Arkansas Times - June 1, 2017 by Arkansas Times

ifa

W iz !

iv er fe st .)

G (It e â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s e R

w oa nc nc os os e tio tio an nk ip e n e es es W Ru Ru n n R & e ild oo ay na na T Th V Vi B fl fie re he w w ow in ig nt e a a t M P y y ag ag Ba l er El D D ur P i a P az az ep e e rin ng y b ph Re Th la la z P z Pi J n ha Ja n e as gt & ist vu ac e & & et et sto ck nt on H B o k e T l l ro ip om Fe Brie Fe Brie W th D A rr rr iz or er ef bd ar ar Ju ro K r a a M uc Jo an sti ha w os tio an c C n l e e ifa ag Ru n M s e oo Bi n aw Th Vi lly re nt G e C ag ay P ro D E u W A l rr az ep e up C l nd a i i z P n z ol Ja ne h l e o g i y J & S a s d K to ve ck us to t M nt e h W B r n tin l oo at al Fe rie C H ar on M i n a e r M fa g r Ki r or Ta es a e e oo Bi Sp ra ds ris C C T x l re ly od he i om Ta lit L D G C y a r E e ur nk ip ou y Ji le n C r W & n ph Ra T pl in & Be ks ol i o g T l an dfl yfi d Th to ve llio he M Bi W o t el n o e g w n Ti W a o M Ba d Pi er M rK n am m i a z or Ta ng yb ph Re e Th Ju id pb K ris C x e s & v s e h od i el tin ue as a D H B C T l rm l y Jo ay ro ifa ag ip om M Ji id n t e o D & A h B or ab or C Be nks er Th illy ef bd T ro ra le e r llio M he uc Jo an G e ig w C Th o r E tio a ur c n ou Ti s C l n e e ep es Ru C rin n am m pl Jo C ol h e o g n ol an pb d to ve aw Vi M tF yF W D t n e M n o o ay l yla or ta ar on l r D M m Th ge d Pl C Ki az or id Ta od n S a e z P d a ris Ja ne C co D y x b s i H B & s o i l ck ep C e to t r t D i d W t o B A y J l a a a t F r D o h i y m rte na Ji ie z er n er ef & Ju as nk d K A r d C B r a a J a a s h nd Th s el ra ra oa tin nc Mo & a H C l i i y Th lif e g on n e in ag Th M Ru Fr Ti C a e ra e e o Bi s am as e m na Jo to C or Th V l co e l ol ne w y e p in G e tF yF be C & D t s ag ay P ro E D o u l y o l l rm rr Th ep az om la up e rd C la in C n z Pi o i h e J ne l d o g o e l a S a & d s a U t v d M c n t t o c Th D b e ol W k .N ot t Br n le oo ep y C ay F e W a t . A ie er M rK n ar an M fie iz m r o T t a u ar ed d Ju id as ld rr ax K m A C a a is s a s h nd m o i tin & a D H d ng C ie y lif Se y Jo ay in ag Th s M Fr as Ji a e ra n e oo & Bi nk s as e H t C B T o l co re Th s ly e el r n he G lio C Th aig Sp re C es e & ro El ur n Ti C e Th ep om u C r a Ta lit L m pl in Jo C m o ha e e ov gt e ol ld nk ip p y U M nt o t T b e W Fo W D .N R n e F h & o

NEWS + POLITICS + ENTERTAINMENT + FOOD JUNE 1, 2017 / ARKTIMES.COM

Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Institute

Now Offering: • In-depth and hands-on training by first-class, international and well-known chef instructors in one of the newest, cutting-edge facilities available • Associate Degrees, Technical Certificates, Certificates of Proficiency • Programs of study in Culinary Arts, Baking and Pastry Arts, Hospitality Management, Wine Studies, Mixology and Microbrewery • 100% Online Associate of Applied Science in Hospitality Management • 3D Program for individuals with intellectual differences • Community Education classes including kids culinary and baking camps • Scholarships for Family and Consumer Science, Skills USA and ProStart students. • Articulated Credit for High School Programs. • High School Concurrent Credit Program through the Career Center. Accredited by the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation, the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. 2

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

Brighter than Ever www.uaptc.edu

ARKANSAS’S SOURCE FOR NEWS, POLITICS & ENTERTAINMENT 201 East Markham Street, Suite 200 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

@ArkTimes

arktimes

arkansastimes

oldarktimes

youtube.com/c/arktimes

W: arktimes.com

RIVERDALE 10 VIP CINEMA

WE SPECIALIZE IN HUMAN CAPITAL

2600 CANTRELL RD 5 0 1 . 2 9 6.9 955 | R I V E R DA LE1 0.CO M

ELECTRIC RECLINER SEATS AND RESERVED SEATING

ASAP offers staffing solutions to clients looking for a consistent and competent workforce. Our approach to staffing is much more than placement, it’s a partnership that thrives on mutually beneficial results. We are intimately connected with our clients and fully understand the industries we serve. Our goal is to create a mutually beneficial long-term relationship that results in increased profitability and employee loyalty.

SHOW TIMES: FRI, JUNE 2 - THURS, JUNE 8 11:00 SHOW TIMES FRI, SAT & SUN

CHUCK

R | 11:15 2:15 4:20 7:15 9:30

WONDER WOMAN

PG13 | 11:15 1:45 4:15 6:45 9:30

WONDER WOMAN

PG13 | 11:00 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:45

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS

E: arktimes@arktimes.com

PUBLISHER Alan Leveritt EDITOR Lindsey Millar SENIOR EDITOR Max Brantley

10301 N. RODNEY PARHAM ROAD 501-537-2727 • ASAPWORKSFORME.COM

FROM LEFT: CHARLEY ROBERTSON AND KEVIN FAIR

BAYWATCH

R | 11:15 2:15 4:30 7:15 9:35

NORMAN

R | 11:00 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:25

ALIEN: COVENANT

R | 11:00 1:45 4:15 7:00 9:30

SNATCHED

PG | 11:15 2:00 4:25 6:45 9:00

R | 11:15 2:30 4:30 7:20 9:20

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES

PG13 | 11:00 1:45 4:15 7:00 9:45

PG13 | 11:15 2:00 4:30 7:00 9:45

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2

GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE ONLINE • TICKET KIOSK IN LOBBY

NOW SERVING BEER & WINE • FULL FOOD MENU • GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE

MANAGING EDITOR Leslie Newell Peacock CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Mara Leveritt ASSOCIATE EDITOR David Koon COPY EDITOR Jim Harris ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Stephanie Smittle EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR Bryan Moats PHOTOGRAPHER Brian Chilson DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL STRATEGY Jordan Little ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Mike Spain GRAPHIC DESIGNER Katie Hassell DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Phyllis A. Britton DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS Rebekah Hardin ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Brooke Wallace, Lee Major, Ashley Gill ADVERTISING TRAFFIC MANAGER Roland R. Gladden ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Jim Hunnicutt IT DIRECTOR Robert Curfman CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Anitra Hickman CONTROLLER Weldon Wilson BILLING/COLLECTIONS Linda Phillips OFFICE MANAGER/ACCOUNTS PAYABLE Kelly Jones PRODUCTION MANAGER Ira Hocut (1954-2009)

association of alternative newsmedia

VOLUME 43, NUMBER 39 ARKANSAS TIMES (ISSN 0164-6273) is published each week by Arkansas Times Limited Partnership, 201 East Markham Street, Suite 200, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72201, phone (501) 375-2985. Periodical postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ARKANSAS TIMES, 201 EAST MARKHAM STREET, SUITE 200, Little Rock, AR, 72201. Subscription prices are $42 for one year, $74 for two years. Subscriptions outside Arkansas are $49 for one year, $88 for two years. Foreign (including Canadian) subscriptions are $168 a year. For subscriber service call (501) 375-2985. Current singlecopy price is 75¢, free in Pulaski County. Single issues are available by mail at $2.50 each, postage paid. Payment must accompany all single-copy orders. Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents without the written consent of the publishers is prohibited. Manuscripts and artwork will not be returned or acknowledged unless sufficient return postage and a self-addressed stamped envelope are included. All materials are handled with due care; however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for care and safe return of unsolicited materials. All letters sent to ARKANSAS TIMES will be treated as intended for publication and are subject to ARKANSAS TIMES’ unrestricted right to edit or to comment editorially.

FIRE IT UP AND SIZZLE ON! FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1959! There are many brands of beef, but only one Angus brand exceeds expectations. The Certified Angus Beef brand is a cut above USDA Prime, Choice and Select. Ten quality standards set the brand apart. It's abundantly flavorful, incredibly tender, naturally juicy. 10320 STAGE COACH RD 501-455-3475

7507 CANTRELL RD 501-614-3477

7525 BASELINE RD 501-562-6629

2203 NORTH REYNOLDS RD, BRYANT 501-847-9777

www.edwardsfoodgiant.com arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

COMMENT

Will of the people

25 column, “Not leaders”:

According to statistics, a majority of Americans want universal health care. Even if that’s true, that’s never stopped government from maintaining the status quo. Most Americans favor the legalization of marijuana, but again, we see the current administration seemingly ramping up efforts to return to the failed “war on drugs.” Most Americans favor immigration reform, and efforts to counter climate change. But again, government rarely agrees with the citizenry. Government in America has a history of ignoring the people, or at least those with whom it disagrees, which is often represented by a majority of citizens, which is supposed to be the authority on which our government bases its actions. That’s how a democracy works. However, some might argue that in the United States we seem to be digressing when it comes to government carrying out the “will of the people.” If, in fact, government isn’t carrying out the “will of the people,” then whose will is being imposed? That’s an easy question to answer. Government is carrying out the will of the big-money interests. This is being done by the so-called “mainstream” politicians in both major parties. One might make a case for the Republicans being more representative of this scenario, but the Democrats have their share of corporate lap dogs as well. The majority of Americans who want changes made in this country must begin lending their support to populists candidates, preferably to those on the left. The current administration in Washington is a good example of a risk taken on a “populist” candidate from the right, hopefully a risk we won’t take again. R.L. Hutson Cabot

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton is the most dangerous person in politics. Jessica McClard I like Autumn Tolbert’s articles. She uses logical reasoning and makes some good points. Why should I show respect to Vice President Mike Pence, when he has treated women like breeding cows or personal property with his lifelong crusade to put chastity belts on women? He has pushed horrible health care laws, as

From the web In response to last week’s cover story, “The health of a hospital”: I remember when Baxter Regional Medical Center CEO Ron Peterson was against Obama. Now that the ACA is working Peterson likes it. A lot of employees were against it. I tried to tell them that the old system was going to crumble. So many voted for Trump despite him saying he was going to get rid of it. If the AHCA becomes law, kiss this hospital goodbye. A lot of retirees will be leaving the area, too. BRMC was a big draw for them to come here. Glad to see this article. snowflake_44 In response to Autumn Tolbert’s May 4

JUNE 1, 2017

Indiana’s governor and as vice president, that endanger women’s lives. He defended President Trump for his sexual assault remarks about women. Why on earth would I sit like a lump on a log and show respect to someone who gloats, smiles and claps for the camera, when harmful women’s health care bills are passed? He has no respect for me, my voice, my civil and human rights, my brain, or my health. He hides behind a hypocritical religion. He has proved this over and over. He hates women and gays and lesbians and refugees and immigrants and Muslims and poor

people. I am sure I left out some groups. His small, self-righteous mind is dangerous to society and he is offensive to me. He does not deserve my respect, nor has he earned it. He will continue to support laws that stifle free speech, promote discrimination, and mimic a Putin style of government. It is OK with me if some graduates sat through his speech and it is OK with me that some graduates walked out. For the past four months, I have watched state legislatures, the U.S. Congress, Pence and President Trump attack the civil and human rights of everyone on earth. They ignore the First Amendment, try to rewrite the U.S. Constitution and have shut out the news media and journalists, while they ignore the courts and laws. Getting upset about a few graduates walking out on a speech seems trivial compared to having your civil rights and government destroyed. ShineonLibby In response to the May 26 post, “Confederate statues: Arkansas has them, too, of course”: Rather than Confederate monuments these are perhaps more correctly termed Democrat historic symbols. It is apparent the Democrat past is an abject failure but understandable and a pity they would wish to avoid, erase and reimagine rather than learn from history. baker Come on, baker, surely you are well read about the GOP’s “Southern Strategy” as formulated by Strom Thurmond, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan as a way to get rid of the Northern leadership of the GOP and recruit Southern politicians who were fed up with the Democratic efforts for civil rights of minority Americans. LBJ predicted this when he signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act. One can see the results by looking at the leadership of the GOP in Gingrich, DeLay and other Southerners. In 1972, Nixon carried all the Southern states as did Trump in 2016. Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy in 1980 in a speech in Philadelphia, Miss. Bet you get the significance of that. By 2010 GOP leaders acknowledged the GOP had pursued such efforts for decades. Northern control of the GOP is gone, replaced by Southern tea-baggers and others who once were part of the Democratic Party you correctly refer to, much like “Gone With The Wind” of Margaret Mitchell’s day and time. Cato1

ARKANSAS TIMES

SPB98A AR Times Brave print.indd 1

5/22/17 10:44 AM

ONE ROUND ONLY!

NOW THROUGH

June 15

2017

VOTE

today!

arktimes.com/best2017

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

WEEK THAT WAS

Quote of the Week “When we start having bridges collapse and people killed, then we’ll start funding highways.” — Rep. Dan Douglas (R-Bentonville) talking about what it would take for the Arkansas Legislature to raise revenue for highway improvement during a panel discussion at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Arkansas Rural Development Conference, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. During the recent legislative session, Douglas failed to get approval for a bill that would have referred to the ballot a vote on a 6.5 percent sales tax on fuel prices to pay for a bond issue to raise money for highways.

Cotham’s destroyed A fire that began before midnight Monday destroyed Cotham’s, the vener6

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

able mercantile store-turned-restaurant in the farming community of Scott. The cause wasn’t known at press time. The 100-year-old business has been famous in its recent history, since the mid-1980s, for hubcap-sized burgers and fried catfish, served amid the shelving and bric-a-brac of a country store. The restaurant inspired a city version of the restaurant near the Capitol.

expressed interest in expanding use of private correctional management companies, reversing Obama administration policy. Despite a record that detailed medical problems, the lawsuit alleges a variety of shortcomings in the handling of Sabbie, including a failure to make minimum checks on him.

Lawsuit filed over prisoner’s death in private prison

Governor Hutchinson announced last week that he had named Mary Robin Casteel as interim director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division. It was only the day before that resignations from the ABC were announced of Director Bud Roberts and the agency’s two attorneys, Casteel and Milt Lueken. Lueken, 73, said it was simply time for him to retire after 28 years, but he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette what the Arkansas Times been told by another ABC source: that the governor had asked for Roberts’ resignation. The governor’s press aide repeatedly denied this. Before the announcement of her appointment, the Times had asked Casteel if she’d return to the agency if asked and she indicated she wasn’t sure, though she

A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed last week in the 2015 death of Michael Sabbie, a prisoner in the for-profit Bi-State Justice Center in Texarkana. Sabbie, who was jailed on a misdemeanor domestic threatening charge in Texarkana, Ark., died after complaining repeatedly to jailers that he was having difficulty breathing. Criminal investigations resulted in no charges. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Texarkana, Texas. The case has drawn attention for reasons that include operation of the bi-state facility by the private LaSalle Corrections. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has

New ABC director

insisted she’d been thinking about a move to private practice for a long time. She said she’d had no problems with Roberts’ leadership, a potential factor cited by another source. Casteel has been pivotal in developing regulations the agency will use in overseeing the new medical marijuana law. Her resignation had been set to take effect June 16.

Huck leaves Fox Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is departing Fox for Trinity Broadcasting, where he’ll have an hourlong weekly talk show filmed in Nashville, Tenn. TBN describes itself as the world’s largest Christian network. Presumably, we’ll still get some bass-playing and Huck will continue his guided tours to the Holy Land. He was playing “Sweet Home Alabama” in Jerusalem just the other day. The Tennessean says Huck will film in a new studio on Lower Broadway, along the city’s honky-tonk strip. He’s said he feels more attuned to Nashville values than New York and sought to have the show produced there.

OPINION

Political ups and downs

iberals have to look hard for bright spots these days, unless they take comfort from a president who’s become a global laughingstock. Hard to laugh at the prospect of 44 more months of it. I held a little bit of hope to an upstart’s challenge of a favored Republican in the race for Montana’s U.S. House seat. And then, the night before election day, the favored Republican, Greg Gianforte, assaulted a newspaper reporter for pressing him for a comment on the Congressional Budget Office’s report on the ill effects of the health bill passed by the House. Would Montana elect a man charged with assault because he’d been asked repeatedly for an answer on a question he’d dodged throughout the race? They would. There were extenuating circum-

stances. Seventy percent of the vote was cast early, before the assault. Gianforte should have won by 20 MAX against a DemoBRANTLEY cratic candidate maxbrantley@arktimes.com with baggage. The race proved, again, however, that health care is a rising issue and Republicans’ insistence on rolling back the benefits of Obamacare may do them harm. But there was little comfort in rightwing triumphalism. Rudeness and even violence are acceptable behavior in the era of Trump, if you believe much of the comment. Take just two from our own Arkansas Blog: •

“Only media morons think they are entitled to badger someone

Trump lessons

n his classic memoir “The Education of Henry Adams,” Adams recorded the advice from a member of President Grant’s Cabinet on handling members of the lower house of Congress: “You can’t use tact with a congressman! A congressman is a hog! You must take a stick and hit him on the snout!” Adams counted it as rare wisdom. If the century-later sequel to Adams’ 1918 story about coming of age in a swiftly changing world turns out to be “The Education of Donald Trump,” there are sure to be analogies to the Grant secretary’s obstinate swine. The question is whether the president will be on the giving or receiving end of the figurative wallops and of the adult education they are supposed to convey. The country and the world have a leader that nearly everyone recognizes knew little to nothing about how any of the three branches of government work, about foreign cultures and rivalries, about the conduct of foreign affairs, or even about the importance of those intricacies. It was refreshing, because he was going to learn quickly on the job and form a new dynamic for successful governance. Four months in, it’s not going well. Rudy Giuliani misled him about how the courts would rule on the matter of

banning Muslims from our shores, everyone misled him about the ease of repealing and replacing ObamERNEST acare with someDUMAS thing better, his Goldman Sachs advisers and Paul Ryan misled him on how easily he could cut rich people’s taxes and pass a balanced budget, he misled himself on how easily he could bluff the Chinese into kowtowing or North Korea’s infantile leader into cringing before U.S. power, and his scheming son-in-law fooled him into thinking that firing the FBI director in the midst of the Russian probe would make him a hero to Democrats and Republicans alike. The last one plunged the White House into a criminal investigation that threatens his presidency. But then he went off for a flamboyant tour of the Middle East and Europe mapped by the same son-in-law that would give him the majesty of a conqueror. It was good for him mentally, considering the blue funk that all the domestic flops and the Russian investigation had put him in, and something of a public relations triumph, at least the Middle East phase. He read a charming speech about Muslims that

as they please.” Asking two questions is, apparently, badgering and a license to punch. Said a state Republican Party official, “How many times is someone expected to nicely tell a jerk to f-off before flooring him. Yes, yes, public officials are held to a higher standard, etc. But what if it were any of you? Guy shoves a recorder in your face and pesters the shit out of you. Most of you would become snowflakes but I’d wager a few would move him out of the way. I am not saying what the candidate did was appropriate but some of these reporters think they have a license to be assholes. They do not.”

These were restrained views compared with others I read and general behavior of some in the MAGA crowd. That rogue sheriff in Milwaukee that Trump may appoint to a federal position sicced a gang of his deputies on a guy who stared at him funny on a plane. Stared at him. Trump has stirred an even greater antipathy toward reporters than already existed. He’s not likely to back off as the media pack

bores in on his Russian connections. I’m not ready to talk impeachment by a longshot. But I am unsettled by a president with demonstrated warmth toward Russia after an election in which Russians worked to defeat Hillary Clinton. Time was, Republicans thought Russians were the enemy. But …. I did get a few laughs this week from a Republican initiative in Arkansas. Governor Hutchinson has hired someone to transform government and one of the early initiatives is a digital suggestion box. You can send to a website or call a hotline with ways to improve government. Nearly 300 ideas rolled in at the outset. I loved many of the suggestions. Don’t build the Ten Commandments monument. End capital punishment. Sell beer on Sunday. Keep Attorney General Leslie Rutledge off national TV. Get Sen. Jason Rapert out of Arkansas. Stop handouts of huge sums of money to a “virtual” charter school. Let cities regulate guns. I know. Neither the governor nor the legislature is likely to adopt any of these causes. But the resistance at least continues. That’s what real men and women do: Stand up and be counted. Cowards dodge questions on health care, punch reporters and lie about it.

reversed everything that he had ever said about the religion (his old campaign adviser Roger Stone said it made him “want to puke”), which satisfied the ruling oligarchs and perhaps the radical Sunni clerics who have sent murderous youth rampaging through the region and Europe. He called Islam “one of the world’s great faiths,” one bent on peace and brotherhood. The speech may stand him in good stead when his Muslim ban reaches the Supreme Court, because it might offset his campaign tirades against Muslims that caused trial and appellate courts to hold that the ban on entrants from six Muslim countries violated the establishment clause. (No terrorist from those countries has attacked us, but none has a Trump hotel.) In the long term, it is the most dangerous thing he has done. He might have won the hearts of two-thirds of the Islamic world by declaring Shiite Iran as the Satan of the region and the world’s chief sponsor of terrorism. He called on nations to follow him and Saudi Arabia in subduing Iran and terrorism. Saudi Arabia won’t spend a dollar or sacrifice a man fighting the Islamic State or al Qaeda. It has helped bankroll them. It was an absurd proclamation, directly contrary to the moment of illumination early in his campaign when Trump said America had been mistaken in getting involved in the ancient Sunni-Shiite

rivalries — something he perhaps heard Fareed Zakaria say on CNN. No Iranian was involved in the 9-11 attacks (15 of the 19 terrorists and Osama bin Laden were from Saudi Arabia and all were Sunnis) or any other on U.S. soil. All the big terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, al Qaeda and Boko Haram, are Sunnis whose goal is the destruction of Iran. Iran is America’s most effective ally in fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Its beleaguered and divided democracy is an outpost in the autocratic Islamic world. It is not altogether wholesome because it supports Shiite rebels in Yemen and Lebanon that Saudi Arabia calls terrorists. While Trump was consorting with the dictators and denouncing Iran, the rising tide of westernized Iranian youth were delivering a massive victory at the polls for the beleaguered regime against the U.S.-hating right. Although ultimate power still rests with the aging and weakening ayatollah, the election was a promising moment for the United States, Israel and the whole region. But if the president carries through with his threats and gets Congress to impose more sanctions and withdraw from the Iran treaty, the nuclear peril and terrorism will surge again and the frail hopes for a pacified Middle East in our time will disappear. Take heart. Part of his education is to never follow through.

•

Follow Arkansas Blog on Twitter: @ArkansasBlog

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

Fit for D.C.

W presents…

Justin St. Pierre Thursday June 15 7:30 p.m. The Joint

301 Main Street North Little Rock

Tickets $25

Winner of both the Frimat Festival and the Canadian Guitar Festival, Justin offers listeners everything from swirling, hypnotic melodies to powerful emotional imagery

Available at the door or online at www.argentaartsacousticmusic.com or www.centralarkansastickets.com

425 West Capitol Ave. #300 Little Rock, AR 72201 501.375.3200 flakeandkelley.com

ARKANSAS TIMES

bike

LOCAL 8

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

here I come from, sucker punching or body-slamming an unsuspecting adversary isn’t the mark of a tough guy. It’s a punk move, a half step above smacking a woman. Not to mention that newly elected Montana Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte was the one surrounded by aides. Ben Jacobs, the Guardian reporter he assaulted, was on his own, doing his job asking questions — specifically, if the candidate supported the GOP health care bill. Gianforte’s first move was to cast the reporter as the aggressor. That got him through the election. Even though an audiotape of the incident, not to mention an eyewitness account by Fox News correspondent Alicia Acuna, depicted an unprovoked attack that, had it happened in a Missoula bar, could have led to Gianforte’s arrest. The Gallatin County sheriff later cited him for misdemeanor assault. So naturally the loudmouth rightwing media began making excuses, if not downright lying about what happened. Rush Limbaugh rhetorically condemned the attack but quickly devolved into hero worship. “This manly, obviously studly Republican candidate in Montana took the occasion to beat up a pajama-clad journalist, a Pajama Boy journalist out there,” Limbaugh told listeners. He described the reporter as “unacceptably, brusquely and rudely thrown to the ground like 125-pound dishrag.” Studly. You’d think Limbaugh, who himself will never be mistaken for an NFL linebacker, would be embarrassed. Even after Gianforte, safely elected, publicly admitted being in the wrong and apologized to Jacobs, many of his supporters took the Limbaugh position. Journalists are scum who deserve to be popped in the mouth. After all, hasn’t President Trump, the original trust fund tough guy surrounded by bodyguards all his life, told them journalists are “the enemy of the people”? Something tells me Gianforte’s going to fit in really well in Washington, at least for now. Something also tells me that saying so will evoke a bunch of emails from guys threatening to come punch my disrespectful mouth. And that none of them will show up. It comes with the territory. Sometimes, you just have to laugh. Last week, I got several angry screeds from a guy in Wichita Falls, Texas, who

quoted a friendly remark I’d supposedly made to Josef Stalin, the late Soviet dictator. A quick Google GENE search established LYONS that his source was the Wikipedia biography of Eugene Lyons, the Russian-born American journalist whose book “Assignment in Utopia” influenced George Orwell. But no, I’m actually not 119 years old. No kin, that Eugene Lyons. Meanwhile, no sooner did the president return from insulting NATO allies in Brussels — weakening the alliance having been the primary goal of Russian foreign policy since the Stalinist era — than he began to remind loyalists that bullying journalists may be entirely appropriate: “Whenever you see the words ‘sources say’ in the fake news media, and they don’t mention names … it is very possible that those sources don’t exist but are made up by fake news writers,” Trump tweeted. “#FakeNews is the enemy!” This from a guy who once tweeted, as the Washington Post’s Philip Bump points out, that, “An extremely credible source has called my office and informed me that Barack Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud.” And who in the next breath complains that government leakers, presumably not those dubbed “senior administration officials” in newspaper stories, should be prosecuted. So which is it, Mr. President? Sabotage or make believe? It can’t be both. “This kind of thing is frightening to me,” Orwell wrote of the avalanche of partisan propaganda accompanying the Spanish Civil War, “because it often gives me the feeling that the concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. … Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as ‘the truth’ exists. There is, for example, no such thing as ‘Science.’ There is only ‘German Science,’ ‘Jewish Science,’ etc.” Just so for Trump’s gradually dwindling base of true believers. Dwindling because Americans generally aren’t really that far gone. People may mistrust this reporter or that newspaper. But most don’t really believe that a halfdozen newspapers and TV networks are manufacturing all these suspect links between Trump’s campaign and Vladimir Putin. And they’re noticing that whatever the president says today, he’ll contradict tomorrow.

Press slammed

ast week, the American media got another battering, in the form of a Montana congressional candidate’s brutal attack on a young reporter simply doing his job. After the attack, the candidate’s campaign followed up with a press release that completely fabricated what had happened. The fact that candidate went on to win an election the following day isn’t startling in and of itself because of the context in which it occurred. The fact that the incident occurred in the first place and the generally blasé public response to it reflects the troubling Trump-era reality that, for a wide swath of America, the media is seen as “the enemy of the American people.” As it happened, my husband and I were heading to dinner in Whitefish, Mont., last Wednesday as news arrived via Twitter and cable news that Greg Gianforte, the Republican candidate in the special election for Montana’s lone U.S. House seat the next day, had “body slammed” Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. The attack was precipitated by the reporter’s timely request for a comment from the candidate on the fresh Congressional Budget Office score of the American Health Care Act. So, just as we heard the national reaction to the bizarre story, we got a taste of the reaction on the ground. The progressive Arkansas ex-pats that we met for dinner were optimistic the events could pull Democrat Rob Quist to victory. However, the result the following day, while a significant shift toward the Democrats from the 2016 cycle, was a 6-point loss for Quist. The votes cast on Election Day did indicate a slight nudge in favor of Quist compared to the absentee balloting, but the large number of early votes banked by Gianforte gave him the cushion needed for survival. Gianforte, charged with a misdemeanor, will still face a judge for his actions, but more troubling is that a well-crafted apology incorporated into his election night victory speech appears to have “taken care” of the incident politically. This is shocking, not just because of the anger-management issues evidenced by Gianforte in the incident, but because the statement that Gianforte’s campaign released immediately after the candidate scurried from the scene of the attack inaccurately pointed blame directly at the reporter for what occurred. It created a false tale about the events, concluding that “[i]t’s unfortunate that this aggressive

behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene … .” That account was undermined by Jacobs’ own JAY audiotape, which BARTH clearly showed the viciousness of the attack, and by the reporting of a veteran Fox News reporter who saw the entire exchange and did her job by reinforcing Jacobs’ description of the events. The conservative National Review described Gianforte’s actions as “disappointing, shocking and disgusting,” but as soon as it became known the Republican had won most simply said that Gianforte’s apology was enough, refusing to grapple with the assault on the media — and the candidate’s lies about it. Some politicos even began joking about the incident. As antitax activist Grover Norquist tweeted: “Congratulations to tax pledge signing Greg Gianforte who just body slammed tax hiking Democrat pol.” Such a normalization of physical and verbal attacks on the media has been fostered by the apparent success of President Trump in using the media as his go-to punching bag. Obviously, attacks on the media are nothing new. In America, it goes back to the founding of the country and reached its modern high point in the era when Vice President Spiro Agnew perfected rhetorical attacks on the media, saying in 1969: “Perhaps the place to start looking for a credibility gap is not in the offices of the government in Washington but in the studios of the networks in New York!” Clearly, though, with his regular tweets about “fake news,” the president has taken these attacks to a new level; most disconcerting was his February tweet in which Trump deemed the media the “enemy of the American people.” Polling is somewhat contradictory on the degree to which Trump’s attacks on the media as purveyors of “fake news.” In a Morning Consult survey at the 100day mark of the presidency, Trump was seen as more trustworthy than the media by an 8-point margin. However, other polling has shown that individual news outlets are seen as decidedly more trustworthy than the president. The concern is that the significant erosion in public trust in the media that has occurred in the Trump era will deepen and will outlive this presidency.

Remember the force that was Dorothy Jane “Dotty” Dot’ Oliver Join the Arkansas Times on Friday, June 2 as we celebrate the life of Dotty Oliver, known for her finesse in the local music industry and the force behind the Little Rock Free Press or “FREEP” as it was affectionately known. A memorial service to honor Dotty will be held at (where else?) White Water Tavern in Little Rock on Friday, June 2nd from 5:00 until 7:30. In lieu of flowers (which Dotty hated to see being cut) she would appreciate donations to “The Van” to support Aaron Redding and his work with the homeless population in Little Rock

White Water Tavern

2500 W 7TH ST • LITTLE ROCK, AR 72205 (501) 375-8400 • WWW.WHITEWATERTAVERN.COM

We can’t wait for our 11th season!

JUNE 9 – JULY 9, 2017 TICKETS: 866-810-0012 • arkshakes.com

JUNE 9–JULY 7

JUNE 23–JULY 9 REYNOLDS PERFORMANCE HALL

MCALISTER LAWN AT UCA “PAY WHAT YOU CAN” SPONSORED BY

THE MORRIS FOUNDATION

JUNE 29–JULY 9 REYNOLDS PERFORMANCE HALL A ONE-HOUR FAMILY-FRIENDLY PRODUCTION TOURING THROUGHOUT ARKANSAS!

JUNE 16–JULY 8 REYNOLDS PERFORMANCE HALL SPONSORED BY

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

PEARLS ABOUT SWINE

Baum bound

rkansas bookended its long stay in Hoover, Ala., with two agonizing, close losses. But the Hogs drew plenty of national attention for what they did in three successive wins between those defeats, and by extension, the SEC runner-up is not only hosting a regional again this weekend, but getting some well-merited adulation for sustaining this improbable rebound campaign. The Hogs for the fourth time made it to the Sunday finale of the conference tourney, and for the fourth time left without a ring. LSU starter Eric Walker, an aggravatingly quick-working righty who evokes Greg Maddux with his pinpoint placement of otherwise undaunting heat, did it to the Razorbacks yet again, shutting down a scalding offense for more than seven innings and then letting closer Hunter Newman turn the ninth inning into a dicey little affair that nearly turned into a tie game when Luke Bonfield smacked a hard grounder to the left side after Chad Spanberger was intentionally walked to load the bases. Fortunately for the ever-charmed and thoroughly entitled Tigers, shortstop Kramer Robertson was playing deep and shaded Bonfield to pull, so he easily scooped the grounder and had just enough time to snuff out the lead runner at third to end it. The Hogs outhit LSU 7-6 in a game where offense was at a premium, and critically, they twice failed to plate runs with men in scoring position. A big error by Jared Gates on a conventional grounder was the catalyst to the Tigers’ decisive three-run fourth inning, and LSU never had to pay for its mistakes. Eric Cole drove in both Hog runs with a long solo homer off Walker early to get Arkansas on the board first, and then he plated the second run with a two-out ninth-inning single through the box, so that’s more good news: Once mired in a terrible slump to start his sophomore year, Cole has really turned it on in recent weeks and has his average at a respectable .279 going into the regional, when it was .255 to start the conference tourney. His bat wasn’t the hottest, but in many ways Cole’s late flourish means more than the meteoric rise of Spanberger, whose five-homer display in Hoover included three hit in a no-hitter and two more socked in a 16-0 whitewashing of the SEC’s alleged best overall team, Florida. Spanberger no doubt became the MVP and the talk of the tournament for what Pantera would’ve 10

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

properly characterized as a “vulgar display of power” — his clobbering of baseballs was so prodigious that it BEAU yielded comically WILCOX profane utterances from myself and others who were tuned in. But make no mistake, Cole’s quiet resurgence at the top of the order boosts Spanberger’s stock, too, and it does not hurt that Dominic Fletcher and Jax Biggers are picking up the back end of the offense, either. Where this team will thrive in a regional that is unusually clogged with teams within a half-day drive of Fayetteville (No. 4 Oral Roberts will face the host Razorbacks first after Missouri State and Oklahoma State square off) is with its pitchers, though. Dominic Taccolini, mercurial as ever, closed out the LSU game with three of his best innings of work all season and he looks fresh again, capable of being long relief or a spot starter if the team slips into the loser’s bracket. Maybe the most encouraging performance of the whole week, though, was lefty Kacey Murphy’s lengthy and dominating turn against the Gators. Granted, Florida found itself dead almost out of the gate, giving up eight runs in the first two innings, so Murphy pitched without pressure the entire afternoon. But he was brilliant nonetheless, evoking memories of his near no-hitter against Memphis at Dickey-Stephens Park a few weeks ago. Kevin Kopps also gave three-plus good innings in the loss to LSU, and even Josh Alberius righted some of his earlier wrongs with quality relief. For all the talk of the Hogs’ offensive blowout in Hoover — their three wins carried the combined margin of 37-2 — the real star of the weekend was a beleaguered staff that frankly looked spent as it toiled down the stretch. But Blaine Knight and Trevor Stephan both did their dependable best to keep the Hogs in this essentially meaningless tournament longer than they might have figured after collapsing in the opener against Mississippi State. There was a historic first, the combined no-hitter of Auburn, and then two more commanding starting efforts behind that. The bullpen still had its nagging issues, but on the whole, playing five games in four days against topcaliber hitters and yielding only 10 runs across them all is damned impressive.

11200 W. Markham 501-223-3120 www.colonialwineshop.com facebook.com/colonialwines

THE OBSERVER NOTES ON THE PASSING SCENE

Commencement

o assembled friends, family, professors and students, The Observer bids you welcome. It is that time of year again, time to pregame with a little Kentucky sippin’ whiskey and waddle to the lectern for this, our 15th commencement address. God save the Queen, viva la France, Make America Graft Again and so forth, and so on. Our dear, dear graduates: It is good to see you there in your mortarboards and spiffy new gowns, smiling with anticipation or sleeping off the toll of years as Your Distinguished Speaker rambles on. We do hope you listen. It’s a tough old world out there, and what good is language if not for passing on advice that might keep your ass out of cracks we plunged into once? Own a convertible at least once in your life, even if you have to hock stuff to get one. Yes, they’re loud, and cold in the winter even with the top up, and you’ll never get used to showing up places wind-burnt with your hair looking like you commuted there through the wind tunnel at Lockheed-Martin. But the summer nights, my sweet. The summer nights way out past where the city lights stop, top down, gliding along under the moonlight, radio on with no particular place to go. They write songs about that stuff. When ending a relationship, resist the urge to take the 51st way to leave your lover, which is what the kids call “ghosting.” For all those old farts long since past your meet-market expiration date, it’s the practice of making the person you’re dating think everything is going right fine until the point you cut off all contact. No texts, no calls, no hastily addressed letters saying that you’ve been kidnapped by Somali pirates or decided to take that job in Tonga. Just silence. While The Observer has never experienced that our ownself, we can’t quite think of something more cowardly or terrible. So be an adult. Pick a public place, and buy two cups of coffee in which the cream swirls like trouble. Hover there in the awful, uncomfortable gulf

of silence that settles about the salt and pepper shaker between you before you fill it with the truth: That sometimes the only way forward is a fork in the road. When cooking hot dogs in boiling water, let those suckers plump, then — and you’re going to think Your Old Pal crazy here — put them on buns, then put the assembled dogs back in the bun bag, tie it shut, and let ’em sit for five minutes. Steams the bread with that wiener water, brothers and sisters, and there’s no finer taste outside the ballpark. Above all — and this is a dead horse The Observer has beaten for many a year now — understand that your choices don’t have to be everybody else’s choices and vice versa. Let the Glocksniffers have their guns, as long as they don’t shoot up the joint. Let those in need of an abortion get one, because nobody makes that choice for fun. Let the religious folk worship whoever or whatever they like, up to the point they get legislative about it. Let the atheists make their own heaven or hell right here on earth. Let the prudes do it dull with the lights off. Let the hedonists get up to it with consenting adults all the livelong day. Until somebody puts a hand on you, your happiness or your goodies, let and let and let some more. If it’s truly a sin, God will handle it without your assistance, thanks. Tolerance of others and their decisions, as long as those decisions don’t physically harm you personally, is at the heart of not being a dick. And another thing: No, it doesn’t count if you believe somebody is “harming the fabric of society.” There’s no such thing. Just the brackish soup of your own bugaboos and prejudices. Don’t. Be. A. Dick. Well, that’s it, graduates. Rock bottom of the advice barrel. Go forth and multiply, or not. Be happy. Take your vitamins. Get outside once in a while and don’t forget to breathe when the pain comes. Life is damn short, and there’s truly no time to waste. Dearest class of 2017, you are dismissed.

5/31– 6/

6/17

SCOTCH – WHISKEY – VODKA – TEQUILA Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch Everyday $82.99 $69.97 Jack Daniel’s Black Label Tennessee Whiskey Everyday $46.99 $39.98

Toso Brut Sparkling Wine Everyday $9.99 $7.98

Reyka Icelandic Vodka Everyday $42.99 $34.98

Sauza Hornitos Plata, Reposado & Añejo Tequila Everyday $42.99 $34.98

CONNOISSEUR SELECTION (750 mL) Glenmorangie Original Single Malt Scotch Everyday $43.99 $29.98 Woodford Reserve Bourbon & Rye Whiskey Everyday $37.99 $29.98 Aviator Gin Everyday $28.99 $23.98

Mas Carlot Costieres de Nimes 2016 Rosé Everyday $10.99 $8.98

Raptor Ridge 205 Oregon Grüner Veltliner Everyday $18.99 $14.98 La Caña 2014 Albariño Everyday $18.99 $14.98

Pascal Jolivet 2014 ‘Attitude’ Sauvignon Blanc $14.98 Everyday $18.99

642 Maremma 2013 Toscana Red Everyday $19.99 $15.98

Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur Everyday $33.99 $21.98

3 LITER WINE SELECTION Black Box All Varieties Everyday $21.99 $16.98

Rodney Strong 2015 Charlotte’s Home Sauvignon Blanc Everyday $16.99 $12.97

BEST LIQUOR STORE

3FOR THURSDAY – Purchase 3 or more of any 750ml spirits, receive 15% off *unless otherwise discounted or on sale.

SAVE THE DATE! DINNER

JUNE 14TH, 2017 Arkansas Times Best Chef, Chris McMillen will prepare a dinner to please any palate.

centralarkansastickets.com

1920 N. Grant St. | 501.663.5951 www.boulevardbread.com

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

Arkansas Reporter

THE

Abuse again at juvenile lockup A guard was fired after choking a child at the Alexander Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center. It’s the latest in a long history of mistreatment at the facility. BY DAVID RAMSEY ARKANSAS NONPROFIT NEWS NETWORK

fter years of scandal and allegations of mistreatment of juveniles, the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center (AJATC), a 100-bed juvenile lockup facility near Alexander, was handed over last summer to a new contractor promising a fresh start. Michael Cantrell, executive director of the southeastern region for Rite of Passage, the Nevada-based for-profit company that was awarded a $34 million contract by the state in 2016, said at the time that the company was committed to “transform a harder facility into a softer facility.” However, Amy Lafont, an attorney representing several families with children locked up at the facility, said that the AJATC continues to take an overly punitive approach, which she described as “a culture of casual violence.” Lafont recently acquired a video captured by the facility’s cameras of an incident last December in which a guard jumped over a table, grabbed a 15-year-old, and pushed him against the wall with his hand around his throat. The child, who is Lafont’s client, did not appear in the video to be acting in a way that could be construed as endangering himself or others. The guard, Darrell Woods, whose official job title was group living counselor, was fired. The Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division (CADC) investigated the incident and determined in January that Woods’ actions constituted child maltreatment and that Woods’ name should be placed on the Arkansas Child Maltreatment Central Registry. The juvenile and his family say he attempted to notify staff about what 12

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

happened and had visible bruising on his neck, but no action was taken until two days after the incident. Rite of Passage disputes both of these claims, arguing that it was an isolated incident of an individual guard failing to follow protocol and that Rite of Passage followed the proper procedure in notifying the State Police once it learned of the allegation. Department of Human Services spokeswoman Amy Webb declined to comment, saying the agency was prohibited by law from answering questions about any specific child maltreatment investigations. A true finding of abuse by CACD at a facility overseen by DHS’ Division of Youth Services must be reported to DYS, and presumably was in this case. As a matter of general policy, Webb said, in such a scenario, “DYS also conducts its own review of an incident and takes any follow-up action necessary.” The AJATC is one of seven juvenile lockup facilities, known as treatment centers, overseen by DYS. In total, 305 youths are housed at these facilities (there are also 14 county-level lockup facilities, where youths are taken upon arrest). They are called treatment centers because they are intended to be therapeutic and rehabilitative rather than punitive, and they are required to provide education that meets state standards and allows youths to continue on a path to graduation from high school. Before Rite of Passage took control last year, the Alexander facility had a long history of trouble. In 2003, the facility was placed under federal court supervision after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found various vio-

lations of constitutional rights, including unsafe conditions, inadequate education and forced participation in religious activities. In 2007, while still under court supervision, an internal state investigation found that the lockup’s staffers were improperly drugging children without their consent to control their behavior. That scandal led DYS to replace then-contractor Cornell Interventions with a new company, G4S (both are forprofit corporations), but more controversy came in 2014. The attorney general found that DYS was illegally taking DNA samples from hundreds of youths at the AJATC. The Arkansas DemocratGazette reported that the number of violent incidents at the facility had nearly doubled after it was released from federal supervision. Multiple staffers were fired or resigned after accusations of assaulting youths. An investigation by the Disability Rights Center of Arkansas also found systemic problems at the facility, including accusations that staff members had used candy to bribe youths to fight each other. Some juvenile justice advocates argued that the AJATC should be shut down. Paul Kelly, a longtime senior policy analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families who retired this month, said research strongly suggests that large institutional settings like the AJATC are harmful rather than rehabilitative for most children. “All of the youth justice advocates across the country and all of the states around us are saying that these are not good places for kids to be,” he said. He said it was of particular concern when such institutions were run by a private, for-profit company. For years, Kelly said, Arkansas has systematically overinvested in institutions like the AJATC and underinvested in community-based alternatives. Arkansas Advocates estimates that the state has fewer than 50 youths who need to be confined in a heavily secured lockup facility like the AJATC. (Note: Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families has contributed funding to the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network for reporting on juvenile justice issues.) The state made another major investment in the juvenile center in 2016, when it awarded the three-year contract to Rite of Passage, which won the bid over G4S despite a higher

price tag. During a legislative review of the contract, Rite of Passage, which runs more than 40 other programs for troubled youths in 16 states, including similar facilities for juvenile offenders, was asked about problems that have occurred in some of its facilities. A staffer in Colorado in 2014 and

VIDEO OF DECEMBER INCIDENT: Guard Darrell Woods is captured going after an inmate at the Alexander lockup. Woods was fired.

another in Texas in 2016 were charged with offenses related to sexual contact with youths in custody. Multiple investigations of a facility in Nevada found poor conditions and rights violations, and riots broke out in December 2015, leading to a fire and the escape of 10 juveniles. Rite of Passage officials said that these were isolated incidents and that occasional problems were inevitable when dealing with this population.

*** The incident at the AJATC that led Rite of Passage to terminate Woods’ employment took place on Dec. 1, in Building 19 — a building used for initial assessment when youths first arrive as inmates and also as a space to remove inmates from the general programming if they do not behave. Sometimes, youths are confined in small individual cells. “It’s a last resort,” Cantrell said. “It’s a space where kids can get themselves together and the ultimate goal is getting them back into normal programming as

supervisor. Woods’ statement in Rite of Passage’s own internal investigation doesn’t mention the request to see the shift supervisor; it simply states that Jason continually refused to go back to his cell. At some point during this dispute, Woods began to chase Jason around the room. According to Jason, he flicked a playing card and Woods threw a mesh bag at him. According to Woods’ account, it was Jason who threw the mesh bag, but on the video it appears that Woods threw it. Eventually, Woods jumped over the

quickly as possible.” According to Rite of Passage, Jason — his name has been changed to protect his anonymity — was sent to Building 19 on Dec. 1 because he had acted up in class and then again in the in-schoolsuspension classroom. The altercation with Woods took place in an open space in Building 19 after Jason had been briefly let out of his cell. According to Jason’s account, he was waiting for word from the shift supervisor about where he was supposed to go next, but Woods declined to contact the supervisor and ordered Jason to go to his cell. Jason said he wouldn’t go to his cell until he heard from the shift

table and grabbed Jason. With his hand around Jason’s throat, he slammed him against the wall, holding him in this position for several seconds. “He was choking me,” Jason said in an interview with ANNN conducted at the juvenile center in March. “He said, ‘If I say, “You gonna go in your room,” you gonna go in your room.’ I was just trying to breathe. I was thinking in my head, I was like, ‘Dang, I hope he don’t kill me.’ If he would’ve kept choking me for about 10 more seconds, I know I would’ve passed out.” In his written statement to Rite of Passage’s internal investigator, Woods said that when Jason refused to go back

to his room, he “end[ed] up grabbing him against the wall and asking him several times to go back to his room” and then “escort[ed] student … back to his room.” According to Jason, after the incident, Woods came to his cell and asked him whether he wanted candy, cookies or the use of his phone in an attempt to keep Jason from telling anyone about what happened. Jason said that he had severe bruising on his neck from the altercation. He said that he told a staff member about what happened, but no action was taken. He also said that he asked to file a grievance form but was never provided the necessary paperwork by Rite of Passage staff. According to Rite of Passage, Jason did not immediately tell any staff member and there was no visible bruising. All employees at a juvenile treatment facility are mandated reporters of child maltreatment, required by law to immediately report suspected abuse to the state’s Child Abuse Hotline. Webb, the DHS spokeswoman, said that in a hypothetical scenario in which a staffer failed to report abuse, that staffer would be immediately terminated by DYS. She added, “If there is a situation in which a youth claims a staffer failed to report allegations that a youth disclosed, DYS would need to be notified by the youth, the youth’s family, or the youth’s attorney so that we can try to determine whether failure to report abuse occurred.” Two days after the incident, on Dec. 3, Jason’s mother came for visitation. According to her, she could still clearly see the bruising on his neck. She became upset, and a Rite of Passage grievance officer spoke with Jason and his mother and took the complaint alleging that Woods had choked Jason. At this point, Rite of Passage called the Child Abuse Hotline, which triggered the CACD investigation. Rite of Passage also began its own internal investigation into the incident, during which it took the statement from Woods. No written statement was taken from Jason, although the internal investigator did speak to him. Rite of Passage disputes certain aspects of Jason’s account. “The kid didn’t say anything until he talked to his mother on Dec. 3,” Cantrell said. He said it was “flat-out incorrect” that Jason had attempted to inform a staffer before then. Meanwhile, he noted that once Rite of Passage took the grievance complaint and began its own incident report, a shift supervisor inspected Jason on the afternoon of Dec. 3 and concluded that he “does not have any marks on him.”

“There were no marks on this kid. There were no bruises. There was none of that,” Cantrell said. Jason’s mother, however, said that the bruises were still visible when she visited on Dec. 3 and that both she and another family member visiting saw the markings on his neck. “They were clearly there,” she said. “I saw them with my own two eyes.” The Rite of Passage incident report created after the facility’s internal investigation includes paperwork stating that there were no markings, but it is signed by the shift supervisor, not a medical professional. Cantrell said staff members sometimes do an initial “mark sheet,” but protocol would call for a nurse on site to also examine the child after an accusation of maltreatment. He said that a nurse examined Jason on Sunday, Dec. 4, and completed a mark sheet stating there were no visible marks. The incident report did not include any record of this, but Rite of Passage later provided the nurse’s mark sheet as part of a response to a Freedom of Information Act request. “If they’re trying to challenge whether or not it was serious because of whether or not he had neck bruises two days later from being choked by an adult, that’s a diversionary argument,” said Lafont, the attorney who, along with attorney Lawrence Walker, represents Jason’s family. “The video speaks for the assault that was committed on this kid. We shouldn’t be minimizing that.” The video review in the Rite of Passage incident report described the moment that Jason characterized as Woods choking him as follows: “GLC Woods slides over a table and approaches [Jason]. GLC Woods has him against the wall briefly then escorts him into his room.” Lafont said the Rite of Passage incident report was biased and inaccurate. “It’s a fraudulent document,” she said. “It doesn’t depict what’s on the video and it creates a paper record that is a misrepresentation of what happened. It’s evidence of malfeasance.” Lafont said it was disturbing that the video review referred to a physical interaction that happened earlier in the afternoon in terms of “horse playing”: “Woods has [Jason] up against a wall. Woods and [Jason] are horse playing.” This earlier physical interaction was also “not appropriate — he was not following protocol,” Cantrell said. Cantrell’s interpretation of the severity of the event differs from Lafont’s. “If you look at the video, they were joking, CONTINUED ON PAGE 39 arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

Riverfest turns

Party with Wiz Khalifa, Morris Day and The Time, Cold War Kids and more. BY JIM HARRIS, GLEN HOOKS, STEPHEN KOCH, STEPHANIE SMITTLE, HEATHER STEADHAM AND JAMES SZENHER

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSASâ&#x20AC;&#x2C6;TIMES

Dazz and Brie

n July 1978, “Grease” was No. 1 at the box office, where it would stay until mid-October. Farrah Fawcett was on the cover of “Vogue.” The world’s first test-tube baby was born in Manchester, U.K. Here on the homefront, the Junior League of Little Rock founded the Summer Arts Festival, renamed the Riverfest Arts and Music Festival the following year. The festival has evolved over its 40 years, drawing artists like B.B. King, James Brown, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Al Green, The B-52’s. Its identity has leaned at times toward the nostalgic, other times toward the new. In 2008, the festival introduced a local focus, dedicating a tent to Arkansas-only talent. In 2016, it split into two parts: April Springfest for family-focused activities and a newly music-minded Riverfest. This year, Riverfest Executive Director DeAnna Korte says, organizers will honor that history — and the cultural and economic benefits it’s afforded to Central Arkansas — with a Sunday celebration. “Those who attended Riverfest in the

Wiz Khalifa

early years will feel a sense of nostalgia with Sunday’s events,” Korte said. The official 40th anniversary party for the festival, which kicks off Friday, June 2, starts at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 4, and it’s for everyone; even those without tickets to the full weekend can gain admission to the celebration for $5 (children 10 and under are free). Festivities include the fireworks display at 9 p.m., stick pony races, a PK Grill Steak Cook-Off, a petting zoo from Heifer International, a celebrity dunking booth, a cake decorating contest with professional and amateur contenders and an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records’ record for the most sparklers lit at one time. That Sunday-only ticket also gets you in for the last round of musical performances, including Morris Day and The Time, Amasa Hines, Andy Frasco & The U.N., Here Come the Mummies, The Hip Abduction, Big Piph & Tomorrow Maybe, DeFrance, Brother Moses, Vintage Pistol and more. Riverfest’s sponsors are responsible, of course, for otherwise-familiar

spots being suddenly rebranded with names like “Frio Light” and “Sweetwater,” but they’re also offering some cool little extras for Riverfest patrons: Verizon will have a charging station for all sorts of mobile devices, regardless of what carrier they’re made for; the Clinton Presidential Center is offering a $2 discount for admission to its temporary exhibition, “Xtreme Bugs”; Arvest Bank’s booth will be home to an arcade-style basketball contest, with winners, who’ll receive $50 in “Riverbucks,” announced at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Sweet Baby Ray’s is giving away full bottles of barbecue sauce; Patron Spirits will have a Mobile Cocktail Lab on a cart, equipped with a tablet questionnaire to help you determine what type of cocktail trips your trigger; festival sponsor Oaklawn Racing & Gaming holds its annual Baggo National Championship at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on the Clinton Presidential Center lawn; and Bobby’s Bike Hike is offering free valet parking for any cyclists who bike to Riverfest. There

Dylan Scott

will be amusement park rides from Louisiana’s Lowery Carnival, a mobile video game station outfitted with seating for 20 people, performances from the Southern BMX Stunt Riders at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; and a return of the “Rock the Dock” Super Retriever Series — basically a track and field competition for dogs who like to swim. If you’re a wine or craft beer enthusiast, you can beat the crowds and attend “Flowing on the River,” Riverfest’s separately ticketed kickoff event in the River Market pavilions at 6 p.m. Thursday, $30$40. Check out riverfestarkansas.com for tickets and details, but first, here are some of our picks for acts to catch this weekend. Dylan Scott 6 p.m. Friday. Frio Light Stage, Clinton Presidential Center. From just over the Arkansas state line, in tiny Beekman, La., comes counarktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

Riverfest turns 40, cont. Cody Canada and the Departed

Amasa Hines

Tank and the Bangas

try newcomer Dylan Scott. He grew up in a place where, like so many Arkansans, his career prospects ranged from farm to paper mill to construction. His father, however, broke that mold, playing guitar on the road for the likes of Freddy Fender and Freddie Hart and coming back with whopping tales of life on the road — especially of that most magical of places, Nashville. So, inspired by his dad and Taylor Swift (no joke!), Scott moved to Nashville after graduating from high school and began the steep climb to Music City success. His debut single, “Makin’ This Boy Crazy,” was released in June 2013, and charted for 10 weeks on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, peaking at an unimpressive No. 54. But in August last year, Scott released his first full-length album (the eponymous “Dylan Scott”), and with his smooth baritone and genre-mixing rap vocals, the album debuted at No. 5 on the Top Country Albums, selling 9,000 copies in its first week. His latest single, “My Girl,” has become a viral sensation, amassing more than 29 million Spotify spins. Scott will play at Riverfest on June 2, just five days after he marries the subject of his hit. HS

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

Joan

Colt Ford Cage the Elephant

Cage the Elephant 9:30 p.m. Friday. Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Amphitheater Stage. I’m suggesting to the members of modern rock band Cage the Elephant that if they ever consider a name change for something more memorable, here’s one courtesy of Trump flack Kellyanne Conway: Bowling Green Massacre. A helluva lot more catchy that what they’ve been using for a decade, don’t you think? Timely. Appropriate, because Cage originated in Bowling Green, Ky., home of the (non) massacre. Anyway, Grammy Award-winning Cage the Elephant offers the rock headliner on Friday at the park amphitheater, opposite the country lineup scheduled for the stage at the Clinton Center. And a good alternative it is. Cage the Elephant is probably best known for radio (and internet) hits “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” from its eponymously named debut record, and “Trouble,” from the latest release, “Tell Me I’m Pretty,” a song co-written by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. There is also “Mess Around,” the first from that same album (while the album was lauded, critics thought “Mess Around”

sounded just like the Black Keys — and what a coincidence, with Auerbach producing the album). Apparently going all Black Keys in the Nashville, Tenn., studio was the right move for Cage the Elephant, as they took home the 2016 Grammy for Best Rock Album. Those three aforementioned songs nicely showcase lead singer Matt Shultz’s lyrical and vocal playfulness. He apparently carries that style to the stage as well with an energetic punk-inspired approach that fans in the pit should enjoy. You can sense the Pixies influence and more on Shultz, who relocated the group to London before its first album release. However, brother Brad Shultz on lead guitar shows other impressive rock influences and gives Cage the Elephant some separation from many of today’s current acts that all start sounding the same. Cage has a date at Bonnaroo next week; catching the band here might be a better deal all the way around. Indie rocking Grouplove makes for a nice complement leading up to Cage. JH Dazz & Brie 1:15 p.m. Saturday. Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Amphitheater Stage.

If Dazzmin “Dazz” Murry and Kabrelyn “Brie” Boyce were backed by a DJ or a dude with a computer and a synthesizer, their harmonies would still soar with infectious intertwining lines, and their versatile capability to jump across genres and styles would stand out. Lucky for us, though, they are backed by The Emotionalz, a force of their own that can lay down danceable grooves, slow jams, filthy-nasty riffs and rock the **** out whenever they feel like it. Dazz & Brie stole the show and won the title at the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase this year, and so no doubt it will be a treat to see them on a big stage outside. They describe themselves as “rock and soul,” and while that’s accurate, it still seems too small a box for Dazz & Brie. The pair is too dynamic and too expansive in their musical ambitions to really be classified. Sometimes you feel like you’re listening to smooth neo-soul, other times like riffheavy progressive rock, and still others like you just heard something on Top 40 radio that was too good to be on Top 40 radio. This “girl gang” and the ladies and gentlemen in their backing band are some of the brightest and most creative talents in Arkansas right now, and you owe it to yourself to check them out at Riverfest if for no other reason than that they will bring you a pure kind of joy. JS The Wildflower Revue 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Frio Light Stage, Clinton Presidential Center. The problem with supergroups is that rarely does the whole exceed the sum of its parts. Remember Jimmy Page’s mid’80s group The Firm? Us neither. But the balance sheets of the Wildflower Revue — Amy Garland, Mandy McBryde and

Andy Frasco and the U.N.

Justin Moore

DeFrance John Bellion

Seratones

Cindy Woolf, who has stepped into Bonnie Montgomery’s place — are well in the black. These individual stars of the Little Rock scene were inspired by Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt’s Trio, an ’80s-era supergroup that, unlike The Firm, improbably exceeded its parts. And the “peace-lovin’ outlaw trio” of the Revue share a penchant for country music that goes back beyond the Reagan era — witnessed in part by their correct spelling of “revue” — as well as more modern sounds in country and Western music. Any complaint of crass commercialism in the Wildflower Revue’s great-sounding eponymous debut album by the inclusion of covers of “Psycho Killer” and “Heart of Glass” are drowned out by the Revue’s deftness and sheer joy. Would that we all had such well-balanced spreadsheets. SK Seratones 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Amphitheater Stage. Exhibit A in the quest toward a more musicky Riverfest: Seratones. This Shreveport quartet, fronted by high school teacher A.J. Haynes, packed the White Water Tavern a year ago on the strength of its debut album, “Get Gone,” on Fat Possum Records and considerable buzz — neither of which were likely to earn the band a slot in your father’s Riverfest. Happily, soon (Saturday at 3:30 p.m., to be exact) the world will learn what the WWT knows — that Seratones pack their energetic rock ’n’ roll swagger with respect to its deepest roots in jazz and blues. SK Split Lip Rayfield 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Frio Light Stage, Clinton Presidential Center. Lord knows that two of the greatest musical concepts are “fusion” and “hard to categorize,” which is why Split Lip Rayfield is a must-see for this year’s Riverfest. This Kansas trio has spent the last two decades crafting its own brand of cowpunky thrashgrass — a rollicking mashup of banjo, mandolin, the occa-

Joy Formidable

Jack Ferrara

FARMERS MARKET LITTLE ROCK

CONWAY

T U E S D AY S

WEDNESDAYS

NORTH LITTLE ROCK THURSDAYS

BEGINNING

JUNE 6

JUNE 7

JUNE 8

9601 Baptist Health Drive

1555 Exchange Ave.

3333 Springhill Drive

7:00 A.M. TO 1:00 P.M.

10:00 A.M. TO 1:00 P.M.

F I T

S T A R T S

W I T H

F R E S H

BaptistHealthFarmersMarket.com

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

Riverfest turns 40, cont. Cold War Kids Craig Campbell

Split Lip Rayfield Wildflower Revue

sional kazoo and a one-string stand-up bass fashioned from a Mercury Marquis gas tank — and they come to Riverfest as part of a tour supporting their sixth studio record, the excellent “On My Way.” Their live shows are said to be damn near a religious experience. Expect to holler a bit. SLR are true pioneers in carving out new possibilities and territory for acoustic music

and have spread their gospel across the country for years. Think acoustic shows can’t be metal? Think punk needs electric power? Come on over beside me, Junior, and let’s take a master class in DIY and genre-stretching. I’m talking about the classic bluegrass yearnings of heartbreak and lamenting that “she don’t call at all” paired with an energy that somehow twists that pain into something strangely joyous and all too real. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this. GH

Band schedule

Friday, June 2

Saturday, June 3

Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Amphitheater Stage (First Security Amphitheater)

Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Stage (First Security Amphitheater)

6 p.m. Jon Bellion 7:30 p.m. Grouplove 9:30 p.m. Cage the Elephant

1:15 p.m. Dazz & Brie 2:15 p.m. Tank & The Bangas 3:30 p.m. Seratones 5 p.m. The Joy Formidable 6:30 p.m. Moon Taxi 8 p.m. Cold War Kids 9:30 p.m. Wiz Khalifa

Frio Light Stage (Clinton Presidential Center) 6 p.m. Dylan Scott 7:30 p.m. Colt Ford 9:30 p.m. Billy Currington

JUNE 1, 2017

Grouplove

ARKANSAS TIMES

Frio Light Stage (Clinton Presidential Center)

The Hi Morris Day

Cody Canada and The Departed 5 p.m. Saturday. Frio Light Stage, Clinton Presidential Center. Cody Canada’s been at this music deal for a while now, first fronting Cross Canadian Ragweed (which, based in Stillwater, Okla., made regular stopovers at Stickyz in the 2000s) and now leading Cody Canada and the Departed. Bassist Jeremy Plato has been with Canada for 23 years as a member of both bands. They’re so close and so un-controlling

1:15 p.m. Runaway Planet 2:30 p.m. The Wildflower Revue 3:30 p.m. Split Lip Rayfield 5 p.m. Cody Canada and The Departed 6:30 p.m. Craig Campbell 8 p.m. Cody Jinks 9:30 p.m. Justin Moore

Sunday, June 4 Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Amphitheater Stage (First Security Amphitheater) 1:15 p.m. Jack Ferrara

about band things, they put an album last year ironically titled “Jeremy Plato and the Departed,” where Plato took the lead on vocals and Canada and the rest of the band (and some top-talent imports) supported him a bunch of old country covers. Real, tried-and-true Texas-style country and country rock is the sound you’ll get from the Departed late Sunday afternoon, slap-dab in the middle

2:15 p.m. Joan 3:15 p.m. Brother Moses 4:30 p.m. Big Piph & Tomorrow Maybe 5:45 p.m. Here Come the Mummies 7:30 p.m. Amasa Hines

Frio Light Stage (Clinton Presidential Center) 1:15 p.m. Vintage Pistol 2:45 p.m. DeFrance 4:15 p.m. The Hip Abduction 5:30 p.m. Andy Frasco & The U.N. 7:15 p.m. Morris Day and the Time

Big Piph

The Hip Abduction

Moon Taxi

Here Come The Mummies

of a country — and bluegrass-influenced full day of music in front of the Clinton Center and culminating with Arkansas favorite son Justin Moore from Poyen. They’re typically linked on “sounds a lot like” sites with ZZ Top, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, and Texas red dirt-stylist Wade Bowen, who is Canada’s brother-in-law. Canada’s latest work has marked a return to his Cross Canadian songwriting roots, but let’s hope such circa 2011 Departed favorites as “Ballad of Rosalie” are still on his set list. Either way, he’s a proven performer worth showing up for, even more than for the later headliners or the fireworks. JH Cold War Kids 8 p.m. Saturday. Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Amphitheater Stage. Welcome to Riverfest, you two. Will you be having the indie? Excellent choice! The chef’s special tonight is Cold War Kids. We take choice, Grade A indie rock, lovingly prepare it with pulsating beats, soaring melodies and sing-along choruses, and serve it sizzling. The special comes with sides of hand claps and soulful backup vocals. The restaurant shtick aside, California-based Cold War Kids have

been hovering on the edge of breaking out of the alternative charts into mainstream success for far too long. Over the years, the CWK lineup has changed and absorbed two members of indie favorites Modest Mouse, but the band has retained its own signature sound that gets feet moving and hands waving in the air. The band is promoting its brand-new album, the anthemic and dance floor friendly “L.A. Divine” on Capitol Records. Last month, Cold War Kids joined with British singer Bishop Briggs and released a spare, stripped-down cover of Rihanna’s hit track “Love On The Brain” that’s enjoying a fair amount of buzz. Bottom line: If you’re scanning the Riverfest menu in search of your indie dance party, order up a heapin’ helpin’ of Cold War Kids. They just might end up being your new favorite dish. GH Wiz Khalifa 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Arkansas Federal Credit Union/Sweetwater Amphitheater Stage. When you ask Little Rock seventhgraders what they know about Wiz Khalifa (as I felt compelled to do with the middle schoolers I teach), they tell you one of two things: He has a son with model Amber Rose and he

Cody Jinks

smokes a lot of weed. They are right on both counts, and both facts have featured prominently in Khalifa’s music. In his most recent studio album, “Khalifa,” the rapper’s son cameos on the track “Zoney.” You can’t really say pot cameos anywhere because, well, it’s referred to constantly in his music. Even Khalifa’s latest — which fans hope will drop this year — is tentatively called “Rolling Papers 2,” a follow-up to the 2011 “Rolling Papers.” But not all of his music is about pot: Khalifa’s breakout “Black and Yellow,” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with its rolling beat and sparse mix, was about his Dodge Challenger (in which he smokes pot), painted the iconic colors of his Pittsburgh hometown’s football team. Some may say he’s gone too pop (“Say Yeah” grooves over an A-Ha-inspired beat based on its timeless “Take On Me”), but those in the Taylor Gang (his fan base, named after the Converse shoes he always wears), will be lining up to hear what Khalifa’s been smoking — I mean cooking. HS Morris Day and The Time 7:15 p.m. Sunday. Frio Light Stage, Clinton Presidential Center. If you were old enough to remember the ’80s, you probably know Mor-

ris Day and The Time and you don’t need to read this because you’ll already be there to see them. If not, let me make it clear: You cannot afford to miss Morris Day and The Time. You probably already love them and you don’t know it, because their mark is present on so much pop and R&B today. It’s impossible to talk about Morris Day and The Time without talking about Prince. The Purple One more or less engineered the band, picking and choosing some of the best R&B players in Minneapolis to assist him in his vision of going worldwide with his alchemical concoction of funk, R&B, rock, psychedelia, etc. Along with helping spread the Purple Gospel, The Time’s Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis worked with Janet Jackson to lay the foundation for what would become the New Jack Swing sound that dominated the late ’80s/early ’90s, and produced countless other hits across pretty much all genres. All that said, watching them perform live, it’s clear the bands stands on its own. Morris Day and The Time absolutely bring it, and you can guarantee that everyone out in front of that amphitheater is going to be on his or her feet or misguidedly attempting to breakdance on the grassy slopes. JS arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

Arts Entertainment AND

BY JAMES SZENHER

‘Godspell’ brings high-flying circus to The Rep.

to fuse the two into a singular spectacle is a labor of love. “This was a life-changing show for me,” Franklin said. “I played Jesus in a performance in 10th grade. I have big emotional ties to it.” Franklin said the circus has been “respectful to the original writers, but in the beginning, [“Godspell” composer/ lyricist] Stephen Schwartz says, use your imagination, be creative.” This production changes the setting of the play to Birmingham, Ala., in 1968, adding depth to the story. “It was a time of social unrest, racial tension. As a Southerner, I think we were unkind, unloving,” Drake said. “The question I wanted to bring to audiences in 2017 is, have we learned our lesson?” Even with this setting, likely to evoke particular feelings about that time and place, Hakim Rashad McMillan (who plays Jesus) thinks the story is still transcendent: “We’re setting it in Birmingham in the ’60s, but you can take it to Rome or Sydney and it is relevant wherever you go. Everyone knows the story of Jesus, but what I do find interesting is that you can take away the spiritual aspect of him, strip him down and leave him as a man, and he gives a story of love and community that you can take just about everywhere in the world.” “Godspell” depicts a free-spirited Jesus finding his way to the John Judas Family JD PITTMAN

u-rry, Hu-rry, Hu-rry! Step right up, Step right up! This month, the Arkansas Repertory Theatre is transforming itself into a circus for its production of “Godspell.” In the lobby, there’ll be carnival games, themed snacks and even a kangaroo for opening night. The Rep’s collaboration with 2 Ring Circus lifts the musical off the ground and transforms it into a high-flying extravaganza with added weight and unifying elements to the story. Regular Rep-goers might remember 2 Ring Circus as the folks behind the incredible aerial elements that took audiences “under the sea” for the theater’s production of “The Little Mermaid” in 2015. This time, the circus collaborated with director Donna Drake (who directed The Rep’s production of “Mary Poppins” in 2015) to reimagine and breathe new life into “Godspell.” Joshua Dean (2 Ring Circus’ White Clown and choreographer) explained: “We started with the original idea of clowns telling the parables and wanted to add more circus elements, like aerialists and acrobats. Ben [Franklin, who is Hula Hooper and choreographer] and I did the first draft, then Donna went through and added a lot of heart and emotional connectivity.” Dean and Franklin both started out in musical theater and found their way into the circus, so their work with Drake

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

A&E NEWS 8016 Faulkner Lake Road, North Little Rock, AR 72117) to support Aaron Reddin’s work with the homeless community in Central Arkansas. IN AN EFFORT to increase summer ridership on the Rock Region Metro streetcar, trolley rides will be free for the months of June, July and August. For trolley routes and schedules, visit rrmetro.org/services/streetcar or download the free METROtrack app for iPhone and Android devices. THE DELTA REGIONAL Authority announced this week that it will partner

with ArtPlace America, the Rural Policy Research Institute, the National Association of Counties, the National Association of Development Organizations, Springboard for the Arts and others to contribute nearly $460,000 to the Delta Creative Placemaking Initiative, an effort to spur economic growth through seed investments in the Delta’s arts and culture sectors. Effective immediately, local government entities, in partnership with at least one nonprofit organization, can view grant criteria and give notice of their intent to apply for grants of up to $30,000 at dra.gov/creativeplacemaking.

larly the puppet show from the Bearded Lady, played by Aymee Garcia, who has done puppeteering work for PBS and Nickelodeon TV shows. “We’ve really made strides to give people something that everyone can get behind,” Franklin said. “If you loved the original, hopefully you’ll love this even more.” Cunio summed things up: “It’s Cirque du Soleil meets Barnum & Bailey set to a classic rock soundtrack. It’s a fucking spectacle. Whether you care about musical theater or the Bible, there’s never a moment when you’re not popping your eyes.” “Godspell” opens Friday, June 2, with circus-themed activities beginning at 6 p.m. and an 8 p.m. curtain time. (At press time, The Rep said it still has a few tickets left for opening night if you want to see that kangaroo.) The show runs through Sunday, June 25. Sign Interpreter Night is Wednesday, June 14. Tickets and more info are available at therep.org.

A REIMAGINED LOOK AT A CLASSIC MUSICAL

Sponsored By

Produced By

Remmel T. Dickinson

JD PITTMAN

Book by John Michael Tebelak | Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz Conceived and Originally Directed by John Michael Tebelak Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew Directed by Donna Drake | Created in partnership with 2 Ring Circus ARKANSAS REPERTORY THEATRE

MAY 31 — JUNE 25

(501) 378-0405 | TheRep.org Follow Rock Candy on Twitter: @RockCandies

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

Joshua Dean (White Clown) in The Rep’s production of Godspell. Photo by John David PIttman.

Circus, down on its luck and on the verge of folding. Judas is played by Michael Cunio, who has gained some national attention for his singing abilities, working with The Roots, Postmodern Jukebox and others. He reassured skeptics who might not have been fans of the original: “A lot of the time, everyone was just sort of jumping into a new game and you felt like ‘what are all these hippies doing?’ The changes in this show make the story much more engaging.” “Godspell” also brings back to The Rep Amy Jo Jackson (Fortune Teller), who played Ursula in “The Little Mermaid.” “The Fortune Teller is earthbound, but she is the connection to the spiritual world,” Jackson said. “As the show begins, everyone is very dispirited and downtrodden. I’m there to infuse everyone with philosophical thought, spiritual awakening and a readiness to receive what’s coming.” Jackson also noted that the show brings a healthy dose of levity and humor through the antics of the circus performers, particu-

bet the end goal was to lift people up in the process, whether through education, enlightenment, employment, providing a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on, or just by being there to listen or to make us laugh. ... . Dotty was not afraid to voice her opinion, which, while it may have either offended or endeared her to people, that was her way.” There will be a remembrance event from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 2, at the White Water Tavern. In lieu of flowers, which Oliver reportedly hated to see cut, the family requests that any donations in her honor be made to The Van (online at theoneinc.org or by check to The Van,

JD PITTMAN

WE NOTE THE passing of Dotty Oliver — former editor of the Little Rock Free Press, environmental activist and author of “Mistress of the Misunderstood,” a collection of her writings that includes essays like “Faith-Based Sadomasochism” and “What If Women Hadn’t Worn Earth Shoes?” Oliver passed away Monday, May 29, from complications due to breast cancer. Her sister, Phyllis Oliver Carr, notes Oliver’s advocacy and character in a statement of memorial provided to us. “Dotty lived a fascinating life that carried her on many adventures. But no matter what she was involved with at any given time, you can

TO-DO

THE

LIST

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK AND STEPHANIE SMITTLE

GLASS ON GRASS: Dale Chihuly’s work is on view in the north forest through November at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

SATURDAY 6/3

‘CHIHULY IN THE GALLERY AND IN THE FOREST’

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville. $20.

You know the work of glass artist Dale Chihuly so well you don’t need a description. You’ve seen his vessels, chandeliers, plant forms, his spiky red reeds in front of the Clinton Presidential Center, his drawings and tunnel of seaforms at the Arkansas Arts Center. But you haven’t seen the

master’s work on the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, or in its temporary galleries, until now. Tina Oldknow, the former curator of modern glass at the Corning Museum of Glass, will give a free talk on Chihuly’s work at 7 p.m. Friday, June 2, the evening before the opening. The talk requires a ticket, which you can reserve online at crystalbridges.org. (The show is ticketed, free only to members.) On Saturday night, frenetic band Andy Frasco

and the U.N. and Fayetteville’s Vintage Pistol will kick off the museum’s Chihuly Saturday Nights music series with performances from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Guided tours of “Chihuly: In the Forest” will be held at 4 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays and 15 minutes before sunset on Fridays. On June 4, ceramic artist Linda Lopez will offer a basic hand-building workshop ($65, $52 members); you can register for that online as well. LNP

FRIDAY 6/2

WARD DAVIS

9 p.m. Revolution Room. $15.

Sometimes, the big break a musician is looking for comes around just as he or she has gotten sick of looking for it. Monticello native Ward Davis, the author of a lament about the Nashville grind called 22

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

“15 Years in a 10 Year Town,” talked about his time in Music City with PBS last year. “I didn’t have the success that I wanted,” he said. “I couldn’t put my name next to anything I was really, really proud of. It was a little demoralizing.” The wait was worth it, though. In 2015, Davis got Follow us on Instagram: ArkTimes

word that Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard wanted to record his tune “Unfair Weather Friend” for “Django and Jimmie,” a duet album that turned out to be one of Haggard’s last projects. A few joints-with-Willie later, Davis is on tour with writing cohort Cody Jinks, with

whom he wrote the title track for Jinks’ “I’m Not the Devil,” one of Rolling Stones’ Best Country Albums of 2016. Jinks will be around the corner performing at Riverfest the next evening, so if you like what you hear from Davis, you know where to be Saturday night. SS

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 6/1

SATURDAY 6/3

BACKYARD CHICKENS 101

10:30 a.m. Central Arkansas Library System’s Oley Rooker Library, 11 Otter Creek Court. Free.

A MARRIAGE, A MOVEMENT: Kimberly Guerrero (“Longmire”) and Charlie Soap (“House of Cards”) star in “The Cherokee Word for Water,” screened this weekend at the Museum of Native American History as part of the Native American Cultural Symposium and Outdoor Film Series.

SATURDAY 6/3

FRIDAY 6/2-SUNDAY 6/4

NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL SYMPOSIUM

9 a.m. Museum of Native American History, Bentonville. Free.

Lots of stuff happened on American soil before Columbus showed up on the scene, and the staff at Bentonville’s Museum of Native American History (MONAH) want you and me to know about it. To that end, the museum debuts its Native American Cultural Symposium and Outdoor Film Series, a collection of readings, concerts and films featuring the descendants of people who shaped Native American art, history and languages. A panel discussion at 7 p.m. Friday is titled “The Wisdom of Black Elk’s Reunification Prophecies and Environmental Awareness,” and features panelists Bobby Bridger, whose ballad “Lakota” depicts a 1931 conversation between poet John Neihardt and Lakota holy man Black Elk; J.R. Mathews, cofounder of the American Indian Theater Company and the youngest tribal chairman in the history of Oklahoma’s Quapaw Tribe; Joseph Marshall III, the author of “The Journey of Crazy Horse: The Lakota History”; and others. Saturday, there is a series of readings in the museum’s Great Room: children’s storytime, 10:30 a.m.; a performance from Gayle Ross, a direct descendant of Cherokee Chief John Ross, 6:30 p.m.; and the first of a two-part “Filmmaking Boot Camp with Tribal TV,” in which workshop

Everyone from Moss Mountain lifestyle mogul P. Allen Smith to Rose City tattoo lord Scott Diffie has chickens these days, and the Central Arkansas Library System plans on helping the rest of us get a little more hip on how to keep them around — and, you know, alive. There’s no registration required, and live chickens will be available for viewing (and petting), so you can get a sense of what life might be like with some downy, feathered company in the backyard. SS

attendees will create and film a mini-short on their tablets or phones over the course of the weekend, 4 p.m. On Saturday evening, the 2013 film “The Cherokee Word for Water,” which tells the story of how a rural Oklahoma Cherokee community built over 16 miles of pipeline to provide water to residents with no indoor plumbing, will be screened. On Sunday evening, Chef Justus Moll of River Grille Steakhouse serves “grilled chicken, bison fry bread, three sisters succotash, sweet potato hash” and more for “Prairie to Table Dining,” a benefit for Downtown Bentonville Inc., $37-$42. Get tickets to that soiree at dbi.ticketspice. com/farm-to-table and check out the full symposium schedule at monah.us/nacs. html or on MONAH’s Facebook page. You can register by calling 479-273-2456, and if you’re just looking to spend Saturday at the symposium, a shuttle will run between The Walmart Museum and MONAH from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. If you can’t make it this weekend but plan to be in the Northwest Arkansas area later in June, catch one of the symposium’s “Dusk Outdoor Films,” screened at dusk on the museum lawn: See “Playground of the Native Son,” the tale of the Hominy Indians football team that, in 1927, famously took on the New York Giants, on June 10, and “She Sings to the Stars,” Jennifer Corcoran’s 2015 film about a Native Pueblo grandmother and a stranded magician, on June 17. SS

CELEBRATE ARKANSAS STATEHOOD

1-6 p.m., Old State House Museum. Free.

Here’s your chance to be a tavern keeper, or maybe a gambler, early 19th centurystyle: The Old State House will celebrate the 181st anniversary of Arkansas’s statehood with a living history event featuring role-playing on the lawn. The theme is “Work and Play,” and the event promises that families will leave “with a greater understanding of trades and industries, wages and forms of entertainment that were available in Arkansas.” The Territory of Arkansaw became a state on June 15, 1836; the population then was around 50,000. They included lawyers, performers, speculators and skilled craftsmen, and you can play those roles along with the living history performers. Visitors will get to gamble, shop, watch military drills and play period games. There will also be a horse race (we’ll be interested to see how they’ll pull that off there on Markham Street) and a puppet show. LNP

R&B crooner Maxwell comes back to town with Ledisi and Leela James, 7:30 p.m., Verizon Arena, $34-$134. Nashville’s Humming House brings its energetic, mandolin-driven pop to Stickyz Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8 p.m., $10-$12. Buh Jones holds down the happy hour at Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m., free, followed by a Sublime tribute from Lou Dog, 9 p.m., $5. Hot Springs’ Movies in the Park summer series screens Disney’s “Moana” at the Hot Springs Farmers Market, sundown, 121 Orange St., free. Boston comedian Warren B. Hall brings his stand-up to The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., $8-$12. Drop by the Kroger at 2800 Kavanaugh in Hillcrest to meet the artists who painted the city’s storm drains for Drain Smart Little Rock, 6 p.m. Join the cast and crew of The Rep’s “Godspell” for a discussion on the theater’s interpretation of the musical, noon, Ron Robinson Theater, free.

FRIDAY 6/2 The Museum of Discovery opens “Human Plus,” an interactive show about humans and technology, $10 for ages 13 and up, $8 ages 1-12, free to members. Ginsu Wives cast their lusty, dystopian spell on the back room at Vino’s with ASS, 9 p.m., $7. Lance Daniels performs for the happy hour crowd at Cajun’s, 5:30 p.m., free, followed by Just Sayin’, 9 p.m., $5. Moxie performs its party mix at West End Smokehouse & Tavern, 9 p.m., $7. The Funk Donors take the stage at King’s Live Music in Conway, 8:30 p.m., $5. The Kris Lager Band brings its sax-forward boogie to Four Quarter Bar in Argenta, 10 p.m. Ahead of his appearance at Riverfest, Austin-based Arkansas native Jack Ferrara gives a performance at South on Main, joined by Stephen Neeper and The Wild Hearts, 9 p.m., $10. The Big Dam Horns boogie at Oaklawn’s Silks Bar & Grill, Hot Springs, 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., free. Strange Brue takes the stage at Thirst N’ Howl, 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., $5. Buh Jones plays for the happy hour crowd at E.J. Eats & Drinks, 6 p.m., free. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s “Sandwiching in History” tour explores the Carmelite Convent at 7201 W. 32nd St., noon, free. The Rev Room hosts an EDM after-party for Riverfest with sets from 86 Bitz, Moondragon, Blade and Travis Gibbs, 9 p.m., free. Galleries in Hot Springs stay open 5-9 p.m. for the monthly Gallery Walk.

SATURDAY 6/3 The Old State House Museum celebrates the anniversary of Arkansas’s statehood with living history, 1-6 p.m. A Rowdy Faith performs at the Dunbar Garden for the Little Rock chapter of Moms Demand Action’s Wear Orange Picnic, a remembrance of the victims of gun violence, 10:30 a.m., free. Fayetteville-based country septet Backroad Anthem lands at Stickyz, 9:30 p.m., $10-$12. Katmandu brings tunes for the happy hour at Cajun’s, 5:30 p.m., free, followed by Dreams, a Fleetwood Mac tribute,

Follow Rock Candy on Twitter: @RockCandies

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

THE

TO-DO

LIST

BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE

SUNDAY 6/4

CONWAY PRIDE PARADE

2 p.m. Pink House, 1605 Robinson St., to Simon Park, 805 Front St., Conway. Free.

This year marks the first time the long-running Conway Pride Parade will celebrate without either of its founders. Robert Loyd and John Schenck, longtime partners who died within a year

of each other, were the chief residents of the “Pink House,” a fuchsia queer haven on Robinson Street with the words “Teach Tolerance” emblazoned out front. Loyd and Schenck founded the parade in 2004. That year, a protestor named Wesley Bono dumped several tons of cow manure on the parade route just before dawn. About a decade later, Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) posted

a Facebook rant accusing the parade of being “truly one of the most offensive public displays against Christians you will find anywhere in our state and especially offensive because they have specifically chosen Sunday to try and intimidate people who believe in the Word of God.” Nevertheless, they persisted, and parade organizers invite all to gather at the Pink House for a caravan

to Simon Park, where you can spread out a blanket, spend some cash with LGBT/ LGBT-friendly vendors and honor the memory of two men who worked hard to make sure that the lives of openly gay people living in Conway were just a tiny bit easier. SS

DIVISION BELLS: Brit Floyd melds spectacle and skepticism in its elaborate Pink Floyd tribute show, which lands at Verizon Arena Monday evening.

MONDAY 6/5

BRIT FLOYD

7:30 p.m. Verizon Arena. $43-$68.

So, the bad news is Roger Waters’ “Us vs. Them” North American tour — even with a bunch of added dates — won’t stop in Little Rock. It’ll only come as close as Tulsa. The good news is: Brit Floyd, which describes itself as “The World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Tribute

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE

9 p.m. White Water Tavern.

Ever the retreater from market friendly self-endorsement, Malcolm Holcombe told the Nashville Scene a few weeks ago that his music was “nothing new under the sun.” Most likely, he believes that in some way, but you shouldn’t. “I just got a different way of slinging baloney against the wall,” he said — and you get the sense he’s not so much lying to you from a place of false modesty as he is sparing you the details of a macabre story, saving you the grim downturn your otherwise perfectly good summer party will take if you even try putting “Yesterday’s Clothes” on the box. Like many mystics before him, Holcombe seems to be convinced he’s practicing nothing but simple observation, documenting the people, places and potholes he’s seen from his coal country upbringing JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

and several decades of hard living. The thing about observers, though, is that they stand by. Observers need to be passive and detached enough to remark on a situation without being in it, and in that way, what Holcombe does when he performs is anything but observational. His jaw hangs loose. Slobber climbs out. He teeters so far backward on his chair you get worried he’s gonna take a patch of White Water stage to the back of the noggin. He’s the product of an overactive empathy mechanism, situated in and of the desperation he sings about: “Fifty cents a bloody day/no child labor laws/Most them lil’ babies died/ disease and alcohol, disease and alcohol.” Holcombe “slings baloney against the wall” at the White Water Tavern with the aforementioned studio album in hand, his 15th such effort: “Pretty Little Troubles.” Fayetteville’s Dana Louise opens the show. SS

JOHN GELLMAN

‘CRIPPLED POINT O’ VIEW’: Malcolm Holcombe returns to the White Water Tavern with “Pretty Little Troubles,” the Weaverville, N.C., native’s 15th studio album.

WEDNESDAY 6/7

Show,” is landing here, and it’s more likely to play your fave Floyd stuff anyway. There will be tons of lasers. The band will likely project images of Kellyanne Conway and Obama alike in the more politically charged numbers, and for superfans, word has it the band will also play the entire first half of “Animals.” SS

IN BRIEF, CONT.

SACRED STEEL, REBORN: Robert Randolph & the Family Band bring some midweek revival to Revolution in support of their 2017 release, “Got Soul.”

WEDNESDAY 6/7

ROBERT RANDOLPH AND THE FAMILY BAND

8 p.m. Revolution Room. $20-$25.

Organs are expensive beasts: They require a lot of capital up front to be installed, and a steady maintenance budget to maintain. So, for many black churches in the Pentecostal tradition, especially in the 1930s, pedal steel guitar became a stand-in. The church called it “sacred steel,” and that was what Robert Randolph played in the House of God church in Orange, N.J., where he grew up. “It was all church music. It was a movement within our church and that’s all we used to do,” Randolph said on his website. He practiced — a lot — and became known in sacred steel circles as a prodigy, expertly peeling out riffs that sounded more like “Voodoo Child” than “Beulah Land,” even though he hadn’t been allowed to listen to secular music at home. Musicologists and college kids flocked to hear him play with his band

in Brooklyn or as a revered guest with acts like North Mississippi Allstars and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Randolph added strings to the instrument (13, at one time, though by the looks of his latest album cover, he’s whittled it back down to 7) and discovered the music of The Meters, Muddy Waters and The Allman Brothers. Eventually, he began developing what’s now his signature sound: a funk-driven set with his ensemble, The Family Band, with whom he released “Got Soul” earlier this year. It’s sweaty, frenetic rock with a blues underpinning, and it’s easy to imagine how it might have moved the spirits — and the feet — of parishioners within the Church of the Living God tradition who heard it in its embryonic forms. This show is standing room only, which is just as well — having spun a few tracks from Randolph’s latest, it’s difficult to fathom sitting, anyway. NYC’s Upright Man opens the show. SS

WEDNESDAY 6/7

MOVIES IN THE PARK: ‘LA LA LAND’

Sundown. First Security Amphitheater, Riverfront Park. Free.

Since the gif-worthy “Moonlight”/Best Picture debacle at the Oscars ceremony, moviegoers have flocked to check out Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” to see what all the fuss was about, or maybe just to grab a sparkly, choreographed respite

from movies with heavier subject matter. Whatever preconceived notions you walk in with, it’s a sunny choice of an opener for the always-free Movies in the Park series at the amphitheater, where guests are invited to bring coolers, chairs, kids and (leashed) dogs for a flick under the stars. Don’t be late; the movie’s opening number, “Another Day of Sun,” is a whopper of a dance number and a callback to Busby Berkeley-era filmmaking. SS

9 p.m., $5. Hot Springs National Park hosts its annual Stueart Pennington “Running of the Tubs,” a bathtub race in downtown Hot Springs’ Bathhouse Row, 9 a.m. Later in Hot Springs, country star Tracy Lawrence kicks off the summer concert series at Magic Springs’ Timberwood Amphitheater, 7 p.m., $48-$65 or free with a Magic Springs season pass. Arkansas Autism Resource & Outreach Center hosts a day of kids’ activities at the Little Rock Zoo, 10 a.m., free-$10. Fort Defiance performs at King’s Live Music, with an opening set from Samantha Campbell, 8:30 p.m., $5. CosmOcean takes the stage at Four Quarter Bar with its prog rock/funk/theater blend, 10 p.m. Andy Tanas performs at Markham Street Grill and Pub, 8:30 p.m., free. Bluegrass trio The Crumbs cap off a day of festivities for Mena’s annual Lum ’n’ Abner Festival, 8:30 p.m. Low Key Arts screens cult classic “The Room” (not to be confused with “Room”), 9 p.m., following a screening of short films from the organization’s “Inception to Projection” class, 8 p.m., free. The Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas screens “Dream Land: Little Rock’s West 9th Street,” 2 p.m. C.J. Duvall talks about his show, “Strokes of Life,” at Hearne Fine Art, 1001 Wright Ave., 2 p.m.

SUNDAY 6/4 Spooky Talk Show’s season premiere features music from The Sinners and comedy from Keaton Hobby, 1410 Parkway Drive, NLR, 8 p.m., free. St. Paul and the Broken Bones give a concert at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, 8:30 p.m., $20-$23. Canvas Community hosts “Beer & Hymns,” a singalong at Diamond Bear Brewery, 7 p.m., free. The Friends of Contemporary Craft host a silent auction and lecture by Leslie Ferrin on collecting contemporary ceramics, 5 p.m., Arkansas Arts Center.

MONDAY 6/5 The Sierra Club and Interfaith Power & Light host a screening of “From the Ashes” about the coal industry, 5:30 p.m., The Oyster Bar.

TUESDAY 6/6 Over at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, an exhibit of World War II-era war relief posters called “Work, Fight, Give: American Relief Posters of WWII” opens, 9 a.m. The Central Arkansas Library System hosts a screening of the 1948 noir thriller “The Amazing Mr. X” at Ron Robinson Theater, 6 p.m., $2. The Arkansas Travelers take on the Tulsa Drillers at Dickey-Stephens Park, 7:10 p.m. Tue.-Thu., $7-$13. Dangerous Idiots perform at Bear’s Den Pizza in Conway, 10 p.m., free. Heartless Bastards’ Ericka Wennerstrom lands at Stickyz, 8 p.m., $10-$12.

WEDNESDAY 6/7 Texas songwriter Bruce Robison brings the dance hall culture of his native Bandera to Stickyz with an opening set from Mark Currey, 8 p.m., $10-$15.

Call 501-242-4091 today to schedule a tour and a complimentary meal!

Andover Place Independent Retirement Living

Pets Welcome Most Utilities Included Local Transportation

Follow Rock Candy on Twitter: @RockCandies

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

MOVIE REVIEW

Built to last The long-anticipated (and long) Dead doc streams on Amazon. BY J.T. TARPLEY

t’s a high time for Deadheads. Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the band’s canonical May 1977 tour, Grateful Dead fans are rolling loose change to buy the band’s new cash-out deluxe box set from that very tour, reading the recently released book dealing exclusively with the legendary ’77 show at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., rooting up lawn tickets for the Dead & Company’s summer tour that launched this weekend, witnessing to potential converts with the spate of recent Dead articles (Jesse Jarnow’s “user’s guide” on Pitchfork is great), and probably most of all, finally seeing the 14-years-in-the-making, Martin Scorsese-produced “Long Strange

WAMA

‘PLAYING IN THE BAND’: Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir appear in Scorsese’s “Long Strange Trip,” which will be available on Amazon Video Friday, June 2.

Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead.” So far, the documentary has a perfect track record of reviews in advance of its June 2 release on Amazon Prime, and it’s well deserved. With the band’s legacy in the middle of a major cultural reintroduction,

Wildwood Academy of Music & the Arts presents

TUESDAY, JUNE 13•7:30PM

THURSDAY, JUNE 22•7:30PM

Kiril Laskarov

Joo Won Kang

Share in the rare opportunity to hear nationally renowned Kiril Laskarov perform with a Stradivarius violin in an intimate setting.

Hear a remarkable young baritone known for his stellar performances in the opera houses of the Lincoln Center, Wolf Trap, San Francisco Opera, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Violinist, in Concert

THURSDAY, JUNE 29•7:30PM

Baritone, in Concert

THURSDAY, JULY 13•7:30PM

Kelly Singer

The Fourth Wall

Revel in the lyric coloratura of one of Arkansas’ finest young singers before she embarks on her journey to concert halls around the world.

Experience this award-winning hybrid arts group born of the nation’s best music conservatories and known for their high energy and humorous musical antics that delight the entire family.

Soprano, in Concert

Ensemble, in Concert

Visit wildwoodpark.org or call 501.821.7275 20919 Denny Road • Little Rock 72223 26

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

“Long Strange Trip” marks a high point in the Dead’s revival. To the relief of fans, the movie nails its lofty ambitions. For the curious, it provides a definitive — if incomplete — primer on the band. It may not offer many new revelations for the more seasoned folks, but it’s still fulfilling: a masterfully managed, psychedelic vibes-evoking classical documentary about the band and how its rambling metaphor for America reflected and unraveled right alongside it. Director Amir Bar-Lev (a Little Rock Film Festival alum whose documentary on Penn State and Jerry Sandusky, “Happy Valley,” opened the 2014 festival) makes the most of the intimidating four-hour running time. He leans into the captive Deadhead audience by playing into its ability to (ahem) bear with wandering sprawl and loopy discursion. I suspect this documentary is also Bar-Lev with gold in his eyes, dropping his thesis while the epic-documentary movement builds steam — remember that the nonfiction high points of this year’s Academy Awards included the eight-hour “OJ: Made in America” and a lifetime achievement award for longcinema genius Frederick Wiseman. While the film’s skeleton is a tender, aged archival interview with Jerry Garcia from the early ’90s, its lifeblood is in new, beautifully shot interviews with surviving band members, aging and eccentric as ever (hilariously, Bob Weir drives a Tesla with a Batmobile interior and Mickey Hart is inventing a stringed percussion instrument that can make you travel through time or something). Its never-before-seen archival footage is copious and stunning: a clip

of the endearingly gawky Phil Lesh and an eager-to-please 22-year old Weir in full puppy mode rehearsing three-part harmony on “Candyman” at the feet of Jerry Garcia is pure warmth. The storytelling highlights of the film, however, belong to members of the Grateful Dead family you’re least likely see on T-shirts. Prickly lyricist Robert Hunter gets the loudest laugh of the whole thing during a minute of access that shocked even the band; famed roadie and Dead memoirist Steve Parish doses the punch throughout with his acerbic, no-bullshit stoner exclamations; and the denouement of Garcia’s long decline, told by his lifetime love interest Brigid Meier, is as chilling and heartbreaking as anything you’ll see this year. As bassist Phil Lesh said just last week about the film, “It’s great as far as it goes, but it’s not the whole story.” Sure, it’s easy to be chafed by some of the film’s major oversights. Lots are. For one, where the hell is Betty Cantor-Jackson, their sound engineer and woman standing straight in a machismotornado, whose tireless work and golden ear are most responsible for the Dead’s recorded legacy? Even if “Long Strange Trip” can’t cover all of Jerry’s ex-wives and the parade of keyboardists who died prematurely, the film is a highly recommended, immersive entree into the expansive universe of America’s greatest band (especially when enjoyed over two nights at home instead of one marathon, butt-numbing night in the theater). It’s a high point of Dead chronicling and sure to be an enduring document of the band and its culture.

ALSO IN THE ARTS

THEATRE

“ANNIE.” The Weekend Theater’s production of the Tony Award-winning musical. 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun., through July 16. $16-$20. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. “GODSPELL.” Arkansas Repertory Theater’s production of Stephen Schwartz’s musical, in collaboration with 2 Ring Circus. 7 p.m. Wed.-Thu. and Sun., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sat.-Sun. through June 25. $30-$65. 601 Main St. 501-378-0405. “ROUGH NIGHT AT THE REMO ROOM.” The Main Thing’s two-act musical comedy. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., through June 17. $24. The Joint Theater & Coffeehouse. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-372-0210. “THE DINGDONG.” Mark Shanahan’s adaptation of Georges Feydeau’s French farce “Le Dindon.” A TheatreSquared production. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sat.-Sun., through June 4. $15-$45. Walton Arts Center’s Nadine Baum Studios, 505 W. Spring St., Fayetteville. 479-4435600. “SOUTHERN FRIED FUNERAL.” A Murry’s Dinner Playhouse production of J. Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler’s comedy. 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Sat., dinner at 6 p.m., 12:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. Sun., dinner at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. through June 3. $15-$37. 6323 Colonel Glenn Road. 501562-3131.

American Red Cross in Arkansas,” artifacts covering 100 years, through July 1; “The American Dream Deferred: Japanese American Incarceration in WWII Arkansas,” objects from the internment camps, Concordia Gallery, through June 24. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5790. 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: “Xtreme Bugs,” animatronic insects, through July 23; 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 mili-

tary and children under 6. CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, One Museum Way, Bentonville: “Chihuly: In the Gallery and in the Forest,” works by the glass artist Dale Chihuly, June 3-Aug. 14, $20, ticket required (tickets.crystalbridges. org), “Roy Lichtenstein in Focus,” five large works, through July; 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. 479418-5700. ESSE PURSE MUSEUM & STORE, 1510 S. Main St.: “Take Your Purse With You: The Reimagined Work of Katherine Strause,” paintings, through Aug. 27; “What’s Inside: A Century of Women and Hand-

bags,” permanent exhibit. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sun. $10, $8 for students, seniors and military. 916-9022. FORT SMITH REGIONAL ART MUSEUM, 1601 Rogers Ave.: “K. Nelson Harper: Lasting Impressions,” art of the letterpress, opens with reception 5-7 p.m. June 1, $5 nonmembers, show through Sept. 3; “Gloria Garfinkel: Vibrancy of Form,” etchings, painted aluminum and oil on canvas, through June 18. 11 a.m.6 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 479-7842787. HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. 3rd St.: “Traces Remain,” installation by Dawn Holder and works on paper by Melissa Cowper-Smith; “Portraits of Friends” by Dani Ives; “The Great War: Arkansas in World War I,” study gallery;

LEASE AN OFFICE WITH A VIEW

CALL FOR ARTISTS

The Arkansas Arts Council is accepting applications from artists wishing to work with teachers and students in schools or after-school and summer programs. The deadline to apply to join the Arts in Education Artist Roster is July 7. For more information, go to www.arkansasarts. org or call 501-324-9769.

FINE ART, HISTORY EXHIBITS MAJOR VENUES ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: Friends of Contemporary Craft lecture by Leslie Ferrin, “Current Trends in Collecting Contemporary Ceramics,” with silent auction of crafts and annual meeting preceding the lecture, 5 p.m. June 4, $5 FOCC members, $10 nonmembers; “59th Annual Delta Exhibition,” lecture, member preview and award announcements, 6 p.m. June 8 ($15 nonmembers), show through Aug. 26; “56th Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition,” through July 23; “Drawing on History: National Drawing Invitational Retrospective,” works from the permanent collection, through Sept. 24. 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., Pine Bluff: Screening of “Dream Land: Little Rock’s West 9th Street,” 2 p.m. June 3; “Color in Space: The Art of Justin Bryant,” through Sept. 9; “Rhythm, Rhymes and Young Artists of the Delta,” through July 8; “Resilience,” printmaking by Emma Amos, Vivian Browne, Camille Billops, Margaret Burroughs, Elizabeth Catlett, Barbara Jones-Hogu, Samella Lewis, and Rosalind Jeffries, through July 8. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat. 870536-3375. BUTLER CENTER GALLERIES, Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Historic Bridges of Arkansas,” photographs by Maxine Payne; “The

The Tower Building 4th and Center in the Heart of Little Rock’s Financial Quarter From $14 PSF - Full Service Powered by Fiber-optic T1 DSL 400 to 40,000 Square Feet Available Full Floors Available • Within Walking Distance: Restaurants, Courthouses, River Market • Two Restaurants, Barbershop, Convenience Store and Cleaners On Site • Parking Available

Brenda McKown (501) 725-8465 • bmckown@catlett.net Brokers Protected

www.catlett.net/tower-building.html

arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

WHAT’S COOKIN’ THE BUTCHER PAPER has come down from the long windows facing Kavanaugh Boulevard to reveal The Meteor Cafe, the coffee shop joined to Spokes bicycle shop at the corner of Kavanaugh and Markham, and the cafe has announced a June 7 opening. The large, light-filled cafe features a long row of two-tops along the front window; a patio in the back is under construction. The Meteor will serve pastries, including cookies, muffins, scones and a gluten-free, low-sugar house-made energy bar of oats, fruit and chocolate, manager Maria Ims said. Chief baker is Kate Gabardi; Ims noted her two favorite items among Gabardi’s offerings: the salted pecan chocolate chip cookies and the brown butter ginger scones. The energy bar should appeal to the biking customers at Spokes, which will now be known as Spokes at the Meteor. Doug Zell, founder of Chicago’s Intelligentsia coffee, is co-owner of the cafe, which, not surprisingly, will use Intelligentsia beans in its pour-overs and espresso drinks. The Meteor will also feature 11 teas. The Meteor plans to serve lunch in the future, Ims said. Chris St. Peter, a Little Rock lawyer, is Zell’s partner in the business; their company, F3 Velo LLC, has also bought Spokes. Also down the road: F3 Velo LLC plans to open a second location on Rebsamen Park Road. A MURAL IS being painted on the wall in the Loblolly Ice Cream Shop at 1423 S. Main St., and owner Sally Mengel hopes to be open sometime in June. The local creamery had its last day at the Green Corner Store on Sunday; the new location is just next door. Mengel, who started her homemade ice cream business in 2012, says June will be a “preview” month in which she’ll serve an expanded choice of flavors; a grand opening will be in July. Mengel said she would like to be a “late ice cream place,” open perhaps until 8 p.m., but the business traffic will determine that. She’ll open at 11 a.m. daily. Besides ice cream, she’ll have baked goods and will return to her full line of milkshakes, malts and sundaes in July. An espresso machine will come later. There will also be a party room in the back. FREDDY’S FROZEN CUSTARD & Steakburgers opened its fourth outlet May 23 at 4305 McCain Blvd., NLR. The national fast-food chain, which will open a fifth Arkansas location on Chenal Parkway and Bowman Road this summer, is located in the southwest corner of The Home Depot parking lot. The 3,654-square-foot restaurant can seat 100 and has a patio. On the menu: hamburgers, hot dogs, shoestring fries and “fresh churned” chocolate and vanilla custard. Paul Hoover is the franchise owner. Freddy’s can also be found in Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers. 28

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

Dining

UNBELIEVABLE BARGAIN: For about $8, you can have two Tostadas de Camarones, which make a great meal or appetizer for the table.

Hidden deliciousness Seek out El Palenque.

he Spanish word palenque roughly translates to “a palisade or stockade,” as well as “an arena” ostensibly for cockfighting, and is the name given to the famed ruins hidden for centuries in the jungles of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Taqueria El Palenque, the restaurant in West Little Rock, is about as hidden away as its apparent namesake, and yet fans flock en masse to what is essentially a taco food truck with a roof and indoor seating. Let’s qualify: It would be a GREAT taco food truck were it on wheels, and probably easier to access. Nevertheless, and thankfully for us because we’re aging not so gracefully and would rather eat our food sitting down at a table, we can enjoy the best of fast and authentic Mexican taco specialties and more at Taque-

Follow Eat Arkansas on Twitter: @EatArkansas

ria El Palenque. And lately, they’ve redone the seating; gone are the old chairs and cheap tables more suitable for a coffee shop, and in their place are nicer dining tables, colorful chairs and booths, including several with carved and painted scenes of Mexican revolutionary leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. The owners didn’t have to go to all that trouble for us; we love the place for the food over anything else, even if we sometimes have to suck in our ever-expanding stomach to fit into one of the new booths. We’ll get to all the tacos in a moment, but first: Do not miss at least trying the Soupa de Tortilla. The server will immediately tell you it will take an extra 15 minutes compared with everyone else’s taco, torta or quesadilla order, but don’t mind that. In those 15 minutes,

the cooks in the tiny kitchen apparently put everything together from scratch; this soup isn’t just spooned out of some container from the fridge and microwaved. It’s LOADED with vegetables and fajita-style chicken, with tortillas covering the bottom of the ginormous bowl, all in a flavorful broth and selling for less than $7. It’s as good as any tortilla soup we’ve had, and we’ve paid mucho dinero for much less. To be honest, despite national internet food listings raving about El Palenque, we’d never had any idea what or where it was until friends took us a few months back. Now, we can’t get enough. It’s crammed into an already overstuffed little strip mall that also houses the wonderful Mediterranean restaurant Layla’s Gyros and Pizzeria; the Mexican grocery store Perla blocks the view of Palenque from Rodney Parham Road. There’s parking for about four cars in front of the place if the inevitable 18-wheel delivery truck isn’t blocking it (don’t fret, as plenty of spaces abound in the very back of the building). There are, by our count, only 36 seats, give or take an extra chair slipped in for one of nine tables seating four people each. The food, with the exception of the tortilla soup, comes

BELLY UP

Taqueria El Palenque

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

9501 N. Rodney Parham Road 312-0045 Quick bite Here’s a perfect fast lunch: two Tacos Arrieros ($1.99 each) and the Tostado de Camarones (a ridiculously inexpensive $3.49 for what you get: six shrimp cooked in lime juice and topped with nearly a bowlful of some of the best guacamole in Arkansas. You’ve still got money left from your $10 for a Jarritos soda, too).

out very fast and the to sunbathers. These turnover is quick. You juicy “little meats” won’t wait long, even brim with flavor after at high noon. simmering in spices. El Palenque’s torSomehow, ends and Hours 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday tas are a regular order edges maintain a drythrough Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 ness that adds a salty for one of our diner p.m. Sunday. touch, much the way buddies. Basically a sandwich, they are burnt ends and bark Other info Beer available. Credit cards filling, inexpensive add a kick to Southern accepted. and delicious. They barbecue. All carniTORTAS, TOO: You might be tempted to just feast on tacos, but the tortas (especially with can be ordered with tas’ companions come the carnitas) are a favorite. different meats — beef, along for the ride — a soft tortilla, cilantro, chicken, chorizo and milanesa (think chicken-fried steak) — But there are so many other though. The Tacos de Carnitas, in fact, onions and salsa. We douse the whole choices, and you should mix and but the carnitas version soars above took us mentally back to a taqueria on thing with a spray from a bottle of them all. Many elements combine to match. Palenque’s carnitas definitely Mexican beach on the Pacific Coast, Palenque’s perfect salsa verde. The make the sandwich a must-order item: need to be among your table’s orders, competing with a lady selling pies combination makes a trio of these a perfect, economical lunch. its pork tips are slowly braised and then flash-fried on the taqueria’s grill, The guacamole here ($3.99) is fresh giving a slightly crispy outer layer and first-rate, so make sure to get NOW TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS to the melt-in-your-mouth morsels. some either as a side or a full order for LITTLE ROCK • NORTH LITTLE ROCK Every Day SALE! The toasted bolillo bread, also known the table. Palenque also has plenty of 175ML CROWN ROYAL BLACK $51.99 $47.99 175ML CROWN ROYAL RESERVE $74.99 $64.99 great sit-down specialties more suitas pan francés, provides the perfect ALL CRAFT BEER10% OFF EVERY DAY! 175ML EVAN WILLIAMS BLACK $20.99 $19.99 JOIN US FOR FOOD TRUCK WEDNESDAY AT OUR LITTLE ROCK LOCATION WITH platform on which to build the torta, able for dinner, such as whole fish and 175ML SMIRNOFF BLUE $24.99 $22.99 S&J MOBILE KITCHEN 11AM-7PM. 750ML BRECKENRIDGE BOURBON $59.99 $54.99 which is dressed with lettuce, pickled other seafood, steak and large fajita COME SEE US! (From Colorado Rocky Mountains) • WE GLADLY MATCH ANY LOCAL ADS jalapeños, onions, tomatoes, avocado servings. A few breakfast-style egg 750ML COLONEL E.H. TAYLOR SINGLE BARREL $41.99 $36.99 HURRY IN! THIS SALE EXPIRES JUNE 7, 2017 750ML APOTHIC WINE (ALL FLAVORS) $10.99 $8.99 WEDNESDAY IS WINE DAY 15% OFF and sour cream. We recommend a dishes also are available. It’s amaz12PK HEINEKEN, CORONA, MICHELOB $14.99 $13.99 WINE CASE DISCOUNTS EVERY DAY! generous application of El Palenque’s ing how much quality can come out LITTLE ROCK: 10TH & MAIN • 501.374.0410 | NORTH LITTLE ROCK: 860 EAST BROADWAY • 501.374.2405 HOURS: LR • 8AM-10PM MON-THUR • 8AM-12PM FRI-SAT •NLR • MON-SAT 8AM-12PM of such a small kitchen. salsa verde to complete the sandwich. Another favorite is the huarache. Palenque appears to do enchilaNamed for its resemblance to the Mexdas only because it has to — the one ican sandal, this oblong vessel is simienchiladas plate is $7.95 and it’s basic. lar to a tostada in that it can be loaded The cheese dip ($4.99) is the ubiquitous white kind, maybe with a bit of with various meats and other toppings. diced jalapeno tumbling in it, and is But instead of a fried corn tortilla, the huarache consists of a piece of delecenhanced by a healthy squirt from tably soft fried masa dough. either the green tomatillo sauce or We also like the chorizo, especially the fiery red pepper sauce. (Ask your when it’s paired with carne asada in server if she hasn’t already put the the taco or burrito arriero (translates two sauces on your table.) Palenque’s to muleskinner), two of El Palenque’s salsa, meanwhile, is unusual. It’s specialties. We ran into a diner from more like stewed tomatoes and pepTulsa on a recent visit who told us he pers and is very runny. It also works stops at El Palenque every time his best added to the cheese dip, but the frequent business trips bring him to taste is great. Little Rock’s Little Rock, always ordering the arrieBut you didn’t come to Palenque for Most Award-Winning ros tacos ($1.99 each, compared with cheese dip or salsa. You came, at least Restaurant $1.50 for the other tacos). Unlike the at lunchtime, for street-style tacos regular street tacos at El Palenque, the and burritos and the like, and maybe 1619 REBSAMEN RD. arrieros are served on flour tortillas a Jarritos soda pop or a cerveza on the 501.663.9734 and are dressed with pico de gallo and side, all with a nice place to sit among thefadedrose.com avocado slices. likeminded diners. arktimes.com JUNE 1, 2017

JUNE 9

ALSO IN THE ARTS, CONT.

THE 2ND FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH 5-8 PM

300 East Third St. • 501-375-3333 coppergrillandgrocery.com

Treasures from the University of Arkansas Museum

ANTIGALLERY: Out of the Gallery, Back into Life

A multi-media, multi-disciplinary art event featuring the works of Arkansas LBGTQ artists and allies.

300 W. Markham St.

www.oldstatehouse.com

Print MAKE! AN EXHIBITION OF THE ARKANSAS SOCIETY OF PRINTMAKERS

412 SOUTH LOUISIANA INSIDE SWAY

NEW 2ND FRIDAY ART NIGHT MEMBER

COME IN AND SEE US! 108 W 6th St., Suite A (501) 725-8508 www.mattmcleod.com

Gordon & Wenonah Fay Holl CO L L E C T I N G A L E G AC Y

A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

CURATED BY ROBERT BEAN 200 RIVER MARKET AVE. STE 400 501.374.9247 WWW.ARCAPITAL.COM

These venues will be open late. There’s plenty of parking and a FREE TROLLEY to each of the locations. Don’t miss it – lots of fun! Free parking at 3rd & Cumberland Free street parking all over downtown and behind the River Market (Paid parking available for modest fee.) 30

JUNE 1, 2017

ARKANSAS TIMES

FREE TROLLEY RIDES!

“All of Arkansas: Arkansas Made, County by County”; “A Diamond in the Rough: 75 Years of Historic Arkansas Museum.” Ticketed tours of renovated and replicated 19th century structures from original city, guided Monday and Tuesday on the hour, self-guided Wednesday through Sunday, $2.50 adults, $1 under 18, free to 65 and over. (Galleries free.) 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9351. MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS MILITARY HISTORY, 503 E. 9th St. (MacArthur Park): “Work, Fight, Give: American Relief Posters of WWII,” June 6-Aug. 16; “The Great War,” Arkansas in World War I, through June 12; “Waging Modern Warfare”; “Gen. Wesley Clark”; “Vietnam, America’s Conflict”; “Undaunted Courage, Proven Loyalty: Japanese American Soldiers in World War II. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun. 376-4602. MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER, 9th and Broadway: 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.: “Human Plus,” low and high-tech tools that extend human abilities, through Sept. 10; also interactive science exhibits. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., $10 ages 13 and older, $8 ages 1-12, free to members and children under 1. 396-7050. OLD STATE HOUSE MUSEUM, 300 W. Markham St.: “Celebrate Arkansas Statehood,” 181st anniversary celebration, with living history and role-playing by visitors, 1-6 p.m. June 3; “Cabinet of Curiosities: Treasures from the University of Arkansas Museum Collection”; “True Faith, True Light: The Devotional Art of Ed Stilley,” musical instruments, through 2017; “First Families: Mingling of Politics and Culture” permanent exhibit including first ladies’ gowns. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 3249685. SOUTH ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, 110 E. 5th St.: “Visual Duet — Art by Ann and Dan Thornhill,” June 2-29; “Colorful World — Art by Suzi Dennis,” June 3-29. Reception 5-7 p.m. June 3. 9 a.m.5 p.m. weekdays. 870-862-5474. TOLTEC MOUNDS STATE PARK, U.S. Hwy. 165, England: Major prehistoric Indian site with visitors’ center and museum. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun., closed Mon. $4 for adults, $3 for ages 6-12, $14 for family. 961-9442. WALTON ARTS CENTER, Fayetteville: “Glacial Shifts, Changing Perspectives,” large-scale paintings and photographs documenting glacial melt by Diane Burko, through September, Joy Pratt Markham Gallery. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, noon-4 p.m. Sat. 479-443-5600. WILLIAM F. LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St., NLR: Arkansas League of Artists 2017 “Members Show,” June 5-July 28, reception and awards ceremony 6-8 p.m. June 9. 416-4729. SMALLER VENUES 211 Cafe, 106 SW 2nd St., Bentonville: Pop-Up Art Show, with demonstration and talk by artist Jaquita Ball, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. June 3. ARTISTS WORKSHOP GALLERY, 610 Central Ave., Hot Springs: Sheliah Hal-

) (S

RG E U B

WEE

ROCK