus is on fine dining in this casually elegant Hillcrest bungalow, though excellent tapas are out of this world. The treeshaded, light-strung deck is a popular destination. 605 N. Beechwood St. Full bar, All CC. $$$.

501-603-0238. D Mon.-Sat. CRAZEE’S COOL CAFE Good burgers, daily plate specials and bar food amid pool tables and TVs. 7626 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-221-9696. LD Mon.-Sat. DOE’S EAT PLACE A skid-row dive turned power brokers’ watering hole with huge steaks, great tamales and broiled shrimp, and killer burgers at lunch. 1023 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-376-1195. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. EJ’S EATS AND DRINKS The friendly neighborhood hoagie shop downtown serves at a handful of tables and by delivery. The sandwiches are generous, the soup homemade and the salads cold. Vegetarians can craft any number of acceptable meals from the flexible menu. The housemade potato chips are da bomb. 523 Center St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$.

501-666-3700. LD Mon.-Fri. FIVE GUYS BURGERS & FRIES Nationwide burger chain with emphasis on freshly made fries and patties and over 15 toppings for you to create your own burger. 13000 Chenal Parkway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-225-1100.

LD daily.; 2923 Lakewood Village Dr. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-246-5295. LD daily.

FLYING FISH The fried seafood is fresh and crunchy and there are plenty of raw, boiled and grilled offerings, too. The hamburgers are a hit, too. 511 President Clinton Ave. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-375-3474. LD daily.

GRUMPY’S TOO Music venue and sports bar with lots of TVs, pub grub and regular drink specials. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-225-3768. LD Mon.-Sat. HOMER’S Great vegetables, huge yeast rolls and killer cobblers. Follow the mobs. 2001 E. Roosevelt Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-374-1400. BL Mon.-Fri. 9700 N Rodney Parham. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-6637. LD Mon.-Sat. IRONHORSE SALOON Bar and grill offering juicy hamburgers and cheeseburgers. 9125 Mann Road. Full bar, All CC. $. 501-562-4464.

LD daily.

J. GUMBO’S Fast-casual Cajun far served,

primarily, in a bowl. Better than expected. 12911 Cantrell Road. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-916-9635.

LD daily.

JIMMY’S SERIOUS SANDWICHES Consistently fine sandwiches, side orders and desserts for 30 years. Chicken salad’s among the best in town, and there are fun specialty sandwiches such as Thai One On and The Garden. Get there early for lunch. 5116 W. Markham St. No alcohol, CC. $-$$. 501-6663354. L Mon.-Sat., D Mon.-Sat. KRAZY MIKE’S Po’Boys, catfish and shrimp and other fishes, fried chicken wings and all the expected sides served up fresh and hot to order on demand. 200 N. Bowman Road. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-907-6453. LD daily.

LOCA LUNA Grilled meats, seafood and pasta dishes that never stray far from country roots, whether Italian, Spanish or Arkie. “Gourmet plate lunches” are good, as is Sunday brunch.

3519 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-663-4666. BR Sun., LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. MILFORD TRACK Healthy and tasty are the key words at this deli/grill that serves breakfast and lunch. Hot entrees change daily and there are soups, sandwiches, salads and killer desserts. Bread is baked in-house, and there are several veggie options. 10809 Executive Center Dr., Searcy Building. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-223-2257. BL Mon.-Sat. OYSTER BAR Gumbo, red beans and rice (all you can eat on Mondays), peel-and-eat shrimp, oysters on the half shell, addictive po’ boys. Killer jukebox. 3003 W. Markham St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-666-7100. LD Mon.-Sat. OZARK COUNTRY RESTAURANT A longstanding favorite with many Little Rock residents, the eatery specializes in big country breakfasts and pancakes plus sandwiches and several meat-and-two options for lunch and dinner. Try the pancakes and don’t leave without some sort of smoked meat. 202 Keightley Drive.

No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-7319. B daily, L Mon.-Fri., D Thu.-Sat. PURPLE COW DINER 1950s fare — cheeseburgers, chili dogs, thick milk shakes — in a ‘50s setting at today’s prices. Also at 11602 Chenal Parkway. 8026 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-221-3555. LD daily, BR Sat.-Sun. 11602 Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-4433.

LD daily, BR Sat.-Sun. 1419 Higden Ferry Road.

Hot Springs. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-625-7999. LD daily, B Sun. THE RELAY This grill offers a short menu, which includes chicken strips, French fries, hamburgers, jalapeno poppers and cheese sticks. 12225 Stagecoach Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-455-9919. LD daily.

THE ROOT CAFE Homey, local foods-focused cafe. With tasty burgers, homemade bratwurst, banh mi and a number of vegan and veggie options. Breakfast and Sunday brunch, too.

1500 S. Main St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. BL Tue.-Sat., BR Sun. SALUT BISTRO This bistro/late-night hangout does upscale Italian for dinner and pub grub until the wee hours on the weekends. 1501 N. University. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-660-4200.

L Mon.-Fri., D Tue.-Sat. SANDY’S HOMEPLACE CAFE Specializing in home style buffet, with two meats and seven vegetables to choose from. It’s all-you-can-eat.

1710 E 15th St. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-3753216. L Mon.-Fri. SCALLIONS Reliably good food, great desserts, pleasant atmosphere, able servers — a solid lunch spot. 5110 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-666-6468. L Mon.-Sat. SHORTY SMALL’S Land of big, juicy burgers, CONTINUED ON PAGE 46

hearsay ➥ Time is running out to see a treasure trove of Old Master paintings at the ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER. The Arts Center is only one of four institutions in America to host the exhibit Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London.

The exhibit will close Sept. 8, and the museum has two events planned to celebrate the Kenwood House exhibition. The first, An English Rembrandt van Rijn Garden Party, will Portrait of the Artist, ca. 1665 be from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Aug. 31. At the event, families can participate in games and activities and experience what it would have been like for Rembrandt, Van Dyck and Gainsborough to enjoy a day at the park. Admission is free for members, $5 for non-members and $20 per family.

The last event, the Last Call for Kenwood House Party, will be from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 8. Join the Arts Center in celebration on the very last night before the masterpieces go home. This is the final chance to view the exhibition Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough: The Treasures of Kenwood House, London in the United States. Admission is free for members and $20 for non-members.

For ticket information, visit www.arkansasartscenter.org. ➥ THE TOGGERY, Little Rock’s oldest children’s store, celebrates its 65th year in business this summer, and recently celebrated the grand opening of its expanded Heights location. The expansion occupies part of what was Hestand’s in the Heights, a neighborhood grocery that closed more than a year ago. Construction and remodeling of the current space completed in June.

The Toggery’s second location is in the Pleasant Ridge Town Center in West Little Rock. ➥ L&L BECK ART GALLERY’S September exhibit will be “14 Holes of Golf,” and “7th Hole — Pebble Beach Golf Links,” the giclée giveaway of the month. The exhibit will run through the month of September, and the giclée drawing will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 19. ➥ It’s DIY party time again at PAPER, SCISSORS, LITTLE ROCK — pamper yourself with a Myrrh Jewelry trunk show, mimosas and creating a bangle bracelet with your choice of charm from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 8.

Admission is $25. ➥ KAVANAUGH PHARMACY has restocked their store with new gift items, including Little Rock-made Sweet Home candles and Resident Chef mixes, which are made in Maumelle. The store is offering 10 percent off all gifts through Sept. 13. ➥ OAKLEY is opening its first store in Arkansas on Aug. 30 on the third level of Park Plaza Mall. ➥ FAUX PAS BOUTIQUE has a lot of new arrivals in store, including Razorback gear and gold and sterling silver Arkansas necklaces from Skosh. ➥ BY INVITATION ONLY is not closing. They are relocating to their new shop located on 5914 R Street. The store will open Tuesday, Sept. 3.

the

AUGUST 29, 2013

SKINNY - on end of summer

COCKTAILS

BY ERICA SWEENEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN CHILSON

L

abor Day symbolically marks the end of summer, and it’s just around the corner. But there are plenty of warm, summer-like days ahead and lots of time to plan an outdoor get-together for your best girlfriends. And, no party is complete without a cocktail or two. So, while you’re at it, why not go skinny?

The Skinnygirl line of ready-to-serve cocktails, wines and flavored vodkas offer many refreshing and fruity options. Created by reality-TV star, author and chef Bethenny Frankel, Skinnygirl products are naturally sweetened and low calorie.

“The Skinnygirl line gives women the Plastic stemware opportunity to indulge in is perfect for their favorite cocktail or backyard cocktail wine without the guilt!” parties. (Available says Liz Ransom, Arkansas at Krebs Brothers Restaurant Store, state manager for Beam, 4310 Landers Road which acquired Skinnygirl in North Little in 2011.

Rock) “Skinnygirl has a wide

For your next cocktail party, serve up drinks in colorful glasses with bright garnishes and festive napkins. Throw in fun labels to keep track of your guests’ drinks. (Available at Rhea Drug, 2801 Kavanaugh in Little Rock.)

selection of ready-to-serve cocktails, vodkas and wines so the possibilities are endless, and even though Skinnygirl has fewer calories, the consumer is never sacrificing taste or quality!”

Ready-to-serve cocktail flavors include Mojito, Pina Colada, Sangria, White Cranberry Cosmo and three types of Margarita – original, Sweet ’N Tart Grapefruit and White Peach. Vodka flavors include White Cherry, Tangerine, Island Coconut, Cucumber and Bare Naked. The wine choices are Moscato, Red Blend, White Blend and Rose Blend.

All Skinnygirl cocktails, vodkas and wines are available in central Arkansas, so check with your local liquor store or bar to see what they have in stock. In October, Ransom says to be on the look out for some new additions to the wine lineup: cabernet, chardonnay, pinot grigio and a limited edition proscecco.

COCKTAIL PARTY

Impress your party guests by mixing up one of these delicious (and, shh! low-cal) cocktails.

Your guests won’t even realize what you’re serving is actually good for them!

THE STARLET

Ingredients: 1½ parts Skinnygirl™ Cucumber Vodka 2 parts club soda Splash of no-sugaradded cranberry juice Directions: Combine vodka and soda over ice. Top with cranberry juice.

Garnish with a lime wedge or cucumber slice.

MISS GOODY TWO-BLUES

Ingredients: 2 parts Skinnygirl™ Bare Naked Vodka 5 muddled blueberries 3 muddled blackberries Splash of club soda Directions: Muddle berries in a glass and add ice. Add vodka and top with club soda.

RED-HEADED SKINNYGIRL Ingredients: 2 parts Skinnygirl™ Tangerine Vodka 1 large muddled strawberry Splash of orange juice Splash of club soda Directions: Combine vodka, strawberry and orange juice over ice and stir. Top with club soda.

Garnish with orange wedge.

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO ARKANSAS TIMES

AUGUST 29, 2013

45

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. massive cheese logs, smoky barbecue platters and the signature onion loaf. 1100 N. Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-3344.

LD daily.

SONNY WILLIAMS’ STEAK ROOM Steaks, chicken and seafood in a wonderful setting in the River Market. Steak gets pricey, though.

Menu is seasonal, changes every few months.

500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$$.

501-324-2999. D Mon.-Sat. STAGECOACH GROCERY AND DELI Fine po’ boys and muffalettas — and cheap. 6024 Stagecoach Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$.

501-455-4157. BLD Mon.-Fri., BL Sat.-Sun. TERRI-LYNN’S BAR-B-Q AND DELI Highquality meats served on large sandwiches and good tamales served with chili or without (the better bargain). 10102 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-227-6371.

BL Tue.-Fri., BLD Sat. (close at 5pm).

WEST END SMOKEHOUSE AND TAVERN Its primary focus is a sports bar with 50-plus TVs, but the dinner entrees (grilled chicken, steaks and such) are plentiful and the bar food is upper quality. 215 N. Shackleford. Full bar, All CC. $$.

501-224-7665. L Fri.-Sun., D daily.

WINGSTOP It’s all about wings. The joint features ten flavors of chicken flappers for almost any palate, including mild, hot, Cajun and atomic, as well as specialty flavors like lemon pepper, teriyaki, Garlic parmesan and Hawaiian. 11321 West Markham St. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-9464. LD daily.

ASIAN

A.W. LIN’S ASIAN CUISINE Excellent panAsian with wonderful service. 17717 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-5398.

LD daily.

CURRY IN A HURRY Home-style Indian food with a focus on fresh ingredients and spices.

11121 North Rodney Parham. Beer, Wine, No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-4567. LD Mon., Wed.-Sun. HANAROO SUSHI BAR One of the few spots in downtown Little Rock to serve sushi. With an expansive menu, featuring largely Japanese fare. Try the popular Tuna Tatari bento box. 205 W. Capitol Ave. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-3017900. L Mon.-Fri., D Mon.-Sat. LEMONGRASS ASIA BISTRO Fairly solid Thai bistro. Try the Tom Kha Kai and white wine alligator. They don’t have a full bar, but you can order beer, wine and sake. 4629 E. McCain Blvd. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. 501-945-4638.

LD Mon.-Sun. MR. CHEN’S ASIAN SUPERMARKET AND RESTAURANT A combination Asian restaurant and grocery with cheap, tasty and exotic offerings. 3901 S. University Ave. $. 501-562-7900.

LD daily.

PHO THANH MY It says “Vietnamese noodle soup” on the sign out front, and that’s what you should order. The pho comes in outrageously large portions with bean sprouts and fresh herbs. Traditional pork dishes, spring rolls and bubble tea also available. 302 N. Shackleford Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-312-7498. LD Mon, Wed.-Sun. SEKISUI Fresh-tasting sushi chain with fun hibachi grill and an overwhelming assortment of traditional entrees. Nice wine selection, also serves sake and specialty drinks. 219 N. Shackleford Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$.

501-221-7070. LD daily.

SHOGUN JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE The chefs will dazzle you, as will the variety of tasty stir-fry combinations and the sushi bar. Usually

crowded at night. 2815 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-666-7070. D daily.

WASABI Downtown sushi and Japanese cuisine. For lunch, there’s quick and hearty sushi samplers. 101 Main St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$.

501-374-0777. L Mon.-Fri., D Mon.-Sat.

BARBECUE

CHIP’S BARBECUE Tasty, if a little pricey, barbecue piled high on sandwiches generously doused with the original tangy sauce or one of five other sauces. Better known for the incredible family recipe pies and cheesecakes, which come tall and wide. 9801 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-225-4346. LD Mon.-Sat. DIXIE PIG Pig salad is tough to beat. It comes with loads of chopped pork atop crisp iceberg, doused with that wonderful vinegar-based sauce. The sandwiches are basic, and the sweet, thick sauce is fine. Serving Little Rock since 1923.

900 West 35th St. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-753-9650. LD Mon.-Sat. PIT STOP BAR AND GRILL A working-man’s bar and grill, with barbecue, burgers, breakfast and bologna sandwiches, plus live music on Friday and Saturday nights. 5506 Baseline Road.

Full bar, No CC. $$. 501-562-9635. BLD daily.

EUROPEAN / ETHNIC

CREGEEN’S IRISH PUB Irish-themed pub with a large selection of on-tap and bottled British beers and ales, an Irish inspired menu and lots of nooks and crannies to meet in. Specialties include fish ‘n’ chips and Guinness beef stew.

Live music on weekends and $5 cover on Saturdays, special brunch on Sunday. 301 Main St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-376-7468. LD daily.

ISTANBUL MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE This Turkish eatery offers decent kebabs and great starters. The red pepper hummus is a winner.

So are Cigar Pastries. Possibly the best Turkish coffee in Central Arkansas. 11525 Cantrell Road.

No alcohol, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-223-9332. LD daily.

LAYLA’S GYROS AND PIZZERIA Delicious Mediterranean fare — gyros, falafel, shawarma, kabobs, hummus and babaganush — that has a devoted following. All meat is slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law. 9501 N Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-227-7272. LD daily (close 5 p.m. on Sun.).

L E O ’ S G R E E K C A S T L E Wonderful Mediterranean food — gyro sandwiches or platters, falafel and tabouleh — plus dependable hamburgers, ham sandwiches, steak platters and BLTs. Breakfast offerings are expanded with gyro meat, pitas and triple berry pancakes.

2925 Kavanaugh Blvd. No alcohol, CC. $-$$.

501-666-7414. BLD Mon.-Sat., BL Sun. (close at 4 p.m.).

NEXT BISTRO & BAR Mediterranean food and drinks. 2611 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. 501-663-6398. D Tue.-Thu., Sat. TAZIKI’S GREEK FARE Fast casual chain that offers gyros, grilled meats and veggies, hummus and pimento cheese. 12800 Chenal Parkway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-225-1829.

LD daily.

ITALIAN

CAFE PREGO Dependable entrees of pasta, pork, seafood, steak and the like, plus great sauces, fresh mixed greens and delicious dressings, crisp-crunchy-cold gazpacho and tempting desserts in a comfy bistro setting. Little Rock standard for 18 years. 5510 Kavanaugh

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ARKANSAS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The Arkansas Education Association is seeking applicants for a Secretary in its Field and Legal Division. The position is based in Little Rock. Minimum starting salary is $30,593, negotiable based on skills and experience.

Fringe benefit package is outstanding, including Health, Dental and Long Term Disability Insurances and a defined benefit Retirement Plan; generous vacation and holiday schedules.

Minimum qualifications: high school diploma (or GED) and at least two years of experience in secretarial or clerical work; proficiency with Microsoft Office products.

Interested applicants send by September 6 resume and references to AEA Office Manager, 1500 West 4th Street, Little Rock, AR 72201 or by email to ar-atjones@nea.org.

29, 2013 ARKANSAS TIMES 46 46 August AUGUST 29, 2013 ARKANSAS TIMES

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ASSOCIATE

wanted at The AR Public Policy Panel. Focus on environmental priorities of our leadership. Past community organizing experience wanted. Competitive salary and benefits.

Job description on website-www.ARPanel.org Send resume to 1308 West 2nd St. Little Rock, AR 72201 Or e mail to John@arpanel.org.

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DINING CAPSULES, CONT. Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-5355. LD Mon.-Sat. CIAO ITALIAN RESTAURANT Don’t forget about this casual yet elegant bistro tucked into a downtown storefront. The fine pasta and seafood dishes, ambiance and overall charm combine to make it a relaxing, enjoyable, affordable choice. 405 W. Seventh St. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-372-0238. L Mon.-Fri., D Thu.-Sat. GRADY’S PIZZA AND SUBS Pizza features a pleasing blend of cheeses rather than straight mozzarella. The grinder is a classic, the chef’s salad huge and tasty. 6801 W. 12th St., Suite C. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-1918. LD daily.

IRIANA’S PIZZA Unbelievably generous handtossed New York style pizza with unmatched zest. Good salads, too; grinders are great, particularly the Italian sausage. 201 E. Markham St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-374-3656. LD Mon.-Sat. MELLOW MUSHROOM Popular high-end pizza chain. 16103 Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-379-9157. LD daily.

PIZZERIA SANTA LUCIA A mobile pizza oven, imported from Italy, that churns out fine pies.

They’re on the smaller side and not topped to excess, but quite flavorful. 1401 S Main St. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-666-1885. Various times.

U.S. PIZZA Crispy thin-crust pizzas, frosty beers and heaping salads drowned in creamy dressing. 2710 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-2198. LD daily. 5524 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-664-7071. LD daily. 9300 North Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-224-6300. LD daily.

3307 Fair Park Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-565-6580. LD daily. 650 Edgewood Drive.

Maumelle. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-8510880. LD daily. 3324 Pike Avenue. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-758-5997. LD daily.

4001 McCain Park Drive. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-753-2900. LD daily.

ZAFFINO’S BY NORI A high-quality Italian dining experience. Pastas, entrees (don’t miss the veal marsala) and salads are all outstanding.

2001 E. Kiehl Ave. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. 501-834-7530. D Tue.-Sat.

LATINO

BROWNING’S MEXICAN GRILL New rendition of a 65-year institution in Little Rock is a totally different experience. Large, renovated space is a Heights hangout with a huge bar, sports on TV and live music on weekends.

Some holdover items in name only but recast fresher and tastier. Large menu with some hits and some misses. 5805 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-9956. LD daily, BR Sat-Sun. CANON GRILL Tex-Mex, pasta, sandwiches and salads. Creative appetizers come in huge

quantities, and the varied main-course menu rarely disappoints, though it’s not as spicy as competitors’. 2811 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-664-2068. LD daily.

CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL Burritos, burrito bowls, tacos and salads are the four main courses of choice — and there are four meats and several other options for filling them. Sizes are uniformly massive, quality is uniformly strong, and prices are uniformly low. 11525 Cantrell Road. All CC. $-$$. 501-221-0018. LD daily.

COTIJA’S A branch off the famed La Hacienda family tree downtown, with a massive menu of tasty lunch and dinner specials, the familiar white cheese dip and sweet red and fieryhot green salsas, and friendly service. 406 S. Louisiana St. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-244-0733.

L Mon.-Fri. LAS MARGARITAS Sparse offerings at this taco truck. No chicken, for instance. Try the veggie quesadilla. 7308 Baseline Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. LD Tue.-Thu. LA REGIONAL A full-service grocery store catering to SWLR’s Latino community, it’s the small grill tucked away in the back corner that should excite lovers of adventurous cuisine.

The menu offers a whirlwind trip through Latin America, with delicacies from all across the Spanish-speaking world (try the El Salvadorian papusas, they’re great). Bring your Spanish/ English dictionary. 7414 Baseline Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-4440. BLD daily.

LAS AMERICAS Guatemalan and Mexican fare. Try the hearty tamales wrapped in banana leaves. 8622 Chicot Road. $-$$. 501-565-0266.

LD daily.

LOS TORITOS MEXICAN RESTAURANT Mexican fare in East End. 1022 Angel Court. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-261-7823. BLD daily.

MAMACITA’S Serviceable Mexican fare in attractive cafe. 5923 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-916-2421. LD daily.

MEXICO CHIQUITO MEX-TO-GO Some suggest cheese dip was born at this Central Arkansas staple, where you’ll find hearty platters of boldly spiced, inexpensive food to-go that compete well with those at the “authentic” joints. 11406 W. Markham. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-217-0647. LD daily.

SENOR TEQUILA Cheap, serviceable Tex-Mex, and maybe the best margarita in town. 2000 S. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-6604413. LD daily.

TAQUERIA KARINA AND CAFE A real Mexican neighborhood cantina from the owners, to freshly baked pan dulce, to Mexican-bottled Cokes, to first-rate guacamole, to inexpensive tacos, burritos, quesadillas and a broad selection of Mexican-style seafood. 5309 W. 65th St. Beer, No CC. $. 501-562-3951. LD Tue.-Thu.

TAQUERIA SAMANTHA II Stand out taco truck fare, with meat options standard and exotic.

7521 Geyer Springs Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-744-0680. LD Tue.-Sun.

AROUND ARKANSAS

CONWAY

BEAR’S DEN PIZZA Pizza, calzones and salads at UCA hangout. 235 Farris Road. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-328-5556. LD Mon.-Sat. BLACKWOOD’S GYROS AND GRILL A wide variety of salads, sandwiches, gyros and burgers dot the menu at this veteran of Conway’s downtown district. 803 Harkrider Ave. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. 501-329-3924. LD Mon.-Sat. CROSS CREEK SANDWICH SHOP Cafe serves salads and sandwiches weekdays. 1003 Oak St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-764-1811.

L Mon.-Fri. FABY’S RESTAURANT Unheralded MexicanContinental fusion focuses on handmade sauces and tortillas. 1023 Front Street. Conway.

No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-513-1199. L daily, D Mon.-Sat. 2915 Dave Ward. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-329-5151. LD Mon.-Sun. HOG PEN BBQ Barbecue, fish, chicken 800 Walnut. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-326-5177. LD Tue.-Sat. SMOKEHOUSE BBQ Hickory-smoked meats, large sides and fried pickles among other classics offered at this 40-year-old veteran of the Conway barbecue scene. 505 Donaghey.

Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-764-4227.

LD Mon.-Sat. WHOLE HOG CAFE The pulled pork shoulder is a classic, the back ribs are worthy of their many blue ribbons, and there’s a six-pack of sauces for all tastes. A real find is the beef brisket, cooked the way Texans like it. 150 E. Oak St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-513-0600.

LD Mon.-Sat., L Sun.

FAYETTEVILLE

CAFE RUE ORLEANS Top quality Creole food and a couple of Cajun specialties (a soupy gumbo, a spicy and rich etouffee) from a cook who learned her tricks in Lafayette, La., and the Crescent City. Best entree is the eggplant Napoleon. Oyster bar downstairs to make your wait for a dining table pleasant. 1150 N. College Ave. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. 479-443-2777.

LD Tue.-Sat., BR Sun. DOE’S EAT PLACE This may be the best Doe’s of the bunch, franchised off the Greenville, Miss., icon. Great steaks, and the usual salads, fries, very hot tamales and splendid service. Lots of TVs around for the game-day folks. 316 W. Dickson St. Fayetteville. 479-443-3637. D. ELLA’S Fine dining in the university’s vastly reworked Inn at Carnall Hall. A favorite — it

figures on the UA campus — is the razor steak.

465 N. Arkansas Ave. Fayetteville. 479-582-1400.

BLD. HUGO’S You’ll find a menu full of meals and munchables, some better than others at this basement European-style bistro. The Bleu Moon Burger is a popular choice. Hugo’s is always worth a visit, even if just for a drink. 25 1/2 N. Block St. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. 479-521-7585. LD Mon.-Sat. JAMES AT THE MILL “Ozark Plateau Cuisine” is creative, uses local ingredients and is pleasantly presented in a vertical manner. Impeccable food in an impeccable setting. 3906 Greathouse Springs Road. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. $$$-$$$$. 479-443-1400. Serving:D-Mon.-Sat. JOSE’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT Epicenter of the Dickson Street nightlife with its patio and Fayetteville’s No. 2 restaurant in gross sales.

Basic Mexican with a wide variety of fancy margaritas. 234 W. Dickson. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. 479-521-0194. LD daily.

PESTO CAFE This nice little Italian restaurant in, yes, a roadside motel offers all the traditional dishes, including a nice eggplant parmesan.

1830 N. College Ave. Fayetteville. Beer, Wine. $. 479-582-3330. LD Mon.-Sun. VENESIAN INN People swarm in for the Italian fare and feast on what may be the best homemade rolls in the state. 582 W. Henri De Tonti Blvd. Fayetteville. Beer. $$. 479-361-2562. LD Tue.-Thu., D Fri.-Sat.

HOT SPRINGS

CULINARY DISTRICT A coffeehouse and lunch cafe inside a kitchen store/gourmet grocery with delectable sandwiches and such. The grilled cheese with blue-cheese mayo is addictive. 510 Ouachita Ave. Hot Springs. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-624-2665. L Tue.-Sat. THE PANCAKE SHOP The Pancake Shop’s longevity owes to good food served up cheap, large pancakes and ham steaks, housemade apple butter and waitresses who still call you “honey.” Closes each day at 12:45. 216 Central Avenue. Hot Springs. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-624-5720. BL daily.

ROLANDO’S NUEVO LATINO RESTAURANTE Latino fare with flair, such as spinach and sour cream enchiladas and house favorite tilapia with black beans and mango. 210 Central Ave. Hot Springs. Full bar, All CC. VINA MORITA RESTAURANT AND WINE BAR The chef and therefore the cuisine are from central Mexico, so while there are many items familiar to Arkies for whom “Mexican” means “Tex-Mex,” there are many more options, including amazing fish dishes and daily specials that impress. 610 Central Ave. Hot Springs. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-6257143. LD daily. www.arktimes.com august 29, 2013 47 www.arktimes.com

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