text:
Integration lagged for swimmers in Little Rock. BY JOHN A. KIRK
MUSICIANS SHOWC A SE 5 rounds · 20 competing Bands · 1 Winner
! a shoWcase First!
round 1 Winner Peckerwolf
Jan 30 - round 1 Peckerwolf W i N N e r
Artists are competing for cash
Feb 6 - round 2
(and other prizes)
9pm - Fox Blossom Venture 10pm - John Willis 11pm - Deadend Drive 12am - Bombay Harambee
in 2014!
make plans Now
ig toN
rouNd 2
FeBruary 06
to attend the 2014 arkansas times musicians showcase. show your support for some of the state's finest original bands.
ig toN
arktimes.com/ shoWcase
Feb 27 - round 5 9pm - My Brother My Friend 10pm - Shawn James & the Shapeshifters 11pm - John Neal Rock'n'Roll 12am - The Vail
for t-shirts, showcase News, photos, Video, & artist info!
11p m
12a m
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
all ages welcome $5 over 21, $7 under 21
Watch this page For Weekly results or Visit arktimes.com/shoWcase
register to win Wakarusa tickets each week! We'll draw during the final round on march 7. 2
10p m
9p m
Finals Friday march 7 at the rev room
Feb 13 - round 3 9pm - Chris Alan Craig 10pm - Flight Machine 11pm - Mad Nomad 12am - Flameing Daeth Fearies Feb 20 - round 4 9pm - The Talking Liberties 10pm - Crash Meadows 11pm - The Machete with Love 12am - Duckstronaut
every thursday starting January 30 at 9 p.m. at stickyz
crowd response is part of the judging for the semi-final rounds. Fans be sure to come out and support each band.
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Displaying restaurant inspections I read your article titled "An Open Government to-do list" in the Jan. 23 issue with great interest. Regarding restaurant inspection scores, I want to tell you that Alabama has required posting of scores right next to the cash register since at least 1990. I was a Public Health employee and the inspectors always told us to only go to restaurants that scored at least an 85! Jan Bowen Maumelle
Who will say 'no' to health care? During the last session, key Republican legislators put aside their dislike of Obamacare to craft a unique way to accept federal dollars to provide health insurance to Arkansans who desperately need it — the "private option." At a time when our two-party federal government has reached a new level of childish bad behavior, Arkansas is an example of bipartisan governing at its very best. Reports of our accomplishments have been touted by the media in every state. At the same time, news outlets in states whose taxpayer dollars will help pay for unprecedented healthcare access in Arkansas and 26 other states (plus the District of Columbia) are printing sad personal stories and warning of the dire consequences of denying similar healthcare access to their own citizens. One by one, Republican governors and state legislators are seeing the value of what has been done in Arkansas. Last week Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, long a holdout against Medicaid expansion, jumped on the bandwagon, saying, "Doing nothing is not an option." The Utah plan emulates the Arkansas private option, as do the Medicaid expansion plans of Iowa and Pennsylvania. It must have been difficult to vote for the private option during the 2013 general session. It was an untested healthcare plan that could not be implemented without approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But now, with the fiscal session right around the corner, legislators know exactly what they will be voting for or against. Published reports indicate that roughly 100,000 Arkansans have enrolled in healthcare coverage through Arkansas's federally facilitated marketplace. The private option is working "exactly like the Legisla4
ture asked us to build it and enrollment is above where it should be," to quote DHS Director John Selig speaking before the Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Estimates of the cost per enrollee are right on target, and the percentage of 18-35 year old signups has created a desirable risk pool to attract insurance carriers to Arkansas and keep premiums competitive. Michael Leavitt, a former Utah governor and U.S. Health and Human Services secretary now consulting for Arkansas on amendments to the private-option waiver, told legislators that Arkansas could be a national leader in making Medicaid more efficient. He said the private option "is not just pioneering, it is truly transforming." If Arkansas legislators renew their support for the private option, our state will retain its place in history as a leader in healthcare system transformation. For the first time, our hospitals and physicians will be able to make a noticeable dent in the profound health disparities causing a 10-year difference in life expectancy between Benton and Phillips Counties. Providing health care to uninsured people across the state will systematically attack our bottomof-the-barrel health statistics — one
chronic disease at a time. But what if our legislators vote to end the private option and snatch healthcare services away from people who may be visiting a primary care physician for the first time in their lives as we speak? What if access to preventive care is taken away from Arkansans who had begun to hope that their lives might not be colored by progressive disability and the prospect of early death? The newly elected Sen. John Cooper ran on a vow to end the Medicaid expansion. Sen. Missy Irvin, who was reportedly one of the deciding votes for the private option in 2013, says she made a mistake and will vote now to repeal it. If Arkansas legislators discard the private option at the same time that other states are scrambling to copy it, just how stupid will we look in history books of the future? And if looking stupid in the eyes of the nation isn't sufficient disincentive to repeal the private option, I'll ask instead, which legislator will vote to take away from diabetics the promise of managing their disease with medications that were out of reach to them until now? Which legislator will vote to deny regular preventive care to Arkansans at risk for heart disease or stroke?
If the private option is defeated, the names of the legislators who voted against allowing folks to keep the healthcare services they have only just begun to appreciate will be recorded forever in Arkansas history. The families who will lose a wage-earning father to a heart attack at an early age will know who to blame. Diabetics who lose a limb to amputation will remember the legislators who denied them health care when the vision of a healthier state was on the table, just one vote away. Think about it, legislators, how do you want to be remembered? I'm asking my senator, Sen. Jane English, what's it worth to you to keep an uninformed campaign promise? Gloria Gordon North Little Rock
From the web In response to last week's cover story, "The Arkansas private option could be in trouble" Rep. Deborah Ferguson should check on how well radiologists are paid in Arkansas compared to the rest of the country — because of an old consent decree, their payment per service is quite distorted in the state — radiologists make more relative to other specialties in Arkansas. We need a more modern reimbursement code in Arkansas. Casper Only the first GOP controlled House and Senate since Reconstruction could come up with implementing the private option ... just to kill it the next year. Especially in an election year. Yeah, get 100,000 signed up for coverage, and yank it away from them six months later. Jay Johnson So we give tons of people health insurance, some that even cancelled other insurance to get this, and then take it away less than two months after giving it to them? What are they supposed to do now that they either have no way to get insurance or open enrollment for them is months away? What a laughing stock Arkansas has become. Clem Hooten
Submit letters to the Editor, Arkansas Times, 201 E. Markham, Suite 200, Little Rock, AR 72203. We also accept letters via e-mail. The address is firstname.lastname@example.com. We also accept faxes at 3753623. Please include name and hometown.
From Kipling to Jones "Separation of church and state is the mandate, but how in the world does saying a prayer before class evoke the wrath of the ACLU?" Some people, including me at times, have trouble with evoke and invoke. This writer got it right. To evoke is "to elicit, bring forth or produce." Darr's letter of resignation evoked memories of Tucker's. To invoke is "to appeal to a deity or higher power for help, to call upon a source of authority or to conjure (a spirit) by incantation." I invoked Fowler to support my position. Having recently discussed a wellknown if not well-understood Harvardism, I thought it only fair to do the same for Yale. Well, actually, fairness has nothing to do with it. My curiosity was evoked by a newspaper quiz that asked readers to "Complete the quote to provide a [book] title: 'Gentlemen-rankers out on the spree, damned. ...' " I knew the answer, because "From Here to Eternity," by James Jones, is among my favorite novels. It was published in 1951. Jones got the title from an 1892 poem by Rudyard Kipling, "Gentlemen-Rankers." A gentleman-ranker was "an enlisted sol-
dier who may have been a former officer or a gentleman qualified through education and background to be DOUG a commissioned SMITH firstname.lastname@example.com officer." The line also caught the ear of the Whiffenpoofs, a Yale singing group. In the early 1900s, the group began singing a musical version with somewhat revised lyrics — "gentlemen rankers" became "gentlemen songsters" and the song became known as the "The Whiffenpoof Song." It was the group's trademark. (In the 1950s, there was a highly popular variety show on television hosted by Ed Sullivan. Once every season, it seems like, The Whiffenpoofs appeared on the program. Singing "The Whiffenpoof Song," of course.) Easing back near the point, what is a Whiffenpoof, anyway? It's an imaginary beast, like a jackalope. The word was first used in a 1908 operetta, "Little Nemo," by Victor Herbert.
It was a good week for ... A BANK MERGER. Bank of the Ozarks ($4.7 billion in assets) purchased Summit Bancorp of Arkadelphia ($1.2 billion). ARKANSAS EDUCATION POLICY STABILITY. After interviewing to become superintendent of the Fayetteville School District last week, Arkansas Education Director Tom Kimbrell said he was no longer seeking the job. Kimbrell is widely seen as a steady hand atop the state Education Department.
It was a bad week for ... MARK DARR. As promised, the former lieutenant governor handed in his resignation last week, but in typical classless fashion, he delivered his official letter to Secretary of State Mark Martin, Senate Pro Tem Michael Lamoureux and House Speaker Davy Carter, all Republicans. There was no letter to Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, who has sole authority under Arkansas law to declare the office vacant. Meanwhile, Darr was also late in paying
the first installment of the $11,000 the state Ethics Commission fined him. No word yet on the $9,800 Darr owes the state for unlawfully spending public money. REGGIE CORBITT. The embattled Little Rock Wastewater CEO was fired by the Little Rock Wastewater Sanitary Sewer Committee following a report by the Little Rock Police Department that said state and city firearms laws may have been broken at LRWU's Adams Field and Fourche Creek Treatment Plants, where utility Director of Operations Stan Miller, with Corbitt's knowledge, lived off and on in his trailers. The utility footed the bill — around $25,000 total — to create pads and run utilities to the trailers, where Miller lived with his girlfriend, who was given access to the restricted site through a "proxy" pass. Employees told police they occasionally fired guns into a berm behind the Fourche Creek plant and that one employee had fired at a sign and street light on the property; vandalism had been given as a reason by the utility for Miller's residence at the plants. LITTLE ROCK POLICE STABILITY. Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas, who joined the LRPD in 1978 and was named chief in 2005, announced that he'll retire in June.
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he well-to-do Walton family from Bentonville is not enamored of religious freedom either, especially as it relates to education. Vouchers are proven failures at improving education, yet the Waltons pour money into voucher plans that benefit private schools, almost all of them religious, and threaten the existence of the public schools on which most Americans depend. Public education advocate Diane Ravitch writes: "The Walton Family Foundation spends nearly $200 million every year to undermine public education. It gives to groups that open charter schools and promote vouchers. It throws a few thou to the Bentonville Public Schools, but the big money is available only to those who want to bust unions and privatize public education." 6
ome Arkansans were surprised to hear that only one cross was found displayed on public property in Searcy, so identified the city has become with Republican right-wing politics. A longtime Searcy Democrat once told us that Searcy has been voting Republican in presidential races since the Dwight Eisenhower years, mid-20th century, while most of the rest of the state remained reliably Democratic until quite recently. The influence of the conservative Harding University has grown, and the town is fairly comfortable and virtually all-white. It's a combination conducive to cross-bearing and flag-waving. The cross in question is outside the police chief's office, a site perhaps strategically chosen to impress any ACLU agitators who roll into town promoting separation of church and state. Standing next to his pet cross, the chief might say "Well, Mr. Bill of Rights, let me introduce you to Mr. Billy Club." The City Council might plant a cross outside the fire chief's door, emboldening him to turn the hoses on any freedom-of-religion agitators. (A group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation, of Madison, Wis., is seeking to have the cross removed.) But Searcy has not been completely lost to the Tea Party. Even as it veered to the right, Searcy produced a progressive, problem-solving senator who proved to be what was needed in the governor's office as well. The Mike Beebe administration will be well regarded by historians. Former Sen. and Rep. John Paul Capps managed to serve longer in the state legislature than almost anyone else, despite being a thoughtful moderate. Our own hope is that there's a Harding professor, a heretofore secret Constitutionalist, who'll step forward and say the cross should be removed from the police chief's yard, and the prof will be followed by some of his best students, possibly energized by their discovery that the Bisons' star quarterback is a Muslim. It would be a good made-for-TV movie wouldn't it? Our own price for rights to the story would be shockingly modest.
WHERE IN ARKANSAS?: Know where this slice of life in Arkansas is? Send along the answer to Times photographer Brian Chilson. Write to firstname.lastname@example.com to guess this week's photo or for more information.
The staff to nobody
t. Gov. Mark Darr slunk out of town last week after delivering a one-sentence resignation letter to Secretary of State Mark Martin. He petulantly refused to resign to the governor, whose job it is to declare the vacancy. Good riddance to bad rubbish as the saying goes. But business remains — and not only the question of whether Darr could face criminal prosecution for using campaign and taxpayer money for personal expenses. First is the question of whether Gov. Mike Beebe will call a special election to fill the job for the rest of the year. Republicans in the legislature favor a law change to avoid the necessity. They don't want Democrat John Burkhalter to win a special election and get a leg up in November for the permanent job. Their main candidates, state Reps. Charlie Collins and Andy Mayberry, can't run for a state office during the term of their legislative seats this year. Second is the question of Darr's staff. He was overstaffed to begin with for a job that has essentially no duties except to act as governor when the governor is out of state and ceremonially preside over the Senate. He employed longtime perennial Republican patronage job-filler Bruce Campbell for $75,132 as chief of staff. Amber Pool gets paid $57,564 to be communications director. Josh Miller, a Republican JP in Saline County, does something or other for $51,564. Raeanne Gardner gets paid $33,660 to answer the occasional phone call. That's $217,920 in salaries and the state must spend another $48,000 for employee insurance, retirement and other costs. But what now? There are no constituents for an empty office. There were scant duties to begin with. There are none now. Should taxpayers pay $22,160 a month for a four-person staff to no one? But these are Republican patronage jobs. Republican legislators, to date, have said they want to keep their cronies on the payroll. Campbell is father-in-law
of powerful Republican Rep. Duncan Baird, who's running for state treasurer. Miller has worked for the Republican Party. Nobody in the GOP majority wants to throw their friends out in the cold. MAX If only Republicans weren't BRANTLEY so cold about people they don't email@example.com know. This is the same party fighting an increase in Arkansas's $6.25 an hour minimum wage, which is paid to people who really toil. Darr's staff makes from $16 to $36 an hour, including on holidays and vacations, for filing their nails. Extended unemployment compensation? Republicans are fighting it. Welfare for Darr's Gang? Another matter. The Republican Party hopes to win another round of state elections by demonizing Obamacare, which extends government-aided health insurance to more of the working poor. Darr's Gang of Four gets the state's heavily subsidized health insurance, with its friendly rates and coverage. Republican reluctance to pare this expense is another example of the cloistered world of the Capitol. Those under the dome are all pretty comfortable. It's easy in that bubble to believe that the rest of the world lives the same way — good pay, good vacation and holiday time, good health insurance, good free parking, work days that end at the stroke of 4:30, legislators (if you're in the right party) who look after you. The working people of Arkansas aren't so lucky. Republicans in the legislature should urge Darr's staff to move on — with some brief severance (they've already had six weeks' worth). At most, they could justify a one-person, low-pay skeleton staff to answer whatever phone or mail might arrive. If the welfare checks continue, Republicans lawmakers will have put, as Darr once put it, a stake in the ground about their position on government waste. For!
The poor, the private option and minority tyranny
o help us understand the fury over the "private option," food stamps and all the other initiatives to help the poor, may we channel good old J. Marion Futrell once more? Governor Futrell, remember, was our hero last week. When he took office in 1933, Futrell clutched all the old cliches about people who were not getting ahead. It was the result of their own sloth, and to the extent society could be faulted, it was owing to modernization — machinery that accustomed people to avoiding hard labor. It had made them bums. Futrell had lots of quirky ideas — crime and laziness were hereditary so the government should castrate or sterilize repeat offenders and "incompetents" — but his notions about the poor were widely held, even in those darkest days of the Depression. The same old cliches ricochet through the debates in Washington and in Arkansas over whether to cut food stamps, end Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
as entitlements, shorten jobless aid, raise the minimum wage, provide prekindergarten for poor kids or reverse ERNEST the swelling income DUMAS inequality. Nowadays, it's government dependency from previous efforts to reduce poverty that is supposed to have made people shiftless. You hear it in the justifications of tea-party radicals like Tom Cotton for their votes against food stamps and attacks on the rest of the social safety net. And you hear it in the determined voices of the handful of Arkansas legislators who plan this month to terminate health insurance for low-wage workers because it was Barack Obama's idea. But back to our hero, Futrell, who came down from Paragould to save Arkansas from a feckless government and a citizenry gone indolent. When we left him last week he had amended the Constitution to virtu-
Slate's Plotz thick on Glass ruling I said there was a Society of Men among shunned by a bunch us, bred up from their Youth in the Art of of damned lawyers. proving by words multiplied for the Pur- Lawyers! Who do pose, that White is Black, and Black is White, they think they are? according as they are paid. To this Society all He credits the charthe rest of the People are Slaves. acter witnesses and GENE —Lemuel Gulliver explains lawyers, from psychotherapists LYONS Swift's Gulliver's Travels, 1726 who testified that the man has reformed since his disgraceverybody hates the other guy's law- ful exit from journalism. yer, so the news that serial fabricator And after all, he concludes, "law isn't Stephen Glass was denied a license holy orders. It's a job." to practice law by the California Supreme To reach this conclusion, Plotz actually Court has unsettled certain of his former argues that Glass's well-earned reputation colleagues in Washington journalism. as "a liar and a fraud" all but guarantees he'll Slate.com editor David Plotz character- be honest and circumspect as an attorney. ized the court's 35-page decision as "smug, "Glass is far less likely than most lawyers to self-righteous," "snobbish," "bizarre and try to sneak something past a judge, because backward." A former colleague and friend he'll know that every single word he speaks at The New Republic, where Glass pub- and document he signs is suspect." lished many of his fabricated hit pieces disRephrased: Glass is so crooked he'll have guised as journalism, Plotz writes that Glass to play it straight. lied to him almost every time they spoke. Me, I wouldn't trust the guy to pick up In his dreadful novel "The Fabulist," my laundry. But hold that thought. For readPlotz writes, "Glass portrayed a charac- ers who have forgotten the details, the Caliter clearly based on his wife Hanna Rosin fornia ruling Supreme Court's ruling makes as "conniving, sleazy, and disloyal, and the for fascinating reading. At this remove, Hanna-like character's husband as even Glass's ability to tell editors exactly what worse." Somebody who did that to my wife they evidently wanted to hear stands out. would be well-advised to avoid me. His first TNR cover story for editor Michael Even so, Plotz now finds it incomprehen- Kelly was "Taxis and the Meaning of Work." sible that his one-time deceiver would be "Its theme," the justices write "was that
ally halt taxation and spending forever, only to discover that taxing and spending were exactly what would save the state. His amendment to give power over taxing and spending to a fraction of the legislature — only nine of 135 can block a tax or an appropriation favored by an overwhelming majority — was ratified in 1934. In a desperate attempt to revive the economy and keep body and soul together for a third of the population, the federal government provided surplus commodities and later food stamps for the poor and picked up other costs for struggling state governments, asking only that the states match its benevolence in small sums. They all did, except Futrell's Arkansas. In the desperate winter of '34-'35, it came to Futrell that he was wrong about the poor and about the government's proper role. It helped that sharecroppers and day laborers were rising up against the system that often left the distribution of federal relief to the plantation owners and local bosses. He was harassed daily by people begging for state jobs. It helped, too, that Uncle Sam was fed up with Arkansas, which didn't put up a dime for relief, and with the bitching from Arkansas leaders about the government
efforts. If Arkansas did not ante up some money by March 1, President Roosevelt's relief director said, federal aid to Arkansas would end. A chastened Futrell begged legislators to raise taxes — any taxes — and increase spending. (Mike Huckabee reprised Futrell's speech in 2003 when he told lawmakers he would gratefully sign every tax bill they sent him.) Futrell said Washington had spent $45,135,502 to feed Arkansans and pay their teachers and he now regretted officials griping about the waste when he and the legislature had put up "not one dollar" for the cause. So the legislature sent him taxes and he signed them. It was Futrell who established the modern Arkansas tax system, which lifted Arkansas from bankruptcy and paid for the first real public education system. The 80th anniversary of that day will fall next week, when the legislature will build next year's budget upon a single decision — whether to end the lifeline the legislature threw the working poor a year ago when it used its option under Obamacare to insure the last segment of the poor — childless adults — with federal money.
Americans, and in particular, African-Americans, were no longer willing to work hard or to take on employment they consider menial." Complete with made-up jive-talking slackers and an imaginary armed holdup, it was followed by "Spring Break," a tale about young Republicans at a CPAC convention whose idea of fun was humiliating homely women. The idea was to seduce "a real heifer, the fatter the better, bad acne." Guys would then emerge from hiding, laughing, pointing and snapping photos. "A wash of despair and alcohol and brutishness" hung over the entire GOP conference, Glass moralized. A Harper's Magazine piece called "Prophets and Losses" introduced readers to another imaginary African-American who "could not be persuaded to use his money to feed and clothe his seven children by five different mothers instead of buying VCRs and calling telephone psychics for advice on lottery numbers." In 1998, as the Monica Lewinsky craze swept Washington, Glass wrote an ugly profile of Clinton advisor Vernon Jordan — accusing him of sexual and financial improprieties for the now-defunct George magazine. All based upon accusatory quotes from imaginary anonymous sources. On investigation, an editor later testified, the article "blew apart like a dandelion in a strong wind." See, Glass wasn't just going for the glory.
He was hurting people he had reason to believe his editors wanted hurt. The justices also concluded he'd shaded the truth in his application. Anyway, here's my suggestion for David Plotz: If he's so concerned about Stephen Glass' professional future, Slate should hire the man straightaway as its legal correspondent. Or perhaps as its in-house legal advisor. Glass wouldn't need a law license for that. Who better to guide the online magazine through the shoals of libel law than the most spectacular of The New Republic's decadeslong lineup of journalistic fakers? In an online exchange about Glass, my friend the Oklahoma journalist Richard Fricker may have put it best: "He disgraced one profession that must fight for its integrity every day, against heavy odds. Why would a second want to give him their trust? "Second chances, sure. Nine, forget it." Observing the behavior of the national political press during the Clinton years, I once wrote that by "claiming the moral authority of a code of professional ethics it idealizes in the abstract but repudiates in practice," Washington journalism had grown decadent, self-protective and increasingly unworthy of respect by outsiders. Are we now to abandon even the pretense of honor? Call me smug and self-righteous, but I believe the California justices ruled correctly.
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Six weeks to turn it around
s if you needed further convincing that Arkansas Razorback basketball is a rudderless vessel with nary a trace of luck to keep it seaworthy, last week's pair of tilts probably did wonders to skew your perception. Crippled by an indisputably awful loss at Georgia, and already facing the prospect of a lost season before the end of January, the Hogs showed due desperation at Bud Walton Arena against Missouri, a competent if still fringe NCAA tourney team. Buoyed by a decent mid-week crowd, Arkansas canned 12 threes and forced 19 Tiger turnovers. Bobby Portis had one of the better all-around efforts of his freshman season (16 points, seven rebounds, and even Michael Qualls posted a 16-point game that suggested his conference lull was about to end. But Mizzou did what it customarily does to the Hogs: battered them by a wide margin on the boards, and even more damning, held the decisive advantage at the foul line. For all those who lament the readily seen officiating folly in this league, this game was bewildering, as the home-cooking that often swings things against the road squad didn't fly on this night. The Tigers' nailed nine more free throws in eight more attempts, hardly proof of any kind of mass conspiracy, but in what finished as a 75-71 Missouri victory, it was decisive nonetheless. By the time Arkansas then arrived in Baton Rouge to play a greatly-improved LSU team — again, reasonably skilled at most positions but arguably in the mix as one of the final projected entrants in a 68-team March field — they did so with Qualls and Alandise Harris staying home. The alwaysnebulous phrase "indefinite suspension for violation of team rules" accompanied this news, bringing to mind the selfsame issues that plagued John Pelphrey's tenure to an absurd degree. Arkansas would have appeared to be thoroughly overmatched now, and it predictably showed early as LSU bolted out to a 20-point first-half lead. Credit is due, however, to the husk of the Hog team that surged back to within six points late before succumbing 88-74. Kikko Haydar, as he often does, responded to the plea for warm bodies to provide serviceable minutes: the senior put up a career-best 15 points, and made some big perimeter baskets and free throws in a spirited second half. Portis thrived again despite LSU's tremendous length inside, and the Hogs weathered bad overall shooting to knock down 25 of 27 free throws. In a rather bizarre twist, the home team got whistled for a lot of the 50-50 calls and even more incredibly, Arkansas cashed in appreciably at the line. But LSU wore the Hogs out inside, with the anchors (super-frosh Jordan Mickey and bulked-up junior Johnny O'Bryant)
doing substantial damage at both ends: 45 combined points, 20 boards and six timely blocks from BEAU Mickey alone. It's WILCOX this kind of interior dominance that has bedeviled the program for a long time, but it also has Hog fans begging for more size on the floor at one time. Mike Anderson has forgotten more about the sport than any of us will ever hope to learn, but the curious decision to never play Portis and the gifted but raw Moses Kingsley simultaneously seems nonsensical at best. Arkansas isn't going to win many rebounding battles regardless, but its spotty perimeter play is enough alone to warrant a significant personnel shift, right? Anthlon Bell, Mardracus Wade and Rickey Scott simply aren't producing enough to justify extended minutes, and Kingsley, though offensively limited, is yanking down more rebounds per minute than anyone on the team. He's a project, but a useful one, so... make use of him. The root causes for a 2-6 start in one of the weaker basketball leagues in the country are numerous but Arkansas is, impossibly, still perfectly capable of getting a lot of these niggling ills cured against the remaining slate. Now, would an 8-2 rebound, starting with a home win against Bama and a road victory at Vanderbilt, be enough to persuade a selection committee? Hard to say. It's even harder to fathom a team that barely cracks 50 points at Texas A&M and Georgia getting its collective juices flowing well enough to have that sort of resurgence, obviously, but the final 10 games in this league are by and large the kinds of games that Anderson built his early coaching career on. At UAB and then at Missouri, he had a knack for getting those close wins. The 31-win team of 2008-09 surged to a Big 12 tournament title and all the way to the Elite Eight on the strength of razor's-edge wins. That team wasn't laden with next-level skill but it was composed and mature beyond measure, capable of taking the score into the 90s and beating you with that signature pace that the coach covets, but surprisingly adept at slogging in the halfcourt sets, too. Impossible as it may seem, there are occasional, meaningful moments where Arkansas actually demonstrates this kind of resolve, but those are offset by the rough patches. As declared in this space a week ago, there isn't much cause for optimism about the program at this juncture, and the odds of recovery are long, but six weeks of basketball is still six weeks for Anderson to learn whether his beleaguered team has any sort of discernible pulse.
Miss Universe THE OBSERVER HAS BEEN watching with some interest the goings-on in Colorado since they legalized marijuana for recreational usage. We're not planning on packing up the VW bus and heading out there any time soon, but we're keeping an eye on it, just because we know it could potentially be a similar boon someday to this state we love. There's a lot of black dirt in East Arkansas, and a lot of sunshine. While The Observer isn't personally a fan of marijuana — we never liked that cloudy, woozy, staring-through-a-hole-inthe-back-of-your-own-head feeling — we are all about some logic. And it has never quite seemed logical to us that while a plant that could grow in any roadside ditch is banned for fear it might harm the populace, anybody with 20 bucks and a valid I.D. can head to the corner liquor store and buy enough cheap, perfectly legal goof juice to float a sizeable toy battleship. We happen to know quite a few potheads, even longterm potheads, and though marijuana has clearly led to the senseless destruction of many a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, we don't know of a single life ol' Mary Jane, in and of herself, has destroyed to the point of being unlivable. Meanwhile, the amount of blood and tears we've personally seen spilled by and over people under the influence of corn likker could fill a hell of a lot of empty whiskey bottles. The Observer's experience with pot isn't deep, but it is 40 years broad now. Back in high school, living way out in the sticks of Saline County, we had a friend whose father was rumored to be the Marijuana King of the little patch of dirt we all called home. Word was he was a dangerous man. Word was he had big fields of the stuff. Word was he had cops on the payroll — cops who'd drive right up the house in their uniforms and squad cars to pick up their envelopes. It was Saline County in the 1980s. What do you expect? Given that Prince Pot was a pal, the stuff was plentiful in that neck of the woods, not great but decent, and much easier to get in dry Saline County than a bottle of green label Evan Williams. The Observer was never much of a fan, for the reasons outlined above, but our best friends were, and we had to take the occasional toke to keep from feeling like a narc.
The Observer remembers one whole winter, maybe 1990, when we got on a kick where every Saturday night was spent with those friends — one now a truck driver, the other drowned and in his grave — tromping Pa's mown and frosty field with a single-barrel shotgun and two shells, following a flashlight beam as it sought out the gleaming eyes of a rabbit or deer. Don't bother coming to collect The Observer for spotlighting at this late date, Mr. Game Warden, as we confess that we never seemed to kill anything, probably because our thoroughly-stoned friends tromped around like hippopotami, stagewhispering through their titters. There was a magic to those nights, even without the recreational pharmaceuticals: the curl of frozen breath and smoke in the flashlight beam; the wheel of diamond chips overhead; the way The Observer's friend, having inherited his father's nervousness around Johnny Law, would switch off the light and squat with the shotgun across his knees whenever the rare truck would rumble by on the distant road; the feeling of being young and warm in a heavy coat on a dark, cold night in the wintertime. In that field one night, The Observer looked up and told those two country boys who rarely left the county that outer space went on forever and ever — that it was all as limitless as the sight of God, no "Posted: No Trespassing" sign stapled to a tomato stake out there somewhere at the end of it, just more and more nothing. After a minute of incredulous argument, the thought blew their addled minds so thoroughly that they had to take a few minutes of silence to consider — a lovely silence, full of the infinite, there in the dark. Afterward, all our eyes red as the pit of hell, we tromped back to the white house on the hill, were Ma and Pa were in the living room before the blazing fireplace, watching, for some reason, the Miss Universe pageant on TV. The three of us sat on the couch like See No, Hear No and Speak No, and giggled at the contestants' funny names. Meanwhile Pa, who had been everywhere and seen everything, cut his eyes at The Three Stooges. And to think that we honestly believed we had him fooled.
Clinton Presidential Center Celebrates Black History Month Free Admission Day
Monday, Feb. 17, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. In honor of Presidents' Day, admission and audio tours narrated by President Clinton are free throughout the day. Check out our new temporary exhibits – "Spies, Traitors, and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America" and "Presidential Pets."
Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Distinguished Laureate Series*
General Public: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 6 p.m. School program (Master Class), NARA classroom, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 9:30-10:30 a.m. The Clinton Foundation and Arkansas Black Hall of Fame present the 2014 Distinguished Laureate Series featuring Haki Madhubuti. A native Arkansan and member of the Black Arts Movement, Madhubuti has published more than 20 books of poetry, nonfiction and critical essays. An American Book Award winner, he has founded and led numerous institutions and organizations dedicated to serving black writers.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 – President Lyndon Baines Johnson*
General Public: Thursday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. School Groups: Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27-28, 9:30-10:30 a.m. & 11 a.m. - Noon Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School presents "Civil Rights Act of 1964," a program that tells the story of the nation's benchmark civil rights legislation prohibiting discrimination and the events of 1963 that led to its passage. *Black History Month programs are free and open to the public; however, reservations are required. School groups call 501-748-0419 to RSVP; general public call 501-748-0425 or email email@example.com.
1200 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock, AR 72201 www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org • 501-748-0419
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Arkansas Reporter
Darr, purged As promised, the state IT crew has de-Stalinized the website of the Arkansas lieutenant governor. You'll no longer find photos or mentions there of Mark Darr, who resigned effective Saturday after being found to have misspent office and campaign money on personal expenses. The history page of the site has a recitation of every person who's held the office, back to inception in 1927. With ONE EXCEPTION. The history ends at the first of 2011, when Bill Halter left the office and Mark Darr moved in. There is no mention of the Darr era. Is it because it would have to recite the circumstances of his departure? There is a contact link for the office's fourperson staff, which costs taxpayers $250,000 a year in salary and benefits. Call or write. They might be happy to have something to pass the time, now that the office is vacant and the Republican legislative majority doesn't intend to let the job be filled this year on the off-chance a special election might give Democratic candidate John Burkhalter a leg up in the general election. Two leading Republican candidates — Charlie Collins and Andy Mayberry — are in the legislature and can't run to fill out the term because they hold another state office. Office Chief of Staff Bruce Campbell, a hardy Capitol political patronage perennial, also happens to be father-in law of Republican legislator Duncan Baird, a candidate for state treasurer.
FROM SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON: At Lakewood Middle School.
Creationism in the classroom A social studies class at Lakewood Middle School teaches religion with evolution. BY DAVID RAMSEY
Rogers update Last week, FBI agents took numerous boxes from North Little Rock businessman John Rogers' business and home in North Little Rock. Some, witnesses said, appeared to be sports memorabilia. Rogers is known as a collector. With his business, Rogers Photo Archive, he amassed the largest privately held collection of photographs in the world. The business works out deals to digitize media photo collections and share rights for resale of the images. Generally, the publications have retained copyrights on a lot of the material. The FBI obtained warrants to search Rogers' property from court approval of sealed affidavits. On Monday, Roger's attorney, Blake Hendrix, said that the affidavits that led to the warrants are still under seal and finding out why they were issued "will take [legal] activity. They get sealed automatically, and you have to have motions done to try and get them out. That's all done under seal as well. So there's no 'within 14 days' or anything like that." CONTINUED ON PAGE 11 10
n Honnye Athanasiou's social studies class at Lakewood Middle School, the World History unit on the Stone Age began last week with a presentation on evolution and creationism. The three-day lesson, which presents various arguments expressing doubt about evolution from a creationist perspective, has at least several Lakewood parents alarmed, and according to local civil liberties advocates, it violates the First Amendment. "My [child] told me that the teacher was teaching him about creationism," said a parent of a student in Athanasiou's class (the parent asked not to be named out of concern of drawing attention to his child in the class). "He knew what he was being taught was pretty inappropriate. I asked him about it, and it sounded pretty religious to me for a public school. I asked him if he would get a copy of the power point presentation. The teacher said something to the
effect of, 'Why are you wanting this? Are you trying to get me in trouble?' " Eventually the teacher agreed to provide a copy to the parent. The power point, titled "Evolution v. Creation," is divided into sections — 17 slides each — titled "A Historical Perspective," "Arguments for Evolution" and "Arguments for Creation." You can see the full power point at arktimes.com/creationism. Critics say that the presentation essentially amounts to a brief against the theory of evolution, with an inadequate explanation of the science behind evolution on the one hand, and on the other hand, arguments and claims against evolution that have been widely debunked in the scientific community, though students would not know that from the power point presentation. The section on historical perspective is dominated by a history of Christian thought and sprinkled with quotes on the value of religious belief. The "Arguments for
Evolution" section includes a quote from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins stating that his belief in evolution led him to atheism. "It's full of misrepresentations and bad science, and the substance of one religious tradition's creation story is presented as the only objection to the science," said Anne Orsi, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers. "I can see talking about it briefly in a social studies class — to tell the students that there is a controversy among people who are fundamentalist believers in a certain branch of religion. ... They can examine why those people might be upset and why there has to be so much litigation over it. But this presentation goes way too far. It actually attacks scientific theory, and does so without correctly explaining the science behind it. It actually misrepresents the science. The teacher is using a back door method to 'teach the controversy' in direct violation of [case law both in Arkansas and nationally]." Rita Sklar, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, called the power point "nothing more than a form of Christian apologetics, an attempt to prove the existence of God, the Christian God, with 'reasoned' argument. This is not just about evolution versus creation, and it is certainly not evenhanded. I wish more people understood that the reason we have religious liberty here is that we don't allow government (here, a public school) to teach religion. But the sad truth is that many people don't want religious liberty: They want their religion to dominate. And that's what we have to be wary of. That's how you wind up with a state religion and religious persecution." The parent with a child in Athanasiou's class said that according to his child, Athanasiou herself clearly seemed to come from a creationist perspective as she presented the power point. "The power point jumped out at me as edging these kids toward doubting science and thinking there's debate in scientific areas where there's really not debate," the parent said. "I would think the science teacher would have some unteaching to do because of this history lesson." CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
Mark Darr has left the lieutenant governor's office after resigning in disgrace over misuse of public and campaign funds, but his staff remains — Chief of Staff Bruce Campbell, Communications Director Amber Pool, Director of Government Relations Josh Curtis and Executive Assistant Raeanne Gardner. In all, these four support staffers cost taxpayers $250,000 per year. Republicans in the legislature plan to take action to ensure that no special election is held to take Darr's place, leaving the basically worthless office vacant for eleven months. But his staff? Senate President Pro Tem Michael Lamoureux said initially that they should remain employed, even though they'll be supporting an official who doesn't exist. (Later, Lamoureux said he would discuss the issue with fellow legislators and the Senate staff attorney.) That leaves the question — just what will they do to occupy their time? Here are our best guesses.
Not rub Mark Darr's feet. That's for damn sure. Finally figure out the stinking cheat code at Solitaire. Dominate. Fulfill important duties of Lt. Gov. Think of an important duty of Lt. Gov. Spending spree with the state credit card! What's the worst that could happen? Responding to Freedom of Information requests with new form letter: "There is no information to provide from the Lt. Governor. There is no Lt. Governor." Burning bag of dog feces outside Matt DeCample's office. Again. Work day in, day out to repeal Obamacare. Though Darr is gone — the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die. Annual office ping-pong tournament expanded from six weeks to 12. Someone has to field all the complaints that the non-existent Lt. Governor's staff is being paid on the taxpayer's dime! Apply a close reading of Jean-Paul Sartre's "Being and Nothingness" to reconcile serving a boss that does not exist. Revise "Lt. Gov. Annual To-Do List" (current edition is blank page with hand-drawn picture of Darr in Superman costume, dancing on a pizza). Go-Kart races around the Capitol rotunda. Drill into a piece of amber with a mosquito in it to extract DNA to clone former Arkansas Lt. Gov. Maurice "Footsie" Britt. Burn all office records in the Gov. Mike Huckabee Document Incinerator and Polish Sausage Roaster. Locate and recall the state trooper Darr sent to Kentucky 18 months ago on orders to discover the secret of the 11 herbs and spices. Salvage unfinished manuscript of "How to Sell Pizza and Influence Pizza." Sell Darr Scout cookies to help pay off money old boss still owes state.
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INSIDER, CONT. There's growing speculation that the searches might be related to a long-running FBI investigation of sales of sports memorabilia. The New York Daily News recently reported on a lawsuit filed against the New York Giants and Eli Manning over the alleged sale of bogus memorabilia — jerseys supposedly worn in games were not, according to one allegation. The article notes a Chicago-based FBI investigation into the sports memorabilia market and mentions the raid last week on Rogers. The article says that Rogers is an investor in a sporting memorabilia auction company that includes others who face indictment in an earlier probe.
Pulaski Tech students protest teacher's firing
The executive officers of Pulaski Technical College's Student Government Association asked college president Dr. Margaret Ellibee last week to endorse the American Association of University Professors Standards of Academic Freedom and Due Process and to give fired professor Lyndel Roe a hearing based on those standards. Roe, a philosophy teacher, was fired last September after a student complained that he'd asked her in class if she'd ever had anal sex with a man. It was meant as a rhetorical question, he said; Roe maintains that he was trying to make a point about the day's lesson — on why God allows bad things to happen. He said he had in the past also used profanity in class but that it was not directed at students. James Ryan Bozeman, the SGA president who wrote the letter to Ellibee, told the president that he had listened to complete audio recordings of Roe's classroom lectures and reviewed "relevant documents." He wrote that the recordings, unavailable to the administration at the time of Roe's firing and appeal, constitute "new evidence" that "may yield a more conclusive perspective of Mr. Roe and the allegations set forth in his termination paperwork, which has been provided to me in its entirety." Prior to his firing, Roe had made Freedom of Information requests concerning the school's budget and the school's enrollment drop of 12 percent for the 2013-14 school year. He said at the time that he could not prove that his firing was in retaliation for raising questions. Ellibee responded to Bozeman's Jan. 24 letter on Jan. 28, saying, "I appreciate your forwarding your concerns. Please be aware that there is a grievance process in place that PTC employees can choose to pursue." Roe has completed that process. The SGA also plans to take its request for AAUP standards and an investigation into Roe's firing to the Faculty Senate. www.arktimes.com
AN AERIAL VIEW OF FAIR PARK POOL: Circa 1945. 12
Swimming against the tide of
desegregation Integration came late, if at all, to public pools in Little Rock.
ifty years ago, on July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. The act tackled segregated education, voting rights, women's rights and worker's rights. Its most immediate impact, however, came in ordering the abolition of segregation in all "public accommodations." Little Rock was already ahead of the curve in most areas of desegregation. In 1963, it had implemented a program to allow equal use of many public and some private facilities downtown. Jet magazine quoted James Forman, national executive secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), saying that Little Rock was "just about the most integrated [city] in the south." But Little Rock, as many other places, faced one final hurdle: desegregating public swimming pools. Pools brought African Americans and whites into close and intimate contact more than any other publicly sponsored facility. This in turn touched on the fraught issue of African-American men and white women bathing together in states of undress. And with that came deep-seated white fears of miscegenation. Little Rock's first public swimming pool opened in the Pulaski Heights amusement area known as White City on June 16, 1922. The pool operated for 17 seasons before finally closing in 1939 when the land was sold to developers to create a new subdivision in the city's first, fastest growing, and exclusively all-white suburb. After the closure of the White City Pool, the Little Rock Recreation Commission proposed a city bond to fund a 45 per cent share in a new pool at a cost of $47,000. The other 55 percent came from the federal New Deal agency the Works Projects Administration (WPA). CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
NAACP LEADERS: L.C. Bates (left) and Dr. Jerry Jewell (right) with Alfred B. Lewis in 1964.
By 1941, the pool was completed. Its official title was J. Curran Conway Pool, named after the chair of the Little Rock Recreation Commission and vice president of Little Rock's Federal Home Loan Bank. It was more popularly known as Fair Park Pool, and then later as War Memorial Pool. Conway did not object to this. As one newspaper account noted, "More than modesty prompts him to beg off from the honor. He just can't handle the telephone calls that always follow when his name is connected with the pool in public print. Mothers tell him to send Sonny home, or would he please wade out and look for little Gertrude's bracelet. Some want to know the price of admission; others want to complain about the towels." On Friday, May 28, 1942, ahead of Memorial Day weekend, J. Curran Conway Pool opened for its first season. As with other public swimming pools across the country at the time, it proved a wildly popular facility. Designed to accommodate 1,800 bathers, it was reportedly packed to capacity from the first day. The opening of the new pool highlighted the lack of similar facilities for the city's AfricanAmerican population. Under the terms of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, the Court required "separate but equal" facilities for blacks. Clearly, Little Rock's provision of a whites-only pool without any facilities whatsoever for its African-American population violated that requirement. In 1949, the city passed a bond issue for the development of an African-American Gillam Park southeast of the city, which included a swimming pool. The pool opened on Sunday, August 20, 1950. J. Curran Conway Pool's segregation policy was first tested on June 27, 1963, when Dr. Jerry Jewell, president of the Little Rock NAACP branch, and L.C. Bates, Arkansas NAACP field secretary, led a group of four would-be swimmers. "We are still segregated here," pool manager Leroy Scott told them. After the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Jewell and Bates, along with 15 African-American boys and girls, returned. They were denied entry again. Barely five hours later, Little Rock City Manager Ancil M. Douthit announced that J. Curran Conway Pool and Gillam Park Pool "would be closed or sold to private owners" to avoid integration. The following Monday, both J. Curran Conway Pool and Gillam Park Pool were closed and drained. Douthit claimed that the city was "close to selling" them. He advised the roughly 300 season ticket holders that refunds would be available from the front desk of the pool between 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. Since approximately one-fifth of the season had already elapsed, the city gave a $4 refund on the $5 season tickets. Things stayed the same until mid-April 1965 as the beginning of the new swimming season approached. Then, the local press revealed that CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
A Ti
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The 2014 Arkansas Baptist College Supper & Soul Gala will be held Thursday, February 27, 2014 · 6:00 in the evening Statehouse Convention Center, Wally Allen Ballroom
Sherra & Eddie Armstrong
will accept the 2014 Arkansas Baptist College Growing Hope Award
Join us for the cocktail reception and silent auction. After the seated dinner, dance the night away to the sounds of the
Dress is cocktail attire. Sponsorships start at $3000, tickets are $250 and tables of ten are $2500.
Arkansas Baptist College is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
For more information contact: Department of Development 1621 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202 501-414-0853 office, 501-414-0861 fax, email@example.com
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DERELICT: Gillam Park Pool.
the city's M.M. Eberts Post No. 1 of the American Legion was considering purchasing the J. Curran Conway and Gillam Park pools. The plan was to operate both pools on a private and segregated basis, with the Gillam Park Pool being turned over to an unnamed African-American Legion Post to run. The furor the plan caused, together with its dubious legality, quickly ended Legion interest. A campaign to re-open the pools on an integrated basis grew. Ahead of the next scheduled city board of directors meeting, local SNCC activists collected 1,300 signatures in a petition to desegregate city swimming pools. At the meeting on June 2, 1965, City Manager Douthit announced that the swimming pools would open on an integrated basis "as soon as ... physically able." Developments in the courts after the 1964 Civil Rights Act had made it clear that the city could no longer legally evade desegregation. On Monday, June 14, the Gillam Park Pool was the first to open in drizzling rain. Only a small group of African Americans and no whites used it. Meanwhile, engineers over at J. Conway Curran
Up to
Pool battled with water pump and motor repairs, along with a cracked pipe. Business was slow when the pool reopened the following Monday. About two dozen whites, mostly children accompanied by their mothers, were ready and waiting to swim. The first three African Americans arrived that afternoon at 1:30 p.m. About half an hour before closing, at 5:30 p.m., there had been 210 swimmers that day, 22 of them African-American. Gillam Park Pool's numbers had increased slowly since opening the week before and a few whites had swum there. Near the end of the summer, reports indicated that usual attendance at public pools was down by 50 percent. That short-term trend was indicative of the much longer-term trend in swimming pools in Little Rock and the nation. The post-desegregation era in the United States has witnessed a dramatic decline in public pool construction and usage, and a massive expansion of private and privately owned pools. Increasingly, Americans have built home pools and retreated still further into their backyards for recreation. According to historian Jeff Wiltse, at mid-century only 2,500
Saturday, February 22 • 10AM-6PM • DICKEY-STEPHENS PARK U.S. families owned in-ground home swimming pools. By the end of the 20th century, that number had skyrocketed to 4 million. The impact of this shift in Little Rock is still palpable, showing how the segregated past still bears a heavy footprint today. Despite the increase in the city's population by nearly 80 percent between 1960 and 2010, the number of operating outdoor public swimming pools has remained exactly the same. J. Curran Conway Pool closed for demolition in 1989 and was replaced by a reduced-size outdoor pool in 1992 as part of the Jim Dailey Fitness and Aquatic Center. The center also contains Little Rock's only indoor public swimming pool. Indicative of the shift in pool culture, in 1952 there were over 10,000 swimmers in just one week at J. Curran Conway Pool; 60 years later, in 2012, the new pool reported fewer than that for its entire three-month summer season. Gillam Park Pool closed in 2001 and has been derelict since. Only two new public swimming pools have been constructed since 1965, both, tellingly, in areas of high African-American residence, which virtually guarantees predominantly African-American usage. East Little Rock Pool opened at the East Little Rock Community Complex in 1972. It closed in 2002. Southwest Community Center Pool opened in 1998 and remains in operation. The Southwest Little Rock area witnessed a dramatic shift in population in the period before the pool was built, with 9,000 whites leaving and 6,200 nonwhites arriving in the decade between 1982 and 1992. In the same decade, the population in the almost exclusively white far west of Little Rock, where the number of private pools has proliferated, leapt from 14,874 to 25,930. Fifty years after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Little Rock perfectly fits the bill as described in Atlanta by historian Kevin Cruse: "In the end, court-ordered desegregation of public spaces brought about not actual racial integration, but instead a new division in which the public world was increasingly abandoned to blacks and a new private one was created for whites."
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John A. Kirk is the George W. Donaghey Professor and Chair of the History Department at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. A longer version of this article will appear in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly later this year.
CREATIONISM IN THE CLASSROOM, CONT. Continued from page 10 Another parent, who also asked not to be named, agreed. This parent's child is in a different seventh-grade social studies class and did not see the power point, but the parent said that Athanasiou's lesson made him fear what else was going at Lakewood. "My concern is presenting evolution as if it were less than creationism," this parent said. "Creationism is a philosophy, it's not a science. My concern as a parent is that perhaps the children are being misled by a teacher, who is not a science teacher, presenting information that's incorrect. If this is being allowed to happen with one teacher, than I'm concerned that it's happening in other classrooms. Either the supervisor hasn't been supervising thoroughly enough or there's just something going on here." The Lakewood principal, Lee Tackett, said she sees nothing wrong with the lesson. "Any time you study World History, you go into the historical perspective of it and there are always arguments for or against evolution, or for or against creationism. So it's two opposing theories that make up part of the Stone Age era." Asked whether Athanasiou's approach was standard at the school, Tackett said, "Oh yeah. They talk about Muslims. They talk about all kinds of religions in any type of World History. It's not that they are pushing beliefs
on anyone. It's a historical perspective. This is kind of what started these eras. We don't push — we use these pieces of information and historical documents and historical evidence to put it out there." Tackett said that Athanasiou "was very specific in saying that she was not pushing it one way or the other. But this is an introduction to the historical piece of the Stone Age." While she has not closely analyzed the power point, Tackett said that it appeared above-board. "It's a lot of information," she said. "We're trying to take those kids to higher levels of thinking." Tackett said that in order to teach about the Stone Age, it was important to bring up evolution "and creationism, both." Asked about the constitutional ramifications, Tackett said, "I believe that the legal arguments are if I go in and tell a kid that this is what you've got to believe. [We] are presenting both sides of the coin." North Little Rock School District spokesperson Shara Brazear agreed. "Certainly it's in our process that if you're going to look at one — either evolution or creationism — as long as they study that, and they give information on both." She said that the approach taken by Athanasiou fit with standard practice in the district. Shown the power point, Brazear said,
"It does give quite a bit of information on both. It wasn't trying to sway one way or the other." Brazear said that she's never "had to answer a question or deal with an issue" regarding teaching creationism alongside evolution, "and I've been here 20 years." Told of reactions from the district and the school, the ACLU's Sklar said, "My response is to wonder aloud whether people really don't know what the law is — in which case we have a lot of educating to do — or whether people just really don't care, in which case I think that they are teaching a very bad civics lesson in that social studies class about respect for the Constitution and other people's rights." "This violates the First Amendment," Sklar said. "It's unconstitutional. The concept of equal time does not apply in this sense. Nobody is supposed to be teaching a religious point of view in a public school." This isn't the first time that issues surrounding the teaching of evolution have cropped up at Lakewood Middle. Last year, an eighth-grade science class held a debate on creationism versus evolution. "The entire subject irked me because I thought, this is a science class, there shouldn't be a debate about that in science class," Joan Barnes, whose son was in the class said. Barnes initially
thought it would be arranged like a formal debate with students assigned to each side. Instead, her son was the only one to argue for evolution; everyone else in the classroom argued for creationism. "He was giving his reasons and the whole class was yelling at him," Barnes said. "Even the teacher was making the argument for creationism as well." Barnes now has another son currently in seventh grade at Lakewood Middle. He is in a different social studies class, and was not shown the power point (instead, Barnes said, they were shown a video about prehistoric man; the teacher commented several times that he did not believe the information in the video). Still, Barnes is concerned about what happened in Athanasiou's class. "I understand learning about religions," she said. "It does make me uncomfortable when creationism is even brought up at school. ... I remember when I was a kid in social studies, we never talked about that stuff." Though she was upset by what happened with the evolution "debate" in the science class last year, she agreed not to make a complaint to the school at the time, at the request of her son. "I agreed not to because he was afraid that it would affect his grade," she said. "He did get an A in the class. We kind of just chalked it up to one of those things that happens in Arkansas."
DUMAS, CONT. Continued from page 7 It is hard to see how nine or 10 senators can end help to nearly all the state's needy — those in nursing homes, the disabled who get prescription help, the blind and disabled
and the 400,000 children served by Huckabee's Medicaid expansion in 1997. But that is what the small band is poised to do. The legislators will not be voting just to scrap Obamacare aid but the
whole Medicaid program, including 23,000 elderly and disabled in nursing homes, because they are all part of the same appropriation. That may not bother them. If people are at fault for not getting jobs that would pay for
their health care, it applies to all the needy and their spawn, not just the childless adults Obamacare covers. Finally — a chance to show 800,000 shiftless Arkies the wages of not having initiative and a good-paying job.
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In Louisiana, Mardi Gras is more than one day in one city. It is a statewide celebration, and it is never the same party twice. This time, bring something better back from your vacation–stories you will be telling for years. Š2014 Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism
Arts Entertainment
PECKERWOLF TAKES ROUND ONE Showcase continues with The Fox Blossom Venture, John Willis, Dead End Drive and Bombay Harambee. BY LINDSEY MILLAR AND WILL STEPHENSON
'm a curmudgeon, who, after years of seeing shows constantly, pretty much quit four years ago. Like everyone who's retired from the scene, I have to fight thinking that everything was better back in the day. So it was with more than a little dread that I approached covering the opening night of the 2014 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase (Will Stephenson, our newly hired Arts and Entertainment editor who penned the preview of this week's round, will begin shepherding coverage on Thursday). As you can probably predict, I'm a dummy. All's well in Arkansas live music if the four bands that opened the Showcase are any indication. All played a variety of rock 'n' roll. All had at least one member with a beard. And all were engaging. Opener The Fable and the Fury, from Searcy, did a brand of what judge Bryan Frazier called "indie mountaintop." In other words, mildly raucous riffage, martial drums and lots of harmonies. Just Stephen Neeper appreciated the spare use of a trombone. "Nice use of the horn," he said. "Not overplayed." Several judges likened Fayetteville's 20
Basement Brew to Ben Folds Five, but to my ears, they sounded more rambunctious, Southern version of Real Estate. Or like The Feelies covering The Band. "There's some magic here," guest judge Bill Solleder said of the self-described canoe rockers. There were no Casio tones in The People's Republic of Casio Tones' set; just goofball lyrics ("Party in My Pants") set to tasty slabs of Southern grunge-pop. "This is the People's Republic of I dig the fuck out of these guys!" judge Neeper said. The bassist, in particular, drew praise from judges Stacie Mack ("The bass player has moves like Jagger") and John Miller ("I love the bass player's stage presence and 'funk face' "). But in the end, the night belonged to hard-rock bruisers Peckerwolf, who were near unanimous winners with our judges. Queens of the Stone Age was a touchstone several judges mentioned, but Bryan Frazier said the Peckerwolf musicians didn't immediately remind him of anyone else, "but sound familiar." Neeper loved the "guitar riffs." As did Miller: "The right mix of riffs, beards and asscracks." Mack didn't like the band's name, but loved their
energy and said lead singer and guitarist Ryker James Horn was "who Jack Black wants to be when he grows up." LM
der," he lures you in with easygoing, Tin Pan Alley moves and shocks with a vulnerable and a physically impressive falsetto.
Next up, performing at 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 at Stickyz:
Dead End Drive
The Fox Blossom Venture call Batesville home, though they're from all sorts of places — not only Arkansas (singer Aaron Farris and guitarist Jacob Lackey), but Maine (singer Emily Byrne), Texas (violinist Aaron Walton), Tennessee (bassist James Spahr), and Athens, Ga. (drummer Ethan Lindblom). It was in Batesville, though, that they first started playing together at a weekly chapel service at Lyon College, making good-natured country-folk with a barn-dance stomp and interludes for banjo, harmonica, and tasteful male-female vocal duets. Since leaving the church (literally, if not figuratively), they've toured the state and put a record together, "Autumn Leaves."
Then things take a turn for the dark and tempestuous with alt-rock group Dead End Drive, the members of which have excellent movie-villain names like Rayzr Skinner and Rex Furry. Here you'll find downcast, Drop D riffs and postgrunge vocal rasp, shot through with anger and lines like "Tonight I'm gonna lose my mind." It's true, this is music to lose your mind to, or do awesome BMX tricks to — one or the other, or both. There's a video online of the group playing live on Fox 16's "Good Day Arkansas" last November. "We pretty much grew up together," they tell the host, and they look dazed, obviously nervous to be on TV. The host asks, "What drives you?" and front man Steven Zimmerebner shrugs and says, "I don't show emotion well." The host just lets that one go.
John Willis
Bombay Harambee
Little Rock's John Willis dresses impeccably and makes baroque pop with lush, lounge-y harmonies and arrangements. He lists George Gershwin and Stevie Wonder as primary influences, though the result sounds more in line with someone like Randy Newman (or, OK, let's say Ben Folds): upbeat piano rock from a persona that is literate, coy, and casually self-deprecating. "I guess I'm an acquired taste," he sings, though on a song called "King of the Cocktail Party" (also his album's title). On songs like "The Lad-
Last on the bill is the best-named group of the night, Bombay Harambee, four Arkansas natives who met in college in Conway and have translated some of that city's bleak, forbidding desolation (I know it well) into austere and articulate post-punk in the vein of bands like Wire or Mission of Burma. Adherents of the sharp, one-note guitar solo and the welltimed, darkly ironic utterance (e.g. "I love you so much that I don't even know your address"), these guys will close out the night on a cold and raucous note. WS.
The Fox Blossom Venture
7th & thayer, Lr
(501) 375-8400
16103 Chenal Pkwy West Little Rock 501-379-9157 mellowmushroom.com
Check out the Times' A&E blog arktimes.com
A&E NEWS LAST WEEK, THE ARKANSAS LITERARY FESTIVAL announced the slate of authors who'll attend the 11th annual event, scheduled for April 24-27, largely at the Central Arkansas Library System's campus on President Clinton Avenue. Bestselling novelist Catherine Coulter will surely be the big draw. Or maybe it'll be Congressman John Lewis, who'll attend to talk about "March," the masterful first volume of his graphic novel autobiography, co-written by Andrew Aydin and Little Rock native Nate Powell. Some other highlights: *Illustrator and author Kadir Nelson provided the artwork for "Michael," the posthumous Michael Jackson album, and Drake's "Nothing Was the Same" (both of which are excellent). He's the illustrator of dozens of children's books, largely about the African-American experience, including several award winners. He's also the author and illustrator of "We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball." • Former Los Angeles Times pop critic Robert Hilburn's recent biography of Johnny Cash has been lauded as the definitive examination of the Man in Black. • Rhett Miller, frontman of The Old 97's, will play a solo set at South on Main and participate in Hilburn's session. • Doug Dorst is the author, with J.J. Abrams, of the puzzle mystery "S," which promises to invite much discussion. • Victor LaValle is the author of the New York Times Notable novel "The Devil in Silver." Gary Shteyngart has called him the "new master" of "literary horror." • Jennifer Senior writes provocatively for New York magazine. Her new book is called "All the Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood." • GQ correspondent Brett Martin's book "Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution" features profiles of TV showrunners of the likes of "The Wire," "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad."
Friday, February 7
The Hudson Falcons w/ The P-47s
Brother Andy & His Big Thursday, February 13 Damn Mouth w/ New York City Queens & Roses Valentines Day Hip Hop Friday, February 14 Dance Party w/ Joshua Asante Friday, February 21 John Paul Keith Check out additional shows at whitewatertavern.com
MON Local Brewery Appreciation 4-10pm • $3 Pints: Core, Fossil Cove, Diamond Bear TUE Taco Tuesday 4-10pm • Taco Pizzas • $3 House Margaritas, Mexican Beers, & Cuervo Shots WED Pint Night: 4-10pm • Most Pints: $3 THU Ladies Night 4-10pm • 1/2 Off Select Apps • $3.50 House Wine • $4 Martinis • $2.50 Mich Ultra $3 Shot Specials SAT-SUN Brunch: 11-2pm • Breakfast Pizzas • Bloody Mary Bar • $2 Mimosas • $2 purple haze drafts SUN Mystery Beers 4-10pm • $2.50 Bartenders Choice LUNCH SPECIAL MON-FRI $8.75 • Small 1-2 Top Pizza, Tossed Or Caesar Salad & Soft Drink
BILLY BOB THORNTON will co-star in the "Entourage" feature film that Warner Bros. is making, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The movie's being made because the show was so great in its final years, audiences were clamoring for it, right? Sadly, Thornton's playing a billionaire cowboy film producer looking to bankroll Vinnie Chase's latest project and not himself. More exciting: Thornton stars in FX's mini-series "Fargo," inspired by the Coen brothers' movie of the same name. Martin Freeman ("Sherlock," "The Hobbit") and Colin Hanks co-star. The show debuts April 15. www.arktimes.com
8:30 p.m. Vino's $6.
You've got to figure that a band from frozen-ass Winnipeg is just gonna be way gnarlier and tougher than a band from some sun-kissed tropical clime where people wear tank tops and flip-flops year-round. And it probably doesn't even matter which genre you're talking about. A zydeco band from Anchorage is gonna be tougher than one from San Diego. This is doubly true for noisy metal bands, thus the Canadian maulers in KEN Mode are already two steps ahead of the competition. Lots of bands have been grinding out hybrids of hardcore and metal for
years now (Rorschach's "Remain Sedate" and Citizens Arrest's "Colossus" came out 23 years ago!) But KEN Mode brings a particularly deranged intensity to the hardcore/metal table. There's a real misanthropic Unsane/AmRep Records vibe, particularly on the band's new record, "Entrench." The following song names might shed some light on this band's worldview. "Your Heartwarming Story Makes Me Sick," "Secret Vasectomy," "The Terror Pulse," "No; I'm in Control" and "Why Don't You Just Quit?" are just some of the choice titles. Also performing: Virginian blackened doom horde Inter Arma and local heavy post-rock cosmonauts Mainland Divide.
THE BOB: Bob Schneider performs at Juanita's Thursday night.
9 p.m. Juanita's. $15.
If you've got a yen for contemporary funky/bluesy/rootsy pop singer/songwriters such as Ben Harper, Josh Ritter, Jack Johnson and the like and you have never listened to Austin, Texas, mainstay Bob Schneider, you'll wanna go ahead and get yourself down to Juanita's Thursday. Schneider's latest long-player, "Burden of Proof," is a bit more somber than some of its predecessors. It's a mostly unhurried, largely acoustic affair, with a string quartet filling out much of the space with a yearning sort of vibe. It sounds like he's been digging on some
NORTHERN SOUND: KEN Mode plays at Vino's Thursday.
Leonard Cohen lately, especially on the opener "Digging for Icicles." Schneiderphiles will find much of the subject matter familiar, with themes of heartbreak, loss, sadness, the ephemerality of existence and redemption in the face of these bummers. But there's not much in the way of the humor that's come through in Schneider's work before — there's nothing like the hilarious "Hangin' out with the Horny Girls" or "Batman," both featured on his "Live at the Paramount Theatre (Volume 2)" album. He'll perform solo Thursday, with local roots-rocker extraordinaire Jeff Coleman opening.
OK, so we're still a week or so out from the big VD. Valentine's Day is of course the event to which I am referring, and even though we're not quite there yet, it's never too early to start poking fun at this totally made-up and unnecessary "holiday." Who better to lampoon the trappings of the day than
Red Octopus Theater? As is custom with the R.O.T., this show is not intended for younger viewers nor should it be seen by any prudes, squares, wet blankets or sticks-in-the-mud. Some of the themes to be addressed include nerd love, old-married-couple love, swingers love, dating games, cyber dating, PSAs about "sexual prevention" and other worthy targets, er, topics. As usual, no reservations are needed.
tison you to the outermost edges of known existence with churning riffage and a stone-badass rhythm sections. Terminus is also a trio, made up of some young guns from Fayetteville who are scary-proficient on their axes while also crafting some compelling,
prog-informed metal. Jab Jab Suckerpunch is an appropriately named quartet that includes veteran players from such acts as Big Boss Line and The Moving Front. This will be a shot-'n'a-beer kinda night, with a soundtrack that's all killer, no filler.
8 p.m. The Public Theatre. $8-$10.
9 p.m. Maxine's. $5.
You really couldn't ask for a more bitchin' lineup of bruisin' Arkansas music than this lineup right here, 22
which will be going down at the Spa City's finest musical establishment. These three bands were all featured in last year's Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, and each one specializes in a distinct brand of pummeling sound. Mothwind is a power trio that will jet-
THURSDAY 2/6 Naturally, you should all head down to Round 2 of the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase. Which band will take the second round and move on to the finals? Will it be Fox Blossom Venture? John Willis? Dead End Drive? Or Bombay Harambee? Find out at 9 p.m. at Stickyz, $5 21 and older, $10 18-20. Over at The Joint, fiery singer Tawanna Campbell will perform, 9 p.m. At Revolution, a host of performers will pay tribute to Bob Marley on the late artist's 59th birthday. Anthony B, Fire & Brimstone + Solution Band, Tricia Reed and DJ Hy-C provide the soundtrack, 9 p.m., $20. Pulaski Technical College's Big Rock Reading Series brings in poet Jericho Brown, 6 p.m., free.
FRIDAY 2/7 FOLK SINGER: Patty Griffin plays at George's Majestic Lounge Friday night.
9:30 p.m. George's Majestic Lounge, Fayetteville. $20.
Griffin's newest album, last year's "American Kid," is a largely acoustic, spare and utterly beautiful album that was inspired by the discovery that her father's days were numbered. The resulting work is surely among her best. The production is warm and enveloping and the songs
embody numerous country/blues/folk sounds. Griffin's bandmate Robert Plant provides excellent guest vocals on several tracks, which recalls "Raising Sand," the Led Zeppelin frontman's collaborative 2007 smash-hit album with Alison Krauss. "Ohio" is one of these songs and it is gorgeous, with expansive, Fahey-esque opentuned guitar work and a haunting vocal interplay between the two singers. Elsewhere on the album, Griffin's songs are
tastefully filled out with the slide guitar of Luther Dickinson (opener "Go Wherever You Wanna Go"), and she covers a country great of decades earlier (Lefty Frizzell's "Mom & Dad's Waltz"). Griffin is on a tour of college towns, and all the shows are $20 or less. That's a helluva deal for a show of this caliber, but add in opener Anais Mitchell, a highly respected folk artist in her own right, and you've got one of the best shows of the year.
one in the series of acclaimed playwright August Wilson's Century Cycle plays, each of which tackles a particular decade in African-American history. "Joe Turner's Come and Gone" is set in a boarding house in Pittsburgh
in 1911. The play explores the migrations of former slaves from the South to the Northern states in the wake of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The show runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. through Feb. 22.
ern Irish punks The Undertones, as well as by the swagger of Britpop acts like Blur. The band's sound evolved over the years into a sort of power-pop/pop-punk hybrid. Though they haven't released a conventional full-length album since 2007's "Twilight of the Innocents," they've kept quite busy, going to a manic
schedule of releasing a new single every two weeks. These releases were collected on the A-Z Series. On tour with Ash are U.K. alt-rockers Deaf Havana. Opening the show will be Austin outfit The Villas, which features Little Rock native Jonathan Berry, formerly of The Visitors.
7:30 p.m. The Weekend Theater. $12-$16.
For its current production, The Weekend Theater brings to the stage
9 p.m. Juanita's. $10 adv., $12 day of.
The Belfastians in Ash have been at it since the late '80s, plying a trade that was informed in equal part by the nervy pop-punk of some of their forebears, like The Buzzcocks and fellow north-
Big Bad Gina & SJ Tucker headline the Little Rock Love Dance at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 7 p.m., $15. Screamy Christian hardcore troupe Emery plays at Vino's, with The Classic Crime, This Wild Life and Peace Mercutio, 8 p.m., $20. Fans of idiosyncratic artistry and homemade instruments will want to get on over to Stickyz, which hosts "An Evening with That 1 Guy," 11 p.m., $10. "For the Love of Art" is a fundraiser for Art Porter Music Education Inc., Cajun's Wharf, 7 p.m., free but donations are encouraged. White Water Tavern hosts New Jersey roots/punkers The Hudson Falcons, with Little Rock cow-punkers The P-47s opening, 10 p.m. Zin Urban Wine & Beer Bar brings in Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers with guest vocalist Bijoux, 9 p.m., $10-$15. Dance music mavens take note: it's time for Zodiac: Aquarius Edition with Dave Aude, Scotty B, Justin Sane, Ewell, Platinumb and Big Brown, Revolution, 8 p.m., $10 adv., $15-$18 day of.
SATURDAY 2/8 Hip-hop experimenters Mad Conductor come to Vino's, with Futuro Boots and Don't Cry Paula, all-ages, 8 p.m., $7. DJs Brandon Peck, Joel Allenbaugh and Big Brown will soundtrack your late-night shenanigans, with live entertainment from Dominique Sanchez & The Disco Dolls, Discovery Nightclub, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. Livewire rock-'n'-rollers Stephen Neeper & The Wild Hearts play an 18-and-older show at Stickyz with Austin-based Americana outfit Buggaboo opening up, 9 p.m., $5. www.arktimes.com
AFTER DARK All events are in the Greater Little Rock area unless otherwise noted. To place an event in the Arkansas Times calendar, please e-mail the listing and all pertinent information, including date, time, location, price and contact information, to email@example.com.
7th Annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash. With Anthony B, Fire & Brimstone + Solution Band, Tricia Reed, DJ Hy-C. Revolution, 9 p.m., $20. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com. Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase Round 2. 18-and-older, with Fox Blossom Venture, John Willis, Dead End Drive, Bombay Harambee. Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5-$10. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyz.com. Ben Coulter. The Tavern Sports Grill, 7 p.m., free. 17815 Chenal Parkway. 501-830-2100. www.thetavernsportsgrill.com. Bob Schneider, Jeff Coleman. Juanita's, 9 p.m., $15. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. "Inferno." DJs play pop, electro, house and more, plus drink specials and $1 cover before 11 p.m. Sway, 9 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams' Steak Room, through Feb. 27: 7 p.m.; Feb. 14, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Karaoke and line dancing lessons. W.T. Bubba's Country Tavern, first Thursday of every month, 9 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-244-2528. Ken Mode, Inter Arma, Mainland Divide. Vino's, 8:30 p.m., $6. Vino's, 8:30 p.m., $6. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. Krush Thursdays with DJ Kavaleer. Club Climax, free before 11 p.m. 824 W. Capitol. 501-554-3437. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Michael Eubanks. Newk's Express Cafe, 6:30 p.m. 4317 Warden Road, NLR. 501-753-8559. newks.com. Open jam with The Port Arthur Band. Parrot Beach Cafe, 9 p.m. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994. Quapaw Quartet. Capital Hotel, 5 p.m. 111 W. Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com. RockUsaurus. Senor Tequila, 7-9 p.m. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-224-5505. www. senor-tequila.com. Tawanna Campbell. The Joint, 9 p.m. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG.
Rajun Cajun. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m.; through Feb. 8, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com. Red Octopus Theater: "Trysts and Turns!" Sketch comedy recommended for mature audiences. The Public Theatre, 8 p.m., $8-$10. 616 Center St. 501-374-7529. www.thepublictheatre.com.
NYC TRIO: The Kin will perform at Juanita's Sunday night, with Finish Ticket and Oh Honey, 6:30 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of.
Brett Hughes. Presentation from the co-founder of "Lacrosse the Nation." Clinton School of Public Service, 6 p.m., free. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool. uasys.edu. Crossroads of Conversation: Carroll Cloar. Arkansas Arts Center, 6 p.m. 501 E. 9th St. 501372-4000. www.arkarts.com. Hillcrest Shop & Sip. Shops and restaurants offer discounts, later hours, and live music. Hillcrest, first Thursday of every month, 5 p.m. P.O.Box 251522. 501-666-3600. www.hillcrestmerchants. com.
Big Rock Reading Series: Jericho Brown. Pulaski Technical College, 6 p.m., free. 3000 W. Scenic Drive, NLR.
Horse racing. Oaklawn, through April 11: 1 p.m., $2.50-$4.50. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501623-4411. www.oaklawn.com.
Big Bad Gina & SJ Tucker — Little Rock Love
Dance. Unitarian Universalist Church, $15. 1818 Reservoir Road. 501-225-1503. Black River Pearl. Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $5. 1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com. Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. Dance night, with DJs, drink specials and bar menu, until 2 a.m. 1620 Savoy, 10 p.m. 1620 Market St. 501-2211620. www.1620savoy.com. DJ Skywalker. Deep Ultra Lounge. 322 President Clinton Ave. Emery, The Classic Crime, This Wild Life, Peace Mercutio. Vino's, 8 p.m., $20. 923 W. 7th St. 501375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. "An Evening with That 1 Guy." 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 11 p.m., $10. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyz.com. "For the Love of Art." Fundraiser for Art Porter Music Education Inc. Cajun's Wharf, 7 p.m., free, donations encouraged. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Honey Bunches. Prost. 322 President Clinton Blvd. 501-244-9550. The Hudson Falcons, The P-47s. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.
Mothwind, Terminus, Jab Jab Suckerpunch. Maxine's, 9 p.m., $5. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com. Patty Griffin, Anais Mitchell. George's Majestic Lounge, 9:30 p.m., $20. 519 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-442-4226. Rocktown Rap showcase. Featured artist: Rich and Paid Ent. Quarternote Nightclub, 9 p.m., $5 after 10 p.m. 4726 Asher Ave. Rodge Arnold. The Tavern Sports Grill, 8:30 p.m., free. 17815 Chenal Parkway. 501-830-2100. www. thetavernsportsgrill.com. Rodney Block & The Real Music Lovers with Bijoux. Zin Urban Wine & Beer Bar, 9 p.m., $10$15. 300 River Market Ave. 501-246-4876. www. zinlr.com. Splendid Chaos. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, Feb. 7-8, 10 p.m., $5. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www.westendsmokehouse.net. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. Thomas East. Sonny Williams' Steak Room, Feb. 7, 7 p.m.; Feb. 8, 7 p.m.; Feb. 28, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Zodiac: Aquarius Edition with Dave Aude. With Scotty B, Justin Sane, Ewell, Platinumb and Big Brown. Revolution, 8 p.m., $10 adv., $15-$18 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.
Rajun Cajun. The Loony Bin, through Feb. 8, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com. Red Octopus Theater: "Trysts and Turns!" Sketch comedy recommended for mature audiences. The Public Theatre, through Feb. 8, 8 p.m., $8-$10. 616 Center St. 501-374-7529. www.thepublictheatre.com. "Winter Sucks." Original sketch comedy by The Main Thing. Call to make reservations. The Joint, 8 p.m., $20. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-3720205. thejointinlittlerock.com.
Ballroom Dancing. Free lessons begin at 7 p.m. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 8-11 p.m., $7-$13. 12th & Cleveland streets. 501-2217568. www.blsdance.org. Salsa Night. Begins with a one-hour salsa lesson. Juanita's, 9 p.m., $8. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.littlerocksalsa.com.
62nd Annual Home Show. Verizon Arena, Feb. 7, 12 p.m.; Feb. 8, 10 a.m.; Feb. 9, 10 a.m., $8. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 501-758-3646. verizonarena.com. David Beckwith. The principal consultant with Great Lakes Institute presents "Community Philanthropy and Public Service: Models in Giving, Civic Engagement and Leadership." Clinton School of Public Service, 12 p.m., free, donations encouraged. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys. edu. LGBTQ/SGL Youth and Young Adult Group. Diverse Youth for Social Change is a group for LGBTQ/SGL and straight ally youth and young adults age 14 to 23. For more information, call 244-9690 or search "DYSC" on Facebook. 800 Scott St., 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St. Living History with Dr. Gwendolyn Twillie.
If you're not HERE, we're having more fun than you are! Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 10 a.m. 501 W. 9th St. 501-683-3592. www.mosaictemplarscenter.com.
Feed Your Mind Fridays. Screening of "Motherwell & the New York School: Storming the Citadel." Arkansas Arts Center, 12 p.m. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com.
Horse racing. Oaklawn, through April 11: 1 p.m., $2.50-$4.50. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501623-4411. www.oaklawn.com.
Ash, Deaf Havana, The Villas. Juanita's, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Ben Byers. The Tavern Sports Grill, 8:30 p.m., free. 17815 Chenal Parkway. 501-830-2100. www. thetavernsportsgrill.com. Club Nights at 1620 Savoy. See Feb. 7. DJ B-Box. Deep Ultra Lounge. 322 President Clinton Ave. DJs Brandon Peck, Joel Allenbaugh, Big Brown. With Dominique Sanchez & The Disco Dolls. Discovery Nightclub, 9 p.m.-5 a.m. 1021 Jessie Road. 501-664-4784. www.latenightdisco.com. Freeworld. Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $5. 1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com. Karaoke at Khalil's. Khalil's Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Karaoke. Casa Mexicana, 7 p.m. 6929 JFK Blvd., NLR. 501-835-7876. Karaoke with Kevin & Cara. All-ages, on the restaurant side. Revolution, 9 p.m.-12:45 a.m., free. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com. K.I.S.S. Saturdays. Featuring DJ Silky Slim. Dress code enforced. Sway, 10 p.m. 412 Louisiana. 501-492-9802. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Mad Conductor, Futuro Boots, Don't Cry Paula. All-ages. Vino's, 8 p.m., $7. 923 W. 7th St. 501375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. Nick & Brian. Prost. 322 President Clinton Blvd. 501-244-9550. The P-47s, Barnyard Stompers. Reno's Argenta Cafe, 9 p.m. 312 N. Main St., NLR. 501-376-2900. www.renosargentacafe.com. Pickin' Porch. Bring your instrument. All ages welcome. Faulkner County Library, 9:30 a.m. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org. Singer/Songwriters Showcase. Parrot Beach Cafe, 2-7 p.m., free. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994. Splendid Chaos. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m., $5. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-2247665. www.westendsmokehouse.net. Stephen Neeper & The Wild Hearts, Buggaboo. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG. Texas Hippie Coalition. 18-and-older. Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $12 adv., $15 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.
Thomas East. Sonny Williams' Steak Room, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.; Feb. 28, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.
Rajun Cajun. The Loony Bin, 7:30 and 10 p.m., $7-$10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com. Red Octopus Theater: "Trysts and Turns!" Sketch comedy recommended for mature audiences. The Public Theatre, 8 p.m., $8-$10. 616 Center St. 501-374-7529. www.thepublictheatre.com. "Winter Sucks." See Feb. 7.
Little Rock West Coast Dance Club. Dance lessons. Singles welcome. Ernie Biggs, 7 p.m., $2. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-247-5240. www. arstreetswing.com.
62nd Annual Home Show. Verizon Arena, Feb. 8, 10 a.m.; Feb. 9, 10 a.m., $8. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 501-758-3646. verizonarena.com. Chocolate Fantasy Ball. Benefit for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas. Little Rock Marriott, 6 p.m., $250. 3 Statehouse Plaza. 501-374-3318. www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ litpb-little-rock-marriott. Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell & Cedar Hill Roads. Hillcrest Farmers Market. Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. 2200 Kavanaugh Blvd. Historic Neighborhoods Tour. Bike tour of historic neighborhoods includes bike, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby's Bike Hike, 9 a.m., $8-$28. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001. Insure Affordable Care. Get free help enrolling in the Arkansas Health Insurance Marketplace. Laman Library, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., free. 2801 Orange St., NLR. 501-758-1720. www.lamanlibrary.org. Paint the Mall Red. Includes free health screenings and more. McCain Mall Shopping Center, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 3929 McCain Blvd., NLR. "Pink Goes Red" Fundraiser. Philander Smith College, 10 a.m., $20. 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive. Pork & Bourbon Tour. Bike tour includes bicycle, guide, helmets and maps. Bobby's Bike Hike, 11:30 a.m., $35-$45. 400 President Clinton Ave. 501-613-7001. Tea & Tatting For Beginners Work Shop. Plantation Agriculture Museum, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., $10. 4815 Hwy. 161 S., Scott. 961-1409. www. arkansasstateparks.com/plantationagriculturemuseum.
Horse racing. Oaklawn, through April 11: 1 p.m., $2.50-$4.50. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501623-4411. www.oaklawn.com.
Karaoke. Shorty Small's, 6-9 p.m. 1475 Hogan Lane, Conway. 501-764-0604. www.shortysmalls.com. Karaoke with DJ Sara. Hardrider Bar & Grill, 7 p.m., free. 6613 John Harden Drive, Cabot. 501-982-1939 . The Kin, Finish Ticket, Oh Honey. Juanita's, 6:30 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. 614 President Clinton
Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Michael Eubanks. Lone Star Steakhouse and Saloon, 7 p.m. 10901 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-227-8898. www.lonestarsteakhouse.com.
There's still time, GET HERE!
62nd Annual Home Show. Verizon Arena, 10 a.m., $8. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 501-758-3646. verizonarena.com. "Live from the Back Room." Spoken word event. Vino's, 7 p.m. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www. vinosbrewpub.com.
Horse racing. Oaklawn, through April 11: 1 p.m., $2.50-$4.50. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501623-4411. www.oaklawn.com.
Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.
Downtown Tip Off Club: Dave Van Horn. Wyndham Riverfront Hotel, 11:15 a.m.-1 p.m., $15-$20. 2 Riverfront Place, NLR. 501-371-9000. www.wyndham.com.
A Chicago style Speakeasy & Dueling Piano Bar. This is THE premier place to party in Little Rock. "Dueling Pianos" runs seven days a week. Dance & Club music upstairs on Wed, Fri & Sat. Drink specials and more! Do it BIGG! Open 7 Days A Week • 8pm-2am Shows Start at 8:30pm
Located in the Heart of the River Market District 307 President Clinton Avenue 501.372.4782 www.erniebiggs.com
Finding Family Facts. Rhonda Stewart's genealogy research class for beginners. Arkansas Studies Institute, second Monday of every month, 3:30 p.m. 401 President Clinton Ave. 501-320-5700. www.butlercenter.org.
Book Our Party Room Today!
Irish Traditional Music Sessions. Hibernia Irish Tavern, second and fourth Tuesday of every month, 7-9 p.m. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams' Steak Room, through Feb. 27: 7 p.m.; Feb. 14, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Karaoke Tuesday. Prost, 8 p.m., free. 322 President Clinton Blvd. 501-244-9550. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Lucious Spiller Band. Copeland's Restaurant of Little Rock, 6-9 p.m. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. 501-312-1616. www.copelandsrestaurantlittlerock.com. Moot Davis. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Music Jam. Hosted by Elliott Griffen and Joseph Fuller. The Joint, 8-11 p.m., free. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com. Vadym Kholodenko. Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 7:30 p.m., $10-$40. 350 S. Donaghey, Conway. CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
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Nut Ragous. The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m., $10. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com.
"Latin Night." Revolution, 7:30 p.m., $5 regular, $7 under 21. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501823-0090. www.littlerocksalsa.com.
Little Rock Green Drinks. Informal networking session for people who work in the environmental field. Ciao Baci, 5:30-7 p.m. 605 N. Beechwood St. 501-603-0238. www.greendrinks. org. New Belgium Beer Tasting. The Joint, 7 p.m., $10. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. The Office of the Governor Celebrates Arkansas's Black History Month. With keynote speaker Gov. Mike Beebe and others. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 10 a.m. 501 W. 9th St. 501-376-4602. www.mosaictemplarscenter.com. Tales from the South. Authors tell true stories; schedule available on website. Dinner served 5-6:30 p.m., show at 7 p.m. Call for reservations. Starving Artist Cafe, 5 p.m. 411 N. Main St., NLR. 501-372-7976. www.starvingartistcafe.net. Trivia Bowl. Flying Saucer, 8:30 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-8032. www.beerknurd. com/stores/littlerock.
"Generosity Network" philanthropist Jeffrey Walker. Clinton School of Public Service, 6 p.m., free. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.
Rocktown Slam. Sign up at the door to perform in the competition. Arkansas Arts Center, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., $5-$10. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com. Wednesday Night Poetry. 21-and-older show. Maxine's, 7 p.m., free. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-321-0909. maxineslive.com/shows. html.
Auditions for "The Bridegroom of Blowing Rock." Audition consists of cold readings from the script. Old State House Museum, 2-4 p.m. 500 Clinton Ave. 501-324-9685. www.oldstatehouse.com. Auditions for "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "A Strange and Separate People." Auditions will consist of reading from the script. The Weekend Theater, Sat., Feb. 8, 10 a.m.; Sun., Feb. 9, 7 p.m. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. www.weekendtheater.org. "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type." Arkansas Arts Center, through Feb. 9: Fri., 7 p.m.; Sat., Sun., 2 p.m., $13. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com. WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12 "Clybourne Park." The winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, "Clybourne Park" examines the intersection of race and real Acoustic Open Mic. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 estate with biting humor and sharp social comp.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. mentary. Contains adult language. Arkansas www.afterthoughtbar.com. Repertory Theatre, through Feb. 9: Fri., Sat., 8 America's Art Form Series: "Fusion, p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.; Wed., Thu., Sun., 7 p.m., $35. Incorporating Elements of Different Cultures 601 Main St. 501-378-0405. www.therep.org. and Musical Traditions." Garland County "I Love Lucy Live on Stage." Adaptation of the Library, 6 p.m., free. 1427 Malvern Ave., Hot classic sitcom "I Love Lucy." Walton Arts Center, Springs. through Feb. 6, 7 p.m.; through Feb. 8, 8 p.m.; Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams' Steak Room, through Feb. 9, 2 p.m., $29-$59. 495 W. Dickson through Feb. 27: 7 p.m.; Feb. 14, 7 p.m. 500 St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600. President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.son"Joe Turner's Come and Gone." The Weekend nywilliamssteakroom.com. Theater, through Feb. 22: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m., Karaoke at Khalil's. Khalil's Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. $12-$16. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. www. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilweekendtheater.org. spub.com. "Mama Won't Fly." Comedy in which a woman Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. must transport her mother from Alabama to Ernie Biggs. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. litCalifornia in time for her brother's wedding, Heavy Hors D'oeuvres tlerock.erniebiggs.com. but her mother refuses to fly. Murry's Dinner Local Live: Good Time Ramblers. South on Playhouse, through Feb. 8: Tue.-Sat., 6 p.m., libations Main, 7:30 p.m., free. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. Quality $15-$35. 6323 Col. Glenn Road. 501-562-3131. https://www.facebook.com/SouthonMainLR. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com. Open Mic Nite with Deuce. Thirstone-on-one n' Howl, 7:30 "SteelConvo Magnolias." Pocket Community Theater, WitH tHe artist p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. through Feb. 16: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 www.thirst-n-howl.com. p.m., $5-$10. 170 Ravine St., Hot Springs. live PerformanCe from tHe funk a nites Tauk. 18-and-older. Stickyz Rock 'n' Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $3. 107 Commerce St. 501-372GALLERIES, MUSEUMS *Pro tiP 7707. www.stickyz.com. $3 off WitH event Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., PassWorD be revealeD free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capiARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthurto Park: soCial meDia talhotel.com/CBG. "Crossroads of Conversation: Carrollvia Cloar," panel discussion with Richard Gruber, David Lusk and Patty Bladon, moderated by Stanton The Joint Venture. Improv comedy group. The Thomas, 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. lecture Feb. theasartdepartment.com Joint, 8 p.m., $7. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 5016, $10 non-members, reserve at 372-4000; "Ties 372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com. that Bind: Southern Art from the Collection," atrium, through April 27; "Earthly Delights: Modern and Contemporary Highlights from thea foundatio Little Rock Bop Club. Beginning dance lessons the Collection," through April 20, Strauss and for ages 10 and older. Singles welcome. Bess Smith galleries. 372-4000. Chisum Stephens Community Center, 7 p.m., $4 ART GROUP MAUMELLE, Pleasant Ridge Town for members, $7 for guests. 12th & Cleveland Center, suite 910: Open house, 4-8 p.m. Feb. @theasta streets. 501-350-4712. www.littlerockbopclub. 7, with work by Ron Almond, Loren Bartnicke, Matt Coburn, Louise Harris, Debby Hinson,
Emily Wood sPecifically Universal Friday, February 7 6:30 To 9PM $10*
A Young ProfessionAl series Presented by
AFTER DARK, CONT. Marsha Hinson, Mickie Jackson, Sheree King, Jeff McKay, Michelle Moore, Ned Perme, Ann Presley, Diana Shearon, Bob Snider, Holly Tilley and Marie Weaver. LOCAL COLOUR GALLERY, 5811 Kavanaugh Blvd.: "Red Wine and Chocolate" Valentine's Day Show, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 14; work by artists collective. 265-0422. MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER, 501 W. 9th St.: "Living History with Dr. Gwendolyn Twillie," 10-11:30 a.m. Feb. 7; "Repurposed Wonders: The Sculpture of Danny Campbell," reception 5:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 13; with permanent and changing exhibits on black entrepreneurship in Arkansas. 683-3593. THEA FOUNDATION, 401 Main St., NLR: "Specifically Universal," paintings by Emily Wood as part of "TheArtDepartment" series of work by young artists, reception with performance by Funkanites, 6:30-9 p.m. Feb. 7, $10. 379-9512. STEPHANO'S, 1813 N. Grant St.: Opening reception for exhibition of paintings by Mike Gaines and Morgan Coven, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Feb. 7, show through March 7. 563-4218. HOT SPRINGS ARTISTS WORKSHOP GALLERY, 610 A Central Ave.: Work by Pati Trippel and John Keller, through February, open 5-9 p.m. Feb. 7, Gallery Walk. 501-623-6401 BLUE MOON GALLERY, 718 Central Ave.: "My Watercolor Images," work by Kay Aclin, opens with reception 5-9 p.m. Feb. 7, Gallery Walk. 501-318-2787. GALLERY CENTRAL, 800 Central Ave.: Work by Houston Llew, Amy Hill-Imler, Gloria Garrison, James Hayes and others. Open 5-9 p.m. Feb. 7, Gallery Walk. 501-318-4278.
Plein Air on the White River 2014, to be held April 30-May 3, is accepting entries from artists to show work at the Vada Sheid Community Center at Mountain Home and to compete in the Quick Draw competition at the "Art, Music and Barbecue" in Cotter dinner May 2. Landscape artist Bruce Peil will be judge. Artists registration will be April 30 thru May 2nd. Pre-registration of artists is encouraged. For more information go to White River Artists on Facebook, email email@example.com or call 870-424-1051.
ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: "Face to Face: Artists' Self-Portraits from the Collection of Jackye and Curtis Finch Jr.," through Feb. 9; "Mark Rothko in the 1940s: The Decisive Decade," Winthrop Rockefeller Gallery, show through Feb. 9; "Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge," Jeannette Rockefeller Gallery, through Feb. 9; "The People There: Paintings by Emily Moll Wood," through Feb. 23. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000. ART GROUP GALLERY, Pleasant Ridge Town Center: "Holiday Art Sale," work by Ron Almond, Matt Coburn, Louise Harris, Ned Perme, Ann Presley, Vickie HendrixSiebenmorgen and Holly Tilley. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-6 p.m. Sun. 690-2193. BOSWELL-MOUROT, 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings by Dennis McCann, sculpture by Michael Warrick, gouache by Astrid Sohn, oils by Ron McGehee. 664-0030. BUTLER CENTER GALLERIES, Arkansas
Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: "Unusual Portraits: New Works by Michael Warrick and David O'Brien," through March 22; "Reflections in Pastel," through Feb. 22, main gallery; "Native Arkansas," early Arkansas through the writings of early explorers and Native American artifacts, including Mississippian period, Caddoan and Carden Bottoms objects, Concordia Hall, through Feb. 22. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5790. CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: "Music, Myth & The Hard Travelin' Man," linoleum cut prints by Neal Harrington, through March 1. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 224-1335. CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 509 Scott St.: Work by Scotty Shively, Herb and Patty Monoson, Glenda Josephson, Dr. L.P. Fraiser, Dee Schulten, Judy Johnson, Susie Henley and Maka Parnell, through March. CHROMA GALLERY, 5707 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Work by Robert Reep and other Arkansas artists. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 664-0880. COX CREATIVE CENTER, 120 River Market Ave.: "Equinox," works by artists published in UALR's journal of literature and art. 9183093. THE EDGE, 301B President Clinton Ave.: Paintings by Avila (Fernando Gomez), Eric Freeman, James Hayes, Jerry Colburn, St. Joseph Thomason and Stephen Drive. 9921099. ELLEN GOLDEN ANTIQUES, 5701 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings by Barry Thomas and Arden Boyce. 664-7746. GALLERY 221 & ART STUDIOS 221, Pyramid Place: Artists cooperative, plus gallery of work by Gino Hollander. 801-0211. GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: "Finishing Touches," recent works by Erin Lorenzen, through March 8. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 664-8996. GINO HOLLANDER GALLERY, 2nd and Center: Paintings and works on paper by Gino Hollander. 801-0211. GOOD WEATHER GALLERY, 4400 Edgemere, NLR: Photographs by Trisha Holt. www.goodweathergallery.com GREG THOMPSON FINE ART, 429 Main St., NLR: Work by Southern artists. 664-2787. L&L BECK ART GALLERY, 5705 Kavanaugh Blvd.: "Ducks in Arkansas," paintings by Louis Beck, through February, drawing for free giclee 5:15 p.m. Feb. 22. 660-4006. MUGS CAFE, 515 Main St., NLR: Buddhist paintings by Ruth Pasquine. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK, 2801 S. University Ave.: "Say It With Snap! Motivating Workers by Design, 1923-29," historic posters, through March 16; "Conundrum," recent work by David Clemons, multimedia work, through Feb. 26, Gallery II; "Scholarship Exhibition," through Feb. 14, Gallery III. 569-3182.
A Young ProfessionAl series Presented by
BATESVILLE LYON COLLEGE, 2300 Highland Road: "See the Sound," work by Emily Wood, through Feb. 21, Kresge Gallery. 870-307-7000. BENTON DIANNE ROBERTS ART STUDIO AND GALLERY, 110 N. Market St.: Work by Chad Oppenhuizen, Dan McRaven, Gretchen Hendricks, Rachel Carroccio, Kenny Roberts, Taylor Bellott, Jim Cooper and Sue Moore. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 860-7467.
Emily Wood sPecifically Universal Friday, February 7 6:30 To 9PM $10* Heavy Hors D'oeuvres Quality libations one-on-one Convo WitH tHe artist live PerformanCe from tHe funk a nites *Pro tiP: $3 off WitH event PassWorD to be revealeD via soCial meDia
thea foundation
CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 www.arktimes.com
AFTER DARK, CONT. BENTONVILLE C RY S TA L B R I D G E S M U S E U M O F AMERICAN ART, One Museum Way: "Born of Fire: Ceramic Art in Regional Collections," works on loan from the Arkansas Arts Center, the Springfield Art Museum and the Sequoyah National Research Center, through March 2; "At First Sight," watercolors from the personal collection of museum founder Alice Walton, through April 21; "Edward Hopper: Journey to Blackwell's Island," preliminary sketches on loan from the Whitney Museum of American Art, the finished painting and other watercolors by Hopper, through April 21; permanent collection of American masterworks spanning four centuries. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon., Thu.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wed., Fri.; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.Sun. 479-418-5700.
WINNER of both thE pulItzER pRIzE a N d t o N Y aW a R d f o R " b E S t p l aY " "Clybourne Park is riveting, powerful, expertly presented and definitely worth a trip to the Rep, where excellence is definitely the norm." — Arkansas Times
CONWAY UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS: "Deb Schwedhelm: Whispers from the Sea," black and white photographs; "Kristen Kindler: Cut Paper Sculpture"; "Drawing Blood and Guts: The Best of Contemporary Medical Illustration," top U.S. medical illustrators selected by Alexandra Baker; "A Place for All Bad Memories," interactive art installation inspired by Miranda July's website "Learning to Love You More," Baum Gallery, all through Feb. 20.
"…carefully crafted with enough heart-felt emotion to make you sad, enough funny bits to keep you laughing and enough thoughtprovoking dialogue to make you think." — InArkansas.com, "Rep Presents Stellar Cast, Fascinating Story in 'Clybourne Park'"
EL DORADO SOUTH ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, 110 E. 5th St.: "Arts in the Hearts for Decades," retrospective of Artists in Education projects, through Feb. 7, Merkle, Price and Lobby galleries. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 870-862-5474.
Co ntai ns ad ult la ng ua ge
FAYETTEVILLE BOTTLE ROCKET GALLERY, 1495 Finger Road: "Makeshift Theatre," photographs by Logan Rollins. 479-466-7406. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: "Wisdom of the Ages Athenaeum," rare books from Remnant Trust, including a cuneiform tablet (2200 B.C.) to the first printing of the Emancipation Proclamation (1862), Mullins Library, through May 12. 479-575-4104.
CloSING thIS SuNdaY tickets at therep.org or (501) 378-0405 aRKansas RePeRtoRY t H e at R e
Clybourne Park is made possible in part by a grant from the arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation, a component fund of the arkansas Community Foundation.
pICtuREd : Shaleah adkisson, leeanne hutchison, lawrence Evans, Jason o'Connell 28
CALICO ROCK CALICO ROCK ARTISTS COOPERATIVE, Hwy. 5 at White River Bridge: Paintings, photographs, jewelry, fiber art, wood, ceramics and other crafts. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. calicorocket.org/artists.
HARRISON ARTISTS OF THE OZARKS, 124 ½ N. Willow St.: Work by Amelia Renkel, Ann Graffy, Christy Dillard, Helen McAllister, Sandy Williams and D. Savannah George. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thu.-Sat., noon-4 p.m. Sun. 870-429-1683. PERRYVILLE SUDS GALLERY, Courthouse Square: Paintings by Dottie Morrissey, Alma Gipson, Al Garrett Jr., Phyllis Loftin, Alene Otts, Mauretta Frantz, Raylene Finkbeiner, Kathy Williams and Evelyn Garrett. Noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri, noon-4 p.m. Sat. 501-766-7584. PINE BLUFF ARTS AND SCIENCE CENTER FOR SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS, 701 Main St.: CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
MOCA moves to Paragould
Contemporary Art museum lost money in Hot Springs. BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK
he permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Hot Springs, which closed last October for financial reasons, was transported to Paragould last week by Dr. John G. Bibb, who hopes to create a museum there. MOCA board member Richard Gipe of Hot Springs Village, who Bibb asked to handle interviews, said the museum was unable to "break even" in its home in the former Ozark bathhouse on Central Avenue. The Ozark is owned by the National Park Service, which has new, but as yet undisclosed, plans for its use, Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez said. If the museum couldn't make it in Hot Springs, which has a population of 35,478 (2013), a gallery row along Central and notable tourism dollars thanks to Oaklawn Race Track and its proximity to Lakes Hamilton and Catherine, will it make it in Paragould (population 27,016 in 2013)? If it can hold down expenses, yes, said Gipe. MOCA had $40,000 plus benefits in labor costs per year, and rent of $2,000 a month, Gipe said. "Utilities were huge" as well he said, since the Ozark is 14,000 square feet. Total revenue — including a $5 admission fee and special event income — was around $125,000 a year, but expenses were around $150,000, Gipe said. He said "different people stepped up big-time" to cover the deficit to keep the non-profit museum open. "At the end of the day, the community here in Hot Springs did not support MOCA to a level that it was sustainable," Gipe said. "Leaders in the Paragould, Arkansas, community have seen the value of having a museum located there." The museum's holdings include photographs by Disfarmer, paintings by Abrishami Hessam and Max Gold, and oil silkscreens by Andy Warhol protege Steve Kaufman. Two weeks ago, Leslie Gonzalez, a publicist for Kaufman dealer American Pop Art Inc., contacted the Arkansas Times seeking information on the location of MOCA's holdings, saying that the museum's nine Kaufman works had been on loan. Gipe, however, disputed that,
ROOM RATES FROM DISFARMER: MOCA holdings off to east Arkansas.
saying they were a gift he'd received from Kaufman's own hands, just days before the artist died four years ago, in February 2010. He said Sunday he had spoken to Diane Vachier, with the Kaufman estate, and that "I think that issue is dead as far as I know." Gonzales said in an email that she and Vachier have asked for an update in two weeks to ease their concerns over the safety of the art. Gipe valued the museum's art holdings at $300,000 to $400,000. The museum is getting a state general improvement fund grant of $20,000 to pay off MOCA's debt and cover insurance, state Rep. Mary Broadway (D-Paragould) said Monday. She described Paragould's downtown as a "growing arts and entertainment district." She noted that Paragould is only 20 minutes from Jonesboro and that the Hemingway Museum in Piggott and the home of Johnny Cash in Dyess are nearby tourist destinations. Bibb, a chiropractor, initially was interested in transforming a silo in Paragould into a museum, but that idea didn't pan out. He said Monday that he is in talks with ASU Paragould as a partner in the organization, and hopes to open the museum in a building downtown, where he and his wife have opened a small children's museum, "Just Pretend and Play." Bibb is storing the MOCA art and equipment there. In an interview several months ago, Bibb described himself as an art lover who did not want to see the museum close and wanted to "continue [MOCA'S] legacy. … Art stimulates the brain. It makes you think outside the box. You get different ideas and make different connections." A new board will take over the organization, but Gipe and Tia Cadow, a patron of the museum, will remain as members.
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AFTER DARK, CONT. "Glazed with Fire," ceramics by Joe Bruhin, through Feb. 24. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 1-4 p.m. Sat. 870-536-3375.
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ARKANSAS INLAND MARITIME MUSEUM, North Little Rock: 371-8320. ARKANSAS SPORTS HALL OF FAME MUSEUM, Verizon Arena, NLR: 10 a.m.4:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 663-4328. CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSEUM VISITOR CENTER, Bates and Park: Exhibits on the 1957 desegregation of Central and the civil rights movement. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. 374-1957. CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: "Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America," from the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., through April 27; permanent exhibits on the Clinton administration. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $7 adults; $5 college students, seniors, retired military; $3 ages 6-17. 370-8000. ESSE, 1510 S. Main St.: "What's Inside: A Century of Women and Handbags (19001999)," purses from the collection of Anita Davis, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Sun., $10-$8. 916-9022. HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. 3rd St.: "Chasing the Light," photography of Brian Chilson, through March 10; "A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America," through June 22; "Dream and Imagery Entailed: Kerrick Hartman and LaToya Hobbs," sculpture and printmaking, through Feb. 9; "Arkansas Made," ongoing. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9351. MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS M I L I TA R Y H I S T O R Y , M a c A r t h u r Park: "American Posters of World War I"; permanent exhibits. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun. 376-4602. MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY, 500 President Clinton Ave.: "Wiggle Worms," science program for pre-K children 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. every Tue., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun., $10 ages 13 and older, $8 ages 1-12, free to members and children under 1. 396-7050. OLD STATE HOUSE MUSEUM, 300 W. Markham: "Lights! Camera! Arkansas!", the state's ties to Hollywood, including costumes, scripts, film footage, photographs and more, through March 1, 2015; "Things You Need to Hear: Memories of Growing up in Arkansas from 1890 to 1980," oral histories about community, family, work, school and leisure, through March 2014. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685. WITT STEPHENS JR. CENTRAL ARKANSAS NATURE CENTER, Riverfront Park: Exhibits on wildlife and the state Game and Fish Commission. CALICO ROCK CALICO ROCK MUSEUM, Main Street: Displays on Native American cultures, steamboats, the railroad, and local history. www.calicorockmuseum.com. ENGLAND TOLTEC MOUNDS STATE PARK, State Hwy. 165: Major prehistoric Indian site with visitors' center and museum. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.Sat., noon-5 p.m. Sun., closed Mon. $3 for adults, $2 for ages 6-12. 961-9442.
FAYETTEVILLE THE DEPOT, 548 W Dickson St.: "Everything That Hasn't Happened Yet," collages by Vince Griffin, opens with reception 7 p.m. Feb. 6 unless inclement weather cancels, show through March 2. 479-443-9900. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: "Recent Works," sculpture and shadowbox art by Bryan Winfred Massey Sr., Mullins Library, through March. WALTON ARTS CENTER, 495 W. Dickson: "Divide Light: Operatic Performance Costumes of Lesley Dill," through April 13, with reception 5-7 p.m. March 6. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., noon-4 p.m. Sat. 479-4435600. FORT SMITH REGIONAL ART MUSEUM, 1601 Rogers Ave.: "Valentines: The Art of Romance," 100 cards, postcards and foldouts from the early 19th century to 1930s, through April; "RE: History," 25 two- and three-dimensional works by James Volkert, through Feb. 16. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 479784-2787. JACKSONVILLE JACKSONVILLE MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY, 100 Veterans Circle: Exhibits on D-Day; F-105, Vietnam era plane ("The Thud"); the Civil War Battle of Reed's Bridge, Arkansas Ordnance Plant (AOP) and other military history. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $3 adults; $2 seniors, military; $1 students. 501-241-1943. JONESBORO ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, 320 University Loop West Circle: "Shaping Our World," science exhibit developed by Arkansas Discovery Network, through Feb. 16, 2014. 870-972-2074. MORRILTON MUSEUM OF AUTOMOBILES, Petit Jean Mountain: Permanent exhibit of more than 50 cars from 1904-1967 depicting the evolution of the automobile. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 7 days. 501-727-5427. POTTSVILLE POTTS INN, 25 E. Ash St.: Preserved 1850s stagecoach station on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route, with period furnishings, log structures, hat museum, doll museum, doctor's office, antique farm equipment. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wed.-Sat. $5 adults, $2 students, 5 and under free. 479968-9369. ROGERS ROGERS HISTORICAL MUSEUM, 322 S. Second St.: "Art from the Earth: A Pottery Exhibit," prehistoric, historic and contemporary ceramics, through Feb. 22. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 479- 621-1154. SCOTT PLANTATION AGRICULTURE MUSEUM, U.S. 165 S and Hwy. 161: Artifacts and interactive exhibits on farming in the Arkansas Delta. $3 adults, $2 ages 6-12. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 501-961-1409. SCOTT PLANTATION SETTLEMENT: 1840s log cabin, one-room school house, tenant houses, smokehouse and artifacts on plantation life. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Thu.-Sat. 351-0300. www.scottconnections.org.
'CLYBOURNE PARK': LeeAnne Hutchison, Jason O'Connell, Lawrence Evans and Shaleah Adkisson star in The Rep's production.
'Clybourne Park'
Arkansas Repertory Theatre BY KELLEY BASS
any things about "Clybourne Park" — playing through Sunday, Feb. 9, at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre — will likely make you squirm: the tension on stage as characters dance around the delicate subject of race; the clear proof that not much in the inextricably tied issues of race and real estate have changed in 50 years; the brutally coarse language that blasts like a sawed-off shotgun in an intense "joke off" late in the play; and even the realizations about yourself the play might make you confront. "Clybourne Park" is riveting, powerful, expertly presented and definitely worth a trip to The Rep, where excellence is the norm. That the play that won the Pulitzer for Drama in 2011 and the Tony for Best Play in 2012 is being staged in a city still, sadly, known by many for the racial intolerance that brought the National Guard to Little Rock in 1957 seems notable. But, in fact, the citizens of every city in America have their reasons to be ashamed for bias. It's 1959, and Bev and Russ are packing to move out of their home in Clybourne Park. It takes a while for the first of the play's many plot bombs to drop — the details of why they are fleeing their home. That their willingness to take less than market value for the home, prompting a black couple to purchase it, sends the all-white neighbor-
hood into a disbelieving frenzy, and much of Act One's intense action is tied to conversations — all except straightforward admissions of racism by the combative neighborhood association representative — about all the issues surrounding the pending transactions. Fast forward 50 years later for Act Two. The house in Clybourne Park is now run down. The neighborhood indeed has made the 180-degree flipflop the white neighbors had predicted decades ago. But now the area's proximity to the center of town is making it attractive to whites to return — albeit it with intentions of a tear-down of the graffiti-marred house and the erection of at least a semi McMansion. And the same intense racial tensions simmer before boiling over in verbal assaults that include at least one of the crudest "jokes" you'll ever hear. All characters but one — David Tennal in a late-play cameo as Russ' and Bev's son Kenneth — play two roles, and all perform compellingly. First as the movers' maid Francine and later as Lena, representing the very different 2009 neighborhood association, Shaleah Adkisson is arguably the star of the show, but the performances are uniformly excellent. This small team of actors is composed of proven pros.
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"Clybourne Park" is in its final stretch with a 7 p.m. show Thursday, Feb. 7; 8 p.m. shows Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9, and 2 and 7 p.m. shows Sunday, Feb. 10. Tickets are $35 or $45; get them at www.therep.org or by calling 501-3780405. www.arktimes.com
february 14 GRAND OPENING
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by Tom Fedro
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'THAT AWKWARD MOMENT': Zac Efron stars.
Three men and their ladies 'Awkward Moment' disguises rom-com in dude flick. BY SAM EIFLING
arly in "That Awkward Moment," a new romantic comedy that is hard to completely hate, the three mid-20s male leads vow to remain single together, to play the field before settling down. Mikey (Michael B. Jordan) is a doctor whose soon-tobe ex-wife cuckolded him, and his best graphic-designer friends Daniel (Miles Teller) and Jason (Zac Efron) aim to wingman him out of his doldrums. Their New York single life is an Xbox-andwhiskey version of "Sex and the City," where every bar is stuffed with young single ladies wandering around, only a wry quip away from tumbling into bed. With a solid year of horndoggery and an occasional shot of penicillin, they could no doubt have cut a swath of destruction through SoHo. But trouble arrives almost immediately as they discover they have, like, feelings. Mikey patches things up with his wife — physically, anyway. The wisecracking Daniel starts to see his gal pal (Mackenzie Davis) as something more than a drinking sidekick. And Jason bumbles across a keen budding author named Ellie (Imogen Poots, the best performer in the film) who fully captures his admittedly limited imagination. Gentlemen, be warned: They have smuggled a chick flick into your mancave docudrama. Tom Gormican writes and directs, debuting on both counts, and almost succeeds in splitting this baby. The casual insults (you'll lose count of how many times "idiot" is bandied around) and the casual sex point to a potential frat-house favorite. But behind the attempted machismo this
is, a couple of weeks before Valentine's Day, decidedly a date movie, and for every moment of supposed bro-on-bro humor, the lovesick trio will ultimately fall quite shy of behaving like total jackals. To settle any question of the target audience: You will see no bare lady parts in "That Awkard Moment," but you'll leave with full visual confirmation of Zac Efron's abs and tuchus. In surer hands, this might've been a passable young-love comedy. Instead, it goes soft on us and then shuffles around looking for a way out. The score is relentlessly maudlin, straight out of an afternoon teen soap. The climax is unrepentant schlock that plays like Gormican lost a bet somewhere along the line. But, weirdly, there are some smiles lurking around this brisk 94 minutes. Several, in fact. Efron and Poots have some chemistry. So do Teller and Davis as a couple that never meant to become a couple. (Teller is funny throughout, actually. With such perfectly average looks, you know he must have a brain tucked away.) There's enough charm to the movie's underlying sweetness that it'll sucker you in just a whit. And there's a novelty to watching young men grapple with an honest problem that finds most people at some point: whether to stay with a very good thing or go off in search of something better, knowing that you're bound to find something different, in any case. For all its quick-fix sex, "That Awkward Moment" at least has the sense to recognize that shortterm dating is a certain kind of hell that most sane people abandon at their first reasonable opportunity. www.arktimes.com
Dining WHAT'S COOKIN' MIKE JULIANO, better known as Hot Dog Mike, announced the closure of his River Market storefront Monday on Facebook. "Hot Dog Mike is another failed business," he wrote. "I appreciate those that supported me but unfortunately it wasn't enough." After selling hot dogs from a mobile trailer for several years, Juliano opened the storefront last November after raising nearly $11,000 on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe.com. THE MAIN CHEESE, a grilled cheesecentric restaurant, plans to open later this month at 14524 Cantrell Road. Baby, it's cold outside, which makes its menu (which can be seen at themaincheese.com) look even better: several varieties of gourmet cheese on artisan bread, griddled until golden, plus salads, sandwiches (its take on the Cuban pork sandwich sounds tasty), soups, appetizers and desserts. The menu looks simple and easy to navigate, like a good grilled cheese. Bonus: The storefront will be right next to 10 Fitness, so after downing a goldenbrown slab of butter, bread and Fontina, you can go over and sweat out the guilt. A press release says that the restaurant will feature locally sourced breads and other ingredients, and meats roasted in house. The restaurant is the brainchild of five investors, including Randall Van Den Berghe, who said: "There's not too many food concepts that remind you of being a child, yet go well with wine." The restaurant will host several "soft openings" during February, leading up to the grand opening at the end of the month. Those itchin' to get their grilled cheese on can follow the restaurant on Facebook at facebook.com/themaincheese to keep abreast of when those sneak peeks will happen.
ACADIA A jewel of a restaurant in Hillcrest. Unbelievable fixed-price, three-course dinners on Mondays and Tuesday, but food is certainly worth full price. 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-603-9630. D Mon.-Sat. BIG ORANGE: BURGERS SALADS SHAKES Gourmet burgers manufactured according to exacting specs (humanely raised beef!) and properly fried Kennebec potatoes are the big 34
7811 Cantrell Road 224-9079 littlerockgraffitis.net QUICK BITE While we found ourselves too full for dessert on this visit, we must mention Graffiti's sweet and refreshing Italian ice, a tasty end to any meal with or without the optional splash of vodka. HOURS 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. OTHER INFO Full bar, all major credit cards accepted.
PRIMO PASTA: Fettuccine with Seafood from Graffiti's.
Italian standby Graffiti's still impresses.
t its best, good Italian food is simple, with well-cooked pasta serving as a foundation upon which sauce, spice, and protein can work their magic. For the home cook, this isn't hard to achieve given the small portions used, but when pasta is scaled up to the restaurant level, those simple dishes too often become studies in gummy, overcooked noodles and sauces past their prime. While our recent meal at Graffiti's on Cantrell didn't avoid all the pitfalls that come with serving Italian on a large scale, we left our visit pleased in the understanding that they'd gotten closer to our ideal Italian meal than any place has in some time. We started with some seasoned ciabatta (half order $3.35, full order $6.50), and while the garlic and herb topping was flavorful, the bread was a little more dry than we felt an oily bread like ciabatta should warrant. There's a fine line between good toasted bread and dry toast, and this was unfortunately the latter. As an optional item that cost money, it left much to be desired. Our spirits were immediately raised by the arrival of our second starter, the stuffed mushrooms ($6.45) — four mushroom caps piled high with Italian sausage, red sauce, and toasted mozzarella. These mushrooms were gooey without being slimy, and the
balance of textures made for bite after compelling bite. The first main dish that drew our eye was the Fettuccine with Seafood ($21.95), which was marked as a "Graffiti's specialty." The resulting bowl of pasta was excellent, with firm fettuccine topped by an ocean's worth of tender scallops, sweet shrimp, and flaky white fish. The scallops in particular were a nice surprise, since getting the bivalves cooked well in our land-locked locale is not the norm; these were perfect. The sauce was a thick, creamy affair that clung to the noodles and seafood nicely, but suffered from some slight separation that had us wondering how long the dish might have been hanging around in the window before our server got to it. Overall, though, this was a dish worth the high price tag, and one we certainly hope to try again. Sticking with our pasta theme, we also ordered the Linguine with Escargot (half order $7.40, full order $15) and Spaghetti with Meatballs (half order $6.95, full order $12.95). In both cases, our pasta was firm and just past the point of al dente (which is where we prefer to eat it). The linguine was served with a creamy white wine sauce dotted with snails, and while the sauce was magnificent, the snails themselves were plagued by a slightly bitter aftertaste, something
that points to their being cooked without a proper fasting period to clean them of all their waste. It's a real shame, because in terms of texture and preparation, these were among the best snails we've ever tried. Our classic spaghetti with meatballs suffered from none of the problems we found with the other two pasta dishes. The sauce was a perfect red sauce, dark and rich with just the right amount of bracing herbs to give it some character. The meatballs themselves were heavenly, with a moist-yet-firm texture and spicy-sweet flavor that had us wishing for more than just the four we ordered. A good meatball shouldn't just be a chunk of ground meat; it should have character, and these little nuggets of carawayscented sausage were exactly what we wanted to taste. Our overall experience at Graffiti's was as mixed as our meal. On the one hand, the restaurant dedicates a single person to providing refills, something we wish more places would do, seeing as there's nothing worse than choking down a meal with an empty glass staring you in the face. But our main server seemed somewhat overwhelmed by his section, disappearing for a large part of our meal and skipping us on several rounds (something we observed him doing to other tables, too). The inefficient service perhaps led to some of the sauce separation, which when coupled with the escargot preparation issues made less-than-perfect meal. Still, with the good parts of the experience outweighing the bad, we wouldn't hesitate to head back over to Graffiti's when a pasta craving comes upon us.
Information in our restaurant capsules reflects the opinions of the newspaper staff and its reviewers. The newspaper accepts no advertising or other considerations in exchange for reviews, which are conducted anonymously. We invite the opinions of readers who think we are in error.
draws, but you can get a veggie burger as well as fried chicken, curried falafel and blackened tilapia sandwiches, plus creative meal-sized salads. Shakes and floats are indulgences for all ages. 17809 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-1515. LD daily. 207 N. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-379-8715. LD daily. BLACK ANGUS CAFE Charcoal-grilled burgers, hamburger steaks and steaks proper are the big draws at this local institution. 10907 N. Rodney Parham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-7800. LD Mon.-Sat. BOBBY'S CAFE Delicious, humungo burgers and tasty homemade desserts at this Levy diner. 12230 MacArthur Drive. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-851-7888. BL Tue.-Fri., D Fri. BOSCOS RESTAURANT & BREWERY CO. This River Market brewery does food well, too. Along with the tried and true, like sandwiches, burgers, steaks and big salads, they have entrees like black bean and goat cheese tamales, open hearth pizza ovens and muffalettas. 500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-907-1881. LD daily. BOSTON'S Ribs, gourmet pizza star at this restaurant/sports bar located at the Holiday Inn by the airport. TVs in separate sports bar area. 3201 Bankhead Dr. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-235-2000. LD daily. BOUDREAUX'S GRILL & BAR A homey, seatyourself Cajun joint in Maumelle that serves up all sorts of variations of shrimp and catfish. With particularly tasty red beans and rice, jambalaya and bread pudding. 9811 Maumelle Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-6860. L Sat., D Mon.-Sat. BOULEVARD BREAD CO. Fresh bread, fresh pastries, wide selection of cheeses, meats, side dishes; all superb. Good coffee, too. 1920 N. Grant St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-6635951. BLD Mon.-Sat. 400 President Clinton Ave. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-374-1232. BL Mon.-Sat. 4301 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-526-6661. BL Mon.-Fri. 1417 Main St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5100. BL Mon.-Sat. BREWSTERS 2 CAFE & LOUNGE Down-home done right. Check out the yams, mac-andcheese, greens, purple-hull peas, cornbread, wings, catfish and all the rest. 2725 S. Arch St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-301-7728. LD Mon.-Sat. BUTCHER SHOP The cook-your-own-steak option has been downplayed, and several menu additions complement the calling card: large, fabulous cuts of prime beef, cooked to perfection. 10825 Hermitage Road. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-312-2748. D daily. CAJUN'S WHARF The venerable seafood restaurant serves up great gumbo and oysters Bienville, and options such as fine steaks for the non-seafood eater. In the citified bar, you'll find nightly entertainment, too. 2400 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5351. D Mon.-Sat. CAPERS It's never been better, with as good a wine list as any in the area, and a menu that covers a lot of ground — seafood, steaks, pasta — and does it all well. 14502 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-868-7600. LD Mon.-Sat. COMMUNITY BAKERY This sunny downtown
B Breakfast L Lunch D Dinner $ Inexpensive (under $8/person) $$ Moderate ($8-$20/person) $$$ Expensive (over $20/person) CC Accepts credit cards
bakery is the place to linger over a latte, bagels and the New York Times. But a lunchtime dash for sandwiches is OK, too, though it's often packed. 1200 S. Main St. No alcohol, CC. $-$$. 501-375-7105. BLD daily. 270 S. Shackleford. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-1656. BLD Mon.-Sat. BL Sun. COPELAND'S The full service restaurant chain started by the founder of Popeye's delivers the same good biscuits, the same dependable frying and a New Orleans vibe in piped music and decor. You can eat red beans and rice for a price in the single digits or pay near $40 for a choice slab of ribeye, with crab, shrimp and fish in between. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-312-1616. LD daily. COPPER GRILL Comfort food, burgers and more sophisticated fare at this River Marketarea hotspot. 300 E. Third St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3333. LD Mon.-Sat. DAVE'S PLACE A popular downtown soupand-sandwich stop at lunch draws a large and diverse crowd for the Friday night dinner, which varies in theme, home cooking being the most popular. Owner Dave Williams does all the cooking and his son, Dave also, plays saxophone and fronts the band that plays most Friday nights. 201 Center St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-3283. L Mon.-Fri., D Fri. DAVID FAMILY KITCHEN Call it soul food or call it down-home country cooking. Just be sure to call us for breakfast or lunch when you go. Neckbones, ribs, sturdy cornbread, salmon croquettes, mustard greens and the like. Desserts are exceptionally good. 2301 Broadway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-3710141. BL Mon.-Fri., L Sun. DELICIOUS TEMPTATIONS Decadent breakfast and light lunch items that can be ordered in full or half orders to please any appetite or palate, with a great variety of salads and soups as well. Don't miss the bourbon pecan pie — it's a winner. 11220 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-225-6893. BL daily. DIZZY'S GYPSY BISTRO Interesting bistro fare, served in massive portions at this River Market favorite. 200 River Market Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3500. LD Tue.-Sat. THE FADED ROSE The Cajun-inspired menu seldom disappoints. Steaks and soaked salads are legendary. 1619 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-9734. LD daily. FLYING SAUCER A popular River Market hangout thanks to its almost 200 beers (including 75 on tap) and more than decent bar food. It's now non-smoking, so families are welcome. 323 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-372-8032. LD daily. FRANKE'S CAFETERIA Plate lunch spot strong on salads and vegetables, and perfect fried chicken on Sundays. Arkansas' oldest continually operating restaurant. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-2254487. LD daily. 400 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-372-1919. L Mon.-Fri. FRONTIER DINER The traditional all-American roadside diner, complete with a nice selection of man-friendly breakfasts and lunch specials. The half pound burger is a two-hander for the average working Joe. 10424 Interstate 30. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-6414. BL
Check out the Times' food blog, Eat Arkansas arktimes.com
Mon.-Sat. GADWALL'S GRILL Once two separate restaurants, a fire forced the grill into the pizza joint. Now, under one roof, there's mouth-watering burgers and specialty sandwiches, plus zesty pizzas with cracker-thin crust and plenty of toppings. 12 North Hills Shopping Center. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-834-1840. LD daily. B Fri.-Sun. IZZY'S It's bright, clean and casual, with snappy team service of all its standbys — sandwiches and fries, lots of fresh salads, pasta about a dozen ways, hand-rolled tamales and brick oven pizzas. 5601 Ranch Drive. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-868-4311. LD Mon.-Sat. LITTLEFIELD'S CAFE The owners of the Starlite Diner have moved their cafe to the Kroger Shopping Center on JFK, where they are still serving breakfast all day, as well as plate lunches, burgers and sandwiches. 6929 John F. Kennedy Blvd. NLR. No alcohol. 501-771-2036. BLD Mon.-Sat., BL Sun. MARKHAM STREET GRILL AND PUB The menu has something for everyone, including mahi-mahi and wings. Try the burgers, which are juicy, big and fine. 11321 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-2010. LD daily. MCBRIDE'S CAFE AND BAKERY Owners Chet and Vicki McBride have been serving up delicious breakfast and lunch specials based on their family recipes for two decades in this popular eatery at Baptist Health's Little Rock campus. The desserts and barbecue sandwiches are not to be missed. 9501 Lile Drive. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-340-3833. BL Mon.-Fri. MOOYAH BURGERS Kid-friendly, fast-casual restaurant with beef, veggie and turkey burgers, a burger bar and shakes. 10825 Kanis Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-313-4905. LD daily.; 14810 Cantrell Road, Suite 190. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-1091 10825 Kanis Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-313-4905. LD daily. OLD MILL BREAD AND FLOUR CO. CAFE The popular take-out bakery has an eat-in restaurant and friendly operators. It's self-service, simple and good with sandwiches built with a changing lineup of the bakery's 40 different breads, along with soups, salads and cookies. 12111 W. Markham St. #366. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-4677. BL Mon.-Sat. BR Sun. RED DOOR Fresh seafood, steaks, chops and sandwiches from restaurateur Mark Abernathy. Smart wine list. 3701 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-666-8482. BL Tue.-Fri. D daily. BR Sat. RENO'S ARGENTA CAFE Sandwiches, gyros and gourmet pizzas by day and music and drinks by night in downtown Argenta. 312 N. Main St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-3762900. LD Mon.-Sat. RIVERFRONT STEAKHOUSE Steaks are the draw here — nice cuts heavily salted and peppered, cooked quickly and accurately to your specifications, finished with butter and served sizzling hot. 2 Riverfront Place. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-7825. D Mon.-Sat. ROBERT'S SPORTS BAR & GRILL If you're looking for a burger, you won't find it here. This establishment specializes in fried chicken dinners, served with their own special trimmings. 7212 Geyer Springs Road. Full bar, All
CC. $-$$. 501-568-2566. LD Tue.-Sat., D Mon., Sun. ROCKET TWENTY ONE The former Hillcrest fine-dining restaurant, now in a new location by the Riverfront Wyndham hotel. 2 Riverfront Drive. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$$-$$$$. 501-6039208. L Mon.-Fri., D Tue.-Sat. ROUTE 66 DINER Kid-friendly '50s diner with a menu of classics, including chicken and waffles. 7710 Cantrell Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-223-3366. BLD Mon.-Sat. RUDY'S OYSTER BAR Good boiled shrimp and oysters on the half shell. Quesadillas and chili cheese dip are tasty and ultra-hearty. 2695 Pike Ave. NLR. Full bar, All CC. 501-771-0808. LD Mon.-Sat. SHARKS FISH & CHICKEN This Southwest Little Rock restaurant specializes in seafood, frog legs and catfish, all served with the traditional fixings. 8824 Geyer Springs Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-0300. LD daily. SO RESTAURANT BAR Call it a French brasserie with a sleek, but not fussy American finish. The wine selection is broad and choice. Free valet parking. Use it and save yourself a headache. 3610 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-1464. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. STICKYZ ROCK 'N' ROLL CHICKEN SHACK Fingers any way you can imagine, plus sandwiches and burgers, and a fun setting for music and happy hour gatherings. 107 Commerce St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-7707. LD daily. TOWN PUMP A dependable burger, good wings, great fries, other bar food, plate lunches, full bar. 1321 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-663-9802. LD daily. TRIO'S Fresh, creative and satisfying lunches; even better at night, when the chefs take flight. Best array of fresh desserts in town. 8201 Cantrell Road Suite 100. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-221-3330. LD Mon.-Sat., BR Sun. WILLY D'S DUELING PIANO BAR Willy D's serves up a decent dinner of pastas and salads as a lead-in to its nightly sing-along piano show. Go when you're in a good mood. 322 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-244-9550. D Tue.-Sat. W.T. BUBBA'S COUNTRY TAVERN Sloppy Joe's, a fried bologna sandwich, a nacho bar and burgers and such feature on the menu of this bubba-themed River Market bar. 500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-244-2528. LD daily. YANCEY'S CAFETERIA Soul food served with a Southern attitude. 1523 Martin Luther King Ave. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-372-9292. LD Tue.-Sat. YOUR MAMA'S GOOD FOOD Offering simple and satisfying cafeteria food, with burgers and more hot off the grill, plate lunches and pies. 215 Center St. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-3721811. L Mon.-Fri. ZACK'S PLACE Expertly prepared home cooking and huge, smoky burgers. 1400 S. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-6646444. LD Mon.-Sat. ZIN URBAN WINE & BEER BAR It's cosmopolitan yet comfortable, a relaxed place to enjoy fine wines and beers while noshing on superb meats, cheeses and amazing goat cheeseCONTINUED ON PAGE 36 www.arktimes.com
DINING CAPSULES, CONT. stuffed figs. 300 River Market Ave. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-246-4876. D daily.
CHI'S CHINESE CUISINE No longer owned by Chi's founder Lulu Chi, this Chinese mainstay still offers a broad menu that spans the Chinese provinces and offers a few twists on the usual local offerings. 5110 W. Markham St. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-604-7777. LD Mon.-Sat. CRAZY HIBACHI GRILL The folks that own Chi's and Sekisui offer their best in a three-in-one: tapanaki cooking, sushi bar and sit-down dining with a Mongolian grill. 2907 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-812-9888. LD daily. FANTASTIC CHINA The food is delicious, the presentation beautiful, the menu distinctive, the service perfect, the decor bright. 1900 N. Grant St. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-663-8999. LD daily. GENGHIS GRILL This chain restaurant takes the Mongolian grill idea to its inevitable, Subwaystyle conclusion. 12318 Chenal Parkway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-223-2695. LD daily. LILLY'S DIMSUM THEN SOME Innovative dishes inspired by Asian cuisine, utilizing local and fresh ingredients. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-716-2700. LD Tue.-Sun. MT. FUJI JAPANESE RESTAURANT The dean of Little Rock sushi bars offers a fabulous lunch special and great Monday night deals. 10301 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-227-6498. LD daily. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-227-6498. OSAKA JAPANESE RESTAURANT Veteran operator of several local Asian buffets has brought fine-dining Japanese dishes and a well-stocked sushi bar to way-out-west Little Rock, near Chenal off Highway 10. 5501 Ranch Dr. $$-$$$. 501-868-3688. L Tue.-Sat., D Tue.-Sun. SKY MODERN JAPANESE Excellent, ambitious menu filled with sushi and other Japanese fare and Continental-style dishes. 11525 Cantrell Road, Suite 917. Full bar, All CC. $$$-$$$$. 501-224-4300. LD daily. SUSHI CAFE Impressive, upscale sushi menu with other delectable house specialties like tuna tataki, fried soft shell crab, Kobe beef and, believe it or not, the Tokyo cowboy burger. 5823 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-9888. L Mon.-Sat. D daily.
CHATZ CAFE 'Cue and catfish joint that does heavy catering business. Try the slow-smoked, meaty ribs. 8801 Colonel Glenn Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-4949. LD Mon.-Sat. CORKY'S RIBS & BBQ The pulled pork is extremely tender and juicy, and the sauce is sweet and tangy without a hint of heat. Maybe the best dry ribs in the area. 12005 Westhaven Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-954-7427. LD daily. 2947 Lakewood Village Drive. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-753-3737. LD daily, B Sat.-Sun. WHITE PIG INN Go for the sliced rather than chopped meats at this working-class barbecue cafe. Side orders — from fries to potato salad to beans and slaw — are superb, as are the fried pies. 5231 E. Broadway. NLR. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-945-5551. LD Mon.-Fri., L Sat. WHOLE HOG CAFE The pulled pork shoulder is a classic, the back ribs are worthy of their many blue ribbons, and there's a six-pack of sauces for all tastes. A real find is the beef brisket, cooked the way Texans like it. 516 Cantrell 36
Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-664-5025. LD Mon.-Sat. 12111 W. Markham. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-907-6124. LD daily. 150 E. Oak St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-513-0600. LD Mon.-Sat., L Sun. 5107 Warden Road. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-753-9227.
ALADDIN KABAB Persian and Mexican cuisines sound like an odd pairing, but they work fairly well together here. Particularly if you're ordering something that features charred meat, like a kabab or gyros. 9112 N Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. 501-219-8787. LD daily. CAFE BOSSA NOVA A South American approach to sandwiches, salads and desserts, all quite good, as well as an array of refreshing South American teas and coffees. 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-614-6682. LD Tue.-Sat., BR Sun. DUGAN'S PUB Serves up Irish fare like fish and chips and corned beef and cabbage alongside classic bar food. The chicken fingers and burgers stand out. Irish breakfast all day. 401 E. 3rd St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-244-0542. LD daily. GEORGIA'S GYROS Good gyros, Greek salads and fragrant grilled pita bread highlight a large Mediterranean food selection, plus burgers and the like. 2933 Lakewood Village Drive. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-753-5090. LD Mon.-Sat. HIBERNIA IRISH TAVERN This traditional Irish pub has its own traditional Irish cook from, where else, Ireland. Broad beverage menu, Irish and Southern food favorites and a crowd that likes to sing. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-246-4340. D Mon.-Sat., L Sun. LAYLA'S GYROS AND PIZZERIA Delicious Mediterranean fare — gyros, falafel, shawarma, kabobs, hummus and babaganush — that has a devoted following. All meat is slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law. 9501 N Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-227-7272. LD daily (close 5 p.m. on Sun.). TAJ MAHAL The third Indian restaurant in a onemile span of West Little Rock, Taj Mahal offers upscale versions of traditional dishes and an extensive menu. Dishes range on the spicy side. 1520 Market Street. Beer, All CC. $$$. 501-8814796. LD daily. TAZIKI'S GREEK FARE Fast casual chain that offers gyros, grilled meats and veggies, hummus and pimento cheese. 8200 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-227-8291. LD daily. 12800 Chenal Parkway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-225-1829. LD daily. THE TERRACE MEDITERRANEAN KITCHEN A broad selection of Mediterranean delights that include a very affordable collection of starters, salads, sandwiches, burgers, chicken and fish at lunch and a more upscale dining experience with top-notch table service at dinner. 2200 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-217-9393. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat. YA YA'S EURO BISTRO The first eatery to open in the Promenade at Chenal is a date-night affair, translating comfort food into beautiful cuisine. Best bet is lunch, where you can explore the menu through soup, salad or half a sandwich. 17711 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-1144. LD daily, BR Sun.
BRAVO! CUCINA ITALIANA This upscale Italian chain offers delicious and sometimes inventive dishes. 17815 Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-821-2485. LD daily. BR Sun. BRUNO'S LITTLE ITALY Traditional Italian antipastos, appetizers, entrees and desserts.
Extensive, delicious menu from Little Rock standby. 310 Main St. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-7866. D Tue.-Sat. GRAFFITI'S The casually chic and ever-popular Italian-flavored bistro avoids the rut with daily specials and careful menu tinkering. 7811 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-2249079. D Mon.-Sat. JIM'S RAZORBACK PIZZA Great pizza served up in a family-friendly, sports-themed environment. Special Saturday and Sunday brunch served from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Flat-screen TVs throughout and even a cage for shooting basketballs and playing ping-pong. 16101 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-8683250. LD daily. OLD CHICAGO PASTA & PIZZA This national chain offers lots of pizzas, pastas and beer. 4305 Warden Road. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-812-6262. LD daily. 1010 Main St. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-329-6262. LD daily. PIZZA CAFE Thin, crunchy pizza with just a dab of tomato sauce but plenty of chunks of stuff, topped with gooey cheese. Draft beer is appealing on the open-air deck — frosty and generous. 1517 Rebsamen Park Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-664-6133. LD daily 14710 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-868-2600. LD daily. PIZZA D'ACTION Some of the best pizza in town, a marriage of thin, crispy crust with a hefty ingredient load. Also, good appetizers and salads, pasta, sandwiches and killer plate lunches. 2919 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-666-5403. LD daily. THE PIZZA JOINT Cracker-thin crusts with a tempting variety of traditional or nontraditional toppings. Just off Cantrell Road. 6100 Stones Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-9108. D daily. RISTORANTE CAPEO Authentic cooking from the boot of Italy is the draw at this cozy, brickwalled restaurant on a reviving North Little Rock's Main Street. Familiar pasta dishes will comfort most diners, but let the chef, who works in an open kitchen, entertain you with some more exotic stuff, too, like crispy veal sweetbreads. They make their own mozzarella fresh daily. 425 Main St. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-376-3463. D Mon.-Sat. ROCKY'S PUB Rocking sandwiches an Arkie used to have to head way northeast to find and a fine selection of homemade Italian entrees, including as fine a lasagna as there is. 6909 JFK Blvd. NLR. Beer, Wine. $$. 501-833-1077. LD Mon.-Sat. SHOTGUN DAN'S PIZZA Hearty pizza and sandwiches with a decent salad bar. Multiple locations, at 4020 E. Broadway, NLR, 945-0606; 4203 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, 835-0606, and 10923 W. Markham St. Beer, CC. $-$$. 501-2249519. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. VINO'S Great rock 'n' roll club also is a fantastic pizzeria with huge calzones and always improving home-brewed beers. 923 W. 7th St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-375-8466. LD daily. ZAZA Here's where you get wood-fired pizza with gorgeous blistered crusts and a light topping of choice and tempting ingredients, great gelato in a multitude of flavors, call-yourown ingredient salads and other treats. 5600 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-661-9292. LD daily. 1050 Ellis Ave. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-336-9292. LD daily.
CANTINA LAREDO This is gourmet Mexican food, a step up from what you'd expect from a real cantina, from the modern minimal decor to the well-prepared entrees. We can vouch for
the enchilada Veracruz and the carne asada y huevos, both with tasty sauces and high quality ingredients perfectly cooked. 207 N. University. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-280-0407. LD daily, BR Sun. CHUY'S Good Tex-Mex. We're especially fond of the enchiladas, and always appreciate restaurants that make their own tortillas. 16001 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-2489. LD daily. JUANITA'S Menu includes a variety of combination entree choices — enchiladas, tacos, flautas, shrimp burritos and such — plus creative salads and other dishes. And of course the "Blue Mesa" cheese dip. 614 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-1228. LD Tue.-Sat. LA SALSA MEXICAN & PERUVIAN CUISINE Mexican and Peruvian dishes, beer and margaritas. 3824 John F. Kennedy Blvd. NLR. Full bar, All CC. 501-753-1101. LD daily. LOCAL LIME Tasty gourmet Mex from the folks who brought you Big Orange and ZaZa. 17815 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-448-2226. LD daily. ROSALINDA RESTAURANT HONDURENO A Honduran cafe that specializes in pollo con frito tajada (fried chicken and fried plaintains). With breakfast, too. 3700 JFK Blvd. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $-$$. 501-771-5559. BLD daily. TAQUERIA EL PALENQUE Solid authentic Mexican food. Try the al pastor burrito. 9501 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, CC. $-$$. 501-3120045. Serving BLD Tue.-Sun.
DAN'S I-30 DINER Home cooking and blue plate specials are the best things to choose at this Benton diner. Check out the daily special board for a meat-and-two-veg lunch — and if chicken stuffing's on the menu, GET IT. 17018 Interstate 30. Benton. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-778-4116. BL Tue.-Sat. LA VALENTINA There are touches of authenticity on La Valentina's "real Mexican" menu, including specialties like palmadas meat pies, but otherwise you'll find tacos, burritos, chimichangas and the like here. 1217 Ferguson Drive. Benton. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-776-1113. LD daily. SULLIVAN'S DINER Tasty chicken fried steak and other home cookin' standards paired with well-executed Thai dishes. 520 Lillian St. Benton. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-778-4630. BLD Mon.-Sat., BL Sun.
DOMOYAKI Hibachi grill and sushi bar near the interstate. Now serving bubble tea. 505 E. Dave Ward Drive. Conway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-764-0074. L Mon.-Fri., D Mon.-Sat. THE FISH HOUSE The other entrees and the many side orders are decent, but this place is all about catfish. 116 S. Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. 501-327-9901. LD Mon.-Sun. GUSANO'S They make the tomatoey Chicagostyle deep-dish pizza the way it's done in the Windy City. It takes a little longer to come out of the oven, but it's worth the wait. 2915 Dave Ward Drive. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-329-1100. LD daily. JADE CHINA Traditional Chinese fare, some with a surprising application of ham. 559 Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, No CC. $-$$. 501-329-5121. LD Mon.-Sat. SHORTY'S` Burgers, dogs and shake joint. 1101 Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, No CC. $-$$. 501-329-9213. LD Mon.-Sat. CONTINUED ON PAGE 39
Arkansas Voices works with many outstanding youths providing support during the parent's incarceration and re-entry.
Giving Heart from the
Arkansas Voices for Children Left Behind
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Arkansas Voices for Children Left Behind has been a tireless advocate for incarcerated parents, their children and caregivers by providing parenting classes, counseling and support groups and legislative advocacy. After two decades of helping children cope with the trauma of being separated from their parent(s) and helping parents return to the home after incarceration, the organization is working on the next phase of its mission: Providing resources for adult children of incarcerated parents. "These are children of lifers, or their parent didn't come home during their childhood," she said. Even children whose parents did come home could still face residual issues.
➥ Tired of the boring old dinner-and-a-movie Valentine's Day celebration? THE FLOATING LOTUS has a special event planned from 4-7 p.m. Feb. 15 that will let you get closer with your loved one and learn a new skill at the same time. Learn the basics of partner yoga and Thai yoga massage at the event with your loved one, a friend or come on your own and meet a new friend. Partner yoga involves stretches you perform with a partner. Thai yoga massage involves a series of rhythmic compressions using the feet, palms, elbows and fingers. You will leave this three-hour workshop with a simple sequence you can practice at home so that you may give your loved ones a "Gift of Touch" whenever they need some physical and emotional relaxation. Floating Lotus will add some great music and refreshments (including chocolate and a champagne toast to the holiday of love) to give you a truly special Valentine's Day experience. So bring along a friend, significant other, sibling, parent, or anyone who downright deserves it. No prior yoga or massage experience is necessary. The cost of the workshop is $25 per individual and $40 per couple. For more information, call 501664-0127 or visit www.floatinglotusyogastudio.com. ➥ Feeling the urge to be crafty for your Valentine? Then head down to PAPER, SCISSORS LITTLE ROCK and attend one of their Valentine making workshops, scheduled for Feb. 7-8 at the store. Just drop by during normal business hours (10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) and for $10, you'll get supplies and an hour's worth inspiration and expert help. Kiddos are welcome too. RSVPs are preferred and can be made on the shop's Facebook page, but don't worry if you don't plan ahead: drop-ins are welcome, too. ➥ SOUTHERN ACCENTED is the latest shop to open in the Heights, located at 5501 Kavanaugh, Suite A. The store is "designed with savvy contemporary women in mind. We offer high-quality apparel, home decor, gifts and more," according to their Facebook page.
"Those children have now become adults, and there are still things hurting them, causing real anxiety or depression," she said. Some of the issues these adults face could be that they've discovered they were born in prison and are struggling with what it means to be born "inside". "Maybe their parents aren't around anymore to answer those questions," Newell said. Arkansas Voices will host a support group for these adults, age 21 and over, to help them work through these
issues with their peers, but Newell hopes the group can also help the latest generation of kids with parents in prison. "I hope [the adults] can potentially find some healing by becoming mentors to the kids," she said. "Those kids [who came of age during the mass incarceration period in the 1990s] … maybe it's the right time for them to step forward." For more information about the adult children of incarcerated parents support group or to volunteer,
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Our MissiOn:
To advocate for children left behind by incarceration or loss of a parent for any reason and to provide mentoring, services and supports for the children, their caregivers, and incarcerated parents, with the goal of strengthening and empowering the family unit.
Find out more about our programs or to become a volunteer online at www.arkansasvoices.org or call 501-366-3647
visit www.arkansasvoices.org or call 501-366-3647.
Wolfe Street Foundation The mission of the WSF is to provide facilities [The Wolfe Street Center] for support groups faithful to the original 12 steps of recovery. The foundation also seeks to develop and maintain programs aimed toward education, prevention and pathways to recovery for individuals and their families suffering from addictions as they relate to alcoholism. While the American Medical Association & American Society of Addiction Medicine both recognize alcoholism as a disease, the stigma associated with alcohol addiction and recovery remains. The WSF strives to inform the public, while encouraging those who need help to step forward. Every year, over 100,000 individuals seeking help walk through the doors of The Wolfe Street Center, free of charge. Located in downtown Little Rock at 1015 Louisiana St., the WSC offers a safe haven for recovery in a deeply caring, non-judgmental envi-
ronment. Newcomers and old timers gather to share with one another how the path to hope and recovery works. For all willing to work for it, the 12-step recovery process evolves into a new way of life filled with joy, peace and gratitude. County and city judges send DWI cases to the WSC to work off fines with community service and to learn about recovery. Corporations seek counsel from the foundation as they develop programs aimed at the recovery of their employees. To be of maximum service to the recovery community remains the pillar of the Wolfe Street Foundation's philosophy. Lights, Camera, Action—Little Rock! is the Wolfe Street Foundation's biggest fundraiser. This Academy Awards Viewing Gala is to be held on March 2nd, 2014 at the Chenal Country Club. Contact Information: Markey Ford Brisbin, Executive Director Wolfe Street Foundation, Inc 1015 Louisiana, PO Box 3708 Little Rock AR, 72203 (501) 372-5662 www.wolfestreet.org
From Yale to jail, from Park Avenue to park benches... We all come together at
The Wolfe Street Foundation, Inc
501.372.5662 • WolfeStreet.org • 1015 Louisiana Street in downtown Little Rock 38
ARKANSAS TIMES MARKETPLACE Refractory workers and brick masons needed for shutdown job in Malvern, AR. MUST HAVE VERIFIABLE EXPERIENCE. Please call Michael 318-417-4377.
Learn to get more from your Mac at home or office.
• Aid in choosing the right Mac for you and your budget • iMac, MacBook, iPad, iPhone • Troubleshooting • Wireless internet & backup
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Call Cindy Greene - Satisfaction Always Guaranteed
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A terrible secret cripples a rural community... A novel by Arkansas author Jimmie von Tungeln Available at major on-line outlets in print and digital "One of those books I was sorry to see end. Gideon
Nelson is the consummate humble badass hero." - Amazon reviewer
The Charmed Time
For information or to order: www.wattensawpress.com
Call Center Customer Service Agent Needed Position is full time with benefits starting at $9.00/hr. Must be flexible to work any hours between 7:30 am and 9:00 pm. Applicant must be dependable and professional. We are a drug free and smoke free company. EOE Send resumes to: Account Advisor Position P.O. Box 384 Bryant, AR 72089 firstname.lastname@example.com Note: Office is located in Bryant, Arkansas
Little Rock, 1104 B W. 29th St 2BR/1BA Single Family Fixer Upper • Lease or Cash $250 DN, $91/mo 855-664-8357
Orphan Kitties
Meet Lucy and Linus. Their owner died recently and these four-years old brother and sister kitties desperately need a home. They have all of their shots and are completely house broken to a litter box. They are very affectionate, accustomed to children and love to be held. Linus went in a week ago to have a kidney stone removed and we were waiting till that was finished before putting them up for adoption. They must go together. If you are interested please call Alan at 501-580-4212
STOBY'S Great homemade cheese dip and big, sloppy Stoby sandwiches with umpteen choices of meats, cheeses and breads. 805 Donaghey. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-327-5447. BLD Mon.-Sat. 405 W. Parkway. Russellville. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-9683816. BLD Mon.-Sat. U.S. PIZZA CO. CONWAY Part of the U.S. Pizza Co. chain. 710 Front Street. Conway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-450-9700. LD Mon.-Sun.
36 CLUB Diverse menu — more than 80 items — of good food, ranging from grilled shrimp salad to spicy tandoori chicken, in a lively
setting. Next door, sister restaurant Bistro V, offers a quieter atmosphere. 300 W. Dickson St. Fayetteville. Full bar, CC. 479-442-9682. L Tue.-Fri., D Tue.-Sat. AQ CHICKEN HOUSE Great chicken — fried, grilled and rotisserie — at great prices. 1925 North College Ave. Fayetteville. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 479-443-7555. LD daily. 1206 N. Thompson St. Springdale. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 479-443-7555. LD. BORDINOS Exquisite Italian food, great wines and great service in a boisterous setting. Now serving Nova Scotia mussels. 310 W. Dickson St. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. 479-527-6795. D.
ELENITA'S MEXICAN CAFE Some of the most flavorful and reasonably priced authentic Mexican food in town. 1120 N. Lindell Ave. Fayetteville. No alcohol, All CC. 479-442-9978. LD.
BELLE ARTI RISTORANTE Ambitious menu of lavish delights in a film-noir setting; excellent desserts. 719 Central Ave. Hot Springs. Full bar, All CC. 501-624-7474. LD. DON JUAN'S Mex-style enchiladas, runny white cheese dip, great guacamole and great service in strip-mall locale. 1311 Albert Pike Road No. A. Hot Springs. No
alcohol, All CC. 501-321-0766. LD. FISHERMAN'S WHARF Reminiscent of a coastal seafood joint, complete with large menu and fish nets adorning the wall. Boisterous, family style place. 5101 Central Ave. Hot Springs. Full bar, All CC. 501-525-7437. LD. HAWGS PIZZA PUB Good pizza and other Italian food, a wide selection of appetizers, salads, burgers and sandwiches in an all-Razorback motif. 1442 Airport Road. Hot Springs. Full bar, All CC. 501-767-4240. LD. HUNAN PALACE Dependable Chinese cuisine, good soups, nice priced combos for two or three. 4737 Central Ave. No. 104. Hot Springs. Beer, Wine, All CC. 501-525-3344. LD. www.arktimes.com
Mercedes-Benz of Little Rock
#8 Colonel Glenn Plaza Dr., Little Rock 路 1.866.414.3506 Mercedes Certified Pre-Owned Only Available At Authorized Dealers.
Yes YOU can afford a Mercedes-Benz. We have select, barely used vehicles available that offer huge savings over new prices. All carry a Factory Warranty, Certified Pre-Owned Warranty or both.
Silver - Factory Warranty + CPO Warranty
Lunar Blue - Factory Warranty + CPO Warranty
Palladium Silver - Factory Warranty + CPO Warranty
2010 E550 4-Matic
2010 E350 4-Matic
Silver - Factory Warranty + CPO Warranty
White - Factory Warranty + CPO Warranty
Silver - Factory Warranty
Visit our website today for more information on these units and the rest of our pre-owned inventory.
littlerockmercedes.com FEBRUARY 6, 2014
Published on Feb 6, 2014
Published on Feb 6, 2014
Arkansas Times entertainment, culture, politics

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