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Thursday, April 30, 2009 - 22:16:53
Souter to retire
Looks like President Obama will have a supreme court appointment to make. Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term. From NPR:
The vacancy will give President Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction.
At 69, Souter is nowhere near the oldest member of the court. In fact, he is in the younger half of the court's age range, with five justices older and just three younger. So far as anyone knows, he is in good health. But he has made clear to friends for some time that he wanted to leave Washington, a city he has never liked, and return to his native New Hampshire. Now, according to reliable sources, he has decided to take the plunge and has informed the White House of his decision.
It's time...
for an open line. Whaddya got?A Berry Republican challenger
The blogs are abuzz about a possible challenger to Democratic Congressman Marion Berry. You have to read through a lot on his web page before you get his announcement, including his distaste for "socialized medicine," activist judges and those who say "I support the troops, but I oppose the war." He also finds room to voice his support for the rash of tea parties recently held across the country. Berry's going to be tough to beat, especially when he's being challenged by someone who leaves even Republicans wondering, Who's Rick Crawford?
Whoops UPDATE
UCA Interim President Tom Courtway announced today that UCA will honor all scholarship offers made by the university admissions office to prospective students for the upcoming school year. Seems to make sense. What doesn't make sense is the need for the statement in the first place. Courtway's announcement came in response to letters sent by the UCA admissions office on April 24, notifying some students who had previously received offers that, because of a high acceptance rate and budgetary constraints, scholarship funds had been depleted.
"Regardless of the budget challenges facing the university, parents and students must be able to rely upon any scholarship offer from UCA that gave them until May 30, 2009, to respond," Courtway said. "Any person who received such an offer from the UCA Admissions Office may count on that offer and the May 30 deadline, and they should please disregard any communication to the contrary. We sincerely regret what has happened and we apologize to the students and families involved."
A UCA spokesperson says the letter was sent without Courtway's knowledge or approval. Not too long ago, we ran an item about how enrollment was likely to affect colleges in the state. Read the article here. The big question facing a lot of universities is, how many students will actually enroll? Not enough means less tuition revenue, too many may mean a decline in student services or an increase in costs for the school. When our story ran on March 26, Joe Darling, the vice president for enrollment services at UCA, said applications were up but the university would be spending less money on scholarships than it had in the past three or four years. He maintained that the university would not have trouble meeting its obligations.
More on this to come.
You can view the intial scholarship offer and the letters sent on April 24 (one to students who had already responded, the other to students who had not) here.
UPDATE: Tom Courtway calls in. I asked if it was indeed true that higher-than-expected acceptance rates and budgetary constraints were a problem. He said they would start looking into the issue tomorrow. He said the first order of business today was to assure families that scholarship offers would be honored. When asked if there was a lack of communication between the president's office and admissions, Courtway said, "It certainly appears that way."
Courtway said that over-obligating the university on scholarships could have repercussions down the road. The university might have to use one-time funds, including stimulus money, to help cover the costs. Courtway said the school may have to offer less scholarships in the future or change the criteria by which they are awarded. He also said It may make it tougher for the university to come into compliance with a new state law that prohibits state universities from spending more than 20 percent of their tuition and fee revenue on institutional scholarships (the law now allows spending of up to 30 percent and schools must comply by 2014). UCA currently spends 29 percent and a jump in scholarhip spending next year could make it difficult to bring that figure down. "We're going to have to make adjustments not just next year, but in subsequent years," Courtway said.
A first (sigh)
The Air Guard's 18th Airlift Wing announces its first promotion of an African-American to colonel. He's Lt. Col. Ronald McDaniel. From the press release:
As the maintenance group commander, McDaniel oversees more than 175 officer
and enlisted Airmen who repair and maintain the 189th Airlift Wing's fleet of
C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft.
For you stat geeks
Rep. Steve Harrelson linked to this report yesterday on his blog and others have started to talk about it as well, so I thought I'd post it here. It's from the Bureau of Legislative Research, and it's basically a not-so-boring look, seriously, at the state's economic figures, education statistics and a whole lot more. Lots of visuals and reads like a power point. Enjoy.Hunker on down
Ain't nothin' but a protest pose.
A Time dispatch, from 1959, offers a nice primer.
Hunkerers feel that their position offers splendid perspective on lofty problems. They urge steel-strike negotiators to hunker awhile, envision Eisenhower and Khrushchev hunkerin' at the summit. "This is a peaceful thing," one hunkerer says. "A respite from a world of turmoil. The main purpose of hunkerin' is to get down and hunker together. It's a friendship thing: get your friends to hunker with you. The man you don't know is the man you haven't hunkered with."
Via kottke.
Swine flu alarm
Chrysler bankruptcy
Tort reform takes blow
Change at Lion World Services
Assault reported
Where's the money?
In Huck's green room
Let the sun shine
The shape of things to come
The line is open
Affiliated Foods news
Another vote for gay marriage
Shooting threat reported UPDATE
Proctor: Day Three UPDATE
Turning blue
Affirmative action
WEHCO woes
The jocks kick in
Shoveling the UCA stable
Who knew?
Another school gone UPDATE
Enough is enough
Petition fallout
Judge Proctor hearing continues
Changing coats
Those warranty calls
Coming from Hogland
The state's maritime disaster
For the record
The not-so-free press
Love thy neighbor?
Then and now
Oh by the way
Obama's runway haircut
Swine flu not in Ark. -- yet
Proctor employees take stand UPDATE
Main Street moves
Landfill operator responds
Marriage in Iowa
Swine flu ripples
GM slashes
Process vs. product
Words have meaning UPDATED
State sovereignty
Sunday thoughts
Swine flu watch
Backward looking
Big game hunting
Declaration of independence
Reaching the Latino market
Sign wars
Sat. nite's right
Poultry worker wins $1 million verdict
The bloody gun culture
What incentive
Whitewater revisited
Ups and downs
Lottery friction
Last words
Oops
Playing by the rules
Dem wins in NY
The five states of Texas
Commission votes for judge's removal
Sympathy for the Huckster
What a catch
Death of a salesman
Susan Boyle is over
No we can't
That Conway interchange
Over to you UPDATE
Pulling for pork
Tribute to Tolbert
Lone Star Republicans
LR park policy
Death at Wal-Mart
More McDaniel face time
Running scared
Newspaper woes, contd. UPDATE II
Doonesbury takes on Twitter
Here comes The Huckster
Dueling legal opinions
Stray thought
The value of torture
More from Dem. Party's Dem wing
Money v. the environment
Looking out for kids
Over the hump
France times two
Judge on trial
Duh: Doc's a bomb suspect
You go girl
Time to vote
Publisher out at Butler Center
Block that blog
Rumor du jour
To lead Walton Arts Center
Every picture tells a story
Death at Freddie Mac
From the mailbag
Idolators
Over to you
Probe asked of lemur death
Sharing those golden handcuffs
Grenade doc in court
Never mind Blanche ...
Sneaky devils UPDATE
Ends and means
Newspaper talk
Here comes the money
The Democratic wing of the Dem. Party
Let's play powerball UPDATE
Parrotgate
Pointing fingers in Ponzi scheme
Socialized milk
It's an Arkansas thing
The line is open
Trojans in motion
Speaking of legislative research
More on triple fatality
Hendrix alum wins Pulitzer
Beware of drillers bearing gifts
Political number crunching
Daily carnage
Insurer won't pay on Chenal fire
Submariners gather
KUAR fund drive
Advanced techniques
Preserving marriage
Tea brewers
Newspapering today
Clean slate
Past bedtime
Get out your change jar
Turning point?
Going along to get along
Pub or Perish 2009
Open line and cocktail call
Kim Hendren for Senate
Stillborn chimp
I-40 traffic deaths
Dreaming dreams
Lottery 'oversight'
Friday follies
Here comes the lottery
You don't need a Weatherman ...
Organizing Wal-Mart
Dry sabbath in Green Forest
Another Obama disappointment
Feds go green
Foxy lady
School thievery
Foreclosure blues
Beer comes to Fayetteville
Tightening up
Over to you
Pay to sue -- WSJ nips McDaniel, Dems
Billy Bob gets another interview
The torture memos
Done your background checks?
Beebe appoints
NLR cops see vindication UPDATE
Anti-immigrant suit loses again
One-man crime wave
Spa death
'Something's happening here'
Money to preserve history
The endless election
Judicial candidate ill
The senatorial twins
Good riddance
Early out
Gas leak
Pork revisited
Tea for two networks
GOP candidate exploring
Washington, D.C. roundup
Huckabee v. Armey
Democrat to win in NY
Good for workers, good for business
Gunman gets zesty response at Taco Bell
Somalian pirates
U.S. arms drug gangs
Tax on the border
Tuesday's thread
Read the fine print
Presidential nominee to visit
When counting the votes isn't enough
Blog honored in Fayetteville
'Bell Curve' author at Philander
Lottery oversight
As NWA turns
Socialized chicken nuggets
Wanna meet a lobbyist?
In re gloating
Zoo v. UAMS VOTE NOW
Twitter: It's not just noise
Open line
Hot pursuit ends downtown
Pulaski school plan rejected
About that new lottery jackpot
Cuba, si
Family dispute leads to arrest
Marketing the Hogs
More Beebe appointments
Beebe's lottery picks
School hearing postponed
Speaking of Marion Berry
Loosest slots
Partisan voting
Latest Duggar pregnancy
Rambo meets Berry (D-Ark.)
Same old GOP
Kind words for Harry Reid
Sunday leftovers
Welcome to Little Rock
Ship captain freed; pirates killed
The criminal mind
Blanche and the estate tax
Who knows?
Open line
'Saratoga of the South'
Do unto others
The envelope please
Over to you
Minority 'goals' for city of LR
The race report
The daily outrage
'Stop driving us to drink'
Storm damage report UPDATE
Here comes the stimulus
She is risen
What will NLR think of next?
Mena deaths rise
Local boy does bad
Twister
Evening update
Other songs, other rooms
Legislature packs up VOTE NOW
Payday for local courts UPDATE
Booze OK at Sam's Club
Death at the Zoo
Alamo: champion of religious freedom
Who Lincoln's working for MONEY UPDATE
Vermillion closes
Si puede
Union compromise
Why. Now who?
I'm going out
Doctor indicted for grenades
If this were New Orleans ...
Come toot our own horn
How expensive are cigarettes?
The rifleman
New look on skyline
'Fraidy cat banker'
Labor on Lincoln
Fun with DeHaven's numbers
Presidential rumbling UPDATE
High interest: the third amendment
Starting them early
The top 100 support Lincoln
Open to comments
NAACP unhappy on judge choices
The way the money goes
Bang bang, the silly season
Big bang in Springdale
On goes the school case
More on free choice
Close elections UPDATE
Vt. votes for marriage
LR to LaGuardia
Last-minute foolishness UPDATE
Bend over, consumers UPDATE
Hazing at UCA
Come on, Jay
Fish in a barrel
For Huckabee's defense
Go Spartans
Scuttle the Parrot?
Gun beat
Drill, baby, drill
Surprise: Lincoln abandons unions
School law preserved
Go easy on grass
LR native architect dies
Law judge dies
Beware of Broadways bearing gifts
Heartland values
All-comers Pinewood Derby
Careful what you say
Obama in London
NLR slowdown
Let the four winds blow
Pork on parade
Speaking of freedom of information
How universities stonewall
Smoking: it will cost you
On beating Blanche
And by the way
Gun beat
Help for teachers
Walk in the park
About the 'right' to hunt
Belatedly
Huck chomps another loafer
How weak is Lincoln?
No prosecution on Saline hospital deal
Dittoheads from Searcy
Caution: Texan on premises
Help for teachers
Toy gun bill defeated
The next Bob Johnson
Romper room
Sen. Lincoln: 'Wanker'
The union stands
Today's mass shooting
Brakes applied on 'virtual' payday
Marriage ban unconstitutional
Goodbye Pulaski Bank
Blanche's Billionaire Bailout UPDATE
The upper chamber
Funny money
Why they leave
Follow the money
Spotted: The Huckster
States rights now, states rights forever
Open line
There he goes again
LR deseg case decided UPDATE
Live, from the House
Cuba, si
And then there's our guy Mark
Vote for open gun records
Family planning
Travel to serve
Local boy makes good
The coming bonanza
The tax shoe drops
Reading between the lines
Lu's money
The line is open
No climate change at Capitol
Condom watch
Royal audience
In other Capitol news
First things first
No help for teachers
Not an April Fool's joke
The speaker's commissioners
State housing market -- ugh
Interposition -- again
Today in Ark. history
A win for Obama
Tax cut 'statement'
Also on the agenda UPDATE
Hatred never sleeps
Crime in the street
Follow the UCA money UPDATE
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