Arkansas Blog

Unloading area by the only handicapped wheelchair ramp perpetually blocked? Sounds like someone is a little too big for his britches. There oughta be a law . . .
Hmmm. Maybe there already is. Where's a cop when Grampa needs one? In Valentine's pocket?
And if parking spaces on the west side of Willow Street are at least partially on ball park property, who paved them? Who striped them? Who will maintain them?

What does anyone expect? Minor-league baseball is no longer about baseball, but just a venue for redneck entertainment and for the major league clubs to send kids down to be the taxi squad to lie in wait to be called up to the bigs. The clubs no longer bother to deny that they don't really care whether the minor league club wins or loses. What we have in the Texas League is a pale, barely discernible pretense for what was once the great national pastime.

Does anyone remember those great rivalries of yesteryear, the Travs vs. the Memphis Chicks, the Birmingham Barons, the hated Atlanta Crackers? The whole town followed the action and we actually gave a damn who won. Ask 10 people at Dickey Stephens Park and 7 of them won't be able to tell you who the Travs are playing on that pretty field beyond the hot dog stand.

Ah, well, so now we have a whole ball park built to house a restaurant. No surprise that the restaurant takes over city streets to provide a parking lot. Mayor Hays likes the wine list at Valentine's -- who knew a mayor of North Little Rock would ever know the difference between a Kendall-Jackson pinot noir and Thunderbird joy juice. Let's all be proud of him.

Ok, now this is time for this to go the next level.

Valentine's has been profiting off the city of N. Little Rock and the taxpayers and should be fined accordingly. If what I saw is true and PUBLIC spots were being used and rented for $5.00/game a penalty needs to be assessed.

How about contacting the NLR city attorney or Pulaski County Prosecutor's office.

What a racket this has been and going on for over a year.