A&E Feature
Fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss raises millions for Heifer
To-Do List
Tom Keifer at Revolution
Arkansas Blog
Guns
The guns and Bass Pro Shops open line
The line is open. Finishing up:
* UA PRESIDENT BOBBITT RECOMMENDS UA MAINTAIN NO-GUN POLICY: University of Arkansas System President Donald Bobbitt will recommend to the UA Board of Trustees Thursday that it vote to opt out of the new state law that allows college campuses to choose to permit staff to carry concealed weapons. The UA has 11 campuses. Several other Arkansas colleges have already made that decision, including UCA and Henderson. The ASU Board of Trustees also will vote Thursday on chancellors' recommendations to keep the four ASU campuses gun-free. Here's the resolution that Bobbitt will ask the UA Board to approve.
* THINGS ARE HUMMING IN OTTER CREEK: One of those periodic urban retail myths — Costco was looking at a location in Otter Creek — passed over my desk and that reminded me I'd been meaning to check in with Tommy Hodges of Otter Creek Land Co. on the Bass Pro Shops development at the I-30/430 interchange. No, Costco isn't coming. But construction on the Bass Pro Shops outlet is moving along and the store should open, complete with four-acre fishing lake, by October or November, Hodges said. First Security Bank will have a new branch on an outparcel about that time, too. A restaurant may also be among the first new developments. A year later, Hodges said he hopes to have open a high-end outlet mall, with complementing hotel and restaurants. He said a glitzy lineup of tenants has been assembled, but he's not ready to release it yet. The opening of the Bass Pro, with its expected big traffic, should firm up commitments from many businesses, including some retail operations with plans for freestanding businesses.
* VOTE BUYING SENTENCE: Sam Malone, a former West Memphis police officer, was sentenced to 7.2 months of house arrest and additional probation in federal court today for his role in an illegal scheme to elect Hudson Hallum, a Democrat, to a seat in the state House, the U.S. attorney's office said. He, Hallum, Hallum's father and Philip Carter, a West Memphis council member, have pleaded guilty in a scheme that included influencing votes with vodka and chicken dinners. The others haven't been sentenced. Carter will be in court tomorrow; Hallum on June 20.
Transportation
Jarod Varner picked to lead Central Arkansas Transit
Jarod Varner, who's been vice president of transit operations for the Denton County (Texas) Transportation Authority, where he's worked since 2005, has been selected to be the executive director of the Central Arkansas Transit Authority. He succeeds the retiring Betty Wineland.
Varner has a bachelor's degree from Harding University and a master's from the University of North Texas in public administration.
Abortion
Appeals court strikes down 20-week abortion ban
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the Arizona law that put a ban on abortions beginning with the 20th week of pregnancy.
This is good news for abortion rights generally, though not necessarily in Arkansas since we are in a different judicial circuit. But it should give some ammunition to fire at the new Arkansas ban on abortions at 20 weeks, a law that takes effect this summer. Legal action is being planned on that Arkansas law, but it presents more difficulties than the 12-week ban, recently enjoined by federal Judge Susan Webber Wright.
Here's the full 9th Circuit opinion.
Very few abortions are performed in Arkansas at 20 weeks or later (50 in 2011 according to state statistics) and they are not routinely provided by the centers that provide most of the abortions in the state, many of them medicine-induced abortions at the early stage of pregnancy. So the abortion providers who are plaintiffs in the 12-week suit aren't readily suited to be plaintiffs in the 20-week case, Most likely, a Jane Doe will be necessary and time will be critical, particularly to the woman, since surgical abortions provided late in pregnancy are invariably prompted by a serious medical condition of the woman or the fetus.
Arizona tried to use the same defense for its 20-week law that anti-abortionists cooked up in Arkansas for the 12-week ban. Because the law allows some exceptions, it doesn't amount to a "ban. But the 9th Circuit rejected that reasoning, saying the law still banned many abortions before viability, or the time the fetus could live outside the womb. That is prohibited by U.S. Supreme Court precedent. So far.
Hard to see how these same words from the 9th Circuit wouldn't apply in Arkansas:
The panel reversed the district court’s order denying declaratory and injunctive relief to plaintiffs and held that the Constitution does not permit the Arizona legislature to prohibit abortion beginning at twenty weeks gestation, before the fetus is viable.The panel held that under controlling Supreme Court precedent, Arizona may not deprive a woman of the choice to terminate her pregnancy at any point prior to viability. The panel held that Arizona House Bill 2036, enacted in April 2012, effects such a deprivation by prohibiting abortion from twenty weeks gestational age through fetal viability. The panel held that the twenty-week law is therefore unconstitutional under an unbroken stream of Supreme Court authority, beginning with Roe v. Wade and ending with Gonzales v. Carhart.
Concurring, Judge Kleinfeld stated that the current state of the law compelled him to concur, and that what controls this case is that the parties do not dispute that the twenty week line Arizona has drawn is three or four weeks prior to viability.
Rock Candy
Music / Coming soon / Theater / Contests
Got a great cocktail recipe? It could win you tickets to 'Jersey Boys'
- Jeremy Daniel
- The Times is giving away a pair of tickets to "Jersey Boys."
Who doesn't love a good cocktail, right? And who doesn't love "Jersey Boys," the Tony- and Grammy-winning jukebox musical that tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons?
Say, here's an idea: what if the Arkansas Times was to have a contest for the best "Jersey Boys"-inspired cocktail, and give the winner a pair of tickets to see the musical June 19 at Robinson Center Music Hall, plus entry to the official after-party at Boscos, where that person's winning cocktail would be served? Sound keen? Bet.
Here's the deal: email your cocktail recipe to tiffany@arktimes.com and put "JERSEY BOYS COCKTAIL" in the subject line. We'll select the most promising recipes, then your trusty and (very) seasoned Times cocktail experts will try them out and anoint a winner. The contest is open from through June 6, and the usual caveats apply (no Times employees, don't scalp the tickets, etc.).
Feel free to get all crazy and "mixologist" with this thing, but know that if your recipe is too out-there, calling for emulsified durian oil or pulverized fresh loganberries or something else that no self-respecting bartender has ever heard of, then you might not win. Cool? OK. Aaaand... go!
Music Videos
Johnny Cash mashed with Jackson 5, Steve Miller
Here's what you get when you combine "Rockin' Robin" with "Folsom Prison Blues" and "The Joker." What say you — abomination or finger-snapping good time?
The mash comes courtesy of DJ Faroff.
H/T: egotripland
LRFF
Little Rock Film Festival 2013 award winners
I'll have more on my impressions on this year's festival tomorrow. In the meantime, here are this year's prize winners.
Oxford American Best Southern Film Award ($10,000 prize money): "Bayou Maharajah"
Heifer International Social Impact Film Award ($10,000 prize money): "These Birds Walk"
Golden Rock Narrative Film: "Short Term 12"
Golden Rock Documentary Film: "Dirty Wars"
Extraordinary Courage in Filmmaking: Jeremy Scahill ("Dirty Wars")
Arkansas Times Audience Award: "Bridegroom"
Made in Arkansas Best Feature: "45 RPM"
Made in Arkansas Best Short: "The Discontentment of Ed Telfair"
Made in Arkansas Best Director: Mark Thiedeman for "Last Summer"
Made in Arkansas Best Actor: Liza Burns in "45 RPM"
World Shorts: "When We Lived in Miami"
A previous version of this post incorrectly listed the World Shorts winner as "When We Live in Miami."
Cover Story
A guide to the 2013 Little Rock Film Festival
Event Calendar
-
Re: Conservationists call for Buffalo protection on river, hog farm tour
So exactly what is it about the Tea Party that libs hate so much?
-
on May 21, 2013
-
Re: Cathi Compton also in circuit judge race
Reif supporter here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is is best lawyer I have ever met.
Believe me I…- on May 21, 2013
-
Re: Will Tom Cotton help Oklahoma or hold it hostage to ideology?
Some thoughts:
A 2011 analysis by the Center for Public Integrity found that Texas…- on May 21, 2013
Arkansas Reporter
Efficiency program from Entergy Arkansas could save you money
Editorials
Listen, UA
Slideshows
-
What's there, what's coming.
Fox16 Local News and Weather
-
LRSD Interim Superintendent Sends Letter to Parents about Severe Weather Protocol
May 21, 2013Reminds everyone school administrators and staff are trained to move all students to a designated safe area. fox16.com /more/ -
Update: Parkview Student Shot Outside Verizon Arena
May 21, 2013Police in North Little Rock are responding to a shooting near Verizon Arena. fox16.com /more/
Site Index
News
Cover Story / Arkansas Reporter / The Week That Was / Smart Talk / The Insider / The Observer / Editorial / Max Brantley / Ernest Dumas / Gene Lyons / Bob Lancaster / Words / Guest Writer / Letters
Entertainment
A&E Feature / To-Do List / In Brief / Movie Reviews / Music Reviews / Theater Reviews / A&E News / Art Notes / Graham Gordy / Books / Media / Dining Reviews / Dining Guide / What's Cookin' / Calendar / The Televisionist / Movie Listings / Gallery Listings
This Week's Cover
Special Publications
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
