IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR …

REP. BENNY PETRUS. He easily won a race for House speaker in 2007 over Rep. Will Bond. Some legislators who committed to Bond apparently broke their promises. Shocking.

Advertisement

TAXES. The state continues to report rising surpluses, a couple hundred million halfway through the year. There’s no excuse not to spend a bit of it on schools.

IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR …

Advertisement

RAIN. Whoever heard of turning on sprinklers in January? (But hours after the governor issued a statewide call for prayer, a light rain came.)

TOM COUGHLIN. The former Wal-Mart vice chairman will enter a guilty plea to defrauding his former employer, various newspapers reported. There’s growing evidence that the multimillionaire’s alibi that he was diverting the money to a company anti-union campaign was a dodge (and a readily believable one given the company’s antipathy toward unions) to cover his fraud.

Advertisement

NORTH LITTLE ROCK. Costs are rising on the new minor league baseball park, requiring $2 million worth of changes in specs, and the city has upset Arkansas Traveler management and fans by saying it will charge to park at lots near the new stadium. Parking at Ray Winder in Little Rock is free.

KARK. Channel 4 joined another cowardly NBC affiliate, in Indiana, in refusing to show “The Book of Daniel,” a soap opera about an Episcopal priest. It bowed to a pressure campaign from the Religious Right. WB 42 picked up the show and a lot of curious viewers.

Advertisement

REGGIE CORBITT. After years of saying annexations had no impact on sewer costs, wastewater utility CEO Corbitt defended the need for $181 million in sewer rate increases by telling the Democrat-Gazette that his agency has little voice in the new development that is a big factor in the need for money. It could and should. If only it had.

Arkansas Times: Your voice in the fight

Are you tired of watered-down news and biased reporting? The Arkansas Times has been fighting for truth and justice for 50 years. As an alternative newspaper in Little Rock, we are tough, determined, and unafraid to take on powerful forces. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, we are making a difference. But we can't do it without you. Join the 3,400 paid subscribers who support our great journalism and help us hire more writers. Sign up for a subscription today or make a donation of as little as $1 and help keep the Arkansas Times feisty for years to come.

Previous article What’s cooking, Jan. 11 Next article Book notes, Jan. 12