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« April 2007 | Main | June 2007 »
Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 18:56:22
Swap meet
You've read about it. You've heard about it. Now YOU can own it.
I'm talking about this cherry 1992 Volvo wagon. It has 108,000 miles on the odometer, which does still work. The body is rough, as you can see. The radio has been stolen. The a/c is currently not functioning. The various radio thefts have disabled the electronic locking mechanisms. It drives good, believe it or not, thanks to a fine tune from Helmich Auto in Hillcrest. The rubber? Great. Nearly new tires. The finest on sale from Austin Brothers. There is a first-rate highway emergency kit included, with a flashlight, tire iron and Band-Aids.
And history? You don't get history like this. Multiple radio thefts. The only car in Little Rock from which a set of discuses have been stolen. A homeless man spent a night in the backseat on a snowy night. It has run out of gas on the Bonne Carre Spillway outside New Orleans. Been to scenic landmarks of our country from sea to shining sea.
And it can now be yours. $995 for the first cash offer. OB (Higher) O. You could be fishing in Harris Brake tomorrow in this fine car.
Write max@arktimes.com or call me at 663-6758 or 375-2985.
No warranties implied or given..
Hino expansion
That Hino Motors announcement was for an expansion of the parts plant, not an assembly plant. Arkansas Business has a report. PS -- It's an equipment expansion, not facility or staff.Bees do it; Methodists do it
But evangelicals REALLY do it. So says a study of sexual behavior among people of different religions. It's in a book described in this Slate article. At its most serious level (I know, some of you have dirty minds), it's another illustration of the failure of abstinence-only sex education.
Evangelical teens are actually more likely to have lost their virginity than either mainline Protestants or Catholics. They tend to lose their virginity at a slightly younger age—16.3, compared with 16.7 for the other two faiths. And they are much more likely to have had three or more sexual partners by age 17: Regnerus reports that 13.7 percent of evangelicals have, compared with 8.9 percent for mainline Protestants.
How is that possible? What happened to all those happy, young Christian couples from the '90s swearing that True Love Waits? Partly, the problem lies in the definition of evangelical. Because of the explosion of megachurches, vast numbers of people who don't identify with mainstream denominations now call themselves evangelical. The demographic includes more teenagers of a lower socioeconomic class, who are more likely to have had sex at a younger age. It also includes African-American Protestant teenagers, who are vastly more likely to be sexually active.
But partly the problem lies in the temptation-rich life of an average American teenager. The fate of the True Love Waits movement, which began with the Southern Baptist Convention in the '90s, is a perfect example. Teenagers who signed the abstinence pledge belong to a subgroup of highly motivated virgins. But even they succumb. Follow-up surveys show that at best, pledges delayed premarital sex by 18 months—a success by statistical standards but a disaster for Southern Baptist pastors.
The Hog opera -- UPDATE
Part 3 in ESPN's series on As Fayetteville Turns focuses on UA Athletic Director Frank Broyles. The football coach, Houston Nutt, loves him some Coach Broyles.
"Frank Broyles is the best," football coach Houston Nutt volunteers, without being asked. "He's the best athletic director because he understands what a coach needs. And he's a dying breed, and that's what upsets you the most. That they had a lot to do with his decision of standing down. …
"It bothers me. It bothers me a bunch. I don't think it will ever diminish -- his accomplishments overshadow everything that's going to happen. This little stuff won't affect what he's done. This building will still have his name on it. The tradition, the caring of his athletes, that's going to keep going. His legacy will be phenomenal. But what hurts is to think that he stepped down because he thought this was the time to do it. I just wish things would have been different."
UPDATE: Jim Harris over at Arkansas Business blogs that these and other stories on the UA saga are being promoted by Nutt as damage control for the ire his stirred up in Springdale and frequently include accounts about his own history at variance with the facts, such as the real reason he departed in such a hurry while a player at Arkansas.
Counting the pennies
The D-G led the newspaper today with the news that the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau has figured out, after 30 years, how to keep track of payments of the hamburger tax by food sellers required to collect it.
An agitated Bill Valentine (but I'm being redundant), the Arkansas Travelers' major domo, asked the Arkansas Blog how come no one had asked to see the current list of reported delinquencies. The Travs have been getting hammered for failure to pay the tax on concessions until 2005. Some confusion exists on when concessions became subject to the tax.
We were pleased to be able to tell Ump Valentine that we had already requested that list. And you may view the spread sheet here. Understand that it may include amounts now paid and some may dispute the figures. But this is the public record generated for the meeting yesterday.
Tim Griffin's statement
Tim Griffin, the controversial Karl Rove protege installed as U.S. attorney in Little Rock without Senate confirmation, distributed a prepared release today announcing his resignation effective Friday, June 1.
"Griffin will be pursuing opportunities in the private sector ..." the statement said, without elaboration. Many media outlets continue to mention Griffin as a potential member of Fred Thompson's presidential campaign.
He said he'd accomplished much in nearly six months on the job, enjoyed working with the staff. "They welcomed me, taught me, inspired me, served shoulder-to-shoulder with me and have been an absolute joy with which to work. I will miss them dearly."
Lake View is over--UPDATE
Rep. Steve Harrelson breaks the news on his blog. Gov. Mike Beebe has an 11 a.m. news conference.
Here's Justice Robert Brown's opinion for a unanimous court declaring the Arkansas public schools constitutional. Oh frabjous day. Now the hard work begins -- keeping them constitutional year after year. And achieving praiseworthy results for all kids.
UPDATE: Beebe passed out thank-yous to those on both sides of the case, including Rogers attorney David Matthews, who Beebe said deserved credit for keeping the issues of Lake View in front of the legislature and the public.
And, he said, "Anybody that thinks we're through has missed the point." The legislature and executive branch will at the least need to do biannual reviews of what's "adequate," and what parts of the education system are working and not working.