Arkansas Times | May 2022

RODNEY BLOCK, JAZZ SUPERHERO | ACADEMIC ALL-STARS | THE BULLFROG VALLEY GANG

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022

CRIME SCENE MURDER COUNTS SOAR AS ARKANSAS POLITICIANS POINT FINGERS

BY AUSTIN BAILEY

SAVVYKIDS: GET READY FOR SUMMER CAMP ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 1

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LAWN PARTY: Amythyst Kiah is among the performers at Bentonville’s FreshGrass Festival.

(See page 15.)

MAY 2022

FEATURES 23 SMOKING GUNS

Little Rock rides the national crime wave. Meanwhile, opportunistic politicans are mining the panic for partisan gain.

By Austin Bailey

29 ACADEMIC ALL-STARS Our 28th team of Academic All-Stars includes a renowned crossword constructor, budding activists, devoted athletes and more.

9 THE FRONT

SANDLIN GAITHER

By Austin Bailey, Rhett Brinkley, Griffin Coop, Cathy Frye, Stephen Koch, Lindsey Millar and Stephanie Smittle

51 SAVVY KIDS

72 HISTORY

Q&A: With legislative candidate Judson Scanlon.

The Big Pic: A milkshake mosaic.

It’s a green light for summer camp plans, Meet the Bullfrog Valley Gang, but with an eye toward safety. notorious counterfeiting ring of Pope

By Katherine Wyrick County.

13 THE TO-DO LIST

62 CULTURE

A lunar eclipse, a tribute to Maxwell and Sade at Rev Room, Ballet Arkansas at Argenta Plaza, Arts & The Park in Hot Springs, burlesque at Stickyz, Amy Garland at the White Water Tavern and more.

19 NEWS & POLITICS

The Trump-Putin riddle is no joke for a besieged Ukraine.

By Ernest Dumas 4 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

A profile of trumpeter Rodney Block, alter ego “Black Superman.”

By Daniel Ford

68 FOOD & DRINK

Meet Sergiy and Yana Polyakov, currently serving up Ukrainian delights in Hot Springs while keeping a watchful eye on the crisis back home.

By Rhett Brinkley

By Ernest Dumas

76 CANNABIZ

Is regulation inevitable for weed alternative Delta-8?

By Lindsey Millar

82 THE OBSERVER

The sour scent of brimstone from a streetside preacher.

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PUBLISHER Alan Leveritt EDITOR Lindsey Millar CREATIVE DIRECTOR Mandy Keener SENIOR EDITOR Max Brantley MANAGING EDITOR Austin Bailey ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Stephanie Smittle ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rhett Brinkley CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Mara Leveritt PHOTOGRAPHER Brian Chilson DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL STRATEGY Jordan Little ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Mike Spain GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sarah Holderfield DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Phyllis A. Britton ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Brooke Wallace, Lee Major, Terrell Jacob and Kaitlyn Looney ADVERTISING TRAFFIC MANAGER Roland R. Gladden IT DIRECTOR Robert Curfman CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Jackson Gladden CONTROLLER Weldon Wilson BILLING/COLLECTIONS Charlotte Key PRODUCTION MANAGER Ira Hocut (1954-2009)

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VOLUME 48, ISSUE 9 ARKANSAS TIMES (ISSN 0164-6273) is published each month 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 MRKHAM STREET, SUITE 200, Little Rock, AR, 72201. Subscription prices are $60 for one year. For subscriber service call (501) 375-2985. Current single-copy price is $5, free in Pulaski County. Single issues are available by mail at $5.00 each, postage paid. Payment must accompany all 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. ©2022 ARKANSAS TIMES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP

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ARKANSAS TIMES

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THE FRONT Q&A

MEETING CULTURE WARRIORS AT THE GATES A Q&A WITH JUDSON SCANLON Judson Scanlon is the first openly transgender candidate to run for a seat in the Arkansas legislature, but you’ll get over it.

It usually takes about 5 seconds for people to adjust to this novel situation before moving on to the business at hand, Scanlon said. That business is Democrat Scanlon’s campaign for the District 70 state House seat to represent portions of North Little Rock and Sherwood.

Scanlon is challenging incumbent Carlton Wing, a Republican who held on by only 16 votes in his challenge by firefighter Matthew Stallings in 2020.

Arkansas’s Republican-controlled Board of Apportionment has since redrawn the district (imagine that!), making it whiter and ostensibly more conservative.

An old-school, boots-on-the-ground campaigner, Scanlon seems undaunted.

The arduous work of making phone calls and knocking on doors can win elections, and Scanlon has 30 years of experience doing just that.

wrong for the general population, then fundraise around it. So the real purpose of these legislative issues is funding for the Arkansas Family Council. They use those issues in order to pad their coffers so they can continue waging inappropriate culture wars. It’s for fundraising, it’s just for money. Because these things they talk about aren’t happening. There are no transgender athletes in Arkansas who are trying to steal the trophies of women athletes.

BRIAN CHILSON

It’s a flaming cauldron of hate out there for a transgender candidate to jump into. Doesn’t it hurt your feelings?

I grew up gay in this state. I spent 26 years of my life hiding to protect myself.

It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I don’t believe any children should have to go through that. I don’t think that I went through it just for my own purposes, but so that I could actually stand up for other people.

FAMILY: four parents, five siblings, one wife, two I’ve been in this fight long enough to children (ages 36 and 11), two dogs and many friends know that the people inflicting this who are family by choice.

What made you decide to run for this pain and trauma on children don’t truly seat? It was an active decision and a understand how much pain and trauma SOMETHING PEOPLE DON’T KNOW: I once spent passive decision. The active decision they are inflicting. I’ve gotten to the point five months as a cook on a fishing boat in Alaska. happened three weeks before filing. The where I keep trying to recruit people to passive decision — that I would focus do the right thing, and when they fail, it’s FAVORITE POLITICIAN: Sen. Paul Wellstone of specifically on this district — happened hard for me to comprehend. There’s no Minnesota. He was perfectly imperfect. during the legislative session. I was better time for me to stand up for chilinfuriated because Carlton Wing refused dren than right now in this culture war. I to take action on giving schools the ability to enforce mask mandates. didn’t invite this war, but I’m not going to run away from it.

He was present for the vote but didn’t vote, for or against. I think that if you elect somebody, they have to represent, not just be present.

What are your main issues? I’m not running as a transgender candiAnd the legislature spent so much time focusing on children in such a date. I’m running as a candidate who cares about teachers, about our negative way. In my mind, they came for the kids. And that’s not right. health care workers and about the fact that we do not have mandatory drivers ed in our schools for graduating seniors. We’re putting kids on Was the 2021 Arkansas legislative session the worst you’ve ever the road, behind the wheel of thousand-pound killing machines, without seen? It’s up there with the top five. In the last 10 years, we’ve gotten protecting them. And I just happen to be transgender. progressively worse. The adoption ban for gays and lesbians was the begining, for me, of the slide into complete and utter disgust. We went You have a lot of experience in the political realm. Is that paying off from the adoption ban to the ban on anti-discrimination language for for you now? The people who are showing up for me are the people towns and cities, and then we started looking at choice and doing all the I’ve shown up for over the past 30 years. That should be a lesson for anti-abortion pieces. And then they gave people permission to kill other everybody. I have people who want to be part of my team who are people with “stand your ground” [Act 250 of 2021, which authorizes reaching out to me because I’ve helped them or their loved ones.

Arkansans to use deadly force if they feel threatened, even if they could Leaders in the Democratic Party are coming up to me and saying, “It’s have simply walked away instead]. Then we had the pandemic, and about time.” I have people asking, “Why have you waited so long?” At they started targeting children. the same time, for the last 20 years in Arkansas, I’ve felt like I didn’t belong. So it’s been hard for me to step into this space.

Why is this happening? There’s a new job title that I want to start givMy life has always been about pushing the person in front of me foring people. It’s “conflict entrepreneur.” These are people like the Arkanward instead of that being me.

sas Family Council who determine what’s good, what’s bad and what’s — Austin Bailey ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 9

THE FRONT BIG PIC

THE SCOOP A MILKSHAKE ROUNDUP.

BY AUSTIN BAILEY, RHETT BRINKLEY, BRIAN CHILSON AND STEPHEN KOCH

A

KILWINS

Price: $$$ Consistency: Smooth Flavors: Any available ice cream flavors Spoon requirement: Optional Kilwins has a very solid milkshake, although not literally. It has a thinner, icy consistency that’s still definitely not too much for a straw.

They even throw in a squirt of whipped cream with a cherry on top, as is the fashion, though it’s a superfluous move if your milkshake is on point, like this one. They also overfill their cups well into the plastic dome on top. They’ll make you a milkshake in any of the available ice creams — except for their lemon and raspberry sorbets, which Kilwins combines with lemon-lime soda to become a “cooler,” and something that’s on our list to try once the temps break 100. Catering mostly to River Market tourists, Kilwins sure is handy if you live or work downtown, but you pay the price for the convenience. The sweet, chocolatey convenience. SK 10 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

RHETT BRINKLEY

BRIAN CHILSON

BRIAN CHILSON

s icy messes retreat from Arkansas yards in spring, another type of icy mess brings folks to the yard: milkshakes. This particular round-up of a half-dozen Central Arkansas milkshake options was brought to you by a fractured tooth, but with warmer weather coming, don’t wait for a dental emergency to give some of these shakes a fair shake:

PURPLE COW

THE ORIGINAL SCOOP DOG

Price: $ Consistency: Thick Flavors: Wide variety Spoon requirement: Definite

Price: $$ Consistency: Smooth to thin Flavors: Myriad Spoon Requirements: Optional

We’re not usually in the market for purple milkshakes. In fact, the idea of a purple milkshake sparked fear because our perception of the flavor associated with the color purple is sugary grape. (Grape ice, yes.

Grape dairy, no.) But Purple Cow’s purple milkshake is all creamy vanilla goodness. Add some crushed Oreos and some caramel and you won’t be disappointed. The presentation is 10/10. The shake is served in a lovely Sundae glass and comes topped with whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and a cherry. And the metal milkshake tin served alongside it has enough leftover shake in it to refill your glass again. And if the kids are blowing their straw wrappers at you, there’s a variety of adult shakes to lighten the mood such as the White Russian, Irish Coffee and the Grasshopper. BC

The Original Scoop Dog, known for its frozen custard concretes and specialty hot dogs, also makes a mean shake. Keeping with the theme, they are mostly named after our canine friends (The Good Old Beagle, The Golden Retriever, The Standard Poodle) but when I pulled up to the window, I had no idea what I was doing. After a lengthy Q&A with the friendly employee working the window, I settled with a “Birthday Cake” shake. It tastes like it sounds: a birthday party cake in drinkable form. Delicious. This shake is drinkable with a straw, or you can sip it straight from the cup, however, the thick scoop of birthday cake icing that floats on top will need to be consumed with a spoon or spread over a brownie. Cash only. SK

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 11

DALLAS FINLEY

BRIAN CHILSON

BRIAN CHILSON

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VELVETINA’S LITTLE BURLESQUE SHOW SATURDAY 5/21. STICKYZ ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CHICKEN SHACK. $10-$15.

Memphis burlesque performer Velvetina Taylor prides herself on “ultra-glamorous, classic burlesque with extravagant costumes, charming, vintage dancing and a witty sense of humor,” and that’s what you can expect for this Stickyz show, featuring Taylor and performers Jada Coco and Felicity Fox. It’s part of a “Pistons and Pasties” tour, in which Taylor is riding her 1200cc Harley Davidson across the South, performing burlesque along the way. Get tickets at stickyz.com.

Have we, at long last, reached a turning point in the pandemic? Here’s hoping. When we went to press for this issue of the Arkansas Times, artists and hospitality industry workers alike were still in recovery from calendar limbo, so if you’re still staying in, now’s a great time to buy a gift certificate from your favorite bar (buy your future self a beer!) or order merch from your favorite local musician. If you’re going out, tote that vaccination card with you and consider that gathering safely for live performance is still a work in progress; be on the lookout for cancellations, policy changes or date changes, and handle them with all the grace you can summon.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 13

JESS HARP, ADAM FAUCETT THURSDAY 5/5. WHITE WATER TAVERN. 8:30 P.M. $10.

Or, “a study in two ethereal voices.” If road warrior Adam Faucett’s otherworldly howl is made of grit and earth, Jess Harp’s (pictured) breezy delivery is made of air and clouds, as is evident on “Jessy Baby Forever,” Harp’s May 5 release on the Fayetteville-based Gar Hole Records. Like fellow labelmate Nick Shoulders, Harp’s croon is a pristine one, and one which Harp honed through years of choral singing and later, across the basements and dimly lit rooms of the Northwest Arkansas DIY scene. That voice is framed these days as the centerpiece of a soaring full band sound; see “I Took a Drive,” recorded at Fayetteville’s East Hall Recording Studio. It’s lush, gorgeous stuff, a confection of a contrast to Faucett’s sage, haunting wail.

Get tickets at whitewatertavern.com.

BALLET ARKANSAS: LIVE AT THE PLAZA

Two weekends of free public performances and recreational classes lie ahead, with instruction from professional ballet dancers at Ballet Arkansas including, company director Michael Fothergill noted in a press release, “fan favorites from our 21-22 season (The Great Gatsby, Coppélia & the Toymaker, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons), as well as the fiery Act III Don Quixote pas de deux, the ethereal Act II Giselle pas de deux and additional contemporary works.

There will be something for every taste.” Saturday morning recreational classes include Pilates at the Plaza, Jazz at the Plaza, Ballet on the Grounds and Dancing with Dogs, and weekday classes include Rise & Shine Pilates and Rise & Shine Movement. And, because the final performance lands on Mother’s Day, the North Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau is also hosting a special Mother’s Day VIP Reception to accompany the performance at 3 p.m., which includes access to a shaded area; a picnic basket of Arkansas treats; and two drink tickets. All classes are free and open to all ages and abilities; see balletarkansas.org/plaza for a full schedule.

14 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

COURTESY BALLET ARKANSAS

THROUGH 5/8. ARGENTA PLAZA. FREE-$75.

MELISSA BRAWNER

ARTS & THE PARK

COURTESY OF AMOS LEE

THROUGH SUNDAY 5/8. DOWNTOWN HOT SPRINGS. Though its residents would consider Hot Springs an art-focused town year-round, it’s during the annual Arts & The Park Festival when that focus takes to the streets — and the trails, and the sidewalks. Among the fest’s 2022 events are performances from string band entertainers Sad Daddy, a Henry Glover-inspired songwriting contest, a gallery of reproduced works by Arkansas photographer Mike Disfarmer, a series of artworks installed along the Hot Springs Creek trail on 30-inch-by-40-inch metal sheets, storytelling and dance from members of the Quapaw tribe, studio tours, a gallery walk, a children’s book giveaway and more. Check out the full schedule at hotspringsarts.org/arts-the-park-2022.

FRESHGRASS FESTIVAL Next stop on the Waltons’ quest to make Northwest Arkansas culturally enviable to all within earshot: bringing names like Margo Price and Emmylou Harris and the Red Dirt Boys to town, along with Amythyst Kiah, Hayes Carll, Dispatch, Amos Lee, Son Rompe Pera, Lost Bayou Ramblers, The Gravel Yard, Alison Brown, Arkansauce, Old Crow Medicine Show and folk art curated by one of the genre’s most forward-thinking ambassadors, Willi Carlisle. That’s all part of the FreshGrass Festival, a two-day marathon of concerts on the lawn of the Momentary, the Crystal Bridges-adjacent museum that went up in a former Kraft cheese factory in 2020. Get tickets at themomentary.org.

THE EXPLOROGRAPHER

FRIDAY 5/20-SATURDAY 5/21.

MOMENTARY, BENTONVILLE. $35-$500.

BLOOD MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE SUNDAY 5/15. THE SKY. 10:29-11:53 P.M. FREE.

The total lunar eclipse in mid-May is what they call a “Blood Moon,” since the moon turns a reddish hue when it moves into the Earth’s shadow. Wild, right? It’s because even when the Earth is completely keeping the Moon from reflecting any sunlight into our view, Earth’s atmosphere refracts light and scatters certain wavelengths of color while letting others pass — namely, the red and orange bits of light. You can see this one without any special equipment; just look for the Moon in the late evening of May 15 beginning at around 8:32 p.m., with the peak of the eclipse landing at around 11:11 p.m.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 15

AMY GARLAND BAND

FRIDAY 5/13. WHITE WATER TAVERN. 8:30 P.M. $10.

Whether you know Amy Garland for her wide-ranging playlist on KABF-FM, 88.3’s Friday evening show “Backroads,” her jovial musicianship in the Wildflower Revue, her 2013 record “Hang a Light,” the custom leather guitar straps she fashions under the Stone County Strap Co., or just because she seems to know everyone between here and Minden, Louisiana, you probably also know her inimitable voice, seemingly forever surrounded by a wealth of Arkansas talent — Nick Devlin, Bonnie Montgomery, Cindy Woolf, Mandy McBryde, Mike Nelson, Jeff Coleman, Brad Williams and her husband, Bart Angel — on her studio albums and on the stage. Get tickets at whitewatertavern.com.

A BLACK SUMMER’S NIGHT: MAXWELL/SADE TRIBUTE CONCERT MARK WAGNER

FRIDAY 5/27. REV ROOM. 9 P.M. $15-$25.

QUAPAW QUARTER ASSOCIATION 57TH SPRING TOUR OF HOMES

SATURDAY 5/7-SUNDAY 5/8. GOVERNOR’S MANSION DISTRICT. NOON-4 P.M. SAT., 1-5 P.M. SUN. $15-$150.

Calling all admirers of historic and/or quirky homes: The Quapaw Quarter Association’s annual Spring Tour of Homes is back, giving ticketholders a peek into six homes in Little Rock’s Governor’s Mansion District — seven if you spring for the special candlelight tour. Up this year: the Rogers House at 400 W. 18th St., the Old Methodist Parsonage at 401 W. 18th St., the Cochran House at 320 W. 18th St., the Max Mayer Cottage at 317 W. 17th St., the Pierce House at 1704 Center St., the Farrell House #2 at 2111 S. Louisiana St., the Reyburn-Lasker House at 2200 S. Arch St. and, for the top-tier Saturday night tickets, the Kirby House at 1221 Louisiana St. Trolleys run between homes during the tour’s timeframes, or get a bike tour ticket and power your own tour, either with your own bike or one from QQA partner Rock Town River Outfitters. A Sunday brunch ticket gets you food, mimosas and Bloody Marys at Curran Hall, and a preview party ticket for Friday evening gets you food, drink and live music from LLC. See quapaw.com for details on all tour times and options.

16 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Taking its name from the slow-burn trilogy that neo-soul pioneer Maxwell released across the span of a decade, this tribute concert engages some of the city’s most reliably inventive interpreters: trumpeter Rodney Block, vocalists Bijoux and Tawanna Campbell and others.

Expect to be guided through Maxwell’s catalog, and that of Nigerian-born British singer-songwriter Sade, whose longstanding disdain for the publicity limelight means most fans became devotees — and stayed devotees — based solely on her music (gasp!). Nearly 40 years after it was released, 1984’s glassy “Smooth Operator” was completely of its era and yet still holds up. Whether that tune is the entirety of your Sade knowledge or you can sing every silky-sweet line of “Soldier of Love,” this’ll be a good time. Get tickets at revroom.com.

YNGWIE MALMSTEEN

SATURDAY 5/28. THE HALL. 8 P.M. $25-$65.

For two genres so often considered diametric opposites, guitar metal and classical music sure have a lot in common: demanding technical cadenzas, a tendency to glorify virtuosos and divas, a penchant for the epic and the operatic. And though Swedish superstar Yngwie Malmsteen — maligned or revered, depending on who you ask — was far from the first to make those connections, he did cement them into the 1980s pop culture zeitgeist. “When I heard Paganini,” he told Guitar World last year, “that was the biggest moment.

Nobody was playing those crazy arpeggios. Everybody was just playing the box. But I wanted to play that shit on guitar.” He’s joined on this bill by musician and actor Kurt Deimer. Get tickets at littlerockhall.com.

See who wins the Competition for the Best Taco in Central Arkansas!

Early Bird Tickets $35.

Limited Time Only THURSDAY, MAY 12 | 6-9 PM 4th & MAIN | NORTH LITTLE ROCK Argenta branch of the Laman Library

You’ll be in tortilla heaven tasting great tacos from these local taquerias and restaurants: Mockingbird Bar & Tacos, Chepe’s Mexican Grill, Capo’s Tacos (Hot Springs), Casa Mañana (River Market), El Sur Street Food Co., Brick and Forge (Conway) and last year’s winner, Rock City Tacos and MORE TO COME!

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT

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Dr. ImanI Perry, SOUTH TO AMERICA (honoring Maurice Smith)

May 26, 6:30 PM

Free • CALS Ron Robinson TheaTer “South to America” is an essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South—and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America.

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Dr. Imani Perry is an award-winning author and the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Harper’s. Her books include Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry, Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation, and May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem. Register at CALS.org 18 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

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NEWS & POLITICS

GET A LOAD OF THIS GUY: Vladimir Putin bathes in the warmth of Trump’s golden accolades.

TRUMP AND PUTIN A BROMANCE FOR THE AGES.

BY ERNEST DUMAS

F

or whatever solace it might offer, one positive from Vladimir Putin’s genocide and plunder of Ukraine is that we no longer have to wait in ignorance for some future revelation — perhaps from a source such as, let’s say, the Kremlin archives in 2052 — of what lay behind the strange and now nearly decade-old partnership of the little dictator and the future leader of the free world.

Yes, that one: Donald Trump.

Putin’s motive has been known all along. In Trump, who routinely boasted of his friendship with and admiration for the Russian strongman, Putin had an American ally who could be counted upon to share his goals, or at least to be sympathetic, and who in the White House would be in a position to help Putin by breaking up or at least neutering the despised Atlantic alliance.

Trump did his best, but failed and got himself impeached.

Putin wanted to restore the Soviet empire of Eastern European countries built by Joseph Stalin at the end of World War II — the empire that Mikhail Gorbachev dissolved in 1989 when he promised Ukraine, the Baltic states and the Warsaw Pact countries (Poland, East Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria) “equality, independence and the right of each country to arrive at its own political position,

strategy and tactics without interference from an outside party,” such as mother Russia. Ukraine shortly chose full independence, as did all the others.

Putin called Gorbachev’s offering freedom from Russian rule to countries like Poland and Ukraine “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the century.

Trump made it abundantly clear long ago, and many times and also as recently as a few weeks ago, that he agreed with Putin on that matter and, as far as anyone can tell, everything else. But what were Trump’s motives for always expressing such high regard for Putin and his ambition to restore the Soviet empire, and finally seeming to favor genocide and the enslavement of Ukrainians?

Invading a peaceful country and slaughtering its people ordinarily are not described with words like “genius,” as Trump called Putin’s actions last month.

It is the great riddle of our age: Did Donald Trump understand what he was doing all along, or was he just a dupe?

Good arguments can be made for both sides.

The documented evidence supporting both positions — mainly from former loyalists like Attorney General Bill Barr, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,

National Security Adviser John Bolton, Trump’s fixer Michael Cohen and many, many others — is massive, but space allows only a smattering here, since we also need a little space to speculate on what the Putin-Trump revelations may mean for all of us in remote Arkansas. (Probably not nearly enough in 2022 to keep Trump’s Arkansas mouthpiece Sarah Sanders out of the governor’s office, but plenty beyond.)

••• For seven years, the Trump-Putin riddle bedeviled the nation and created perpetual political strife, producing two impeachments along the way. It should have produced a halfdozen more before 81.2 million American voters turned Trump out of office on Nov. 3, 2020 — by far the largest number of votes against a sitting president in American history, although Herbert Hoover’s percentage in 1932 was worse.

As far as we know, it must have started in 2013, when Trump took a $20 million payment from the Putin oligarch Agas Agalarov to bring that year’s Miss Universe pageant to Crocus City Hall, Agalarov’s ritzy development in Moscow. Trump, who liked to hang around women’s dressing rooms, had purchased the Miss Universe pageant, which esteemed sexiness, not talent. The 2013 pageant, little publicized at the time, would ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 19

become a centerpiece of American history owing to the Trump-Agalarov-Putin relationship — and, more specifically, because of the story circulated by the Kremlin intelligence services that they had secretly videotaped a “golden shower” in the $18,000-a-night Presidential Suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel across the plaza from Red Square in Moscow, where it was alleged that Trump had arranged for prostitutes to urinate on and thus defile the bed where Barack and Michelle Obama had slept in July 2009. The truth of the rumor, reported in the famous Steele Dossier, has never been confirmed or disproved, but Trump keeps bringing it up, announcing out of the blue in a speech several months ago that he did not like to have prostitutes pee on him.

From the 2013 pageant and the alleged events that occurred there, fast-forward to the fall and winter of 2015. This was when Republican bankrollers — notably the billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, a supporter of the early Florida presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Jeb Bush — decided to see what was behind the weird Russian support for the reality TV star and rising presidential hopeful, as well as the boasts of Trump’s sons that the Trump Organization was reaping great riches from their father’s Russian connections. The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website supported by Singer, contracted with Fusion GPS, a Washington intelligence firm, to do the investigation of Trump and Russia. Fusion GPS passed the actual sleuthing to Christopher Steele, the celebrated British spy admired by former President George H. W. Bush, formerly the CIA director.

By March 17, 2016, after Trump won the Florida primary, Rubio and Bush had checked out of the presidential race. Paul Singer concluded that Trump would win the nomination despite his status as a Putin stooge, and he threw in the towel on the Steele investigation. Singer wound up giving Trump a million dollars to help pay for his big inaugural celebration on Jan. 20, 2017. But word of Steele’s work was all over Washington, and the Democratic National Committee picked up the sponsorship.

Everyone who picked up a paper or heard a newscast in those days, even on Fox News, remembers all the hullabaloo in the final weeks before the election — Trump’s campaign staff huddling with Russians who were supposed to deliver a bombshell on Clinton, Trump hinting that a big development against Clinton was coming any day, and his famous taunt to reporters at his Doral property in Florida when one of them asked him about reports that Putin’s people were meddling in the campaign for him: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded by the press. Let’s see if that happens.”

In Robert Mueller’s massive report on the Russian meddling, Mueller noted that only hours after Trump’s televised plea for them to steal Clinton’s emails, the Russian hackers did illegally spear-phish email accounts at a domain used 20 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

by Hillary Clinton’s personal office. They also targeted 76 email addresses at the domain for the Clinton campaign. In all, the Mueller grand jury indicted 26 Russian nationals, two Russian companies connected to Putin, and six Trump advisers for collaborating to illegally deliver the 2016 election to Trump. Part of the Kremlin’s strategy in stealing and revealing Democratic National Committee emails was to drive Bernie Sanders’ primary voters to one of the three liberal or libertarian third-party candidates, instead of to Hillary Clinton, in the general election. It worked, and that narrowly gave Trump the electoral votes of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — and thus the presidency, although he had lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

When the details of Steele’s findings and the Russian probe of the independent counsel appointed by Trump’s Justice Department began to leak out in 2017, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s press secretary and the presumptive future governor of Arkansas, told reporters at the White House that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats — not Trump and his people — were behind the Russian meddling in the recent presidential election. Maybe some reporter will ask Sanders about that lie during her gubernatorial campaign. Probably not.

Every adult, even in Arkansas, remembers the furious and virtually daily uproars over the Russian investigation, including daily tweets from the president during the 2016 campaign and his first years in the White House. A few: • FBI Director James Comey, the Bush Republican, opened an investigation of the Kremlin’s election interference in 2016 based upon the reports of national security agencies and the FBI’s own intelligence work. In visits and phone calls with Trump, Comey refused to swear allegiance to the president, because the FBI — unlike Russia’s KGB — is not the president’s secret police. He refused to stop the investigation but told the president that, at that point, they were not investigating him, only the Russians. Nearly four months after taking office, Trump fired the FBI director to stop the Russian investigation and thus gave his administration some relief. He told a Kremlin delegation to the White House that he had taken care of the “Russian” problem.

• Trump’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions, lied to Congress by swearing that he had no contact with Russian officials during the presidential campaign, when in truth he had twice huddled with the Russian ambassador, then said that he had unintentionally misspoken. Sessions refused Trump’s demand that he stop the Russian investigation, and then recused himself from supervising it and assigned that task to his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, who (like future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh) had earned his Republican bona fides by spending a couple of years as a Whitewater investigator trying — and failing — to find some wrongdoing by Bill Clinton and his wife back in the 1970s. Rosenstein promptly stopped the FBI’s investigation and appointed a special prosecutor, the longtime

Republican lawyer and Justice Department official Robert Mueller, to take over the investigation.

Sessions refused Trump’s repeated demands that he flatly halt the Russian investigation. Trump demanded, and got, Sessions’s resignation in November 2018.

• Mueller’s 448-page report, one of the most extensive and devastating reports on a criminal investigation in U.S. history, concluded that the Russian government had indeed interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump, and that these illegal actions had occurred “in sweeping and systematic fashion.” Trump and his believers have always maintained that the Russian investigation produced nothing; actually Mueller indicted or got guilty pleas from six former Trump advisers, a California man, a London-based lawyer, 12 officers of Putin’s intelligence service, three Russian companies and 14 other Russian nationals. Putin hasn’t extradited the Russians to stand trial in America and obviously never will.

• To be his secretary of state, President Trump appointed Rex Tillerson, an ExxonMobil executive whose service area in the 1980s had included Arkansas, although Tillerson had few political connections and none with Trump. But he had them with Putin. Tillerson was director of a joint Russia–U.S. oil company, Exxon Neftegas, and opposed President Obama’s sanctions against Russia in 2013 after Putin invaded Crimea and annexed the region. Tillerson was an occasional lunch buddy of Putin. Could Putin have told Trump to nominate Tillerson as secretary of state?

Who can say? Some day, maybe after we the currently living are all dead, the truth will surface.

Nevertheless, Tillerson was soon dismayed by the president, whom he really had not known and would famously call “a f–––– moron.” Trump didn’t understand why America needed to be in the Atlantic alliance, which was arrayed against Russia; he had been traveling abroad attacking NATO, the European Union, and leaders of allies like Germany, France, Great Britain and Canada.

Tillerson turned out not to be so adoring of Putin after all, and Trump fired him in March 2018.

• President Trump met often with Putin, on the phone or in person, once or twice in complete privacy, and praised him lavishly after every meeting. After one private meeting, Trump grabbed and destroyed an interpreter’s notes, for reasons that have never been disclosed. As Putin ramped up his forces outside Ukraine in the summer of 2019, Congress, with strong Republican help, appropriated $214 million to build up Ukrainian defense forces. Trump first resisted signing it into law but, under Republican pressure, signed it — then, illegally, refused to release the funds. Finally, under Republican congressional pressure, he called the president of Ukraine and offered a bribe: Trump would release the money if President Zelensky would announce that Ukraine was investigating the son of Joe Biden. Trump’s own security officials were horrified at the unlawful act, and several eventually testified against him in impeachment

hearings or made public statements condemning him and his actions. Eventually, Trump relented and directed that the money be released to Ukraine.

All the rest, including Trump’s second impeachment, seems like yesterday — that is, if you followed the actual news and not Trump’s nutty claims.

What are we — all of us, the citizens of the United States of America — to make of all that history, in light of Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and the horrific crimes committed by his troops?

The whole world, except for people in autocratic Russia and China, now sees the inhumanity of the dictator whom Trump proclaimed “a genius.”

“He’s put himself really at the forefront of the world as a leader,” Trump declared. He thought Putin had very good claims on the territory of Ukraine, since so many people there spoke Russian. Lately, as everyone but a few “true believers” (as Eric Hoffer once called followers of mass-hysteria movements) have denounced the international criminal, Trump nearly alone has stood by him or fallen into silence — even as shocking visual evidence of Putin’s appalling inhumanity is displayed to us every day, even on social media.

Why does Trump still praise Putin?

It’s not like Trump is simply loyal to his friends.

Unless they are big donors, he has at some point turned on nearly all of them — members of his cabinet, his staff, Republican lawmakers and other officials who didn’t toe the line on something, anything.

Only one explanation makes any sense. Putin has something on Trump, and they both know it.

Could it be, after all, that Putin really does have the pee tape from the Ritz Carlton, and Trump knows it? They made a big deal out of the fact that much of the stuff in the Steele dossier could not be proven, but Steele, who did not himself release the dossier to the media, has always maintained that he was pretty sure that that bit of intelligence on Trump’s Moscow visit in 2013 was correct.

Of course, it may not be the pee tape after all, but something scares Donald Trump.

To be sure, Sarah Sanders, our senators, our congressmen and others who boast of Trump’s support are probably safe. Two years from now, Trump fans will be hard to find. The wheels of justice grind slowly, and nothing (except for an occasional helpful but temporary ruling by an appellate court) has gone Trump’s way in a long time. He has no facts or evidence or even slightly plausible allegations to support any of his wild claims. The legal situation will get no better for him, although it is still hard to imagine that a jury of common citizens, knowing the fanaticism out there, will ever deliver a unanimous verdict to put him away.

Eventually, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and all the other Trump hangers-on in positions of responsibility will have to weather the vicissitudes of incompetence and failure without the protective glow of Trump’s blessing.

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ARKANSAS TIMES

ARKANSAS’S PRO-GUN, ‘TOUGH-ON-CRIME’ POLICIES ARE KILLING US.

BY AUSTIN BAILEY

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 23

BRIAN CHILSON

W

OLD SCHOOL ANGEL: William Graves reads a book he wrote to help steer children away from trouble.

ARKANSAS’S PETRI DISH OF SYSTEMIC INEQUITY AND NEARLY NONEXISTENT GUN LAWS OFFERS A PERFECT ECOSYSTEM FOR VIOLENCE TO SPIKE. 24 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

illiam Graves — who, if you know him, you know him as Uncle Willie — doesn’t want a gun. Not at all. An ex-felon who spent more than 30 years in and out of prison and now mentors, mediates and does whatever else he can think of to keep people from following his path, Graves is banned by law from owning firearms. Which is fine by him for lots of reasons, one being that his arthritis would make it hard to even pull a trigger.

So it agitates Graves that he could get a gun so quickly and easily because that’s proof that anyone else could, too. Lately he’s been frustrated by Governor Hutchinson’s plan to drop $100 million on new prison cells, which Graves said won’t deter anyone from anything.

“A 500-bed prison? That’s not the answer,” he said.

Walking, talking proof that it’s never too late to turn things around completely, Graves proselytizes against pessimism. He aims to make believers out of the fatalists, the ones who think guns and fighting are entrenched and there’s nothing to do but stand armed and ready for it.

“A lot of people won’t believe this, but one of the reasons the crime rate and violence goes up, comes down, goes up is because there’s not enough concerned citizens getting involved,” he said. “You ain’t gonna never stop violence, but you can break the cycle.”

Looking at the numbers, it’s easy to see how pessimism took hold. Arkansas’s murder count more than doubled over 10 years — from 146 in 2010 to 310 in 2020 — all while the state’s population remained nearly stagnant.

You might not have known these exact figures, but you certainly know some of the stories behind them: a student shot in the arm across the street from North Little Rock High on a Thursday afternoon; weekend gunfire in the Park Plaza mall parking lot; a murder unspooled in front of an early Saturday morning crowd at Pizza D’Action, long a Little Rock institution.

A 1-year-old in surgery at Arkansas Children’s hospital for a quarter-sized bullet wound to the leg, suffered in March when Dumas became the scene of the country’s largest mass shooting of the year.

Conservatives squawk over crime in Chicago and San Francisco, but a thinking man would take his chances in Illinois or California over the more sparsely populated Arkansas any day (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put their 2021 homicide rates at 11.2 and 6.1 per 100,000 respectively; Arkansas’s is 13).

It’s the fellow rural Republican state of Mississippi, that evergreen example of how it could always be worse, that claims the highest homicide rate of any U.S. state (20.5 per 100,000). But Arkansas follows close behind, squarely in the top 10.

Arkansas’s petri dish of systemic inequity and nearly nonexistent gun laws offers a perfect

CAPITAL CRIME In Little Rock, a city made infamous in the ’90s as a poster child for gang violence, 2022 homicide rates are flirting toward their 1994 peak. To their credit, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and Police Chief Keith Humphrey don’t shy away from the bad news. Their approach, a touchy-feely acknowledgement of the problem combined with a pledge to keep a boots-on-thestreets police presence in high-crime areas for now and invest in prevention and intervention for later, aligns with what many experts say are best practices to bring violence to heel. So far, though, the plan hasn’t cured the city’s collective anxiety.

Mayoral challenger Steve Landers is latching on to the angst, making it a key tenet of his campaign. “The mayor saying all cities are experiencing these problems is not what citizens want to hear. Little Rock is one of the worst crime-ridden cities in the nation,” Landers said in a video he posted to social media, in which he goes on to suggest Scott should shuck his personal security detail and send those officers out to protect the city at large instead. A white businessman challenging Little Rock’s first Black mayor, Landers seems to be getting some real mileage here, despite not offering many specifics on what he would do differently.

“Little Rock is not alone in this spike. Cities across the country, as well as right here in our state, are all experiencing an increase in crime,” Scott said during one of his regular crime updates from the lobby in City Hall. Scott and Humphrey started them in February when city directors declared crime a public health emergency after 10 people were shot in the city over a single weekend.

Despite Landers’ criticisms that no one wants to hear it, Scott’s not wrong. What Little Rock, North Little Rock and the rest of Pulaski County is experiencing is higher than the national average, but still mirrors the national upward trend. Pulaski County as a whole logged 34 murders in 2010, but 89 in 2020, a year when homicide rates leapt dramatically after a nearly 30-year lull.

There’s one stat in which Little Rock excels in 2022 so far, and that’s in solving murders.

“When crime happens in Little Rock we catch the individuals, point blank, period. We catch them,” Scott said.

As of April 15, Little Rock police arrested suspects in 17 of the 19 murders committed within the city limits so far in 2022. That’s an 89% clearance rate; the national average is around 60%.

The department could always do with more officers, Chief Humphrey said, but has steadily been filling out the ranks since a 2016 low point.

In 2022 the LRPD is operating with almost 90% of patrol positions filled. Ultimately, Humphrey said, good police work alone won’t solve the problem. Parents need to nose in on their children’s business, digging through backpacks and monitoring social media accounts for signs of trouble, he said. “This is a community issue, not just a police issue. We need your help.”

SMOKING GUNS Three weeks after gunfire at a community picnic killed one person and injured 26, Dumas Mayor Flora Simon remained in mother hen mode. Arranging group counseling sessions and comforting shell-shocked constituents took up most of her attention since the March 19 mass shooting in the parking lot of an abandoned Fred’s store. That’s as far as she’d gotten.

“As far as actually trying to get city leaders together to actually talk about it, this is not the time for that yet. We’re still trying to heal from the bad image that was brought to Dumas,” Simon said.

A shrinking town of only 3,881 people, the population of Dumas is mostly Black. And in Arkansas, Black people are 8.4 times more likely to die of gun homicide than white people, according to figures from the Giffords Law

Center. Skin color offers correlation, but not causation. For that, look to the usual suspects behind violent crimes, which Desha County has plenty of: a punishing poverty rate, few educational opportunities and plenty of easyto-buy guns for anyone who wants one. It’s a lot for a small-town mayor to take on alone.

Pushing nightmarishly weighty and complex problems onto the shoulders of people without the power to solve them is an Arkansas specialty.

With the coronavirus, a vacuum of leadership from the state left local school boards holding the bag on mask policies for students and sick leave for infected staff. It didn’t matter that school board members lacked medical degrees or a direct line to the state health secretary, or that stopping the virus was always going to take a far bigger effort than any school board could orchestrate on its own. The ire for making inevitably controversial decisions fell to them.

When it comes to guns, Arkansas’s local law enforcement and government officials are in a similar spot. Guns are the weapon of choice, used in about 75% of Arkansas homicides.

Powerless to stop people from buying, owning, carrying or using guns, it still falls largely to people working on the local level to try to somehow prevent gun violence and then clean up after it inevitably goes down.

“I probably shouldn’t say it, but I’m getting sick and tired. We have a gun issue in our state,” Little Rock Mayor Scott said at an April meeting at Second Baptist Church downtown, where he lamented a relatively new state law that allows people to bring guns to public parks and sports venues. State law also prohibits cities from opting out, meaning the unhinged little league softball dad can bring his gun to Saturday morning games, and there’s nothing anyone

SICK AND TIRED: Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said Arkansas’s gun laws feed crime.

BRIAN CHILSON

ecosystem for violence to spike; pandemicinduced job losses, isolation and breakdowns in normal services and routines cranked suffering higher, and the line charting violent crime followed right along.

Local law enforcement scramble to meet a problem they’re pretty well equipped to mitigate but utterly powerless to solve, while the politicians who could chop murder rates without even leaving the air conditioning, with just some well-placed social spending and nobrainer gun regulations, prefer to mine the panic for partisan gain instead. Such is the state of Arkansas in 2022, drowning in the blood-red murder wave washing across the South.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 25

can do about it.

“We’ve allowed all these gun laws in our state, and we’re wondering why we see an increase of crime as well? It has to stop,” Scott said.

Gun laws in Arkansas and other high-crime states are a mishmash of nonsense designed to be ridiculous so that gun extremists have the excuse to erode them further. In Florida, scene of the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 people, anyone hoping to buy a handgun has to be 21 or older. But anyone 18 and older can purchase an AR-15 like the one the 19-year-old shooter used at Stoneman Douglas. Is this an example of why gun laws don’t work and should be done away with?

No. It’s an example of how lawmakers bow to gun industry lobbyists and firearms zealots at the expense of your right to live, shamelessly passing nonsensical regulations or none at all.

Florida looks pretty stupid in the above example, but Arkansas is worse. It’s become a free-for-all out there over the past decade.

As of Arkansas’s 2021 legislative session, no permits are required to either buy or carry a gun. Background checks to purchase guns are optional in Arkansas, too. While federally licensed gun shops and big box stores have to run background checks on purchasers before making a sale, Arkansas law allows anyone else to sell without the paperwork. Misleadingly known as the gun show loophole, this legislative gap allows guns and money to be exchanged at flea markets, via classified ads or from the trunk of some random guy’s Corolla.

Even as the number of people being shot to death in Arkansas has been climbing each year, state lawmakers push ahead with making guns easier to come by, not harder. In 2021, they passed a “stand your ground” law making it legal to kill anyone you feel threatened by, even if you could have walked away peacefully instead. The majority of state lawmakers voted for the bill despite knowing other states that adopted similar laws saw homicides go up.

POLITICIZING THE PROBLEM Presented repeatedly with data-driven fixes to make the streets safer, conservative Arkansas politicians mock proven solutions, choosing a pro-gun idealogy over the very lives of their constituents. More guns and fewer restrictions, more freedom to shoot but less freedom to live without fear of being shot.

That sticks local law enforcement and city and county officials with a tough job. More police patrols help, but not the ones in riot gear or behind the wheel of military surplus armored vehicles. Known as “the sentinel effect,” a feeling of being watched over tends to keep people in line. The eyeballs involved can be those of police, but community watch and nosy neighbors work, too.

But why fix problems when you can blame your enemies for them instead?

Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton 26 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

WE’VE ALLOWED ALL THESE GUN LAWS IN OUR STATE, AND WE’RE WONDERING WHY WE SEE AN INCREASE OF CRIME AS WELL? IT HAS TO STOP.

practically foams at the mouth over the prospect of throwing you, me and anybody else he can get away with into the clink. “We have an underincarceration problem,” he famously said, and pitched locking more people up as a cure-all.

Of course, he knows better. The Department of Justice, an institution for which law-and-order Cotton can surely muster some respect, found that threats of death penalties or life in prison do next to nothing to deter crime. Their 2016 study also suggested that decades-long prison terms can do more harm than good, since most inmates age out of the urge and energy to break laws, and prolonging their terms behind bars makes it harder for them to reenter society.

Tough-on-crime approaches like Cotton’s don’t make anyone safer, but they absolutely heap extra punishment on poor people who are already suffering. That punishment is the point, a common thread that runs through Arkansas’s and other Southern red states’ divisive laws that make life more miserable, but only in certain parts of town.

Raw numbers also illustrate the futility of building more prisons. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and we’re still blowing it big time. Pretending that what we’ve been doing works, and in fact doubling down on it, would be dumb.

It would also be lucrative. Crime waves are a good excuse to, say, allocate $100 million for a new prison in north Arkansas. The only people to benefit will be the companies that win bids to build and run it.

How long will Arkansas voters support “tough-on-crime” politicians whose policies actually make crime rates worse? The outlook is bleak. Leslie Rutledge, the Arkansas attorney general and frontrunner in the lieutenant governor race, in April signed the state on to a lawsuit seeking to reverse the Trump administration’s bump stock ban. That ban came in the aftermath of a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, where the killer used guns rigged with bump stocks to fire more bullets more quickly. He was able to kill 58 people and injure more than 800 in less than 11 minutes. The right to wield weapons that can mow down nearly a thousand people in minutes shall not be infringed, per Rutledge.

On the ground, though, law enforcement and local officials are trying to move us in the right direction, forfeiting political blame games to focus on the arduous work of crafting long-term plans that might actually save lives.

Even Republican-aligned Little Rock mayoral challenger Landers agrees that Scott’s patient plan to put money into youth programs now in hopes of potential payoffs a decade or so down the road is a good one. Landers has even publicly praised Scott’s holistic approach. That hasn’t stopped Landers from blaming Scott for Little Rock’s high violent crime rates, though.

When a weapon is right there at hand, people tend to use it.

BRIAN CHILSON

HIT THE DIRT: Police scan the ground for bullet casings after a shooting incident near Little Rock Central High.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 27

The Arkansas Times would like to thank these sponsors The for Arkansas Times would to thank these sponsors their support of the 2020like Academic All-star Team.

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BOSTON BOUND: Shreeya Khullar has made waves at Little Rock Central High School, and plans to do likewise as part of Boston University’s Trustee Scholars Program.

THE 2022 ARKANSAS TIMES ACADEMIC ALL-STARS.

BY AUSTIN BAILEY, RHETT BRINKLEY, GRIFFIN COOP, CATHY FRYE, STEPHEN KOCH, LINDSEY MILLAR AND STEPHANIE SMITTLE

T

he 2022 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team, the 28th team the Times has honored, includes a renowned crossword constructor, budding activists, enterprising craftspeople and tireless volunteers. There’s rarely a B on the transcripts of these students in not just this, their senior year, but in any year of their high school careers. Read on for stories of inspiration in these troubled times. And see lists of All-Star finalists and nominees in the pages that follow.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 29

BENTLEY BENNETT

Age: 18 Hometown: Newport High School: Newport High School Parents: Gary Bennett and Dana Howard Beard College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Bentley Bennett was ready to compete at a young age. She won the Jackson County spelling bee, for example, after an eighth-grader misspelled a word and she spelled it correctly — and she was only in second grade at the time. “[I was] definitely nervous, but it’s more so because I was really shy, and it was just scary being on stage,” Bentley said of the first of her four county spelling bee championships. She has gone on to finish at the top of her class at Newport High School, score a perfect 36 on the ACT and earn a full scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she will study psychology next year. While Bentley loved her high school English classes, her passion is in health care, especially mental health. The Newport senior wants to become a mental health therapist and help people struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety. “I kind of deal with that stuff, so it’s just really interesting to me,” Bentley said. The aspiring therapist already enjoys helping others work through their problems. “I just really like analyzing people,” Bentley said. “If someone has something going on or I have something going on, I can kind of identify the cause of it.” Bentley amassed hundreds of hours volunteering for various clubs and events over her high school career, but she really enjoyed working with HOSA-Future Health Care Professionals. Bentley traveled to state and international competitions with HOSA and served as the secretary for the statewide chapter. Bentley’s teachers and principal at Newport High School praised Bentley’s work ethic, dependability and character, but the school district’s director of special programs Ronnie Kay Erwin may have said it best: “We, at Newport Schools, are so proud of her ... but not surprised!” GC 30 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

EVA CASTO

BRADY BILLINGSLEY

Age: 17 Hometown: Springdale High School: Har-Ber High School Parents: Kristen and Bryan Billingsley College plans: Undecided When Brady Billingsley says he “got involved in music really young,” he doesn’t mean age 9 or 10. By kindergarten, he was playing piano.

“In high school, I got more comfortable with English and literature, and got more interested in law,” Brady said. Brady’s ranked No. 1 in his senior class of 635 students at Har-Ber High, and has been accepted to 18 colleges. He’s looking for “institutions that have good music programs and also strong academics.” One plan is a dual degree from Harvard University and the nearby Berklee College of Music, but Yale and Stanford are also near the top of Brady’s list. “Being a musician myself, I think entertainment law would help me make more connections, and be able to network even better with music — combining those.” Until the pandemic hit, Brady shared his musical gift at nursing homes and hospices.

During lockdown, he shifted his performances to digital platforms and found an audience beyond Northwest Arkansas. Piano remains his main instrument, but Brady was at a state choir competition when we finally tracked him down.

He also plays oboe. “I started in middle school on French horn, then later I wanted to try oboe, and no one else played it, so the band director pushed me toward it,” he said. “Double reed instruments, people either are really apt to play them or they aren’t, once you get past those first notes.” Brady got past those first few notes and became adept. When asked what he does in his spare time, it’s also music, he joked: “The great thing about music is it’s so versatile — it can become a career and a hobby.” SK

Age: 18 Hometown: Maumelle High School: Maumelle High School Parents: David and Cindy Casto College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Eva Casto developed a knack for helping her classmates with their assignments back in grade school. “It made me proud to be able to help them learn and to gain knowledge,” she explains. After scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT, Eva turned her tutoring talent into a business by helping other students prepare for the test.

She earned $1,000, which she promptly donated to the Arkansas Foodbank. Eva plans to major in computer science and hopes to one day create a nonprofit educational platform. In her All-Star essay, Eva wrote: “Whatever my future holds, I want to bring joy to the people and the community around me, just as I did for my students who I personally knew and the local kids in need who I never met.” School counselor Allyson Horton, who nominated Eva to be an Academic All-Star, commends the senior for her tenacity and compassion: “Eva is committed to service and determined to make a difference for the issues she cares about and for her community.” Horton also noted that Eva plans to minor in political science with the hope of addressing education inequality. Eva already is active in local politics, serving as an alderman of the Maumelle Youth Council. In this role, she’s able to approach and engage city leaders. Eva’s advice to her peers seeking academic success: “Use every minute wisely.” CF

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BRADSHAW CATE

Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville; born in Little Rock High School: Fayetteville High School Parents: Brandon and Laura Cate College plans: Georgetown University So many Academic All-Stars seem as if they’ve been perfect since birth. But Bradshaw Cate says he and his sister “were two hellions, for lack of a better word. We were definitely a handful for my mom, so she took us to the library a lot to work off excess energy.” Bradshaw found his passions in the library’s nonfiction stacks, with his twin loves being dinosaurs and American history. Another factor in Bradshaw’s early life was his sister’s Asperger’s diagnosis, which came when he was in second grade. “Her getting that diagnosis, and the family figuring out the best way to accommodate her, was a big part of my childhood,” he said. “It was challenging at times.” As for his college plans, Bradshaw said he thinks Georgetown’s school for foreign service “is a pretty done deal” — his parents have already gotten Georgetown sweatshirts, he explained. Either way, he said, “I do plan on having a career in the foreign service in the State Department.” He’s interested in specialized diplomacy and economic development.

“Probably the biggest other thing that’s helped me was listening to my parents about working hard,” he said. “Mom was incredibly strict about chores; almost a military discipline. You always have to work hard at the task at hand.” Teddy, the dog that he’s had since middle school, takes up his spare time, and Brandon’s unlikely to revert back to his hellion days: “I still spend a lot of time reading.” SK

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 31

ELISE HARRIS

Age: 18 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: The Academies at Jonesboro High School Parents: Eric Harris, William (Jeff) and Korillene Flanigan College plans: Vanderbilt University

CHAD GREENWAY

Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Catholic High School Parents: Chad and Kari Greenway College plans: Harvard University Chad Greenway touts role models as the key to inspiring his academic and social successes.

“My parents and their friends have played a vital role in anything I’ve been able to accomplish,” he said. Volunteering as a counselor at Camp Aldersgate gave him “motivation to make the world a better place.” Chad also touted his time helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 in his native Texas as formative: “We were knocking walls out, bringing furniture out, with 20 other guys — none of whom I knew. It really motivated me to help people.” Chad moved to Little Rock in ninth grade. Since his freshman year, he’s ranked first in his class at Catholic High, and is at the top of his senior class of 168 students. He honed his interest in public speaking and politics at Boys State and Boys Nation.

His academic preferences at Catholic High span the disciplines, from straightforward mathematics to the more contemplative social sciences. “I love calculus and AP government and journalism — how we can apply lessons of the past to solve problems of today,” he said. With plans to major in economics at Harvard, Chad is interested in health care technology, specifically “the investing and finance side.” And when he’s not doing that, he loves working out and going to the lake. SK

32 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

There’s pushing yourself to the limit, and then there’s pushing yourself to debilitating tendonitis and arthritis in your foot at the tender age of 18. Jonesboro High School senior Elise Harris found herself on a doctor-ordered rest in April, healing up after years of blue ribbon-level sprinting and triple jumping on her school track team and in the Junior Olympics.

Prescribed physical therapy and at least six weeks of rest, Elise was amazed at all the time there is in a day when your afternoons and evenings aren’t booked with extracurriculars. Not that this lull in the action will last. Elise ships out to Vanderbilt this fall, a school she chose largely because it offers so much to do. “It came down to all the clubs they have, all the groups and activities,” she said. “There are more than 800 social groups and clubs, and I saw so many that I knew I would love to join.” The financial aid package they threw her way was a selling point, too. Vanderbilt floats among the most expensive universities in the country, with a price tag of about $80,000 per year. But most of that is covered for Elise, and she’s quickly racking up more scholarships to make up for the roughly $20,000 a year her financial aid doesn’t cover.

The daughter of educators and next-to-youngest of six children, Elise said the pressure to succeed is fully self-inflicted. She has high expectations for herself, and also for those around her.

A burgeoning journalist with plans to possibly pursue a career in law, Elise used her platform as editor of her school newspaper to take peers to task for letting up on academics during the pandemic. “COVID has become the new ‘my dog ate my homework,’ ” she said. Harsh! Elise certainly didn’t let up, even though she lost close family members. A poet as well as a journalist, Elise found that putting her thoughts on paper helped. “I just feel like I’ve always expressed myself best through writing.” AB

ASH HONG

Age: 18 Hometown: Springdale High School: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Parents: Tommy and Suk Hong College plans: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Video games have long been a central part of Ash Hong’s life. Growing up, they were obsessed (Ash uses they/them pronouns), and as they’ve moved into more rigorous academic work, video games have served as a stress reliever. “Video games rejuvenate me,” Ash said. They’ve also made a lot of friends through games, perhaps because Ash prefers co-op games, such as Overwatch and Battlerite, where you have to work together with others to reach a common goal.

Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts in Hot Springs has been an ideal fit for Ash as they begin down the path of becoming a professional game designer. The arts programs, especially, have been rewarding.

Ash got to delve deep into using gouache paint.

They’ve made cups and bowls in ceramics class, and though Ash was already fairly well-versed in digital art, the ASMSA course exposed them to new techniques. Competing in a regional Science Olympiad’s Circuit Lab event, Ash and their partner spent months learning about circuit boards and their history and researching concepts like Coulomb’s law. When it came time for the competition, Ash’s team got a circuit board unlike the one on which they’d been practicing and the rest of the field’s. “Welp, we’ll see how it goes,” Ash remembered thinking. All the practice paid off, as Ash’s team was the surprise top finisher. Why, with so much natural intellect, does Ash work so hard when taking it easy would likely yield high marks? “At the beginning, it was trying to make my parents proud. Since ninth grade, I’ve wanted to go to MIT. I knew the acceptance rate was like 4%.

So I wanted to push myself. I think being productive is really good for me. It feels really satisfying.” In the fall, Ash will follow their dream and head to MIT, where they plan to major in computer science. LM

ALWAYS A ROCKET

Congratulations to the Catholic High School for Boys Class of 2022!

“Remember the Lord in all that you do, and He will show you the right way.”

—Proverbs 3:6

THE CATHOLIC HIGH DIFFERENCE • INTEGRITY • DUTY • FAITH APPLY TODAY | LRCHS.ORG

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 33

SHREEYA KHULLAR

CAROLINE HUYNH

Age: 18 Hometown: Cabot High School: Cabot High School Parents: Thinh Hoang and Anh Tieu College plans: Rice University Senior year is, for many graduates, a time for reflection, and it was in that nostalgic spirit that Cabot High School senior Caroline Huynh found herself in her family’s attic, looking for some of her old childhood clothes her mom, Anh Tieu, was prone to saving as keepsakes. Instead, Caroline’s eye was caught by something else: a dusty, beige-colored vintage sewing machine.

She asked her mom about it. “I guess it probably sparked a lot of memories,” Caroline said.

“She started telling me about how she made all of these things to fund her family when she was back in Vietnam, and she was, like, ‘the seamstress.’ I asked her to teach me a bit and she helped me set it up. … It was a really cool bonding moment.” It was also a vehicle for one of many volunteer opportunities Caroline leapt at during her senior year, as she used templates to begin churning out neck pillows, travel pillows and teaching dolls for patients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Caroline noted in her submission essay that while her hands are small, that’s proved to be an asset — when she was able to maneuver tiny mechanical components as a student of robotics, for example. Or in her detailed artwork — digital, watercolor, pen and pencil, and on a 12-foot mural of endangered animals she and her classmates completed for the Cabot Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Though Caroline plans to keep art part of her world — “to generate creativity and using it as an outlet for whenever I’m stressed or feeling overwhelmed” — she’ll study biosciences and nanotechnologies at Rice University this fall, “studying bonds and stuff like that, certain materials, tiny little things that make up big mediums, basically, and how they can help us create new tools for medicine, or transporting drugs, or skin care.” SS

34 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Little Rock Central High Parents: Denesh and Huma Khullar College plans: Boston University The longer you listen to Shreeya Khullar talk about how she’s spent her time at Little Rock Central High, the more remarkable it seems that such fully formed ideas about social justice and policy are coming from the mouth of someone who’s barely old enough to vote. She founded Central High’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance at the beginning of her senior year, which grew from two members to around 150 in a matter of months. She is a senior representative for Student Council and the Principal’s Cabinet and a passionate mobilizer and canvasser for Central’s Young Leftists Club. “After the whole quarantine/virtual school thing hit, and we were finally able to do things, I was like, ‘I’m not gonna let go of this chance, ’cause we don’t know if there will be another two years that we’re stuck in our homes. I really wanted to use my time on things that could cause real, tangible change within the communities I’m a part of.” In early April, the Alliance was planning an on-campus health and wellness conference focused on LGBTQ health care, and Central’s National Coming Out Day celebration, Shreeya said, was a hallmark moment in her organizing endeavors. “Everybody was taking pictures, posting on Instagram, putting it on their stories.

It was just really fulfilling. … We’ve changed the queer culture at Central. When I was a ninthand 10th-grader, if you were LGBTQ, you were in the closet, and nobody really talked about it. It was just a really super straight place to be.” Other ventures and passions of Shreeya’s include: crocheting in the Amigurumi (tiny toys) style, doing custom embroidery designs through her side business, Shreeya Stitches, and combating political vitriol with honest conversation.

“As we ease away from COVID restrictions and find ways to talk to each other again, even with strangers — I’m pretty optimistic about what we can accomplish. Even in a red state like Arkansas.” At Boston University, which she’ll attend on full scholarship as part of the school’s Trustee Scholar Program, Shreeya will study sociology, something she hopes will help make her a more well-rounded future health care provider.

And, she said, “I definitely think I plan on being politically involved in Boston the way I am now in Little Rock.” SS

ELISE KNIGHT

Age: 16 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: Valley View High School Parents: Matthew and Amanda Knight College plans: Considering Ouachita Baptist University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Rice University Elise Knight approaches education in the same way she approaches long-distance running and track. She relies on grit, persistence and motivation, explaining, “You just have to know that you have to get up and run. With school, if I start it and get it done, I do my best work.” School counselor Jordan Loebach agrees that Elise’s mindset — along with her participation on the school’s cross-country team — enabled her to achieve a lot during her time at Valley View. “This has taught her teamwork, self-discipline, endurance and strength to push through anything,” Lobach wrote in the nomination essay. Elisa also takes ballet, reads to elementary students and is active in her church community. The counselor noted: “She realizes the importance of intellectual integrity as well as community service and helping others. Elise is constantly looking for ways to further her academic career. I presume she will be very successful in her future endeavors.” Asked what it takes to forge a path to academic success, Elise said, “I really think just trying to find as many opportunities as you can.” Elise said she’s been interested in science since fifth grade. Over the next few years, she devoured nonfiction books about influenza and other infectious diseases.

When the coronavirus pandemic began, she closely followed scientists’ efforts to create an effective vaccine. She plans to work toward a doctorate in biochemistry. CF

Valley View High School

Excellence in education for all WE CONGRATULATE

Elise Knight

for being recognized as a 2022 Academic All-Star.

HARRISON McCARTY

Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Pulaski Academy Parents: Mark and Jennifer McCarty College plans: Undecided Harrison McCarty says he has “never been a quiet person, per se.” So when his parents strongly suggested he take a model United Nations class and he didn’t want to, it became “a big family argument.” As it turns out, Harrison found his passion in model UN. “Politics and social justice have always been interesting to me,” he said, “and from there, my interest just grew.” Harrison is still deciding between a trio of worthy options: Tulane University, Georgetown University and the University of Virginia.

“I’m so lucky to have to make this decision,” he said. “Wherever I go, social justice and community organizing will be a part of my studies. I’m somebody that really likes to embrace discomfort, and sit in discomfort,” he said. “But I want to enjoy my college time, too.” After college, he’s considering joining the Foreign Service. “I love the social sciences,” he said, “how history intersects with geography; that’s super cool.”

Harrison’s senior thesis, on felon voting disenfranchisement in the U.S., is a topic that “affects more than just felons,” he noted. In addition to travel and being outdoors — he’s beginning his third summer as a camp counselor — Harrison loves music in his down time, and has taken up piano. “I love stories; I think music tells stories in such a unique and cool way,” he said. “I have a massive vinyl collection,” he added, touting his latest acquisition, a Harry Styles album. “In middle school, I was not an ‘Academic All-Star,’ if you will,” he admitted. In math, “I would pull Bs!,” he said, aghast now at the thought.

But “something happened between eighth and ninth grade,” putting him on his trajectory to being second in his class at Pulaski Academy.

“The best thing I can do is see where my heart leads me.” SK

www.valleyviewschools.net

Congratulations

Rachael Thumma & Saahas Parise Bentonville High School Class of 2022

www.bentonvillek12.org ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 35

SAAHAS PARISE

SIMON MAROTTE

Age: 17 Hometown: Conway High School: Conway High School Parents: Mary Ruth Stewart and Jeff Marotte College plans: Undecided Simon Marotte has an almost unbeatable “What new skill did you develop during the pandemic?” answer: During the early part of quarantine in 2020, he learned how to construct crossword puzzles — and several months later, at age 16, had a puzzle accepted by The New York Times Crossword. According to an online database that tracks crossword constructor prodigies, Simon is the 16th-youngest person to have a puzzle accepted by The New York Times (13 years, 4 months is the record). After he told his grandmother, early in the pandemic, that he’d constructed his first puzzle by hand, she connected him with Little Rock District Court Judge Vic Fleming, a longtime renowned crossword constructor, who mentored Simon and co-created that initial puzzle. He’s since had five more published by the Times, a themed edition in the Oxford American’s Southern Music issue, several for Universal Crossword and two forthcoming in The Atlantic. Simon says his love for language comes from his mom, an English professor at the University of Central Arkansas, who gave him a word of the day every day in the car on the way to middle school. He attributes his affinity for puzzles in part to “The Mysterious Benedict Society” books written by his stepfather, Trenton Lee Stewart. His work ethic he gets from his father. When he’s not studying for his advanced classes at Conway High School, where he’s ranked No. 2 among 671, or swimming the backstroke on the school’s swim team, he enjoys playing the piano and is especially interested in jazz and improvisation. Last year, he composed music for an outdoor production of “The Tempest” in Conway. “I was overwhelmed sitting in the audience opening night, watching other artists bring Shakespeare to life,” Simon wrote in his All-Star essay, “witnessing my music weave between each scene, each line, each word. It all evoked a sense of community and vibrancy that I had not yet experienced alone at the piano.” LM 36 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Age: 18 Hometown: Bentonville High School: Bentonville High School Parents: Aruna and Sreenivas Parise College plans: Duke University, Georgia Tech or University of Washington In March of 2020, Saahas Parise co-founded Tech-Kno, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit comprising a new generation of technologists from Bentonville aiming to get students interested in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity and applied robotics using beginner-friendly virtual workshops and blog posts.

Saahas describes his own journey into computer science as self-guided and hard to follow without help from someone with experience. “I feel like school was only scratching the surface of how amazing computer science could be,” he said. In a world infused with emerging technologies, Saahas felt it was a vital time to begin teaching children as young as 10 years old. Saahas is currently conducting research at the University of Arkansas Computer Vision and Image Understanding Lab, exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and quantum physics by studying how AI can identify handwritten digits. “In the future I hope this research can expand to super relevant domains like identifying tumors from X-rays,” he said. In 2020 he won first place in the business plan category for the Future Business Leaders of America state conference, qualifying for the nationals. He finished in the top 2% of 24,000 entrants in the 48hour National Cyber Scholarship Competition.

He’s a certified robot operator and is obtaining a Remote Pilot Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration to be able to fly drones.

Saahas loves to play tennis and is a guitarist in the Bentonville High School Jazz Band, which recently won third place at the Drury Jazz Festival. Inspired by his heritage and the lack of Indian guitar players in Bentonville, Saahas is interested in combining classical Indian music with jazz, a musical style known as Indo Jazz, and hopes to join an existing group or found one when he gets to college. “What I’d like to do in the future is continue to use AI for educational purposes, create better multilingual tutoring systems. I want to one day be able to implement these tutoring systems in developing countries and for communities in need for better education.” RB

DYLAN PATEL

Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Parkview High School Parents: Sarika and Rakesh Patel College plans: Undecided Dylan Patel didn’t know he was being nominated for the Presidential Volunteer Service award for the 700-plus hours he put in, and when he saw his picture pop up on social media and news sites after winning, he felt embarrassed. “I wasn’t volunteering for the recognition,” he said. “But I’m glad I received it because I’ve used it to demonstrate that it takes one person to make a meaningful difference,” he said. A member of the North Little Rock Mayor’s Youth Council since 2019, Dylan volunteers at the Canvas Community Church providing clothes and serving meals to people experiencing homelessness. He also volunteers for the Centers for Youth and Families, Arkansas Foodbank and AR Recycle Bikes for Kids.

Volunteering at mobile health fairs in underprivileged communities inspired Dylan to study public health in college. He won first place in the Arkansas Medical Dental & Pharmaceutical Association 2020 Student Essay Contest on health disparities. “I want to create outreach programs to make healthy eating more equitable for the underprivileged communities where complications from diabetes, heart attacks and strokes are significantly higher,” he said. Dylan is the captain of Parkview’s debate and mock trial team. In middle school he founded a chess club that now has over 100 members. In spring of 2020 he created the YouTube channel “Math With Gloves,” to help students adjust to home learning, focusing on concepts on the ACT that might be difficult to grasp. His video “How to subtract meters from kilometers” has over 2,000 views. A self-proclaimed sports journalist, Dylan runs the Instagram page “nfl_outlines” focusing on NFL draft analysis and player injury analysis. He also plays rugby on the Little Rock Junior Stormers Rugby team. Dylan said he doesn’t see his time volunteering ending when he goes off to college. “If I can help other people, if I can improve other communities using my own efforts and the skills I’ve learned, I know that’s a job well done and that my life has purpose.” RB

Congratulations to Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts senior Ash Hong of North Little Rock on being named an Arkansas Times Academic All-Star!

Ash is among the state’s top young computer science students and was chosen as a recipient of the National Center for Women and Information Technology Award for Aspirations in Computing by the organization’s Arkansas affiliate. They will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to major in computer science and engineering.

asmsa.org

ASMSA offers hundreds of young Arkansans an experience that combines the best parts of high school and college in a unique community of learning. It is the only school in the state to provide advanced course opportunities in STEM and the arts in an on-campus residential setting. Discover how you can engage in courses designed to challenge bright minds and grow as a student while earning more than a year of college credit.

Ignite your potential by attending one of the nation’s top public high schools!

JAYA SHARMA

Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville High School: Fayetteville High School Parents: Swati and Aneet Sharma College plans: Dartmouth College

ASHTON RODRIGUES

Age: 17 Hometown: Paragould High School: Paragould High School Parents: Isaac and Barbara Rodrigues College plans: Mississippi State University Ashton Rodrigues is accustomed to winning — and leadership. The Paragould senior served as the drum major of the Paragould High School band for the last two years. And it’s not just any band. His school has won the state championship six years in a row. As the drum major, Ashton was responsible for organizing his bandmates and serving as a middleman who delivered instructions to the band from the band directors. Ashton, who also plays the alto saxophone in the concert band, said being the drum major allowed him to develop his leadership skills in a practical way. “You have people depending on you,” Ashton said. “You have a real responsibility and real consequences if you mess up.” Band isn’t the only place where Ashton excelled. The aspiring physician is ranked first of 182 students at his school and scored a perfect 36 on the ACT. He plans to study biology at Mississippi State University next year and pursue a career in medicine like his mother. “[My parents] kind of pushed me for that [career], but I also just want to help people and I want to have an active role in helping people.”

Rather than just studying theories, Ashton prefers to see things come to fruition. From the time he helped build a school in Peru to the projects he worked on in his AP computer science class, Ashton likes seeing a project come together. “It could be really frustrating at times,” Ashton said of the computer science projects. “But once you actually got it to start working, it made it worth it.” GC

38 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

KATIE RUPERT

Age: 17 Hometown: Greenwood High School: Greenwood High School Parents: Shon and Sally Rupert College plans: Oklahoma State University Katie Rupert’s love for working with young children suggests a possible career as a teacher.

After graduating from her church’s children’s program, she missed the younger kids so much that she started volunteering for vacation Bible school. She’s been a stage manager for the Christmas program and spent afternoons walking elementary-age students from their school to her church’s aftercare program. But Katie also loves anything and everything to do with space and plans to become an aerospace engineer.

“Right now I think I want to work on rockets and rocket engines in particular,” she said. Maybe she’ll end up at NASA, she mused, or a private space organization. School counselor Lisa Dean wrote in her nomination that Katie has adeptly juggled the many organizations in which she is involved. “She has maintained her high GPA while being a part of our award-winning competitive dance team in which she currently serves as captain,” Dean wrote, adding that Katie plans to pursue dance at the collegiate level as well. By graduation, Katie will have taken eight honors courses, six AP classes and three college-concurrent courses. She credits her successes to setting goals for herself and following through. “I had to push myself and make myself study when I didn’t want to,” she says. “But it all paid off.” CF

If you were one of the online shoppers who, early in the pandemic, sought out cloth face coverings from Arkansas-based makers, you might have happened upon j.lucki, where you’d have found an assortment of masks with “adjustable, elastic ear loops and a double woven cotton liner for extra safety, handmade from repurposed Sari fabrics from India.” The hands behind j.lucki belong to Fayetteville student Jaya Sharma, and whether you knew it or not, part of your purchase went to fund scholarships for girls in the small farming village from which Jaya’s grandmother — now a resident of Austin, Texas — hails. “It’s maybe once a year that I get a chance to get dressed up in traditional clothing, so I was like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna take these and revitalize it, give it this new story and this new beginning.’ … The colors are just unlike anything I’ve seen in Western fabrics, so I just love working with them.” As a part of Arkansas United, Jaya was “a youth representative that went to Washington, D.C., to fight for student minority voices [earlier this year]. …

We were there to put pressure on legislators to fight for immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship.” Time not spent sewing or marching this year was tightly managed, if Jaya’s stellar grades in the 16 AP classes she’s taken are any indication. She’s also on the Teen Leadership Board in partnership with the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce; completed a virtual internship with NASA last summer; volunteers to work with local refugees through the Canopy Project; and is president of the National Honor Society; secretary of Mu Alpha Theta and the Science National Honor Society; and a member of Fayetteville High’s Interact Club, French National Honor Society, volleyball team and crew club; and was crowned homecoming queen at Fayetteville High this year. She’s headed to Dartmouth College, where her older brother attends, and where she’ll likely study astrophysics or architecture. SS

Congratulations to our very own Bentley Bennett.

We are incredibly proud of your accomplishments!

ONCE A GREYHOUND, ALWAYS A GREYHOUND!

www.newportschools.org

Congratulations

Elise Harris 2022 Academic All-Star Al Neuharth Free Spirit Journalist DAR and Creative Communications 3x Published Poet Mayor’s Youth Advancement Council Executive Board Journalism & Yearbook Lead Editor

Jonesboro Public Schools Excellence is our Standard, not our Goal, for All Students. jonesboroschools.net ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 39

LOUIS WENGER

ALEX SOTO

Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Little Rock Central High Parents: Jennifer and Aaron Wenger College plans: Rice University

Age:18 Hometown: Springdale High School: Springdale High School Parents: Daniel and Maria Soto College plans: Stanford University Whether it’s tutoring his peers to help improve their ACT scores in the morning before school or building a candy bridge with students from his former middle school to help ignite a passion for STEM, Alex Soto is motivated to eliminate inequality. A first-generation Mexican-American, Alex sees his ACT tutoring sessions as more than just helping to bring up test scores. “My school is predominantly minority, first-generation and low-income students,” Alex said. “I noticed that it was definitely harder for people from my background to do better on that test.” Not only are tutoring services expensive, Alex said that by the time some first-generation students realize the importance of the test, it’s too late. Alex’s older sister stressed to him the importance of the test, and when he first took it in seventh grade he scored a 19. Using free resources in the library and online, he studied on his own and raised his score to a 35. “Being at a disadvantage I had to work a lot harder, and just knowing everything I know now I thought I was in a good position to help my peers,” he said. Alex is inspired by Stanford professor Manu Prakash and the idea of “frugal science,” creating inexpensive innovations to eliminate health care inequality all over the world. Alex is currently working on an affordable, high-functioning prosthetic arm in his engineering class that will be controlled by a NeuroSky Mindwave headset. He also mentors students at his former middle school in engineering, working to help spark a passion for STEM. “I see a lot of Hispanics underrepresented in STEM fields,” he said.

When he was younger he would go to math competitions and notice that he’d be the only Hispanic person competing. “It intimidated me because it made me feel like I kind of don’t belong. But I just realized by doing it so much, by gaining confidence and breaking those social norms, that’s how you end the problem.

You have to set the precedent for future generations.” RB 40 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

RACHAEL THUMMA

Age: 18 Hometown: Bentonville High School: Bentonville High School Parents: Paul Thumma and Anitha Samineedi College plans: University of Notre Dame Rachael Thumma joined Arkansas Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) during her freshman year in high school. Eventually, she became president and sought to get a better understanding of what classes and resources were available to Arkansas students interested in careers in the medical field. While some districts offered numerous prepaid medical certification courses, most offered only a few health care classes, Rachael said. This revelation prompted her to create the first-ever collaborative online platform. She wanted to make available a resource that could be accessed by students across the state. Rachael also found a way to share medical community initiatives, medical immersion resources and a series of guest speakers to help students identify specific careers in the field. Throughout this process, Rachael determined that she wants to be a practicing physician in a hospital setting. “I was able to rule out research,” she said, “but I’m still deciding on what my specialty will be.”

College and career counselor Justin Horschig wrote in his nomination letter: “Rachael is a determined hard worker who is detail-oriented in all she does. Her brilliance is only complemented by her kindness and empathy.” Rachael credits HOSA for her achievements and future plans.

“HOSA gave me so many things — friends, conferences and leadership opportunities,” she said. “I have so many cool opportunities. I’m working on my emergency medical technician certification right now.” CF

During the pandemic, Louis Wenger got really into math. (Though according to his resume, he had already reached unusual heights by taking pre-calculus as a ninth-grader and earning the top score on the AP calculus exam as a sophomore. With a perfect ACT score and slated to graduate atop his Central High class, consider “really into” as a relative distinction.) He spent most of the summer studying what he described to a layman as “creative, longform math” and competed in the USA Mathematical Talent Search, a month-long competition to solve difficult proof-based problems. He earned an honorable mention, but began to burn out on competitive math. “I didn’t enjoy getting a problem right, I enjoyed not getting a problem wrong,” he wrote in his Academic All-Stars essay. Meanwhile, he was working as a tutor of younger children at Mathnasium. “Helping kids solve addition problems definitely helped me unwind a little bit,” he said. When a reporter reached him in April, Louis had just returned from Central High’s robotics club, which he took up to try to build his kinesthetic skills. His future is likely in STEM, he figures. “Right now, I’m interested in physics, neuroscience, computer science — pretty much everything. I’m having trouble figuring out what I want to do next because I like all of it.” In his free time, Louis likes playing the piano, which he recently took up again.

He’s learning jazz transcription, some classical repertoire and Earth, Wind and Fire. This summer, he’s taking a class trip to Greece. He’s been studying how to avoid jet lag. Greece is eight hours ahead of Central Time. “Eight days before you leave, you go to bed one hour early.” And so on. “The last day you’re home, you’re going to bed at 2 p.m. Everyone thinks you’re kind of crazy, but the first day, they’re suffering from jet lag and you look like a genius.” Louis conceded he was unlikely to follow through. “But I’m going to think about doing it,” he said. LM

ai16503088709_Ark Times Ad 2022.pdf 1 4/18/2022 2:07:51 PM

THESE STUDENTS MADE THE FINAL ROUND OF JUDGING FOR OUR ACADEMIC ALL-STAR TEAM:

C

M

Y

CM

MY

AMELIA ALLGOOD

Mount St. Mary Academy

CY

CMY

K

JULIENNE ANGTUACO Pulaski Academy

LINDSEY GARRETSON Southside High School

SOPHIE REYNOLDS Episocopal Collegiate

“We all love Caroline Huyhn at CHS! Not only is she a phenomenal young scholar, she is also humble, witty, and creative. Caroline has an incredible work ethic, and she deserves every bit of the recognition she is receiving for her accomplishments. It has been such a pleasure having Caroline as a student, and I am looking forward to following her future endeavors.

Congratulations, Caroline!”

EMMA RONCK Rogers High School

ZANE GARNER

Rogers Heritage High School

COY MORRIS

Valley View High School

SHIVAM RAJA Alma High School

JOSHUA STALLINGS

Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts

– Mrs. Forster

LANCE VISCIONI-WILSON Episcopal Collegiate

cabotschools.org ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 41

Here are the students nominated to be Academic All-Stars listed by hometown: ALMA SHIVAM RAJA Alma High School

ENOLA OLIVIA BEENE Mount Vernon Enola High School

BELLA VISTA AARON CHILDRESS Gravette High School

FARMINGTON CATHERINE WARREN Farmington High School

BENTON ZACHARY BEVILL Benton High School

FAYETTEVILLE BRANDON CATE Fayetteville High School

CARSON BURKS Glen Rose High School

ISAAC COTTLE Fayetteville Virtual Academy

JACOB WERFELMANN Lakeside High School

ISABELLA ODOM Bryant High School

TREY HILL Farmington High School

GRACE ANN SHELNUT Benton High School

TYBET NEW Haas Hall Academy (Fayetteville)

JONESBORO ELISE HARRIS The Academies at Jonesboro High School

BENTONVILLE SAAHAS PARISE Bentonville High School

JAYA SHARMA Fayetteville High School

ISABELLE TINDALL Thaden School BERRYVILLE SAMUEL BALL Berryville High School BRYANT AARON GARCIA Bryant High School CABOT CAROLINE HUYNH Cabot High School CAMDEN ADAM MOSLEY Camden Fairview High School GABRIELLA TIDWELL Camden Fairview High School CAVE CITY KATELYN PROVENCE Cedar Ridge High School

42 MAY 2022

ELISE KNIGHT Valley View High School

DAVID WRIGHT The New School

MCKENZIE MINOR Paragould High School

FLIPPIN MARY KATHRYN CHEEK Cotter High School

COY MORRIS Valley View High School

FORDYCE KENDYL KEMP Fordyce High School JOHN ROSS Fordyce High School FORREST CITY DE’MARIO JORDAN Forrest City High School SHAMYA FUTRELL Forrest City High School

JEDIDAH LIGHTNER Southside High School

CORNING KENZIE BLANCHARD Corning High School

GRAVETTE ALYSSA HOLLAND Gravette High School

TIMOTHY CURTIS Corning High School

GREENWOOD RUSSELL RATHBUN Greenwood High School KATHERINE RUPERT Greenwood High School

DE QUEEN ABIGAIL BARKER De Queen High School

HAMBURG MARILYN RODRIGUEZ Hamburg High School

LUKE REED De Queen High School

HARRISON EMMA LEE LOUISE GRADDY Valley View High School

ENGLAND HUNTER CARLTON eStem Charter High School ARKANSAS TIMES

SPENCER HONEYCUTT Westside High School

AZLON THOMAS Haas Hall Academy (Springdale)

ALLISON ROSS Conway High School

TYLER RUSHING Dover High School

ANN GRIGSBY Lakeside High School

MATT HUGHES The Academies at Jonesboro High School

FORT SMITH LINDSEY GARRETSON Southside High School

DOVER CAITLIN DRAKE Dover High School

LOGAN COMSTOCK Hot Springs World Class High School

PETER SCHWAMMLEIN Thaden School

CONWAY SIMON MAROTTE Conway High School

DARDANELLE MADYSON JOHNSON Dardanelle High School

HOT SPRINGS MARLISSA ARCHIE Hot Springs World Class High School

HAZEN WESLEY CLAYTON Hazen High School HAILEY SMITH Hazen High School HERMITAGE DAVID ALAN MCGHEE Hermitage High School

STEPHEN NI Nettleton High School ASHLEE TABER Nettleton High School BAILEY WILLIS Westside High School JUDSONIA KAYLEE WATSON Bald Knob High School LITTLE ROCK ISABELLA ADEOLA Little Rock Christian Academy JULIENNE ANGTUACO Pulaski Academy JADE BUCHANAN Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School CONLEY EDWARDS eStem Charter High School CHAD GREENWAY Catholic High School for Boys RILEY HARGROVE Central Arkansas Christian School BENJAMIN KENSINGTON Joe T. Robinson High School SHREEYA KHULLAR Little Rock Central High School HARRISON MCCARTY Pulaski Academy MASON MEZEL Little Rock Christian Academy DYLAN PATEL Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School SOPHIE REYNOLDS Episcopal Collegiate School

JOSHUA STALLINGS Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts LANCE VISCIONI-WILSON Episcopal Collegiate School

CONGRATULATIONS, HARRISON MCCARTY!

LOUIS WENGER Little Rock Central High School

Harrison bleeds blue and gold! He always has a plan to make the most of every day. Academically, he has always taken a challenging course load and succeeded.

Way to go, Harrison!

LOWELL SARAH SCHWARTZ Haas Hall Academy (Rogers) MALVERN ELLA JONES Poyen High School MARION ELLIOT ALLEN Marion High School EMERSON MILLER Marion High School MAUMELLE JOHN BRUCHHAGEN Maumelle High School EVA CASTO Maumelle High School MONETTE FRIDA GALVAN Buffalo Island Central High School MALLIE ZIELINKSI Buffalo Island Central High School

www.pulaskiacademy.org

MT. VERNON MORGAN BREWER Mt. Vernon Enola School District NEWPORT BENTLEY BENNETT Newport High School NORTH LITTLE ROCK ASH HONG Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts ALAN INGRAM North Little Rock High School SAMANTHA MONTGOMERY North Little Rock High School OXFORD LANDON MCBRIDE Izard County High School

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PARAGOULD JARED NOEL Greene County Tech High School ASHTON RODRIGUES Paragould High School KYLIE STOKES Greene County Tech High School PRAIRIE GROVE TACI VICKERY Prairie Grove High School RISON MOLLY FREEMAN Rison High School ETHAN HALL Rison High School ROGERS DYLAN BEALEY Rogers High School

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ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 43

ALWAYS A ROCKET ZANE GARNER Rogers Heritage High School KERRIGAN LOYER Rogers Heritage High School EMMA RONCK Rogers High School LATHAN SMALLEY Rogers New Technology High School RACHAEL THUMMA Bentonville High School DIANA TRUJILO ROGEL Rogers New Technology High School SEARCY LANDON WYATT Searcy High School SHERWOOD AMELIA ALLGOOD Mount St. Mary Academy JACOB CARLIN Central Arkansas Christian School SILOAM SPRINGS ABBY JOINER Siloam Springs High School SPRINGDALE BRADY BILLINGSLEY Har-Ber High School LISETTE BIRCH The New School KAREN DELGADO GARCIA Springdale High School

CONGRATULATIONS TO CHAD MICHAEL GREENWAY, JR. For Being a 2022 Academic All-Star

Catholic High, Class of 2022, Valedictorian | Harvard University, Class of 2026 American Legion Boys Nation Senator, Stephens Award Recipient, National Merit Scholarship Finalist

KATELYN ROBERTS Haas Hall Academy (Bentonville) COUNTS SHANKS Har-Ber High School ALEXANDER SOTO Springdale High School MADELINE WILSON Fayetteville Virtual Academy WALDRON LUPITA MORALES Waldron High School WARD WILLIAM GODDARD Cabot High School

THE CATHOLIC HIGH DIFFERENCE INTEGRITY • DUTY • FAITH APPLY TODAY | LRCHS.ORG

WALDRON OWEN RIDENHOUR Waldron High School WARREN ERICCA CORKER Hermitage High School WEST FORK MICEALA MORANO Haas Hall Academy (Springdale)

44 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

A Special Advertising Section

ARKANSAS TIMES WANTS TO CELEBRATE NURSES AND HONOR THE VITAL WORK THEY DO. Join us as we shine a spotlight on the incredible nurses (registered nurses, nurse practitioners, LPNs, and others) across the state that have devoted their lives to the betterment of the lives of others. WE CELEBRATE ALL NURSES!

CELEBRATING NURSES WEEK: MAY 6 -12 May 11

National School Nurse Day

May 12

International Nurses Day

Given everything these past two years have thrown at nurses and other health care workers in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, there isn’t a better or more appropriate time to focus on recognizing, appreciating,and investing in our incredible nurses across the state of Arkansas and the globe.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 45

A Special Advertising Section UAMS

This year has been another extraordinary one for nursing as our profession has continued to be in the spotlight, highlighting our advocacy, compassion and sacrifice. It has been no different for nurses at UAMS. In honor of our murses and staff, UAMS will join the American Nurses Critical Care Association and others around the nation in May, to celebrate national Nurses Week themed, UAMS Nurses AR “Rooted in Strength!” Activities will focus on our CNO Kick-Off, Weekend Spotlights, Performance Improvement, Team Appreciation and annual Professional Nursing Awards recognizing UAMS nurses and staff for the differences they make every day with our patients, families and each other. If you want to “Embody Excellence,” Come join us! “Live Chat” with our nurse recruiter, email NurseRecuitment@ uams.edu, or visit nurses.uams.edu! We offer a sign-on bonus and completed a recent market adjustment for direct care nurses. Follow us @ UAMSNurses/#UAMSNurses!

ARKANSAS DERMATOLOGY SKIN CANCER CENTER

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and worldwide. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70. More than two people die of skin cancer in the U.S every hour. Having five or more sunburns doubles your risk for melanoma. When detected early, the five-year survival rate for melanoma is 99%. Arkansas Dermatology Skin Cancer Center has locations in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Heber Springs, Cabot, Stuttgart, Conway, Searcy and Russellville.

For more information about job opportunities at Jefferson Regional, contact Gigi Flory at 870-541-7774 or nursingrecruitment@jrmc.org.

1600 West 40th Ave., Pine Bluff, AR 71603 46 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

16,000 steps a day.

Humankindness in every one of them.

In a single shift, our nurses take an average of 16,000 steps — twice as many as what a regular person walks per day. And in each and every one of these steps, they guide and support our patients along their journeys. From offering health care expertise and healing guidance, to holding their hands and cheering them up, our nurses embody humankindness in everything they do. This Nurses Week, we want to thank our nurses for their dedication, optimism, strength, and for making a difference every step of the way.

Happy Nurses Week!

A Special Advertising Section

Leadership

Practice

Education

Workforce

Leadership

Practice

Leadership Practice Arkansas' Leadership Nursing Practice Leadership Practice Workforce Leadership Center Practice

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JEFFERSON REGIONAL, Pine Bluff We frequently hear nurses described as “health care heroes,” and at Jefferson Regional, they prove it every day. However, at our hospital, nurses often refer to themselves by a different title: family. From the surgical nurse to the bedside nurse to the educator, you can see it in the way they work together when caring for patients, the way they support each other, and the way they lift each other up when times are tough. But you can also see it in personal moments, when they are celebrating successes and comforting each other in difficult situations not related to their jobs. We believe that trust and compassion played a big role in how our nurses survived the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we also believe it’s a strong component in the exceptional care provided by our nursing staff on a daily basis. We are unbelievably proud of them all, and proud to call them family.

ARKANSAS CENTER FOR NURSING

The Arkansas Center for Nursing Inc. is the state’s nursing workforce center and is a member of the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. One of the primary goals of the ACN is to collect and report data related to the supply, demand and educational capacity of the nursing workforce in the state. The ACN also aims to recognize and foster leadership excellence and to encourage and support educational advancement among nurses and nursing students in Arkansas. We believe that our nurses are well equipped and should be leaders in advancing the culture of health in our state. We are planning our upcoming celebrations of the 2022 “40 Nurse Leaders Under 40” ceremony and a commemorative signing event to celebrate our most successful legislative session to date. Nurses and non-nurses alike are encouraged to join our organization. Please visit our website at arcenterfornursing.org for more information.

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48 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

CARELINK

CareLink, Central Arkansas’s Area Agency on Aging, has been caring for families together since 1979. A nonprofit headquartered in North Little Rock, it is our mission to connect older people and their families with the resources to meet the opportunities and challenges of aging so that they may live safely, independently and happily in their own homes. Meeting the aging community where they need us, our services include in-home care, Meals on Wheels, family caregiver support, pet assistance and so much more. For more than 40 years, we have given families peace of mind and confidence by serving the older community with kindness and admiration. If you or someone you know could benefit from CareLink, give us a call at 501-372-5300 or toll-free at 800-482-6359.

A Special Advertising Section

BECOME A

#CHAMPIONFOR CHILDREN Now more than ever, nurses are the heart of Arkansas Children’s.

The nurses at Arkansas Children’s are dedicated to providing the best care possible to the state’s tiniest of lives. Join a team committed to excellence.

Learn more at archildrens.org/careers EOE, Drug-Free, Nicotine-Free Workplace

CareLink has been caring for older people and their families in Central Arkansas through services like in home care since 1979. We are thankful for our nurses who train and work with our caregivers to ensure the aging community is getting the care they need so they can continue to age gracefully in the comfort of their homes.

If you think in home care is the right choice for you or a love one, call CareLink’s Information & Assistance Specialists at 501.372.5300 or toll free at 800.482.6359.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 49

NURSING Excellence at UAMS Health

UAMS

nurses are ...

Not only during Nurses Week but all year long — we recognize, acknowledge and appreciate our nurses and teams for their expertise and commitment to care for those who need it most!

There has never been a better time to work at UAMS Health.

Apply now!

Visit UAMS.info/GoNursing #RecentMarketAdjustment

50 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

SUMMER CAMP IS BACK ON!

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 51

Pulaski County Special School District serves nearly 12,000 students in Pulaski County covering more than 600 square miles. Across this expansive county, PCSSD boasts four high schools in three different cities -- Joe T. Robinson High School and Mills University Studies High School in Little Rock, Maumelle High School in Maumelle and Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood. As we reflect one last time on the 2021-2022 school year, we want to send a special message to our graduating seniors - the class of 2022. The following messages are from each of the high school principals.

JOE T. ROBINSON HIGH SCHOOL

MAUMELLE HIGH SCHOOL

Class of 2022, The 2021-2022 school year has been a refreshing change from the past two years. Even with a second wave of a Covid variant, we have been able to get back to pre-pandemic life. I personally have enjoyed seeing your smiling faces in the hallways, not hidden behind protective masks.

You have been through some challenges during your high school years. Every one of you had to endure at least one obstacle over the past four years. Those challenges have shaped you into the person you are today. Those challenges will remain with you into adulthood and continue to shape the person you will become.

Always remember how strong you are for all that you have experienced.

As you move on into adulthood, remember the lessons you learned as a student at Robinson High School. Know your why and set goals for yourself to attain your dreams. Make excellence your expectation in everything you do. Give 100% of yourself on a daily basis. Lastly, always remember it is a great day to be a Senator!

The Class of 2022 experienced plenty of high points: • 4 seniors scored high enough to join the ACT 30+ Club • This year we had 5 students accepted into Governor’s School • Over the course of four years, we had multiple championships in football, baseball, track, cross country, and girls soccer. Additionally, our student-athletes received high achievement for individuals in golf, as well as wrestling and cheerleading.

• Our Robinson football team was honored at the State Capitol • RHS Singing Senators earned a Superior Rating at Assessment • First Robinson Student to win a seat in the Arkansas Youth Symphony Orchestra • Highest number of concurrent credit students • 3rd place in Original Oratory, at Bentonville Tiger Classic, Forensics Competition I am proud to be part of your Robinson High story and serve as your principal for this year. I’m blessed to have known some of you since elementary school. It has been an honor to be a small part of your lives and I look forward to watching you navigate through what life has to offer. Go Senators!

Dear MHS Seniors ‘22, Congratulations on being a member of the 11th graduating class from Maumelle High School! You join an elite group of over 2,500 Hornet alumni that can call themselves graduates of MHS. This is truly a time of celebration for not only you but for your family, friends, community, and teachers who have poured into you and helped you along your journey. While this chapter is now complete, your story is far from over.

As you move into the next chapter of your life, my hope is that you do not become defined by labels but embrace a spirit of service to your fellow humans.

Society will want to define you and put you in a box but you are so much more than the work you do or some other label. Become involved in your community and give back so others can “label” you a volunteer, a giver, a servant. Never fail to acknowledge the most important labels you will ever hold: father, mother, spouse, friend. Continue to be “indefinable” but be sure the labels placed upon you are those that speak to who you really are. Labels not only have the power to build you and others up but they can quickly destroy the story you are telling.

In closing, thank you for allowing me to be a part of your story. You are my first graduating class here at MHS and you will always hold a special place in my heart. l wish you well, I wish you the best life has to offer, and I wish you continued blessings.

Regardless of where life takes you, I hope that you will always be proud to call yourself an alumni of the Maumelle High School family. Go Hornets!

Dr. Jason Pickering, Principal SYLVAN HILLS HIGH SCHOOL Class of 2022, The Class of ‘22 will do big things after departing the hallways of SHHS. Regardless of the obstacles you were plagued with, the Class of 2022 has been a special class. We have SEVENTY students from your class that are Honor Graduates with at least a 3.5 grade point average. You produced several Governor’s Distinguished recipients and a National Merit winner. For many, you have conquered private challenges we could never have predicted. You all have truly excelled in outlandish times and because of that, the Class of 2022 has cemented itself as extraordinary.

I wish you all the best in your future endeavors! Go Bears!

Mr. Tracy Allen, Principal

52 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Yours truly, Mr. Jason Young, Principal MILLS UNIVERSITY STUDIES HIGH SCHOOL Dear Comets Class of 2022, Wow. We are here. I hope that you can find some valuable memories and experiences that you have had as high school students. Now we look up and we find people that get caught up in the mix every day in every way but the right.

We can’t run from reality luring us closer away to the same old snares and traps.

We learn from our mistakes. Nevertheless, hopefully, all of the experiences have been teachable moments and learning experiences for us. We wear our failures and accomplishments with pride. Comet Nation! There is no I in TEAM; what side are you on?

I challenge you to seize the moment. Do not discount challenges good or bad.

Hopefully, there have been times that you relish the fact you have benefited from the life lessons. Embrace the awkward. Also, be persistent, for instance, do not let Instagram and the tv screen come in between your daily routines of you seeking the hidden treasure in pure literature.

Looking back, I ponder these questions: Have we set them up for success?

Did they truly know that we cared for them? Who is your favorite teacher of all time? What educator changed your life? What characteristics separated that person from others?

Comet Nation, there is no life worth living without generosity.

Do justice and love mercy. Remember these things: plant, plan, prioritize, and live life on purpose.

Mr. Duane Clayton, Principal

MAY 2022 NEWS & NOTES HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

May 8

What do you want most for Mother’s Day? A nap? A stolen moment alone? An elbow macaroni necklace? How about Mother’s Day Brunch at the Little Rock Zoo?! Can you say omelet station?! There will also be live music, special animal ambassador encounters and an activity for kids. 8:30-10:30 a.m., reservations required. littlerockzoo.com/ extra-fun/events/

DON’T MISS OUT! MORE ZOO NEWS

Things are hoppin’ (and slinking, and running, and gamboling ) at the Zoo. You’ll want to add these to your calendar:

MAY 5, CINCO DE RHINO (adults only) MAY 14, BREAKFAST WITH A TWIST (the twist? A colobus monkey!)

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

May 21, 10 a.m.-noon

May Growing Community Garden Workday & Workshop at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library & Learning Center is open to kids, teens and adults. This is an outdoor event, so dress for the weather.

FUN ON THE GO

CALS has some great Grab & Go Activity Kits this month (all while supplies last). Among them “Watermelon Fan & Maze,” “Sunprints,” “Beaded Flip Flops & Friendship Bracelets,” “Fish CD.” Check cals.org for details.

May 20 NATIONAL PICK STRAWBERRIES DAY

FOR BUDDING NATURALISTS

May 24 A DIFFERENT KIND OF K-POP

NATIONAL SCAVENGER HUNT DAY

May 21, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; May 22, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Come see the imaginative world Doodle POP creates as mischievous duo Woogie and Boogie bring doodles to life in this one-of-a-kind show.

Accompanied by live musicians and interactive screen projections, their live whiteboard drawings and hysterical antics will delight audiences ages 3 and up. Produced by South Korea’s BRUSH Theatre, Doodle POP has performed at theaters and festivals all over the world. This is the last stop of their first U.S. tour. Run time is 50 minutes. $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers.(CALS Ron Robinson Theater)

Pinnacle Mountain State Park offers lots of fun kids’ programming this month. Join popular park interpreter Kellie for “Little Birds With Big Character” (learn the ways of hummingbirds), “Be Snake Smart” (learn to identify and avoid the venomous types) and “Disney Animals” (find out which of your favorite Disney animals live in the park).

Check the park’s website for times.

Y’ALL’S FAIR ...

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR SUMMER!

May 27

Last day for LRSD!

May 25-29

In its second year, The Pulaski County Fair will include PBJ Happee Days Shows carnival midway, rides, games, vendors, food, drink (adult and otherwise), a petting zoo, live entertainment, contests and more.

(Riverfront Park, North Little Rock) ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 53

SUMMER CAMP GUIDE 2022

Summer is fast approaching, which means it’s camp time!

And though it’s hard to believe, there are those among us who have yet to sign up (no judgment). Here’s a lastminute guide. From science to sports, from the arts to academics, there’s something for everyone. At this point, “register soon!” goes without saying.

ACADEMICS/ENRICHMENT/STEAM

SUMMER LAUREATE UNIVERSITY FOR YOUTH (SLUFY) AT UALR 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock 501-916-3410 giftedcenter@ualr.edu, ualr.edu/slufy/ Dates: July 11-22 Grades: K-6 Cost: $350 SLUFY is a perennial favorite among kids and parents. As usual, there is a wide variety of engaging courses in math, engineering, science, the arts, social studies, language arts and more — in addition to 22 new classes!

OTHERS TO CHECK OUT: ARKANSAS REGIONAL INNOVATION HUB Dates: 8 a.m.-noon June-July Ages: 8-14 LIFE LAUNCH & HENDRIX COLLEGE Dates: June 5-10 Grades: Rising high school juniors and seniors TASHA TEACHES SPANISH CAMP UNIDAD Dates: 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., June 13-17 and June 20-24, Grades: K-3

54 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

UCA CAMPS Dates: June-July Grades: Elementary-High School Also at UALR ...

ENGINEERING SCHOLARS PROGRAM Dates: June 12-18 Grades: 8-11 Also at UALR ...

TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING INSTITUTE Dates: June 12-24 Grades: 8-11 ZOOFARI AT THE LITTLE ROCK ZOO Dates: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., June-July Ages: 5-14

THE ARTS

THE REP 601 Main St., Little Rock 501-378-0405 therep.org/classes-and-camps/, education@therep.org Technical Theatre: Rising ninth-12th grades Musical Theatre Conservatory: Rising ninth-12th grades, plus 2022 high school graduates Musical Theatre: Rising sixth-eighth grades Dates: July Costs: Varied. Full and partial need-based scholarships and

Same-day shipping when you order online at:

ABOUT

DogTalkTV.com/PatBecker–Books/

BLOG



Pat Becker of Dog Talk TV

BOOKS

EPISODES CONTACT

Learn about Little Rock’s celebrated Akbash guardian dogs at Heifer Village & Urban Farm Read the captivating story of sheep guardian dogs Sam and Uno in this beautifully illustrated book for dog lovers of all ages. Learn how this special breed of Akbash guardians work as a team to protect the sheep in their charge. Introduced to the wary sheep at Little Rock’s own Heifer Village and Urban Farm, Sam and Uno prove themselves in a frightening episode. These dependable guardian dogs earn a place in the hearts of the sheep...and they’ll win your heart as well.

Learn how guardian dogs Sam and Uno were trained to protect herd animals in this unique, training manual by Dr. An Peischel, a world-renowned small ruminant specialist and breeder of guardian dogs. With more than 30 years managing guardian dogs to protect her commercial and registered goats, Peischel has vast experience in the selection, facilitation and use of these animals. In this book Peischel hones in on the particulars of using these dogs with goats. Whatever one’s uses for guardian dogs, this book is chock-full of important information for putting these animals in service.

Buy your autographed copy of Sam and Uno and Guardian Dogs for Goats among the many selections of books for dog and pet lovers of all ages at DogTalkTV. Same-day shipping when you order online at:

DogTalkTV.com/PatBecker-Books/ ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 55

SUMMER CAMP GUIDE 2022 ADVERTORIAL

Ballet Arkansas Summer Dance Programs www. balletarkansas.org/summer-programs (501) 223-5150 | Little Rock, AR

Dates: June 13 - August 6 Ages: 4-21 Cost: Varies per program Ballet Arkansas offers a variety of summer dance programs for ages 4 and up this summer. Take your training to the next level with Ballet Arkansas professional dancers and renowned guest faculty, small class sizes, individualized attention, and multidisciplinary training.

Story Time Dance Camp | Age 4-6 | June 13-17 | $150 From “Sleeping Beauty” to “Swan Lake,” dancers will explore beloved fairy tales and classical ballets through dance classes, storytelling, and a final showcase for family and friends.

Junior Intensive | Age 7-9 | June 20-24 | $225 | 2-3 yr dance training recommended Join Ballet Arkansas for a fun-filled week of dance training!

Students will make new friends, hone their technique, learn choreography in a variety of disciplines, and perform a showcase on Friday for family and friends.

Summer Intensive Boot Camp | Ages 10-21 | June 20-24 | $350 | 3-5 yr dance training recommended Strengthen your dance training with a series of intensive masterclasses to boost your technique and improve your artistry over the course of a single week!

Summer Intensive | Ages 10-21 | July 25-August 6 | $750 This two-week program provides students with opportunities to train in multiple disciples at the highest level, with a distinguished faculty and celebrated guest professionals. *Masks Optional. Learn more and enroll today at www. balletarkansas.org/summer-programs Learn more about enrolled classes for adults at www. balletarkansas.org/enrolled-classes.

56 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

payment plans are available upon application.

Calling all theater kids! Join The Rep for one or more weeklong camps this July, for students in sixth-eighth grades and ninth12th grades. All applications are due by May 24.

OTHERS TO CHECK OUT: ACTING UP! AT ARGENTA COMMUNITY THEATER — SOLD OUT! WAITING LIST AVAILABLE! ARKANSAS CIRCUS ARTS Dates: June 6-30 Ages: babies to teens!

WILDWOOD ACADEMY OF MUSIC & THE ARTS (WAMA) Arts + Nature Camps Dates: 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., June 6-10 and June 13-17 Ages: 7-12 Visual Arts + Nature Camp Dates: June 20-24 ZIG ZAG Dates: June-July Ages: 4-11 plus

FAITH

FRIENDSHIP CAMP The Interfaith Center/St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church 20900 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock 501-821-1311 friendshipcamp@gmail.com,theinterfaithcenter.org/ friendshipcamp Dates: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. June 27-July 1 Grades: rising third-sixth graders Cost: $75 for the first child, $60 for each additional sibling.

Scholarships available.

Friendship Camp is a weeklong day camp aimed at building friendships among children of different religions and learning about and honoring those faith traditions in the world. This year, campers will learn about the “superheroes” of the world’s faiths through a mix of interactive classes and activities. The goal is to foster a lifelong attitude of love, empathy and inter-cultural peacemaking. Monday-Thursday, children participate in sports, music, art, meditation, reflection and prayer. On Friday, they get to visit various places of worship around Little Rock.

COOKING

KIDS COOK! Eggshells 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd., Ste. K, Little Rock 501-664-6900 eggshellskitchencompany.com Dates: 9 a.m.-noon and 1:30-4:30 p.m. July 25-29 Ages: 9-12 Cost: $300 Campers will receive hands-on training in the kitchen along with cooking and food preparation skills.

SUMMER CAMP GUIDE 2022 NATURE

LAKE NIXON 18500 Cooper Orbit Road, Little Rock 501-744-8878 msimmons@2bclr.com, lakenixon.com Dates: 9 a.m.-4 p.m., June 6-Aug. 5 Grades: 1-9 Cost: tiered pricing Kids return to Lake Nixon summer camp year after year for good reason. It’s classic camp fun in a beautiful, safe setting. Think: canoeing, games, making friends, exploring, Gaga Ball. Lower Camp is for children who are going into first grade through sixth grade; Upper Camp is for children who are going into seventh grade through ninth grade.Bus service is available to campers for $25 a week.

OTHERS TO CHECK OUT: AOS SUMMER DAY CAMPS & 4-H Dates: June 6-July 29 Ages: 8-13 FERNCLIFF Dates: June 5-Aug. 12 Ages: 4-18

SPECIAL NEEDS

CAMP HEALING HEARTS Camp Aldersgate 501-537-3991 MethodistFamily.org, dward@methodistfamily.org Date: 8 a.m., May 2 Ages: 5-18 Cost: Free After a two-year break due to the pandemic, Methodist Family Health’s Camp Healing Hearts is back with a day camp for Arkansas children and families struggling with grief. Coordinated

by Kaleidoscope Grief Center, the camp is open to any family who is grieving the death of a loved one. Utilizing both therapy and recreation, Camp Healing Hearts offers children and families an opportunity to discover their own inner strength. The camp includes heart-to-heart time, swimming, fishing, crafts, games, campfires and s’mores and much more. An adult caregiver is required to accompany the child or children attending. Only 100 spaces are available, so those interested are encouraged apply before May 5.

OTHERS TO CHECK OUT: CAMP ALDERSGATE Dates: Weekly camps from June-August Ages: 6-18

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 57

SUMMER CAMP GUIDE 2022

T H I S S U M M E R , AG E !

TAKE CENTER ST

SPORTS

LITTLE ROCK CLIMBING CENTER 12120 Colonel Glenn Road, #7000 Little Rock 501-227-9500 littlerockclimbingcenter.com Dates: 9 a.m-noon, June-July Ages: 7-12 Cost: $160.55 Ninja Climbing Camps are the perfect opportunity for kids to learn the basics of indoor rock climbing and get started in a new sport that they can enjoy for a lifetime. Ninjas will learn the fundamentals of climbing and bouldering in a chill, safe environment.

OTHERS TO CHECK OUT: BEYOND SPORTS LAB Dates: Wednesdays Ages: 4+

Middle school and high school

2022 SUMMER CAMPS ARKANSAS REPERTORY THEATRE www.TheRep.org/classes-and-camps

FITS MEET BRANDON: LINEWORKER, CROSSFIT ATHLETE, WARRIOR

“It’s all 'bout what you do when you get up.”

READ MORE ABOUT BRANDON CRAWFORD AFTER HE REALIZED THAT HE COULD ACCOMPLISH WHATEVER HE WANTED AT

SNELLARKANSAS.COM

RESTORING MOBILITY AND INDEPENDENCE SINCE 1911

Little Rock n Bryant n Conway n Fayetteville n Fort Smith n 800-342-5541 Hot Springs n Mountain Home n North Little Rock n Pine Bluff n Russellville 58 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

UNITY MARTIAL ARTS Dates: 8 a.m.-3pm, June-July Grades: K-8

PLEASE CHECK OUT EACH PROGRAMS’ WEBSITES TO LEARN MORE INFORMATION!

SAVVY kids Brooke Wallace, Publisher, brooke@arktimes.com Katherine Wyrick, Editor, katherinewyrick@arktimes.com Lesa Thomas, Senior Account Executive, lesa@arktimes.com FIND MORE AT SAVVYKIDSAR.COM

Oaklawn has all you need for the ultimate getaway. Book yours at Oaklawn.com.

SPONSORED BY

ARKANSAS’ ONLY CASINO RESORT HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS 1-800-OAKLAWN No racing on Easter.

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Don McLean, 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN PIE 7 p.m. May 21, doors open 6 p.m.

GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS, GOOD TO BE BAD TOUR – 45 YEARS OF ROCK R A C I N G • C A S I N O • H O T E L • S PA • E V E N7 Tp.m.

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OAKLAWN’S INFIELD & RACING SCHEDULE The Infield at Oaklawn offers a fun, safe and family-friendly environment with pristine scenery, exceptional service and is surrounded by the excitement of thoroughbred racing. It also offers spacious picnic areas, concessions, kids’ activities, live mutuel tellers, food trucks and live entertainment. Patrons are encouraged to bring folding chairs and blankets.

PARKER FRANCIS BAND 1-5 p.m May 7 SPECIAL DAYS AT OAKLAWN May 5 Cinco De Mayo May 6 Pink Out Day – Breast Cancer Awareness at Oaklawn

GRAVEL YARD BAND 1-5 p.m. May 7

May 7 Kentucky Derby Day POP’S LOUNGE LIVE MUSIC SCHEDULE 6-10 p.m. May 5 Cliff & Susan 4-8 p.m. May 6-7 Cliff & Susan + John Calvin Brewer Band, 9 p.m. - 1 a.m.

5-9 p.m. May 8 Cliff & Susan 6-10 p.m. May 29 Jacob Flores 9 pm-1 a.m. Friday and Saturdays May 7-8 John Calvin Brewer Band May 13-4 Private Practice May 20-21 Highway 124 May 27-28 Parker Francis Band 5-9 p.m. Sundays 5-9 p.m. May 1 Rockey Jones 5-9 p.m. May 8 Cliff & Susan

May 8 Mother’s Day – Mother’s Day Flowers to first 500 women May 8 Closing Day of Racing Private Practice

May 18 Armed Forces Day May 28-29 Memorial Day Weekend $100K CASH Slot Tournament May 30 Memorial Day STAKES RACES May 6 $150,000 Natural State Breeders’ Stakes, for 3-year-olds and older F&M (AR), 1 M May 7 $200,000 Arkansas Breeders’ Championship, for 3-year-olds and older (AR), 1 1/16 M ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 59

SPONSORED BY VISIT HOT SPRINGS

IT’S TIME FOR A ROAD TRIP! WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS MAY IN HOT SPRINGS: APRIL 30-MAY 9

Arts & The Park

Hot Springs National Park Hot Springs’ 9th Annual Arts & The Park, a 10-day celebration of the arts, kicks off on Friday, April 29, with the opening of Art Moves, an outdoor art exhibit at the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail, and the Disfarmer Exhibit at the Hot Springs Convention Center. On Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1, Art Springs, a two-day open-air arts festival, will be held at Hill Wheatley Plaza, with fine art, live music, performances, children’s activities, a chalk walk, food and fun! For more information and a full schedule of events, visit HotSpringsArts.org.

FAMILY FUN!

MAY 20-22

MAY 7

Jurassic Quest’s Epic Indoor Event

Magic Springs Opening Day

Magic Springs Theme & Water Park, 1701 E. Grand Ave. Slide into some exciting fun at Magic Springs Theme & Water Park, opening for the season starting May 7! For more information on purchasing a season pass, details on the park and more, please visit magicsprings.com.

DON’T MISS THESE!

Hot Springs Convention Center, 134 Convention Blvd.

Jurassic Quest is roaring into Hot Springs!

See the world’s largest, most popular dino event with unique and exciting experiences for the whole family. Observe our herd of life-size animatronic dinosaurs, watch a live raptor show or join us on “The Quest,” an all-new interactive adventure with clues throughout the exhibit. Explore our dinosaur rides, giant fossil dig, inflatables, fossil science exhibit, “Triceratots” soft play area, and more! Tickets are available online at jurassicquest.com, or on-site during the event, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.Sat., May 20-21; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun., May 22.

MAY 21

Don McLean LIVE MAY 7

Northwoods Mullet Trail Run

Northwoods Trails, 461 Wildcat Road Join us for the Northwoods Mullet Trail Run & Beaver Bash — one awesome trail run in the front with a super dope party in the back, featuring live music from Hot Springs’ very own Dean Agus at 1 p.m.! Support for our run comes from Superior Bathhouse Brewery, Harrison Construction, Larry Pennington Insurance, Charlie Sellers Heating & Air and Melugin Agency–Shelter Insurance.

60 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort Event Center 2705 Central Ave. To celebrate one of the most iconic American songs ever written, Don McLean is set to hit the stage with his 50th Anniversary of American Pie Tour. McLean also wrote and recorded many other legendary hits including “Vincent,” “Castles in The Air” and “Crying” — don’t miss your chance to see this American legend perform live at the Oaklawn Event Center! Tickets must be purchased in advance and guests must show mobile barcode or ticket printouts at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m., showtime at 7 p.m.

MAY 27 & 28

75th Anniversary Memorial Field Airport Celebration | Bombers & BBQ

Hot Springs Memorial Field Airport, 525 Airport Road Join us for the 75th anniversary celebration of the Hot Springs Memorial Field Airport on Memorial Day Weekend, featuring a BBQ cookoff, food trucks, an aircraft bomber display and live music from Blane Howard (6 p.m. Fri., May 27), The Molly Ringwalds (8 p.m. Fri., May 27), Mayday by Midnight (5 p.m. Sat., May 28) and The Just Sayin’ Band (7:30 p.m. Sat., May 28).

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Memorial Day Fireworks

Hot Springs Memorial Field Airport The Memorial Day fireworks display will be held at the Hot Springs Memorial Field Airport for their 75th anniversary celebration on Saturday, May 28!

Visit Hot Springs will sponsor the free show.

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JUNE 4

World Championship Running of the Tubs

Downtown Hot Springs, Bathhouse Row This wacky event celebrates Hot Springs’ historic past when the city proclaimed “We Bathe The World!” Judging of the Tubs will begin at 6 p.m., Fri., June 3. Running of the Tubs will be held the following day, 9 a.m. Sat., June 4. Awards to follow!

The World Championship Running of the Tubs is presented by Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium.

Obstacle sponsors include BathFitter Baths.

Pushing customized bathtubs, costumed teams must race down Historic Downtown Hot Springs while navigating all sorts of crazy obstacles. The event is free. Audiences are encouraged to bring water guns, house slippers, shower caps and robes and to join in on all the fun while watching the parade along Historic Bathhouse Row! Contact Bill Solleder at 501-321-2027 or at bsolleder@ hotsprings.org for more information.

WHO’S THE BEST? VOTE MAY 2-23!

CAST YOUR VOTE MAY 2- MAY 23!

arktimes.com/bestof The winner of each category will be announced in our July issue.

All voters will be put into a drawing for a chance to win: 2 tickets to an Arkansas Times Event (of your choice).

Events include: Craft Beer Festival, Margarita Fest, Pig & Swig and More!

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 61

CULTURE

BLOCK PARTY

TRUMPETER RODNEY BLOCK’S SECRETS TO PLAYING EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL OF THE TIME.

BY DANIEL FORD PHOTOGRAPHY BY BY FREDERICK BALTIMORE

62 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

MAN ABOUT TOWN: Block’s engagements range from dive bar to black-tie fundraiser, sometimes within the same day.

SOUL FRIEND JEWELRY

DEPICTED ON THESE PIECES ARE THE WORDS ANAM CARA IN OGHAM, AN ANCIENT SCRIPT USED TO WRITE THE EARLY IRISH LANGUAGE FROM 300-800 AD. THE TERM ANAM CARA IS GAELIC FOR "SOUL FRIEND" — A FRIENDSHIP WHERE YOUR SOUL FINDS ITS MOST KINDRED COMPANIONSHIP.

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ittle Rock trumpeter and bandleader Rodney Block may not be faster than a speeding bullet or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but the man whose alter ego is Black Superman seemingly has another superpower: being everywhere, all of the time.

Whether it’s under that evocative moniker or as Rodney Block and the Love Supreme, the Rodney Block Collective, Percival Jenkins or touring with Doug E. Fresh, Block’s relentless gig schedule, engaging stage presence and impressive chops have made him a one-man Arkansas music institution, equally likely to show up on stage in front of a packed house at the White Water Tavern as he is a black-tie fundraiser, sometimes on the same day. “My philosophy is, ‘If I can do it, I do it,’ ” Block said. “I think one day I maybe had four gigs in one day: I play here for a morning performance and then I drive and show up for a noon brunch, and then I drive and I show up for an hour performance at an event and then I have a night event.”

This endurance is fueled in part by the entrepreneurship a musical side hustle demands, but it also stems from Block’s desire to carve out a range of experiences for himself and for his audience. “There’s a day where we could play a country club and the average age is 70 years old, and then you fast-forward and that evening you’re playing for a bunch of Gen Xers or Hendrix College students, and you really have to flip the switch,” Block said. With diverse audiences comes the necessity for a diverse repertoire, and Block has developed an ability and affinity to genrehop from appearance to appearance, playing, for example, Nat King Cole’s jazz standard “The Very Thought of You” one night and The Police’s

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MAY 2022 63

BLACK SUPERMAN: Block’s Clark Kent persona?

A full-time day job in medical sales and lab testing.

MY PHILOSOPHY IS, ‘IF I CAN DO IT, I DO IT.’ 64 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

“Roxanne” the next. “The greatest person who ever played the horn played everything, so who am I to say different?” Block said, recalling Miles Davis’ forays into Spanish classical music, hiphop inspired Doo-Bop, and even his cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”

There are no purists quite like jazz purists, though, and Block’s expansive set lists, for some, call his bona fides into question. “I’ve had individuals disqualify me, they say, ‘Rodney, you’re a good musician, but you’re not a jazz musician because you play other stuff,’ ” Block said. “I can play jazz, I can do that, but if my audience dictates something else, you want to play something people can connect to and something that’s going to move them.”

It might not be jazz-or-nothing for Block, but it’s definitely jazz first.

“It’s more of a challenge, on the technical side and also on how you interpret the song,” Block said. “Because it was created by us: It’s true to America; it’s true to African Americans.” It’s a genre, too, that’s getting “even more steam than before” in Little Rock, Block said. “The musicians are here, they’re ready to play.” He’d know; Block’s spent 20 years working in the Little Rock jazz community. The problem, according to Block, is not audience interest or available talent, but a lack of dedicated venue space. Just down the street from where Block and I talked, there’s a Mexican restaurant with a Mezcal bar, the current tenant of a corner spot where beloved Hillcrest venue The Afterthought used to stand. Jazz music in Little Rock didn’t die with The Afterthought’s closure, but it suffered a harsh blow. “I think we probably need one or two more spaces that can truly cultivate jazz musicians where people can actively go on a weekly basis,” Block said. “You knew you could go to The Afterthought at least one if not two nights a week and you’re going to hear jazz music.”

Outshone by nearby jazz meccas like Memphis or New Orleans, and to a lesser degree by communities like Hot Springs with The Ohio Club, Block believes that dedicated jazz venues provide the necessary platform to grow and sustain an audience for jazz. “Venues where jazz is the feature on a regular basis is probably a first step,” Block said. “We need another Afterthought, because there were a lot of great memories in that place.”

A sly smile emerges on his face as I suggest that

perhaps a hypothetical “Rodney Block’s Jazz Club” could be the remedy to this problem. He demures from too much detail, but admits he’s thought about it. “Actually, there’s an individual in Little Rock that has approached me about opening a facility, maybe sometime down the road.”

For now, however, Black Superman still maintains his Clark Kent persona, with a fulltime day job in medical sales and lab testing, an industry he has worked in for 17 years. Though for several years he has been moving in the direction of becoming a full-time musician, he’s yet to abandon the steady paycheck of his nonmusical career. “The music can be really fickle, it can be feast or famine,” Block said. “Being a starving musician, that’s never been my thing.” But starving musicians’ phones don’t ring as much as Rodney Block’s does, and he’s now happy to be in a position where a full-time music career is viable. “I don’t take it for granted,” Block said.

“When I started playing I think my goal was just to have a band that people enjoyed, and it’s kind of morphed into something a bit bigger.”

This higher profile has allowed Block to marry two of his biggest passions: fostering creative connections and ensuring he can one day pass the baton to a robust and well-prepared next generation of musicians. These passions manifest in Block’s Porch Party Series, where Block’s weekly outdoor shows throughout the early months of the pandemic provided a much-needed infusion of culture into a locked-down society; through his frequent trips to middle schools and high schools in Southeast Arkansas, where he tries to show younger students that music is both a fun and viable career path; and through his collaborations with rising artists like Demarcus Pettus (aka Thememusiq) or Bijoux.

“Arkansas has a lot of great musicians, a lot of great talent, creatives, whether they’re musicians or graphic artists, poets, rappers, dancers — the creatives are alive and well in Arkansas,” Block said, “and I think anytime you can support a creative person you should do so.”

Whether he’s playing gospel at Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday mornings, Jazz in the Park on a Wednesday evening, or an ’80s revue at White Water on a Friday night, Block knows that one thing remains true.

“Creative outlet, expression, is part of the human experience. Music? People need it, they want it, they gotta have it.”

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Marijuana is for use by qualified patients only. Keep out of reach of children. Marijuana use during pregnancy or breastfeeding poses potential harms. Marijuana is not approved by the FDA to treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of marijuana.

ARKTIMES.COM

MAY 2022 65

WHO’S THE BEST?

CAST YOUR VOTE MAY 2- MAY 23!

The winner of each category will be announced in our July issue.

All voters will be put into a drawing for a chance to win: 2 tickets to an Arkansas Times Event (of your choice).

Events include: Craft Beer Festival, Margarita Fest, Pig & Swig and More!

Are you a business who wants to advertise on the ballot? Contact your sales rep or Brooke@arktimes.com to learn more.

Follow us: Arktimes Events 66 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

Celebrating Mo Celebrating Mom!

BRIAN CHILSON

Kilwins Little Rock 415 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock. AR 72201 (501) 379-9865 littlerock@kilwins.com

Kilwins Little Rock 415 President Clinton Kilwins Little Rock Ave. Little Rock. AR 7220 415 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock.

AR 72201 (501) 379-9865 littlerock@kilwins.com Kilwins Little Rock

(501) 379-9865 littlerock@kilwins.com Kilwins Little Rock 415 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock. AR 72201 415 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock. AR 72201 (501) 379-9865 littlerock@kilwins.com Kilwins Little Rock littlerock@kilwins.com 415 President Clinton Ave. (501) Little 379-9865 Rock. AR 72201

(501) 379-9865 littlerock@kilwins.com

LET’S TACO BOUT IT GET YOUR TICKETS FOR TACOS & TEQUILA

W

e’re not sure how the inaugural Arkansas Times Tacos & Tequila event last year came to be, but here’s an imagined origin story. Someone, maybe Arkansas Times publisher Alan Leveritt, was enjoying a bite of a bison taco and washing it down with an exceptional tequila cocktail of some kind, maybe a jalapeno margarita or a tequila sunrise. The setting sun was reflecting off the cubes in his glass when he looked around and said, “You know what would really be something, is if we could just sample multiple tacos and tequila cocktails from local restaurants, but get this … all in one place, at one time.”

“Could it be a competition where you vote for your favorite cocktail and taco?” his dining companion might have asked.

Leveritt’s pensive gaze, presumably, would then have drifted to the goldenrod glow of the clouds at twilight. “Well, I don’t see why not.”

“Is there any chance we could get you to dress up like a taco?”

Tacos & Tequila was born, and last year’s event was a doozie, so mark off 6-9 p.m. Thursday, May 12, on your calendars. This year’s list of restaurants competing for the coveted golden taco trophy is subject to expand but will include: Mockingbird Bar & Tacos, Chepe’s Mexican Grill, Capo’s Tacos (Hot Springs), Casa Mañana (River Market), El Sur Street Food Co., Brick and Forge (Conway) and last year’s winner, Rock City Tacos.

Tickets are $35 at centralarkansastickets.com.

Your ticket lets you sample cocktails and one taco from each restaurant and vote for your favorites.

Music will be provided by Cliff & Susan. You might be wondering if there will be dancing. The answer is yes. Club 27 will be on hand providing salsa lessons. Don’t miss this opportunity.

The event will take place on the 400 block of Main Street in North Little Rock, adjacent to the Argenta branch of the Laman Library. Tacos & Tequila is sponsored by Hornitos Tequila, North Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau, KURB-FM B98.5 and Alice 107.7.

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FOOD & DRINK

FROM UKRAINE TO HOT SPRINGS

ALEXA’S CREPERIE IS A FAMILY-OWNED EUROPEAN CAFE THAT HAS SPANNED 15 YEARS AND TWO CONTINENTS.

BY RHETT BRINKLEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN CHILSON

I

n late March, just a few days after President Biden announced the U.S. would be accepting up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine, Alexa’s Creperie announced on its Facebook page that it would be temporarily closing for a family emergency. Husband and wife Sergiy and Yana Polyakov, owners of the European-style cafe at 238 Cornerstone Blvd. in Hot Springs, got news that they needed to buy a plane ticket for Yana’s mother, a Ukrainian refugee, and head to San Diego to meet her. And they needed to do it right away.

“We talked to immigration lawyer and they said, ‘You need to right now because there are already 70,000 going,’ ” Sergiy said, recalling the experience. “I say ‘OK.’ We drive. Twenty-six hours.”

Yana is from the Poltava region of central Ukraine. Sergiy was born in the city of Donetsk when it was a part of the Soviet Union. Donetsk is located in eastern Ukraine now, but it’s also known as a separatist region referred to as Donetsk People’s Republic.

“It’s honestly two different nationalities of Ukrainian,” he said. “I’m Russian, she’s

68 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

FAMILY CREPERIE: Yana Polyakov (left) and Sergiy Polyakov opened Alexa’s Creperie in Brussels in 2006 and moved it to Hot Springs in 2015.

Ukrainian, but we’re OK. It’s not important what side of Ukraine you are, it’s more important who are you,” he said.

When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began Feb. 24, the Polyakovs worried. Yana’s mother was still there, and so were Yana’s brother, his wife and their child. “It was really difficult,” Sergiy said. Not only is there an eight-hour time difference, but connecting with people in Ukraine was impossible at times because communication towers were down, he said. “I texted and when I don’t receive messages back, I start to worry about what’s happened. I need to wait ’til after midnight.

That’s why it’s one month no sleep, stress, I lose 25 pounds,” he said.

Hot Springs residents became aware of the situation and offered to make donations to the family. Gear Factory, a local custom T-shirt company, offered to help Sergiy figure out how to channel the donations and started an online fundraiser.

Yana’s brother’s family is still in Ukraine. “He’s military, he can’t leave,” Sergiy said. “We try to send money, we try to help.”

Yana’s mother, Asiia Kochurova, left Ukraine

and traveled through parts of Romania, Hungary and Slovenia before arriving in Poland.

“She take train, she takes car, everywhere I have friends meet her. It’s a horrible time,” Sergiy said. “It was two weeks for this distance.”

A 4,000-PLUS MILE RESTAURANT RELOCATION Sergiy and Yana opened Alexa’s Creperie in Brussels in 2006, the same year their daughter, Alexandra, was born. In 2012, Sergiy’s sister invited him to her wedding.

“I said, ‘Where are you located?’ She told me Arkansas’s Hot Springs. I go, ‘What are you doing in the middle of the country?’ ” After attending the wedding and seeing the natural beauty of Hot Springs, Sergiy said he understood why and wondered, why not move to the United States?

“In Brussels, huge city, payment for parking, payment for everything, traffic, you running all day from 6 in the morning to midnight,” he said.

The Polyakovs immigrated to the U.S. in 2014 and brought their restaurant with them, opening on Marian Anderson Road near Lake Hamilton in 2015. In December 2019 they opened a second

location on Cornerstone Boulevard. They planned to operate both restaurants, but the pandemic left them no choice but to shut down their original location.

“It was too difficult,” Sergiy said. “Nobody canceled payments for rent. It was a hard time and I really appreciate our customers because they come and buy gift certificates.”

Alexa’s is a small, quaint space with a traditional European atmosphere. Soft piano jazz plays in the background. One of the walls is papered with a mural from a photo a friend sent Sergiy of a beautiful, narrow cobblestone street in France. Tables line the wall, giving the illusion that you’re sitting at an outdoor bistro. The Ukrainian flag hangs above the checkout counter. 3D paper butterflies are affixed to the walls throughout the restaurant and a string flag set of European countries hangs from the ceiling.

The menu offers traditional European-style crepes in both savory and sweet varieties. Monthly specials of pierogies, kopytka (Polish potato dumplings) and pyzy (Polish cheese-filled potato dumplings) were available when we visited.

“Every month we have all different types because there’s hundreds of varieties,” Sergiy said. In the winter, Alexa’s offers borscht, a Ukrainian dish made with beetroots.

“We have some customers that really love it and say, ‘I want borscht right now’ and I say, ‘Sorry, it’s summertime.’ When it’s cold we eat borscht with bread, garlic, bacon. We have pierogi varenyky [a dumpling] with cheese in the traditional Ukrainian style.”

Sergiy spends his time in front of the house, running food and checking in with customers, while Yana makes crepes in the back.

“One hundred to 150 a day,” Sergiy said. “She cook all her life.”

The crepes are made on a Krampouz crepe maker, which Sergiy says is the gold standard.

Made in France, Krampouz (translation “pancake”) have been used in northwestern France for over 70 years.

“Without those you can’t do it right,” he said.

Customers have asked Sergiy about expanding to a bigger location with more seating. At the moment the restaurant’s staff consists of Sergiy, Yana, a manager/waitress named Jordan who took care of us on both visits, a part-time student, a dishwasher (“he’s really honest and good,” Sergiy says) and their daughter, Alexandra, on the weekends.

“This is our small family business, that’s what we can handle. We can handle this capacity. This is exactly what we need to have,” he said.

On my first visit I tried the Parisian crepe from the savory menu after I heard Jordan tell a table the filling takes three hours to prepare. I was wowed with my first bite by the texture of the crepe, which is like the memory foam version of pillowy food textures, soft and tender but strong enough to hold everything together. Filled with grilled chicken, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red pepper and a delicious spinach cheese filling,

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MAY 2022 69

RHETT BRINKLEY

SWEET AND SAVORY: Yana Polyakov prepares several varieties of European-style crepes and pierogies.

70 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

it’s topped with a house-made tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. Wonderful.

On my next visit we decided to try “Alexa’s Favorite” with fresh strawberries, blueberries, house-made whipped cream, powdered sugar and strawberry coulis drizzled over the top.

Alexandra knows what she’s doing. I don’t think I can go back to Hot Springs without stopping for this treat. The texture of the crepe is perfect and the house-made whipped cream was so decadent that I couldn’t stop stuffing my face with it. We also tried the kopytka, a nicely textured dumpling reminiscent of gnocchi that’s made with mashed potatoes, egg and flour. The menu says they are boiled and sauteed for a crispy exterior. They are served by the dozen ($9) and come topped with sauteed garlic, onion, mushrooms and chopped bacon. On the side was a delicious Mediterranean white sauce. It’s not often I go to a restaurant and come out blabbing about textures, but I love it when I do.

Sergiy, a front-of-the-house mind reader, surprised us with some caffeine for the trip home.

The “Vienna espresso” came in an espresso glass with a light scoop of whipped cream, a little foam and a dash of cinnamon. He drinks two a day. He also brought us a latte in an Irish coffee glass, which made the layers of steamed milk and foam visible. Topped with a whipped cream and a drizzle of chocolate, we were alert and awake for the trip home.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER REUNITED Kochurova flew from Poland to Cancun to Tijuana to San Diego. Sergiy said it wouldn’t have been possible without help from Hot Springs residents. The first few weeks, people offered to help, but Sergiy didn’t know what was needed.

“After we realized she needed to make this trip through Europe and take a flight, we realized we need to collect money because it’s a huge amount. We cannot afford this, honestly. If Hot Springs and people don’t help, we cannot save her life,” he said. “I have a lot of customers text me, go on Facebook, ‘Are you OK. You need help?’ This means a lot to know you’re a part of this community. I love Hot Springs, I love all my Arkansas and foreign customers.”

Kochurova was able to enter the U.S. on humanitarian parole status, allowing her to stay for one year.

“You can apply for Social Security number, work permits, which we’re working on right now,” Sergiy said. Is she planning on working at Alexa’s Creperie?

“Yeah, because she loves it,” he said. “She’s cooked all her life. She teach my wife.”

Sergiy said it’s difficult to understand what she’s been through, having to flee her war-torn homeland. “It’s a difficult time for her, but we give her all our love and we are happy to see her.

Finally my girls smile, and I can work and spread my smile and love to people.”

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MAY 2022 71

HISTORY

WORTHY OF A COEN BROTHERS MOVIE: The story of the Bullfrog Valley Gang (who might have looked like this picture).

THE NOTORIOUS BULLFROG VALLEY GANG WILY COUNTERFEITERS.

BY ERNEST DUMAS

This piece was previously published in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.

T

he Bullfrog Valley Gang was a notorious counterfeiting ring that operated in the wilderness of Pope County during the depression of the 1890s. The gang’s origin and methods were mysterious, but The New York Times reported its demise on June 28, 1897. When federal agents converged on the ring and its hideout that day, the founder and head of the gang escaped with his press, leading to a years-long chase through the mountains of Missouri and Arkansas by a Secret Service agent that had the makings of a Hollywood adventure.

72 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

The Times article said deputy U.S. marshals attached to the federal district court at Fort Smith had captured three men, effectively breaking up “the once-famous band of counterfeiters known to secret service operators all over the United States as the Bullfrog Valley Gang.” Previous arrests were reported in Arkansas earlier in the year. In all, some 15 men were arrested and convicted in federal courts at Fort Smith and Little Rock. Others, in Arkansas and other states, were convicted of passing the bogus money. A young doctor and his friend in the remote mountain town of Timbo were convicted of smuggling and passing the gang’s bills.

Counterfeiting was an endemic problem in the South after the Civil War, particularly during the steep depression that followed the Panic of 1893. The South did not enjoy the benefits of the national banking system, and currency was in short supply. The wilds of Arkansas were home to a number of counterfeiting operations, some in caves in the Ouachita Mountains and in the wilderness of southwest Arkansas. None, however, received the notoriety of the Bullfrog Valley Gang.

If the Secret Service’s accounts are to be believed, the head of the Bullfrog Valley Gang was George Rozelle, who moved from Nebraska to Pope County in 1893 and, within a couple of years, had printing equipment shipped by rail from Chicago, Illinois. He took the machine into Bullfrog Valley, a remote and inhospitable glen north of Russellville that was famous as a hideout for highwaymen, bandits and moonshiners. The remote valley, which follows Big Piney Creek from Long Pool to Booger Hollow, was named for Chief Bullfrog, a Cherokee who, according to legend, settled there after his tribe’s forced removal from Georgia (the Trail of Tears) by the Indian Removal Act of 1830. There, Rozelle set up a mint where he and associates made bogus $5 and $10 bank notes.

The June 28, 1897, article in The New York Times, along with similar ones that week in the Arkansas Gazette and a number of other newspapers around the state and country, reported that the Bullfrog Valley ring had agents in many large cities around the country and in Toronto, Canada and Mexico City, Mexico.

The spurious money had baffled the government until the Secret Service bureau in Chicago followed a lead on a shipment of supplies to Pope County and tracked the fake money’s source to the infamous Bullfrog Valley. (Four years earlier, The New York Times had carried a story about the ambush by moonshiners of six deputy U.S. marshals in Bullfrog Valley. Two marshals were killed, two were wounded, and two were missing and presumed to have been kidnapped.)

The Mountain Wave, a newspaper at Marshall, commented on the counterfeiting arrests this way: “Everyone knows where the Bull Frog Valley is. The name of Pope County cannot be spoken without recalling to memory this famous valley. That is where the genuine wild-catter [moonshiner] blooms and flourishes as prolific as morning

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THE HEAD OF THE GANG ESCAPED WITH HIS PRESS, LEADING TO A YEARS-LONG CHASE THAT HAD THE MAKINGS OF A HOLLYWOOD ADVENTURE. glories on the back porch of a farm house.” Three weeks after the Bullfrog Valley arrests, national newspapers ran stories about a marshal’s arrest of “the noted and desperate female outlaw Rhoda Fuller” at Batesville for passing counterfeit currency, although the stories did not link her with the Bullfrog gang but with another in the mountains of Independence County.

An article in the Gazette said the Bullfrog counterfeiters had dodged federal agents operating out of the federal courts at Fort Smith and Little Rock by ducking back and forth across the Pope-Johnson county line and evading jurisdiction, but some 15 men had been arrested by August 1897. Rozelle, who was never mentioned in articles at the time, managed to escape with his printing press.

A later lengthy article in the New York Times on May 12, 1901, which recounted the tireless work of the Secret Service in tracking down thugs, finally explained what happened to Rozelle, although the bureau may have embellished the truth in praising the steadfastness and cunning of its men. It reported that the Secret Service learned that Rozelle (it spelled his name Roselle) had fled Bullfrog Valley and had buried the equipment.

An agent found three men who had provided Rozelle with money and assistance. He discovered the general area where the machine was buried, and he moved there and waited two years. One of the three men weakened under the pressure and was about to turn in the other two when he was slain by a load of buckshot fired through his front window, according to the Secret Service. Feeling safe then, one of the men dug up the equipment one night, and the agent arrested him.

The man gave the agent a tip on Rozelle’s location in southern Missouri, but when the agent arrived there he was told that Rozelle had moved to Goff Cove in Cleburne County. Rozelle apparently had started to farm there under another name.

Several weeks before the agent arrived at Goff Cove, Rozelle apparently got sick and died.

The agent found only his fresh grave but did not have the body exhumed to be certain that Rozelle was dead.

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E V I L H WONAATRC KANSAS PBS THURSDAY, MAY 19 GAME 1 · 10 A.M. GAME 2 · 1 P.M. GAME 3 · 4 P.M. GAME 4 · 7 P.M.

FRIDAY, MAY 20 GAME 5 · 10 A.M. GAME 6 · 1 P.M. GAME 7 · 4 P.M. GAME 8 · 7 P.M.

Games will be available to watch on demand the following week at youtube.com/arkansaspbs.

Download the Engage Arkansas PBS App to follow scores, join the conversation and more at myarpbs.org/engageapp.

Photos from the games will be available at myarpbs.org/photos. *Location services must be enabled for livestreaming

SATURDAY, MAY 21 GAME 9 · 10 A.M. GAME 10 · 1 P.M. GAME 11 · 4 P.M. GAME 12 · 7 P.M. The most up-to-date programming schedule is available at myarpbs.org/schedule.

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HEMP HIGH: Available at c-stores.

GETTING HIGH THROUGH A LOOPHOLE DELTA-8 IS A WIDELY AVAILABLE WEED ALTERNATIVE, BUT REGULATION MAY BE COMING.

BY LINDSEY MILLAR

T

here is perhaps no industry more regulated in Arkansas than medical marijuana. State laws and rules restrict who can buy it, how much and what types of products qualified customers can buy, how and where it can be sold — even how it can be advertised. So you might be surprised to learn that a similar psychoactive product, also derived from the cannabis plant, is widely available in Arkansas convenience stores, tobacco and vape shops and elsewhere, and is produced and sold entirely free of regulation.

Most commonly known as delta-8 THC, but also sold in a seemingly ever-expanding array of other varieties — THC-0, delta-10, HHC — the products come in a range of forms: vape cartridges, gummies, tinctures, cookies. How delta-8 compares to marijuana depends on whom you ask, but the unscientific consensus is that they’re at least intoxicating cousins.

The crucial distinction between the two is a legal one. Marijuana is another name for the flowers of the Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica plants

76 MAY 2022

ARKANSAS TIMES

that are rich in THC, technically known as delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Delta-9 THC remains federally illegal and legal in Arkansas only to certified medical marijuana patients. Hemp, at least defined by the 2018 federal Farm Bill, is any cannabis plant or its byproducts that contain less than 0.3% delta-9 THC. Because delta-8 THC products meet that definition, they’re legal, goes the argument. Many state legislatures, including Arkansas’s in the 2021 legislative session, passed legislation to align local hemp laws with the Farm Bill.

Rep. David Hillman (R-Almyra) sponsored the bill that updated Arkansas’s hemp program.

Delta-8 wasn’t on his radar at the time, he said.

He’s not ready to concede that the law, passed overwhelmingly by his colleagues, legalized hemp-based THC products, but he acknowledged that the statute is at least ambiguous. “It’s something that’s going to have to be addressed” in a future legislative session, he said.

At least 17 states have banned delta-8 and similar products, but several of those are being

challenged in court. The federal government hasn’t provided clear guidance. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that delta-8 hasn’t been evaluated or approved by the agency and may not be safe to use. The Drug Enforcement Agency, in an interim rule, said that delta-8 is not a controlled substance as long as the product is derived from hemp rather than synthetically or chemically synthesized THC. But the DEA did not define what “synthetic” means.

The typical way to make delta-8 is by extracting cannabidiol, aka CBD, from hemp, refining that into an isolate and then synthesizing that with heat and solvents into delta-8. In other words, chemistry! (HHC is created by adding hydrogen molecules to delta-9 or CBD; the hydrogenation process is similar to how vegetable oil is converted into margarine, the popular cannabis website Leafly helpfully explains). Whether that process runs afoul of the DEA’s stipulations depends on whom you ask. In any case, the federal enforcement agency has not aggressively targeted delta-8 manufacturers across the country.

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In Arkansas, the state government’s novel strategy to deal with the new intoxicant appears to entail sowing confusion in hopes of tamping down its availability. The only rule the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control, the agency that oversees the state’s medical marijuana program, has in place regarding delta-8 is one that prohibits its sales in medical marijuana dispensaries.

Otherwise, the state regulatory bodies that oversee all products similar to delta-8 have decided to sit this one out. “The Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division and the Division of Tobacco Control have not taken a position at this time on the legality of possessing Delta-8 in a permitted premise,” spokesman Scott Hardin said in a statement. “The Divisions believe this is a matter better left to the discretion of local law enforcement and prosecutors. ABC and ATC remain committed to enforcing the existing rules governing their respective permit holders across the state.”

If the goal is to constrain the market, it’s working, at least to some degree. Mark Roberts, owner of Little Rock’s Heights Apothecary & Hemp Co., said he’s not selling delta-8 or related products until the law is more defined.

In February, the Camden Police Department charged the owners of two smoke shops with multiple felonies for selling delta-8 products. The cases haven’t gone to trial. Otherwise, the issue doesn’t appear to have gained much traction among local law enforcement. Bob McMahan, the state prosecutor coordinator who supervises a staff of lawyers who research legal issues for local prosecutors, said the legality of delta-8 hadn’t bubbled up to his staff. Sgt. Eric Barnes, a spokesman for the Little Rock Police Department, said to his knowledge no citations related to delta-8 had been issued in Arkansas’s largest city.

PRODUCERS In a market flooded with hemp, the barrier to entry in the delta-8 business is low. If a fly-by-night operator wanted to set up shop, delta-8 distillate in bulk is widely available on the internet. But there are big, legitimate players as well, including at least two with Arkansas connections that are using their influence and reputation to gain a toehold in the market.

Blonc CBD, a Little Rock-based brand, produces gummies and tinctures, which it sells at blonccbd. com and in a growing number of retail locations in the state, according to co-owner Keith Emis, a longtime Republican lobbyist.

“We’re a brand-new product in the market,” Emis said. “Every month, we see growth in sales from the previous month. We comply with all state and federal laws and regulations, and we’re committed to being a responsible corporate citizen.”

Among Emis’ partners is Jason Polk of Lake Liquor in Maumelle. Polk previously coowned Rebel Kettle Brewery, and his family by marriage contributed nearly $500,000 toward the successful effort to pass Arkansas’s medical marijuana amendment. Emis declined to name other partners, but circumstantial evidence

suggests that they include Jackson Stephens III, grandson of famed Little Rock financier Jack T. Stephens. Blonc shares a mailing address with another business associated with Stephens and was also associated with Naturalis Health LLC, Stephens’ unsuccessful bid to get one of the state’s medical marijuana cultivation permits.

Ouachita Farms, until recently based in Garland County, was one the first companies in the state licensed to grow and process hemp. It relocated to Texarkana, Texas, last June and has expanded operations into Texas, where it operates a sister brand called Brazos Farm, and New Mexico, where it owns Enchanted Farms, a marjiuana cultivation operation. Marijuana became legal for adult use in New Mexico April 1.

Sarah Owen, CEO of Ouachita Farms, said her company focuses on solventless extraction with its delta-8 products. “We rely on trusted suppliers who have a proprietary process that they produce delta-8 distillate with. We bring that distillate inhouse. Then we’re going to a DEA-certified lab to test for heavy metals, for solvents, for pesticide and potency.”

Ouachita Farms’ delta-8 products, which it sells as brownies, cookies, dab sauces, gummies and in tinctures, are among its top sellers, Owen said. They’re available at ouachitafarms.com or in retail locations throughout the country. Last year, Ouachita Farms sold its products in 40 states, Owen said.

COMPETITION “We want our cousins in the cannabis industry, the hemp folks, to do fine, but we need some standards to ensure safety and policy that’s clear,” said Bill Paschall, spokesman for the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association. “There’s no clarity of policy at the state level or the federal level. A lot of folks out there are wandering around the woods in a state of confusion.” Many delta-8 products carry a 21+ label, and Emis with Blonc and Owen with Ouachita Farms both said they would cease supplying any retailer who they learned sold their products to anyone younger, but there’s no law preventing a teenager from buying delta-8 THC gummies at a convenience store. There also aren’t any requirements for labeling or testing, Paschall noted.

“I think it’s going to have to be resolved in the legislature,” Paschall said. It appears to be entering lawmakers’ radar. At an April 20 meeting of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Administrative Rules Subcommittee, Sen. Missy Irvin (R-Mountain View) told Department of Health representatives she had concerns about a “substance.” The health department official told her that the department could make an emergency rule to add a drug to the state’s schedule of controlled substances. Meanwhile, there’s talk of Governor Hutchinson calling a special session this summer to provide a one-time tax cut, rebate or credit to ease the burden of inflation. If that comes to pass, lobbyists and legislators would likely jockey to get a delta-8 ban on the call — or leave it off.

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MAY 2022 81

THE OBSERVER

STREET CORNER PREACHER AT THE INTERSECTION, BUT NOT INTERSECTIONAL.

W

e haven’t seen him since before pandemic times, but the season of the Asher Avenue preacher ran from spring through fall.

For years now on Fridays, we’ve observed him in his unnatural habitat: A narrow concrete median of a narthex that’s 6 inches high, several car lengths long and located in the middle of four lanes of traffic on the east Asher side of Asher and University avenues. You could hear his call echoing across the busy intersection, his voice crackling through his handheld PA system, sweating through his white robe.

Early on, we hit a choice Observing spot in the inside lane of the four lines of cars waiting at the traffic light. So we turned down the car radio and cracked the back passenger side window to catch any knowledge he might be dropping. Observing is listening, and we were ready to accept some good news. Who doesn’t find a cooling dose of Jesus Christ’s message of love and acceptance refreshing on a hot summer day?

Instead, the sour scent of brimstone invaded the car window, making the oppressive heat that was also permeating seem even more stifling.

It didn’t take long to catch his OG OT drift. The topic of that day’s remarks was homosexuality.

He wasn’t a fan. But we doubt he’s even tried it.

In subsequent years, we’ve found it’s a topic he returns to often. Or maybe he never leaves it. Perhaps he’s preached against — or even for — other things while out there under the

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Friday sun, but not that we’ve ever been able to Observe. We’ve given him several opportunities, too; cracking our car window just long enough to confirm the week’s lesson was again homophobia, and subsequently cranking up some nasty blues from KABF’s “Blues House Party” to both drown him out and cleanse the palate. The salacious sounds of Pine Bluff’s rump-shaking Bobby Rush have proven the worthiest counterpoint.

One season, we Observed the preacher attempt to expand his house of worship. He moved from his narrow concrete riser to greener grasses — the big grassy median across University, just west of where his accidental congregation originally gathered by stoplight. More chiggers in the tall grass maybe, but surely easier on the feet than the median. By nature, the delivery of wild-eyed sermons requires a lot of pacing. A lady in her Sunday best, presumably the preacher’s wife, had optimistically set out a half-dozen or so metal folding chairs. She sat in one, listening attentively to his lecture as cars whizzed past at every border.

He’ll have a tent out there next, we mused.

After that, perhaps a small clapboard structure — nothing fancy, just a short steeple and an upright piano. But his makeshift place of worship was a bridge too far even for the Little Rock Police Department. The next Friday, we saw a couple of squad cars shut the preacher down, mid-preach.

As we turned north on University, we saw him

explaining his side of things to stony faces in blue. They were not moved. (But he was.)

After years of dedicated service, we thought that may be the end of the Asher preacher. He’d flown too close to the sun on wings of folding chairs. Holy Ghost power had faced off with the long arm of the law and gotten the bum’s rush.

No matter the urgency of the message, no matter its necessity to be heard by the people, the Man had spoken: Medians in major intersections are not the place for them to be delivered.

But for the hubristically named Observer, we’d underestimated the tenacity of a man willing to stand in a major city intersection in the blistering heat, wearing a robe and yelling about God through a CB radio.

Defeated in his campaign to win the west, the Asher preacher simply returned to his lowerprofile thin-strip median on the east side of University Avenue, but with more branding: “JESUS CHURCH ON FRIDAY” a sign on the median warned.

He’d kept other trappings from his failed foray onto bigger acreage, including the wooden pulpit with a trumpet atop. Its brass would gleam in the afternoon sun. We never Observed it being played. With no walls nearby, who could say if they’d come tumbling down or not?

Affixed to the front of his pulpit was another sign: “PASTORS YOU HAVE LET JESUS DOWN.” On this point, we may actually agree. But maybe for different reasons.

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