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Open letters to Governor Hutchinson and Education Commissioner Johnny Key

My name is Laura Comstock. I grew up in Mountain Home, then moved to Conway and graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in 2007. Since then, I’ve worked in the Little Rock School District at Chicot Elementary. In these last 12 years I’ve grown to love the school family and community that I work with. I work alongside several women and men that have big hearts for this community. A strong school can empower and bring a community together. I’m so grateful that I can be a part of the positive impact our school is making by educating and empowering 20 kindergarten students every year. I love that I get to see former students grow throughout the years and can keep tabs on them as they go on to higher grades. I make sure they understand that I’m always there for them and believe that they can be highly successful.

I’m sure that you’re aware of the demographics of my school. And I hope you understand how much our families love their kids and how hard they work to provide for them. However, we still have a high need for resources within our school to overcome the challenges that our students come with daily.

My fellow teachers and I are not discouraged by all of these challenges. We start each day with an assessment of each student and what she or he might need to be as comfortable in the learning environment as possible. We try to meet those needs so that each student can be successful that day.

Then we hit the ground running to provide as many opportunities to develop academic and social emotional skills during each component of our schedules throughout the day. Many off-contract hours are spent planning highly engaging lessons, creating learning activities and attending professional development to ensure that we provide the highest quality of instruction as possible. We’re also mindful to incorporate as many chances to build language skills in each lesson to support our students that are learning English as a second language along with all of the content requirements for their grade levels. We differentiate instruction to meet the needs of each student so that everyone can engage in and benefit from our lessons.

Our school is also building leadership skills with our students through “The Leader in Me” program. This is a

program for schools adapted from Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” This program is helping us empower our students. They are learning how to be self-motivated in setting and achieving academic, behavior and personal goals. Students are taking charge of their own learning and feeling the confidence to achieve greatness.

My colleagues and I are constantly collaborating and working toward the common goal of helping all students at Chicot develop into kind, thoughtful, high achieving people. We bust our tails daily to provide the very best educational experience possible. And I can honestly say that each student in my class shows amazing progress every year.

To be labeled as a failure and divided into a supposedly inferior caliber of teachers after pouring my heart into my profession for 12 years is one of the biggest gut punches I have ever experienced. I am deeply concerned for the future of our district when our leadership discounts the larger societal problems of our city. I’m asking that you please support LRSD students, families and teachers. You have an open invitation to my classroom. Please come visit our classrooms and learn about our communities before you label us as failures. Don’t take away our due process. And please stop disrespecting my fellow teachers and me.

Laura Comstock Little Rock I am a Little Rock resident with three children who attend Don Roberts Elementary. We love our school! We even went as far as moving from North Little Rock and purchasing a home that was zoned for Roberts. Unfortunately, most parents in our district do not have the luxury of purchasing (or even renting) housing in an “A” school zone. Poverty and other socioeconomic factors determine their housing situation and thus their children’s access to top-rated schools. I have known since our first child entered LRSD that numerous disparities (racial, economic, biosocial) exist within the district. The hard truth is that my children will be fine because our privilege allows us to place them in top performing schools. I would dare to guess that’s an advantage the majority of the parents within our district do not share.

I drop my children off at Roberts, and then I go to work a few miles away at a “failing” school. They are two different worlds. But you know what isn’t different? The teachers and staff! They pour their hearts and energy into the students.

The faculty and staff at my school show

for those kids! Every child! Every day!

And, so far, I haven’t noticed a line of teachers waiting outside the door to take their place. They deserve the due process protection of the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act just as much as my children’s teachers at Roberts! They deserve our respect, admiration and support. It is sorely misguided to look for ways to remove their due process rights. We should instead be looking for ways to better support the students and staff at these 22 schools. Go there. Sit in these classrooms. Sit in the resource rooms.

For a day. For a week. Ask the teachers and the principals what they need to better serve these children.

I stand with our teachers in every school in our district, and I stand with LREA! Do not remove TFDA protections. That simply isn’t the way to better help these kids. Support them by supporting their educators!

Amanda Cabaniss-Rogers Little Rock Last week, I attended two fall carnivals in two different schools. At both carnivals, kids were in costumes getting their faces painted, playing games with their families, and enjoying all the food and festivities one finds at a school carnival. At one carnival, parents and PTA members ran all the games and entertained kids for almost two hours while we, the teachers, enjoyed visiting with students and their families. At the other, the teachers, after a long day of teaching, ran the carnival alongside their own family members who they recruited to help. I couldn’t help but compare.

I have been lucky to be a teacher in both schools — one a so-called failing “D” school and the other a school with a passing grade. In both schools, I worked with and learned from skilled educators and am particularly troubled that under your plan, the teachers in that “D” school would not be afforded the same protections that my colleagues and I in our “B” school would have.

In that “D” school, I worked with some of the most incredible educators I have ever met. We worked long days, many weekends and attended more nighttime events than teachers in other schools. We taught students who have experienced unimaginable trauma and who have challenges that impacted their learning and behavior at school. Teachers in that school pored over data, worried over students’ health and safety, and expended so much love and energy for their jobs that most reported having high, unhealthy levels of stress. In the two years I taught there, I worked

harder than I’ve worked in my other 13 years as a teacher. The work was so complex, difficult and stressful that I could not continue it and maintain my health, so I returned to my previous school. I feel quite a lot of guilt about that, because I know how desperately they need caring, strong teachers.

The very idea that those teachers are to blame for the struggles of their school is misguided, misinformed and absolutely unfair. Their jobs are difficult and they deserve more than you want to provide them. Please reconsider your plan to remove their job protections and due process. Please appreciate and respect the hard work they do every day.

Barbara Hall Little Rock My son attended a “failing” school for his three middle-school years. His “failing” school had the highest concentration of teachers trained in his special needs of any school in the city. At his “failing” school, he became a Duke TIP scholar, thanks to teachers who taught well both in the classroom and in an after-school program they initiated. At his “failing” school, my son’s DI team placed 6th in the world in their international competition. At his “failing” school, my son became enamored of Shakespeare, thanks to a teacher who led a 10-minute play festival. At his “failing”’ school, my son wrote flash fiction that was read and evaluated by professional writers around the world. At his “failing”school, my son participated in a project-based seminar class all three years. At his “failing” school, my son’s core teachers met every single week to consider student needs and I regularly got a check-in phone call during those meetings. At his “failing” school, my son had the single greatest teacher I have ever witnessed in my life. Was our experience at this “failing” school perfect?

No. But, the vast majority of the issues were down to lack of follow-through by administrators and a seemingly concerted effort by higher powers to strip this school of its resources. There were and are outstanding teachers at our “failing” schools, beating against the current of negativity and deprivation, who deserve our admiration, support, compensation, and the due process afforded to any other teacher. They even deserve it more.

Stacy O’Brien Little Rock

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Send letters or comments to arktimes@arktimes.com. arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

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EYE ON ARKANSAS

WEEK THAT WAS

Bye-bye, Buckner

Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner has been named the new police chief in Syracuse N.Y., after a little more than four years on the job.

Buckner’s last day in Little Rock will be Nov. 16. Choosing a new chief is the job of the city manager under Little Rock’s blended form of government, though the city board and mayor’s thoughts undoubtedly play a role. The coming of a new mayor from candidates who had a range of thoughts about the current chief seems likely to be a factor in the hiring of a new chief. An interim chief has yet to be named.

Buckner, though African American, was at odds with black police officers and more aligned with the majority white members of the force and the Fraternal Order of Police. He backed the provision of dozens of free cars for white officers to commute from their homes outside Little Rock, a residency choice many police put down to crime in the city they police and their low opinion of the majority black public schools. Buckner’s idea of community policing was random traffic stops in poor black neighborhoods. He leaves soon after a series of articles from The Washington Post’s Radley Balko documented a department plagued by misconduct and a dangerous overreliance on no-knock warrants.

Doctor steps up

Planned Parenthood has finally been able to find an Arkansas physician with hospital admitting privileges willing to contract with the nonprofit organization Planned Parenthood as a point of referral to comply with a state law aimed at putting the clinic out of business.

For three years, Planned Parenthood of Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma has been unable to find a physician to serve clinics in Little Rock and Fayetteville because of doctors’ fear of reprisals from anti-abortion groups. It had obtained an injunction from federal Judge Kristine Baker to stop enforcement of the law because it said it would put the clinic out of the abortion business and impose unreasonable hardships on women who seek drug abortions from the clinics, supplied in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. Complications are rare and medical evidence shows little need for an admitting doctor in addition to available medical referrals, but the state has continued to press to put the clinics out of business. Similar laws have been blocked in other states because of the undue burden they place on women.

The Arkansas doctor’s name was redacted from the court records. Dr. Stephanie Ho, Planned Parenthood’s 6

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

requirement since it began in June.

Among the additional plaintiffs is Adrian McGonigal, described as a “40-year-old man who lives in Pea Ridge.”

McGonigal has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, which he manages with prescription medication.

The Arkansas Supreme Court, in 4-3 In August, he started a new job at a decisions, reversed a lower court and poultry processing plant, where he said Death Row inmates Bruce Ward worked “between 30 and 40 hours per and Jack Greene could challenge the week in the shipping department and state’s process for determining whether earned approximately $1,200 per month they are competent to be executed. before taxes.”

Determination of competency has However, the complaint says, been made by Correction Department McGonigal lost his job last month, in Director Wendy Kelley. A lower court large part due to increased illness as had upheld that procedure in the cases of a result of losing his insurance, which both inmates. The state Supreme Court made him miss work. He lost his agreed in separate opinions that Kelley’s insurance because he didn’t report his role denied them due process of law. work hours under the state’s new rule, which require people to log on to a website and record 80 hours or more of “work activities” on a monthly basis.

Six new plaintiffs were added Nov. Since 2014, McGonigal has been a 5 to a federal lawsuit that aims to halt beneficiary of Arkansas Works, the Arkansas’s experimental Medicaid work state’s Medicaid expansion program requirement, including two people for low-income adults.

(The income who were recently removed from their eligibility threshold is 138 percent of insurance as a result of the rule. That the poverty line, or about $16,753 for an brings the number of Arkansas Works individual.)

McGonigal was told in June beneficiaries in the suit to nine. that the work requirement would apply About 8,500 people have been removed from Medicaid due to the work to him, but (like many people) he was confused by the complex requirements medical director, wrote about the obstacles created by the state for the Times earlier in October.

Competency procedure deemed unconstitutional

More join rule challenge

of the program and had trouble reporting online. He doesn’t own a computer or smartphone and lacks transportation to get to a library. “He tried to report his work activity by calling the local DHS office, but was told he could only report online,” the complaint states.

His family helped him report in June, and he mistakenly thought that this single act of reporting “was all he needed to maintain his coverage.” However, the rule requires reporting every month; three months noncompliance results in termination and a lockout for the rest of the calendar year. McGonigal learned in October that his insurance had been cut off when he was denied a refill of his prescription, leading to a flare-up of his COPD and an eventual visit to the emergency room.

With the help of Legal Aid of Arkansas, which is representing the plaintiffs in the suit, filed in Washington, D.C., McGonigal was able to pursue a “good cause” exemption from the DHS. It was granted last week and he was in the process of getting back his coverage. (The rules surrounding “good cause” exemptions are vague, and it’s not clear that someone in McGonigal’s situation without an attorney would be able to wrangle leniency from the agency.)

On school performance

S

tate Education Commissioner Johnny Key recently announced he intends to ask the state to grant principals the ability to fire teachers, without due process, in what the state considers failing schools. As a parent of a Little Rock School District student, I thought it would be prudent to share my analysis of the data provided by the Arkansas Department of Education (myschoolinfo.arkansas.gov) as we rightly consider the effect of race and poverty in our public schools. What I found is not surprising, but is unsettling.

This is critical because Key’s proposal, I believe, does not consider the full range of issues that has burdened our students and those who support them. Helping our students excel does not require a waiver for principals to fire ineffective or bad teachers. Principals can do that now, and it does not take the two years Key recently cited.

It can be done within a semester, as long as principals do their job and document the dismissal process.

The issue is so much deeper, and the problem goes well beyond Little Rock.

According to the most recent ADE data, there are no A-rated Arkansas schools with a majority of black students and with a majority of students classified as low-income. As for B-rated schools, there are only three in the state with a majority of black students and a majority of low-income students. Two of those three schools are in the Little Rock School District: Gibbs Magnet Elementary School and Williams Magnet Elementary School.

In the three years since the state has taken over the LRSD, did it not occur to anyone to go to Gibbs and Williams to see what is working there and reflect on what could be implemented elsewhere in the district?

We certainly have to consider, in light of the desire to waive the Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal law for low-performing schools, the state department’s efforts to improve academic achievement in our schools, especially since the takeover. The state took over the LRSD in 2015 ostensibly because six of its 48 schools were classified as being in academic distress. Three years later, with the state in charge, 22 schools are now classified as failing.

The state was directly involved in the failing schools before 2015, yet these schools still underperformed. Three years under state control, the number of failing schools in LRSD has more than tripled. It’s unclear exactly what the state has done in those three years, but most would agree

OPINION

MICHAEL MILLS the end result is unacGuest Columnist ceptable.

Key noted a recent statewide initiative to improve early literacy, and while that focus is warranted and appreciated, it is a broad brush that does not touch on the core issues facing our struggling schools.

If we are to get serious about improving our schools, the state should look to addressing the poverty and race problems that have existed in Arkansas for decades.

low-income and majority black population, and only four in the entire state of Arkansas received a C rating. All others received a D or F rating.

Here’s the full breakdown for all public schools: A 19.05% — Non-white population 77.13% — White population 42.35% — Low-income population

Charter schools One major change in Little Rock since the state takeover has been the increased number of charter schools in the area. The data show that charter schools are not the panacea you may have thought they were for black and low-income students.

There are 16 charter schools in Arkansas that have a majority low-income and majority black population. None of these schools received an A or B rating. Two (Kipp Delta and Little Rock Prep) received a C rating. The remaining 14 charter schools received a D or F. If we flipped that to look at only the charter schools with less diversity and more affluence (fewer than 50 percent black population and fewer than 50 percent low-income), there were nine charter schools that received an A-rating, three with a B-rating, one with a C-rating, and one with a D rating.

Notably, the school receiving the highest rating was Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, which received an almost perfect score on the state’s rating scale. This school, which purports to have a randomized lottery admission system, has a black population of only 1.1 percent and a Latino population of 6.61 percent. This school also has no English-language learner students and no special education students.

This is supposed to be an open-enrollment charter school with a randomized lottery admission, and it has no special education students, no ELL students and black students comprising 1 percent of the school population.

B 23.72% — Non-white population 74.23% — White population 57.16% — Low-income population

Teacher licensure waivers Did you know there are 28 schools in Arkansas that have been allowed to hire more than five unlicensed teachers to teach

The data School demographic and performance data paint a clear picture. For example, did you know the average minority population of all A-rated schools in Arkansas is 19 percent, while the white population of these schools is 77 percent? On the other hand, the average minority population of F-rated schools is 87 percent, while these same schools have 12 percent white populations.

One can also see a direct correlation between letter grades and the percentage of low-income students in the population.

Arkansas schools receiving an A-rating had, on average, a 42.35 percent low-income population, while F-rated schools had lowincome populations, on average, of 87.10 percent.

in their schools? Some of these schools have as many as 22 unlicensed teachers. Twenty of these schools received a D or F-rating from the state. All but four of these schools have a majority of non-white students.

The demand for these license waivers has been from school superintendents who say they can’t get quality teachers to teach in their high-poverty or large-minority districts. If I were inclined to get political, I would suggest that we quit cutting taxes to the very rich and start diverting that money, as well as focused support, to these districts that have a hard time attracting good teachers. Instead, it seems as though we get half-hearted measures and a wringing of hands.

Where the focus should be The answer is simple in general terms: Provide a more-than-decent wage for teachers, fix the dilapidated schools that our kids have to attend, and give schools, as well as local universities and community partners, the resources they need. Beyond a moral imperative, this is also the legal onus placed on the state by the Lake View decision in 2002.

The hard part is commitment and focus. Do we want to lift our students out of poverty? Do we want to correct the evils of segregation? Well, it starts with us, as a community, to support our public schools by our presence, our investment of energy, and a commitment to holding our state government accountable.

That is why I am writing to you today, to ask that you join us in refocusing our efforts in the state to prioritize solutions addressing inequities caused by race and poverty rather than continue a campaign of scapegoating teachers.

Dr. Michael Mills is an associate professor in the UCA College of Education. He is speaking as a parent of an LRSD student, and his views do not necessarily reflect those of UCA.

C 31.93% — Non-white population 66.35% — White population 68.84% — Low-income population D 64.52% — Non-white population 34.3% — White population 77.73% — Low-income population F 87.32% — Non-white population 12.09% — White population 87.10% — Low-income population Something else I noted from the data was that there are no A or B-rated high schools in Arkansas with both a majority Follow Arkansas Blog on Twitter: @ArkansasBlog

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FRIENDS OF THE ANIMAL VILLAGE PRESENTS

6th Annual Santa Paws Holiday Party

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 AT 7 P.M. TRAPNALL HALL | 423 E. CAPITOL AVE. | LITTLE ROCK We invite you to join us and share the holiday cheer for a great cause.

FriendsOFTheAnimAlVillAge.Org All proceeds from the event will go towards helping take care of and find loving homes for the cats and dogs at the Little Rock Animal Village. Ticket purchase includes free microchipping for your pets!

presents…

Ian Ethan Case Thursday November 15 7:30 p.m.

The Joint 301 Main Street North Little Rock

Tickets $25

“Be prepared to hear something like you’ve never heard before, to venture into wild and uncharted territory.”

—Nashua Telegraph

Available at the door or online at www.argentaacoustic.com

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Addled

A

mong other eccentricities, I do fact or pithy quote I not possess a smartphone and was after.” have never wanted one. It’s bad But particularly enough that I spend my working hours for those of us with GENE flitting around the internet like an over-caf- what the late John LYONS feinated sparrow without carrying Google Leonard called “800 in my pocket. If I need to check the weather word minds,” i.e., columnists who value in Galway, Ireland, or Andrew Benintendi’s pithiness above all else, the internet can 2017 batting average, it can wait until I get also be a trap. back to my desk. I’ve even been known to “Over the past few years,” Carr frets, “I’ve turn off my antiquated, steam-powered flip had an uncomfortable sense that someone, phone to escape its clamor. or something, has been tinkering with my Dear National Weather Service: I am brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reproaware that we’re having a deluge, and I gramming the memory. My mind isn’t going know to remain on high ground until it’s — so far as I can tell — but it’s changing. I’m over. Like the dogs, I can hear the thunder. not thinking the way I used to think. I can I don’t require incessant electronic warn- feel it most strongly when I’m reading … ings any more than they do. People dumb “My concentration often starts to drift enough to drive into Rock Creek when after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose stumps are washing downstream won’t the thread, begin looking for something pay attention anyway. else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging Now then, where was I? Oh, yeah, smart- my wayward brain back to the text.” phones. The other day I noticed three teenMine, too. Partly, I know, it’s age. It’s aged girls walking together down the side- not because of the internet that I forgot the walk, all separately absorbed in their little word for a small, shelled animal I needed for glowing screens. If one had plunged into the punchline of a joke. My beagles somean open manhole, would her friends have times chased them. But if I couldn’t sumnoticed? You see kids everywhere these mon the word “armadillo,” I did remember days slumped in public places madly typ- exactly where to find my copy of “Arkansas ing with their thumbs.

Mammals.” Problem solved.

Texting strikes me as maybe the least Online, however, concentration comes convenient means of communication since hard. “Ding!” There’s an email. “Bloop!” smoke signals. Never mind that my hands Somebody wants to argue on Facebook. A are too big for thumb-typing. People often Washington Post article links to something fail to detect irony in newspaper columns, in The Atlantic. Then onward to Mother and only rarely in emails. Misunderstood Jones, the Irish Times, whatever. By the texts must cause dozens of homicides. time I make it back to the original piece, Plus, the police can subpoena them.

I’ve forgotten what it’s about and need to Mainly, though, I need to avoid the inter- start over. Or not. net for a substantial amount of time each day Carr thinks it’s a significant historical to avoid what some people call “information development akin to the printing press. I’m sickness” — a pathological state induced by not so sure, because it’s still reading and spending too much time online. writing. I’ve definitely noticed glib selfThis has nothing to do with being a tech- assurance creeping into political journalnophobe. To me, the most consequential ism written by youngsters with little underinvention of the 21st century is digital TV standing of historical context. recorders that allow one to watch movies Another old-timer’s complaint. and sports commercials-free. Particularly Besides, there’s an easy fix. Shut the during the election season, the thing is a fool thing off at 4 p.m. Take the dogs for a godsend. walk along the river. Re-enter the physical Seriously, though, the internet has been a world. We regularly encounter deer, beaver, great boon to people in my line of work. For groundhogs, ducks, pelicans, herons, hawks, a bookish fellow who feels claustrophobic even the occasional bald eagle. Any day now, in libraries, it’s been liberating. The other Canada geese will come honking downriver day, a Facebook friend posted an Atlantic in giant V-shaped flocks. article by Nicholas Carr about the perils of Our afternoon walk is often when my working online. wife fills me in on joys and sorrows of “The Web has been a godsend to me as a friends and family, gleaned from interacwriter,” he explained. “Research that once tions with her loyal army of girlfriends. required days in the stacks or periodical Back home, there’s even time for readrooms of libraries can now be done in min- ing actual books. utes. A few Google searches, some quick The internet’s just a tool, not a way clicks on hyperlinks, and I’ve got the telltale of life.

Campaign takeaways

T

JAY he accident of journalistic * With their BARTH deadlines means that as I write party decimated this column, having just cast nationally and in Arkansas in the my vote at Dunbar Recreation Center, aftermath of a series of brutal elecit’s hours before election results begin tion cycles, culminating in the 2016 arriving from across the city, state and Hillary Clinton defeat, the talent pool nation. Thus, there is much we don’t for Democratic candidates was, to know that will be the basis of analysis be generous, shallow. It created an in this column and elsewhere in the opening for a burst of new candiweeks ahead. That said, here are six dates — younger, optimistic and, most things we do already know as a result importantly, authentic — to take conof the events of a truly fascinating, trol of the Democratic Party across all-consuming election cycle: the nation, the South and the state. * For the moment, pragmatic con- Many won’t win, but the arrival of servatism remains alive in Arkan- “Obama’s children” as leaders sugsas. Governor Hutchinson easily disgests a path forward for the progrespatched a Trumpesque opponent in sive movement. the primary, keeping the GOP estab* Since the Trump inauguration, lishment in control of the reins of women have shown they would Arkansas government. That pragdefine the conversation. From the matic approach leads rise of social nonparto compromises that Trumpism continues tisan organizations do damage to the most (like Moms Demand v u l n e r a b l e A r k a n - to realign American Action) that slowly san (Exhibit A is the moved their person Arkansas Works pro- politics and also power into partisan gram), but it also keeps campaigns to running alive some semblance shows signs of for office to forcing of moderation in the issues too long ignored state’s politics. As was realigning the politics into the national conshown by 2nd District versation, this “Year of Congressman French of Arkansas. the Woman” has all the Hill’s re-election campromise to become the paign, which appealed to the lesser “Decade of the Woman.” angels of our nature, however, the * This election cycle marked the immediate future of GOP politics in moment when Obamacare crossed the state looks much more Trumpian the line from political albatross to than pragmatic. political advantage for Democrats.

Across the nation, candidates who * Trumpism continues to realign American politics and also shows most fervently defended the core signs of realigning the politics of elements of the Affordable Care Act, Arkansas. Exurban and rural areas especially protection for pre-existin America (and Arkansas) that lack ing conditions, were strongly advandiversity are locking in to a GOP politaged. It’s not yet a political “third tics where a nationalistic response rail” along the lines of Social Security to a changing world society domior Medicaid, but Obamacare shows nates, while diversifying urban and it has won the war. (importantly) suburbs are moving in * The attraction of three highthe opposite direction. In much of the quality candidates to the Little Rock country, the fact that most Americans mayor’s race and the most fulsome personify or are attracted to a more engagement of the citizenry of the inclusive politics means victories for state’s largest city in who would lead Democrats. In places like Arkansas, Little Rock showed there is both deep it means defeats for the near future. concern about the direction of the city However, quickly changing and growas well as a sense that a place goring Northwest Arkansas looks more geous in so many ways and troubled in and more like northern Virginia and so many others is worth fighting for. provides a vision for a new progresNow, it’s time to ponder the good, sive coalition even in a decidedly trabad, ugly and confusing of Election ditionalistic state.

2018.

The conquering power of love Phil Elson, talk show host and radio voice of Razorback Baseball and women’s basketball, gave the following talk at Congregation B’Nai Israel on Monday, Oct. 29, after the Oct. 27 fatal gun attack on 11 congregants at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh:

My heart is broken. My soul hurts and my faith in humankind is shaken PHIL ELSON in ways that are Guest Columnist impossible to describe. y heart is broken. Not beMy father, Howard, was presicause of anything involving dent of Tree of Life a decade ago. baseball or the Razorbacks or My mother served as its treasurer. I anything that has to do with sports what- knew those 11 people. I worshipped soever. I’m lucky that I get to talk about with them. Shook their hands after something that is supposed to bring us services and wished them a good together in conversation about a topic Shabbat. I would joke with Cecil we all enjoy with a passion. But sports Rabinowitz each time we saw each is the last thing on my mind. other. I remember 97-year-old Rose I will always be a sports fan. I will Mallinger very well. Irv Younger always be a baseball guy. I will always lived on my street. I used to talk be a lover of radio. But I am much Pirates baseball with Daniel Stein and more than that. I will walked to Alderdice also always be Jewish.

I am crushed. My High School with his I am from Pittsburgh. daughter, Leigh.

I have lived in Little community of I am crushed. My Rock for 18 years, but I community of Squircertainly identify with Squirrel Hill back rel Hill back home is both cities as home. I’m hurting. There is no as Arkansan as anyone home is hurting. sense to make of any who says “y’all” and I’m of this. as Pittsburgh as anyone There is no sense to Let me tell you who says “yinz.” And for about Squirrel Hill. years I was a member of make of any of this.

It is sometimes the Tree of Life synadescribed as “one of gogue, where 11 people were mur- the great urban Jewish neighbordered in cold blood during Shabbat hoods in the country.” And that’s only services Saturday morning. The event partially correct. It is one of the great that took place occurred five blocks neighborhoods in the United States, from my house, and it’s the same period. Synagogues and temples dot house I stay in when returning to the landscape of Squirrel Hill. But so Pittsburgh to visit my parents. do churches and gathering places of I was educated and celebrated my almost any kind. Bagel shops, kosher bar mitzvah inside the main sanctu- butchers … the crux of the community ary at Tree of Life. My sister, too. is the Jewish Community Center at My daughter, Sadie, was given her the corner of Forbes and Murray. But Hebrew name there. to call it a Jewish community doesn’t We learned Jewish history, the tell the whole story.

Ten Commandments, the Golden First off, there are Jews of every Rule and about our connections to kind who live there: Orthodox, Hasthe rest of the world inside Tree of sidic, Reform, Conservative, some Life synagogue. It was and always who attend services every week, has been a place of peace. A refuge some who go twice a year for the for the sad and lonely. A beacon of high holy days of Rosh Hashanah and love and hope.

Yom Kippur. And some who don’t go But evil entered through those to services ever. We can’t even agree doors two days ago. Now blood spat- with each other on how to practice ters the walls. Death hangs above, the religion. But we can agree that and those who would seek wisdom we are all Jews and that we are all and light in a place where wisdom humans and we are stronger together and light was always so easy to find than separated. And we can agree that must seek elsewhere.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 29

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arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

9

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ARKANSAS TIMES

he dismissal of Bret Bielema mere all struggling to get minutes after Arkansas Razorbacks’ their programs out 2017 season finale was neither sur- of the muck, too, but prising nor totally unwelcome across the at least all of those Razorback landscape. Fans had grown guys have managed weary of what they perceived to be a coach to win a conference BEAU WILCOX well out of his so-called element, this god- game. Morris has forsaken Yankee lummox who couldn’t three more daunting, unlikely chances manage tight games and espoused a to get an SEC win, but LSU will be angry football philosophy that was completely as hell after being blanked by Alabama, incongruous with conventional “norms” and Mississippi State and Missouri are of the Southeastern Conference. both looking at improving their respective The tale of the tape for Bielema’s 4-8, bowl game positioning in the final weeks.

1-7 final, and fittingly tragic, fifth act was Nine games into what has all the as follows: the Hogs were neither dynamic appearances of being the Hogs’ worst nor miserable offensively, scoring 28.8 season, winning-percentage-wise, since points per game and averaging 373 yards 1932, the tale of the tape wouldn’t appear per contest. Arkansas had some untimely to be all that much more discouraging. turnovers that cost the team gravely — an Even with top-ranked Alabama dinginterception in the end zone in the over- ing the Hogs for 65 points, the defense time period against Texas A&M stands has shown some incremental improveout, for instance — but on the whole, the ments: It’s surrendered 33.7 points per Hogs had an aggregate -1 turnover mar- game and 413 yards per outing, and while gin on the year. It was a sieve of a defense, those remain undesirable figures, John the function of an ignominious experi- Chavis’ unit has had some nice moments ment to transition to a 3-4 scheme under despite being shorthanded. Maybe the Paul Rhoads, that was the team’s undoing: biggest failing is that the team hasn’t Arkansas yielded 36 points and 438 yards created many impactful turnovers, but per game to its foes, and when you extract the defense is allowing foes to conthe nonconference games from that cal- vert third downs at a respectable 35 culus, it was worse. Plus, those Hogs were percent clip, and already has 23 sacks. outscored in the second halves of games Unfortunately, the offense has backslid by 73 points, and again, that disparity was thanks to the quarterback situation being worse in games of consequence. a holy mess — after only nine total team It is always expected that a coaching interceptions thrown last year by two sigchange, these days, will invariably result nal-callers, four different Hogs have comin the new regime imparting a new phi- bined to toss 15 picks this fall — and skill losophy — usually on the offensive side, position deficiencies. Onetime contribubut not always — to rectify what ails the tors like Jared Cornelius, Jordan Jones program. Arkansas was historically bad and TJ Hammonds have vanished. Plus, on the defensive side of the ball in 2017, let’s just be direct on this point: Arkanbut a few critical offensive pieces were sas threw away potential wins at least departing as well, namely a seasoned quar- twice, got greedy against A&M and flat terback (Austin Allen) and a transfer tail- no-showed against North Texas. back who was unexpectedly productive Frost, Kelly and Pruitt can relate to in his sole year on campus (David Wil- what Morris is undergoing. Bielema, for liams), as well as one of the best linemen that matter, was left shambles a mere five the program has had the good fortune to years ago and the end result (3-9, 0-8) in have in a while (Frank Ragnow).

2013 bore eerie commonality to what’s During a bye week, especially one unfolding now. On paper, this didn’t that hit three-quarters through the Hogs’ resemble the same refuse-bin conflagraschedule, it’s a fair time to assess whether tion that Morris’ predecessor grappled Chad Morris’ staff has had any measur- with, but due to stylistic vagaries, incomable impact on things in 2018. Yes, the ing coaches just don’t whip the car around team is a pretty rotten 2-7, but as has been suddenly before it careens off the cliff demonstrated in Lincoln, Nebraska and anymore. We’ve also learned that a miserLA — and to some extent in Knoxville, able first season can amplify the pressure Tenn., for a more regionally apt compari- a coach faces in year two, and that should son — a full-scale revamping of a program be of great concern to Morris. Stepping these days almost never fixes anything up from two to five to seven wins at SMU with any immediacy. Nebraska Coach may have appeased the detached fan base Scott Frost, UCLA Coach Chip Kelly in Dallas; it won’t satisfy the angry mob and Tennessee Coach Jeremy Pruitt are in the Ozarks.

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Tomorrow, Part 2

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o here we are again. It’s the morning of Nov. 6, 2018, as The Observer writes this, a cup of coffee going cold on the edge of the desk, Election Day just a flush of light at the edge of the world. The Observer, in our long years of doing this job, has had a few moments like this, those times where you, Dear Reader, know something we don’t. Where we are, we’re resisting the urge to pour some bourbon in this coffee and eat all the leftover Halloween candy in the house.

Where you are, meanwhile, Election 2018 is done and hopefully settled, a few hanging chads and runoffs notwithstanding.

Though we want to fill this page with pleas for you to vote, to take a friend, to grab your grizzled granny and Dutch uncle and mailman and take ’em with you, that deadline is already blown and the die is cast. Where you are, this country has already rendered a verdict on this man and the political party that has celebrated his lawlessness and division for two long years, selling America’s principles, moral authority and respect in the world for owning the libs, a rich man’s tax cut, Neil Gorsuch and Justice Rapey McBeers.

The past two years have been both so much better and so much worse than we imagined, the best and worst of this country on full and daily display. As Spouse has said a time or three, it is good that the man in the Oval Office is willfully ignorant and wholly self-centered, for we would be well and truly screwed if he was brilliant and ruthless instead of grabby and addled, unable to string together a coherent sentence much less the true authoritarian government of his neo-Nazi fanboys’ squalid dreams. Lucky us. Even so, it has been — and we think a lot of you will back us up here — a nightmare from which we cannot awake, seeing our great nation stripped and ravaged before our eyes like a chop-shopped Camaro. How many such outrages would have brought down any other president? How many hopes dashed? We forget. The past two years are a blur of shameless depravity.

On the other hand, though, there are the activists and the marchers. There was Sen. John McCain flashing that thumbs down, a hero’s last heroism before the grave. There has been Robert Mueller,

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carefully constructing prison walls brick by brick. There has been the Resistance that rose up to fight the dragon, even as white supremacists marched and mowed down peaceful protestors in Charlottesville, even as law enforcement sworn to uphold the Constitution stuffed little brown kids in cages, even as the despair was like a soggy blanket that covered everyone in America except his cruel and jubilant cult. To those who made signs and marched and gave money and raged against the dying of the light for the past two years: We are proud of you, no matter how it all turns out today.

Let them call you a mob if they like. I’m sure George III saw the pissed off colonists that way as well.

So here The Observer sits, once more, on the precipice of an Election Day. Two years ago, we wrote: “Even if the vision visited upon us by The Ghost of Election Day Future doesn’t come to pass, we worry strange creatures have been loosed from chaos to stalk the land. … But we’ll worry about that later. Right now, we’re thinking about Wednesday. Good luck, America. We’ll see who you are tomorrow.”

And so we have seen who America is over the past 24 months of tomorrows: splendor and awfulness, patriotism and treachery, greed and generosity, fear and love. What’s that about “May you live in interesting times” being the most dire imaginable curse? We get that now.

The Observer doesn’t really do hope for this country anymore, not after all that has happened. We thought hope had been burned out of us. Since Election Day 2016, we have been in survival mode, gone to ground, our dreams of a brighter America where Junior will live and raise his family wrapped in a blanket and buried under the toolshed for safekeeping. But, as we write this, we can’t help but feel the warm glow of hope in our heart, the idea that today might bring a ray of dawn after two years of gloom, on to full daybreak two years hence and a U-Haul in front of the White House. But we can’t let that hope take root. Not now. Not when Tomorrow is still a day away. Stuck here in the past, all we can do is tamp down that weak ember and say: Good luck today, America. We still love you. Give us reason to hope again, if you can.

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11

Arkansas Reporter Is the work rule working?

THE

Federal Medicaid agency says Arkansas needs better plan to evaluate new requirement.

BY BENJAMIN HARDY ARKANSAS NONPROFIT NEWS NETWORK

O

perating on the theory that employment fosters personal independence and better health outcomes, the Arkansas Department of Human Services now requires that certain adults who receive Medicaid benefits report their work hours to the state.

The DHS, in turn, is required to show the federal agency overseeing Medicaid that its theory is working. Under the terms of the state’s agreement with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the DHS must commission an independent evaluation to measure whether the policy meets its goals in the years ahead.

But, although the work requirement started June 1, the state has yet to begin searching for an evaluator, in part because the CMS has yet to approve Arkansas’s draft evaluation design.

On Nov. 1, the CMS informed the state in writing that the proposed evaluation design “should be better articulated and strengthened” in a variety of areas, and requested revisions. The CMS said the state’s proposed “evaluation outcomes are not well defined and outcome measures are not specified,” among other flaws. That means Arkansas is likely many months away from beginning to evaluate the work requirement policy, despite the fact 12

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

that it has terminated coverage for at least 8,500 THE ARKANSAS EXPERIMENT: Federal Medicaid Administrator Seema Verma signs the Medicaid beneficiaries in the last waiver authorizing the state’s work requirement in Little Rock on March 5. two months alone.

In mid-October, DHS spokeswoman Amy Webb said by email that the state submitted its draft evaluation design to the CMS in May and revised it in August. Webb said that make sense,” Solomon said.

If a beneficiary’s coverage is tersince the state’s evaluation plan is Arkansas’s first-in-the-nation work minated, he or she is locked out of still under review with CMS, it has rule requires certain beneficiaries Arkansas Works for the rest of the not issued a request for proposals for ages 19-49 insured under Arkansas calendar year. the work and community engagement Works, the state’s Medicaid expansion The work requirement has sparked requirement. “DHS is in the process program for low-income adults, to vigorous debate. Are people who have of developing a procurement based on report 80 hours of work activities each lost their Arkansas Works insurance the proposed evaluation plan, pend- month, report an exemption or lose finding coverage elsewhere — such as ing final CMS final approval,” Webb their insurance. Most people within with an employer — or are they simply wrote. that age range — such as parents with remaining uninsured? Does a work The DHS provided the Arkansas dependent children in the home — requirement incentivize employment Nonprofit News Network with the qualify for an exemption. School hours and lead to better health outcomes or draft evaluation design upon request count towards the requirement, as do does it arbitrarily punish the poor and in October. (Since then, it has been a limited amount of volunteer and job make them less healthy? made public on Medicaid.gov.) Judy search hours.

Such questions are more than acaSolomon, a senior fellow at the proThe DHS terminated coverage for demic, because the policy is by defigressive-leaning Center for Budget approximately 8,500 adults in Septem- nition an experiment. It was created and Policy Priorities in Washington, ber and October who were noncom- under a type of federal waiver issued D.C., said Arkansas’s draft appeared pliant for three months. That doesn’t by the CMS — known as a Section to “fall short” in a number of ways. necessarily mean those 8,500 people 1115 demonstration — that is intended “I’m kind of not surprised that it weren’t working or attending school — to foster state-level innovations in hasn’t been approved, because despite just that they didn’t report their work Medicaid. The terms and conditions my disagreement with CMS [under] hours to the DHS through an online attached to the waiver amendment the Trump administration allowing portal. Both DHS data and indepen- that created the work requirement these [work requirements], they do dent research show the majority of say Arkansas must contract with an seem to at least have some serious- Medicaid expansion beneficiaries are independent entity to evaluate the ness about … having evaluations that already working. program.

Tune in to our “Week In Review” podcast each Friday.

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Although work requirements are sometimes attached to programs such as welfare or food stamps, no other state has imposed such a rule on Medicaid coverage. (A work requirement in Kentucky was blocked by a federal judge earlier this year, and a group of plaintiffs in Arkansas have filed suit on similar grounds.)

On March 5, CMS Director Seema Verma granted Arkansas its requested waiver amendment. The federal agency told Arkansas DHS Director Cindy Gillespie in a letter that the DHS must “test whether coupling the requirement for certain beneficiaries to engage in and report work or other community engagement activities with meaningful incentives to encourage compliance will lead to improved health outcomes and greater independence.” In its rationale for allowing Arkansas to proceed with the work requirement, the CMS said the program was “likely to assist in improving health outcomes” because employment is “correlated with improved health and wellness.”

But the draft evaluation design that the Arkansas DHS submitted to the federal Medicaid agency did not propose testing the hypothesis that the policy would improve health outcomes. Instead, it says, the evaluation will address “three core questions”: Whether or not work requirements “promote personal responsibility and work,” “encourage movement up the economic ladder” and “facilitate transitions” from Medicaid to other types of insurance.

The work requirement will “resemble an income security program” and should be evaluated as such, the draft design says. The state’s RFP will be limited to bidders who “have demonstrated experience in evaluating the impact of work requirements on participation in income security programs.”

Solomon said Arkansas’s draft “[doesn’t] even raise the question of, ‘Well, maybe if we’re taking coverage away from people, it’s going to make them less able to work, or it’s going to make them less healthy.’ … Why are they looking at this like it’s not a health program?”

The Nov. 1 letter from the CMS raised similar concerns about the state’s lack of a plan to assess what CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

THE

BIG PICTURE

Inconsequential News Quiz:

Meat slappin’ edition

Play in your car while driving in the rain!

1) Police say a security guard at a Little Rock grocery store recently used a novel defense when an alleged shoplifter punched him in the face and brandished a knife. What, according to police, did the guard do?

A) He bribed her to drop the knife with a handful of two-for-one coupons.

B) He whacked her with a loaf of waaaaay-out-of-date French bread, rendering the shoplifter unconscious.

C) He slapped her in the face with a large piece of meat, which she had allegedly abandoned while attempting to flee the store, causing her to drop the knife and run.

D) He encouraged the shoplifter to run for office as a Republican member of the state legislature, where she could continue her career of shameless criminality unabated.

2) A Halloween incident at The Lil’ Dude Tavern in Fort Smith caused a flurry of outrage in subsequent days after news about it went viral. What was the issue?

A) A riot ensued when trick-or-treaters learned the bar owner was handing out Now and Laters, the undisputed herpes of the candy world.

B) Local pervert Larry “Punkin Porker” Merkin was caught railing the bar’s Jack o’ Lantern in the ladies’ room.

C) The winner of the bar’s costume contest was dressed as a Ku Klux Klansman.

D) The bar owner let every kid who came in dressed as Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh drink beer for free.

3) Residents of Perryville were shocked when a blinding flash of light lit up the sky over the town on a recent night. What apparently caused the flash?

A) The meth superlab hidden underneath the mayor’s toolshed exploded.

B) Jesus briefly returned to nearby Bigelow, where He told Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) to knock off the bullshit.

C) A large meteorite, which caused a fireball that was seen for miles and caught on local surveillance cameras.

D) The arrival of Superman, with the infant Kal El frantically attempting to rebuild his capsule and leave after learning he had overshot Smallville and would have to be raised in Perryville.

4) According to a new study, Arkansans are the most dangerous people in the nation when they are engaging in a surprisingly ordinary activity, with a greater chance of injury while doing this activity than residents of any other state. What’s the activity?

A) Chainsaw carving.

B) Marriage.

C) Driving in the rain.

D) Masturbation.

5) Arkansas Times recently announced a major change coming in the next few months.

What’s the change?

A) Senior Editor Max Brantley will resign from the staff to follow his dream of appearing as arch-heel The Lake Charles Crusher in a local backyard wrasslin’ league.

B) Bucking the media trend toward digitalization, the Times will henceforth be printed solely in cuneiform on clay tablets.

C) The Times will transition from a weekly to a monthly publication after the first of the year.

D) Worried that there won’t be much to observe in the federal pen if he goes down on corruption charges, former Arkansas Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson (R-Little Rock) was forced to admit that he’d been the Arkansas Times’ Observer all along.

Answers: C, C, C, C, C

LISTEN UP

arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

13

LOOKING FOR A HOT AND A COT

Winter weather in Central Arkansas means people experiencing homelessness have even fewer options for shelter.

BY REBEKAH HALL PHOTOS BY BRIAN CHILSON

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A

s temperatures drop and Arkansas slinks toward winter weather, shelter options for the homeless in Little Rock are scarce. With the October closing of 40 emergency beds at Union Rescue Mission’s Nehemiah House, many homeless people in Central Arkansas are left with two choices: staying at Little Rock Compassion Center or sleeping outside.

Choices are especially limited for single men. The Salvation Army once gave men a bed for the night but changed that practice in July 2016. Its beds are now restricted to women and children; men can stay only if they’re part of a family unit. The cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock support a day center, but not beds for overnight stays for either men or women. Abba House is for women and children only; St. Francis House houses veterans only. Lucie’s Place has a shelter with eight beds for LGBT young people. Our House provides housing to single men, but does not have enough beds to meet demand. The shelter also requires all residents to find a full-time job shortly after arriving and maintain it throughout their stay.

The faith-based Compassion Center, at 3618 W. Roosevelt Road, has 150 beds.

With the closing of the beds at Nehemiah House, however, Compassion is bedding up to 200 men and women a night, some of them sleeping on mats for lack of mattresses, pastor and CEO William Holloway said. The women sleep separately at Compassion’s shelter at 4210 Asher Ave. The Compassion Center is a “hot

IN BIBLE STUDY: Men at the Compassion Center (left) gather for lessons from the New Testament. The center raises funds from sales at the thrift store it operates (above).

and a cot” shelter, offering a hot meal at night and breakfast in the morning.

It also operates a 12-step program for people with drug and alcohol addictions and hosts worship services on Wednesdays and Sundays and daily prayer every morning and night.

The religious tenor of the Compassion Center has prompted allegations — denied by Holloway — that LGBT individuals are denied shelter there and those who are allowed to stay are subject to intense proselytization. There have also been complaints about overcrowding and a lack of hygiene products for those housed there.

Mandy Davis, director of Jericho Way Resource Center, the city’s day center, says the Compassion Center provides an important service to Little Rock by allowing the homeless long-term stays, which makes it possible for Jericho’s social workers to keep in touch. “I need stabilized people in order for social workers to be as effective as they can be here at Jericho Way,” Davis said. “So I might have the professionals on staff; but, if we as a city don’t have emergency shelter beds for people living on the streets, then how do you work those cases if they’re living outside and struggling to meet their basic needs? Or freezing to death, or having to have limbs amputated? This gets complicated.”

In addition to case management, Jericho Way, at 3000 Springer Blvd., provides access to computers, internet and local phone service, showers and restrooms, laundry services, housing referrals and access to job counseling

and training. Open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., it serves breakfast and lunch and provides transportation to and from the day center. Jericho Way, which is run by the Catholic nonprofit DePaul USA, is jointly funded by the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock.

Those who will suffer the most from the lack of beds are individuals who are not able-bodied, Davis said. The Compassion Center, which is not handicapped-accessible, plans to install a chair lift, but probably not before the weather gets more severe.

Pinning down how many people in Central Arkansas are homeless is difficult. The nonprofit Central Arkansas Team Care for the Homeless (CATCH) tallied 369 unsheltered men and 139 unsheltered women over a period of 24 hours in 2017. But Sandra Wilson, president of the Arkansas Homeless Coalition, said the count excludes many homeless people. It is tailored to those individuals targeted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s specific homeless programs and is intended only to represent the number of people eligible for those programs.

Little Rock’s 2018 annual operating budget lists $375,000 for Homelessness Outreach, up $25,000 from 2017 and 2016’s annual budgets. The city of Little Rock also employs a homeless services advocate, Chris Porter, a former case manager at Jericho Way. Despite the fact that the Compassion Center says it’s so crowded it has people sleeping on mats rather than in beds, Porter said he isn’t worried about the Compassion Center exceeding its

GIVING A TOUR: Pastor William Holloway showed the classrooms and other areas of the Compassion Center’s men’s shelter to a reporter. He said there are plans to renovate.

bed capacity. He said Holloway has told him that the Compassion Center has an additional floor it could open up for more shelter.

“I’ve yet to see when the Compassion Center said it was overfull,” Porter said.

“There are beds available. People just don’t choose to go to the beds. When I hear the Compassion Center say, ‘We are overflowed and we don’t have a bed,’ then I’ll say, we’ve got a big problem.”

And until then?

“Until then, I live in the here and the now,” Porter said. “I just have the confidence that right now, people don’t have to be outside if they don’t want to be,” he said.

As for plans to expand available shelter options, Porter said the city “is not in the business of shelter. They rely primarily on people who have shelters. …

That’s my understanding, because shelters are in the business of sheltering.” *** While Porter may be confident the Compassion Center can handle the need for beds in Little Rock this winter, arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

15

message, Holloway said, “I let them make up their own mind what they want to do. That’s their answer to that problem, not mine. That don’t stop me from housing them, that don’t stop me from feeding them, and it don’t stop me from preaching to them. And sooner or later, they will listen.

“That’s what we do, that’s what we were founded on. We based this whole center around Christ, so it’s all spiritual, right? But also at the same time we don’t turn people away because they don’t believe like I do. I still go ahead and feed them. When Jesus fed the 5,000 on the mount, I don’t think he went around and said, ‘Do you believe in me?

Do you trust me?’ He just fed them all, and that’s what I believe in.”

other service providers are not so sure.

Roger Mauldin, who volunteers at The Van, an organization that brings supplies such as food, water, clothing and hygiene products to homeless folks where they’re living, lived on the streets for about four years. He said he never stayed at the Compassion Center, even when his choice was between sleeping there or sleeping in the cold. He said his brother tried to stay there but was denied entry for carrying too many possessions with him.

Penelope Poppers, who founded Lucie’s Place, said she’s heard that those who run the Compassion Center “famously don’t love LGBT people, and they openly deny housing to LGBT people.” But Holloway said there’s no policy to deny shelter to gay or lesbian or trans people. “I don’t discriminate against anybody,” he said.

Service providers told the Times that the Compassion Center’s evangelical mission drives most of the complaints they hear.

If a resident rejects the Christian

*** Antonio, a full-time volunteer at Jericho Way, was staying at the Compassion Center when a reporter interviewed him. He asked the Arkansas Times not to include his last name in this story because some of his family doesn’t know that he’s homeless. Antonio, who says he left Pine Bluff on foot to escape the city’s high crime rate, said he’s glad the Center exists, and he understands the rules it has in place.

“It’s been different than having your own place, your own house,” he said.

“I’m not gonna say they have a bunch of rules, because the rules they’ve got are for people’s safety. They actually try to help people all they can. … I mean, all and all, I’m grateful that the place is there. If it wasn’t there, I’d be sleeping on the street, which I’ve never tried, and I don’t want to, either.”

Asked about the complaint that the Compassion Center doesn’t provide enough hygiene products for the people staying there, Antonio said churches and other organizations often give out hygiene products on the weekends, so people have access to them for free. And anything the Compassion Center gets, he said, it’ll put out for shelter residents to use.

Antonio also said that anything he collects he has to carry around with him, so he often chooses to donate the deodorant or toothpaste he picks up from those churches to others in need.

“Even though you’re in this position, you can still help somebody. … It kinda builds you up a little bit, lets you know that you ain’t just all the way down and

MOUNTAIN OF DONATIONS: Employees (above) sort through bundles of clothing that are donated to the Compassion Center for residents and for sale. The center’s religious mission is obvious even in its warehouse (below).

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ARKANSAS TIMES

out. You still have the ability to help somebody.”

Antonio said he gets up around 3:30 every morning — early to rise at the Compassion Center means one might have the bathroom to himself — and takes three different buses to arrive at Jericho Way and mop up before it opens.

“I look at homelessness as, I’ve found trials and tribulations, and the Bible says we’re going to have those, but they’ll pass,” he said. “It’s not like nobody is going to pull up on the road and say, ‘Here’s a house and a car, I put you some money in the bank.’ You’ve got to work for it, you’ve got to get out and do what you’ve got to do.” *** The Compassion Center’s men’s shelter and thrift store is housed in a former Salvation Army building. Its entrance is manned by staff members who speak to new arrivals from behind a Plexiglas wall.

Holloway showed a reporter around the facility and introduced many of the organization’s success stories, calling over some of the individuals working at the shelter with variations of “Hey, brother!

How long have you been with us?”

When people arrive at the shelter, they’re given a clean set of clothes and a voucher to pick out items they need from the Compassion Center’s thrift store, which raises funds for the shelter.

Jimmy Townsend, head of housekeeping at the Compassion Center, has been at the center for three years. Originally from California, he and Holloway said the homeless often abandon suitcases and belongings when they become too heavy to continue carrying.

“Dragging that suitcase behind you gets heavy,” Townsend said. “Especially when it’s raining, with nowhere to go.

Just throw it down.”

Holloway pointed out their nurse’s station, where he said a nurse volunteers six or seven times a month. The nurses provide basic medical services such as checking blood pressure and body temperature. Holloway said the Compassion Center was in the beginning stages of renovating the nurse’s station, classrooms and meeting rooms in the facility when Nehemiah House’s 40 emergency beds closed.

Most of those who come to the Compassion Center “are happy to be in out of the weather,” Holloway said. “If you’re out there sleeping under a tree and it’s raining on you all night long, this is a dry, safe place. We have security here, and we have a full-time night watchman here, and a residential manager.”

That takes money. With extra people

sheltering there, the Compassion Center is focused on housing and feeding all who walk through their doors. The recent increase in residents has put a particular strain on food supplies. According to Antonio, residents have been eating a lot of beans and rice.

The kitchen staff includes folks participating in the drug and alcohol recovery programs and some performing community service. Diana Warden, who’s been at the facility for five months and works in the kitchen, said she came there “to get my life together so the Lord could help me better myself. My life was unmanageable, I was on drugs for 30 years, and it really has helped my life. I’m so grateful for this program. … I want to spend the rest of my days sober, the rest of my life on this earth is going to be sober. I take my sobriety very seriously. … That’s the good part about the program, it helps you change your life. The 12-step program is close to my heart, and I’m very grateful to the pastor and his wife for starting the program. I am.”

Kitchen worker Larry Thomas came to the center in 2008 while struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. “I came to find Jesus. I knew where he was, but I just couldn’t get there the way I was going,” Thomas said. Thomas completed the eight-month 12-step program and was then offered a job in the kitchen.

He’s now married. “He was planning on leaving, so I had to go out and find him a wife,” Holloway said. Thomas

A DECADE AT THE COMPASSION CENTER: Larry Thomas arrived at the shelter in 2008, and after graduating from the program, he was offered a job in the kitchen and has worked there ever since. The shelter also has a nurse’s station (below) manned six or seven times a month.

arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

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added, “The pastor’s been holding me here under lock and key for the last 10 years and 10 months.”

Past the kitchen, a large warehouse divided into metal cages is filled with donations, including a large walk-in freezer the center was given and a veritable wall of bags containing donated clothes. Most of the clothes are donated through blue Compassion Center donation boxes located around town, according to Holloway. The clothes are sorted into three categories: clothes used by the center for new arrivals, clothes designated to sell in the thrift store, and clothes that are bundled and sent to a recycling center in Houston, a transaction for which the center is paid.

As the CEO of the center, Holloway said he relies heavily on the center’s donor base for funding; a recent gift from a donor allowed them to order a stack of new beds. Despite the strain the emergency bed scarcity is putting on their resources, Holloway said he and his staff make it work.

“We know most of the homeless people who come through, or we learn to know them,” he said. “We try to help them out as much as we possibly can, but the only ones we can’t help out are the ones who are violent. If you’ve got a bad temper or anger and are wanting to fight all the time, you can’t do much for that person.”

Holloway said some of the policies in place — like requiring that new arrivals check-in their cell phones overnight before they’re given back in the morning — are to combat issues they’ve had with residents fighting. “We keep them from doing any drug dealing or prostitution or anything like that for safeguard,” he said. People in the drug and alcohol programs aren’t allowed to have their phones for the first two months of the program. “They’re here for a reason, they’re trying to get their life together. …

We’re trying to build up strength to say no and get them back to thinking again,” he said. *** Even with the message of the Gospel attached to the services the Compassion Center provides, it’s still the only shelter in Little Rock with emergency beds available without stipulation, like having to pass a drug test or joining a long-term program. Aaron Reddin, the founder of The Van and a longtime homeless advocate in Little Rock, said the key problem for those serving homeless folks is this skewed ratio of people to services.

“There’s more people than there are services available,” he said. “We see 18

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

[this] every year this time of year. We’re a rural state. This is what we can’t seem to get through to anyone that should be looking at the big picture of it all ... .

There’s an influx every year, about this time when the temps drop, from folks in rural Arkansas who come here thinking they’re going to get some help, they’re going to get inside. And then everyone here ends up overloaded.”

Reddin said the navigation of bureaucratic red tape, like zoning issues and time delays, by those who have the authority to work through them, would be crucial in opening more emergency shelters for the winter months and in creating long-term solutions after that.

Reddin said he’s encoutered problems with city code enforcement kicking people out of camps in the woods but offering no alternative place to stay, aside from shelters located miles away.

So what would Reddin call for from those in positions of power to create change? “Acknowledge that you have screwed your own citizens and apologize for it, for one,” he said. “That would be a really great first step. You’re the leaders of this city, and I know you have to have codes, and all of these things. I understand that. But when you have a

public health crisis, such as hundreds of people sleeping in this crap on your streets and in any patch of woods you can find, then you have to pull your big person britches up.”

Davis said remedying the recent loss of those 40 beds would be the first step to stabilization. “I think that one solution would be partners, including the city partnering with a nonprofit or a church, and opening 40 beds,” she said. “We lost 40 at the [Union Rescue] Mission, so start there, because we can’t implement new interventions to reduce the number of people living on the streets if we can’t hold the interventions that we have. So, we need to pivot at this point and not try to do more. Instead, we need to back up and say, we’ve lost these beds, how can we fill them?”

Holloway believes the most pressing need for people experiencing homelessness in Little Rock is Jesus. “Christ in the life is what’s most needed, and the rest will kind of take place. I know you can’t print that.”

He also said he’s working to develop a crisis center or hotline for people experiencing homelessness to call to help figure out their next steps. Teaching home economics, shop and mechanics classes

in high school again would be an important step for teaching people trades early on in their careers.

Asked what the city is doing to improve conditions for the homeless, Porter referenced the recent efforts of city-funded Jericho Way to create more affordable housing for people exiting homelessness, as well as their case management services, but said that help is available there only for those that want it.

“If you’ve been over there [at Jericho Way], you know that there are some people who don’t want it,” he said. He noted that Jesus had been homeless and had told his disciples, “ ‘Well, I’m getting ready to leave you guys, but the poor are going to be with you always.’

“And so it is. Not that we should be all right with that, but we should have compassion for that. They’re gonna be with us. We need to always try to help them. Always be concerned about them but, at the same time, respect that that is a truth that won’t change.”

MANY DONATIONS: But Holloway says what the homeless need most is Jesus.

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The Joint Commiss on Key Quality Mea

SPECIAL ADVERTISING CONTENT TO ARKANSASarktimes.com TIMES • NOVEMBER 8 •8,2018 NOVEMBER 2018 19 19

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EclipseCrossword.com

BISCUITS AND BUTTER KNIVES An Arkansas blues crossword puzzle.

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ny blues historian worth his or her salt would surely corroborate it: The so-called “Chicago blues” germinated anywhere but. Whether it’s the gospel blues, the jump blues, Delta blues, electric blues or otherwise, Arkansas has been a vital incubator for the sound, and we pay tribute to a handful of those pioneers with a crossword puzzle. Stumped? See the answer key at arktimes.com/ bluesclues for an assist.

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

ACROSS

1. Two words: Williamson, muse to the Yardbirds, cornmeal brand namesake.

7. Little Rock’s Robert __, author of 1981’s “Deep Blues.”

11. Historic street in HelenaWest Helena, home to the Delta Cultural Center.

14. Blues pianist Sykes, aka “The Honeydripper.”

18. Powerhouse vocalist for Brick Fields and Divas on Fire, first name.

19. Peetie, real name William Bunch.

21. Luther Allison directive, “Hand Me _____ My Moonshine.”

22. “Son” ____, Alligator Records mainstay from whom Phish borrowed “Funky Bitch.”

DOWN

2. Two words: Broonzy, penner of “Black, Brown and White” and “When Do I Get To Be Called A Man?” 3. Two words: Flagship blues festival, est. 1986.

4. Blues style popularized by Brinkley native Louis Jordan.

5. Gypsy Rain frontwoman, first name Charlotte.

6. “Somebody Done _____ The Lock on My Door,” a hit for both Casey Bill Weldon and Louis Jordan.

8. King, musical godfather to Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray, buried in Crittenden County.

9. Bluesman Larry McCray’s Columbia County birthplace.

10. Davis, butter knife virtuoso.

12. Tharpe, Cotton Plant’s electric gospel blueswoman.

13. Guitar pupil to Robert Johnson, with whom he shares a first name.

15. Akeem _____ Band, Morrilton’s modern blues ambassadors.

16. Undersung local bluesman _____ Woods, collaborator to Ivan Yarbrough.

17. Sonny _____, longtime host of “King Biscuit Time.”

20. Washboard _____, singer of “Diggin’ My Potatoes.”

A&E NEWS

The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau is negotiating with California-based events promoter Live Nation to be the exclusive booking agent for the First Security Amphitheater in Riverfront Park. The plan is for Live Nation to produce at least five concerts per year at the venue. Gretchen Hall, LRCVB president and CEO, said it would probably take several more weeks before an agreement is reached. The contract would be the first of its kind since the LRCVB took over the venue’s operation in November 2009. (Up until that point, the amphitheater was managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.) “Exclusive” doesn’t mean that community events wouldn’t be staged at the amphitheater, Hall said; she said the LRCVB was committed to keeping locally organized/produced events on the First Security’s calendar.

What it does mean is that Live Nation would have priority in holding dates for ticketed concerts in the amphitheater as soon as late 2019, giving the LRCVB a nine-month window in which it retains priority for booking concert dates. Hall said the LRCVB “would try to protect” any tentative calendar dates scheduled at the venue for 2019. Any contracted dates at the venue will remain intact.

Live Nation has booked concerts at the First Security Amphitheater in the past, as well as concerts in the Robinson Center — Don Henley and Jason Mraz, for example, and last weekend’s concert from Ray LaMontagne and The Secret Sisters. Asked about the timing, Hall said the growing live music scenes in El Dorado and Northwest Arkansas prompted the LRCVB to look at ways it could bring competitive talent to the Central Arkansas area. No word yet on which acts could come to the venue in 2019 or 2020, but Hall said the LRCVB has communicated to Live Nation that it’s important the lineup have musical diversity. “We don’t want only one genre,” she said. Hall told us she had no details, either, on what sort of impact any agreements between the LRCVB and Live Nation might have on plans for a 2019 or a 2020 Riverfest, which was produced in 2018 by Universal Fairs, a Memphis-based event company.

THE BIG DIG HELP THE ARKANSAS NONPROFIT NEWS NETWORK ROOT OUT PUBLIC CORRUPTION! ANNN benefit featuring Isaac Alexander and Stephanie Smittle White Water Tavern 6 p.m. Sun., Nov. 11 (all ages; kids welcome) Donations at the door. Whatever you give with a swipe of your debit or credit card will be doubled!

Follow Rock Candy on Twitter: @RockCandies

arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

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THE

TO-DO

LIST

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK, LINDSEY MILLAR, STEPHANIE SMITTLE REBEKAH HALL PEACOCK,

BY DAVID KOON, LINDSEYAND MILLAR, LESLIE NEWELLL

JACOB ROSENBERG, STEPHANIE SMITTLE

FRIDAY 11/9

FRIDAY 11/9, SUNDAY 11/11

2ND FRIDAY ART NIGHT

DOUBLE FEATURE: A ’50S NIGHT OF COMIC OPERA

5-8 p.m. Galleries and other venues downtown.

It’s the time of year when the desire to acquire swells the heart for art and partying. Galleries participating in November’s after-hours gallery stroll know this, as the lineup of exhibitions of painting, photography, jewelry and music, music, music proves. Four new exhibitions will greet gallery-goers: The Historic Arkansas Museum (200 E. Third St.) is marching two-bytwo with “More or Less,” an energetic show of ceramics

by Liz Smith and paintings by Katherine Strause, and “Face to Face: Contemporary Portraits,” paired portraits in contrasting styles by such artists as Lisa Krannichfeld and John Harlan Norris. Acoustic duo The Creek Rocks of Springfield, Mo., keeps the theme going. The “Arkansas League of Artists Exhibition,” a juried show, opens at The Galleries at Library Square, aka the Butler Center aka the Arkansas Studies Institute aka the Roberts Library and Butler Center for Arkansas Studies (401 President Clinton Ave.), and the more simply named Jeff and Louisa (of the Floor Also Rises) will provide “eclectic rock.” Photography’s in focus at The Bookstore at Library Square (aka the Cox Center, 120 River Market Ave.), which will feature “Metamorphosis: Becoming I,” SECOND FRIDAY ART NIGHT: Miller Smith’s “Visitors at the Tree works by Jessica Carder, and at The Rep (601 Main St.), of Life” is up at the Galleries at Library Square as part of the where Andrew Kilgore’s portraits of Rep actors, “De- Arkansas League of Artists’ exhibition. veloping Character,” will be exhibited. (There will also be turkey-themed art-making at the Bookstore gallery.)

Bella Vita Jewelry (523 S. Louisiana St.) is celebrating its 10th anniversary with both a shopping opportunity and live music by Amy Garland and Nick Devlin; not to be outdone, the Old State House Museum (300 W. Markham St.) will feature bluegrass band Runaway Planet on the second floor of the museum.

Next door at the Marriott Little Rock (3 Statehouse Plaza), the Art Group Gallery is showing members’ work. Check out what’s at Gallery 221 in the Pyramid Building at Second and Louisiana streets and then head upstairs to see work by Larry Crane, Mike Gaines, Nathan Terry and Shane Wilson in their studios. Matt McLeod Fine Art Gallery (108 W. Sixth St.), around the corner from Bella Vita, will also be open. Participating restaurants are the Copper Grill at 300 E. Third St. and Nexus Coffee and Creative at 301B President Clinton Ave.. LNP

FRIDAY 11/9

FRIDAY 11/9

LUKE HUNSICKER SCHOLARSHIP FUND BENEFIT

FRANKIE VALLI & THE FOUR SEASONS

9 p.m. White Water Tavern. Donations.

Luke Hunsicker may be gone, but his warmth has a way of timetraveling forward anytime he comes up in conversation. The beloved bassist for Little Rock/Brooklyn quintet American Princes died of brain cancer in 2010 at the age of 29. In remembrance of his dedication to making music and art, a group of Hunsicker’s family and friends have, for five years, been throwing concerts to fund the Lucas Clayton Hunsicker Scholarship Fund. It’s awarded every year to a graduate of Parkview Arts Science Magnet High School, Hunsicker’s alma mater, for further education in art or music. The musicians playing the show — Silver Anchors and Or — are among those touched by Luke’s kind spirit.

Undoubtedly, too, were some of the artists contributing artworks to a sale benefiting the scholarship fund: Lisa Krannichfeld, Luna Tick Designs, Phillip Huddleston, Olive Branch Woodworking, AR-Ts, Katherine Rutter, Jesse Rhames, Jamie Freedman, Matthew Castellano, John Kushmaul, Joshua Asante, Matt White, Hannah Allen, Stacy Bowers of Bang Up Betty, Miranda Young, Dower, Sulac, Heather Canterbury, Hannah Lavender of Lavender Bakes, Nate Powell, Matt O’Baugh, Easterseals Arkansas, Jordan Wolf and Erin Pierce. All art sale items, the event’s organizers tell us, are priced below $50. SS 22

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7:30 p.m. Fri., 2:30 p.m. Sun. The Studio Theatre. $30-$50.

Who could blame you if, asked to name a handful of great operatic moments, your list leaned toward the morose?

The art form’s forever linked with existential crisis, mania and murder. Callas and her tortured beauty! “Cavalleria” and its fights to the death! “Carmen” and its bloodshed! Consider this weekend, then, a lesson to the contrary, as Opera in the Rock gives a mid-century treatment to three comic operas — Igor Stravinsky’s Pushkin-inspired half-hour satire “Mavra” (1922), Liam Wade’s 2012 commission “Part of the Act” and (on Friday night only) Gian Carlo Menotti’s curtain raiser “The Telephone” (1947). All three shows are directed by Kayren Grayson Baker, with musical direction from OITR Artistic Director Louis Menendez. Singers include Sarah Stankiewicz Dailey, Nisheedah Golden, Maxwell Owen, Joylyn Rushing and Christopher Turner.

See oitr.org for tickets. SS

8 p.m. Verizon Arena. $45-$100.

It’s a good year to be Frankie Valli. While touring productions are performing Valli’s tumultuous life’s story around the globe in productions of the Broadway musical “Jersey Boys,” the real-life octogenarian is on tour, pointing his otherworldly falsetto like a laser beam at multiple generations of fans. He’s the solitary through line in the Four Seasons lineup, the reason you had the theme song from “Grease” stuck in your CAN YOU COME OUT TONIGHT? Frankie Valli takes head for a year and, as “The Sopranos” “Sherry” and other Four Seasons hits to Verizon Arena on reminded us often, a patron saint of Friday night.

Italian-American culture. Get tickets at verizonarena.com. SS

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 11/8

SATURDAY 11/10

BLACK INDIAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE FAIR

10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sequoyah National Research Center.

The Sequoyah center, UA Little Rock’s native press archives and art gallery, is something of a hidden jewel in Little Rock, tucked as it is east of the Big Lots store in the Asher Avenue Shopping Center south of campus. This unique repository, which is showing the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian exhibition “Patriot Nations: Native Americans in the Armed Forces” in its gallery, is celebrating Native American Heritage Month with speakers on several topics, including Black Indians, people of mixed African-American and Native American heritage. The Wampanoag, Pequot, Narraganset and Shinnecock in the Northeast have significant African-American membership thanks to their proximity to ports and seafarers and their acceptance of escaping slaves. Some members of the “Five Civilized Tribes” of the Southeast (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole) enslaved African-Americans; those slaves and their descendants were made tribal members after the Civil War (though there were exceptions).

The “Patriot Nations” exhibition includes photographs of the Choctaw code talkers of World War I and Native Americans who participated in the Civil War, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Gulf War. Along with the talks there will be arts and crafts, food trucks and tours of the Coleman Creek Trail of Tears Park. The Black History Commission of Arkansas, the state chapter of the Trail of Tears Association, the city’s Diversity and Ethnicity Commission and others are cosponsors. LNP

Carolina soul queen Nikki Hill tears the roof off the White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. An exhibition of watercolors by the late Doris Williamson Mapes opens at Wildwood Park for the Arts as part of its Art in the Park series, 6 p.m., free. “The Best of AR&B” at the Rev Room features sets from Dee Dee Jones, Crissy P and Jason Talbert, with host Keith Savage, 9:30 p.m., $15. Comedian Matt McClowry performs a set at The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m., $8. Funky Feat, Sad Daddy, Sierra Hull, Mountain Sprout and more convene in Eureka Springs for the 71st annual Ozark Folk Festival, through Saturday, see eurekasprings.org/folk for details. The Read Southall Band takes its red dirt rock to Stickyz Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken Shack, with The Mallett Brothers, 8:30 p.m., $10. Donna Massey entertains at Cajun’s Wharf, 9 p.m., $5, or come early and catch Chris DeClerk, 5:30 p.m., free. Vic Fleming — traffic court judge by day, poet and puzzler by night — headlines Poetry Night at Guillermo’s Coffee, Tea & Roastery, 6 p.m.

Used Book Sale

1 hardbacks • 50¢ paperbacks

$

Main Library Basement, Library Square

Thursday • Nov 8 • 5-7 p.m.

Friends of CALS members only

Friday • Nov 9 • 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Friends of CALS may enter at 9 a.m.

Saturday • Nov 10 • 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Friends of CALS may enter at 9 a.m.

Non-members may buy a $5 wristband for entry on Thursday evening and at 9 a.m. on Friday & Saturday.

Memberships and wristbands are available at the door.

Library Square is located at 100 Rock St.

CALS.ORG

DeltaARTS Crittenden Youth Theatre Production of

FRIDAY 11/9 Venezuelan artist Jose Alejandro performs at La Terraza Rum & Lounge, 9:30 p.m., $25. Big Red Flag takes the stage at Kings Live Music in Conway, with the I-40 Ramblers, 8:30 p.m., $5. Trumpeter/ electronic artist Ryan Viser holds sway at Stickyz, with Pineapplebeatz, 9 p.m., $10. Jazz vocalist Dara Tucker and percussionist Keita Ogawa join forces with Charlie Hunter for a show at CALS’ Ron Robinson Theater as part of the Arkansas Sounds series, 7 p.m., $10. SeanFresh & The NastyFresh Crew, Dazz & Brie, Tiko Brooks, Ashley Evans and Chris McGehee take the stage at the Rev Room for an all-R&B show, 9 p.m., $10-$15. Guitarist Jake Herzog performs at Fenix Fayetteville (16 W. Center St.) as part of the “Sonic Images” series, 7 p.m., $10. Aaron Kamm & The One Drops return to Four Quarter Bar, 10 p.m., $10. Gimme a Second! improv comedy troupe takes over the Griffin Restaurant in El Dorado’s Murphy Arts District, 8 p.m. Andy Tanis plays the happy hour set at Cajun’s, 5:30 p.m., free, and after dinner catch Canvas, 9 p.m., $5. Comedian Dave Landau goes for laughs at The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. $12. Mayday By Midnight entertains at Oaklawn Racing & Gaming’s Silks Bar & Grill, 10 p.m. Fri.Sat. Bike Rack Records in Bentonville releases its Northwest Arkansas compilation with a party at Record, 7 p.m., 104 S.W. A St., $25-$85.

SATURDAY 11/10 Nightspake, Tranquilo and Heavy Sun & The Non Believers share a bill at Vino’s, 8:30 p.m. Stax Records soul machine Southern Avenue returns to CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

Words and Music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley Adapted for the Stage by Leslie Bricusse and Timothy A. McDonald Based on the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl Sponsored By: STATE. REP. DEBORAH & DR. SCOTT FERGUSON • EVOLVE BANK & TRUST

NOVEMBER 16 AND 17

7:00pm $10 adults • $5 Students Academies of West Memphis Performing Arts Center 501 West Broadway I West Memphis, Arkansas Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka JR. Is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).

All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. www. MTIShows.com

serving better than bar food all night long November

9 - Aaron Kamm and the One Drops 10 - Paul Collins’ Beat//P-47’s//Listen Sister 16 - Dazz and Brie w/ Zigtebra 17 - AhhFugYeahs 18 - Dance Monkey Dance (8pm - Free) 23 - Weakness for Blondes 24 - Chucky Waggs and his Band of Rags 30 - Groovement (Centralarkansastickets.com) Check-out the bands at Fourquarterbar.com Open until 2am every night!

415 Main St North Little Rock • (501) 313-4704 • fourquarterbar.com Follow Rock Candy on Twitter: @RockCandies

arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

23

THE

TO-DO

LIST

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK, LINDSEY MILLAR, BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE AND LESLIE HALL NEWELL PEACOCK STEPHANIE SMITTLE AND REBEKAH

MONDAY 11/12

STEVE INSKEEP

6 p.m. Jack Stephens Center, UA Little Rock. Free, RSVP required.

IOANNIDES CONDUCTS ELGAR: Conductor Sarah Ioannides takes the baton in this weekend’s Arkansas Symphony Orchestra concert.

SATURDAY 11/10-SUNDAY 11/11

‘ELGAR’S ENIGMA’

7:30 p.m. Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Robinson Performance Hall. $16-$68.

Some masterpieces have a murky point of origin; others’ births are precisely timestamped. Edward Elgar’s “Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36” sprang to life on the evening of Oct. 21, 1898, when the composer had dinner, a cigar and thereafter began to noodle at the piano, happening upon a melodic theme that caused his wife, Alice, to stop him in his tracks. That theme, expanded with 14 variations, would become what we now call the “Enigma Variations.” Elgar wrote “Enigma” at the top of the score, refusing to say what the title meant and offering only in a note on the playbill that “its ‘dark saying’ must be left unguessed. ... Over the whole set another and larger theme ‘goes,’ but is not played ... .” Fans have spent over 100 years trying to decode the cipher; competing theories have hypothesized the hidden theme was “Auld Lang Syne” in a minor key, or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Those 15 vignettes are preceded by Joan Tower’s “Made in America,” a similarly coded composition after the theme of “America the Beautiful,” and a piece that was performed in all 50 states between 2005 and 2007. The work’s main theme, Tower said, “is

challenged by other more aggressive and dissonant ideas that keep interrupting, unsettling it, but ‘America the Beautiful’ keeps resurfacing in different guises (some small and tender, others big and magnanimous), as if to say, ‘I’m still here, ever changing, but holding my own.’ ” That’s followed by Bedrich Smetana’s mysterious, magic-infused “Má Vlast: Vltava (The Moldau), and Šárka.” Elgar’s famous conductor Sarah Ioannides — now in her fifth season as the music director of Symphony Tacoma after long stints at the Spartanburg (South Carolina) Philharmonic Orchestra and the El Paso Symphony — steps up to the podium as guest conductor for this concert.

Catch Ioannides at the Clinton School of Public Service on Thursday, Nov. 8, when she’ll give a free noontime lecture on her work. Also not to be overlooked: Violin virtuoso and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Kiril Laskarov plays Brahms’ “Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major” and “Piano Quartet in G minor” at the Clinton Presidential Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, as part of the River Rhapsodies Chamber Music Series. See arkansassymphony.org for tickets. SS

Steve Inskeep of NPR’s “Morning Edition” fame will present a lecture, “The Rule of Law,” about the initial and continuing impact of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

The “Morning Edition” co-host is the author of “Jacksonland,” an account of President Andrew Jackson’s long-running conflict with John Ross, the Cherokee chief who resisted Jackson’s removal of Indians from the southeastern United States. That journey would eventually become known as the Trail of Tears. As Native Americans traveled east to Oklahoma, their routes crossed through Arkansas, and there’s a personal connection between Ross and Central Arkansas: Ross’ wife, Elizabeth “Quatie” Ross, died on the Trail of Tears in Little Rock, and her grave marker, found in Mount Holly Cemetery, where it had been moved from the old city cemetery, is housed at the Historic Arkansas Museum. (A replica cenotaph can be found at Mount Holly).

Inskeep’s lecture will be introduced by former U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Morris “Buzz” Arnold, who will also moderate the question-and-answer session afterward. The event is presented by the United States Marshals Museum and sponsored by UA Little Rock, the Sequoyah National Research Center, KUAR-FM, 89.1, and NPR. Admission is free but requires an RSVP by Nov. 9; register at theruleoflaw.eventbrite.com. RH

TUESDAY 11/13

MATTHEW DESMOND

4:30 p.m. University Theatre, UA Little Rock. Free.

MACARTHUR GENIUS: Matthew Desmond, author of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” gives a talk at UA Little Rock on Tuesday evening.

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NOVEMBER 8, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

Matthew Desmond is the author of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” an essential and devastating study on the impact of eviction on the lives of the urban poor. The book won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. Desmond, a social scientist and professor at Princeton University, was also the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 2015 for his work on eviction. At Princeton, he’s spearheaded Eviction Lab, the first database of evictions around the coun-

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try. Meanwhile, Arkansas notoriously has the worst renter protections in the country. It’s the only state that doesn’t require landlords to provide a habitable dwelling to renters, which means that a negligent landlord can rent a tenant an unsafe space. It’s also the lone state that criminalizes evictions. Arkansas data isn’t included in Desmond’s Eviction Lab. Surely, he’ll explain why. Come with other questions. He’ll offer a lecture and participate in a Q&A, followed by a reception and book signing. LM

IN BRIEF, CONT.

SUNDAY 11/11

ANNN’S BIG DIG: ISAAC ALEXANDER AND STEPHANIE SMITTLE

7 p.m. White Water Tavern.

Donations.

Look, this lineup is plenty reason to come out. Isaac Alexander is one of Arkansas’s finest songwriters and pop craftsmen. He’s so esteemed by his peers, his 2008 solo album “See Thru Me” was voted the No. 11 Arkansas album of all time, alongside the likes of Johnny Cash, Al Green and Louis Jordan, by 100 local musicians, critics and scholars in the Arkansas Times’ 2010 Arkansas Music Poll. Stephanie Smittle, when she’s not working her day job at the Arkansas Times, is one of the most gifted and diverse vocal talents in the state.

She splits her time singing Ashkenazic folk music with the Meshugga Klezmer Band, Southern sludge metal with Iron Tongue, sacred music as a cantor and chorister at Christ Church Episcopal and songs of politics and Arkansas history with duo Stephen and Stephanie.

She’s also a decorated opera singer, and will star in Kurt Weill’s “Mahoganny Songspiel” at the Sammons Center in Dallas later this month. But on top of that, this event is a fundraiser for the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network, the investigative and public interest journalism nonprofit I run on the side of Arkansas Times. Through the end of the year, ANNN is part of NewsMatch, a fundraising campaign that matches donations dollar for dollar up to $1,000. Additionally, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation is matching the first $5,800 ANNN raises during the last two months of the year.

That means that if ANNN gets $5,800 in donations from supporters, the two matching grants will bring that total to $17,400. So bring your credit or debit card or a check (to ensure we get the match) and give what you can to support more deep dives into health care issues and public corruption from the likes of Benjamin Hardy and David Ramsey. Doors open at 6 p.m. and children are welcome. LM

Stickyz, 9 p.m., $10-$12. Meanwhile, Dazz & Brie take their rock and soul to Kings, with Tate Smith, 8:30 p.m., $5. The Bernice Garden Vintage & Craft Market kicks off at 10 a.m. in SoMa, with goods from local makers and vendors, acoustic music and food trucks, free. Power pop royalty Paul Collins gives a concert at Four Quarter Bar with Isaac Alexander, Listen Sister, The P-47s and Reade Mitchell & The Personal Space Invaders, 8 p.m., $15. If “Bohemian Rhapsody” left you wanting more, catch a reprise of The Fabulous Freddie Mercury Tribute at the Rev Room, featuring Randall Shreve, 9 p.m., $15. Blues heir Kent Burnside takes the small but mighty stage at the White Water, 9 p.m. The Shame takes the stage at Cajun’s, 9 p.m., $5; at happy hour hear Richie Johnson, 5:30 p.m., $5.

SUNDAY 11/11 Colorado country rockers The Drunken Hearts take the stage at Stickyz, 8 p.m., $8-$10. Four on the Floor, One Knight Stands, The Violet Hour, Liquid Kitty and Stony Ground share a bill at the Rev Room for Kittypalooza, 8 p.m., free.

TUESDAY 11/13

THANK YOU FOR COMING TO

SEE YOU AGAIN OCT. 26, 2019 www.harvestfest.us #HillcrestRecycles

Drive-By Truckers charm and provoke at the Rev Room (fingers crossed for an Adam’s House Cat cameo!), 8 p.m., $25-$30. Australia’s The Ten Tenors perform at Reynolds Performance Hall on the University of Central Arkansas campus in Conway, 7:30 p.m., $27-$40.

At UA Fayetteville’s Faulkner Performing Arts Center, Latin-folk singer and nine-time Austin Music Award winner Gina Chavez gives a concert, 7:30 p.m., $10-$20. Riverdale 10 Cinema hosts a screening of John Huston’s 1941 film “The Maltese Falcon,” 7 p.m., $9. Black Horse, Adventureland and Atomicons get loud at White Water, 9 p.m., $5.

Poet/author Kai Coggin leads “Words & Wine” at Emergent Arts in Hot Springs, 7 p.m., $12.

WEDNESDAY 11/14 Zack and Dani Green’s spousal harmonies are at the core of Birdtalker, performing at Stickyz with Braison Cyrus, 8 p.m., $12-$15. The Rockefeller String Quartet, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Concertmasters Andrew Irvin and Kiril Laskarov and ASO oboist Beth Wheeler perform a program of music

by J.S. Bach, 4:30 p.m., UAMS Hospital Lobby Gallery, free. Beatmaker/ storyteller Fred Nice takes the stage at South on Main, 9 p.m., $10. White Water hosts “Comedy Showcase,” with sets from Big Dre & Friends, Ronel Williams, Nick Moore, May Gayden, Devincey Moore and Wan Morgan, 7:30 p.m., $10.

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arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

25

Dining WHAT’S COOKIN’

If you think you need an excuse to enjoy a piece of pie, or if you’re looking to take a load off on Thanksgiving Day, here’s a solution: Buy that pie from CareLink and benefit the aging agency’s Meals on Wheels program for older people living alone. But you’ve got to act fast: Friday, Nov. 9, is the deadline to order your homemade apple or sweet potato pie (or apple and sweet potato pies, why not?) from the handy bakers of CareLink, Central Arkansas’s Area Agency on Aging. It’s the second year for CareLink’s Pie It Forward, the agency’s response to cuts in federal funding that led to the meal service’s waiting lists nationwide. Meals on Wheels delivers to nearly 38,000 older Arkansans, helping them stay in their homes as their abilities to shop and feed themselves grows harder. The pies are 10 inches and cost $13; to order, call 688-7475 or go to CareLink’s eventbrite. com page. Pies will be ready for pickup between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Nov. 16 and Nov. 21 at the Meals on Wheels kitchen, 2100 Pike Ave. in North Little Rock. Order five pies or more and CareLink will deliver them to you.

You read about the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s “Elgar’s Enigma” in the To-Do section of this paper. Here’s an accompaniment: The ASO’s Symphony Local, a festival that will include food trucks Count Porkula, Adobo-to-Go, the Arkansas Heart Hospital Food Truck “Food from the Heart,” Adams Mobile BBQ and whistle-wetting Lost Forty Brewing along with arts and crafts. Symphony Local, which the ASO and the Arkansas Foodbank are hosting in conjunction with the ASO’s program this weekend, will run before the performances, from 5:30-7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, and 1-2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11.

Bring donations of nonperishable food for the Arkansas Foodbank; those who give 10 or more items will get a voucher for a pair of tickets to any upcoming ASO concert in the 2018-19 season.

Ira Mittleman is no longer associated with restaurant that bore his name at 311 Main St., one of the owners of the restaurant confirmed last week. The restaurant, now named Allsopp and Chapple, has a new executive chef — Bonner Cameron — and a new menu. The “new American” menu will expand over the next few weeks, the Times learned on a visit to the restaurant. For example: Look for a dish of poached eggs over greens and sweet potatoes that the chef whipped up on the fly for an employee Monday. The Times was promised it would be on the menu soon for patrons.

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NOVEMBER 8, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

LUNCH AT ABBI’S: The sandwiches, on Old Mill Bread, would have benefited by heating up, but the tea hit the spot.

Tea and empathy

Abbi’s tearoom is steeped in warming atmosphere.

O

n a dreary day, there are few things more soothing to hear than “Hi! Can I make you some tea?” That’s the usual greeting at Abbi’s Teas & Things, and though one should expect no less at a place with “teas” right there in the name, it’s a comforting opener.

Abbi’s, which Abbi Siler opened in February, is situated at the corner of Ash Street and Kavanaugh Boulevard in one of the boulevard’s handful of formerly residential spots that have been converted to retail (there are still a couple of apartments upstairs). On our first visit, door No. 4 was the charm to gain access to Abbi’s. But that search was charming; it was like having tea at some hip Hillcrest mom’s house. (We also should have been tipped off by the arrow sign reading TEA SHOP pointing toward the entrance.)

Adding to the familial ambiance are snapshots lining the walls of friends,

Follow Eat Arkansas on Twitter: @EatArkansas

family and lots of people’s pets. And there are a lot of walls — given the building’s history as a home, Abbi’s is a cozy series of rooms. Tearooms, if you will.

Warm and engaging, Abbi’s seems like a great place to have a meeting where you can actually hear the other person talking, or a go-to spot to tuck oneself away when you don’t want to hear anyone talk at all.

Thursdays are $6 pot days at Abbi’s, so we’d happened in on just the right blustery day. A warming pot of tea, a late lunch (2:30 p.m.) and a seat by a window while we did a little work was the plan, and Abbi had us set up for exactly that in minutes. The roast turkey sandwich and bag of Lay’s potato chips ($8.95) were serviceable and served fast, but the tasty Old Mill bread was refrigeratorcold on a cold day. A subsequent ham & Swiss sandwich ($8.95) had similar personality issues. Abbi’s chicken salad sandwich (also $8.95), however, was

on point. It arrived on cranberry bread, and was a sturdy blend of cubed chicken breast, herbs, mayonnaise and not too many diced red bell peppers for our bell pepper-averse friend, but enough to add a bit of texture and color pop. Chicken salad is a mandatory item on a tearoom menu, and Abbi’s take, like tea leaves, gave us hopeful glimpses into the future.

We’d love to see more attention paid to the sandwiches — maybe just toasting them during the wintertime — but, we get it, the tea’s the thing at Abbi’s; its menu tells the tale. While there are only three sandwich options on the menu, there are dozens of creative tea flavors. Seeing so many options — Cherry Fig, Ginger Peach, Blueberry Basil — reminded us the flavor spectrum for teas is so much broader than coffee’s. And they’re all blended by Abbi.

Cups of tea range from $3.29 to $3.99; pots of tea range from $7.49 to $10.99.

If paying nearly 4 bucks for a cup of

BELLY UP

DOE’S KNOWS LUNCH & DINNER.

Check out the Times’ food blog, Eat Arkansas arktimes.com

locally crafted artisan tea seems a tad extravagant — and it kinda did to us at first — how much did you fork over for your last drive-through coffee?

Furthermore, we’ll admit our blueberry lemongrass tea went a long way toward warming us up in ways the sandwiches faltered. Beyond the teas — so many teas! — Abbi’s offers flavored coffee lattes ($4.79), lavender lemonade ($3) and matcha and tea lattes ($4.49-$4.99). There’s also kombucha from Little Rock’s Teaberry Kombucha Co. brewery. Coffee ($3) gets a seemingly obligatory line in the menu as well. Helpfully, caffeine content is noted on Abbi’s menu, a practice other cafes should take up.

Abbi came by our table after a bit to check on us. With our futuristic short and stout teapot half empty of its electric berry-red contents, she offered us a “re-steep” — a term new to us, which we loved. However, we’re still not sure what that meant, since our remaining tea was still plenty warm in its spaceage pot. Outside, the wind bullied drizzly tree branches under a white sky.

In the room in front of us, a mother and child worked on the communal puzzle set up along a wall while taking periodic tea breaks. Abbi came in and gushed at their progress. It’s a comfortable and comforting place.

The bakery fare at Abbi’s is a dual effort, with the breads, as mentioned, from the stalwart Old Mill Bakery of Little Rock, and the muffins, cookies, scones, kolaches and the like from local baker Amy of Arkansas Startup Kitchen, a workspace designed to help aspiring culinary entrepreneurs test recipes and develop business plans.

We ended things on our first visit with an airy blueberry matcha scone, a tea-infused flavor that we later learned is baked exclusively for the shop. It was a nice topper, if a bit pricey at $4.17 after taxes. A jumbo blueberry muffin ($3.50) we tried at a later visit had copious berries bursting to pulverized perfection. The pat of butter on the side initially struck us as superfluous, but it all got spread on the muffin we shared, and sent the muffin to an unexpectedly nostalgic level of flavor and texture.

But then, we were already steeping in nostalgia due to the calm, homey surroundings and, yes, the tea.

Lunch: Mon- Fri 11am-2pm Dinner: Mon-Thur 5:30-9:30pm • Fri & Sat 5:30-10pm FULL BAR & PRIVATE PARTY ROOM 1023 West Markham • Downtown Little Rock 501-376-1195 • www.doeseatplace.net

Abbi’s Teas & Things 2622 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-246-5077

Quick bite

As you might expect, the tea’s the thing at Abbi’s — the tearoom blends its own, and has created dozens of interesting flavors. Thursdays are $6 pot days. Try Abbi’s locally baked muffins, cookies, scones and kolaches (there’s usually both sweet and savory takes on this Czech pastry). Abbi’s also sells its teas for brewing at home.

Hours

8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Other info

Free Wi-Fi, no alcohol.

Friday Nov. 23 10PM

TRAP JAZZ GIANTS

Trap Jazz Giants present Black Excellence Friday at South on Main! Trap Jazz is a new genre of music birthed out of the original art forms of contemporary and Jazz standards with a baseline and core of traditional Hip-Hop. Show begins at 10 pm. Advance tickets for $10, or $15 cover at the door. Tickets do not guarantee a reserved seat. Please call South on Main to reserve a table at (501) 244-9660.

1304 Main Street Little Rock, AR 72202 Get tickets at centralarkansastickets.com 501-244-9660

ARTISAN TEA: Abbi Siler makes dozens of her own tea blends, like blueberry lemongrass.

BETTER THAN RUNWAY.

ARKTIMES.COM arktimes.com NOVEMBER 8, 2018

27

CONCERT REVIEW BRIAN CHILSON

SHOWING THE CROWD LOVE: Keith Urban stopped between songs and used binoculars to savor the homemade signs his fans held high at Thursday night’s Verizon Arena concert.

Strings and stringers Keith Urban brought in the reserves at Verizon Arena: Larkin Poe, Kelsea Ballerini and Carrie Underwood.

BY BILL PADDACK

K

eith Urban brought the house down Nov. 1 at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, keeping most of the 11,558 there on their feet during his two-hour-plus performance. The concert also featured Kelsea Ballerini, one of country music’s hottest upand-comers.

About midway through Urban’s Central Arkansas stop on his “Graffiti U World Tour,” an audience member behind us remarked, “Oh, my goodness, I didn’t know he could play like that.”

“That,” in this case, referring to his incredible guitar skills. Unquestionably, he’s a virtuoso performer on the instrument he began playing as a child in Australia. And while we admit we failed miserably at trying to keep up with how many times he changed guitars, we totally succeeded at appreciating and enjoying

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ARKANSAS TIMES

his prowess at making those strings sing.

His guitar expertise is matched by his talent for engaging with and enjoying his audience. Early into his set, Urban commented on the number of homemade signs being held up by audience members, and he used binoculars and then a spotlight to help him read some of them.

One read, “Nothing can stop me from meeting you except” on one side and “your bodyguard and my husband” on the other. Amused, Urban proceeded to bring the young couple — a Britney and Jesse from Jackson, Tenn. — onstage to not only meet him, but to pose for a photo and get a hug or two. He later gave another young lady one of his guitars after making his way through the audience to sing on a small stage in the back of the arena. We’re pretty sure he probably does all that every show,

but that didn’t stop it from being fun and effective and certainly endearing himself to a crowd that already loved him.

Of course, the four-time Grammy Award winner also pleased with his vocal ability. Shortly after opening with “Never Comin’ Down” and “Days Go By,” Urban delighted the crowd with a verse of the Collin Raye hit “Little Rock.” The singersongwriter-guitarist-country rocker leaned toward rock most of the night, but a highlight was the story song “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” a big hit for him from his album “Ripcord,” and one that showcases his honest delivery.

He dedicated “Female” to his mom, had the crowd singing the lyrics back to him on “Somebody Like You” and also included hits like “Long Hot Summer,” “Stupid Boy” and the catchy “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.”

Along the way Urban not only introduced his band members, but gave them a little time in the spotlight, including Nathan Barlowe, who also stood out on guitar.

Urban brought Ballerini out to join him on the fine duet “We Were Us,” and he sang “The Fighter” with Carrie Underwood, who appeared on a video screen.

Speaking of collaboration, another highlight of the evening was when

he brought out Rebecca and Megan Lovell of the Atlanta-based rock band Larkin Poe. Talk about rocking the house. The sisters demonstrated they could hold their own with the country superstar on “Where the Blacktop Ends.”

Urban saved his first No. 1 hit “But for the Grace of God” for his encore along with “Horses.” He returned to the stage for those two songs sporting another different guitar, one he was obviously proud to own because, as he told his fans, it once belonged “to the late, great Waylon Jennings.”

Thanks to hits like “Dibs” and “Peter Pan,” Ballerini, 25, has already established herself enough to be nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year in the upcoming Country Music Association awards. She sang both of those in her 11-song set and also managed to dish out the evening’s most clever lyrics on the witty ballad, “I Hate Love Songs.”

That’s the one that starts with the line “I hate Shakespeare and Gosling and cakes with white frosting.” Kind of fun to hear that one from an artist who makes a living singing love songs, although you could make the case it’s a love song as well. Ballerini also pleased with her hit “Love Me Like You Mean It,” which she co-wrote, and a fine cover of the Fleetwood Mac standard “Landslide” that featured her on guitar.

ALSO IN THE ARTS

FINE ART, HISTORY EXHIBITS

MAJOR VENUES

ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: Art of Architecture series lecture “New Perspectives in Architecture Education,” with UA professors Emily Baker, Jessica Colangelo and Brian Holland, 5:30 p.m. lecture, 5 p.m. talk Nov. 13; “Independent Vision: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Martin Muller Collection,” through December; “Through Our Eyes,” works by students, through Nov. 11. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000.

ARTS & SCIENCE CENTER FOR SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS, 701 S. Main St.: “50th Anniversary Potpourri Exhibition,” Nov. 8-Dec. 8, fundraiser for free art programs. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 870-536-3375.

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSEUM VISITOR CENTER, Bates and Park: Exhibits on the 1957 desegregation of Central and the civil rights movement. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. 374-1957.

CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “White House, Green Building,” through March 24, 2019; “White House Collection of American Crafts 25th Anniversary Exhibit,” through March 2019; permanent exhibits on the Clinton administration. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., $10 adults, $8 seniors, retired military and college students, $6 youth 6-17, free to active military and children under 6. 374-4242.

CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, One Museum Way, Bentonville: Distinguished Speaker Series talk by artist Julie Mehretu, 7 p.m. Nov. 8, $15 nonmembers ($12 members, $5 students), register at 479-657-2335; Spotlight Talk by Susan P. Schoelwer, “Facing Washington: From Gilbert Stuart to the Dollar Bill,” 7 p.m. Nov. 15; “Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices,” contemporary art by Native Americans, through Jan. 7; “Amy Sherald,” portraits, through December; “In Conversation: Will Wilson and Edward Curtis,” Native American portraiture over time, through February 2019; American masterworks spanning four centuries in the permanent collection. 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. 479-418-5700.

GUEST COLUMN CONT.

MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER, 9th and Broadway: “Respect: Celebrating 50 Years of AfriCOBRA,” through Dec. 2; permanent exhibits on African-American entrepreneurship in Arkansas. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 683-3593.

MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY, 500 President Clinton Ave.: Interactive science exhibits and activities for children and teenagers. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., $10 ages 13 and older, $8 ages 1-12, free to members and children under 1. 396-7050.

UA LITTLE ROCK, Windgate Gallery of Art + Design: “Faculty Biennial,” through Nov. 16; “Electrify: VSA Emerging Young Artists,” Kennedy Center touring show, through Dec. 2. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 569-8977.

UA LITTLE ROCK, Fine Arts Building: “Artist as a Catalyst,” silkscreens donated to the closed Alternative Museum to protest funding cuts for the arts, through Nov. 10. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 5698977.

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS: “Fall BA/BFA Senior Exhibit,” work

by Isabella Cilia, Ryn Daily, Hannah Bernhardt, Jasmine Jackson, Panipak Kumgade, Lauren Lee Christina Lucas and Cody Scrivner, Baum Gallery, through Dec. 6. Reception 2-4 p.m. Dec. 2. 450-5793.

SMALLER VENUES CANTRELL GALLERY, 8208 Cantrell Road: “The Passage of Time,” landscapes by Daniel Coston, through Dec. 22. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 224-1335.

DONALD REYNOLDS CENTER, ASU MID-SOUTH, West Memphis: “2018 Small Works on Paper,” through Nov. 29.

8 a.m.-5 p.m.

FENIX FAYETTEVILLE, 16 W. Center St. Fayetteville: “Well Lit Shadow,” musical performance by guitarist Jake Hertzog as part of the “Sonic Images” series, 7 p.m. Nov. 9, $10.

HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 Wright Ave.: “The Messengers,” metalpoints by Marjorie Williams-Smith, through Nov. 25. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. 372-6822.

love is stronger and more powerful than hate.

But it is so much more than a Jewish neighborhood. Put it this way: If America is a melting pot, well, Squirrel Hill is the stew. It is a welcoming place to all peoples regardless of religion (or lack thereof), race, creed, sexual orientation or nationality. The second definition of the word community is “a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common interests and goals.”

Squirrel Hill, and really Pittsburgh as a whole, is a community in every sense of the word. It is cohesive. It is a loving place. And it is shattered.

Only for the time being, though.

The history of the Jewish people teaches resilience and strength. We have been kicked out of entire countries, persecuted and blamed for the ills and failures of one society or another. We have been massacred only because we are Jewish.

And the fact here is, we are strong.

And the neighborhood that is Squirrel Hill and the community inside its borders and the community that was and is Tree of Life synagogue is stronger than evil and stronger than hate.

And that brings me to the only reason those 11 souls are gone. Hate.

I can’t stand it. Hate and the actions some people take because of their myopic societal views that are based on hate. And that hate is based on fear, fear of something or someone you do not understand.

In my time at Tree of Life, I learned about the power of love. I am not sorry if this sounds a little cheesy or simplistic, but the truth is that love conquers evil. Love conquers all. You don’t need to be Jewish to believe that. You don’t need to believe in God to believe that. Love conquers all. And the hate and evil

Charlie Hunter Trio

that entered Tree of Life on Saturday morning will not triumph. No. The Jewish community, and specifically the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, is too strong for that. You want to know what those 11 worshippers were doing on Saturday? They were celebrating Shabbat. Which means they were celebrating love and joy and peace the way Jewish people have for centuries. We are stronger than hate. Always have been. Always will be.

I’ll make it past this. Pittsburgh will heal and so will Squirrel Hill and Tree of Life. Services will continue at that house of peace once the investigations are complete and the blood is cleaned from the walls.

We will not just survive this. We will thrive after this unspeakable act of hate. And that leads me to my last thought.

The most important lesson I learned growing up in a neighborhood that was filled with Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, blacks, whites, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indians and immigrants from every corner of the world is that our differences are to be celebrated.

What makes us different makes us unique and makes us human. Don’t fear things or ideas or beliefs that are different from your own. Embrace them. Learn from them. If you choose to be fearful — and it is a choice — and if you act upon that fear, then you are aiding the breakdown of society. Act upon love instead. I guarantee we will be better off as a country and as a society and as planet Earth if we have that attitude.

It isn’t always easy to disregard the initial fear you feel when encountering these differences. But cast that fear aside. Be brave! And you’ll find that we as human beings are so much better off acting upon love.

BETTER THAN RUNWA

The Last Waltz: 40th Anniversary Edition

BETTER THAN RUNWAY. MORE THAN PRINT. ARKTIMES.COM BETTER THAN RUNWAY. BETTER THAN RUNWAY. MORE THAN PRINT.

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Both events are in the Ron Robinson Theater Library Square, 100 Rock St.

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UPCOMING EVENTS NOV 9&

La Terraza Rum & Lounge La Terraza Presents Jose Alejandro!

NOV 9&

The Studio Theatre Double Feature: A ‘50’s Night of Comic Opera

NOV

Four Quarter Bar Aaron Kamm and the One Drops

NOV

Four Quarter Bar Paul Collins’ BEAT!!!

NOV

Historic Arkansas Museum QQA Membership Meeting & Greater LIttle Rock Preservation Awards

NOV

South on Main Charlotte Taylor

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NOV

The Root Cafe The Root Cafe’s Izakaya Night

NOV

South on Main Trap Jazz Giants

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The Joint Steve Davison and Friends CD Release Party, with Opening Act The Dozier Hill Band The Weekend Theater Steel Magnolias The Studio Theatre A Christmas Story - The Musical

Go to CentralArkansasTickets.com to purchase these tickets and more!

LOCAL TICKETS, ONE PLACE NOVEMBER 8, 2018

happens to people who lose coverage.

“Is disenrollment for noncompliance with community engagement requirements … associated with poorer health outcomes?” the letter asked. The CMS suggested that Arkansas should specify measures that “should capture important features of expected outcomes such as increased employment … and improved health (e.g.: self-reported physical/mental health, other measures of health care utilization).”

Asked in October why health outcomes were not the focus of the DHS’ proposed experimental design, Webb responded by email. “It is widely recognized that employment improves an individual’s health: Work has a positive influence on an individual’s health and security; returning to work has significant health benefits, especially mental health benefits. … People who work live longer and healthier lives,” she wrote.

She also said the evaluation would survey former beneficiaries who lost coverage and remained uninsured.

“The survey will include relevant questions from the National Health Insurance Survey such as an individual’s regular source of care, whether an individual did not receive care because of an inability to pay, and their self-evaluation of their health condition, etc.,” Webb wrote.

Solomon noted that the draft evaluation design only proposes looking at the estimated 69,000 Arkansas Works beneficiaries who were not initially exempt from the work requirement.

That’s “a very short-sighted way of doing things,” she said, considering many people move in and out of work.

The Nov. 1 letter from the CMS noted the same issue: “The draft evaluation

design does not include any discussion of [exempt] comparison groups.” The letter also urged the state to develop a longitudinal survey to track former beneficiaries “for several years” so as to “understand employment, income, health status, and coverage transitions over time.”

Solomon said her biggest concern about the evaluation was timing, considering thousands of Arkansans were losing coverage every month.

“Where is the RFP? … If you don’t have a final plan and you have people losing coverage left and right, how are you going to get baseline data?” she asked.

MaryBeth Musumeci, an associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, said states with 1115 demonstration waivers often submit their evaluation designs after the fact. That may not be ideal from a research perspective, but it’s “not uncommon” in the Medicaid world, she said. However, the coverage losses in Arkansas make evaluation particularly urgent.

“I think the concern particularly about what’s going on in Arkansas is because of the disenrollment that’s occurred in the last couple months. ... 8,500 people having lost coverage, and not having, as far as the public knows, an evaluation plan in place,” Musumeci said.

This reporting is made possible in part by a yearlong fellowship sponsored by the Association of Health Care Journalists and supported by The Commonwealth Fund.

It is published here courtesy of the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network, an independent, nonpartisan project dedicated to producing journalism that matters to Arkansans. Find out more at arknews.org.

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has a position open in Advertising Sales. If you have sales experience and enjoy the fast paced, crazy world of advertising sales we’d like to talk to you.

We have a variety of print and web products as well as special focus publications that we publish and that translates into a high-income potential for a hard working advertising executive. We have fun, but we work hard. Fast paced and self-motivated individuals are encouraged to apply. If you have a dynamic energetic personality, we’d like to talk to you.

PLEASE SEND YOUR RESUME TO PHYLLIS BRITTON, PHYLLIS@ARKTIMES.COM.

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2019

Arkansas Times will present the 38th edition of our Readers Choice Restaurants awards in our January 31, 2019 issue.

February 5th is our awards celebration party for the statewide winners, presented by our hosts and sponsors UA Pulaski Tech Culinary Institute, Ben E. Keith Foods, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits and Glazer’s Beer and Beverage.

Food, drink, interesting people and Ted Ludwig Jazz Trio will provide the entertainment.

For more information contact phyllis@arktimes.com

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