Arkansas Times - October 9, 2014

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THE LONG SHOTS Political newcomers take on Jason Rapert and Nate Bell, the Republicans who Democrats love to hate

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

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CLEAR PATH COMMENT

Cotton Land Gene Lyons’ beautiful piece on Tom Cotton (“Government dollars matter,” Oct. 2) inspired me to write this ditty: “Cotton Land” Oh, I fear to live in the Land of Cotton, ALEC rules and truth’s forgotten.

Look away, look away, turn away Workin’ Man. In Cotton Land it’s hard on women Under paid and always scrimpin’ Look away, look away, turn away Workin’ Man. I wish my leaders heard me and cared today For people’s needs not corporate greed We long to see a just way.

Some how, some way, the truth will set us free.

Some how, some day, the truth will set us free.

Joyce Hale Fayetteville

What a Republican takeover looks like

QUICK ACCESS

ity will never approve any Democratic presidential appointee whom they fear will try to do a good job — he or she will never get out of committee to come to a vote.

However, the filibuster can still be used against legislative bills, so Senate Republicans still join their colleagues in the House and continue to sabotage the usefulness of their own legislative branch. If the Republicans win a majority in the Senate, they and the House will be able to actually pass bills to send to the president to sign. Unfortunately, they will squander their tax-paid salaries by passing bills intended to turn the clock back — ultimately to the 19th century’s Gilded Age:

before the Affordable Care Act, before Roe v. Wade, before Medicare and Medicaid, before the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, before FDR’s New Deal and Social Security, and before TR’s Square Deal and conservation legacy. That means that the president will have to waste his time vetoing bills that should never have been introduced.

One of the targets of a Republican majority will be “intrusive government,” which sounds good unless you know what they are really talking about. They support “intrusive government” into our private lives, like women’s reproductive rights and same-sex marriage — they know how everyone else

Keep your water meter accessible for proper billing and emergency shut-off

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The mid-term elections are coming up in 221 East Capitol Avenue early November, and the consensus is that the voters will choose to continue the tragic 1789 • accessible Little Rock,forAR 72203 KeepP.O. yourBox water meter proper billing gridlock in Washington. President Harry and emergency shut-off.

Customer Service 501.372.5161 Truman campaigned in 1948 against the “good-for-nothing, do-nothing 80th ConEmergencies 501.377.1239 To accurately bill you each month, Central Arkansas Water (CAW) gress.” Then, he was referring to the first must have access to the water meter that serves your home or Republican Congress since the Great Depresbusiness. Also, if you have an emergency and need to turn off sion and World War II. But if he were here the water service to your home or business, CAW will require immediate access to the water meter in order to assist you. today, “Give ’em Hell” Harry would have Please make sure that there is free access to the meter! another field day with the Republicans in the 113th Congress who have been obstructing just about everything.

The Fox-Republican-Tea Party majority in the House wasted so much time pretending to repeal Obamacare that it had little or no time to deal with real issues: the minimum wage, carbon emissions, violent crime, etc.

Even though they received a million fewer During the Lawn and Garden Season! votes in 2012 than the Democrats, they had 22 more seats in the House instead of 14 fewer TRASH YARD DEBRIS Although we are fortunate to have an abundant water supply in the — partly because of safe and carefully drawn Trash cans, boxesareorencouraged anything When raking, blowing, or metropolitan area, customers to be good stewards districts. The Republican majority reprewaiting to be discarded. bagging leaves make sure the carkw.com of our water sources by practicing efficient outdoor water use. sents only a minority of the voters, and the leaves or bags do not cover the Customers are asked to alter timing of outdoor watering patterns to deplorable results speak for themselves. lid avoid the peak time of day demand during the hot summer months of the water meter.

That’s unlikely to change. and to avoid operating sprinkler systems Thankstonew2013rulesintheSenatethat between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. prevent the filibuster from being used against Learn more about the Sprinkler federal judiciary and executive agency nomiSmart Program at carkw.com, nees, it is no longer necessary to get 60 votes uaex.edu, or by calling of the 100 senators to debate and vote on the 501.340.6650 president’sappointees.TheSenateRepublican If the lid to your meter box is missing or damaged, please contact CAW at minorityabusedthefilibustertothepointthat carkw.com 501.377.1239 so that we can replace the lid. the Senate became a joke and the judicial and executive branches were understaffed. And,CAW Ark Times Avoid The Peak Ad.indd 1 You Likeus on 7/24/12 10:25:38 AM carkw.com Facebook Tube don’t forget that a Republican Senate major-

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

should live their lives and want to make their beliefs the law. The “intrusive government” they oppose is the regulatory and enforcement functions of the executive branch.

They object to any intrusions that cut into the profits of their benefactors and mentors, like the Koch brothers and the Club for Growth. David and Charles Koch are spending a lot of money on right-wing extremists and are trying to turn the U.S. Congress and as many states as possible into subsidiaries of Koch Industries of Wichita. They seem to be doing a pretty good job at it. They just about have Arkansas in their bag. When Obama took office, these guys were worth about $20 billion each. Now they are worth about $50 billion each. You have to wonder why they hate Obama so much.

The Club for Growth is an anti-government (anarchistic) group that finances likethinking politicians. Rep. Tom Cotton in the 4th District is their poster boy, and he’s running for Democrat Mark Pryor’s Senate seat.

Mike Huckabee called that organization the “Club for Greed” because it condemned him for his two finest achievements as Arkansas’s governor: the children’s health program ARKids and the restoration of Arkansas’s interstate highways, which truckers had voted the worst in the nation. He’s never forgiven them for that, but otherwise he thinks the same as they do.

A Republican majority will step up its assault on “intrusive government” by demanding further spending cuts. This is a major way to castrate federal agencies.

The real purpose is to reduce the likelihood that businesses and corporations will be inspected and fined for any violations, so they can relax or ignore necessary regulations and increase their profits. This leads to several negative domino effects: (1) Public servants are laid off, decreasing the agencies’ effectiveness and increasing unemployment rolls, probably requiring unemployment insurance payments and food stamps; (2) Workers are more likely to face unsafe and unfair working conditions; (3) Consumers will be even more likely to purchase uninspected food, drugs, automobiles and other products, and (4) All of us will see a decline in air and water quality and further deterioration of our highways and bridges.

According to the polls on the 2014 elections, there is no reason to hope that the Washington situation will get better.

It looks like the gridlock will either stay bad, or, if the Fox-Republican-Tea Party gets official control of the Senate, it will get even worse. We deserve better than a sociopathic Congress that only represents the 1 percent plutocracy at the expense of the rest of us. Don’t stay home on Election Day unless you truly don’t care.

David Offutt El Dorado

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5

EYE ON ARKANSAS

WEEK THAT WAS

Where to begin? Last week, Leslie Rutledge’s voter registration was canceled after it was discovered that she was also registered in Virginia and Washington, D.C. The forgiving among us were willing to chalk it up to an honest mistake, but Rutledge went nuclear with a petulant letter blaming Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane and demanding she be reinstated (Rutledge, a Voter ID advocate, showed newfound interest in voter suppressions when the “disenfranchised” voter was Leslie Rutledge). This was impossible, Crane said, so after a week of whining, Rutledge bowed to the inevitable Friday and registered (though she did so “in protest,” she said). Questions remain about her candidacy since she was supposed to be a lawfully registered voter when she filed for office.

Meanwhile, an advertisement featuring Rutledge and paid for by the Republican Attorney Generals Association, a 527 Super PAC, featured new footage of Rutledge, odd since candidates aren’t supposed to coordinate with 527s.

Rutledge admitted that she coordinated but said she’d done nothing wrong. An ethics complaint was filed Monday.

County jails, by the numbers 2,300: number of state inmates being held in county jails across the state 25 percent: portion of county jail beds beings used to hold state inmates $28: per day reimbursement for county jails holding state inmates $45: actual per-day cost for county jails holding state inmates $18 million: cost to counties of holding state prisoners during the past year (Figures according to the Association of Arkansas Counties)

Adventures in headline writing You’d almost think that we could just have one single Clinton beat reporter for every newspaper everywhere, since everyone is going to write almost exactly the same headline. With the Big Dog in town, what’s the national media’s take?

“Bill Clinton tries to save Arkansas from GOP” (Politico) “Bill Clinton tries to rescue Arkansas for Democrats (USA Today) “Bill Clinton plays savior for Arkansas Democrats” (CNN) “Bill Clinton Tries to Save Democrats in Arkansas” (Time)

Department of bad analogies Republicans were so upset by the Rutledge kerfuffle that some plain lost their heads.

On Twitter, K. Ryan James — campaign manager for Bruce Westerman, the GOP Fourth District congressional candidate — compared the cancellation of Rutledge’s registration to violence against women. Some responded that his comparison of Rutledge’s situation to victims of domestic abuse and rape might be ill-considered, but James stood by his point.

Up all night Little Rock’s 5 a.m. clubs live on, as an ordinance requiring private clubs that remain open after midnight to beef up security by hiring two certified law enforcement officers passed the City Board unanimously.

The measure was a compromise supported by the clubs after an effort by nanny staters on the Board attempted to push an earlier closing time.

6

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

BRIAN CHILSON

Leslie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

UNDER THE RAINBOW: Members of Arkansas Unity carry a giant rainbow flag as part of the Little Rock Pride Parade on Sunday, Oct. 5.

he needs the Humvee to get around Sharp County.

Asa Hutchinson is a strapless wedding dress An almost unspeakably bizarre new digital ad from the College Republican National Committee features a young woman, saying, “Budget is a big deal for me now that I graduated college.”

Then it cuts to her modeling a wedding dress in a mirror, saying, “The Asa Hutchinson is perfect!” The ad, part of a cookie-cutter series aimed to appeal “to young voters using pop culture oriented language,” was roundly denounced by the national media as offensive, sexist, tone-deaf, clueless, hokey, baffling and moronic.

Slime time

In case of zombies

The Defense Department donated an assault rifle, handgun and a Humvee to Doug Wortham of Sharp County even though, as the Associated Press reported, “the people in his custody are in no condition to put up a fight.

They’re dead.” Yes, Wortham is the Sharp County coroner, and the goodies are some of the military surplus the DOD has been spreading around to folks with the power of arrest. “I just wanted to protect myself,” Wortham explained. Plus

An anonymous and egregious direct mail piece attacking Clarke Tucker, Democratic candidate for House District 35, claims he represented “a violent criminal for free.” This piece used a bogus return address and employed a font that must be called something like “Serial Killer Serif.”

The violent criminal? A man who was accused of shoplifting a $9.99 piece of merchandise at Kmart — the only criminal case Tucker has ever handled in his legal career. “I came in kind of late in the process on a pro bono basis and represented him at his plea hearing only, where he pled guilty,” Tucker said.

The defendant was fined and sentenced to community service.

No comment from Tucker’s

Republican opponent Stacy Hurst or her campaign consultant, Clint Reed; the latter had suggested previously on social media that this attack was coming.

From the department of good news The jobs report released last week by the U.S. Department of Labor brought good tidings, with nonfarm payrolls growing by 248,000 jobs in September. Meanwhile, the numbers for July and August were revised upwardsignificantly (more than 31,000 for July; more than 38,000 for August). The work week is up slightly to 34.6 hours. The unemployment rate is now 5.9 percent, the lowest it’s been in more than six years. It’s the first time the nation has ever recorded a four-year straight period of positive employment growth.

Meanwhile, here in Arkansas, the Insurance Department released more detailed information about rates on the 2015 Obamacare Marketplace. You know how insurance premiums go up every year? The Arkansas Marketplace is seeing rates go down 2.2 percent next year.

Those awaiting the Obamapocalypse will have to keep waiting.

OPINION

EPA’s plan, good for Arkansas generate electricity dramatically worsens the health of Arkansans and damages our state’s environment. We GLEN know that burning HOOKS coal releases millions of tons of carbon into our atmosphere, plus mercury and other deadly air pollutants into our air, water and bodies. What’s less well known is the tremendous negative economic impact caused by relying on coal. Each year, our Arkansas utilities send nearly $700 million out of state to buy coal from Wyoming, which is then sent here by train and burned in our state’s power plants.

That’s a great deal for the folks in Wyoming — but not so great for us here in Arkansas.

Wyoming gets to keep our money, and we get to keep all the pollution generated by burning dirty coal.

The good news: For the first time in our nation’s history, the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

The EPA’s Clean Power Plan aims to cut carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent nationwide — and by 44 percent in coal-heavy Arkansas. Our state regulators, environmental groups, utilities and others are currently meeting to hash out the smartest way for Arkansas to meet its Clean Power Plan goals.

The Clean Power Plan presents a tremendous opportunity for our state to jumpstart the Arkansas economy. This opportunity should be embraced — if our state’s leaders draft a plan that moves us away from dirty coal and toward cleaner sources of energy, all while implementing an aggressive energy efficiency program, we can meet our goals while creating thousands of good-paying jobs for Arkansans. I’m talking about jobs manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines, or installing energy-efficient water heaters, or retrofitting homes and businesses so that consumers save energy.

These are good jobs that can be done by an Arkansas workforce that needs it.

Predictably, some leaders from our utilities and industry are predicting catastrophe and claiming that the sky will fall if the Clean Power Plan is finalized. We should always remember that these folks have a long his-

ith all attention now focused on Hurst, a Republithe high-octane and high-dollar can, and attorney races for statewide offices and Clarke Tucker, a Democrat, is for Arkansas’s congressional seats, the battle for control of the Arkansas State House of dividing families Representatives is getting less attention than and church pews.

JAY it deserves. Unlike the 2010 and 2012 elec- • District 41 (northBARTH tion cycles when some clear tides in the GOP ern Pulaski direction were expressing themselves by this County): Organized labor advocate Jim stage of the game, a much more complex, Nickels won close races in a district increasdistrict-by-district story is emerging in 2014. ingly unfriendly to Democrats in both 2008 The story shifts with each rumor of a and 2012. This year, former school supernew poll or report from the field, but conintendent Danny Knight faces Republican trol of the House (where Republicans curJustice of the Peace Karilyn Brown in a rently hold 51 seats) will likely be determined race where Democrats hope congressioby the outcomes in seven races scattered nal candidate Patrick Hays’ comparative strength north of the river can help save across the northwestern portion of the state. a district skewing Republican.

Importantly, because candidates on both • District 63 (Independence County): Termsides have raised relatively little money considering the stakes (with one striking limited Democrat James McLean is givexception), outside groups on both sides are ing up this Batesville-centered district to run for the state Senate in a portion of the increasingly engaged in these races, mostly state that has become increasingly tough through direct mail appeals, and will play an sledding for Democrats in the Obama era outsized role in determining their outcomes. (the president won barely one-quarter of These three Democratic-held seats are the vote in the county in 2012) but where most susceptible to GOP pickup: • District 35 (Little Rock): An exceptional voters have shown a ticket-splitting ability contest in terms of fundraising, the most that has saved some Democratic officeexpensive House race in the state’s hisholders down the ticket. Democrat Lackey tory feels much like a party primary battle Moody will need Republican voters at the because differences on key issues are sectop of the ticket if he is to beat Republican James Sturch. ondary to personality clashes. This contest, Republicans have hopes of expanding the between Little Rock City Director Stacy

map in Northeast Arkansas outside of District 63 into districts held by Democratic incumbents Harold Copenhaver and Homer Lenderman — both representing portions of Craighead County — and in some districts in the “rural swing” counties of Southwest Arkansas, but Districts 35, 41 and 63 are the three most tenuous Democratic districts.

Conversely, while Democrats have their own hopes of bringing new races onto the list (especially in Northwest Arkansas and in battleground Faulkner County), four districts provide the best hope for the pickups that might switch the balance of power in the House.

• District 18 (Arkadelphia area): With Arkadelphia as its center, this southwest Arkansas district was perhaps the Democratic Party’s source of greatest frustration in 2012 when Republican Richard Womack won a seat expected to go comfortably Democratic after redistricting. Democrats feel good about their chances with Damon Daniels but challenging an incumbent, even in friendly partisan territory, is always tough.

• District 32 (West Little Rock): Democrats were deeply disappointed by their failure to defeat an incumbent in 2012 with a top-level challenger. That incumbent, Allen Kerr, is gone and the race is now on between Tea Party ally and former Justice of the Peace Jim Sorvillo and Democrat John Adams, who lost in the 2010 congressional primary in a district that shows signs of diversification as the city continues

L

ast summer, my teenage sons and I took a two-week “Hooks Man Road Trip” from Arkansas to San Francisco and back. We had a tremendous adventure and created what I hope will be lasting family memories.

One of those memories has really stuck with me: the fact that we saw wind power being generated in every single state we drove through —Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. Every state, that is, but Arkansas. To a lifelong Arkansan like me, that’s troubling.

Unlike states in our region and across the country, our home state of Arkansas does not generate a single megawatt of electricity from wind or solar power. We in Arkansas get our electricity primarily from burning dirty coal, and the rest from gas, nuclear and a small amount from hydroelectric dams.

Coal is the single dirtiest fuel source available, and our small state is home to five coalburning power plants — three of which are more than 30 years old.

It is settled fact that burning coal to

Seven to watch

W

tory of opposing each and every environmental rule — with wildly overblown claims of economic disaster that have proven to be wrong over and over again. If we’d listened to these naysayers in the past, there would have never been a Clean Air Act, there would never have been a Clean Water Act, and we’d still have acid rain. These entities have a strong economic interest in keeping things the way they are. The rest of us have a stronger interest in a cleaner, healthier power system for our state.

The EPA is accepting public comments on the Clean Power Plan between now and Dec. 1. I hope you will join us in supporting this important step forward. To send in your comment, go to arkansas.sierraclub.org.

My sons will soon be men, and maybe someday will have children of their own.

I’m looking forward to taking another road trip then, with my children and their children, and proudly pointing out evidence that our home, Arkansas, has embraced a clean energy path forward. We can do it.

It just takes the political will and the vision to do so.

Glen Hooks is director of the Sierra Club of Arkansas. Max Brantley is on vacation.

to grow west.

• District 52 (Northeast Arkansas): This district, covering parts of four counties, went to a recount in 2012 when John Hutchison won the GOP control of the House with a 45-vote victory here. Hutchison is already gone, having lost a primary to Dwight Tosh. Radius Baker was the first choice of Democrats who believe the geographical patterns in the district favor the former school superintendent.

• District 94 (Benton County): One surprise of theyearhasbeenDemocrats’rebirthinNorthwestArkansas.Thatreinvigorationoftheparty inWaltonterritorymayshowlimitedfruitthis cycle, but its best chance increasingly centers on this Rogers district where former high school teacher Grimsley Graham is emphasizing support for environmental protection in his race against Rebecca Petty, who won an intensely fought GOP primary.

With Jeremy Gillam having been elected Speaker Pro Tem, we know who will lead the House if the Republicans maintain or expand their current margin. If Democrats pick up just enough seats to tip the balance (or, more bizarrely, if a quite possible 50/50 tie emerges), several days of chaos will likely ensue as the new power structure develops. That’s right, folks; politics doesn’t really end on Nov. 4.

Ernest Dumas is on vacation. www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

7

Imagined reasons to oppose equal rights

BY EBONY BUCKLEY

I

n Fayetteville, the rights of the minority will be subject to the whims of the majority after all: The petition to put to a popular vote an ordinance that protects the civil rights of gay and transgender people has achieved enough signatures to go to referendum. Let’s take a balanced look at three of the opposition’s main arguments against the ordinance.

The most common, emotionally appealing argument is reminiscent of a limerick: “There once was a transsexual pedophile from Nantucket …” that concludes with an unverifiable anecdote (read “lie”) that the perpetrator’s transsexuality functioned as a talisman to ward off prosecution for sexual misconduct. A less obviously ridiculous version of this line of argument suggests that sexual predators, who are universally cast as male, will be able to use this law as a cover to masquerade as female. Cloaked by our collective naivete, these Buffalo Bills would be able to easily prey upon girls and women in public restrooms.

Despite the Sturm und Drang surrounding these allegedly shielded transrapists, studies show it’s trans people who are much more likely than the general population to be the victims of sexual assault. There’s no evidence of a trans person ever avoiding prosecution for sexual misconduct in a city with a similar anti-discrimination law. Irrespective of recognizing someone’s trans status, critics of Fayetteville’s ordinance have suggested that unisex bathrooms are correlated with an increase in sexual assault. Again, there’s no evidence of a link. It’s time proponents of this line of argument start backing up their claims with sourced facts and data if we’re to take them seriously.

The second argument put forward by the opposition in Fayetteville is that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints will skyrocket, and it will be impossible for business owners to fire a bad employee who belongs to a protected gender- or sexual-minority group. Critics would have us believe that the newly created rubber-stamper of Unmeritorious Discrimination Complaints will ensure that poor, small businesses have no recourse to fight a complaint. But that doesn’t reflect reality: In 2013 only 3.6 percent of cases the EEOC handled and closed were found to have a clear-cut EEOC violation.

Opponents have also alleged that because discrimination based on socio-

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

economic backGUEST COLUMNIST ground is prohibited by the ordinance, banks won’t be able to base a loan decision on a person’s credit history. Yet “socioeconomic background” doesn’t refer to a person’s FICO score and assets; it’s about whether or not her parents were poor or came from the inner city. We can feign ignorance about how words are actually used so that we can imagine a dystopia where businesses can’t use relevant factors to decide to employ or give a loan to someone. Or, we can look at the current reality, where businesses can safely hire and fire minorities, veterans and Scientologists without incident and the burden of proof required for a successful discrimination complaint (as evidenced by the EEOC’s own statistics) is very high.

The last argument is the only one with merit. As written and admitted by the Fayetteville City Council, being found guilty of a violation under this statute would be a minor criminal offense. Generally, matters related to discrimination against protected classes are a matter of civil law, which emphasizes mediation and dispute resolution as opposed to the emphasis on punishment and retribution found in criminal law. The latter goals don’t provide a good framework for fostering mutual understanding and achieving an end agreeable to both parties.

Good intentions are necessary but not sufficient for crafting good laws. Is this one flaw with the ordinance an intractable obstacle? I doubt it, since a violation would be akin to a regulatory offense and not even a misdemeanor. Not all criminal offenses are major and require jail time or hefty fines.

Giving gender and sexual identity protected status isn’t about granting special privileges. It’s about extending the same privileges the majority already enjoys: allowing minorities to be judged on their own merit and to be able to economically participate in society without fear of reprisal. These protections don’t only work for homosexuals or transgender individuals — heterosexual and cisgendered people enjoy them as well.

Perhaps opponents of Fayetteville’s ordinance will deliver other, realitybased objections before the election, but I won’t hold my breath.

Ebony Buckley is a resident of Fayetteville.

Using Ebola for partisan ends

O

ne afternoon two weeks ago, I did my best to calm a friend who’d become fearful that her son would contract Ebola in Syria. The young man had enlisted in the National Guard. She knew the U.S. was bombing ISIS terrorists there, and that people were talking about “boots on the ground.” She thought she’d heard about a Syrian Ebola outbreak on TV. Because others were listening, I didn’t want to embarrass her. I suggested she’d misheard a reference to Sierra Leone, a tiny country in the tropical forest of West Africa where the Ebola epidemic rages — thousands of miles from Syria, which borders on Israel. The road to Damascus and all that.

The Bible reference helped. A guy in a John Deere cap backed me up. Syria was definitely not in Africa. My friend was mollified.

I’m sure she’s heard plenty more about Ebola since then, possibly even about Sierra Leone, a nation of which most Americans have zero knowledge. A lifelong map nut, I’d have had to search for it myself.

Although my friend is an intelligent person with a lively wit, it wasn’t her ignorance of geography I found so surprising. After all, polls showed only 17 percent of Americans could locate Iraq on a map back when the U.S. invaded in 2003. Rather, it was her unreasoning dread of Ebola, a tropical disease wholly limited at that time to three countries in West Africa.

Now that a single Ebola victim from neighboring Liberia has made his way to Dallas, isn’t that fear more justifiable? Shouldn’t we be running around with our hair on fire like the talking heads on cable TV? Isn’t it time for our government to do something drastic, such as banning all travel from West Africa to prevent Ebola-stricken refugees from bringing this terrifying plague to America?

Actually, no and no. Freaking out never helps when there’s real danger. For once, I felt sympathetic toward Gov. Rick Perry, who, because the Liberian victim ended up at Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas, was compelled to act like a competent government official instead of a carnival barker.

“Rest assured that our system is working as it should,” Perry said during a hospital press conference. “Professionals on every level of the chain of command know what to do to minimize this potential risk to the people of Texas and this country.”

Of course that wasn’t strictly true. Due to a communications snafu too common in hospitals, the first physician who examined the victim wasn’t told he’d traveled from Liberia, misread the chart, and bungled the diagnosis.

But that still doesn’t mean the sky is falling. Medical experts agree that while deadly in Third World environments, Ebola is both treatable and relatively hard to catch.

Patients aren’t contagious until they’re visibly ill. Even then direct contact with a symptomatic person’s bodily fluids — GENE saliva, vomit, stool, LYONS urine, etc. — is necessary. Unlike a cold, it can’t be transmitted through the air.

Writing in the New Yorker, brilliant surgeon and author Atul Gawande documents a South African case in which some 300 hospital workers treated an undiagnosed Ebola patient for 12 days without contracting the disease.

Isolate patients, monitor their intimate contacts, dispose of their waste properly, and Ebola can be stopped. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) the likelihood of a mass Ebola outbreak in the United States is remote.

Perhaps that makes the disgraceful performance of so many self-styled “conservative” pundits and GOP politicians a bit less disturbing. Going all Chicken Little and doing everything possible to use a public health crisis for partisan ends would be even more contemptible if the danger were as great as they pretend.

As usual, Fox News personalities led the charge. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee sought to use Ebola to foment petulant mistrust of government in general and President Obama in particular.

It all somehow reminded him of Benghazi.

“The Ebola scare,” Huckabee claimed “goes to the heart of a simple question: Do you trust the government. Audience, do you trust the government?”

Fox News and ABC News contributor Laura Ingraham hosted crank medical conspiracy theorist Dr. Elizabeth Vliet, who accused Obama of downplaying Ebola for political reasons. Rush Limbaugh suggested that the president sees Ebola as a punishment for slavery and won’t ban travel to and from West Africa out of political correctness.

Several GOP politicians, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, have suggested basically quarantining entire countries, a “solution” that sounds sensible until you think about it for 30 seconds.

For example, would that mean volunteer doctors, nurses, missionaries and soldiers couldn’t come home? And then what?

A catastrophically worsening epidemic in Africa, that’s what.

I’ll say this too: If Ebola were happening, in say, Denmark or Belgium, we’d be having a far saner conversation.

But then it couldn’t, which is part of the point.

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9

PEARLS ABOUT SWINE

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ARKANSAS TIMES

ven as Arkansas sojourned over the weekend, the free world of SEC football spun almost wildly off its axis and triggered future storylines for the Hogs as they embark on the remainder of a schedule that was already seen as grueling.

The events of Oct. 4 altered the West divisional landscape dramatically while the 0-2 Razorbacks seek out a means of escape from the cellar. In the wake of the collapse at Arlington against Texas A&M, when certain victory got ensnared in defeat’s filthy jaws at the end, Arkansas looks like arguably one of the best 25 teams in the country, and may still finish with a losing record at the end of it all.

First, consider that the Hogs will come off the bye week to face an assuredly hostile Alabama team that is reeling from blowing an 11-point second-half lead in a 23-17 loss at Ole Miss. That game, the second of a two-act Mississippi uprising on Saturday, was as rough-and-tumble as anticipated and it wreaked havoc on the Tide in numerous ways. For beginners, Nick Saban teams are thoroughly unaccustomed to being overmatched in the trenches, but the Rebels shored up their protection of Bo Wallace in the second half and he delivered three touchdown strikes as a result.

The running game also shook off early struggles, and perhaps most damning, Alabama’s offense was bereft of any kind of big-play threat. Amari Cooper was checked, Blake Sims was unsteady and Kenyan Drake was sent out of the game before halftime on a garish leg injury.

Frankly, but for a gift touchdown that should’ve been negated by an obvious facemask grab that wasn’t called, Alabama would have lost this game by a wider margin. This was the most undisciplined performance by a Tide team since a demonstrative favorite gagged badly against Utah in a BCS matchup six seasons ago, and it wasn’t just penalties, turnovers and further kicking woes that brought home that point. Indeed, Alabama looked mortal, unimposing and thoroughly beatable.

Should that give Arkansas encouragement? Well, keep in mind that this very atypical occurrence happened shortly after Mississippi State beat the brakes off the very Texas A&M team that Arkansas couldn’t quite conquer seven days beforehand, and Dak Prescott efficiently swapped places with alleged wunderkind Kenny Hill on the Heisman watch list with a five-touchdown effort.

The Bulldogs took a cudgel to an already-

weakened Aggie defense from the get-go at Starkville.

The Hogs, therefore, may be BEAU drawing Alabama WILCOX at home at the ideal time, or at the worst time, because it’s apparent gospel that Saban-coached teams will be especially nasty in the aftermath of a rare loss. But why? Keep in mind that the Tide unthinkably choked away a road win at Auburn last year in an eerily similar game to the one that Oxford hosted, and then, with weeks to prepare against underdog Oklahoma, got run off the Superdome turf by the Sooners. That wasn’t the first two-game losing streak of Saban’s distinguished tenure, either — note above that when his then-unbeaten team got taken down by Florida in the 2008 SEC Championship Game, the next defeat was to the Utes weeks later.

You can extract as much or as little as you wish from that historical nugget, but you can bet that Arkansas coaches are using the shakeup to point out something. This division, as brutal as it may be, paradoxically clarifies the roadmap needed for success. How does Arkansas hope to win in this league, you ask? Well, the question was posed to Auburn last year, and it answered with authority, and now two long-suffering programs in the Magnolia State are taking out all their frustrations on the teams that had rooted themselves at the pinnacle of the league. (Don’t forget about Auburn putting a 34-point spanking on LSU last Saturday night, which planted the latter Tigers further into the pits than Arkansas is at this stage.)

Saturday night in Fayetteville, these rather healthy Hogs get a depleted and shaky Alabama team in their house.

We’ve talked about how those 52-0 games the past two seasons must be sent to the proverbial dustbin with emphasis, and the plate has been set for that to happen, but a moral victory won’t do the trick, either. With six meaty chances left for the Razorbacks to validate their widely championed improvement, this is the first and most meaningful. To kill a six-game skid against a titan will be anything but simple, but as it is often said after a game like the one at Vaught-Hemingway last week, the blueprint on how to beat Alabama in 2014 has been created early and it’s one that Arkansas will borrow from liberally.

THE OBSERVER NOTES ON THE PASSING SCENE

Doubt

T

he Observer is, honestly, kind of a heathen.

We go to churches these days only for weddings and funerals. Even for those, we have to be cajoled into coming in out of the parking lot at the strike of the first piano chord. We got our fill of that business as a lad, hair slicked down with a wetted brush, threatened with dire punishments for misbehavior. Once at the neat white barn of God, we’d spend several hours of our precious childhood weekends either getting talked at by a virginal Sunday School teacher or parked on a hard pew with hands in lap, alternately fighting sleepiness and soulcrushing boredom. Even at that age — 11, 12, 13 — we realized that our little Southern Baptist congregation out in the white oaks of Saline County was never blessed with stirring orators. Instead, what we got was one dull sermon after another by earnest young men with piano-playing wives, young fellas who spent their hour remarking on the glassy, tranquil topwater of faith when they probably should have been considering the swirling murk of doubt at the bottom. Doubt is always where the action is, especially when it comes to Things Unseen. Don’t ever let anybody tell you different.

Then again, what does Your Heathen Correspondent know? When the sermon was done, we’d note, the parishioners always lined up to shake the preacher’s hand and tell him what a good job he’d done, how they’d pray on it, and God bless him for his inspiring words. He must have been giving them what they wanted, we figured, even though it seemed some awfully weak tea to us. Maybe weak tea is the name of the game.

The Observer’s problem is that we’ve truly never been sure of anything, and we like it that way. Sky’s blue? Looks a little gray over in the West, actually. In our experience, unquestioning, cocksure certainty about anything is the surest sign of a weak mind, sons and daughters, especially when it comes to what can’t be seen or tasted or touched. Didn’t even The Lord sayeth unto God: “Why has thou forsaken me?” If Big J.C. can let a little doubt creep in from time to time, then surely the pastor with the pretty wife and a 3-year-old divinity

degree from Ouachita Baptist can do the same, can’t he? Isn’t that what people really need on Sunday morning? To be told that it’s OK to ponder the absurdities of life and the mysteries of the universe without feeling like a backslider?

THE OBSERVER GOT OFF ON this tear, by the way, because we were looking around on Dr. Zuckerberg’s Book o’ Faces the other day and ran across a comment thread on a story about gay marriage, posted to an Arkansas TV station’s website.

(TIP: If you want to keep your faith in humanity or the Arkansas education system, never, ever read a comment thread on a story about gay marriage in Arkansas).

Predictably, immediately, The Faithful leapt in to cite scriptural prohibitions against The Gay Stuff, especially the one from the Book of Leviticus.

We would be remiss, brothers and sisters, if we didn’t note that the prohibition against The Gay Stuff in Leviticus and elsewhere in the Bible is one of hundreds of things nixed in those pages, including divorce for a reason other than infidelity (Matthew 19:8), eating catfish, lobster, crawfish and shrimp (Deuteronomy 14:9-10), growing two crops in the same field (Leviticus 19:19), having a rare or even pinkish steak (Leviticus 3:17), getting a tattoo (Leviticus 19:28), not standing up when an old person enters the room (Leviticus 19:32) and eating bacon or ham (Leviticus 11:7-8).

The Observer is a live-and-let-live kinda anonymite, but if there’s one thing we can’t abide, it’s the Highlighter Christians, who disregard every antiquated prohibition in the Bible except the things that square with their own prejudices, then call the cut-and-pasted digest they’ve created The Word of God. That trait of some folks just crawls up our back and starts driving tent pegs.

Like we said, though: topwater sells.

Still, it’s something to think about the next time that divorced, tattooed friend of yours cites Biblical scripture to support their opposition to gay marriage, and then invites you to after-Church lunch at Catfish Hut or Smokin’ Swine Barbecue.

Can we get an amen?

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

11

Arkansas Reporter

THE

IN S IDE R

Rutledge tests election law The bad press keeps coming for Leslie Rutledge, Republican nominee for Arkansas attorney general. Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane canceled her voter registration last week after he learned that she was also registered in Virginia and Washington, D.C. Rutledge, a supporter of the state’s embattled voter ID law, reacted by misinterpreting election law, attacking Crane as a partisan who had “disenfranchised” her and, ultimately, registering again “under protest.”

Also last week, Southern Progress, an organization aimed at bolstering Democrats in the South, highlighted an advertisement from the Republican Attorney Generals Association (RAGA) for Leslie Rutledge. “Either RAGA and Leslie Rutledge’s campaign are flat out breaking the law or they are arrogantly flipping it the bird,” the group wrote.

RAGA spent more than $400,000 airing the 30-second television spot, which features Rutledge talking to the camera and describing her platform. This raised eyebrows since 527 Super PACs like RAGA aren’t supposed to coordinate with candidates.

This wasn’t stock footage. Rutledge was apparently filmed for the commercial. That sounds an awful lot like coordination. You know who else thinks the candidate coordinated with the 527 Super PAC? Leslie Rutledge! When Talk Business asked her if it was coordination between her campaign and RAGA, she said, “Yes, legally.”

Rutledge argues that a 2006 Arkansas Ethics Commission advisory opinion suggests that Rutledge can coordinate with RAGA as long as she doesn’t use what are known in campaign finance law as the “magic words” (stuff like “vote” or “elect”). In other words, the Rutledge campaign is putting out an advertisement, one that the campaign helped create, featuring Leslie Rutledge articulating her platform and saying she’ll fight Obamacare, as her name and “Attorney General” flash on the screen — and arguing that it’s perfectly 12

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

FILE PHOTO: The Lord’s Ranch, shown here in 2009, is now named Trinity and has been suspended by DHS from the Medicaid program.

‘Bible-based’ bribery Lord’s Ranch owner Suhl is named in case involving former DHS director; companies suspended.

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK

T

ed Suhl and the mental health facility his parents founded in 1976 in Warm Springs (Randolph County), the Lord’s Ranch, have been the subject of controversy since the facility was first licensed by the state to provide mental health services to youth in 1987. The recipient of tens of millions of federal Medicaid dollars, the Lord’s Ranch (now known as Trinity Behavioral Services) has come under scrutiny for allegations

since 1990 of improper restraints, physical abuse and punishment for those who opted out of Bible study, incidents related in DHS inspection documents released to the Arkansas Times in response to a Freedom of Information request in 2008. Suhl, a supporter of Gov. Mike Huckabee who once served on the board that licensed his facility, lobbied heavily to keep dollars flowing to institutional care.

Now, a former deputy Department of Human Services director, Steven Jones, has pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting bribes from 2007 to 2013 from Suhl in exchange for information in the agency’s records on Suhl’s companies. Suhl was not named in the information filed in federal court in Little Rock by the U.S. attorney’s office, but was referred to as “Person C.” DHS confirmed Monday that “Person C” is Suhl.

Late Tuesday, DHS suspended Trinity and Suhl’s other company, Maxus Inc., from the state’s Medicaid program due to “credible allegations of fraud.” Amy Webb, spokesperson for the agency, said that federal and state law authorizes the agency to “suspend or exclude a provider engaging in the alleged conduct described in the federal court filings.” The agency is working out arrangements to transfer 80 inpatients and 2,300 outpatients to other providers. Maxus and TrinCONTINUED ON PAGE 20

THE

BIG PICTURE

INCONSEQUENTIAL NEWS QUIZ: GLOCKTOBERFEST EDITION

INSIDER, CONT. kosher for a Super PAC to pay for it as an “independent” expenditure.

The 2006 opinion doesn’t deal directly with the issue of coordination at all and shouldn’t be treated as a rule or statute. Many experts believe that her claim here doesn’t hold water. We’ll find out at some point: Lawyer Matt Campbell, the blogger behind the Blue Hog Report, filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission on Monday.

1) Last week, the owner of a Hot Springs firing range announced that she was making a significant change at her business. What was the change?

A) Freudian psychologists no longer allowed to speak to gun owners while visiting the range.

B) A blanket ban on Muslims.

C) Accidentally shot off your finger? Get a free ice cream cone.

D) Kid’s day! With free balloon rifles by Glocky the Unmedicated Schizophrenic!

2) During a recent game between the University of Miami Hurricanes and the Arkansas State University Red Wolves, ASU attempted to distract the other team with a very surprising on-field action during a fake punt attempt. What did A-State try?

A) Having a player fake his own death.

B) On-field chemistry experiment (nerds courtesy of ASU Science Department).

C) Stacked the school’s stockpile of “We’re With You, Coach Malzahn!” T-shirts in the end zone, thereby preventing the Hurricanes from scoring.

D) Had the mascot run onto the field and dry-hump the referee.

3) What’s the biggest jerk move Sen. Jason Rapert of Conway has pulled recently?

A) Not this one.

B) Not this one, either.

C) This is it! Just kidding.

D) Tried to hijack a thread on KARK’s Facebook page about the death of Realtor Beverly Carter with a baldly political (and wholly unfeasible) election-year stump-speech on how Arkansas should move to abolish parole. Rapert then doubled down on the asshattery by arguing with several posters who called him out for playing politics in the midst of tragedy, saying their comments were “rude” and “out of line.”

4) A recent headline in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette might have given readers the wrong idea about the content of the article that followed. What was the headline?

A) “Hole in good shape, says landfill chief.”

B) “Tom Cotton not a cyborg from the future, mother claims” C) “High winds mar burrito supper.”

D) “Islamic State underrated, Obama says.”

#

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5) Last month, researchers at the University of Arizona studied which food words were most often mentioned on Twitter by people in every state. What, according to the researchers, was the most often used food-related word used by Arkansans?

A) “Entree” B) “Dibeetus” C) “Pooterrific” D) “Backfat”

Cotton and the government teat Tom Cotton has taken heat for voting against the Farm Bill. Interestingly, Cotton’s family’s farm received $20,000 in farm subsidies from 1995 to 2012. Nothing wrong with that, of course — just another example (just like taking student loans and voting against them) of Cotton ignoring his and his family’s history in his voting and politics. Meanwhile, the next time Cotton starts whining about food stamps beneficiaries (Cotton claims he always sees them driving around in SUVs and eating steak), don’t forget the Cottons themselves are beneficiaries of biggovernment welfare.

The book of Jason A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a program in St. Louis that gave away free birth control to teens had remarkable success reducing the abortion rate. Someone tell Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway). At a Vilonia Area Chamber forum last week, he was asked whether, given his opposition to abortion, he would do anything to increase access to contraception. “Actually, birth control is not an abortion issue,” he said. “That’s a contraceptive issue. Totally different issue.”

Don’t get left outside, looking in

6) A Walmart store in Bentonville is serving as a test platform for an interesting new idea the company hopes will bring in more customers. What is it?

A) If you spend more than $100, you get to kick a union organizer in the ribs.

B) 10 percent discount if you say, “Uncle Wally sent me.”

C) Each shopper assigned her own Chinese dissident who will personally make any item on the Walmart website.

D) A drive-through service, with attendants hauling out online-ordered groceries to shoppers’ cars.

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

13

Answers: B, A, D, D, A, D

The upstarts

Tyler Pearson and Chase Busch take on right-wing incumbents Sen. Jason Rapert and Rep. Nate Bell.

BY DAVID RAMSEY

THESE UNDERDOGS BITE: Political newcomers Busch (left) and Pearson are going hard after Republican incumbents.

14

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

P

erhaps more than any other Arkansas Republicans, Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) and Rep. Nate Bell (RMena) are the bogeymen Democrats love to hate.

Rapert calls for the president’s impeachment, suggests that it’s “treasonous” to give medical treatment in the United States to American missionaries who’ve contracted the Ebola virus, rails against “the radical homosexual lobby and pro-abortionists” — and that’s all before he’s had his breakfast in the morning. He was the man behind the unconstitutional 12-week ban on abortion, a bill that in its original form would have required women to undergo an invasive transvaginal

probe. In full demagogue mode, the camera-loving lawmaker famously said, “We’re not going to allow minorities to run roughshod over what you people believe in” (Rapert insisted that he was talking about political minorities; the full speech in context suggests he was talking about religious minorities). Rapert was named both “Worst Arkansan” and “Biggest misuse of taxpayer funds” in the Arkansas Times’ 2014 Readers Poll.

Bell has not attracted national scrutiny for a piece of legislation like Rapert has for the 12-week abortion ban, but he has made national headlines for his prodigious, liberalbashing social media output. On Facebook in 2011, Bell appeared to equate Democrats with Nazis via a

quotation misattributed to Adolf Hitler. During the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bomber in 2013, Bell tweeted: “I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine? #2A.” The pugnacious, unapologetically right-wing farmer from Mena likes to brag that no one in the House Chamber has pushed the NO button as often as he has (“I wore that button out”). Part of the rump group in the legislature against the state’s “private option” health care expansion for low-income Arkansans, Bell voted to fund the policy in 2014, but only after securing a ban on state funding for outreach to let people know about the program. He was

PEARSON, RAPERT AND BELL PHOTOS BY BRIAN CHILSON

explicit that he still wants to kill the policy down the road. “We’re trying to create a barrier to enrollment,” he said, adding, “I would love to see the program fail.”

But while the two have taken their share of abuse in the pages of this publication, they maintain a strong base of support in their districts.

Rapert won by 8 percentage points in a hotly contested race in 2012; Bell won by 30. Rapert and Bell are no strangers to controversy — but do all of the hijinks actually make them vulnerable? Can Rapert and Bell, talented incumbent politicians running in conservative districts, actually be beaten in their bid for re-election?

Tyler Pearson of Conway, the

28-year-old analyst at Heifer International and a political newcomer challenging Rapert, thinks so. “This is absolutely a very winnable race,” Pearson said. “We’re outworking our opponent. We’ve knocked on more doors. We have a cash-on-hand advantage. We’ve outraised him five out of the last six months. We have a much larger grassroots support. ... It’s a testament to how passionate people are about this race. It’s possible not just because of what I’m doing, but because of what the community is doing.”

Meanwhile, another young newcomer, 27-year-old Chase Busch, a student at Arkansas Tech University who also helps out with his family business, Busch Tractor, is taking on

Bell. He said his district is ready for a change. “I think I have a very good chance,” Busch said. “People will only tolerate so much. People are proud to be where they’re from, and people will not tolerate embarrassment. When we have [a legislator] embarrassing our people, they don’t want that. That’s kind of the situation. People want a guy who’s going to serve them and try to solve a problem, not cause a problem.”

The challengers face a steep climb.

“The bottom line is that [Faulkner County] is a Republican county, this is a Republican district,” Rapert said.

Public, verified polls are hard to come by in legislative races, but internal polling show Bell and Rapert with

LIBERALS’ PUNCHING BAGS: Bell (right) and Rapert catch a lot of heat from the left, but they’re talented politicians who will be tough to beat in their conservative districts.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

15

substantial leads. “All I can tell you is that in 2010 I ran on a very clear limited government, lower taxes, less regulation platform,” Bell said. “I won by 20 percent against a Democrat who was advocating the more liberal policies. In 2012, I ran again against a gentleman who ran to the left of me on a number of issues, including Medicaid expansion. He was for it, I was opposed. And I won by 30 points.”

Pearson and Busch are unbowed.

A prominent Democrat suggested to Busch a year ago that he consider running. “I did a lot of thinking, praying and soul-searching about it,” he said. “I could feel something tugging at me, saying, ‘Chase, you just started your political career.’ ” Pearson decided to run just days before the filing deadline, after it became clear that Rapert wouldn’t have an opponent. In a matter of days, he called everyone he knew to raise the money for the filing fee. “There was a big ice storm and I had to come up to Little Rock the night before, stay in a hotel, and walk down to the Capitol in the ice, just to make sure I could file,” Pearson said. He often tells the ice-storm story, a reminder, perhaps, of his determination — and his conviction that the best way to take on an uphill battle is one step at a time.

PEARSON, BORN AND RAISED IN Conway, is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and the Clinton School of Public Service. He first came into the public eye when he was featured in stories on the Arkansas private option by MSNBC and PBS in

2014, in the midst of a tense legislative battle over whether to reauthorize the policy. Pearson, then a graduate student, was covered by the private option, and shared his experience.

“I jumped at the chance to spread my story, because I thought it was a very critical one to be told, and I know there are a lot of people like me,” he said. “I was in graduate school, and I had an internship that paid me just enough to live off of. The private option was there for me to give me health insurance that I otherwise would not have been able to afford.”

(Rapert voted for the private option, but Pearson has been critical of the senator for statements that he was taking a “wait and see” approach to the future of the policy — “I’ve said time and again that I don’t know what he’s waiting to see, because it’s clear that this program is a success.”)

Pearson said he has always understood that public policy directly affected his own life and the lives of others in his community.

He recounted reading President Bill Clinton’s autobiography: “I was reading about education reforms he passed as governor. I’m thinking, I had gifted and talented programs, AP courses, smaller class sizes, mandatory kindergarten programs. All of these things influenced my life. I went to college on Pell grants. I served in AmeriCorps after college. These were all things that he talked about in his book, and I realized how directly policy can impact people.”

Pearson has made increasing access to pre-K education and protecting

the private option a centerpiece of his campaign, as well as support for raising the minimum wage. He often cites the three-page “Jobs Now” plan on his website and said that Rapert has put too much emphasis on social issues.

“He’s not focused on jobs, education and health care, and that’s what people elected him to do,” Pearson said.

Pearson has been sharply critical of Rapert’s tenure in office.

“My opponent has embarrassed our district over the last two years that he’s been in office,” Pearson said. “I think he’s a different candidate that’s running in 2014 than 2012. I’ve had several people tell me that they voted for him last time but won’t vote for him this time, because they didn’t get what they voted for. They thought he was going to be a moderate and fiscally conservative candidate who focused on the issues that mattered to our district. But it seemed that all he cared about was getting in the spotlight and focusing on himself.

“The word that I hear everywhere I go is ‘embarrassment’ — that Jason Rapert is an embarrassment to our district and our state. And people don’t want to be embarrassed. I understand that. I felt embarrassed. That was one of the big reasons I got into the race is I was unhappy with my political representation.”

Rapert, a financial adviser, fiddle player and sometime preacher, said that Pearson was out of touch with voters in their district. “If he actually spent time in Conway, Arkansas, around the conservative people in this district, maybe he wouldn’t hear that

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I’m an embarrassment. Sure I’m an embarrassment to he and his friends that support gay marriage and support abortion on demand all the time, but I’m definitely not an embarrassment to the good families and voters that live in Conway and Faulkner County and still believe that Arkansas values and traditional Christian values actually mean something.”

Gaining steam, Rapert took on the preacher’s cadence: “So I’m sure, around his friends it might be an embarrassment. But you know what, I am proud to stand up for prolife. I am proud to stand up for good conservative policies. And if people want to vote for someone that’s going to support the policies of Barack Obama … they’ve got a choice in Mr. Tyler Pearson.”

Rapert’s most underrated skill as a politician is that for all of his bluster on the hot-button issues, he is very focused on looking out for the parochial interests of his district and ensuring that state funds flow to the powerful players. Incumbents are always hard to beat; incumbents who are adept at bringing home the bacon can be nearly unbeatable.

“I was able to help with getting $4.7 million for the University of Central Arkansas to help with capital improvement projects here locally,” Rapert said. “I was able to get $600,000 for the Arkansas Education Television Network here in my community. I was able to get $50,000 for the Faulkner County Senior Citizens center. I was able to get another $50,000 for the Conway Human Development Center, and actually I’ve been very vocal in defending the human development centers and the people they serve across our state. When it comes to getting the job done, I’ve stepped up.”

Rapert also noted his involvement in leadership and fundraising for various organizations in his district: the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, Conway Christian School.

“I’m a father and I’m a husband,” Rapert said. “So you’ve got a person in me that can understand the day-today struggles that families go through

in our communities. Or you’ve got someone that just graduated from college and does not even own a home in this district.”

When it comes to those hot-button issues, like gay marriage and abortion, Rapert remains, to say the least, not shy about his positions. He argued that Pearson, by contrast, was supported by abortion rights and gay rights groups, but avoided clear stances on those issues. “He always wants to have it both ways,” Rapert said. “One of the

of poverty via access to high-quality education and jobs, as well as access to comprehensive sex education and contraception. Pearson said that he would have voted against Rapert’s 12-week abortion ban (as well as a separate bill that banned abortions after 20 weeks) because they were unconstitutional as a matter of federal law.

“It’s already costing Arkansas taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars to fight this in the court system,

“If he actually spent time in Conway, Arkansas, around the conservative people in this district, maybe he wouldn’t hear that I’m an embarrassment.

Sure I’m an embarrassment to he and his friends that support gay marriage and support abortion on demand all the time, but I’m definitely not an embarrassment to the good families and voters that live in Conway and Faulkner county and still believe that Arkansas values and traditional Christian values actually mean something.” — Jason Rapert first lessons he’s going to have to learn in life is that you actually need to take a stand.”

On abortion, Pearson said, the labels “pro-choice” and “pro-life” were “a little too black and white for me.” Pearson, a Catholic, said, “My personal beliefs are my personal beliefs, but as a state senator, I will keep in mind that I’m representing 83,000 people and I’m not going to force my views on other people. I think it’s a deeply personal issue that should be decided between a woman, her family, her doctor, her God, and not by some politician like me.”

He said that he would like to reduce the number of abortions in the state, and argued that the best way to do so was to lift people out

and to me that’s not a very fiscally conservative message,” he said. “It’s all show — it’s grandstanding on the issue just to get Jason Rapert in the spotlight but it’s not getting anything done.”

Pearson said he does not take a position on gay marriage. “That’s going to be an issue decided by the Supreme Court, and I can’t really do anything about it,” he said. Pearson said he would uphold the law, whether marriage continues to be defined as between one man and one woman or the law changes via the courts. “That’s not an issue in my race and that’s not something I’m trying to focus on,” he said.

Rapert and other Republicans CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

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have questioned Pearson’s Conway residency at the time he filed, pointing to Pearson’s story of walking to the Capitol in the ice and a photo caption in MSNBC’s online story that mentioned him staying at a friend’s place in Little Rock. Pearson said he walked from a hotel, not his residence, and that during grad school he sometimes stayed with friends overnight in Little Rock when up late studying, but maintained a permanent residence in Conway. “It’s kind of like the new birther conspiracy,” Pearson said. “Are they gonna want to see my birth certificate?”

“I guess you would have to say this,” Rapert said. “If I’m going to have an opponent, Tyler Pearson is exactly the opponent that I would want to run against — an inexperienced, very liberal young man who does not represent the values of Conway, Arkansas, and the rest of Faulkner County.”

Said Pearson, “He wants to say that I don’t have Conway values? I live in Conway, I’m from Conway.”

Pearson said that Rapert hammering him on issues like abortion and gay marriage exposes part of the reason Pearson chose to run against him. “I’m focused on jobs, economy, health care, education, infrastructure,” he said.

“People want a state senator who’s going to work for everybody — not take every chance he gets to grab the spotlight.”

“BEFORE I BEGIN, I GOT TO THINKING, it may not be a good idea for you to do an interview on me,” Busch joked the first time the Times called him. “You want to know why? Because I think my opponent gives y’all job security.”

He’s got a point. Save Rapert, surely no Arkansas politician has taken more heat from the Times’ Arkansas Blog over the past few years than Bell (his re-election in 2012, wrote the Blog’s Max Brantley, “guarantees extremist quote machine fodder”).

Taking down the two-term incumbent won’t be easy. Bell is more popular in his district than he is at the Arkansas Blog, and he claims that an internal poll shows him with a lead of more than 30 points over Busch (no information about Bell’s poll has been released publicly, but a blowout is in line with the conventional wisdom and with Bell’s easy victory in 2012).

In addition to Bell and Busch, the race also features a Libertarian candidate, Marc Rosson, a farmer and landlord from Gillham (Sevier 18

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ARKANSAS TIMES

County), who objects to Bell’s vote to fund the private option in 2014 and his vote for Issue 3, the legislatively referred ballot initiative impacting term limits and pay for legislators.

“There’s no conservative [that] would have voted for any of those bills, not if they’re really conservative,” Rosson said. “A dog can call itself conservative, but it’s still not conservative.”

The situation has Bell, rather remarkably, casting himself as the man in the middle. “I have my Democrat[ic] opponent, who has described me as an extreme rightwinger, and my libertarian opponent, who has described me in various terms, most all of which include the word Obama,” Bell said. “The voters will express their opinion on Nov. 4, but from where I sit and based on the polling we have at this point, it certainly doesn’t appear to be a winning message. Clearly the folks in my district have been very supportive.

Actually I was fairly surprised to have an opponent at all.”

Busch believes that things have changed since Bell’s big victories in the past and that voters in the district have grown dissatisfied with the incumbent, who he said has been unresponsive to constituents. “A lot of people are not happy with my opponent,” Busch said. “I had a guy tell me — and he’s Republican to the bone — he said, ‘I agree with your opponent 90 or 95 percent of the time, but I’m going to vote for you because Nate’s an a-hole.’

There’s been a bunch of that. Voters don’t like the way he treats people, and he’s come across as very, very arrogant.”

Busch also believes that people have become fed up with the controversy that follows the always quotable Bell. “My opponent has said all kinds of outlandish things,” Busch said. In addition to noting the “Hitler” incident, Busch has given particular focus to the Boston tweet.

In fact, Busch’s first foray into public life was a letter to the Mena Star arguing that Bell should resign after the tweet. “This is not the view of the people of this area,” Busch wrote. “I strongly believe that he should resign as a result of this comment. This is a major breach of leadership because it did not make anything better, caused problems [and] destroyed friendly relations.” Busch added, “The people of this area and I do love our guns and we shall not have these rights infringed, but the power of love and prayer should be our main focus in

this crisis situation.”

Busch said he was inspired to write the letter because “when [Bell] said that awful, awful thing about Boston, that’s when he revealed himself. ... I know that Arkansas and Massachusetts are two totally different cultures, but they are our countrymen, they’re citizens. To infer someone who thinks differently than we do are cowards, that drew the line there.”

“Clearly my opponent would like to run a campaign on the basis of one tweet,” Bell said. “I’ll just simply say that being a member of the legislature is about more than one tweet.”

Of the tweet itself, Bell said: “It’s not an issue in my district. Folks there agree with my point of view on firearms and the personal use of firearms. I made it very clear that the timing certainly had a negative effect on some people. I meant exactly what I said. But sometimes tactfully it’s better to refrain from saying some things at certain times.”

Bell added that he had counted 13 major media figures who made “the same basic statement ... without any repercussions whatsoever.”

Busch was born and raised in Mena.

He doesn’t know Bell personally but said Bell lives about a mile from his house as the crow flies (“this love thy neighbor thing is getting tested,” Busch quipped). His website highlights the sorts of things that find their way onto “ ’Merica!” T-shirts: “In his spare time, Chase enjoys dirt track racing, classic cars, and hunting.” He’s an NRA member and a devout Baptist. “I’m a religious guy and my faith is very, very important to me, but I won’t beat you over the head with it,” he said.

Busch describes himself as a centrist, comparing himself to Mike Ross and to middle-of-the-road Democrats in the legislature. “I’m a moderate,” he said. “I don’t consider myself a conservative or a liberal. I’d be the guy that’s right in the middle of that spectrum.” He acknowledged that the district leaned right, but noted that Ross consistently carried Polk County when he was running for Congress. “We’re conservative,” Busch said. “We like our Bible and our guns. That’s the way our district is. People are going to tend to be very, very conservative on gays, abortion and guns — but I think they want someone who’s also going to invest in their schools, and has a positive plan to bring in jobs and bring in better health care.”

Busch said that he was opposed to same-sex marriage. “I’m a lot like what the district is,” he said. “I’m not anti-gay by any means. I’m no Jason Rapert.” He described himself as “opposed to abortion” and said he would favor laws that made abortion illegal with exceptions for rape, incest or maternal health. However, he said he would have voted against the bills passed last year in the legislature banning abortion at 12 weeks and 20 weeks because “they were unconstitutional because of federal law, which overrides state law.” On gun control, he said, “I do believe in the Second Amendment. I think if you’re a law-abiding citizen, if you want to try to have a gun or get possession of a firearm, you’re not hurting my feelings.”

Busch said his policy focus was on education and protecting the private option. Bell, Busch said, “has been candid about saying he does not want [the private option] to work.”

Bell believes that the private option is unsustainable and unaffordable, but he did vote to fund the policy in 2014, arguing that due to the constraints of the fiscal session and the deadlock in votes, the best way forward for his side was to get what they could and live to fight another day. That tactical logic didn’t satisfy Rosson, the Libertarian candidate, a gadfly who has run for numerous offices in the past. “The best tactic I can figure out is that if you’re against something, you don’t vote for it, you don’t fund it,” he said.

“He’s somehow managed to be even more [right-wing than Bell],” Busch said of Rosson. If Rosson can peel off a few Tea Party diehards still smarting over the Obamacare-funded private option, “that only helps me,” Busch said. (There’s one thing the two agree on: “He’s just about been an embarrassment,” Rosson said of Bell. “He don’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”)

Like Pearson, Busch himself is covered by the private option. “It was designed for people like me, people who are trying to get ahead, trying to do what they can, but may not have the best health insurance available to them because of their pre-existing condition,” said Busch, who has epilepsy. “[Bell] doesn’t want the private option. He doesn’t care if it helps people, he doesn’t want it to work. That’s a stark difference [between us]. We’ve got to do what we can to help as many people as we can.” Busch noted that more than 1,500 people in Polk County have gained private option coverage, and argued that Mena Regional Health

System has benefited from the policy.

“It’s the only hospital in the district, and when seconds count, we need the best medical facilities possible here,” he said. “Without the private option, there could be a possibility that we lose our hospital.” Busch, whose mother works at the hospital, said, “I don’t want to see anybody laid off because of someone’s extreme, scorched-earth ideology, where they don’t want to help people.”

Busch said that he could recall watching the news with his greatgrandmother, who told him stories of how New Deal programs helped people during the Depression. He said that he was a Democrat because they “have a better record of helping the poor and middle class. Trying to help the common person, the worker and the poor. With hands up, not handouts. Opportunities, programs, jobs, helping people get on their feet and going.”

But can a Democrat running to the left of Bell win in District 20? Bell said that he would not say anything negative about his opponents but expressed skepticism.

“There are major differences between the Republican party platform and the Democrat[ic] party platform,” he said.

“I’m going to assume that someone agrees in principle with the Democrat[ic] party platform if they decide to run on that platform.” That platform, Bell said, did not have a winning history of late in his district.

For his part, Busch said, “I think we’ve got a shot to win, I really do.” Busch said that Bell was backed by PACs and lobbyists, while the bulk of his own support was from local people. The exception: He’s gotten some donations from Boston, plus an endorsement from a Boston city councilman. “For some weird reason,” he said, “I’ve turned into a Red Sox fan.”

MOST OBSERVERS VIEW PEARSON and Busch as long shots. Bell losing his re-election would almost certainly be the most shocking upset of the cycle; while the Rapert race promises to be tighter, one lobbyist told me that Republicans were ultimately a lock in Senate District 35, and a Republican would only lose if “caught with a dead girl or a live boy.”

“A key mistake that Arkansas Democrats are making in this cycle is that they have devoted a lot of time, energy and money to running against people they don’t like instead of people that they can beat,” Bell said.

Both Ross and Democratic Party chairman Vince Insalaco have hosted fundraisers for Pearson and Busch.

Pearson in particular has been a

fundraising machine — a testament to his talents in that area, but also surely an expression of the local Democratic id, putting money behind rage against Rapert.

There has been occasional grumbling that perhaps high-profile lightning rods like Bell and Rapert are sucking in attention and fundraising dollars that might be better devoted to tight races where Democrats are favored or neck-and-neck.

Insalaco dismissed such concerns.

“We made an effort to go after quality candidates statewide and I think we’ve done it,” he said. Rapert and Bell might get a lot of attention from the media, he argued (noting, for example, this story), but the party was working aggressively on a couple of dozen races. “I didn’t set out to [target] Jason Rapert and Nate Bell. If you look at the map, we went out to deliberately recruit top-tier, quality candidates [including Pearson and Busch] and we’ve got them everywhere. If we win the House back it will be because of our candidates.”

Of course there could be advantages to Democrats even if Busch and Pearson turn out to be sacrificial lambs. Getting the base to turn out even in districts where Democrats are the minority could help statewide candidates like Mike Ross and Mark Pryor. Rapert, meanwhile, suggested that “the Democratic machine” wanted opposition for Bell and him in order to keep them too busy to spend time working to elect Republicans Asa Hutchinson as governor and Tom Cotton as senator.

Moreover, as several Democratic insiders pointed out to me, you never know. You can’t win if you don’t play.

The long-term health of the party benefits from competing statewide, and the Democrats this cycle appear to be pursuing a strategy of expanding the map. Rapert and Bell attract the headlines, but Democrats are taking on other GOP incumbents and playing in other districts where they face an uphill battle. They’re fielding strong candidates in Republican strongholds in Northwest Arkansas, such as Leah Williams in Bentonville and Grimsley Graham in Rogers, both seats occupied in recent years by Tea Party stalwarts; they’re also mounting a challenge in Rapert country, where Frank Shaw is taking on Rep. David Meeks (R-Conway).

If nothing else, candidates like Busch and Pearson give voters in their districts a choice. As Pearson put it, explaining why he got into the race to begin with: “I just knew that I wanted to vote for somebody other than Jason Rapert.” www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

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‘BIBLE-BASED’ BRIBERY, CONT. ity will stay open until the transfer is complete. Suhl has 30 days to appeal the suspensions.

Trinity and Maxus have been paid a total of $135,642,337 for Medicaid inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services since 2009.

Webb said the FBI first got in touch with DHS earlier this year, interviewing some staff members.

Suhl’s lawyer, Michael Scotti of Chicago law firm Freeborn and Peters, did not return phone calls from the Arkansas Times by press time. The Democrat-Gazette reported Tuesday that Suhl has denied wrongdoing through his attorney and was unaware of the investigation until last week, when Jones pleaded guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges set out in the information filed by the U.S. attorney’s office. That information says Jones solicited the bribes.

Cherith Beck, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office, said Jones could be sentenced to not more than five years in federal prison and fined $250,000 and three years’ supervised release on the conspiracy charge and not more than 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine plus three years’ supervised release for the bribery charge. A sentencing hearing is set for April 2 in federal court.

According to the information filed in court, money was delivered to Jones from Suhl through two intermediaries, whose names were also kept anonymous: “Person A,” a pastor and superintendent of a church in West Memphis, and “Person B,” a former Crittenden County juvenile probation officer and West Memphis city councilman. The checks were made out to the pastor’s church; the pastor then provided cash to Jones during meetings at restaurants, according to the information on file with the court.

The information includes a

…he’d received “too many complaints” against it. One of those complaints, Blair told legislators, was that staff at the Lord Ranch punished children by sitting on them, pulling their arms back or making them stand against a wall all day. Suhl attended the hearing, saying he would discipline staff if it were proved that the accusations were true. recorded phone conversation between Jones and Person B: “PERSON B: Listen, this is what I called you about. Our friend got some concerns about the way some of the referral process is going in Northeast Arkansas. [Competitor company], it’s like, everybody is obligated to give them to [competitor company]. I don’t know if that’s a move that was made by the state or what, but nothing has changed here in Crittenden County, we have a system of how we refer.

“JONES: I know you got that on lock (laughing).

“PERSON B: Yeah, yeah. [PERSON C] just had some concerns so, when you get home this weekend, if you can man, well it’s state convocation [for PERSON B’S church] this weekend, so we probably won’t get a chance to touch. But within the next two weeks.

“JONES: Yeah, I’ve actually been, I actually intended to call you a couple of weeks ago. Because some stuff, I told you I sit in on the monitor meetings now, because of [PERSON C].

“PERSON B: Right.

“JONES: And some stuff came up with [PERSON C] at the last … not

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[PERSON C] personally, regarding [PERSON C’S] organization which is directed at [PERSON C] and I got the new monitoring reports yesterday. … Monday, and I just haven’t read them yet, but I was going to say, hell, you might, uh, get back on schedule.”

Later in the conversation, Jones tells Person B he’ll provide information on the internal reports about Person C [Suhl] and to let him know “of the stuff that’s been said” about him.

Person B is possibly Phillip Wayne Carter, a former West Memphis city councilman who was sentenced in 2013 in federal court to three years’ probation for conspiracy to commit election fraud in the case involving District 54 Rep. Hudson Hallum, who also pleaded guilty. According to the U.S. attorney’s office press release on Carter’s sentencing, Carter resigned from his position as Crittenden County juvenile probation officer as a result of the federal charges.

Beck said the U.S. attorney’s office would not reveal the identities of Person A and Person B unless charges are brought against them. She confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.

The Lord’s Ranch claim of “Biblebased” therapy appealed to Huckabee, who visited the facility when he was lieutenant governor. A contributor to Huckabee’s political campaigns, Suhl once provided the governor and his family jet transportation to a political event in Virginia. Huckabee appointed Suhl to the Child Welfare Agency Review Board in 2000 and reappointed him in 2004. The board licenses child care facilities — including Suhl’s.

Suhl’s political moves extended to

the legislature, where he lobbied heavily during the years Huckabee was governor (1996-2007) and in the early years of Gov. Beebe’s administration to keep state Medicaid dollars flowing to residential care for the mentally ill.

In 2006, state Rep. Buddy Blair of Fort Smith convened a legislative hearing to look into the Lord’s Ranch because, he said, he’d received “too many complaints” against it. One of those complaints, Blair told legislators, was that staff at the Lord’s Ranch punished children by sitting on them, pulling their arms back or making them stand against a wall all day. Suhl attended the hearing, saying he would discipline staff if it were proved that the accusations were true.

In a 2009 article by Mary Jacoby in the Times — which she had reported for the Wall Street Journal but which the Journal lost interest in after it became clear Huckabee would not be a candidate for president — she quoted former Lord’s Ranch patients as saying Bible study in the federally funded facility was not voluntary, since the other option was to stand against a wall all day. In 1993, a Lord’s Ranch staff member reported to child welfare inspectors that a counselor threw a boy against lockers and hit him in the head. The DHS found the report credible.

In 2006, DHS received allegations by an Alaska youth that he’d been assaulted at the ranch and that he’d been taunted as “gay” afterward. The agency would not comment on the allegations, citing privacy laws.

Bob Bennett, President Clinton’s lawyer in the Paula Jones case, was designated by Suhl to respond to Jacoby’s inquiries for the story.

In 2007, the Child Welfare board defeated a proposal by state Sen. Sue Madison to make the board independent of the facilities it regulated. But with Huckabee out of office and Gov. Beebe in and determined to reform the state’s delivery of mental health care, two other “Lord’s Ranch bills” that would have codified a preference for institutional care and increased reimbursement rates for providers were defeated.

Since the publication of the story in 2009, the Times has continued to receive allegations by former patients of past physical abuse at the Lord’s Ranch. None of the incidents alleged, however, had occurred in the past 10 years.

www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

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arlier this year, the Arkansas Times asked if I would work on a project they were pursuing with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the goal of which was to encourage economic development in the state’s nonprofit sector. I spoke to the leaders of and wrote about the national and international nonprofits that have their global headquarters in Arkansas, asking why they located here and why other nonprofits should consider having their headquarters here, too. It was an opportunity for me to meet with and learn from a breadth of people I never would have had the chance to speak with otherwise.

And it made me think. If Arkansas is serious about economic development, I thought, we need to focus on entrepreneurs. In particular, women entrepreneurs. I approached the Arkansas Times about the idea, ticking off a few women-owned businesses that were still in operation and had been for decades. It was these women I thought should be promoted — the ones who started with nothing or very close to it, stuck it out in good times and bad, and are still here today. In addition or maybe because of a variety of reasons — marriage, divorce, having and

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After brainstorming with several people who have knowledge of the leaders in each category, we compiled a list of women in five different industries and selected several to portray in each. A priority for us was to feature women who Arkansans aren’t so used to seeing in traditional and social media, and our criteria for who is profiled is based on range in experience, backgrounds, age and their particular takes on their industry. All of them have unique stories, all of them came to entrepreneurship in different ways, and all of them had one thing in common — never quit if what you are doing is your calling.

Each week in October, look for these women in food, professional services, nontraditional, retail and design, and assets industries. This week, we focus on women entrepreneurs in the professional services industry: authors, publishers, therapists, brokers and attorneys, among others. We hope you find inspiration in their stories and motivation in their successes. — KD Reep

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says was difficult to balance. “I would work, come home and cook supper, get everyone into bed and settled, then go back to work,” she said. “On Fridays, I would stay up all night catching up on my caseload.”

Hicks’practice grew to the point she hired additional lawyers and support staff, eventually founding Hicks & Associates in North Little Rock. This allowed her more flexibility and to enjoy the practice of law, which is always challenging her knowledge and skills.

“Every situation is different,” Hicks said.

“I’ve been doing this since 1993, and every week I encounter a new legal situation. I would advise anyone who was planning to open a law practice to develop a good group of attorney friends for support and whom you can call to talk over difficult problems.”

Hicks also is a trained certified mediator, and while she can mediate any case, she focuses on those that involve divorce, custody and other family issues.

“People know their own situation better than anyone else,” Hicks said. “What I want to do is help families customize a solution based on their own needs. If I, as a neutral third party, can facilitate a discussion and help people arrive at that solution, everyone wins.

“As an attorney, I take every case I represent seriously. If a situation can’t be mediated, I want to work with my client as a partner to get the best outcome possible. What I tell people is, hiring an attorney is like buying a pair of shoes, not every pair is going to fit. You have to find an attorney you can work with that fits your needs.”

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N

MINOR IS AN ARCHITECT OF MEMORIES

ever in Cindy Fox Minor’s wildest dreams did she imagine she’d become a travel agent.

“I have a degree in history. The original plan was law school,” said Minor, the owner of Small World Big Fun, a travel agency specializing in family vacations.

Each year, Small World Big Fun helps thousands of families plan vacations to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. “But Disney is not all we do,” Minor said.

“We also plan vacations to destinations all over the world, including Europe, South America and China.”

Minor knows that families are busy and planning a Disney vacation can be complicated. Small World Big Fun exists to take the stress out of vacation planning. “My clients realize that the time they have with their children is limited and precious. Family vacations are a priority to them, and my job is to make planning those vacations easy.”

Minor’s passion is to help families connect and spend quality time together.

She began planning trips to Disney World for friends as a hobby more than 20 years ago.

“Vacation planning turned out to be a great outlet for my penchant for research and planning. It didn’t occur to me that I could actually get paid to do this until early 2000. A friend was planning a trip, and I was sharing some tips and information with her.

Another friend overheard our conversation and suggested I talk to her mother. I said,‘Oh, is she planning a trip to Disney World?’ She said, ‘No, my mother is the vice president of leisure travel for a local travel agency. You need to go to work for her.’So I did. I worked for that agency as a part-time independent contractor for seven years.”

In 2008, Minor was at a point in her life where she was facing some big changes. “I needed to go back to work full time,” she said. “Being a travel agent was the only thing that made sense to me, but I knew that I couldn’t make the money I needed working for somebody else.”

She started her own travel business

— at the beginning of a recession, with no money, no guaranteed income and no safety net. “It seemed ludicrous. Who starts a travel agency when the economy is so bad? But, I knew in my gut that starting my own agency was the right decision, even though I was petrified.”

A close friend, Vivian Blair, gave her the nudge she needed. “Vivian told me

point-blank, ‘You can do this.’ She gave me a boot pendant I wear on a necklace every day. It was a not-so-subtle kick to get me off center, and it reminds me every day to keep walking forward.”

One year after founding Small World Big Fun, Minor was awarded the Authorized Disney Vacation Planner designation, and recently she was appointed to Disney’s EarMarked Travel Advisory Council, a group of 20 travel agency owners and managers who are selected by Disney leadership to review travel industry trends and share feedback on a variety of business topics. In the past six years, she has grown a hobby into a multimillion-dollar business with 18 agents in four states.

“If you know you can do it, but fear is holding you back, take the leap,” Minor said. “Don’t let fear stop you.”

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Sponsored p byy

WOMEN Entrepreneurs

JOYCEFowler, PH.D. DEEP ROOTS OF STRENGTH CARRY FOWLER

I

t takes someone with a certain strength of character to look within and accept her strengths, weaknesses, needs, wants. But it takes a person with a unique depth to help others do this. Joyce Fowler, Ph.D., is that person.

Fowler, the founder and president of The Fowler Institute, knew she wanted to be a psychologist from the time she was 19 years old and attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

“I started college to study science and biology, but I took my first psychology class and loved it,” Fowler said. “I was considering psychology as a major, so I visited with my uncle, who was an academic and clinical psychologist at a medical school in Oklahoma. We discussed the profession and the many different things that a psychologist could do.”

Fowler earned her undergraduate degree in three and a half years, then earned her master’s in social work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She worked in many different settings, including community mental health, residential treatment, inpatient rehabilitation, inpatient substance abuse and employee assistance before returning to school to work on her doctorate in psychology. It was when she moved to Little Rock to work for an agency that she developed a plan for beginning a private practice.

“I negotiated with my employer to use my office in the evenings to begin seeing people privately once I became licensed to practice psychotherapy,”Fowler said.“I began seeing more and more people until I rented my own office and had to cut back on my hours with my employer. At first, I went from five days to three days to two days a week until I went into private practice full time.

“I come from a family who values hard work, education, service to others and living what you value. I found being an entrepreneur was the best way to realize these values.”

After six years in private practice, Fowler pursued her doctorate in clinical psychology while continuing to build her business. “I was limited to providing psychotherapy

services with my master’s degree, and I still wanted to become a psychologist,” Dr. Fowler said. “I didn’t want to lose any of the progress I’d made in building my practice so I continued to work nights and weekends while also completing coursework and getting clinical psychology training.”

Fowler credits the guidance and counsel of her attorney, accountant and banker for helping her develop the business side of her practice and craft a five-year

business plan at the beginning. She also had the counsel of other private practitioners who mentored her.

Today, The Fowler Institute has expanded its staff and developed a team to provide a broad range of comprehensive services. It also is a training site for doctoral psychology trainees, and the comprehensive assessment/testing services has enhanced the practice’s ability to understand clients and develop better interventions.

“These testing services also have led to consulting opportunities with other clinicians and organizations,” Fowler said.

Fowler notes continuing education/lifelong learning, an enduring commitment and passion for her work, and networking as reasons for her success as an entrepreneur and psychologist.

“I would not be in practice without the relationships I have developed over the years,” Fowler said. “Get to know your peers, keep abreast of what’s happening in your profession or industry, and contribute to it. Otherwise, you risk becoming isolated and out of touch, and you could become stagnant. I also believe it is important to give back to your profession and invest in the next generation.”

Passion for the work you pursue will help carry you through the tough times, Fowler said. “Just as important is the love and support from my family, which has sustained me during difficult times. When you own your business, you take on a lot of risk, put in a lot of sweat equity, and at the end of the day you are the one left to handle the crises. There are times when life can get out of balance, and it’s OK if it is temporary, but it doesn’t need to be a way of life. It is important to maintain a healthy balance personally and professionally.

“My uncle died a few months ago. At his memorial, this quote from a poem he wrote spoke to me as I strive to keep a healthy work-life balance: ‘… take heart most of all from where you’ve come, from where you are, and especially, my family, rejoice in that quiet but enduring love of each one for the other!’ ” ■

“My uncle died a few months ago. At his memorial, this quote from a poem he wrote spoke to me as I strive to keep a healthy work-life balance: ‘… take heart most of all from where you’ve come, from where you are, and especially, my family, rejoice in that quiet but enduring love of each one for the other!’ ” — Joyce Fowler, Ph.D ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT www.arktimes.com

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WOMEN Entrepreneurs

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MARYParham PASSION, GRACE KEYS TO PARHAM’S SUCCESS

M

ary Parham, the founder of J Kelly Referrals and Information Services Inc. in Little Rock, leads her life by faith in her family, God, community and herself.

“God gave me a purpose, which is to serve the community,” Parham said.“One day I sat down in my living room and wrote a business plan to address the needs in our communities that were not being met. I stepped out on faith with $600 to start J Kelly Referrals, which is named after my father, and I felt there was no greater calling in my life.”

Parham followed that passion to improve the opportunities for Arkansas, raise awareness of minority health and diversity issues, and hire people who need a second chance. She quit her job at St. Vincent Health System in 1999 and began working out of her home, providing business-to-business telecommunication services and free referrals to the public.

While Parham knew she would succeed, others weren’t as

sure in the beginning.

“My family and friends would ask me why I would quit a good job when I’d never run a business,” she said. “I just marveled at such a question, thinking ‘Well, if we stopped being creative when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, we would never have experienced the technology of today.’”

Parham is no stranger to challenges and adversity. A relative molested her when she was 9 years old. She was utterly devastated, feeling like she had no one to talk to about it.

“I turned to the Lord, who gave me strength and courage to overcome,”Parham said.“He gladly took my burden so that I could forgive myself as well as the relative in question. From that point on, I decided that I am more than a conqueror and

MICHELETowne SMALL BUDGETS, BIG DREAMS LEAD TOWNE AND INVITING ARKANSAS

M

ichele Towne embodies the characteristics that her publication, Inviting Arkansas, portrays: She’s welcoming, beautiful, Southern, hospitable and charitable. A natural leader, Towne began her career in sales, ultimately moving into starting her own publication in 2002.

“My first job was selling office equipment for straight commission,”Towne said.“It taught me to manage a territory like it was my own business; if I didn’t sell anything, I didn’t make anything. After some initial success, the reality check came when I slacked off one month and didn’t get a paycheck.

So I learned early about self-motivation and perseverance.”

Towne said that first job shaped her career, and she went on from there to work for herself. In 2001, she had an idea to start a social, fashion and entertaining magazine for Central Arkansas. Towne saw it as an opportunity to build a business from the ground up, which she had never done.

“Being competitive by nature, it was a challenge I couldn’t resist,”she said.“Since my children were both in grade school

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then, I felt the timing and schedules would never be better, so we launched in early 2002.”

A native of Memphis, Tenn., Towne didn’t know anyone when she moved to Little Rock.

She says that through Inviting Arkansas, she was invited to and attended “almost every type of social event in Central Arkansas imaginable.

The magazine has allowed me to meet so many wonderful, generous people from all walks of life.

We work closely with the nonprofit community; these relationships have rewarded our staff with insight and appreciation we would not otherwise have been exposed to.”

All of the events posed a challenge for Towne, too. Working with a small budget, she thought she could put together a part-time staff, but there were so many components to publishing – scheduling, writing, photography, layout, advertising sales and

wouldn’t let the regret of yesterday destroy my hopes for the future.”

AfterParhamfounded her company, funding and breaking into the market were her main challenges. By supplying diversity to the business community, she exposes her clients to an untapped resource while also helping the community.

While it was hard to sell her company’s concept to a bank, through perseverance she serves as the president and CEO of J Kelly, as well as hosts her own radio program, J Kelly Business to Business, on KPZK “Praise 102.5 FM” every Saturday at 10 a.m.

Throughout the company’s 15 years, Parham has worked with such clients as CenterPoint Energy, Entergy and Intralot.

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“If we stopped being creative when Alexander Graham Bell

KAYBona

invented the telephone, we would

never have experienced the technology of today.”

— Mary Parham Her career achievements include completing the business program at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.; being named the U.S. Small Business Person of the Year; the Minority Business Enterprise of the Year for eight years running from the ArkansasMississippi Minority Business Council; and the 2007 Tax Bite Award in recognition of Outstanding Support of the Pulaski Empowerment Zone. In 2007, the Racial Cultural Diversity Board appointed her its commissioner, and in 2008 Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Parham to the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board, where she is still an active commissioner. She has accomplished all of this with the support of her husband, Herbert, to whom she has been married for more than 30 years.

Her counsel for others considering starting their own businesses is based in passion, not business.

“Make sure it is not only about making money,” Parham said. “You have to be committed, and no matter your gender or your own family circumstances, you must be passionate about your business and employees. Don’t let the regrets of yesterday destroy the hopes of tomorrow.”

■

distribution, among others — that she had to build a staff, and quickly.

“We were ultimately able to assemble a small, full-time staff of very talented people who truly believed in the magazine and gave their hearts and souls to make it successful,” Towne said. “I will be forever grateful to all of those people who have worked for me. We could not have done it without them. The 2008 recession was certainly no fun for anyone, especially small businesses. We kept our heads down and our staff lean, and were fortunate to have loyal readers and advertisers to pull us through.”

More than a decade later, Inviting Arkansas remains a premier social and lifestyle magazine for Central Arkansas and has featured personalities from Gov. Mike Beebe to G. Dennis to P. Allen Smith. Towne says the mission of the publication is the same today as it was the day she launched the publication: to show photos of happy people enjoying a great time, generally in support of a great cause that benefits the community.

“When you see us taking those pictures at a black-tie event, more than likely we have on our jeans and boots underneath our gowns,”Towne said.

Her advice to others considering taking on a publication of their own is similar to the advice for living a happy life: Follow your dream.

“Don’t sleep your way through the planning process,” Towne said.

“And never take anything for granted. Your idea may sound great to you and those around you, but research and testing are critical.

We printed mock issues before our launch and showed them to hundreds of people before making our final decision to go. If you will need employees, hire people who believe in your concept and who will be dedicated to its ultimate success. Be realistic about how quickly success will come; nothing is as easy as it looks from a time perspective and certainly not from a financial perspective. But, if it really is your dream, don’t give up.”

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WOMEN Entrepreneurs

NEWSPAPER GIG NOW IN BONA’S BLOOD

O

f all the things Kay Bona thought she would do as a career, publishing a daily newspaper in Arkansas was never one of them.

“I was living in Colorado and working as the receptionist for a CBS television affiliate,” Bona said. “That’s where I met my husband, Don. He was running the station, and he was a Razorback through and through.”

Kay and Don married and moved back to Arkansas to care for Don’s parents. It was this same time that Bill Rector asked them to take on the Daily Record, Central Arkansas’s source for real estate, legal and business information.

The Daily Record, a weekly newspaper, provides news about business and commerce, and it is a resource for public notices and business data. While the newspaper had survived seven decades, it was waning in the 1990s.

“I didn’t know the first thing about working at a newspaper,” Bona said. “When we became partners in 2001, I worked every position except layout and mockup. I had to learn how to post the public notices, handle subscriptions and work with advertisers. It was a blur.”

Within the first few years, the Bonas reduced staff to just four employees: original staff members Bill Rector, Amy Sherrill (who remains with the Daily Record today), and just themselves. Gradually, they began adding staff, the first of which was David Smiley, a recent graduate in information technology, who Bona credits with bringing the paper’s processes into the 21st century.

“At one point, we grew to 25 employees,”Bona said. “Many of our employees have been with us for years. We function much like a family. In fact, our son, Bobby, is the general manager. Our niece, Becca, is the managing editor. And Molly Rector, Bill Rector’s daughter, is a columnist.”

Throughout more than a decade of ownership and management, Bona and her team have transformed the Daily Record into more than a public notice and data publication. Today, the Daily Record each week brings its readers in-depth articles and profiles from consistent, award-winning journalists and photographers.This complements the paper’s consistent promotion of the most comprehensive information on real estate, the courts and local business activity, all gathered each day from public records, including

lawsuits, court actions, business licenses, tax liens, corporate charters, building permits, deeds, foreclosures, bankruptcies and more.

“It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to take on this challenge and turn it into an opportunity for our family and community,” Bona said. “If I

had it all to do over again, even after all I know now, I’d do it in a heartbeat. It’s been a long and wonderful ride.”

Bona notes that while the newspaper industry has changed radically, the Daily Record is still a product that people want and use.

“You have to be willing to change,” Bona said.

“Particularly in the newspaper business, you have to evolve with the way people consume their news. If that’s the Internet for some and newsprint for others, we work to accommodate both.”

Bona follows this advice with management, too. “You have to be patient and not expect too much at one time,” she said. “Building a business and its success doesn’t happen overnight. You have to work at it one day at a time, and you have to be patient and persistent.”

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MARALeveritt AUTHOR LEVERITT PADDLES WITH PURPOSE FOR SURVIVAL

T

he Arkansas Delta is fertile in many aspects: rich soil for cotton, rice and soybeans and as the birthplace of the blues. It also has poverty, apathy and marginalized citizens. It was in the world’s spotlight when three teenage boys were accused and convicted of the brutal murders of three elementary schoolboys in West Memphis in 1993-94.

Tagged the West Memphis Three, they spent almost two decades in prison before entering Alford pleas, which allowed them to assert their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them.

It took one person to tell the collective story of the West Memphis Three, and by telling it in such an effective way, she brought enough attention to the case to help them leave prison. For Mara Leveritt, the power of telling a story well and accurately led to her career as an author

and activist for justice.

“Sometimes life presents us with one-time opportunities,” Leveritt said. “A divorce in 1995 became that for me. I spent some time alone, in the mountains and at the sea, and decided to throw all my resources — spiritual, intellectual and financial — into the possibility of a book about a story I believed needed to be told.

“Realistically, with a part-time job, I had one year to get an agent and a publisher’s advance. My fallback plan, if time ran out, was a job waitressing at Waffle House. Seriously — I’ve always liked Waffle House. But a publisher bought my book proposal in the nick of time, setting me on a course that has since allowed me to merge my concerns about justice with my craft of writing.”

Leveritt doesn’t care for true crime, but she does care

about how public officials behave in the justice system.

She first wrote “The Boys on the Tracks,” about corruption in Saline County. Next, matching her natural talent for writing with her honed reporting skills, she turned to court papers to find answers in the West Memphis Three case. What she found were more questions. It was then she decided to write “Devil’s Knot.” This summer, she self-published “Dark Spell,” her second book about the case.

“Challenges and opportunities are part of earning a living,” Leveritt said. “For example, banks don’t recognize

GLORIALawson TRUSTING IN THE EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS

“I

’vealwayshadastrongindependentstreak,sothatlaunched itall,”saidGloriaLawson,ownerandCEOofLawson&Co.,a marketing, printing and image consulting company in Little Rock.

True to her spirit, Lawson says she always believed she would have her own business; she just did not know what industry. After growing up in Heber Springs, Lawson began her career in administrative roles, which she says afforded her a different perspective on business.

“When I first started working, I was in secretarial roles, and I learned you had to be flexible and learn all the different advances that were happening,” Lawson said. “I learned in sales that customer service was the first priority.”

Lawson took on the position of office manager for the Arkansas Times, the first one ever for the publication. It was the Times publisher, Alan Leveritt, who told her she should be in sales.

“That scared me to death,” Lawson said. “I told him, ‘Let’s see how this office manager role goes,’ but after about

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a year or so, I’d learned how the business worked, how publishing worked, and I said, ‘I think I’d like to start in sales.’

“Alan said I had the personality for sales because I was approachable, all business and wouldn’t waste anyone’s time. When you’re in your 20s, you don’t see that in yourself, but he was right, and I still try to be all those things in business today.”

Lawson continued in sales roles, moving from publishing to become the first marketing director of Brent & Sam’s Cookies. It was printing, however, that would ultimately lead her to starting her own business.

“At one time, I had accepted a sales position in Fort Worth, and I was traveling back and forth betweenTexas and Arkansas,” she said.“A friend told me about a job with Little Rock Printing.

I didn’t know anything about printing, but I ended up loving it, and I did really well. There is so much jargon and specifications in printing that your customers just don’t want to deal with.

An effective sales person could take that pain away and

deliver them just what they wanted, or better. I really like that.”

After a few years, Lawson said, she could see the glass ceiling in working for other companies. It was the reason she decided to strike out on her own, and opening her own company on almost nothing but faith is what made it successful.

“I sold my house and took the equity in it to start Lawson & Co. Graphics and Printing,” Lawson said. “I didn’t have a significant other or a nest egg to rely on, so I knew I had to make it work.”

Today, Lawson & Co. has expanded to marketing and consulting in addition to providing print brokering services.

“Sometimes life presents us with

one-time opportunities.� — Mara Leveritt ‘writer’ as much security for a loan. On the other hand, the freedom the word holds is invaluable. The best move I made was to seek serious financial advice — and follow it.�

While traveling, researching and writing drafts for “Devil’s Knot,� Leveritt still had to accomplish all the administrative, public relations and accounting functions of her business as a self-employed professional. She took a practical approach to keeping her head above water. “For me, survival has included partnering professionally and personally with another self-employed woman, living modestly — meaning no lavish vacations, old cars kept in good condition, etc. — hoping for the next contract while not betting on it, availing myself of talented friends, trying to laugh off rejection and accepting with profound gratitude every good thing that has come my way,� she said. “Canoeing works as a metaphor. Every day, you slip into the river with an idea — but no certainty — about what lies ahead. You paddle, trust your skills and stay ready to hunker down if conditions turn fast.�

In addition to her three books, Leveritt served executive producer of a feature film based on “Devil’s Knot.� She is now working on the third book in her “Justice Knot Trilogy� about the West Memphis Three, and she speaks often at universities, legal conferences and legal reform events. Her philosophy about work extends to all parts of her life, and Leveritt embraces it with pragmatic simplicity. “Somehow or other, you must be organized,� she said. “If you’re not a techie yourself, you’ve got to find a geek. To me, plain writing and plain living pair well.

Both seek what’s essential, and in my experience, that works.â€? â–

“I sold my house and took the equity in it to start Lawson & Co. Graphics and Printing. I didn’t have a significant other or a nest egg to rely on, so I knew I

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had to make it work.� — Gloria Lawson In January, the company announced the addition of Jason Chitwood as a business partner, and Lawson says it is the best business decision she has ever made. “It takes an incredible amount of energy to open your own business and run it effectively,� Lawson said. “What Jason brings to this business is a vision for how printing fits in with other marketing tactics today. If I had to give any advice to someone thinking of starting her or his own business, it would be to believe in the evolution of your industry. It will happen, and you can fight it kicking and screaming or be forthright with yourself and stick to what you are good at doing.

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STEPHANO’S FINE ART GALLERY

Arts Entertainment AND

The rebel and the Republican Johnny Cash on the campaign trail for Winthrop Rockefeller in 1968.

I

n the late summer and fall of 1968, Johnny Cash traveled throughout his native Arkansas with Winthrop Rockefeller, the first Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction. Attracted

by Rockefeller’s efforts at prison reform, Cash and his band played six concerts in support of the governor. The band accompanied Rockefeller at large rallies at Winthrop (Little River County), Fayetteville, Harrison, Monticello, Pine Bluff and Hot Springs. It was one of the most political moments in Johnny Cash’s career. And with Cash’s help, Rockefeller won re-election against his Democratic opponent, Marion Crank, in November.

The year 1968 found Cash, Rockefeller and the state of Arkansas at a crossroads.

In January, Cash recorded his landmark live album, “At Folsom Prison.” Cash had played at prisons since the late 1950s, but at Folsom, Cash made a grand personal and political statement. After years of drug abuse and self-destructive behavior, “At Folsom Prison” was his comeback album. And in March, he married his longtime love, June Carter Cash. Early in the year, Cash also had agreed to play for Rockefeller.

Rockefeller needed help. Arkansas was emerging from a series of horrifying scandals involving the prison system.

The prisons weren’t the only problem for Rockefeller. The governor also sought to convince voters that he had the right ideas about cracking down on gambling in Hot Springs and raising taxes to pay for better roads and education. But the prisons had garnered the most headlines — nationally and even internationally. From his first moment in office, the prisons weighed heavily on Rockefeller. In January 1967, Rockefeller announced in his inaugural address that Arkansas had the worst prison system in the country. That same month, he released a State Police report 30

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that detailed systematic abuse and corruption at Tucker prison farm in Jefferson County. The report related chilling accounts of torture, which included use of the “Tucker Telephone,” an oldfashioned crank phone that sent electric shocks through prisoners. Rockefeller hoped to clean up the prisons by creating a modern, professional penitentiary using an efficient bureaucracy that would assure inmates were better treated.

Rockefeller’s most controversial hire was Tom Murton, who worked first at Tucker and then Cummins. In January 1968, Murton, with the help of a prison informant, dug up three skeletons buried in the levee on the Cummins grounds.

With national media on hand, Murton claimed he had found evidence of murder and a cover-up. Murton’s discovery created another public relations nightmare for Rockefeller, who was up for re-election. He fired Murton in March and appointed Robert Sarver in his place.

Sarver was the first prison commissioner in the newly created Department of Correction.

As Rockefeller struggled with the prisons, Johnny Cash was riding high from the success of his Folsom live album and new marriage. Long known as a rebel with a dark streak, who popped pills, wrecked cars and trashed hotels rooms, Cash seemed to have vanquished his personal demons. With June Carter at his side, he seemed happier than ever. But in early August, tragedy struck Cash’s band. On Aug. 5, Cash’s longtime guitarist, Luther Perkins, died after falling asleep with a lit cigarette, setting fire to his Tennessee home.

Perkins lived near Cash in Hendersonville, and the two had played together since Cash had returned home from the Air Force and settled in Memphis. When Perkins died from severe burns two days

COURTESY UALR CENTER FOR ARKANSAS HISTORY AND CULTURE.

BY COLIN EDWARD WOODWARD

CASH AND BLIND MAN: Harrison concert, September 19, 1968.

Long known as a rebel with a dark streak, who popped pills, wrecked cars and trashed hotels rooms, Cash seemed to have vanquished his personal demons.

after the fire, Cash had lost perhaps the most important component of his signature “boom chicka boom” sound.

But Cash was not one to stop performing, regardless of setbacks. He carried on with the rest of his band: Marshall Grant on bass, W.S. “Fluke” Holland on drums and Carl Perkins on lead guitar. Also with Cash on stage was his wife, June Carter.

The “Johnny Cash Show,” as it was known, made its first stop for Rockefeller in Winthrop, in Southwest Arkansas.

Unlike Cash, Rockefeller was a native of New York who had moved to Arkansas

around the time Cash had left it. Now, they were on stage together. At Winthrop, a Rockefeller supporter wrote, Cash provided “foot-stomping music for the crowd.”

Despite Cash’s support for Rockefeller, the singer liked to champion individuals and causes, not political parties. Just as Cash blended folk, rock, blues, country and gospel into his music, his politics were unique to himself. Cash once said that he had grown up “under socialism.”

His hometown of Dyess was a New Deal experiment in which the Federal Emergency Relief Administration built farmers houses, gave them land and provided livestock. But nothing was free in Dyess: Farmers were expected to work hard and pay for the houses the government had provided.

Cash was religious, patriotic and preached tolerance. He was a spokesman for disadvantaged groups like prisoners and Native Americans. Cash never identified strongly with one political party, though the right and left have claimed Cash as their own. And while he grew up in the “Solid South,” where Democratic politicians reigned, Cash supported CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

ROCK CANDY

ESTATE SALE

Check out the Times’ A&E blog arktimes.com

A&E NEWS THE ARKANSAS TIMES WILL BE HOSTING a new monthly film series, co-sponsored by the Little Rock Film Festival, at the Ron Robinson Theater on the third Thursday of every month (except the first month). We’ll start things off this month on the night of Oct. 23 with a screening of “Beverly Hills Cop” featuring esteemed special guest (and co-star of the film) Judge Reinhold. More updates and further screening announcements coming soon.

IN OUR HONORABLE AND ONGOING quest for new ideas and quality writing, the Arkansas Times will also be hosting our firstever Fiction Contest this year. Spread the word: We’re looking for short stories which, in some significant or minor way, engage the question of what it means to live in Arkansas in 2014. Yes, that’s an intentionally vague prompt — we want you to surprise us. Trenton Lee Stewart, Arkansas native and bestselling author of the “Mysterious Benedict Society” series and the Arkansas-set “Flood Summer,” has agreed to serve as guest judge.

Submissions must be previously unpublished (this is important) and should be no longer than 3,000 words. Writers must currently live in Arkansas (and should have lived in Arkansas for at least one year) to submit.

Winners will get a cash prize (not yet determined) and will be published as the centerpiece of our Fiction Issue this December. The deadline for all submissions will be Monday, Nov. 10, at 5 p.m. Send your short story (one per applicant, please) to will@arktimes.com, with the subject line “Fiction Contest.”

B.J. NOVAK, THE STAND-UP COMEDIAN, author of the New York Times bestselling “One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories” and co-executive producer, writer and actor on NBC’s “The Office,” will come to UCA’s Reynolds Performance Hall Friday Nov. 7.

Tickets will go on sale Oct. 15 and will be $10 for UCA students and $15 for the general public. Find them at uca.edu/tickets or call 501-450-3265.

MAGIC SPRINGS WATER AND THEME PARK, in Hot Springs, has announced that its Halloween festival, “Magic Screams,” will start up on Saturday Oct. 11, and will be held each Saturday and Sunday through Nov. 2. “Magic Screams” will feature haunted houses (“Psychophobia” and “Paradox” themed, plus a pirate-themed “Shiver Me Timbers” variation for children) and a trick-or-treat trail for kids. There will also be family-friendly movie screenings each night, including “Despicable Me 2,” “Corpse Bride,” “Beetlejuice” and “Monster House.” Tickets are $29.99 for adults and $19.99 for kids.

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Riverbilly Tues., Oct. 14

Dru Hill Thurs., Oct. 16

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Sonny Burgess Tues., Oct. 14

REO Speedwagon Fri., Oct. 17

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Premium Concert Seating Starting at $15

Pop Evil Sat., Oct. 18

Color Me Badd Wed., Oct. 15

Mike Posner Sun., Oct. 19

For tickets call (501) 372-8341 or visit www.ArkansasStateFair.com www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

31

THE REBEL AND THE REPUBLICAN, CONT. Republican politicians throughout his life. At the concerts for Rockefeller, Cash discussed the plight of prisoners, but he mostly avoided making any grand political statements. His presence was enough.

Cash’s second concert for Rockefeller, at Fayetteville on Sept. 17, proved a historic day for the country singer. With two members of his band grounded because of bad weather, Cash was forced to go on stage with only his drummer. Cash did the best he could to entertain the crowd.

Luckily for him, a 26-year-old guitarist named Bob Wootton was in the audience that day.

Like Cash, he was a native of Arkansas. Born in Paris (Logan County) in 1942, Wootton had first heard Cash’s “I Walk the Line” while a boy living in Southern California. Wootton became a guitarist and Cash fanatic who learned all of Luther Perkins’ guitar licks. He was playing gigs in Oklahoma when he heard about the Fayetteville concert.

With more than 5,000 people waiting for the rest of the band to arrive, June Carter told her husband that Wootton could play pretty well. Cash pulled him onstage, and much to his delight, he found that Wootton knew his songs cold, giving a much needed jolt to such classics as the rocker “Big River.” Cash liked the confident young guitarist, who reminded him of himself in his Memphis days.

Cash wrote about the Fayetteville concert in his 1975 autobiography, “Man in Black.” He asked Wootton if he could play like Luther Perkins.

“Nobody can do that,” he remembered him saying. “But I’ll try if you want me to.”

“Get out there and plug your guitar in,” Cash told him. Wootton claimed to know some songs better than his hero did.

“Key of C!” Cash yelled to Wootton before beginning one song.

“You recorded it in D!” Wootton shouted back.

“But I want to sing it in C,” Cash insisted.

“Okay,” said Wotton. “But you recorded it in D.” Cash was impressed, but he didn’t hire Wootton on the spot. However, he asked him to join the rest of the band at the Harrison concert, scheduled for Sept.

19. At Harrison, Cash again had the Tennessee Three with him. Wootton was more nervous with Marshall Grant and Carl Perkins on stage with him, but he again performed well. Wootton worked as Cash’s guitarist for the next 30 years.

As the election campaign heated up, the prisons continued to grab unwelcome headlines. Marion Crank criticized Rockefeller for wanting to turn the prisons into a “country club.” But Tucker and 32

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

Cummins prison farms were only just emerging from the dark ages. Men such as Rockefeller and Commissioner Sarver were committed reformers, but they were struggling to maintain control over the prisons. In October, a shooting occurred at Cummins, where guards fired on prisoners who were sitting outside protesting ongoing abuses. None of the inmates was killed, but the violence again showed how far Arkansas had to go when it came to establishing a humane penitentiary.

In October at Monticello, Cash again performed for a large crowd. Rockefeller joked, “I don’t know whether they came to hear his singing or whether they came for the free food or ... to hear me.” Whatever the reason, voters wanted him to continue his work. In November, Rockefeller was elected to another two-year term.

On New Year’s Eve, Johnny Cash wrote a letter to himself in which he reflected on the year’s events. For Cash, it had been a time of tragedy and triumph. “I feel that this year, 1968, has been, in many ways, the best year of my life,” he wrote. “It has been a sober, serious year. Also probably the busiest year of my life, as well as the most fulfilling.” He remembered the tragic death of Luther Perkins. But he also noted the many high points, including the concerts for Governor Rockefeller and the “accidental” discovery of Bob Wootton in Fayetteville.

Johnny Cash and Winthrop Rockefeller would meet again in April 1969 at Cummins prison farm, where Cash played his only concert ever for Arkansas inmates. It proved one of the highlights of Rockefeller’s second term. Unfortunately, neither he nor Cash could win the public relations battle over the prisons. In January 1970, Tom Murton published “Accomplices to the Crime,” a blistering indictment of the prisons and the Rockefeller administration. A month later, Judge J. Smith Henley ruled the entire Arkansas prison system unconstitutional — the only time a federal judge has ruled a state prison system unconstitutional. That fall, Rockefeller was again up for re-election.

Without Johnny Cash to help him, however, Rockefeller appeared before much smaller crowds. In November, with the prisons again in the headlines, Dale Bumpers crushed Rockefeller in a landslide.

Dr. Colin Woodward is an archivist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Center for Arkansas History and Culture. UALR is sponsoring an exhibit, “Johnny Cash: Arkansas Icon,” at the Butler Center galleries, in the Arkansas Studies Institute at 401 President Clinton Ave., Oct. 10-Jan. 24. There will be a reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. opening night, 2nd Friday Art Night.

NOT EVEN PAST: Maxine Payne and Lance Ledbetter show us Arkansas as it used to be.

My Ozark Mountain Home Two new releases offer glimpse of an ‘old, weird’ Arkansas.

BY WILL STEPHENSON

I

n January 1926, the fantastic toe.” a movie theater Ralph Peer, the talent scout and owner, county fair organizer and record producer who Missouri Pacific Railsupervised the semiroad surgeon named nal “Bristol Sessions,” Henry Harlin Smith which marked the earliest recordings hosted a fiddle conof Jimmie Rodgers test in Calico Rock. By all accounts one of the and the Carter Fammost resourceful resiily, took an interest dents of Izard Coun- “ARKANSAS AT 78 RPM”: Dust-toin Smith’s group, and ty, Smith attracted Digital revives the state’s old-time in September 1928 he musicians from all the hillbilly history. summoned them to surrounding cities, and Memphis on behalf of out of the winners he his label, Victor. Of the assembled a band, which he called Dr. songs they recorded that day at the MemSmith’s Champion Hoss Hair Pullers. phis Auditorium, one dated back to 1904, They performed locally and earned a “Just Give Me the Leavings,” by James spot on KTHS, a radio station out of Hot Weldon Johnson and Bob Cole. Wryly Springs, where they made such an imfunny but not especially light-hearted, pression that they were promptly invited it’s a kind of cynical nursery rhyme, a joke back. “It is indeed gratifying,” Smith said about what comes after despair. “I never over the air, “to know our program has had exactly what I’d like to have in life,” it begins, “although I’ve had my share of made so many minds and hearts drift troubles, sorrows and of strife.” back to the earlier days when all was well, when all the ‘hoss hair pullers’ of old were Over 80 years later, the record has in due form and all parties concerned re-emerged along with 25 other old-time were in a receptive mood for tipping of string band workouts and hillbilly coun-

try anthems on the compilation “Corn Dodgers and Hoss Hair Pullers: Arkansas at 78 RPM,” released in September by the Atlanta-based reissue label Dust-toDigital. Here, Smith’s band rubs shoulders with other long-forgotten icons of the Natural State once pressed on shellac: Pope’s Arkansas Mountaineers, Luke Hignight’s Ozark Strutters, A.E. Ward and His Plow Boys and Reaves White County Ramblers. There are songs about cider and turnip greens, rewritten minstrel songs, songs with no discernible origin, “what, for want of a better term, is called country,” as the Ozark folklorist W.K. McNeil once wrote.

Dust-to-Digital, a family operation founded and managed by Lance and April Ledbetter, first emerged in 2003 with the six-disc collection “Goodbye, Babylon,” which, as the New Yorker has noted, “many describe as the greatest gospel compilation ever made.” Each box included a strand of raw cotton. Since then the label has won Grammys and been endorsed by the likes of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. It has released field recordings from Florida, Yemen and Greece, anthologies of sacred harp and string bass, and “MAKING PICTURES”: overviews of the Portraits of anonymous Arkansans. careers of the guitarist John Fahey and the Atlanta Baptist minister Rev. Johnny L. “Hurricane” Jones.

“Corn Dodgers and Hoss Hair Pullers” was produced as the companion volume and sonic counterpart to another new Dust-to-Digital release, the photo book “Making Pictures: Three for a Dime,” assembled by the photographer and Hendrix College professor Maxine Payne.

Payne was given the plates reproduced in the book — small, refrigerator magnetsized portraits of anonymous Arkansans in the 1930s — by a friend related to the Massengill family, who became amateur photographers to support themselves during the Great Depression. Like the protean country songs on the compilation, which only survived thanks to the blind and desperately profit-minded record companies of the era, the photographs are the remnants of a commercial endeavor, a business developed by entrepreneurs so poor they took to “sleeping in their workplace,” Payne writes in the introduction, “with pungent photo chemicals and no bathroom.”

The book includes remembrances and diary entries by the Massengills themselves, which are alternately fascinating and prosaic, or both (“June 12, 1939: Gee but it is hot today. We got a new freezer and made some pineapple ice cream and it made us sick.”). Arranged in order of the portrait subjects’ ages, from toddlers wearing sailor’s outfits or clutching chickens to the elderly, with their severe looking expressions and oddly fitting hats, the photographs are as startling for their material strangeness — the haunting exposure effects and grotesque colorations, which were hand-painted

and cost a nickel extra — as they are for their banal familiarity. Taken together, the compilation and the book provide a dense and multidimensional glimpse into a vanished Arkansan everyday, a rural culture rarely ever memorialized.

One of the project’s greatest virtues is its balance between object and context. Tony Russell’s liner notes are spare, sometimes beautiful profiles of musicians who made the slightest possible imprint on the historical record before disappearing back into the hills. “We were all just about broke when we got there and times were hard back then,” Russell quotes one

of them, Wisner Ward, as saying. “You took what they gave you and left.”

Dr. Smith died in 1931, a few years after the session, and “lacking his organizing hand,” Russell writes, “the Hoss Hair Pullers retired to everyday life.” To listen to the compilation, though, is to re-summon his enthusiasm, to give him and his band their due. “So everybody come to the Arkansas Ozarks,” he went on to say that day on KTHS. “Meet these men of the Missouri Pacific and natives, and you will then say, ‘Yes, indeed, you have the most wonderful country in the world.’ ”

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

33

THE TO-DO

LIST

BY WILL STEPHENSON

THURSDAY 10/9-SATURDAY 10/11

KING BISCUIT BLUES FESTIVAL Downtown Helena. $30 (day), $50 (3-day).

LOST IN SPACE: Kool Keith will be at The Joint 9:30 p.m. Thursday, $20-$50.

THURSDAY 10/9

KOOL KEITH

9:30 p.m. The Joint. $20-$50.

One of the more curious entries in “Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists,” a selfexplanatory 1999 book issued posthumously by the classic hip-hop magazine, is “Kool Keith’s favorite places to pleasure himself,” a brief, nine-item inventory including locations such as “Across the street from Madison Square Garden,” “Sbarro” and “Polygram Records.”

Keith, who has also gone by Dr. Octagon, Rhythm X, Big Willie Smith and Black Elvis, among other names, was rap’s original self-proclaimed extraterrestrial, and has released at least two great albums — 1988’s “Critical Beatdown,”

The longest-running radio program in the country was started in Helena in late November 1941. It was named for a local flour company, “King Biscuit Flour,” and was originally financed by a grocery store.

Hosted by “Sunshine” Sonny Payne since 1951, “King Biscuit Time” eventually made fans out of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Levon Helm, Robert Plant and Elvis Costello, and helped put Helena on the map as a blues destination. It’s a reputation that’s been further affirmed by the King Biscuit Blues Festival, started in 1986 and originally held in the back of a flatbed truck. This

year’s festival , which will not be held in the back of a truck, offers three nights of concentrated blues: Thursday will feature Guitar Shorty, Jimmy Hall and Wet Willie, Roy Rogers and The Delta Rhythm Kings and Sonny Burgess; Friday will feature Delbert McClinton, Bobby Rush, Paul Thorn, the Black River Pearl Band, Reba Russell and Anson Funderburg and The Rockets; Saturday’s lineup will include the Bell Singers of Memphis, the W.C. Clark Band, Jimmy Vivino and The Black Italians, Sonny Rhodes, legendary harmonica player James Cotton (also performing Thursday at the Wildwood Park for Performing Arts) and about a hundred more artists that we don’t have the space to list.

FRIDAY 10/10 by his first group, Ultramagnetic MCs, and his 1996 solo reboot “Dr. Octagonecologyst” — plus a few more good ones.

About his bugged, paint-splatter lyricism, it’s probably enough to point out that there was a meme a couple of years ago called “Who said it, James Joyce or Kool Keith?” With lines like “Coming down the rampart through beam on the street, obsolete computes, compounds and dead sounds,” it’s a challenge. “I was ahead of my time and now time has caught up,” as he told HipHopDx back in 2008, “and people are doing the same shit I’ve already tried to tell them. Now they seeing it. It took times and wavelengths. … The seed I planted, it took a long time to grow.”

“This is a true story,” as the opening title card reads in Charles Pierce’s 1972 drive-in classic “The Legend of Boggy Creek.” And it is: On the night of May 1, 1971, in Miller County, something disturbed Elizabeth Ford while she slept on a couch in a house she and her husband, Bobby, had only just moved into the previous week. Something that returned the following night and attacked Bobby, who was later treated for his wounds at St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana. Jim Powell, then a

reporter for the Texarkana Gazette and Daily News, arrived at the scene soon after. “The woman had said it reached a hairy arm through the window,” he remembered decades later.

“It was breathing hard, and had eyes that were as big as half-dollars and red as coal.” Powell named the Fouke Monster and sightings continued — still continue. This is the story of the film, a strange sort of independently produced semi-documentary. The real draw, though, is its striking sense of place, the amplified swamp ambiance and odd, droning rhythms. It’s the accents and the color of the woods at night. This is a true story.

ing on mockumentary shorts will feature actor and filmmaker Luke Wilson, who will show his short “Satellite Beach,” about the Space Shuttle Endeavour (starring Wilson as a “devoted and unlikely shuttle manager”). There will be awardwinners from Tribeca, Sundance and Slamdance, plus a Student Academy Award winner (“The Apothecary”) and a new film by Oscar-nominated director Lucy Walker (“The Lion’s Mouth Opens”). “Winter’s Bone”

writer and director Debra Granik will screen her new documentary feature “Stray Dog,” about a Vietnam vet and biker named Ron “Stray Dog” Hall. YouTube celebrities and magicians highlighted on the “Tonight Show” will be featured, as will films about Quidditch (“Mudbloods”), films produced by Spike Lee (“Evolution of a Criminal,” about a 1997 armed bank robbery case in Houston) and films based on black box transcripts from downed planes (“Charlie Victor

Romeo,” which A.O. Scott has called “one of the most terrifying movies I have ever seen”). There will also be a 20th anniversary screening of the classic “Hoops Dreams,” with appearances by Arthur Agee Jr. (one of the basketball players followed in the film) and producer Gordon Quinn, and “When We Were Kings,” with director Leon Gast alongside Muhammad Ali’s daughter and grandson. Day passes are $20 and festival passes range from $100 to $200.

“THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK”

5 p.m. Old State House Museum.

Free.

FRIDAY 10/10-SUNDAY 10/19

HOT SPRINGS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL The Arlington Hotel and Low Key Arts, Hot Springs. $20-$200.

This year’s Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival will open with a screening of the documentary portrait “Glen Campbell ... I’ll Be Me,” and will close with George Takei’s autobiographical “To Be Takei” (about his “playful and profound trek for life, liberty, and love”). A sidebar focus34

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 10/9

THE RESTLESS KIND: Travis Tritt and more will be at this year's Arkansas State Fair, $2.99-$5.99.

FRIDAY 10/10-SUNDAY 10/19

ARKANSAS STATE FAIR

Arkansas State Fairgrounds. $2.99$5.99.

Fans of children’s beauty pageants, Arkansas-bred livestock and REO Speedwagon will be busy at this year’s Arkansas State Fair, which will also include an alligator-wrestling showcase, a daredevil high-dive and rare appearances by Dru Hill and “Rock-It The Robot.” There will be

ample opportunities to show off your prized goats, compete in photography, ice cream-making and flowerarranging contests, and sample the state’s best homemade pie, spam, chili and BBQ. “Bad to the Bone” auteur George Thorogood will kick off the musical portion of the event Friday night, followed by country mega-star Travis Tritt, endorsed by the Grammys, the Grand Ole Opry

and the NRA. Sunday night will feature So So Def legends Jagged Edge (“Let’s Get Married” etc.), and Wednesday, the fair will host Color Me Badd (“I Wanna Sex You Up”).

Another great ’90s R&B group, Dru Hill, unfortunately overshadowed by member Sisqo’s solo career, will perform next Thursday, followed

by REO Speedwagon, Pop Evil and Mike Posner.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will give a free concert at The Capital Hotel, 5:15 p.m. Jonathan Martin, national political correspondent for the New York Times, will give a presentation at the Clinton School’s Sturgis Hall, 6 p.m. Poet and spoken word performer Prentice Powell will speak at Philander Smith College as part of the school’s Bless the Mic lecture series, 7 p.m. ’80s arena rock stars 38 Special will perform at Oaklawn Park at 7 p.m., $30$40. Big-time indie pop group Foster The People (“Pumped Up Kicks”) will be at the Walmart AMP in Rogers with Fritz and The Tantrums at 8 p.m., $32. Cody Canada and The Departed will be at Stickyz at 8 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. Power pop veterans Bobgoblin will be at White Water Tavern with Brothers and Company, 9:30 p.m. The 67th Annual Original Ozark Folk Festival, featuring The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Brewer and Shipley, Danny Cox and many others, will be held in Downtown Eureka Springs through Saturday, Oct. 11.

FRIDAY 10/10 The Arkansas Chamber Singers will perform “Mass in Time of War” at St. James United Methodist Church, 7:30 p.m., $22.

Soul/R&B group That Arkansas Weather will be at The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7.

John Paul Keith will return to White Water Tavern 9:30 p.m., $7. New Orleans funkrock brass band Bonerama will be at South on Main, 10 p.m., $17.

SATURDAY 10/11 SATURDAY 10/11

ADAM FAUCETT, BONNIE MONTGOMERY, JOHN MORELAND, FRET AND WORRY 8:30 p.m. Pro Auto Collision, Conway. $15.

This Saturday, a handful of Little Rock’s finest will play at a body shop in Conway. The event, which has been held at Pro Auto Collision Repair and Towing (at 6 Ranchette

Road) for the past three years, will be open to the public this year for the first time. “Here is how it goes down,” Pro Auto owner Matt Ross explained on Facebook. “I own a body shop and once a year we push out all the cars, invite some amazing musicians, cook some soul food and have an incredible night. This is an intimate show, the audience asks questions, the artists tell stories, jokes, try out new songs.

... Ask someone who has been, there is nothing else like it in Conway for sure.” I believe him. And really the venue seems appropriate, ideal even.

In addition to the great Adam Faucett and Bonnie Montgomery — two of the state’s most celebrated singer-songwriters — the night will feature duo Fret and Worry (Joe Meazle and R.J. Looney) and a special guest, Tulsa’s John Moreland.

formance of a 12-year-old girl.” Arthur Penn and John Boorman said no, too, as did Peter Bogdanovich and Stanley Kubrick. William Friedkin, coming off of “The French Connection,” said yes.

“A good part of my motivation was to make a better film than Francis,” he told Biskind, meaning Francis Ford Coppola. “We were ambitious and competitive. Someone would always raise the ante.” “The Exorcist” raised

the ante — some kind of ante, anyway.

The film still shocks for its focus on spirituality and sexuality, both overlaid with fear and disgust and the supernatural. It will screen Sunday night as part of the Little Rock Film Festival’s new monthly series at Ron Robinson. According to programmer Levi Agee: “We won’t confirm or deny that there will be an actual exorcism performed before the screening.”

SUNDAY 10/12

“THE EXORCIST”

6:45 p.m. Ron Robinson Theater. $5.

According to Peter Biskind’s notoriously unreliable New Hollywood history, “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls,” “The Exorcist” was originally offered to Mike Nichols, director of the “The Graduate,” who refused, saying, “I’m not going to stake my career and the picture’s success or failure on the per-

The 9th Annual Arkansas Challenge Wounded Warrior Bike Ride will start at 7 a.m. at the Clinton Presidential Center, $25.

Comedian Ben Roy will be at Juanita’s with Kris Pierce and Seth Dees, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. White Water Tavern will host a memorial concert for longtime owner Larry “Goose” Garrison with Adam Faucett, Amy Garland, Isaac Alexander and many more, starting at 3 p.m.

SUNDAY 10/12 Stickyz will host The Youngest and Ache Water, 7:30 p.m., $5, and Vino’s will host Monster Furniture and Alexander Jones, 8 p.m. $5.

The “Not Your American Idol Tour” will stop

by Revolution, featuring For All Those Sleeping, Capture the Crown, Ice Nine Kills and more, 8 p.m., $13 adv., $15 day of.

MONDAY 10/13 Chad Griffin, Arkansas-born LGBT activist and president of the Human Rights Campaign, and Dustin Lance Black, the Oscarwinning screenwriter of “Milk,” will host a discussion called “Coming Out Matters,” at UCA in Conway, 7 p.m. Club Elevations will hold a Birthday Bash for local musician Marlon “Cat” Davis.

www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

35

AFTER DARK 67th Annual Original Ozark Folk Festival. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Brewer and Shipley, Danny Cox and many others. Downtown Eureka Springs, through Oct. 11. Downtown Eureka Springs, Eureka Springs. OzarkFolkFestival.com.

Geocaching. The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, 8:30 a.m. 602 President Clinton Ave. 501-907-0636. www.centralarkansasnaturecenter.com.

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

THURSDAY, OCT. 9

MUSIC

38 Special. Oaklawn, 7 p.m., $30-$40. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www. oaklawn.com.

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Capital Hotel, 5:15 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-3747474. www.capitalhotel.com.

Bobgoblin, Brothers and Company. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-3758400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Cody Canada and The Departed. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyz.com.

Foster the People, Fritz and the Tantrums.

Walmart AMP, 8 p.m., $32. 5079 W. Northgate Road, Rogers. 479-443-5600. www.arkansasmusicpavilion.com.

Home Free. Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $15 - $35.

495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

“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.

Irish Traditional Music Sessions. Dugan’s Pub, 7-9 p.m. 401 E. 3rd St. 501-244-0542. www. duganspublr.com.

James Cotton. Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, 7 p.m., $10-$75. 20919 Denny Road.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Josh Abbott Band, Brandon Lay. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $20. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226.

Karaoke. Zack’s Place, 8 p.m., free. 1400 S. University Ave. 501-664-6444.

King Biscuit Blues Festival. With Sonny Burgess, Bobby Rush, Guitar Shorty, Delbert McClinton, James Cotton and more. Downtown Helena, through Oct. 11, $50. Cherry and Main Streets, Helena.

Kool Keith. The Joint, 9:30 p.m., $20-$50. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

Krush Thursdays with DJ Kavaleer. Club Climax, free before 11 p.m. 824 W. Capitol. 501-554-3437.

Little Rock Wind Symphony, “Energy and Reflection.” Second Presbyterian Church, 7:30 p.m., $10. 600 Pleasant Valley Drive.

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

Open Jam. Thirst n’ Howl, 8 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.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, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG.

EVENTS 36

OCTOBER 9, 2014

LECTURES

Prentice Powell. Bless the Mic Lecture Series Philander Smith College, 7 p.m., free. 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive.

BENEFITS

Old State House Museum Associates 2014 Annual Supper. Old State House Museum, 6 p.m., $100. 500 Clinton Ave. 501-324-9685. www. oldstatehouse.com.

FRIDAY, OCT. 10

MUSIC

HARD WORK AND PLENTY OF IT: Larry “Goose” Garrison, the longtime owner of White Water Tavern, died last month, leaving behind a huge legacy in the city’s music and nightlife scenes. “The heart and soul of the place,” according to current co-owner Matt White, Goose purchased the bar in 1979 and piloted it through hardships economic, cultural and arson-related. The tribute to Goose will be held Saturday from 3 p.m. on “past midnight,” and will feature Adam Faucett, Amy Garland, Isaac Alexander, Brother Andy, Iron Tongue and many more. The bar will also hold a silent auction and will accept donations, with all proceeds going to a “musician’s scholarship,” set up in Goose’s name.

All In Fridays. Club Elevations. 7200 Colonel Glenn Road. 501-562-3317.

Arkansas Chamber Singers. “Mass in Time of War” St. James United Methodist Church, 7:30 p.m., $22. 321 Pleasant Valley Drive. 501-2257372. www.stjames-umc.org.

Bonerama. South on Main, 10 p.m., $17. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. southonmain.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.

Earphunk. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $8 adv., $10 day of. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com.

Goddamn Gallows, Zach and Big Papa Binns.

Maxine’s, $10. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com.

John Paul Keith. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m., $7. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

King Biscuit Blues Festival. See Oct. 9.

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

Route 66. Agora Conference and Special Event Center, 6:30 p.m., $5. 705 E. Siebenmorgan, Conway.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. That Arkansas Weather. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-6631196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

COMEDY

The Main Thing’s “Whatshisname?”. The Joint, through Oct. 25: 8 p.m., $20. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

DANCE

Ballroom Dancing. Free lessons begin at 7 p.m.

Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 8-11 p.m., $7-$13. 12th & Cleveland streets. 501-2217568. www.blsdance.org.

“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

67th Annual Original Ozark Folk Festival. See ARKANSAS TIMES

PARTY AT OUR PLACE!

Oct. 9.

Fantastic Friday. Literary and music event, refreshments included. For reservations, call 479-968-2452 or email artscenter@centurytel. net. River Valley Arts Center, Every third Friday, 7 p.m., $10 suggested donation. 1001 E. B St., Russellville. 479-968-2452. www.arvartscenter.org.

Geocaching. The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, 8:30 a.m. 602 President Clinton Ave. 501-907-0636. www.centralarkansasnaturecenter.com.

LGBTQ/SGL weekly meeting. 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. LGBTQ/SGL Youth and Young Adult Group, 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St.

FILM

“The Legend of Boggy Creek.” Second Friday Cinema. Old State House Museum, 5 p.m., free. 500 Clinton Ave. 501-324-9685. www.oldstatehouse.com.

SATURDAY, OCT. 11

MUSIC

Adam Faucett, John Moreland, Bonnie Montgomery, Fret and Worry. Pro Auto Collision, 8:30 p.m., $15. 6 Ranchette Rd, Conway.

Ben Roy, Kris Pierce, Seth Dees. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

Brown Soul Shoes. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-3727707. www.stickyz.com.

Candy Lee and The Sweets. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-6631196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

The Casual Pleasures, Landrest, Switchblade Razors. Maxine’s, $5. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com.

Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. See Oct. 10.

“Hard Work and Plenty Of It”: One For Goose.

A memorial concert for Larry “Goose” Garrison.

White Water Tavern, 6 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

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

Karaoke. Casa Mexicana, 7 p.m. 6929 JFK Blvd., NLR. 501-835-7876. Zack’s Place, 8 p.m., free.

1400 S. University Ave. 501-664-6444.

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.

King Biscuit Blues Festival. See Oct. 9.

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

501-492-9802.

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

Phantogram. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9:30 p.m., $20. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479442-4226.

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.

The Sideshow Tragedy. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

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

talhotel.com/CBG.

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COMEDY

The Main Thing’s “Whatshisname?”. The Joint, through Oct. 25: 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

40th Annual Little Rock Farmers’ Market. River Market Pavilions, through Oct. 25: 7 a.m. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.

67th Annual Original Ozark Folk Festival. See Oct. 9.

Argenta Farmers Market. Argenta Farmers Market, 7 a.m. 6th and Main St., NLR. 501-8317881. www.argentaartsdistrict.org/argenta-farmers-market/.

9th Annual Arkansas Challenge Wounded Warrior Bike Ride. Clinton Presidential Center, 7 a.m., $25. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 370-8000. www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org.

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

Geocaching. The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, 8:30 a.m. 602 President Clinton Ave. 501-907-0636. www.centralarkansasnaturecenter.com.

Heart Connections Body, Mind and Soul Expo.

La Quinta Inn & Suites Downtown Conference Center, Oct. 11-12, 10 a.m., $6-$10. 617 S. Broadway. 501-374-9000. www.lq.com.

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

Historic Neighborhoods Tour. Bike tour of historic neighborhoods includes bike, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby’s Bike Hike, 9 a.m., $8-$28. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001.

Pork & Bourbon Tour. Bike tour includes bicycle, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby’s Bike Hike, 11:30 a.m., $35-$45. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001.

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SPORTS

Central Arkansas Roller Derby’s Clash of the Comics. Skate World, 6:30 p.m., $10. 6512 Mabelvale Cut Off.

SUNDAY, OCT. 12

MUSIC

For All Those Sleeping, Capture The Crown, Ice Nine Kills, Youth in Revolt, Palisades.

Revolution, 8 p.m., $13 adv., $15 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom. com.

Karaoke. Shorty Small’s, 6-9 p.m. 1475 Hogan Lane, Conway. 501-764-0604. www.shortysmalls.com.

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

501-982-1939 ‎.

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

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

CONTINUED ON PAGE 38

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Use of bicycles or animals

Every person riding a bicycle or an animal, or driving any animal drawing a vehicle upon a highway, shall have all the rights and all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except those provisions of this act which by their nature can have no applicability.

overtaking a bicycle

The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on a roadway shall exercise due care and pass to the left at a safe distance of not less than three feet (3’) and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken bicycle.

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

37

AFTER DARK, CONT.

EVENTS

Bernice Garden Farmer’s Market. Bernice Garden, 10 a.m. 1401 S. Main St. www.thebernicegarden.org.

Geocaching. The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, 8:30 a.m. 602 President Clinton Ave. 501-907-0636. www.centralarkansasnaturecenter.com.

Heart Connections Body, Mind and Soul Expo.

La Quinta Inn & Suites Downtown Conference Center, 10 a.m., $6-$10. 617 S. Broadway. 501374-9000. www.lq.com.

Little Rock Mid-Century Modern Tour. Tower Building, 1 p.m., $20. Fourth and Center Streets.

FILM

“The Exorcist” Ron Robinson Theater, 6:45 p.m., free. 1 Pulaski Way. 501-320-5703. www.cals.lib. ar.us/ron-robinson-theater.aspx.

KIDS

Sid the Science Kid LIVE - Let’s Play!.

Recommended ages 3+ Walton Arts Center, 1:30 and 4:30 p.m., $17 - $37. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

Sid the Science Kid Meet & Greet. Walton Arts Center, 3 and 6 p.m., $20. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

MONDAY, OCT. 13

MUSIC

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

Marlon “Cat” Davis Birthday Bash. Club Elevations. 7200 Colonel Glenn Road. 501562-3317.

Monday Night Jazz. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., $5. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Richie Johnson. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com.

LECTURES

www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

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

Karaoke Tuesdays. On the patio. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 7:30 p.m., free. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com.

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

Music Jam. Hosted by Elliott Griffen and Joseph Fuller. The Joint, 8-11 p.m., free. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton.

Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

COMEDY

823-0090. www.littlerocksalsa.com.

EVENTS

Geocaching. The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, 8:30 a.m. 602 President Clinton Ave. 501-907-0636. www.centralarkansasnaturecenter.com.

Little Rock Green Drinks. Informal networking session for people who work in the environmental field. Ciao Baci, 5:30-7 p.m. 605 N. Beechwood St. 501-603-0238. www.greendrinks. org.

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

POETRY

Stand-Up Tuesday. Hosted by Adam Hogg. The Joint, 8 p.m., $5. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

Steven Schroeder, Andrew McFadyenKetchum. A reading, Q&A and book signing. Pulaski Technical College, 6 p.m. 3000 W. Scenic Drive, NLR.

DANCE

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15

“Latin Night.” Revolution, 7:30 p.m., $5 regular, $7 under 21. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-

MUSIC

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CLASSES

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

Geocaching. The Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center, 8:30 a.m. 602 President Clinton Ave. 501-907-0636. www.centralarkansasnaturecenter.com.

Lunch with TED. A screening of several short TED talks. Ron Robinson Theater, 12 p.m., free.

1 Pulaski Way. 501-320-5703. www.cals.lib.ar.us/ ron-robinson-theater.aspx.

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.

MONDAY, OCT. 13

Finding Family Facts. Rhonda Stewart’s genealogy research class for beginners. Arkansas Studies Institute, second Monday of every month, 3:30 p.m. 401 President Clinton Ave. 501-320-5700 ‎. www.butlercenter.org.

TUESDAY, OCT. 14

MUSIC

Bombay Harambee, Whale Fire. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Brian and Nick. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com.

The Easy Leaves. Maxine’s, 6:30 p.m., free. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub. com.

Irish Traditional Music Sessions. Hibernia Irish Tavern, second and Fourth Tuesday of every month, 7-9 p.m. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road.

501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com.

Jeff Ling. Khalil’s Pub, 6 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999.

OCTOBER 9, 2014

COMEDY

The Joint Venture. Improv comedy group. The Joint, 8 p.m., $7. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

DANCE

Coming Out Matters: Chad Griffin and Dustin Lance Black in Conversation. University of Central Arkansas, 7 p.m. 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. www.uca.edu.

38

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

Big Gigantic, Manic Focus. Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $23 adv., $25 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

Devil You Know. George’s Majestic Lounge, 8 p.m., $15. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville.

479-442-4226.

Isaac Alexander. Local Live. South on Main, 7:30 p.m., free. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. southonmain.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

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

Karaoke. MUSE Ultra Lounge, 8:30 p.m., free.

2611 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-6398.

Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

Open Mic Nite with Deuce. Thirst n’ Howl, 7:30 p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG.

ARKANSAS TIMES

BOOKS

Roy Rogers and Sonny Landreth

delbert mcclinton

jimmy vivino and the black italians

Bobby Rush • Earnest “Guitar” Roy • Reba Russell Anson Funderburg & The Rockets • Paul Thorn Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith Band, Bob Margolin, and Bob Stroger Andy T & Nick Nixon • James Cotton • and MANY more!

Roger Stone. Barnes & Noble, 7 p.m. 11500 Financial Center Parkway. 501-954-7646. www. barnesandnoble.com.

CLASSES WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15

Craft Beer Class with Lee Edwards. Eggshells Kitchen Co., 6 p.m., $75. 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-664-6900. eggshellskitchencompany.com.

OCTOBER 8-11, 2014 HELENA, ARKANSAS

GALLERIES, MUSEUMS

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NEW GALLERY EXHIBITS, EVENTS

CONTINUED ON PAGE 40

MOVIE REVIEW

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n his fifth anniversary, Nick is miserable. He wanders down to the small-town Missouri bar he and his twin sister keep up and knocks back a bourbon while languidly twisting the wheel on the game of Life, wondering how he managed to botch a marriage to the girl of his dreams. Then he returns home to find a real scene: an open front door, broken glass in the living room, flecks of blood around the house, no sign of his wife. Thus begins another two hours of “Gone Girl” leading you by the nose, insisting you guess at the big questions: Where did Amy (Rosamund Pike) go? Was she kidnapped, killed? Is Nick (Ben Affleck) to blame?

It’s a simple setup, as far as it goes, but Gillian Flynn’s script, off her own 2012 novel, makes for a pleasing little mouse trap of a suspense movie. Observers have thrown around the word “twist” to describe the action, overeagerly, as if sharp plotting itself is but a gimmick. More properly, there’s one revelation about a character that tilts the story in a way that’s consistent within the world that already had been built.

It’s not a film of twists so much as one of atmosphere and pace, the former built in large part on the eerie score by Trent Reznor, the latter owing to director David Fincher, whose seamy criminal pictures are a standard in the genre. Right now there’s a film studies master’s student somewhere sketching out a thesis on the distant-cousin similarities in violence and identity and consumerism between “Gone Girl” and Fincher’s 1999 masterwork of modern noir, “Fight Club.”

Or maybe you should get started on it, if you’re in a film program and you haven’t chosen a thesis. It’s October already, you know.

For “Gone Girl” to work, you must utterly believe the marriage at the center, and it’s here that the lead performances carry the

film. Affleck’s Nick is just boorish enough, just bored enough, to tumble into this calamity without overheating. When the in-laws descend into the picture (a pair of pucker-tight New Yorkers, they made their fortune by starring Amy in a series of popular children’s books) and his sudden celebrity makes him a target of scorn and adoration, Nick reacts in exactly the way we’d expect: He screws up the optics, repeatedly. Some of the smartest bits in “Gone Girl” track the cable news storm that follows the disappearance of this comely, semi-famous blonde; rather than a vehicle for merely filling in exposition, the events play out on television in a way that feels smart and natural. The talking heads sharpen the pitchforks and soak the torches in kerosene, and the mob is too happy to follow.

(Tyler Perry as a TV-ready lawyer might be the highlight of a decidedly strong cast.)

Pike isn’t the star Affleck is, yet, but she’s easily his match as a performer. Not that she’s been hurting for work; she has something like 20 feature credits since 2007. And yet — where has this woman been hiding? She’s a force in “Gone Girl,” enchanting in flashbacks. To say more would be to edge toward spoiler territory, and would dampen the inky fun that “Gone Girl” brings. Pike and Affleck both convey the tensions of marriage, which, to “Gone Girl,” include a need to be an array of people even within the relationship. Marriage, it seems to say, will change a person and will change a couple in ways only they can come to fully appreciate. That’s either a dark thought, or an uplifting one, depending on the couple. “Gone Girl” suggests the crimes we commit against one another always include the victim as accomplice.

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OCTOBER 9, 2014

39

AFTER DARK, CONT. ARKANSAS CAPITAL CORP. GROUP, 200 River Market Ave.: “People, Places and Things,” paintings by Kathy Strause and Taimur Cleary, jewelry by Christie Young, reception 5-8 p.m. Oct. 10, 2nd Friday Art Night.

BOSWELL MOUROT, 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “Provocative Shapes,” paintings by Virmarie DePoyster and Laura Raborn, ceramics by Winston Taylor, through 26. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 664-0030.

BUTLER CENTER GALLERIES, Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Johnny Cash: Arkansas Icon,” Underground Gallery, opening reception 5-8 p.m. Oct. 10, 2nd Friday Art Night, with music by Shiloh Sacred Harp Shape Note Singers, show through Jan. 24; “Echoes of the Ancestors: Native American Objects

from the University of Arkansas Museum,” Concordia Gallery, through March 15, 2015; annual juried Arkansas League of Artists exhibition, West Gallery, through Dec. 27. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5790.

COX CREATIVE CENTER, 120 River Market Ave.: “Arkansas Pastel Society,” through October. 918-3093.

ESSE PURSE MUSEUM & STORE, 1510 S. Main St.: “Handbags for Hillary,” collaboration with Clinton Presidential Library in honor of 10th anniversary, Oct. 14-Nov. 30; “Barbie®: The Vintage Years, 1959-1972,” private collection. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sun., $8-$10. 916-9022.

HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. 3rd St.: “Disciplined Inspiration,” photographs

by Jack Kenner, art glass by Ed Pennebaker, through Nov. 9; “40 Years of the Arkansas

Times,” through Dec. 9; “The Great Arkansas Quilt Show 3,” juried exhibit of contemporary quilts, through May 3; “A Beauty on It Sells: Advertising Art from the Collection of Marsha Stone,” 13th annual Eclectic Collector exhibit, through Jan. 1; “Arkansas Made,” ongoing, open 5-8 p.m. Oct. 10, 2nd Friday Art Night, with lecture by Samuel R. Phillips, editor of “Torn by War: The Civil War Journal of Mary Adelia Byers,” at 5 p.m., music by Amy Garland at 5:30 p.m. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9351.

LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St.: “House and Home,” photographs, building materials and video about the American home, through Oct. 10. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 758-1720.

L&L BECK ART GALLERY, 5705 Kavanaugh Blvd.: “Portraits,” paintings by Louis Beck,

Yellow Fever, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Cholera, Flu and Hookworm A Fascinating History of Arkansas’s 200 Year Battle Against Disease and Pestilence

Health THE

PUBLIC’S

STory of a narraTIvE HI nSaS aS SE E In arka HEaLTH and dI Art, M.D.

by Sam Tagg

tes, M.D. Joseph H. Ba Preface by

This is a great Arkansas history showing that tells how public attitudes toward medicine, politics and race have shaped the public health battle against deadly and debilitating disease in the state.

From the illnesses that plagued the states earliest residents to the creation of what became the Arkansas Department of Health, Sam Taggart’s “The Public’s Health: A Narrative History of Health and Disease in Arkansas” tells the fascinating medical history of Arkansas. Published by the Arkansas Times.

$1995

Payment: Check Or Credit Card Order By Mail: Arkansas Times Books P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, AR 72203 Phone: 501-375-2985 Fax: 501-375-3623 Email:jack@arktimes.com 96 PP. Soft Cover • Shipping And Handling: $3 40

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

through October, giclee giveaway 7 p.m. Oct. 16. 660-4006.

OLD STATE HOUSE MUSEUM, 300 W. Markham: “Southern Supper on the Lawn,” annual supper fund-raiser, with music by Wood Newton and Erin Enderlin, 5:30-9 p.m. Oct. 9, $100, reserve at 664-1879; “Second Friday Cinema: ‘The Legend of Boggy Creek,’ ” 6 p.m. Oct. 10, 2nd Friday Art Night; “Different Strokes,” the history of bicycling and places cycling in Arkansas, featuring artifacts, historical pictures and video, through February 2016; “Lights! Camera!

Arkansas!”, the state’s ties to Hollywood, including costumes, scripts, film footage, photographs and more, through March 1, 2015. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685.

SIXTH STREET LIBRARY GALLERY AT CHRIST CHURCH, 509 Scott St.: MidSouthern Watercolorists’ 2014 “Special Juried Members Exhibition,” reception 5-8 p.m. Oct. 10, 2nd Friday Art Night, show through Dec. 28. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-noon Fri. sixthstreetlibrary.tumblr.com.

STRATTON’S MARKET, 405 E. 3rd St.: Featured artist Barry Thomas, 5-8 p.m. Oct. 10, 2nd Friday Art Night. 791-6700.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK: “Perception/Reality,” concrete furniture by Mia Hall, Gallery II, through Nov. 10; “Faculty Biennial,” Oct. 16-Dec. 12, Gallery I. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 569-8977.

BENTONVILLE CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, One Museum Way: “State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now,” work by more than 100 contemporary artists, through Jan. 5; “Spotlight Lecture and Gallery Talk: Susie J. Lee,” video artist in SOTA, 6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 10; “About Birds: Calder Kamin,” outing with SOTA artist, 1-4 p.m. Oct. 11, “ART Night Out: actionINTERaction,” performance art with SOTA artists Autumn Knight, Wilmer Wilson, Angel Ellsworth and Jimmy Kuehnle, 8-11 p.m.

Oct. 11; permanent collection of American masterworks spanning four centuries. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon., Thu.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed., Fri.; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun., closed Tue. 479418-5700.

CONWAY ART ON THE GREEN, Littleton Park, 1100 Bob Courtway: Paintings by Harold Kraus, featured artist, also works by Patricia Wilkes, Nina Ruth Baker and Emelene Russell, through December. 501-499-3127.

FAYETTEVILLE THE DEPOT, 548 W. Dickson St: “Extrasensory Memory,” new works by Emily Chase, through Nov. 1. mbuonaiu@uark.edu.

FAYETTEVILLE UNDERGROUND, 101 W. Mountain St., Ste. 222: New drawings and paintings by Dominique Simmons, through Nov. 2.

GEORGE DOMBEK GALLERY, 844 Blue Springs Road: Open gallery and studio, includes work by wood sculptor Robyn Horn, 1-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Oct. 11-Nov. 16.

HELENA PHILLIPS COUNTY LIBRARY, 702 Porter St.; HELENA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, 1801 ML King Jr. Drive; Delta Cultural Center, 141 Cherry St.: “And then, I” interactive figurative ceramic installations by Barbara

AFTER DARK, CONT. Satterfield, through Oct. 10; joined exhibition at King Biscuit Blues Festival 10 a.m.-3 pm. Oct. 11. www.andtheni.com HOT SPRINGS ALISON PARSONS GALLERY, 802 Central Ave.: Clay sculpture by Lori Arnold, wire tree sculpture by Kevin Treeman Chrislip, metal truck sculpture by Brian Cowdery; mobiles

by Gerald Lee Delavan; paintings by Alison Parson. 501-655-0604.

ARTISTS WORKSHOP GALLERY, 610 A Central Ave.: Paintings by John Faginkrantz and Jim Oberst, through October . 50-6236401.

JUSTUS FINE ART, 827 Central Ave.: Mixed media paintings by Dan Thornhill, Kari Albright, Robyn Horn, Dolores Justus, V. Noe, Rebecca Thompson and others, through October. 501-321-2335.

RUSSELLVILLE RIVER VALLEY ARTS CENTER, 1001 E. B St.: Watercolors of Mt. Nebo by Cynthia Schanink, through Oct. 31. 479-968-2452.

CONTINUING ART EXHIBITS (CENTRAL ARKANSAS) ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: “Poet in Copper: Engravings by Evan Lindquist,” through Oct. 26; “Inspiration to Illumination: Recent Work by Museum School Photography Instructors,” through Oct. 26, Museum School Gallery. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000.

CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: “Arkansas Traveler,” new paintings by John Deering, through Oct. 18. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mon.-Sat. 224-1335.

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.

CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “Chihuly,” studio glass, through Jan. 5, 2015; permanent exhibits on the Clinton administration. 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.

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: New works by Tyler Arnold, also work

by Kathi Couch, Gino Hollander, Greg Lahti, Mary Ann Stafford, Byron Taylor, sculpture

by Siri Hollander, jewelry by Rae Ann Bayless, Sean LeCrone, Emile and Brenda Fowler. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 8010211.

GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings and drawings by Diane Harper, Dominique Simmons and Emily Wood, through Oct. 25.

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 664-8996.

GALLERY 360, 900 S. Rodney Parham Road: “Artists Scrounging,” assemblages of found objects by Laura Fanning, Melissa “Mo” Lashbrook, Michelle Canulla, Nina Sharkey Culpepper, Jay King, Jessica Crenshaw, Amy Edgington, Ming Donkey, Michael Crenshaw, Gerald Brown, Joyce

Haase, Mike Church, Kelley Naylor Wise, Byron Werner, Loogie, Debra Young, Wade Wise, Chris Massingill, Lynn Frost, Steph Brouwers, Fabio Adrian Delgado, Ann Filiatreau and Jessica Forest, through Nov. 1. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Sat. 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,” through Nov. 15.

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 664-2787.

HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 Wright Ave.: “All That I Am: A Retrospective,” works on paper

by Aj Smith, through Nov. 8. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. 372-6822.

LAMAN LIBRARY ARGENTA BRANCH, 420 Main St.: “Wartime Escape,” illustrations by Allan Drummond for the book “The Journey that Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey,” through Oct. 26. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 687-1061.

LOCAL COLOUR, 5811 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Rotating work by 27 artists in collective. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 265-0422.

M2GALLERY, 11525 Cantrell Road (Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center): “Laureate,” retrospective of engravings by Evan Lindquist, Arkansas’s first artist laureate; also works by Richard Sutton and Jennifer and Richard Cutshall. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 944-7155.

MUGS CAFE GALLERY, 515 Main St.: “Puzzling Juxtapositions,” paintings and drawings by Patrick Fleming, Fran Austin and Denise White, through Oct. 21.

SEQUOYAH NATIONAL RESEARCH CENTER: “Toy Tipis and Totem Poles: Native American Stereotypes in the Lives of Children,” more than 1,500 objects and documents from the Hirschfelder-Molin collection, through Dec. 19. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 569-8336.

STEPHANO’S FINE ART GALLERY, 1813 N. Grant: New work by Lynn Sudderth and G. Peebles. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon., Fri.; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Thu.; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 563-4218.

STUDIOMAIN, 1423 S. Main St.: “Community Center Design Competition.” www.facebook. com/studio.main.ar.

BENTON DIANNE ROBERTS ART STUDIO AND GALLERY, 110 N. Market St.: Work by Dianne Roberts, classes. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 860-7467.

CONWAY UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS: Illustrations on paper by Fay Ku, photographs

by Kathleen Robbins, paintings by Theresa Pfarr, through Oct. 24, Baum Gallery. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., to 7 p.m. Thu. HOT SPRINGS FINE ARTS CENTER, 626 Central Ave. and Prospect: “Form, Color, Line,” contemporary abstraction, through Oct. 25. 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tue.-Sat. 501-624-0489.

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.

SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY.

EAT LOCAL

C U S T O M F U R N I T U R E tommy@tommyfarrell.com ■ 501.375.7225

September 1 – October 20, 2014 Made possible through NEH on the Road, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Organized by the National Building Museum, Washington DC. Curated

by Sarah Leavitt. Support provided by the Home Depot Foundation.

What makes a house a home?

Throughout American history, people have lived in all sorts of places, from military barracks and two-story colonials to college dormitories and row houses. Drawn from the flagship installation at The National Building Museum, House & Home embarks on a tour of houses both familiar and surprising, through past and present, to explore the varied history and many cultural meanings of the American home.

LAMANLIBRARY LIBRARY LAMAN

W I L L I A M F. L A M A N P U B L I C L I B R A R Y S Y S T E M

ON RA S TEREETE T • O NR OTRH T HL ILTI T T LT E L ER R 2 8 0218 0O1R A GNE GSET R • N OOCCKK 1 70 2 0• W • W WW W. W RA . ORRGG 5 0 15- 0715-87 -5187- 2 L A. LMA AMNA LNI LBI RB A RR Y .YO www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

41

Dining

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.

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

WHAT’S COOKIN’

Good Food by Ferneau/ Butcher & Public

THE PANTRY CREST, at 722 Palm St., will hold a soft opening at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9.

Tomas Bohm’s spinoff of his popular West Little Rock restaurant, The Pantry, will feature a similar but smaller menu initially, Bohm said. The bar offerings will be bigger, though, with 10 to 12 taps for beer, two taps for wine and a wide selection of 750 ml beers.

Bohm completely renovated the 100-yearold former home in Hillcrest, which more recently has housed restaurants like The House and Sufficient Grounds. The new floor plan is more open, Bohm said, with seating for around 100 people. He also added a bar on the outdoor deck.

The kitchen will be open from 4 p.m. until midnight Thursday through Sunday. The phone number is 352-3549.

KBIRD, the Thai food truck Richard Glasgow has operated in Hillcrest since 2012, is moving to a brick-and-mortar location. “As soon as [he] can” — certainly within the calendar year — Glasgow will begin serving up his authentic Thai food out of the former home of Palette Catering, 600 N. Tyler St. The new restaurant will be counter service and have a handful of tables and chairs. Glasgow hopes to continue to get a lot of carryout business. Hours, restricted by the location’s zoning, will be 10:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Glasgow said he would continue to serve the items he regularly offered from the truck — pad thai, red curry, green curry, hang lay curry — while working other dishes he’s occasionally offered out of the truck into the regular rotation and mixing in specials like Thai fried chicken.

LAURA BERRYHILL AND PATRICK AND IDA COWAN plan to open Blue Canoe Brewing Co., at 425 E. Third St., by Nov. 1. Cowan, a Little Rock lawyer and longtime homebrewer, said the new space will be an intimate taproom, with around 800 square feet and seating for 20, with room for 20 more if everybody stands. The brewery will use a three-barrel system, Cowan said, which cranks out around 600 beers per batch. The plan is to have eight Blue Canoe brews on tap, with three more local or regional beers, a white wine and a red wine. They’ll offer growlers to go, Cowan said, but the small output of their brewing equipment means they probably won’t offer their beers for sale anywhere other than the flagship.

DINING CAPSULES

LITTLE ROCK/ NORTH LITTLE ROCK

AMERICAN

ACADIA A jewel of a restaurant in Hillcrest.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 43 42

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

521 Main St. North Little Rock 725-4219 (Good Food by Ferneau, www.goodfoodbyferneau.com) 410-7783 (Butcher & Public, www.butcherandpublic.com)

QUICK BITE

Realize this is really a five-in-one opportunity — you can pop in and grab fabulous meats, cheeses and a few condiments and side items from Butcher & Public’s case and/or a packaged to-go meal from Ferneau; or stay a while and order lunch from the menu boards from either — or both; finally, come back on Friday and Saturday night for a very cool Good Food by Ferneau dining experience.

The bar itself is another hip/chic experience.

GOOD TIMES: Hard to go wrong with a pairing of Donnie Ferneau creations and Travis McConnell’s fresh meats.

Good food

Ferneau and McConnell team up in Argenta.

T

here’s a lot going on — a lot of good things going on — at Good Food by Ferneau, the latest venture for one of our most renowned chefs.

Donnie Ferneau has re-emerged in a big way after his eponymous eatery was purchased by Frank Fletcher, turned into the lower-brow Rocket 21 and then moved to Fletcher’s Wyndham Riverfront in North Little Rock. (It is now closed.)

Ferneau began offering healthy to-go items for pickup from Pulaski Heights Presbyterian Church — goodfoodbyferneau.com still reflects that incarnation — before opening recently in the former Argenta Market. The space has been transformed into a minimalist, monochromatic urban-chic spot that by day is filled with light from a north-facing wall of glass.

Good Food by Ferneau also is home to Butcher & Public, the long-awaited retail debut for meat maestro Travis McConnell. There’s also a cool bar with TVs (sports; no sound). With all that under one roof, you can: • Have an eat-in lunch, ordering items from either or both the GFF and B&P menus.

• Pop in for a drink. The bar is staffed only Friday and Saturday evenings, but a waiter can nab you a beer or some wine any time (not sure if mixed drinks are

available in the day).

• Grab to-go entrees and other goodies from GFF and raid the amazing butcher case at B&P. • Sit down for a full-service meal on Friday and Saturday evenings, selecting from the small menu Ferneau offers up as he goes beyond the no-gluten/no-sugar borders of his lunch and take-out dishes.

In a recent KTHV, Channel 11, appearance, McConnell said the “public” part of his establishment’s name was an encouragement for folks to feel comfortable just hanging out. And that’s a clear draw. The space features eight four-top tables, four picnic-style tables and four cocktail rounds with tall stools that also seat four. There’s a small lounge area illuminated by the cool new GFF logo. Rocking tunes serenade you at lunch with the music softening at night.

It’s a place to bring your laptop or tablet and work/surf as you nosh/sip.

Our first lunch visit teamed a bowl of vegan butternut squash soup ($6) from GFF and a spicy meatball sandwich ($9 with chips) from B&P. Ferneau’s luscious, “creamy” squash soup, garnished with tiny chia seeds, certainly didn’t suffer from its lack of gluten. McConnell not only butchers area-raised whole animals to create the cuts sold in his case, but he also makes all the resulting pates, rillettes and these

HOURS

10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday (Butcher and Public); 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday (Good Food by Ferneau).

OTHER INFO

Gluten-free and sugar-free (except for desserts), full bar, all CCs accepted.

dense, herb-rich meatballs, three of which are presented in Middle Eastern style with dill, lettuce and a tangy yogurt-based sauce, served on what must be the world’s best “hot dog bun” created by Arkansas Fresh Bakery. Three homemade breadand-butter pickles, two pickled green beans and one pickled okra pod accompanied, as did a bag of Zapp’s chips.

Later we had GFF’s ginger chicken with quinoa and mushrooms ($12) and must say our venture into the healthy side of the house wasn’t as thrilling. There were only a few shards of chicken in the not-overly-gingery dish, which also included squash, carrots and English peas.

It was a bit bland and could have used a shot of salt, but there was none in sight.

We closed with pecan shortbread with salted caramel ($2), marked very clearly as NOT sugar- or gluten-free. It was very sweet, rich and wonderful, so we weren’t surprised to learn it was made by Kelli Marks at Sweet Love Bakes.

Just a couple of weeks into its run, Good Food by Ferneau was packed at 12:30 p.m. on a Friday, and a steady stream of folks flowed in over the next 90 minutes.

We took the trolley over the river the next night for dinner with friends. At 6:45 p.m. there was a healthy but not overwhelming crowd.

Dinner is a Ferneau-only thing, but he

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EXCELLENT: Seared salmon on brown rice with braised mushrooms and Dijon herb vinaigrette.

adds B&P to the equation. Our charcuterie plate (we chose the “little piggy” for $8; the big is $18) featured a large slab of creamy chicken liver mousse, which was not too “livery”; a slightly smaller slab of pork and pistachio pate, chunky and richly flavored; and two slices of bierwurst, which were tasty but not as remarkable as their plate mates. The warm jalapeno and garlic shrimp cocktail ($10) wasn’t particularly spicy, but was well seasoned with green herbs, and the seven shrimp were perfectly cooked.

Ferneau also prepares B&P’s smoked pork chop ($23), tender and substantial.

It’s topped with pear chutney and served with red quinoa. The steak ($32 with sweet potato hash) is not B&P, but from Creekstone Farms. The cut was huge, we’re guessing at least 12-14 ounces, and it was succulent and flavorful, as good

a steak as we’ve had in a long time. The seared salmon ($25) was proclaimed “fine” by our favorite salmon fan, but she didn’t rave. It came atop nutty brown rice studded with mushrooms.

The wine choices are limited but impressive, and they’re reasonably priced.

Our friends’ glasses of pinot noir and Bordeaux were $7 and $8, and our bottle of chardonnay was $29.

One thing you get at Good Food by Ferneau is Donnie Ferneau. He was there during all our visits, and when he wasn’t cooking, he was delivering lunches (after ordering you put a number on a stand on your table), busing tables, chatting up guests.

The combination of variety and quality would suggest good times ahead at Good Food by Ferneau and Butcher & Public.

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GREAT FOOD GREAT SERVICE GREAT TIMES! At Very Affordable Prices!

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. Unbelievable fixed-price, three-course dinners on Mondays and Tuesday, but food is certainly worth full price. 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-603-9630. D Mon.-Sat. BIG ORANGE: BURGERS SALADS SHAKES Gourmet burgers manufactured according to exacting specs (humanely raised beef!) and properly fried Kennebec potatoes are the big draws, but you can get a veggie burger as well as fried chicken, curried falafel and blackened tilapia sandwiches, plus creative meal-sized salads. Shakes and floats are indulgences for all ages. 17809 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-1515. LD daily. 207 N. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-3798715. LD daily.

BIG ROCK BISTRO Students of the Arkansas Culinary School run this restaurant at Pulaski Tech under the direction of Chef Jason Knapp.

Pizza, pasta, Asian-inspired dishes and diner food, all in one stop. 3000 W. Scenic Drive.

NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-812-2200. BL Mon.-Fri. BLACK ANGUS CAFE Charcoal-grilled burgers, hamburger steaks and steaks proper

are the big draws at this local institution. 10907 N. Rodney Parham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-228-7800. LD Mon.-Sat. BOBBY’S CAFE Delicious, humungo burgers and tasty homemade desserts at this Levy diner. 12230 MacArthur Drive. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-851-7888. BL Tue.-Fri., D Fri. BOSTON’S Ribs and gourmet pizza star at this restaurant/sports bar located at the Holiday Inn by the airport. TVs in separate sports bar area. 3201 Bankhead Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$.

501-235-2000. LD daily.

BOUDREAUX’S GRILL & BAR A homey, seat-yourself Cajun joint in Maumelle that serves up all sorts of variations of shrimp and catfish. With particularly tasty red beans and rice, jambalaya and bread pudding. 9811 Maumelle Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$.

501-753-6860. L Sat., D Mon.-Sat. BOULEVARD BREAD CO. Fresh bread, fresh pastries, wide selection of cheeses, meats, side dishes; all superb. Good coffee, too.

1920 N. Grant St. Beer and wine, All CC. $$.

501-663-5951. BLD Mon.-Sat. 400 President Clinton Ave. Beer and wine, All CC. $-$$.

220 W 6th St | Little Rock (1 Block from the Arkansas Repertory Theater)

For reservations call 501-374-5100

www.lulaveatery.com

www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

43

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. CAMP DAVID Inside the Holiday Inn Presidential Conference Center, Camp David particularly pleases with its breakfast and themed buffets each day of the week.

Wonderful Sunday brunch. 600 Interstate 30.

Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-975-2267. BLD daily, BR Sun. CAPERS It’s never been better, with as good a wine list as any in the area, and a menu that covers a lot of ground -- seafood, steaks, pasta -- and does it all well. 14502 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-868-7600. LD Mon.-Sat. CHEDDAR’S Large selection of somewhat standard American casual cafe choices, many of which are made from scratch. Portions are large and prices are very reasonable. 400 South University. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-6147578. LD daily.

COMMUNITY BAKERY This sunny downtown bakery is the place to linger over a latte, bagels and the New York Times. But a lunchtime dash for sandwiches is OK, too, though it’s often packed. 1200 S. Main St. No alcohol, CC. $-$$.

501-375-7105. BLD daily. 270 S. Shackleford.

No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-1656. BLD Mon.-Sat. BL Sun. COPELAND’S RESTAURANT OF LITTLE ROCK The full service restaurant chain started by the founder of Popeye’s delivers the same good biscuits, the same dependable frying and a New Orleans vibe in piped music and decor. You can eat red beans and rice for a price in the single digits or pay near $40 for a choice slab of ribeye, with crab, shrimp and fish in between. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-312-1616. LD daily.

COPPER GRILL Comfort food, burgers and more sophisticated fare at this River Marketarea hotspot. 300 E. Third St. Full bar, All CC.

501-374-1232. BL Mon.-Sat. 4301 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-526-6661. BL Mon.-Fri. 1417 Main St. Beer and wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5100. BL Mon.-Sat.; 4301 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-5266661. BL Mon.-Fri. BREWSTERS 2 CAFE & LOUNGE Downhome done right. Check out the yams, mac-and-cheese, greens, purple-hull peas, cornbread, wings, catfish and all the rest. 2725 S. Arch St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-301-7728.

LD Mon.-Sat. BROWN SUGAR BAKESHOP Fabulous cupcakes, brownies and cakes offered five days a week until they’re sold out. 419 E. 3rd St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-4009. LD Tue.-Sat. (close at 5:30 p.m.).

BUTCHER SHOP The cook-your-own-steak option has been downplayed, and several menu additions complement the calling card: large, fabulous cuts of prime beef, cooked to perfection. 10825 Hermitage Road. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-312-2748. D daily.

CACHE RESTAURANT Cache provides a stunning experience on the well-presented plates and in terms of atmosphere, glitz and general feel. It doesn’t feel like anyplace else in Little Rock, and it’s not priced like much of anywhere else in Little Rock, either. But there are options to keep the tab in the reasonable range. 425 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$$.

501-850-0265. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. CAJUN’S WHARF The venerable seafood restaurant serves up great gumbo and oysters Bienville, and options such as fine steaks for the non-seafood eater. In the citified bar, you’ll find nightly entertainment, too. 2400 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5351.

D Mon.-Sat.

SEHABLAESPAÑOL El Latino is Arkansas’s only weekly circulation-audited Spanish language newspaper. Arkansas has the second fastest growing Latino population in the country, and smart business people are targeting this market as they develop business relationships with these new consumers.

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ARKANSAS TIMES

$$-$$$. 501-375-3333. LD Mon.-Sat. CRUSH WINE BAR An unpretentious downtown bar/lounge with an appealing and erudite wine list. With tasty tapas, but no menu for full meals. 318 Main St. NLR. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-374-9463. D Tue.-Sat. DAVE’S PLACE A popular downtown soupand-sandwich stop at lunch draws a large and diverse crowd for the Friday night dinner, which varies in theme, home cooking being the most popular. Owner Dave Williams does all the cooking and his son, Dave also, plays saxophone and fronts the band that plays most Friday nights. 201 Center St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-3283. L Mon.-Fri., D Fri. DAVID FAMILY KITCHEN Call it soul food or call it down-home country cooking. Just be sure to call us for breakfast or lunch when you go. Neckbones, ribs, sturdy cornbread, salmon croquettes, mustard greens and the like. Desserts are exceptionally good. 2301 Broadway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-3710141. BL Mon.-Fri., L Sun. DELICIOUS TEMPTATIONS Decadent breakfast and light lunch items that can be ordered in full or half orders to please any appetite or palate, with a great variety of salads and soups as well. Don’t miss the bourbon pecan pie -it’s a winner. 11220 N. Rodney Parham Road.

No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-225-6893. BL daily.

DIZZY’S GYPSY BISTRO Interesting bistro fare, served in massive portions at this River Market favorite. 200 River Market Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3500. LD Tue.-Sat. THE FADED ROSE The Cajun-inspired menu seldom disappoints. Steaks and soaked salads are legendary. 1619 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-9734. LD daily.

FLYING SAUCER A popular River Market hangout thanks to its almost 200 beers (including 75 on tap) and more than decent bar food. It’s nonsmoking, so families are welcome.

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

501-372-8032. LD daily.

FOX AND HOUND Sports bar that serves pub food. 2800 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-8300. LD daily.

FRANKE’S CAFETERIA Plate lunch spot strong on salads and vegetables, and perfect fried chicken on Sundays. Arkansas’ oldest continually operating restaurant. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$.

501-225-4487. LD daily. 400 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-372-1919. L Mon.-Fri. FRONTIER DINER The traditional all-American roadside diner, complete with a nice selection of man-friendly breakfasts and lunch specials.

The half pound burger is a two-hander for the average working Joe. 10424 Interstate 30. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-6414. BL Mon.-Sat. GADWALL’S GRILL Once two separate restaurants, a fire forced the grill into the pizza joint.

Now, under one roof, there’s mouth-watering burgers and specialty sandwiches, plus zesty pizzas with cracker-thin crust and plenty of toppings. 12 North Hills Shopping Center.

NLR. Beer and wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-8341840. LD daily. B Fri.-Sun. GARDEN SQUARE CAFE & GROCERY Vegetarian soups, sandwiches and wraps just like those to be had across the street at 4Square Cafe and Gifts, plus a small grocery store. 4Square does unique and delicious wraps with such ingredients as shiitake mushrooms and the servings are ample. A small grocery accompanies the River Market cafe.

River Market. No alcohol, All CC. 244-9964 or 244-2622.

GIGI’S CUPCAKES This Nashville-based

chain’s entries into the artisan-cupcake sweetstakes are as luxurious in presentation as they are in sugar quantity. 416 S. University Ave., Suite 120. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-614-7012.

BLD daily.

GUILLERMO’S GOURMET COFFEE Serves gourmet coffee, lunch, beer, wine and tapas.

Beans are roasted in house, and the espresso is probably the best in town. Happy hour is $1 off beer and $5 wine, from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. every day. 10700 Rodney Parham Road. Beer and wine. 501-228-4448. BL daily.

HONEYBAKED HAM CO. The trademark ham is available by the sandwich, as is great smoked turkey and lots of inexpensive side items and desserts. 9112 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. 501-227-5555. LD Mon.-Sun. IZZY’S It’s bright, clean and casual, with snappy team service of all his standbys — sandwiches and fries, lots of fresh salads, pasta about a dozen ways, hand-rolled tamales and brick oven pizzas. 5601 Ranch Drive. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-868-4311. LD Mon.-Sat. LITTLEFIELD’S CAFE The owners of the Starlite Diner have moved their cafe to the Kroger Shopping Center on JFK, where they are still serving breakfast all day, as well as plate lunches, burgers and sandwiches. 6929 John F. Kennedy Blvd. NLR. No alcohol. 501-771-2036.

BLD Mon.-Sat., BL Sun. MARKHAM STREET GRILL AND PUB The menu has something for everyone, including mahi-mahi and wings. Try the burgers, which are juicy, big and fine. 11321 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-2010. LD daily.

MCBRIDE’S CAFE AND BAKERY Owners Chet and Vicki McBride have been serving up delicious breakfast and lunch specials based on their family recipes for two decades in this popular eatery at Baptist Health’s Little Rock campus. The desserts and barbecue sandwiches are not to be missed. 9501 Lile Drive. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-340-3833. BL Mon.-Fri. MOOYAH BURGERS Kid-friendly, fast-casual restaurant with beef, veggie and turkey burgers, a burger bar and shakes. 14810 Cantrell Road, Suite 190. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-1091 10825 Kanis Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-313-4905. LD daily.

NEWK’S EATERY 314 S. University Avenue, Suite 180. Beer, All CC. 601-982-1160.

OLD MILL BREAD AND FLOUR CO. CAFE The popular take-out bakery has an eat-in restaurant and friendly operators. It’s selfservice, simple and good with sandwiches built with a changing lineup of the bakery’s 40 different breads, along with soups, salads and cookies. 12111 W. Markham St. #366.

No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-4677. BL Mon.-Sat. BR Sun. PANERA BREAD 10701 Kanis Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-954-7773. BLD daily.

RED DOOR Fresh seafood, steaks, chops and sandwiches from restaurateur Mark Abernathy.

Smart wine list. 3701 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-666-8482. BL Tue.-Fri. D daily. BR Sat. RENO’S ARGENTA CAFE Sandwiches, gyros and gourmet pizzas by day and music and drinks by night in downtown Argenta. 312 N. Main St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-3762900. LD Mon.-Sat. RIVERFRONT STEAKHOUSE Steaks are the draw here -- nice cuts heavily salted and peppered, cooked quickly and accurately to your specifications, finished with butter and served sizzling hot. 2 Riverfront Place. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-7825. D Mon.-Sat.

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. ROBERT’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL If you’re looking for a burger, you won’t find it here.

This establishment specializes in fried chicken dinners, served with their own special trimmings. 7212 Geyer Springs Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-568-2566. LD Tue.-Sat., D Mon., Sun. RUDY’S OYSTER BAR Good boiled shrimp and oysters on the half shell. Quesadillas and chili cheese dip are tasty and ultra-hearty. 2695 Pike Ave. NLR. Full bar, All CC. 501-771-0808.

LD Mon.-Sat. SHARKS FISH & CHICKEN This Southwest Little Rock restaurant specializes in seafood, frog legs and catfish, all served with the traditional fixings. 8824 Geyer Springs Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-0300. LD daily.

SO RESTAURANT BAR Call it a French brasserie with a sleek, but not fussy American finish.

The wine selection is broad and choice. Free valet parking. Use it and save yourself a headache. 3610 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-1464. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. STICKYZ ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CHICKEN SHACK Fingers any way you can imagine, plus sandwiches and burgers, and a fun setting for music and happy hour gatherings. 107 Commerce St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-7707. LD daily.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE Following in the lines of those loud, peanuts-on-the-table steak joints, but the steaks are better here than we’ve had at similar stops. Good burgers, too. 3601 Warden Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-7714230. D daily, L Sat.-Sun. 2620 S. Shackleford Rd. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-2427. D Mon.-Fri., LD Sat.-Sun. TOWN PUMP A dependable burger, good wings, great fries, other bar food, plate lunches, full bar. 1321 Rebsamen Park Road.

Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-9802. LD daily.

TRIO’S Fresh, creative and satisfying lunches; even better at night, when the chefs take flight. Best array of fresh desserts in town.

8201 Cantrell Road Suite 100. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-221-3330. LD Mon.-Sat., BR Sun. WHOLE FOODS MARKET Good sandwiches, soups and hummus to go; an enormous number of hot and cold entrees from the deli; extensive juice bar. 10700 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-312-2326.

BLD daily.

WILLY D’S DUELING PIANO BAR Willy D’s serves up a decent dinner of pastas and salads as a lead-in to its nightly sing-along piano show. Go when you’re in a good mood. 322 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$.

501-244-9550. D Tue.-Sat. YANCEY’S CAFETERIA Soul food served with a Southern attitude. 1523 Martin Luther King Ave. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-372-9292. LD Tue.-Sat. ZACK’S PLACE Expertly prepared home cooking and huge, smoky burgers. 1400 S. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-6646444. LD Mon.-Sat. ZIN URBAN WINE & BEER BAR This is the kind of sophisticated place you would expect to find in a bar on the ground floor of the Tuf-Nut lofts downtown. It’s cosmopolitan yet comfortable, a relaxed place to enjoy fine wines and beers while noshing on superb meats, cheeses and amazing goat cheesestuffed figs. 300 River Market Ave. Beer and wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-246-4876. D daily.

ASIAN

CHI’S CHINESE CUISINE No longer owned

by Chi’s founder Lulu Chi, this Chinese mainstay still offers a broad menu that spans the Chinese provinces and offers a few twists on

the usual local offerings. 5110 W. Markham St. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-604-7777. LD Mon.-Sat. CRAZY HIBACHI GRILL The folks that own Chi’s and Sekisui offer their best in a three-inone: tapanaki cooking, sushi bar and sit-down dining with a Mongolian grill. 2907 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-8129888. LD daily.

FANTASTIC CHINA The food is delicious, the presentation beautiful, the menu distinctive, the service perfect, the decor bright. 1900 N. Grant St. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-663-8999.

LD daily.

GENGHIS GRILL This chain restaurant takes the Mongolian grill idea to its inevitable, Subwaystyle conclusion. 12318 Chenal Parkway. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-223-2695. LD daily.

LILLY’S DIMSUM THEN SOME Innovative dishes inspired by Asian cuisine, utilizing local and fresh ingredients. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer and wine, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-716-2700. LD Tue.-Sun. MT. FUJI JAPANESE RESTAURANT The dean of Little Rock sushi bars offers a fabulous lunch special and great Monday night deals. 10301 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-227-6498. LD daily. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-227-6498.

OSAKA JAPANESE RESTAURANT Veteran operator of several local Asian buffets has brought fine-dining Japanese dishes and a well-stocked sushi bar to way-out-west Little Rock, near Chenal off Highway 10. 5501 Ranch Dr. $$-$$$. 501-868-3688. L Tue.-Sat., D Tue.-Sun. SKY MODERN JAPANESE Excellent, ambitious menu filled with sushi and other Japanese fare and Continental-style dishes.

11525 Cantrell Road, Suite 917. Full bar, All CC. $$$-$$$$. 501-224-4300. LD daily.

SUSHI CAFE Impressive, upscale sushi menu with other delectable house specialties like tuna tataki, fried soft shell crab, Kobe beef and, believe it or not, the Tokyo cowboy burger.

5823 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-663-9888. L Mon.-Sat. D daily.

BAKERY

CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE Home-cooking with plenty of variety and big portions. Old-fashioned breakfast served all day long. 2618 S. Shackleford Road. No alcohol, All CC. 501-225-7100. BLD daily.

BARBECUE

CHATZ CAFE ‘Cue and catfish joint that does heavy catering business. Try the slowsmoked, meaty ribs. 8801 Colonel Glenn Road.

No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-4949. LD Mon.-Sat. CORKY’S RIBS & BBQ The pulled pork is extremely tender and juicy, and the sauce is sweet and tangy without a hint of heat. Maybe the best dry ribs in the area. 12005 Westhaven Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-954-7427.

LD daily. 2947 Lakewood Village Drive. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-753-3737. LD daily, B Sat.-Sun. WHITE PIG INN Go for the sliced rather than chopped meats at this working-class barbecue cafe. Side orders -- from fries to potato salad to beans and slaw -- are superb, as are the fried pies. 5231 E. Broadway. NLR. Beer, All CC. $-$$.

501-945-5551. LD Mon.-Fri., L 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. 516 Cantrell Road. Beer and wine, All CC. $$.

Join us for the first late night

3 R I V E R D A L e

d e s i g n

D I S T R I C T d a t e

Thursday October 9

n i g h t

These locations are open until 8 (or longer) hop on the FREE TROLLEY

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT

RIVERDALE DISTRICT

Trolley Stop Schedule The Shade Above Maddie’s Place Tom Chandler & Associates Faded Rose Providence Design Residences at Riverdale Closet Factory About Vase Tanarah Riviera Condominiums Debi Davis Interior Design Urban Pad Tuft & Table The Fold Botanas & Bar The Showroom mertinsdykehome Distinctive Kitchens & Baths Fabulous Finds Parking available in the Warehouse District & Riviera Condos in Riverdale.

ARKANSAS TIMES www.arktimes.com

OCTOBER 9, 2014

45

DINING CAPSULES, CONT.

hearsay ➥ The ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER CONTEMPORARIEs will host the second annual Fountain Fest, an outdoor party around the Carrie Remmel Dickinson fountain, scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 16. This year’s event will feature community contributed photos using the hashtag #inspirationoverflow, as well as music, BBQ and libations. Funds raised will go toward purchasing artwork and to fund Contemporaries projects that support the AAC. Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 at the door.

For more information, visit www. arkarts.com/events/fountain-fest. ➥ BARBARA/JEAN will host Michael Ann Guthrie, Natura Bisse’s VP of Retail Experience International Division, on Oct. 13.

Light bites and drinks will be available 4-6 p.m. as Guthrie shares her insider tips to combat signs of aging. ➥ THE GALLERY AT UALR’S latest exhibit is titled, “Perception/ Reality” by furniture design student Mia Hall. The exhibit runs from now until Nov. 10 in Gallery II. All objects in the exhibition have been constructed out of concrete, a noticeably contradicting material, causing an immediate reaction when interacting or touching the work. The recent work by Mia Hall is an exploration into the perception a viewer may harbor when encountering certain functional objects. ➥ As first report at the Eat Arkansas blog, the owners of the Southern Salt food truck are planning to open PARIS CANDY ANTIQUES at the northwest corner of 23rd and Arch streets in the SOMA neighborhood. Antiques shoppers will be able to sip coffee and nosh on sweet and savory pies after they browse the shop. The food truck will also make an occasional appearance. Keep checking Hearsay to for the opening date. ➥ FULLER AND SON HARDWARE recently announced they will open their sixth location in the old Hestand’s space in the Heights next to the Toggery. Look for more information about an opening date when it becomes available. ➥ CULTURE CLOTHING CO. is the latest entry into the men’s clothing scene in town. Located at 11220 N. Rodney Parham, it specializes in hard-to-find brands and the latest styles.

Advertising Supplement 46

OCTOBER 9, 2014

ARKANSAS TIMES

501-664-5025. LD Mon.-Sat. 12111 W. Markham. Beer and wine, All CC. $$.

501-907-6124. LD daily. 150 E. Oak St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-5130600. LD Mon.-Sat., L Sun. 5107 Warden Road. NLR. Beer and wine, All CC. $$.

501-753-9227.

EUROPEAN / ETHNIC

ALADDIN KABAB Persian and Mexican cuisines sound like an odd pairing, but they work fairly well together here.

Particularly if you’re ordering something that features charred meat, like a kabab or gyros. 9112 N Rodney Parham Road.

No alcohol, All CC. 501-219-8787. LD daily.

CAFE BOSSA NOVA A South American approach to sandwiches, salads and desserts, all quite good, as well as an array of refreshing South American teas and coffees. 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-614-6682. LD Tue.-Sat., BR Sun. DUGAN’S PUB Serves up Irish fare like fish and chips and corned beef and cabbage alongside classic bar food. The chicken fingers and burgers stand out.

Irish breakfast all day. 401 E. 3rd St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-244-0542. LD daily.

GEORGIA’S GYROS Good gyros, Greek salads and fragrant grilled pita bread highlight a large Mediterranean food selection, plus burgers and the like. 2933 Lakewood Village Drive. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-753-5090. LD Mon.-Sat. HIBERNIA IRISH TAVERN This traditional Irish pub has its own traditional Irish cook from, where else, Ireland. Broad beverage menu, Irish and Southern food favorites and a crowd that likes to sing. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-2464340. D Mon.-Sat., L Sun. 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.).

TAJ MAHAL The third Indian restaurant in a one-mile span of West Little Rock, Taj Mahal offers upscale versions of traditional dishes and an extensive menu. Dishes range on the spicy side. 1520 Market Street. Beer, All CC. $$$. 501-881-4796. LD daily.

TAZIKI’S GREEK FARE Fast casual chain that offers gyros, grilled meats and veggies, hummus and pimento cheese. 8200 Cantrell Road. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-2278291. LD daily. 12800 Chenal Parkway. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-225-1829. LD daily.

THE TERRACE MEDITERRANEAN K I T C H E N A broad selection of Mediterranean delights that includes a very affordable collection of starters, salads, sandwiches, burgers, chicken and fish at lunch and a more upscale dining experience with top-notch table service at dinner.

2200 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-217-9393. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. YA YA’S EURO BISTRO The first eatery to open in the Promenade at Chenal is a datenight affair, translating comfort food into beautiful cuisine. Best bet is lunch, where you can explore the menu through soup, salad or half a sandwich. 17711 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-

1144. LD daily, BR Sun.

ICE CREAM

MAGGIE MOO’S ICE CREAM AND TREATERY 17821 Chenal Parkway. No alcohol. 501-821-7609.

ITALIAN

BRAVO! CUCINA ITALIANA This upscale Italian chain offers delicious and sometimes inventive dishes. 17815 Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-821-2485. LD daily.

BR Sun. BRUNO’S LITTLE ITALY Traditional Italian antipastos, appetizers, entrees and desserts. Extensive, delicious menu from Little Rock standby. 310 Main St. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-7866. D Tue.-Sat. GRAFFITI’S The casually chic and everpopular Italian-flavored bistro avoids the rut with daily specials and careful menu tinkering. 7811 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-224-9079. D Mon.-Sat. JIM’S RAZORBACK PIZZA Great pizza served up in a family-friendly, sportsthemed environment. Special Saturday and Sunday brunch served from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Flat-screen TVs throughout and even a cage for shooting basketballs and playing ping-pong. 16101 Cantrell Road. Beer and wine, All CC. $$. 501-868-3250. LD daily.

OLD CHICAGO PASTA & PIZZA This national chain offers lots of pizzas, pastas and beer. 4305 Warden Road. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-812-6262. LD daily.

1010 Main St. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$.

501-329-6262. LD daily.

PIZZA CAFE Thin, crunchy pizza with just a dab of tomato sauce but plenty of chunks of stuff, topped with gooey cheese. Draft beer is appealing on the open-air deck — frosty and generous. 1517 Rebsamen Park Road.

Beer and wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-664-6133.

LD daily 14710 Cantrell Road. Beer and wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-868-2600. LD daily.

PIZZA D’ACTION Some of the best pizza in town, a marriage of thin, crispy crust with a hefty ingredient load. Also, good appetizers and salads, pasta, sandwiches and killer plate lunches. 2919 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-666-5403. LD daily.

THE PIZZA JOINT Cracker-thin crusts with a tempting variety of traditional or nontraditional toppings. Just off Cantrell Road.

6100 Stones Road. Beer and wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-9108. D daily.

RISTORANTE CAPEO This excellent, authentic Italian restaurant was the trailblazer in the now-hot Argenta neighborhood of downtown North Little Rock, the Isaac brothers opening it in 2003. It remains a popular destination for classic Northern Italian favorites and features an outstanding wine list and cellar. 425 Main St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-3763463. D Mon.-Sat. SHOTGUN DAN’S PIZZA Hearty pizza and sandwiches with a decent salad bar.

Multiple locations, at 4020 E. Broadway, NLR, 945-0606; 4203 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, 835-0606, and 10923 W. Markham St. Beer, CC. $-$$. 501-224-9519. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. VINO’S Great rock ‘n’ roll club also is a fantastic pizzeria with huge calzones and always improving home-brewed beers.

923 W. 7th St. Beer and wine, All CC. $-$$.

501-375-8466. LD daily.

ZAZA Here’s where you get wood-fired pizza

with gorgeous blistered crusts and a light topping of choice and tempting ingredients, great gelato in a multitude of flavors, call-your-own ingredient salads and other treats. 5600 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer and wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-661-9292. LD daily. 1050 Ellis Ave. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-336-9292. LD daily.

LATINO

CANTINA LAREDO This is gourmet Mexican food, a step up from what you’d expect from a real cantina, from the modern minimal decor to the well-prepared entrees.

We can vouch for the enchilada Veracruz and the carne asada y huevos, both with tasty sauces and high quality ingredients perfectly cooked. 207 N. University. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-280-0407. LD daily, BR Sun. CHUY’S Good Tex-Mex. We’re especially fond of the enchiladas, and always appreciate restaurants that make their own tortillas. 16001 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-2489. LD daily.

JUANITA’S Menu includes a variety of combination entree choices -- enchiladas, tacos, flautas, shrimp burritos and such -- plus creative salads and other dishes.

And of course the “Blue Mesa” cheese dip. 614 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-1228. LD Tue.-Sat. LA SALSA MEXICAN & PERUVIAN CUISINE Mexican and Peruvian dishes, beer and margaritas. 3824 John F. Kennedy Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. 501-753-1101.

LD daily.

LOCAL LIME Tasty gourmet Mex from the folks who brought you Big Orange and ZaZa. 17815 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-448-2226. LD daily.

R O S A L I N D A R E S TA U R A N T HONDURENO A Honduran cafe that specializes in pollo con frito tajada (fried chicken and fried plaintains). With breakfast, too. 3700 JFK Blvd. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $-$$. 501-771-5559. BLD daily.

SENOR TEQUILA Typical cheap Mexcian dishes with great service. Good margaritas.

10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-5505. LD daily. 9847 Maumelle Blvd. NLR. 501-758-4432.

SENOR TEQUILA Typical cheap Mexican dishes with great service. Good margaritas.

10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-5505. LD daily. 9847 Maumelle Blvd. NLR. 501-758-4432; 14524 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-8687642. LD daily.

TACO MEXICO Tacos have to be ordered at least two at a time, but that’s not an impediment. These are some of the best and some of the cheapest tacos in Little Rock. 7101 Colonel Glenn Road.

No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-416-7002. LD Wed.-Sun. TA C O S G U A N A J U AT O P o r k , b e e f , adobado, chicharron and cabeza tacos and tortas at this mobile truck. 6920 Geyer Springs Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. LD Wed.-Mon. TAQUERIA EL PALENQUE Solid authentic Mexican food. Try the al pastor burrito.

9501 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, CC. $-$$. 501-312-0045. Serving BLD Tue.-Sun. TAQUERIA THALIA Try this taco truck on the weekends, when the special could be anything from posole to menudo to shrimp cocktail. 4500 Baseline Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-563-3679. LD Wed.-Mon.

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ARKANSAS TIMES

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ARKANSAS TIMES