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Spring arts

Spring arts

March 7, 2012

Vol 38 • No 27

Read the print version

Music to anticipate

Tom Petty, Miranda Lambert, Riverfest and Wakarusa highlight the coming calendar.

Summer cinema

Film fest season heats up with the weather.

Spring on the stage

'The Wiz,' Shakespeare Festival highlight the season.

Invitational returns

The obsessive line is theme.

Spring arts calendar

All the arts events of the season.

Spring Arts 2012

Your guide to upcoming art, movies, music and theater.

The Tuesday night line

ROUNDUP: Bruce Bartlett on beleaguered rich people. Misogyny among liberals. Republican hypocrisy. Congressional debates.

LR Board delays vote on vets center ordinance

The Little Rock Board of Directors, at Mayor Mark Stodola's suggestion, deferred action tonight on a new zoning ordinance aimed at making difficult, if not impossible, for the VA to put a new day center for veterans at 10th and Main.

Shakes take it all.

The Holy Shakes win the 20th Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase.

Arkansas Rep's new season

Plus, next up for 'Madison County.'

Lawsuits question exotic dancer pay

The big turnoff.

Corporate dominance

Updates follow on a couple of topics. Though unrelated in the specific, both are directly related to corporate dominance of the people's government.

Head cheese and wampus cats

The fifth and final volume (SI-Z) of the Dictionary of American Regional English will be published this month, 50 years after work began on what has been called "the nation's most ambitious dictionary of regional dialects."

Food trucks coming to Main Street

After the success of the Main Street Food Truck Festival last year, the Downtown Little Rock Partnership is organizing a regular event, Main Street Food Truck Fridays, scheduled to kick off Friday, April 13.

Good week for big trucks

It was also a good week for Chad Griffin, code enforcement, hypocrisy and the reuse of historic buildings. It was a bad week for Lance Hines and Fred Smith.

Bobby Bare Jr. to Revolution

Also: Dale Earnhart Jr. Jr. at Juanita's, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Film Forum, Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition, Ballet Arkansas: Beyond Category, Corrosion of Conformity at Downtown Music and Neon Indian at Revolution.

Back to the parallel primary

Wasting away in Margaritaville

In terms of singular devotion, strong visual aesthetics and overall good vibes, few other 'heads can touch the Parrotheads.

Rule change shouldn't hamper 2012 Hogs

With baseballs shooting out of parks at a rate that could be described as nakedly extreme, the NCAA implemented rules changes in 2009 that were designed to alter the way college baseball was played. The so-called "BBCOR" (Batted-Ball Coefficient of Restitution...but you knew that already) rule went into effect for the 2011 season and home run production across the board plummeted while pitchers reaped the ensuing rewards.

Business and religion

Of birds and Cardinals

The Observer's photographer pal, a born and raised St. Louisian who bleeds Cardinals red, recently got the chance to meet his idol, the great Cardinal Lou Brock, during an event at the Clinton Center. His account of that dream-meeting is a humdinger.

Rush prostituting for the GOP

It has never been clear whether Rush Limbaugh is the Republican Party's philosopher or merely its herald, but he always comes through when the party needs him.

Lyons: Dems lose control of the story

Look at it this way: If the Wall Street banking crisis had taken place in 2007 instead of 2008, George W. Bush wouldn't be able to leave home without being jeered.

Deserving of all praise

Oscar winner 'A Separation' a tense drama.

Somebody's watching me

On March 1 Google updated its privacy policy. Previously, it had more than 70 policies for its various services — Chrome, Gmail, Google+, Picasa, YouTube, etc. The new policy covers nearly all Google properties.

Review: Jimmy Buffet at Verizon Arena

It's good to be Jimmy Buffett. He's got his own brand of beer, Landshark. And his own bar/restaurant chain, tequila brand and Sirius-XM radio channel, all named Margaritaville.

Wise words from Griffen

Reading a recent blog item regarding the order of a federal judge in the 1957 Central High integration crisis reminded me of a recent letter to the editor published in your newspaper and written by the esteemed Wendell Griffen.

Sluts galore

Eve was the first slut, according to the blowhard EIB gospel. Adam was more an innocent bystander who got lured into it, because it really is hard to resist and not for long is self-control a match for concupiscence.

No curtain yet

Arvest Bank is working with the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival to find a way to keep the Malco Theater out of foreclosure, the festival director says.

Peelander-Z comes to Maxine's

And Jeff Dunham comes to Verizon.

Out for a run

At the marathon.

War hawks

Hitler pretty well proved, if unintentionally, that fighting a two-front war is a bad idea. The Republican Party didn't notice. Republican presidential candidates are crying out for military action against Iran even as fighting still rages in the party's War on Women (a conflict described by some commentators as "gender cleansing").

Can't hurt

On learning that the Arkansas Supreme Court will begin exacting a promise from lawyers to act right, a layman's first thought is "too little, too late."

Grounds for Gourmands at Culinary District

Combo lunch/kitchen store worth a trip.

Solution for Little Rock local bidder preference

The Little Rock City Board approved a local bidder preference ordinance last night over the objections of only Director Ken Richardson, increasingly the voice of reason on the board.

Iran war mongering. Is it a winner for Republicans?

President Obama spoke forcefully yesterday in response to Republican politicians seemingly anxious to go to war against Iran.

Websites blow whistle on bribery

Fascinating story about the proliferation of websites around the world on which people report the bribes they paid to bureaucrats to get governmental chores accomplished — a payment to get a birth certificate in India, for example.

Fire at Pinnacle Promenade in Rogers

40/29 reports a major response to a fire that broke out last night in the vacant Borders bookstore in the Pinnacle Hills Promenade shopping center in Rogers.

Republicans rooting for U.S. industry to fail

Happy to see this article. Rush Limbaugh's latest is incessant bashing of Chevy's Volt.

Robbery reported in Hillcrest

Police report the strong-arm robbery of a woman walking to a car in a parking lot at Kavanaugh and Walnut about 10 p.m. last night.

Contraceptives and St. Vincent

St. Vincent Health System clinics offer contraception to patients.

Today at lunch: Love letters from the war

Arkansas Times columnist Ernest Dumas will talk at noon today at the library's Darragh Center about his book, "Dearest Letty: The World War II Love Letters of Sgt. Leland Duvall."

Wednesday To-Do: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. plays Juanita's Wednesday.

Food Truck Fridays coming to Main Street

After the success of the Main Street Food Truck Festival last year, the Downtown Little Rock Partnership is organizing a regular event, Main Street Food Truck Fridays, scheduled to kick off Friday, April 13.

Dispelling myths about veterans

Those who stayed until the bitter end of last night's Little Rock City Board meeting would have heard a thoughtful plea from a retired Air Force officer/physician in support of the Main Street center for veterans.

Chapman-Bremner show

Collaborative exhibition at Northwest Arkansas Community College.

UCA student show opens today

Greg Thompson was juror.

Thursday To-Do: Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Film Forum

The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Film Forum is March 8-11 at Petit Jean.

Free trees from Entergy

A friend passed along a note on the Heights neighborhood Yahoo group. Perhaps this also came in an Entergy bill, but I never look at them.

Thursday: Peelander-Z, Blackberry Smoke, ACS benefit

Peelander-Z returns to Hot Springs with a show at Maxine's Thursday.

$20 million redevelopment planned for Main Street

Yoko Ono subject at art history symposium

Dr. Kevin Concannon of Virginia Tech's School of Visual Arts will deliver the keynote address.

Police death suit seeks disqualification of city attorney

Michael Laux, attorney in the lawsuit against Little Rock police over the December 2010 shooting death of Eugene Ellison in his Little Rock apartment, has asked that City Attorney Tom Carpenter be disqualified from defending the city.

Fire at Party City

Reader Donald Dailey sends the photo of fire burning today at Party City on Rodney Parham Road.

The line is open

News roundup: House sets speaker election. Waltons pump millions into charter schools. Legal squabble continues on whether felon should be on the ballot for legislature.

Republicans make slur official practice

Permit me a divergence into partisan trivia. Secretary of State Mark Martin has been endeavoring to maintain a place on the ballot for a felon, Fred Smith, a wacky former Democratic legislator who turned up minutes before filing deadline to seek a seat in the legislature again.

Weekend To-Do: Ballet Arkansas presents 'Beyond Category'

Ballet Arkansas presents "Beyond Category" this weekend at Wildwood.

A review of fracking oversight — improvements needed

Thanks to Sen. Jason Rapert for a report I hadn't seen before — the independent review by Stronger Inc. of Arkansas's oversight of exploration for gas in the state by hydraulic fracturing.

Jonesboro printer to lay off 600 workers

Quad/Graphics, a worldwide printing firm, announced yesterday that it would close its Jonesboro plant in the fourth quarter of this year.

Poor women's health becomes pawn for Texas politics

I read about this over the weekend in the Austin newspaper and couldn't believe it.

Friday To-Do: Bobby Bare Jr.

Bobby Bare Jr. plays Juanitas Friday night.

Friday To-Do: Jimbo Mathus & The Tri-State Coalition

Jimbo Mathus and The Tri-State Coalition play White Water Tavern Friday night.

Weekend: Jeff Dunham, 2 Chainz, Whitehorse and more

Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz heads to Clear Channel Metroplex Saturday.

Arkansas near bottom on college graduation rates

The Chronicle of Higher Education has published comprehensive figures on college graduation rates, by state and institution, public and private.

Supreme Court open doors wide to nighttime searches

The Arkansas Supreme Court today, in a 4-3 decision, blew a big hole in limits on issuance of nighttime searches.

New director at Artchurch

Erin Holliday moves from VOV to Hot Springs' visual and performing arts organization.

LR's Trixie wins dog of valor award

Remember Trixie, the terrier who helped Little Rock's Ida Moose make it after a fall in her yard?

The death of greyhound racing

The New York Times reports today on a gambling development directly relevant to Arkansas. After a decade in which more than half the greyhound tracks in the country have closed, many of the remaining operations have survived thanks to the model used at Bluffs Run.

Oaklawn announces 2012 Finish Line Concert Series

The Oak Ridge Boys kick off Oaklawn's concert series June 7.

NEA chairman to Rep for arts panel discussion

Rocco Landesman, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will take part in a panel discussion Tuesday at The Rep.

Vote now for ASO's 'People's Choice'

Vote now for Arkansas Symphony Orchestra's "People's Choice" performance.

Value-added testing can't fail, can it?

If we just test kids enough and then fire teachers whose kids don't improve their scores, how can we lose?

Glasgow case tipster gets 10 years

Jon Brawner, the man who prompted an extensive and expensive fruitless search by Little Rock police for the body of missing constructive company executive John Glasgow, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for violating a protection order and stalking his ex-wife.

SC Republican sex pledge makes foe wonder

The South Carolina Republican county committee that has required candidates to sign a pledge they never had premarital sex and that they'd never look at porn again has prompted a response from South Carolina Democratic chair Dick Harpootlian: Since it is apparent porn and sex must be a big enough problem in the Republican Party to warrant a written pledge to avoid them, I would be very cautious about getting into a small space like a bathroom or a voting booth with a Republican.

Keystone pipeline measure fails in Senate

An amendment in the U.S. Senate to fast-track the Keystone pipeline failed today. Needing 60 votes, it got 56.

Highway 61 Blues Festival moves date closer to King Biscuit

The Highway 61 Blues Festival in Leland, Miss., usually held in early June, will be moved this year to Sept. 29.

Thursday night line

News summary: Jobs legislation, lignite, Wes Clark on Syria.

"Making a Place" at the Butler Center

An exhibit that focuses on Jewish history in Arkansas opens tomorrow in the Arkansas Studies Institute's Butler Center main gallery.

ASU exhibits works from permanent collection

Work by Audrey Flack, Oded Halahmy and more.

Tim Griffin making plans? UPDATE

Tim Griffin's name has popped up in domain names suggesting races for governor and Senate. His spokesman says the campaign didn't buy them and has no knowledge who did.

A morning cheer for Jim Dailey, Sharon Priest

A round of applause this morning for former Mayor Jim Dailey and Sharon Priest, director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, who told the Democrat-Gazette that they didn't believe development of a vacant building at 10th and Main for a vets' clinic would deter Main Street redevelopment efforts.

Saturday To-Do: Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion of Conformity plays Downtown Music Hall Saturday.

Smoking police — a discretionary call at UALR

Blog reader Joe Arnold passes along communication with UALR about his complaint about smoking at the entrance to the campus on University Avenue — on the sidewalk right of way between the street and the fence that encircles the campus.

Hursley's silo story

Hursley goes Warhol in film of silo.

Former forestry finance chief Robert Araiza retires

Robert Araiza, the financial officer who was in the middle of the long-running controversy over financial shortfalls at the Arkansas Forestry Commission, has taken state retirement.

Daniel Coston at Cantrell Gallery

"Structures" features paintings of a vanishing Delta culture.

Harris, Uptigrove, Richard, Massey, Leflar

The Smittle Band will play and wine provided by Crush Wine Bar will be tasted at Historic Arkansas Museum's 2nd Friday event.

Ethics probe leads to S.C. lt. gov. resignation

I'm always happy to see when government ethics laws have some teeth. Today's story is from South Carolina, where the Republican lieutenant governor has resigned following an investigation of his use of campaign money for personal expenses.

Health care for Little Rock's homeless

In an earlier item, I posted a comment from Mayor Mark Stodola that referenced an effort to put a medical center in the day center for the homeless that the city plans to open on Confederate Boulevard.

Pottsville quads get Arkansas Tech scholarships

Arkansas Tech President Robert Brown has awarded presidential scholarships — good for free tuition — to Pottsville quadruplets Carlie, Cole, Curtis and Jonatham Latham.

House elects Darrin Williams speaker designate

The Arkansas House adjourned today and then turned to a secret ballot vote on designating a speaker for the 2013-14 legislature.

Sunday To-Do: Neon Indian

Neon Indian plays Revolution Sunday night.

Doonesbury gets tough on Republican abortion bills

Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" comic strip will stir up one of its periodic fusses next week with a series of panels on invasive abortion legislation by Republican legislatures around the country, according to Jim Romenesko.

Settlement agreement filed on legislative expense lawsuit

A settlement agreement was filed today in the lawsuit over legislative expenses. The agreement will be presented for court approval at a hearing before Judge Chris Piazza April 3.

What you'll cook at WRI: Easter buffet and more

Still room for Saturday class; upcoming classes listed.

Group finds shortcomings in fracking study

Thanks to a tip from Sen. Jason Rapert, I got an early jump on the independent review by Stronger Inc. of gas exploration regulation in Arkansas in the age of fracking.

TGIF

Let the open line begin.

The people's choice: Deborah Allen

Painter wins inaugural Delta award.

The Catch-up Edition

A settlement in a legislative expense lawsuit, the historic election of a new Speaker of the Arkansas House, the end of the fiscal session, the latest on the VA Center's planned move to Main Street and more covered this week.

The morning news roundup

I was a touch surprised that no news organization, including the daily newspaper — which has covered the subject extensively in the past — picked up the news reported here yesterday that a taxpayer lawsuit now seems likely to end the practice of state legislators supplementing their paychecks unconstitutionally with undocumented expense reimbursements.

Bruce Springsteen at the Apollo

Gee, I wish I'd watched Bruce Springsteen's Sirius-sponsored concert at the Apollo, reviewed this morning in the New York Times.

Saturday line

Nothing much. Let's open the line here.Noted: * GO, RICK, GO: Santorum smashes Romney in Kansas, an abidingly strange place.

American soldier kills Afghan civilians

I think this will dominate news today — American solidier opened fire on Afghan civilians and killed at least 15.

Time to stop the legislative payola

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette today did its annual matchup of lobby reporting with legislative financial disclosure and turned up several that hadn't fully disclosed the freebies they received in 2011.

Rapert bill similar to Virginia's on invasive ultrasound

Sunday drizzle

Anything to cheer this evening up? One final note: * FAT PAY IN BENTON COUNTY: A reader sent a link to an interesting story in the Benton County Daily Record (pay wall) about some giant pay raises for administrators at the Northwest Arkansas Community College.

Little Rock Airport lines longer after 'improvements'

My own experience agrees with Noel Oman's report in the Democrat-Gazette this morning about complaints that security checks take longer at Little Rock National Airport since the screening area was expanded, improved and added full-body scanners.

Doonesbury strips published in Democrat-Gazette

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is running Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" comic strip this week despite the controversial topic of abortion.

Austin makes homeless roving "hotspots"

An idea for Mayor Mark Stodola, Downtown Partnership Director Sharon Priest and others. It's from New York Times coverage of the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas: Getting a decent data connection at SXSW can be a challenge, given that it attracts what may be the most data-hungry crowd in the world.

Conway does battle over a Walmart

Conway has tussled before about a new Walmart near a residential area and a good fight is apparently brewing at the Planning Commission at 7 p.m. tonight on a new Walmart Neighborhood Market on Prince Street.

Monday: Glossary, Reptar, Nachtmystium, 'The Wiz'

Nachtmystium plays Downtown Music Hall Monday night.

Researchers: Obamacare is holding down health costs

This is one the Republican war room won't be retweeting. From Talking Points Memo: In a development with potentially profound implications — both for Medicare itself and for the broader ideological fight between the two parties over the role of government — researchers writing in the New England Journal of Medicine believe that the growth in per patient Medicare costs has slowed, contra earlier projections that spending would soar at an unsustainable rate.

Limbaugh's loss could be Mike Huckabee's gain

David Frum writes in depth for the Daily Beast about how Mike Huckabee's coming national radio talk show could enjoy a boost from Rush Limbaugh's declining market share and more recent exodus of advertisers.

Little Rock Tech Park has website

The Little Rock Technology Park Authority now has a website. It includes links to documents prepared for the city taxpayer-financed effort and minutes of meetings of the public agency.

Diamond Bear's Two Term Double IPA pushes progressive agenda

Diamond Bear's Two Term Double IPA has a rich malt base and enough hops to tingle the sides of your tongue an hour after you’ve taken your last sip.

Lead Hill school merger fails on tie vote

The state Board of Education is meeting today, with items including a voluntary consolidation of the Lead Hill School District, which has fewer than the required minimum of 350 students, with the Ozark Mountain District.

Review: Zac Brown Band

The Zac Brown Band played Verizon Arena Saturday.

Fake meat gets 'real'

Tastes like chicken. Chews like chicken. Who needs chicken?

Review: Jimbo Mathus & The Tri-State Coalition

Jimbo Mathus and The Tri-State Coalition played White Water Tavern Friday night.

Details on legislative expense accounting filed

I reported last week on the proposed settlement of a lawsuit by the Arkansas Public Law Center (of which I'm a part) and the state of Arkansas over legislative expense payments.

Coloring contest: It's a cow!

Heifer is sponsoring a contest based on real artwork of Heifer International.

Le Pops opens in the River Market

Le Pops, the upstart ice-treats business, is now open in the River Market.

Monday night line

It begins. Closing out: * JUDICIAL VOTE: Glenn Sugameli, staff attorney at Judging the Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, calls my attention to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's announced intention to call a cloture vote on an effective Republican filibuster of 17 federal district judge nominations, including Kristine Baker of Little Rock.

The coming Republican legislative agenda

Rep. Ed Garner alerts us via Twitter that incoming House Republican leader Rep. Bruce Westerman soon will publish his legislative agenda to help produce a winning Republican team in the 2012 elections.

The blotter: Road rage and homicide UPDATE

Twitter is hard to beat as a news headline service. In a few seconds, it synthesizes the news.

This week's Times: The LR Tech Park

The appearance of an organized opposition in a Central Little Rock neighborhood to expropriation of the neighborhood by the Little Rock Technology Park Authority prompted news coverage yesterday (on Channel 4) and elsewhere.

Another day in court for Death Row's Tim Howard

The 1998 capital case against Tim Howard from Little River County has long drawn on our attention in reporting by Mara Leveritt, most recently in her account of huge problems with DNA tests conducted for the case (and covered up by the state).

Tuesday: Louis Logic, Workout, Orgy, 'Cool Hand Luke'

Louis Logic plays Stickyz Tuesday night.

New GOP talking point: Obama getting off easy

This theme will be coming to you shortly, if it hasn't already, from a right-wing radio show, Fox News and even mainstream sources.

Exploding the tax-cut myth

Ernest Dumas writes this week about the most cherished of Republican core beliefs — if you cut taxes, a mighty stream of prosperity will pour down on the rich and the unrich alike.

Democratic Party sues to remove Fred Smith from ballot

The Arkansas Democratic Party has asked the Pulaski Circuit Court to remove former state Rep. Fred Smith from the ballot for the state House from Crittenden County.

Arkansas unemployment rate drops in January

The state says the unemployment rate in January dropped to 7.6 percent from 7.8 percent the month before on rising total employment.

Bales make $1 million gift to Arkansas Children's Hospital

Sharon and John Hardin Bale Jr. will give $1 million to support the fetal heart program at Arkansas Children's Hospital and it will be named in their honor.

Jones BBQ in Marianna wins Beard Foundation honor

The James Beard Foundation, which promotes good restaurant eating in America and annually honors top restaurants, chefs and others, today announced that a Marianna barbecue restaurant had been designated one of this year's American Classics.

Mick Wiggins at UALR

Exhibition has only 12 short days to go.

U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin: Hypocrite of the day

U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin was given a big space in the Saline Courier recently to expound on the failure of President Obama's stimulus program.

The Republican agenda in Louisiana

I jokingly concocted a Republican agenda for the next leader of the Arkansas House earlier today.

Stream new Gossip track, "Perfect World"

The latest from the White County product.

The Republican war on women advances

Bad as things might seem, we're not at Arizona's level yet. Here's some news on the sex warrior front in the West.

Open for business

News roundup: Super Fund site in Helena; don't say gay legislation in Tennessee, Arkansas Lottery director's pay
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