Monday, October 8, 2012
The bankrupt football coach line is open.
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Oct 8, 2012 at 4:07 PM
- CARTOONISH: Good cartoon today from Wolf Grulkey, who in his spare time from being a cartoonist, printer and pilot is running as a Democrat for state House of Representatives against Republican Rep. Justin Harris. Harris is the one running the taxpayer-subsidized church pre-school. Grulkey should have had Harris standing by praying to the Battle Flag.
Monday is just about done. The line is open. Odds and ends:
* USA TODAY: JOHN L. SMITH DEFERRED PAY: Gannett papers have been following Razorback coach John L. Smith's bankruptcy closely because of its roots in a Kentucky real estate meltdown. The latest is on USA Today, which reports that Smith deferred some $600,000 of his annual $850,000 pay as interim Hog coach. Can he protect that money by postponing its receipt until after his bankruptcy? Legal minds say that might provoke a legal challenge.
* UA TO SELF: YOU'RE FIRED: Interesting story from Mark Friedman at Arkansas Business. The University of Arkansas System took bids to find a way to save money on employee health insurance and as a result is changing the administrator from QualChoice to UnitedHealthcare. UAMS is a part-owner of QualChoice.
* CRIMINAL MISCHIEF ON CONSTRUCTION SITE: The sheriff's office said $160,000 damage was done overnight when someone rammed an excavator with a bullldozer on a pipeline construction site near Oak Grove Road in northwestern Pulaski County.
* GILLETT ELEMENTARY SPARED: The state Board of Education today overruled the DeWitt School District's plan to close the elementary school in Gillett, the only community school still open after Gillett's consolidation with DeWitt. Board members said it was high-performing and instructed school officials to look for ways to preserve it, factoring in money contributed by local residents.
* ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: I see here that Republican Party chair Doyle Webb says the party won't give any more money to Reps. Jon Hubbard and Loy Mauch and former Rep. and current candidate Charlie Fuqua, highlighted here in recent days for extremist rhetoric on race, slavery, Muslims and capital punishment. He DID NOT say anybody would take back contributions already given — at the maximum in the case of some Republican contributors. He DID NOT say people shouldn't vote for these candidates. See, the only principle that counts with Webb is a legislative majority. He doesn't care what kind of Extraterrestrial Trio it takes to get him there.
* PROTEST PLANNED IN WYNNE: The Commission on Religion and Racism, a group in Memphis that has mounted frequent protests related to treatment of blacks, such as the recent death of a black suspect in Jonesboro, plans a media event Tuesday in Wynne to protest insufficient response to an incident in which a black ninth grader was threatened with a noose by white football players. Two white students were expelled for the semester and others were suspended. CORR says the event was not a joke or prank, but a hate crime. Its news release follows:
CORR NEWS RELEASE
After a thorough, on-the-ground investigation in Wynne, Arkansas, by the National office of CORR, on Tuesday, October 8, 2012, beginning at 11:00am, on Falls Blvd, at the Wynne High School, the Arkansas State office of the Commission on Religion and Racism (CORR), in solidarity with the people of Wynne Arkansas seeking justice, will open the first in a series of protest demonstrations in Wynne, AR, against the cover-up, obstruction of justice, perjury and dis-information campaign by Keith Watson (Principal of Wynne High School), Carl Easley (School Superintendent), and the School Board in their effort to repress the truth, and refusing to charge the perpetrators of committing a hate-crime, when a crowd (mob) of white male students carried out their hate-crime ritual, in initiating the hanging of a black male student (who had beat out a white male student for a position on the football team) with a hangman's rope and noose around his neck in the locker room at Wynne High School. It was no joke, prank, or bullying. It was a premeditated intentional, reality throwback to the era of lynch-law: mob violence, terror, fear and lyching, in retaliation for a black male "winning over" a white male or for "getting out of his place."
Dr. Isaac Richmond, National CORR Director, will hold a press conference at 11:30am, where critical information about the case will be released to the public for the first time; where charges will be filed against the Wynne Arkansas School System; where a petition campaign will be launched to remove both the Principal of Wynne High School and the Superintendent from office, for violating and transgressing the mandated duties and responsibilities of their respective offices; and where a petition will be filed requesting a U.S. Justice Department investigation of the "hanging incident" at the school.
CORR is also calling for a mass march on the Cross County School Board in its next scheduled meeting, requesting an appearance on the agenda, to present the African-American community's list of unanswered questions; and present the School Board with its list of demands for Justice. In the last School Board meeting, African Americans were not allowed to speak, or ask any questions, and not provided with any information about the "hanging incident." They were made to wait 3-4 hours while school officials, attorneys, and parents of the white male students that perpetrated the hanging went into "private" sessions to get their act together.
Speaking of...
-
ExxonMobil has a plan for Lake Maumelle watershed
May 22, 2013The line is open. Leslie Newell Peacock hopes to follow directly with a little something about a meeting today of Little Rock, Central Arkansas Water, ExxonMobil and other people over the Pegasus pipeline that runs through 18 miles of CAW's watershed, including along the shore of Lake Maumelle, the region's water supply. /more/
-
The death and taxes open line
May 16, 2013The line is open. Closing out: * THERE THE GOP GOES AGAIN: The Arkansas Republican Party is in all-out assault mode on U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, today pounding him for saying seven years ago that he supported permanent repeal of the estate tax (dishonestly called a "death tax" by the Republicans) but joining in recent bipartisan approval of what is now a dramatically lower estate tax. /more/
-
Exxon pipeline in watershed prompts meeting — Exxon a no-show
May 2, 2013Government officials and others came together today in Little Rock to discuss the ExxonMobil Pegasus pipeline, currently shut down on account of the Mayflower rupture, which runs through 13 miles of the Lake Maumelle watershed. /more/
-
Morning notes: Clinton library, protection for Lake Maumelle
April 24, 2013Some morning odds and ends: * BIPARTISANSHIP IN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES: The Dallas Morning News includes an op-ed from Skip Rutherford on the cooperative nature of presidential library planning. /more/
-
It's called CYA: Tim "Pipeline" Griffin backs pipeline relocation
April 16, 2013Rep. Tim Griffin wants ExxonMobil to move its Pegasus pipeline out of the Central Arkansas Water's watershed for its water supply. No word yet on what he thinks about Keystone XL's crossing of sensitive aquifer in Nebraska. /more/
-
Central Arkansas Water asks Exxon to relocate pipeline
April 11, 2013The board of the Central Arkansas Water utility met today and, as expected, adopted a resolution asking for information from Exxon Mobil about causes of the pipeline rupture at Mayflower and for assurances about future safe operation before the Pegasus pipeline is restarted. /more/
-
Mayflower oil spill: The hand of God?
April 9, 2013Ernie Dumas writes this week on the Mayflower oil spill, beginning by musing, a la Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell/etc., whether a divine hand might have had an influence. /more/
-
Rainy days and Sundays
March 31, 2013Hmmm. Late and not much to bring at this point, either: * HAPPY EASTER: I did join a good crowd beneath the River Market pavilions for Pulaski Methodist's sunrise service this morning and did get to give a good hug to Swann Kohler, my old friend who got the ball rolling 25 years ago. /more/
-
A compromise delay on Lake Maumelle protection
March 27, 2013JP Tyler Denton, under deserved fire for throwing in with the bad guys and joining Republican members of the Pulaski Quorum Court to delay watershed protection ordinances for the Maumelle watershed for four years, backed a compromise delay last night. /more/
-
The Max is Back, But Depleted Edition
March 22, 2013The private option, tax cuts, school choice, voter ID, Big River Steel, the political impact of a Republican majority in the legislature, the governor's race, the tech park and delay tactics in the Lake Maumelle watershed — all covered this week. /more/
- More »
Comments (31)
Showing 1-31 of 31
More by Max Brantley
-
McDaniel presses Exxon on oil spill info
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is pressing Exxon Mobil for information on the devastating oil spill in Mayflower.
- Apr 4, 2013
-
UPDATE: Ethics amendment defeated
The legislature has killed a proposed constitutional amendment to strengthen ethics laws.
- Apr 15, 2013
- More »
Event Calendar
-
Re: Will the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce press a 'tort reform' initiative?
Paint tort reform as a "One-Size-Fits-All" "Government regulation" that empowers a "Bureaucrat" to determine how…
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: ExxonMobil has a plan for Lake Maumelle watershed
"But there is something odd about how it veers off toward the confluence of Cadron…
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: ExxonMobil has a plan for Lake Maumelle watershed
http://gizmodo.com/5914311/56-years-of-dea…
That links to an amazing map that documents some…- on May 22, 2013
Top Commenters
Blogroll
Slideshows
-
May 16, 2013
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
Quick Links
Special Publications
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
