Sunday, July 31, 2011
Rain!
How about that? Consider this the Sunday open line. Hope you had a good weekend.
Plus: How's this for a headline:
The Debt Ceiling "Compromise" Is a Total Democratic Capitulation to the GOP
So says Mitchell Bard, and I hope to hell he's wrong.
—-LNP
Posted by Gerard Matthews on | Permalink | Comments (43)
Arkansas Politics Ed Garner is...
... running for Senate? Looks that way. He's exploring the idea, anyway, according to his Facebook page.
Posted by Gerard Matthews on | Permalink | Comments (10)
Good morning
I'm opening up the line this morning so you all can fuss with each other while I mow the grass.
Meanwhile, here's an odd story to think about: Goldman Sachs, the company your tax dollars bailed out to the tune of about $13 billion, is now stockpiling aluminum to drive up prices. Sort of like DeBeers and diamonds. Coca-Cola is is about to pop a top.
More important to our lives: It looks like there's going to be a vote at 1 p.m. today on a new plan to raise the debt limit.
Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on | Permalink | Comments (34)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Open wine
That's what I've done after a long hot dog walk. What goes with wine? An open line.
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Little Rock Government Tax protest
Under a blistering sun at mid-morning, a half-dozen poster-waving members of the $500 Million Tax — Too Much! committee urged traffic at 12th Street and University to honk if they oppose the city sales tax proposals. Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, activist Jim Lynch, committee chair Robert Webb and supporters were getting plenty of honks (though one lady apologized to Lynch that she could not support his position, to which he replied, that's OK, it's a free country).
Webb made several points at a press conference mid-demonstration about what he called the "triple sales tax" (a penny added to the current half-cent), which he said would fund "unknowable ideas" and force voters who want their streets repaired to vote for the $6 million "slush fund" for jobs and another $32 million for a "research park." Webb later said the research park would displace low-income residents and would not provide jobs for them, unless it was to "sweep up." (See city's breakdown here.) He said the half-billion-generating sales tax was a "champagne appetite on a Budweiser budget."
Lynch held up a chart that showed Little Rock residents' tax burden growing to $160 million by the year 2020; he said the bill to pay for the cost of the city's failure to impose impact fees on land its annexed out west had come due. Another poster compared past capital projects to the proposal, showing it to be a $31 million increase over money raised in 2004 through a voter-approved bond issue.
Griffen asked the question, "If you had to pay more to get the same things you have, would you?" He said the tax receipts would do nothing for the city's low-income community, arguing the city needs to get rid of its three at-large board positions and go to all ward representation to give people better representation and create a civil service commission for fair reviews of police action.
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Police beat Bloody Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday ...
Though they aren't, it sure seems like homicides are a daily event here in Central Arkansas. Reported today: a man found dead in his North Little Rock home.
Check out the Fox 16 homicide map, updated three days ago — whoever is in charge of updating it is a busy person. Seventeen are mapped. Add yesterday's, and it's about one every 12 days so far this year.
Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on | Permalink | Comments (7)
Politics Head-pummeling governance
Brummett is dismayed by political antics and weirdness — both in the debt crisis and in Gould — and concludes in his column that:
Allow me to take both a side and a stand: Democracy works only when executed by sane and civilized people who permit open debate without head-pummeling.
One can only conclude that democracy isn't working, neither in Arkansas nor D.C. Now what?
Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on | Permalink | Comments (25)
Friday, July 29, 2011
TGIF
How 'bout an open line?
But first...
Just in: The House passes Boehner's plan 218-210; now on to its death in the Senate. UPDATE: Done.
*"A SPENDING ADDICTION": CNN tweaks Rep. Tim Griffin and other Republicans who've adopted a hardline on debt talks, while carrying significant personal debts of their own. According to disclosure forms released in June, Griffin had racked up at least $15,000 in credit card debt on his American Express.
*ARKANSAS REPUBLICANS ARE ON A ROLL: Check out this pic from the Sharp County Republican's booth at the Sharp County Fair that a reporter from Mt. Ida sent in to Rachel Maddow's blog.
*FOOD NEWS: Have you been to Eat Arkansas lately? If not, mosey on over to see items on Chipotle in West Little Rock and Redbone's Downtown, a new Cajun/Southern restaurant soon-to-open in the River Market.
*PODCAST: Sorry again. We were more shorthanded than usual today. We'll shoot to return next week. In the meantime, catch Gerard on "Arkansas Week."
Posted by Lindsey Millar on | Permalink | Comments (33)
Arkansas Politics Martin sends out political tweets on state time
Remember when the Secretary of State's office and the state Republican Party filed FOIA requests to try to catch the authors of the now-defunct Blue Hog Report blogging and Tweeting on state time? (Republican Party of Arkansas Executive Director Chase Duggar said there was no connection between the SOS office and the FOIA request, although he admitted to meeting with Mark Martin and former press aide Alice Stewart the day before the request was made.) Well, now comes Secretary of State Mark Martin - wait for it - sending out political tweets on state time. Earlier this afternoon, Martin made these three posts to his Twitter account:
Like how Martin channeled his Nascar namesake? Notice also the tag "via web." This means the tweets were sent from a computer or the web browser of a phone with an internet connection (although it's easier to use apps for that sort of thing).
According to spokesman Alex Reed, Martin sent the tweets from his personal cell phone, not a state computer. Martin was at work today, not on vacation. As for sending out political tweets on state time? Reed said the tweets weren't political.
I don’t feel like the word liberal is partisan. Partisan, in my mind, would imply one of two parties. I’m sorry if people feel like the word Liberal is synonymous with one of the major parties.
Something tells me the RPA isn't going to be quite as concerned about Martin's misuse of state time as they were about the Blue Hog Report - the authors of which never used state time to do their blogging and tweeting, as it turned out.
Posted by Gerard Matthews on | Permalink | Comments (22)
Education More high school graduates heading to college in Arkansas
We've passed a milestone in postsecondary education in Arkansas! Now, more than 50% of public high school seniors attend some sort of higher education institute, according to a state Department of Higher Education report. Time to get out the cake and balloons.
More specifics and less positive figures:
The rate for all public and private institutions increased from the previous fall by 4.8 percentage points to 51.7 percent. Officials said the percentage reflects the accessibility of higher education as well as students’ assessment of the value of attending college when compared to working, entering the military, traveling or other pursuits.The fall 2010 entering class had a remediation rate of 23.7 percent for students who had graduated from high school with at least a 3.0 GPA. Nearly 49 percent of those students attending a two-year college were remediated in one or more courses, with 20 percent of those attending universities enrolled in remedial coursework. Additionally, research shows 15.1 percent of students attempted a remediation course two or more times.
In comparison, the fall 2009 entering class had a remediation rate of 25.1 percent, with 46.7 percent of those attending a two-year college in remediation and 19.8 percent of those at a university taking remedial coursework. Those attempting a remediation course two or more times was slightly lower than the 2010 class at 14.9 percent.
More from the report on minority hiring, bond issues and athletic budgets on the the jump.
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Police beat Suspect arrested in shooting of nine year old
Little Rock Police officers arrested Darius Manning, 19, yesterday in connection with a July 23 shooting that left a nine-year-old boy in critical condition. Witnesses told police that Manning and another unidentified suspect had an argument that led to both men shooting at one another. A bullet struck Treylaun Hollis in the chest.
On July 28, 2011, Officers arrested Darius Manning and he was transported to the Downtown Detective Division for questioning. Detectives learned that Darius Manning and second suspect had been in an argument for several weeks. The nature of the argument is unknown at this time. Detectives charged Manning with Battery 1st for the shooting of Hollis and transported him to the Pulaski County Jail. Detectives are working on the identity of the second suspect. The investigation is continuing.
Posted by Gerard Matthews on | Permalink | Comments (2)
Little Rock Government Griffen to flock: Tax too much
Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen
, in his position as pastor of New Millennium Church, has sent a letter to church members encouraging their attendance at a rally tomorrow by the $500 Million Tax — Too Much! group that will file as a ballot committee opposing the proposed city sales tax increase.$500 Million Tax — Too Much! is led by community activist Jim Lynch, former Ward 1 candidate for city board Robert Webb and ACORN heir Arkansas Community Organizations. The rally will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the old Brandon Furniture Store lot at 12th Street and University.
Griffen says new money won't "make city government more accountable, representative or fair." It won't change underrepresentation of minorities on the city board (he objects to the three at-large positions). It means Little Rock police still can shoot people and there will still be no civilian review board to review questionable shootings. That isn't right." (Full release on the jump.)
What Lynch is going to say at tomorrow's rally is that the proposed tax — 5/8ths of a cent for operations and 3/8ths for capital projects, including funding for a "research park" and other economic development — is twice what it needs to be. (See earlier post raising the question of need here.) That the research park is a "ripoff" of Little Rock taxpayers and that a tax to support such a park should be countywide, as the tax to build the arena was. And that the city's failure to put impact fees in place to pay for western development is largely to blame for the mess we're in now.
Posted by Leslie Newell Peacock on | Permalink | Comments (12)
Arkansas Politics Cook to Game and Fish
Gov. Mike Beebe named Steve Cook, of Malvern, to serve as a commissioner of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Cook replaces Craig Campbell of Little Rock. Release on the jump.
Posted by Gerard Matthews on | Permalink | Comments (4)
Arkansas Culture and Characters The state of Arkansas wants to sell you a portrait of a distinguished man
A little mid-day levity: A reader pointed us to the item above on the Arkansas state surplus web auction.
Here's how the state is hawking it:
Up for bid is a framed and matted portrait of a distinguished man. This item measures 21.5inches x 29.5inches. The frame is wood with an intricately carved design and gold finish. The center piece of this item is a stunning head and bust photo of a white male. The mans' attire suggests a prominent status, with a bold yet subtle crimson tie draped effortlessly from his stark white dress shirt. Perhaps he is the God Zeus with a cleanly shaven face. Whomever this alpha-male is and from wince he came may always be a mystery, but one thing is for sure, the gorgeous wooden sarcophagus for which he is forever entombed will certainly promote peace in even the humblest of dwellings.
And it can be yours! Four days remain on bidding, which is currently at $35.
UPDATE: How could we forget a face so soon? A commenter points out that the "mystery alpha male" is actually disgraced Land Commissioner Mark Wilcox, infamous for kicking into gear the state car scandal last year.
UPDATE II: Fun's over. The portrait's no longer available online. But here's a screenshot of the earlier posting for posterity.
Posted by Lindsey Millar on | Permalink | Comments (17)
Politics / Economy Update on debt ceiling talks
Slate is once again keeping up with the developments in the debate over whether to raise the debt ceiling. House Speaker John Boehner plans to go forward with his plan and hold a vote sometime this afternoon.
After failing to secure the needed support last night to move his bill, Boehner is at work tweaking the measure to include a constitutional amendment that would require lawmakers to balance the budget, Politico reports.That change would further ensure the bill would be doomed in the Senate, but it nonetheless appears to be winning over the conservative lawmakers Boehner needs for passage in the House.
The balanced budget amendment would not have to be passed immediately, but sometime in the near future.
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Event Calendar
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Re: Riverfest eve open line UPDATE
In case you didn't receive an invitation to Monaco, here it is -
- on May 24, 2012
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Re: Riverfest eve open line UPDATE
“They weren't pathetic papers. They were quintessential local papers. You can't fault them for that.”
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Re: Hurst fined again by bar committee for late filing
Jeffress is going to win the runoff...he would have won absent this latest news concerning…
- on May 24, 2012
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