Arkansas Blog

Welcome to our world, Argenta.

A tipster this morning said Commodore Pat Hays was sorely PO'ed that he'd agreed to put money into a day center for the homeless. Never did he dream that a North Little Rock agency, River City Ministries, would be the successful bidder for the project, also sponsored by Little Rock. He figured he'd just be helping keep the homeless where they belong, in Little Rock.

We've been trying to reach the can-do mayor, whose manifest glittery destiny has been somewhat tarnished lately by ruinous electric rates, putting firefighters to work answering phones and corporate welfare for fat cats in a city with many down-to-earth needs.

What a coincidence with our tip! The NLR City Council last night threw up a legal barrier (zoning) to the plan to put the homeless center in that fair city, a mere five blocks east of a shiny new apartment project going up across from Alltel Arena.

Argenta News has all the details, including the nub of NLR's concern -- the prospect of several hundred homeless people shuffling through beautiful Argenta, the up-and-coming downtown neighborhood. I do hope the homeless advocates who have mercilessly razzed Little Rock City Hall over insufficient outreach to the homeless on this side of the river will note that brotherly love is in equally short supply on the northside.