Arkansas Times

‘Not a soul in there’

John Fogleman asked juries to sentence three teens to death. Now voters will judge his career.

• by Mara Leveritt

Obama tax cuts don’t stop critics

Conservative pundits and their followers were shrieking in rage on Tax Day last week, so wrought up they forgot to mention that Americans are paying less in taxes under President Obama than they paid under his conservative predecessor, George W. Bush.

• by Doug Smith

Smart Talk, April 22

The Arkansas Times’ favorite little rabblerouser, elementary school student Will Phillips of West Fork, is getting another award for his ongoing stand for gay rights. He'll receive the Arkansas Civil Liberties Union Foundation’s “Champion of Liberty” award during a banquet in Little Rock.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

Business first

ProPublica last week published an examination of how Republican Rep. David Vitter of Louisiana stalled an EPA assessment that would declare formaldehyde as a known carcinogen. Three Democrats — including Rep. Mike Ross — were also working to block the EPA move.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

Judging Burnett

Since 1994, when he officiated at the trials of Jessie Misskelley Jr., Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, Judge David Burnett has had several opportunities to make further rulings in their cases.

• by Mara Leveritt

The Week That Was, April 14-20

...CHILDREN. A circuit judge struck down a voter-approved law that prohibited unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children. The law was aimed primarily at homosexual couples.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

The Observer, April 22

The Observer is not much on campaign rallies and all the attendant posturing and hoorahing and bunting. But we made an exception last Friday for Dwight David Honeycutt’s “Sweet Tea Party” at Juanita’s.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

Lost Longhorn

Hey, I totally get the hatred Arkansas has for Texas. We are a bigger, richer, snootier state with huge cities, huge universities, and huge egos to boot. However, Texas has completely dominated the football series throughout the last 100 years or so. DOMINATED.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

Bids squelched

Contrary to an announcement last summer, the state contract to provide online services will not be awarded by competitive bidding this year. Instead, the state will negotiate another contract with the same private company that has held the contract — without competitive bids — since the on-line services program began in 1997.

• by Doug Smith

Out of Huck

The national pundits seem to believe that Mike Huckabee’s move to Florida is more about presidential politics than tax avoidance. Arkansans can easily believe that hanging on to more of the big bucks Fox News pays him is sufficient to lure Huckabee to a state with much sunshine and no income tax.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

Charter schools: who chooses?

In the movie “Lean on Me,” Principal Joe Clark has all the troublemakers and under-performing students gather on the stage and he then kicks them all out of the school. With only the most serious students remaining, he restores his high school to its once proud position. The movie, based on a real life situation, reflects pure fiction. Or does it?

• by Paul M. Hewitt

When majority is wrong

Scoffing conservatives call this “making law, instead of interpreting law.” To be precise, they scoff when a ruling goes against them. Activist courts making law aren’t so bad if they’re making law you like.

• by John Brummett

Spring report

We’re spending our spring pretty much the same as always: Airing up tires, charging batteries; changing filters; lubing whatever’s lubable; boldly caulking where no one has caulked before.

• by Bob Lancaster

Words, April 22

William Lindsey is concerned about “the tendency to talk about sipping ‘some beers,’ or buying ‘some beers’. To my ears as a native Arkansan, that sounds as strange as addressing a group of folks as ‘you guys’ rather than ‘you all.’

• by Doug Smith

The To-Do List, April 22-26

Disney on Ice, Frightened Rabbit, Arkansas Earth Day, Les Claypool, Ballet Arkansas, Craws for a Cause, Woo at the Zoo and Local Natives highlight the weekend and week to come.

Q&A: The See

It’s just about inarguable: The See are the kings of Little Rock’s current landscape of bands. In the town’s musical yearbook, in a time where local music is experiencing a renaissance, they’re holding down the Who’s Who “Most Likely to Succeed” in a sea of other wildly talented acts.

• by John Tarpley

Q&A: The See

It’s just about inarguable: The See are the kings of Little Rock’s current landscape of bands.

• by John Tarpley

Weak ass

I will not give "Kick-Ass" the benefit of controversy. A film this lifeless hasn't earned it, no matter how gory and profane. It boasts not a single original idea, imaginative sequence, or unpredictable outcome.

A&E News, April 22

• by Arkansas Times Staff

'Mother'

While I usually hold back my pronouncements about a film until the end of my reviews, I'll go ahead and spoil it for you: If you're a mystery geek — or just enjoy a good story — take a couple hours to check out “Mother."

• by David Koon

Face off

Peter Morgan's "Frost/Nixon" arrives at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre a good 36 years after the resignation of President Richard Nixon, the pardon of Nixon by successor Gerald Ford and the subsequent high profile interview of Nixon by TV personality David Frost.

• by Werner Trieschmann

In Brief, April 22-24

Nineties garage pop duo Local H comes to Sticky Fingerz as part of their “Six Angry Records” tour, in which a member of the audience chooses which of their albums will be played in its entirety, 8:30 p.m., $10.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

A&E News, April 22

It's a mere two weeks away: On Thursday, May 6, the second annual Rock Candy 500 pinewood derby returns to the River Market Pavilion.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

The Televisionist, April 22

While it might not be everybody's cup of tea, especially if your patience with blonde goofiness runs thin, “The Price of Beauty” can be a good time with the tube.

• by David Koon

Mother

• by David Koon

Face off

"Frost/Nixon" arrives at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre a good 36 years after the resignation of President Richard Nixon, the pardon of Nixon by successor Gerald Ford and the subsequent high profile interview of Nixon by TV personality David Frost.

• by Werner Trieschmann

‘Expressions’ at the Mansion

Joey Skripko, 36, says Birch Tree Communities took him in a year and a half ago when “the world was hard” on him and made him family. Now Skripko has a part-time job, an apartment and is the featured artist in Birch Tree’s “Expressions” annual show.

• by Leslie Newell Peacock

Conway gem

First: Faby's tortillas are handmade from scratch each day. They're as flavorful as a good, savory pie crust, but not so much as to distract from whatever you put in them.

• by Arkansas Times Staff

What's Cookin', April 22

Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt plans to open its first Arkansas franchise in the Pleasant Ridge Town Center in about six weeks.

• by Arkansas Times Staff