News
New Africa in Little Rock
A Muslim model community celebrates its first anniversary.
Arkansas Literary Festival slate piles on
This year's Arkansas Literary Festival packs nearly 100 authors into three short days, its organizers putting together an encyclopedic event for all tastes and habits of reading. That's a good thing, and a bad thing: Those with a broad range of interests are going to be tearing their hair out trying to decide what sessions to sacrifice.
It was a good week for Regnant Populus
Also a good week for a SIMPLE-minded plan. It was a bad week for Bobby Petrino and Fred Smith.
The Observer: Dog days
Summertime almost always makes The Observer think of the dogs of my youth, those constant companions who were always there as I tromped the wilds near Lawson Road in Little Rock, and later the fields and canebreaks of Saline County. It says something about the way that The Observer came up that the memory of summer always smells like wet dog.
Open letter to City Board
I find it particularly suspicious, that when addressing issues that impact the older parts of our city [the ordinance to require conditional use permits for stores that sell beer or wine], the sentiment is always "something is better than nothing."
Back to the future with thorium
Former Times editor's book on thorium power, the new/old 'green' nuke.
David Rees: getting to the point
A Q and A
Heidi Julavits: ghost writer
A Q&A.
Columns
Nelson on right side of gas tax debate
Sheffield Nelson is an odd person to be waging a one-man crusade against the business and political establishment to raise taxes on the Texas and Oklahoma gas producers who have been drilling in the Arkansas shale.
No mas, por favor
Did you notice in Miss Jane Krutz's recent novella obituary that one of her proudest accomplishments had been to serve as the longtime international president of the Don Ameche fan club?
Thinning the herd
Sometimes I think that the more time I spend on the farm, the better I understand Washington journalists. Among cows, for example, virtually all decisions are group decisions, although it's often impossible to tell where a given idea originates. Sometimes the bull leads; sometimes he follows.
SIMPLE simplistic, doesn't suit Arkansas
You have to feel a little sorry for the Arkansas Republican Party. After a lifetime of haplessness nearly unrivaled among state political parties in the United States, it is now in the midst of its first legitimate run for control of the state legislature since Reconstruction.
Weasel season
You know it's an election year, and people have been looking at polls, when politicians start shedding previously cherished convictions. U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of the First Congressional District, for one, is showing a newly acquired flexibility. Democrats think they have a good chance to beat the Republican freshman.
Whose golden handcuffs?
We go to press awaiting news from University of Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long on a decision about Razorback football coach Bobby Petrino's future.
No dinosaurs on the dance floor
"New York City's new sensitivity guidelines for standardized tests ban 50 undesirable words that might 'evoke unpleasant emotions' in students, including 'dancing,' 'dinosaurs,' and 'birthdays.' Fundamentalists might be upset by dinosaurs and dancing, while Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays. Also banned are 'Halloween' and 'junk food ...' "
Some pig
Not for the first time, we see that Orval, the Arkansas Times' in-house sage/cartoon pig, understands large public issues better than do the two-legged pundits of the corporate media.
Entertainment
Pub or Perish 2012!
Trenton Lee Stewart, Hope Coulter, Nickole Brown on deck for Times' ninth annual Lit Fest bar reading
Racing season wraps up with Arkansas Derby
Plus, 2012 Ozark UFO Conference, Nate Powell, Kaya Jones and more
Bela Fleck & The Flecktones to Walton Arts Center
Plus, Kevin Gordon, Bonnie Montgomery, Michael '5000' Watts and more
Why we can't have nice things
By the time you read this, Bobby Petrino's judgment may well be wrought, and may have taken the form of outright dismissal, pecuniary loss or some hybrid penalty with a suspension and an in-house checklist by which to abide.
Avoid 'American Reunion'
Fourth installment in raunch franchise is dull, unfunny.
Dining
Pulled pork pros
Capitol Smokehouse and Grill does Arkansas barbecue right.
Cajun fundraisers
Ragin' Cajun Bash and Jumbo Cook-Off coming soon.
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