Arkansas Times - August 6, 2015 by Arkansas Times

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FI V E DAYS ON THE

FOURCHE FLOTSA M, Y E S. BUT FLOR A , FAUN A , TOO. by Jerry Butler

I AM THE AEA E

ducators in Arkansas are some of the most

dedicated professionals you will find in any

industry. In an era where people change

jobs every two years, the teachers, administra-

tors and education support professionals in the Arkansas Education Association are committing

decades of their careers to educating Arkansas students.

An example of this dedication is Frank Shaw BR I A N CHIL SO N

in Forrest City. An educator for 30 years, Frank

is entering his 31st as mathematics instructor for the Forrest City Mustangs, teaching courses

ranging from Algebra I to Advanced Placement Statistics.

“My primary duties are to impart knowledge of

mathematics as a language and conceptually as

a means to resolve real world problems,” Frank said. “My students are posed with a challenge

when they encounter math problems, and it gives them an opportunity to persevere and succeed. If they can do that in the classroom, they can do it in their daily lives. That’s why I think math is so important to their education.”

Frank has worked for 28 years in the Forrest

City School District, and today, he works at Forrest City High School. Over the course of his career,

he has faced the same challenges for which he is preparing his students.

“Every day is not the same, and as a profes-

sional, each day’s challenges require me to draw on past experiences and be innovative in harness-

ing those experiences to make them relevant to 21st century education,” Frank said. “There has been consistent change in the classroom since

the mid-1980s when I began teaching, and

educators have to keep up with those changes to serve our students well.”

Frank credits the Arkansas Education As-

sociation with helping him and other educators

navigate these changes. “I have been a member of AEA for 30 years,” he said. He also serves as the chair of the Forrest City High School

mathematics department, a member of the Forrest City High School leadership team to address school improvement issues, and is on

the Arkansas Department of Education Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee working to be

a voice for classroom professionals throughout

the state. “Being an educator in today’s climate is not only a calling but requires one to put on the full plate of professional armor. Through

our professional development opportunities, teacher-to-teacher trainings, UniServ workshops

and National Education Association support, the AEA stands in the right place to sustain the

professional educator and education support

professional as we navigate through the politi-

cal, social and economic waters of what we call public education today.”

The Arkansas Education Association advocates

for education professionals and unites members to fulfill the promise of public education. The AEA

prepares every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world, and its members are

the voice of education professionals in Arkansas. Members are teachers, education support

professionals, students, retirees and supporters who share the AEA’s vision and values of professionalism, opportunity, justice and action.

As the past president and current treasurer of

the Forrest City Education Association, Frank is committed to helping everyone in the educational

community get the best possible experience to

set the stage for the next generation of learners. “If you want to be informed, prepared and

respected, join the educator’s professional organization,” he said. “Join the AEA.”

1500 W. 4th St. Little Rock 501.375.4611 aeaonline.org 2

AUGUST 6, 2015

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AUGUST 6, 2015

COMMENT

Seniors hurt by cuts

From the web

During the 2015 legislative session, the budget for state Senior Citizens Centers was slashed 20 percent, from $5 million annually to $4 million projected for 2016, despite the fact that the 65-and-older population is steadily growing and is expected to double in the next 20 years. Senior centers provide essential services, such as home-delivered meals, socialization programs, wellness and fitness activities and transportation. However, the vast majority of funding is utilized in meal programs. The reduced budget for FY 2016 will potentially result in 127,000 fewer meals served to our seniors. Currently about a third of all Arkansans aged 60 or older — more than 160,000 people — are living with food insecurity. The National Foundation to End Senior Hunger ranks Arkansas first in the nation for senior food insecurity, yet revenue streams to fund meals for seniors continue to decline. The negative health effects associated with food insecurity — malnutrition, poor overall health, cardiovascular disease and extended hospital stays — have the potential for substantially increasing Medicare/Medicaid costs while profoundly impacting quality of life for this vulnerable population. Older adults attending senior center programs can learn to manage and delay the onset of chronic disease and experience measurable improvements in their physical, social, spiritual and emotional well-being. For this reason, we should all ask Gov. Hutchinson to restore $1 million to fund senior centers from the current budget surplus. Gloria Gordon North Little Rock

In response to Jay Barth’s column last week on U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge’s possible challenge to U.S. Sen. John Boozman in 2016, “Battle Boozman: worth the fight”: Boozman has been nothing but a yes man his entire career. It is time for him to go and be replaced by someone who is progressive about the USA! golfpro Bozoman will be hard to beat for the reasons Jay mentioned. I suspect that only Mike Beebe could make that race competitive, no matter how attractive a candidate Mr. Eldridge may turn out to be. To challenge a GOP senator effectively will require millions of dollars and high name recognition and high favorability. A lack of negatives by itself won’t suffice. Armed Bears

One notable thing: The 2010 election was in a Republican-favored cycle. During those cycles they usually take several seats in Congress. The next cycle will be Democratic-favored. There will be at least seven Republican senators running for re-election in Democratic or Demo-leaning states. If Beebe is to be a candidate he’s kept it close to his chest. Said numerous times as he finished his second term as governor he would not be seeking election; he was retiring save for some law practice. I’ve never seen a lawyer retire unless he was a corporate attorney. They practice until their mind or health gives out. eLwood

minds, and Shawn Womack has proved that he is a small mind. His equal protection argument about other state court judges’ salaries was utter BS on its face. His recusing in a criminal case because he was “unqualified” is a big red flag that he’s not qualified to be an appellate judge. TuckerMax

In response to an Arkansas Blog post reporting Chief Justice Jim Hannah’s imminent retirement from the Arkansas Supreme Court:

Final sale of the Arkansas Supreme Court will close Sept. 1. Under a new state law passed by the Republican legislature the new owners’ names may not be disclosed under penalty of law. Arkansas justice, thy name is mud. Sound Policy

We are doomed. Who will Asa! appoint? This is a position not for small

Well, the Republicans finally have it — their trifecta. They got the Tea Party Lite governor, the Tea Party legislature and a Republican state Supreme Court that flaunts the law. This is all about showing us how they can govern? Right? Or just how they can enrich their benefactors and their own pockets? Congrats, Arkansas; it’s amazing how you let your hatred of a president of color ruin our future. wannabee conservative

Unfit to lead Former Gov. Huckabee, running for the Republican presidential nomination, has said that if elected president, he would ignore his oath of office and use the FBI and troops to deny Americans their legal right to abortion. This he is happy to do in order to force his own view and interpretation of his religion. This is inherently un-American. It’s one thing to be against something; it’s quite another to threaten to ignore the Constitution. He is unfit to lead anyone. Dennis Hawley Weaverville, N.C.

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

I met Hannah 15 years ago when he was campaigning for the court position. I was impressed with him in our conversation as to the responses he gave to the few questions I posed. He hasn’t disappointed me. Hate to see him go for fear of who will take his seat. Cato

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How about Hutchinson nominate Milligan to get him away from the Treasurer’s office? I am sure that Hutchinson won’t worry about any requirement that the person be a trained lawyer. The Republicans have already waived the requirements for so many high level state jobs, e.g. Treasurer’s office staff, director of Arkansas Department of Education, et al. couldn’tbebetter Justice Hannah is an excellent jurist and Arkansans should be thankful for his service. He represented Arkansas well both statewide and nationally. Justice Hannah was no small mind on the court and will be hard to replace. Let’s hope for one who puts the Constitution before all other constituencies. Cicero Correction: In the July 23 cover story, "Massive incarceration," we mistakenly used residential burglary and breaking and entering synonymously. They are separate charges.

2015-2016 Season

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AUGUST 6, 2015

WEEK THAT WAS

“For some reason, conservative religious people are terribly hung up on bathrooms.” — Eureka Springs City Council member Joyce Zeller to Jordan Klepper, a “Daily Show” correspondent investigating purported “anti-Christian discrimination in Arkansas” — meaning, the city’s civil rights ordinance protecting LGBT people. The satire was wasted on Rev. Randall Christy, an ordinance opponent who lamented to Klepper that gay folks are “hanging out their flag everywhere you go” — a quote the producers strategically juxtaposed with a shot of the Christ of the Ozarks looming overhead.

the purpose of the review council was to provide the mere appearance of study and public engagement. It also seems to have been effective: The group of parents who once railed against Common Core as the devil incarnate now seem to have accepted the decision. Sometimes a little theater goes a long way.

Bad sheriff Former Saline County Sheriff Bruce Pennington pleaded guilty this week to a federal wire fraud charge concerning his use of campaign money to pay personal bills. The Justice Department said he spent more than $20,000 on the likes of home mortgage payments, utilities, groceries, casino visits and skin care products.

BRIAN CHILSON

Quote of the Week:

EYE ON ARKANSAS

COUNTRY ROADS: In western Arkansas, outside Newport.

Farewell to the chief

Asa defuses Common Core After 40 hours of hearings over the past few months in nine Arkansas cities, the “governor’s council” that was formed to conduct a review of the contentious Common Core State Standards recommended that Gov. Asa Hutchinson should … order further review of the Common Core State Standards. The group says the standards should stay for the coming school year. Mostly, the non-decision is a relief. Arkansas won’t be tossing out the Common Core arbitrarily — as some other conservative states have done, in a craven attempt to appease a groundswell of mostly conservative opposition. That means Common Core will probably stick around, though it may be renamed, as Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin (who led the review effort) admitted in a recent moment of candor. Still, the theater of the whole thing is annoying: Folks in the know have assumed all along that the decision to stick with Common Core had already been made long in advance, and that 6

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

Word emerged over the weekend that Chief Justice Jim Hannah of the Arkansas Supreme Court plans to retire at the end of this month due to health problems. He joined the court in 2001 and has been chief justice since 2005; he’s also been one of the most moderate and reasonable voices in an institution that’s drifting ever rightward. Hannah will be missed — oh, and we’re bracing to see who Asa chooses to serve out the remainder of his term, which expires next year.

Onward Christian soldiers When Mike Huckabee wants attention, he’ll do what it takes to get it. At a campaign stop last week in Iowa, the former Arkansas governor said he’d “invoke the Fifth and 14th amendments for the protection of every human being” if he became president, referring to abortion. “I will not pretend there is nothing we can do to stop this,” Huckabee said, ominously. When a reporter later asked him how, exactly, he’d stop abortion, and whether that could entail use of the FBI or federal troops, Huckabee only replied, “We’ll see if I get to be president.” Can’t wait.

Huckabee’s finances, by the numbers In other Huck news, the candidate released his personal financial report over the weekend, which showed income of over $4 million within the past 12 months, plus millions in the value of accumulated investments and real estate. The feds require candidates to report only a range of values for most categories (rather than exact numbers), but here’s a sampling:

$2.96 million Business income from Blue Diamond Horizons Inc., Huckabee’s company that (among other things) publishes his books. This sum may also include income from his program on Fox News or his syndicated radio show, both of which are now off the air.

$50,000–$100,000 Retirement income from a state of Arkansas public employee pension.

$950,000 Payment for 44 speeches delivered since May 2014.

$200,000-$2 million Rental income on two properties held by a company called Blue Diamond Rentals.

$3 million The value of Huckabee’s home in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. He also still owns a home in North Little Rock, currently on the market for about $675,000.

OPINION

Arts Center requiem

ithin the last few weeks, it became clear that a rare episode of bold thinking in metropolitan Little Rock was going to end with a whimper. North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith emerged several months ago as the advocate of an idea to leverage taxpayer support — $100 million in a potential multiyear city sales tax increase — with the promise of private contributions to move the Arkansas Arts Center from the only home it has ever known, in Little Rock’s MacArthur Park, to a futuristic riverside perch in downtown North Little Rock. Multiple surveys were taken. Little Rock leaders harrumphed. The Arts Center leaders did less than they should have in talking about the center’s needs. In the end, Mayor Smith pulled back. He said more study was needed. What

he meant was, the North Little Rock bubble was dead. Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, to save face and not MAX unhappy North BRANTLEY maxbrantley@arktimes.com Little Rock’s dream had died, unveiled some ideas about property the Arts Center could acquire for a new location. Missing: money to pay for any of the property, much less a new building. So. The Arts Center will limp along, with token public funding and the major operational money coming from some signature fundraisers and the same wealthy patrons who’ve traditionally supported it. This is all a shame. When I arrived in Little Rock, the Arts Center was the most exciting, maybe only, cultural outpost in

Political smog v. clean air

ere we go again, another fruitless skirmish in the great War on Coal, coming to a battlefield near you. President Obama had not even announced the new rule requiring power plants to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by an average of a third during the next 15 years than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, from the big coal state of Kentucky, again denounced Obama’s “War on Coal,” as if the president was not trying to slow climate change and give us cleaner air, but only exercising a personal vendetta against the mineral, perhaps from having to memorize the Periodic Table and carbon’s electron configuration in high school chemistry. Arkansas’s attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, will join more Republican lawsuits to block the rule, as she has other federal rules that reduce atmospheric poisons in East Arkansas. Arkansas’s congressional delegation vows in unison to protect the coal industry and Arkansas ratepayers. The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce will once again predict the ruin of the Arkansas economy, mass unemployment and penury for the middle

class when utilities shutter or convert their old coal plants to natural gas and turn to clean, renewable power ERNEST sources. DUMAS We have heard all those alarums for 45 years, since Congress passed the Clean Air Act almost unanimously and President Nixon signed it into law. It was supposed to eliminate all harmful air pollution by empowering state pollution agencies and the Environmental Protection Agency under the president to tackle environmental threats. It worked dramatically, scouring the air of harmful chemicals and saving millions of lives, but it has still fallen far short of the goals of 1970, owing to a policy commonly known as grandfathering and to political stalemate the past 20 years. Here is what everyone needs to know about the scary predictions of ruin from Republican lawmakers, the coal industry and chambers of commerce: The new greenhouse-gas rule, not its critics, serves the self-interest of all living Arkansans and

town of consequence. It had a cutting edge film series. Adult and children’s theater. Thriving arts classes. The parking lot was filled daily with students on field trips. It had an artmobile. The Arts Center is still a wonderful place. The Children’s Theater thrives. Classes still draw many during the day. But the city has more attractions — the Presidential Library, the Museum of Discovery, The Rep and more — that provide competing field trip allure. The most striking thing about the brief debate of a new arts center was how little anyone seemed to care. Heights snobs wouldn’t dream of crossing the river to Dogtown. The hope that 2nd-city status might spur a groundswell for Joe Smith’s big idea on his side of the river didn’t materialize. If anything, the opposite occurred. I’m told the polling showed strong support among lower income and minority voters in North Little Rock, but tepid response among the higher income neighborhoods that are Joe Smith’s base. He plans to run for office again, remember. Thus, more study. Many people believe the Arts Center is elitist, mainly a reflection of the domi-

nance of wealthy people in governance and fundraising. The arts are anything but elitist. They are an open door to personal growth. The tools of entry are as modest as a piece of charcoal and a scrap of newsprint or a pinhole camera. The Arts Center’s base supporters are aging and in some cases tired of the struggle. They are rightly discouraged by a lack of broad support, whoever or whatever is to blame. Many of them also don’t like the MacArthur Park location. I don’t happen to share that view, but it is now clearer than ever that the only way out is a philanthropic contribution of unprecedented size, not a public investment. The city of Little Rock can’t give its policemen a raise; it will struggle to come up with the money for a transit system worthy of a big city; its schools are under attack by malicious forces, and, for a bonus, its leaders demonstrated no urgency about sustaining an institution that was Arkansas’s Crystal Bridges years before Walmart went public. I applaud Joe Smith for thinking big. But in doing so, he managed to unintentionally illustrate, again, the metro area’s lack of stature.

generations of their spawn. And here is what the Arkansas attorney general, who will waste more taxpayer dollars on fruitless lawsuits against the EPA and the president, should know: The U.S. Supreme Court, including three of its right-wing, proindustry justices, has repeatedly said the Clean Air Act gives the EPA power to regulate greenhousegas emissions, including carbon dioxide, from major sources like power plants. In a suit brought by several states that said the second Bush administration was doing nothing to fight global warming, the court ruled in 2007 that carbon dioxide was a pollutant that the EPA could and should regulate. Carbon dioxide from power plants and automobiles is the chief cause of global warming. Before she has her staff enter another suit against the EPA, Rutledge could profit by reading the clear though reluctant opinion in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA written last year by Justice Antonin Scalia, although he has never heard of a polluting industry he didn’t like. But let’s consider only the Arkansas situation, which the chamber of commerce and Republican politicians say is dire. Arkansas will have to do relatively more than most states to reduce its greenhousegas emissions to a healthy level (a 36 percent reduction from 2005 rather than an average of 32 percent for other states) because it has done less in the past to

control them. You will remember that three years ago Southwestern Electric Power Co. opened a giant (600 megawatt) coal plant at McNab to produce electricity mostly for Texas after Texas didn’t want it to be built on its soil. The state Court of Appeals and the Arkansas Supreme Court both ruled unanimously that it was neither needed nor environmentally compatible, but Mike Huckabee’s utility commissioners had said back in 2004 that the company could go ahead and build it before getting approval. Arkansas’s greenhouse-gas problems stem chiefly from Entergy Corp.’s White Bluff and Independence power plants near Pine Bluff and Newport. They rank among the dirtiest power plants in America, between them annually emitting 21 million tons of carbon dioxide, 50,000 tons of methane, 109,000 tons of nitrous oxide and acid and 60,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, the pollutants that poison lakes and forests, cause lung diseases like asthma, emphysema and cancer, and are the primary causes of climate change. The four generating units are nearing the end of their planned life and Entergy and state regulators must decide whether to shutter them, continue them and install expensive cleaning technology or retrofit them to burn abundant Arkansas natural gas instead of coal, or else replace them entirely with renewable solar and wind power. White Bluff and Independence CONTINUED ON PAGE 31 www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

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ack in 1957, when Donald Trump and I were both in middle school, I used to have this running argument with my grandfather, Bill Connors. A retired railroad worker and a drinking man, Pop lived in Elizabethport, N.J., a couple of blocks from where the tracks running down Broadway ended at the harbor. When visiting grandchildren proved too much for the old man, he’d retreat to his linoleum-floored front room and watch pro wrestling on his little blackand-white TV. As long as I’d keep still and fetch his beer, he’d let me stay. Sitting there with a spittoon at his feet and a cold one in his hand, Pop sometimes got agitated at the choreographed antics on the screen. See, like millions of Republicans seemingly enchanted by Donald Trump’s updated impersonation of Dr. Jerry Graham, the swaggering blonde super-villain of the old World Wide Wrestling Federation, the old man believed the contests were for real. If I wanted to keep watching — and I was already what Trump would call a HUGE fan of the Graham Brothers, Johnny Valentine, Ludwig von Krupp, and the other posturing bleached blonde villains of the era — I had to be careful how I acted. In his day, the old man had been a legendary brawler. “Grandpa,” I’d say, “you’ve been in fights. A guy gets slammed over the head with a chair, it’s over.” The old man would growl something about the cheating SOBs and the damn referees as if my smart-aleck attitude would spoil all the fun. Back home, my pals and I had constructed our own wrestling ring, and actually dyed our hair to impersonate our bombastic heroes. We worked on our Atomic Elbow Smashes, Flying Drop Kicks, and personalized submission holds. To us, WWWF wrestling was the most vivid thing on TV — totally unreal as an athletic event, but entirely dramatic in what it symbolized. See, quite like Trump’s presidential campaign, ’50s-style pro ’rassling was all about ethnicity and race. I’d bet anything that young Donald Trump was also a fan of the broadcasts from Sunnyside Gardens in Queens, quite close to his childhood home. He appears to

have adopted the entire Dr. Jerry Graham playbook as his signature style: the boasting, the strutting, GENE the insults and the LYONS elaborate pompadour, too! Graham was the WWWF showman of the era, masterful at inciting crowds. He’d enter the ring for a tag-team match in a sequined cape accompanied by a mouthy manager and his “brother” Eddie, another bleached-blonde poser. “I have the body that men fear and women adore,” Graham would say, posing with flexed biceps and his head thrown back haughtily. Never mind that he also had a watermelon belly and comparatively skinny legs to carry it on. The attitude was the thing. He exuded sheer superiority. Why losers like “Golden Boy” Arnie Skaaland even showed up was beyond Graham’s power to imagine. Billed on TV as “the Jewish Champ,” who the Golden Boy beat to earn that title was unclear. (Skaaland’s online biography indicates he was actually of Norwegian descent. So what? “Bobo Brazil” came from Little Rock; Hans Schmidt, “The Teuton Terror,” was really Guy Larose of Quebec.) Dr. Jerry Graham’s gimmick was that he supposedly had a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, which back then might as well have been on Saturn. See, also like Donald Trump, he was smarter than you. What kind of doctorate, an announcer once asked? “He’s a tree surgeon,” Graham’s manager said. Often on those Sunnyside Garden TV cards some more formidable opponent such as Antonino Rocca, the barefoot “Bull of the Pampas,” would be in the audience. Indignant at the Graham Brothers’ dirty tricks, Rocca would leap into the ring to defend their hapless opponents, whereupon the previously supine referee would spring into action, restraining the hero while the bad guys went to work with beer pitchers, blades concealed in their trunks, whatever. Theatrical blood flowed freely. However, if you wanted to see Antonino Rocca get his revenge, you had CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

Yellow Fever, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Cholera, Flu and Hookworm

Celebrate American Style ON 9/11

Wyeth

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FRIDAY, SEPT. 11, 2015

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119

Jamie Wyeth, Andy Warhol and Frank Lloyd Wright A Fascinating History of Arkansas’s 200 Year Battle Against Disease and Pestilence

This is a great history of Arkansas that tells how public attitudes toward medicine, politics and race have shaped the public health battle against deadly and debilitating disease in the state. From the illnesses that plagued the state’s earliest residents to the creation of what became the Arkansas Department of Health, Sam Taggart’s “The Public’s Health: A Narrative History of Health and Disease in Arkansas” tells the fascinating medical history of Arkansas. Published by the Arkansas Times.

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AUGUST 6, 2015

PEARLS ABOUT SWINE

Big questions

ugust. Finally. When the last seconds of Arkansas’s exceedingly dominant Texas Bowl victory over the Texas Longhorns ticked away just before 2014 went into the annals, the countdown to an otherwise undistinguished month commenced. No fan base has ever felt better about a six-loss squad that was about to lose three of its defensive anchors to the NFL Draft. The signs that the Razorbacks were reborn were abundant, strong and lasting. As we’ve done here in the past, we will break down the schedule over three ensuing columns. But this week, we ask five big questions about whether Arkansas genuinely is prepared to assert itself in the always-rigorous SEC West, some that hopefully haven’t been asked: 1. Does Taiwan Johnson take flight? Last fall, Darius Philon developed so much that he made an ill-advised leap to the pros. Johnson’s got that kind of playmaking ability on the defensive line, and he’s already been visible in that capacity. The problem now is that the opposing focus that may have been devoted to protecting quarterbacks from Trey Flowers’ speed rush is probably more geared toward softening the center of Arkansas’s imposing front with a power run game. We saw Missouri patiently stay with it until it paid dividends in a comeback win to cap the regular season, and it was also the central theme of the Hogs’ undisputed worst loss last year, the drubbing by Georgia in Little Rock. Johnson can be good for several fumbles forced and recovered, a few sacks, and several lost-yardage drive-killers if he builds on the reputation he well earned from mid-October forward. Among all of the talented contributors set to become All-SEC types this fall on the defensive side, he may have the highest ceiling. 2. Can Dan Enos’ play design make the team more potent without resulting in more mistakes? There’s no question that the Hogs earned their stripes last season by improving their once-miserable turnover ratio. But Jim Chaney had such curious play calls at such inopportune junctions that those strides ended up somewhat negligible in the end. Enter Enos, taking a step down from the head coaching ranks at Central Michigan to bring both stability and a sense of flair to an offense perceived as stodgy and grinding. Brandon Allen’s growth last year was evident in his lack of errors, but would the Hogs give up a few more picks here and there

in exchange for substantially more scores? No question. It wouldn’t be upsetting to see the senior throw double-digit BEAU interceptions if they WILCOX weren’t situationally crippling, and if he chucked 25-plus touchdowns. The belief is that the weapons, protection and maturity are all there for that to occur, but Enos cannot ask Allen to be too much, too quick. 3. Will Kody Walker shine in what seems like his 15th junior year? Walker came onto campus blocked by Roland Sales and Gary Anderson ... I kid, of course. But the starcrossed career of this young man and his unbelievable commitment in the face of all the injuries and various challenges brings him back for what will be the fifth of a sixyear stint in Fayetteville. Granted, he’s not going to get the touches that Alex Collins or Jonathan Williams command, but his piece in this offense is immensely vital. One, Walker catches the ball relatively well, certainly better than Collins, and he’s still a physical back despite a couple of harrowing, career-threatening collisions his first two years. Two, Korliss Marshall’s inability to stay clear of the doghouse means that the third back is Walker, no ifs or buts, and he’s got so much size and open-field skill that he cannot be overlooked. But third and perhaps most importantly, he’s the third back in a system overseen by Bret Bielema, who has arguably gotten more literal mileage out of the No. 3 running back than any other coach in the country the past decade. If Walker is good for 20 to 25 catches and about 100 carries as a change-of-pace guy, he softens the inevitable blow of losing Williams and perhaps Collins come April. 4. Are the special teams taking a step forward? Adam McFain solved an apparent placekicking crisis last fall, and though Aussie punter Sam Irwin-Hill took his big leg and fake-punt dramatics elsewhere, Blake Johnson comes in with excellent credentials as a likely replacement. The return game will miss Marshall’s burst but maybe improve by way of that subtraction due to the week-on, week-off mystery that shrouded his status once he and Bielema started their eventually irreparable head-butting. Jared Cornelius looks like a potential gem in the return game with his build and his discipline. He did a lot to impress late last fall, and if he isn’t Joe Adams, it’s no sin whatsoever. The big play can remain the domain of the tailbacks and tight ends, so long as they get the chance to take the CONTINUED ON PAGE 31

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

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The Broom Man

Deputy Observer wrote in recently to tell us about his recent conversations with Melvin Pickens, the famous “Broom Man” who walked the streets of Little Rock for at least 40 years with a bundle of brooms and mops over his shoulder, selling them to whoever wanted one. He’s been featured on the “CBS Evening News” and in most every local publication, including this one. Mr. Pickens, we hear, is currently in a rehab facility down on Markham after a stay in the hospital. Our deputy’s dispatch from the scene continues as follows: “I stopped by and visited with Melvin today and he was in good spirits and he loved having the opportunity to visit. Melvin has grown a mustache and it looks like he is starting a beard. “I know many of your readers are friends of Melvin. By the way, for some reason many people have told me that Melvin is approaching 90 years old, but they are way off. The way I remember his age is that he told me that he was in the 10th grade at Henry Clay Yerger High in Hope in 1947 when Jackie Robinson became a Brooklyn Dodger. That is the reason he is still a Dodger fan today. Melvin was born on July 14, 1932, and he just turned 83. “A third party told me a story about the recently departed Buddy Sutton that might interest your readers. Buddy ate often at Ozark Country Restaurant on Keightly Drive. That was one of Melvin’s regular stops. One day about 10 years ago, Melvin asked Buddy if he wanted to buy a broom and Buddy replied: “I got a deal for you and this is it. I will buy all of your inventory once a year and I will put it down on my calendar if we just greet each other the other days of the year.” Melvin agreed and went and got his total inventory of brooms and mops and Buddy wrote a check for several hundred dollars to Melvin that day and he continued to do so once a year until Buddy’s recent death.” A quaint, old-fashioned kind of story,

then, about brooms and sales and the ever-blossoming need for friendship. Still, we wonder what Sutton did with all those mops and brooms. *** The Observer came home from work on Monday afternoon to find The Observatory hot enough to grow a sizeable crop of medicinal ganja inside, the air conditioner by the back stoop having mysteriously gone on strike. In early August, the relief of September still a mirage shimmering at the edge of a month’s worth of 90-plus-degree days, these are the times that try Observers’ souls. We are ashamed, in our old age, at how dependent we’ve become on all this cooled and conditioned air. As you know by now if you’ve watched this space for a while, The Observer was one of the last Arkansas lads to grow up in a non-air-conditioned house, way out in the boondocks of Saline County. Paw was a roofer, you see, and had concocted the idea somewhere along the way that sleeping cold and working hot was a good way to get laid smooth out by heatstroke, a dangerous thing when one is 20 or 30 feet in the air. We know living without AC it’s possible, somehow, because we survived it. What’s more, we don’t recall it being all that terrible, except on the nights when the cat knocked the screen off the window and we woke to find our bed covered in dismembered junebugs, minced by the whirling blades of the box fan on the sill. Where has that contented child of the summer gone? We wondered as much last night when The Observatory was a sauna, all her lovely windows painted shut — The Observer and Spouse to bed at midnight, the Old Man of the manse up at 3, to sulk in the convection oven living room, waiting on the air conditioner repair man, sleeping somewhere in his own chilly house. We are no longer the tanned boy who took it all in stride, The Observer thought, dabbing sweat. Gone conditioned, like the rest of the world. Lost to comfort, and semi-glad for it.

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30th Annual Arkansas Book & Paper Show August 8-9, 2015

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AUGUST 6, 2015

Arkansas Reporter

THE

IN S IDE R

Reliable sources say that Chief Justice Jim Hannah will retire Sept. 1, on account of health problems that have slowed him in recent weeks. The Supreme Court is in its customary summer recess, when justices are rarely in chambers. Hannah has been vacationing with his family, but friends have learned of his decision. Hannah, previously a trial court judge, joined the Supreme Court in 2001 and became chief justice in 2005. His current term expires at the end of 2016. His seat will be on the ballot next year, but Hannah wasn’t expected to run because he turns 70 before the term ends. Under current law, a judge who is elected to another term after turning 70 forfeits judicial retirement. That law is under challenge in a pending lawsuit, but its future, including when it might be decided, is uncertain. Justice Paul Danielson has already announced he’ll retire and not seek another term in 2016 because of the law. Hannah is soft-spoken, if a strong advocate for his legal views with sharp political and people skills that elevated him to the state’s highest court. He has, however, seen the chief justice’s traditional administrative prerogatives usurped by what is now a functioning controlling administrative bloc that typically includes Justices Courtney Goodson, Jo Hart, Karen Baker and Rhonda Wood. The infighting blocked his choice for clerk of the Supreme Court after the retirement of Les Steen. That bloc also recently pushed through some big pay raises for their staff over the objections of Hannah and Danielson, who favored a fairer apportionment of available money among all staff. One of Baker’s clerks, for example, got a 36 percent raise. Most state employees got 1 percent raises this year. Hannah also objected to this bloc’s scheming to change which justices voted on the same-sex marriage case, maneuvers that prompted Hannah to recuse from a derivative case that he called a delaying tactic. Despite being expedited, the Supreme Court never issued a decision in the case in eight months and then dismissed it without an opinion after the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling. Gov. Asa Hutchinson will appoint someone to the seat until the 2016 election, where Courtney Goodson now has clear sailing for her plans to run for chief justice. She hasn’t announced, but has been making plans for months. No one else has indicated a public intention to 12

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

Loaded down Why DCFS, children, need more caseworkers. BY KATHY KELLY

little over two years. She “hated” the job. “I never really got to do quality work, so much as quantity. I was just going through a checklist of minimum requirements, like the case plan. I had an average between 30 and 34, constantly. Occasionally it may drop down to 28, maybe, then it was right back up.” “The harsh reality of it is, when you start to get overworked, where do you cut short? You stop looking into cases that on the surface may look stable,” because you know you have others coming in, Harvey said. “It’s a pattern you quickly get into, and it becomes not what I want or need to do, but what I have to do just to meet my bottom-line goals.” Harvey gave an example of a worker taking a shortcut: “I was secondary on a case out of Pulaski County one time; the kid was a college kid. I read in the file that there were two kids. I went to see the kid and asked him where his younger brother was, and the kid just gave me a shocked look. It turns out his brother died a few years before from drowning.” But the primary caseworker’s records indicated the caseworker had made regular contact and visitation with the younger brother. Some of the 10 areas of the state into which DCFS divides its work do reach the recommended caseloads every once in a while, but even then such numbers may mask the extent of the problem. A supervisor of one such area, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Every once in a while we do get our caseload down to where it is supposed to be, 12 or 15. But it is still hard. You may have 12 to 15 cases, but you have 40 kids [among them]. Our cases are lower than they have been right now, around 21 to 23, and supervisors and caseworkers in other parts of the area are upset because they think ours are so low. What they don’t realize is we have cases ... that have five kids under one case.” In addition to diminishing the quality of child welfare work, high caseloads also contribute to high turnover among staff. “I didn’t want anything like a child death on my watch, because you have so much [work] you can’t keep up,” said Danielle

ov. Asa Hutchinson announced in July a plan to spend $8 million over the next three years to address the state’s child welfare needs by hiring more employees at the state Department of Human Services. Hutchinson’s proposal followed a review of the Department’s Division of Children and Family Services by Paul Vin- CONSULTANT REPORTS: Paul Vincent, flanked by cent, director of the nonprofit Gov. Asa Hutchinson and DHS director John Selig. Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group out of Alabama. The review DCFS Director Cecile Blucker said, “I followed reporting in the Arkansas Times would need a staff of 601 and 391 [purely] regarding the issue of rehoming — when case-carrying staff.” The 400 or so famadoptive parents give away their child to ily service workers on staff now include the care of another individual. both caseworkers and investigators. Short Vincent made 11 recommendations, staffing “does impact our ability to maybe be better than we could be,”she said. As a including a reduction in workload on DCFS caseworkers. Vincent found that those result of Vincent’s report, DHS is workworkers handle on average 29 cases. The ing now to determine what hires will be nationally recognized standard is 15. needed to lessen the workload on indi“That is a strain on the caseworkers, it viduals; it could be that some of the state leads to increased turnover, it leads to bad dollars will go to administrative staff to morale, it leads to bad decisions and bad help caseworkers with paperwork or that performance,” Hutchinson said at a press the dollars will go to increasing the caseconference in July about Vincent’s review. worker numbers, agency spokesperson DCFS caseworkers work with children Amy Webb said. in family homes, group homes, behavioral DCFS caseworkers both investigate and health care facilities and foster care when provide case plans for children the agency allegations of maltreatment — which can has determined need protection. Each case range from educational neglect to abuse has its own dynamics. For example, it may require the caseworker to spend time in — have been found to be true. When casecourt. If a caseworker has 40 cases, the one workers are overburdened, children suffer. In Arkansas, in 63 of the state’s 75 counin court tends to take priority; the other 39 ties, DCFS consistently records caseloads will be placed on the back burner. “Foster care and court cases take priorabove the recommended standard, with ity because you have a judge to answer to, Hot Spring County averaging the highest and you will be held responsible if some— 79 per worker. Other counties where thing goes wrong or something isn’t done,” DCFS caseloads are grossly in excess of the national standard are Cross (68), Dallas said a former caseworker who left last year (51), Saline (53) and Sevier (55). The figures after 13 years on the job because of burnout. She spoke on condition of come from a DCFS quarterly performance CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 anonymity. report that examines data from Jan. 1, 2015 through March 31, 2015. Michelle Harvey is a “If I applied the kind of cases that we licensed independent psychocurrently have today, and I applied the logical examiner in Benton who an Arkansas Times recommended caseload standards to those,” was a DCFS caseworker for a special investigation BRIAN CHILSON

Chief justice to retire

CHILDREN IN CRISIS:

THE

BIG

In the public eye

Architects inaugurate People’s Choice Award.

PICTURE

Arkansas architects have for years selected their colleagues’ work for design awards presented at the annual AIA Arkansas convention. This year, the Arkansas chapter of the American Institute of Architects is letting the public have its say on Arkansas architecture, with the inaugural People’s Choice Award online contest. The 32 projects up for awards include private homes, schools, churches, offices, museums and an athletic field entry and are the same projects that members of the AIA Arkansas will vote on. When the results are announced Oct. 16, voters from the public arena will be able to see how their choices match up with the professionals, who award Merit, Honor and Member’s Choice prizes. The People’s Choice Award page on the AIA website (aiaar. org) includes images of each project (some of which are still on the drawing board, rather than completed). Click on the images to see more pictures and information on the projects. You won’t see the architectural firms named, but you will see floor plans, extra images and a statement about the project’s mission. The projects, as they are named by the AIA, include the

‘THE MOOD RING HOUSE’: A live-work space near the town center of Fayetteville.

‘MID-AMERICAN SCIENCE MUSEUM’: A redo adds this science skywalk to the Hot Springs museum.

Pinnacle Springs One building in Rogers; a fine and performing arts building for Pulaski Technical College; the Werner Carriage House in Fayetteville; One Eleven restaurant at the Capital Hotel; Ferncliff Camp Pool and Pavilion; the HFA building in Bentonville; the University of Arkansas Track and Field Walk of Fame; the Burton Residence in Hot Springs Village; University of Arkansas housing; the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum; Janie Darr Elementary School in Rogers; the Park Hill Pop Up in the Rock; the state Highway and Transportation Department’s public transit office; Elite Eyecare & Optical in Jonesboro; the Srygley Pool House in Fayetteville; the Arkansas’ Best Street design for a walkable town center in tornado-damaged Mayflower; the Walmart AMP; the Mid-America Science Museum; the Philander Smith Student Center; the Modern Heights Home; the Arkansas State University System office; Oven & Tap restaurant in Bentonville; the Belle Grove Community Center; Bentonville Arts and Market Districts; the UREC Fitness Center at the UA; All Saints Episcopal Church in Bentonville; the UA-Pine Bluff STEM Building; the Cardinal multifamily collegiate housing in Fayetteville; Elkins High School; the Mood Ring House in Fayetteville; and the Arkansas School for Math, Sciences and the Arts. How to choose? It won’t be easy, but it will be fun. Deadline to vote is midnight Aug. 31.

OVEN & TAP RESTAURANT: In Bentonville.

‘ARKANSAS’ BEST STREET’: A design for a new town center in Mayflower.

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Tune in to the Times’ “Week In Review” podcast each Friday. Available on iTunes & arktimes.com

INSIDER, CONT. make the race. Many fear Hutchinson will appoint Circuit Judge Shawn Womack, the former Republican senator from Mountain Home, to chief justice in the interim Womack is best known for his laughable statement that judges were entitled to a huge pay raise because of equal protection with judges in other states. He’s also a dedicated anti-gay figure who wanted to recriminalize homosexual acts and prevent gay people from adopting children, much less marrying. Hutchinson appointed Womack among a threesome of Republicans that delivered — over Hannah’s objections — a vote in a procedural case on who should hear the same-sex marriage case. Hutchinson’s Republican appointees said Republican Justice Rhonda Wood should get the vote, not the special justice who’d been appointed to the case in 2014 by Gov. Mike Beebe. The title of chief justice would aid Womack in his race for retiring Justice Danielson’s seat. He currently has no announced opposition and has been making frequent public appearances with Republican politicians to make it clear to voters where his allegiances lie. The people of Arkansas will miss Jim Hannah. He might not miss the current court.

Goodson still an Arkie The political community has been buzzing since an Arkansas DemocratGazette article Friday that said lawyer John Goodson, a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees and husband of state Supreme Court Justice Courtney Goodson, was opening a Washington, D.C., lobbying office. The article said Goodson intended to commute often to Little Rock, where the Texarkana native owns a home. We asked Goodson whether he intended to remain a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees. He replied by email, “I hope to continue my trustee work.” He said he would not be “moving” to D.C. He also said that rules would require that he disclose lobby clients, unlike in a law practice, where he may keep clients confidential. More will be developed in the days to come as his firm takes shape. His work in class action, patent and securities work, plus his significant contributions to political candidates and parties and his wife’s reported plans to seek the seat of chief justice on the Supreme Court all put him in the public eye. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

Floating the Fourche Look beyond the trash to see its beauty. BY JERRY BUTLER

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

is the primary watershed for the city. It has great natural beauty and profound trashiness. The not-too-distant whine of interstate traffic is always in the ear of those who float down the Fourche, but the canopy of cypress forest along its banks allows the song of the faintest warbler to be heard over the din. Few humans are seen along the Fourche, though people are all around. Much wildlife is seen on the Fourche — more than you would ever expect to see inside the city limits. Fourche Creek is in the very shadow of the commercial center of Arkansas, but commerce no longer attempts to capitalize on its monetary potential. Much of the property along the banks of the Fourche has been publically owned for years, but only recently

“Fourche Bottoms,” as the area surrounding Fourche Creek is sometimes called, is an ancient forest set in an asphalt jungle.

an old growth forest of tupelo, cypress and mixed hardwoods. That forest is as large as 79,000 football fields. I floated Fourche Creek with my friend Gary Hickerson in a two-man fishing boat made of hard plastic. It was equipped with comfortable chairs and powered by a small electric trolling motor. Hickerson is a retired microbiologist who lives in Searcy and has a keen interest in nature and outdoor adventure. We did not intend to float the entire creek, but after the first day we had enjoyed it so much we were curious to see what was beyond the next bend. We ended up floating for five days in the span of a month. Others who float the Fourche have done so in canoes, kayaks and john-

JERRY BUTLER

ourche Creek was to me what the Mississippi River was to Huck Finn: a place to escape, enjoy the freedom of the outdoors, and learn about the world. Like other children who grew up in Little Rock in the 1940s, Fourche Creek with its tributaries was our playground, especially for kids who lived south of Asher Avenue. We swam there in deep pools we called “holes.” Those holes had names that stick in my mind: Sibleyhole, Hooverhole and Recoyhole. Occasionally we swam in these pools with other children whose skin was a different color than our own. One “hole” had a bag swing where the daring could swing out and drop into the water — but I was called “skeeredy cat.” We hunted, fished, caught crawdads, skipped rocks, gigged frogs, played cowboys and Indians and explored the deep woods along Fourche Creek. My grandfather and his brothers once had a dairy farm there. Our neighbors — the Boyds, Terrys and Colemans — ran dairies, too. All our cows drank from the same water and sometime they drowned in Fourche Creek because the area was prone to flooding. Fourche Creek was not just our playground; it was tied to our livelihood. When I became a man, I put away my foolishness on the Fourche and found adventure on other streams. In 1965 a friend and I built a raft from plywood, 2-by-6s, and a dozen 55-gallon drums. We floated that raft from Grand Tower, Ill., to Wycliffe, Ky., an eight-day, 92-mile trip down the Mississippi. I’ve canoed the Buffalo National River at least 20 times; once I went down it in an inner-tube. I’ve kayaked, canoed or used a johnboat for jaunts down the Spring, Cossatot, Ouachita, Saline, White, Little Red, Fourche La Fave and Caddo rivers in Arkansas and the Current River in Missouri. I’ve ridden a rubber raft in big-time white water on both the Snake River and the Yellowstone. I’ve airboated the Everglades, motor-boated the Rio Grande and dinner-cruised the San Antonio River. However, none of these adventures was as captivating and curious to me as the “back-to-my-roots” float I made through urban Little Rock for five days on Fourche Creek in April and May. Fourche Creek is a paradox. Its name is taken from the French for “fork” but locals drop the “r” and pronounce the name so that it rhymes with “bush” or occasionally “douche.” It is a stream that many longtime residents of Little Rock do not even know exists, though it

LILIES OF THE CREEK: Spider lilies grow along the banks of the Fourche.

has there been civic interest in developing the Fourche beyond locating parks within its floodplain. “Fourche Bottoms,” as the area surrounding Fourche Creek is sometimes called, is an ancient forest set in an asphalt jungle. Fourche Creek has its source near Lawson Road in Southwest Little Rock and is navigable by canoe for at least 22 miles. It flows generally in an eastward direction and empties into the Arkansas River southeast of the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. Its serpentine path takes it under bridges at Stagecoach Road, Otter Creek Road, Baseline Road, Interstate 430, University Avenue, Mabelvale Pike, I-30, Missouri Pacific Railway near the State Fairgrounds, Arch Street Pike, Springer Boulevard, I-440 (three times), Lindsey Road, Bankhead Drive, numerous electrical transmission lines and three large gas pipelines. Along its banks is

boats. We decided against those kinds of boats because ours was very comfortable to sit in for long periods of time. Its double-keel reduced the possibility of tipping over, and it provided us a hands-free way to take photographs and look at birds through binoculars. We took paddles to steer the boat and keep it in the current in places where the water was too shallow for the motor. The trolling motor was used primarily in places where the creek was wide and the current was gentle. Our boat also had the advantage of being very light. On numerous occasions we were able to lift it over logs, cypress knee fences that span the entire width of the creek, or portage for short distances. To float the entire length of the Fourche requires that the traveler float the upper spans of the river shortly after there has been abundant rain and the lower stretches when the water is not www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

JERRY BUTLER

In addition to the trees, small dense cane brakes of native bamboo — which have been destroyed along many Arkansas waterways — regularly grow, a testament to Fourche’s natural botanical history.

AN ENDANGERED SPECIES: An alligator snapper lays her eggs in Fourche Bottoms.

FEEDING IN THE MUD: A spotted sandpiper, a migrator

at flood stage. Water conditions and weather this spring made it impossible for us to float on consecutive days or in sequential segments of the creek. We floated middle portions the first two days, then we floated two upper sections, and on the last day we floated the lower six miles to near where the Fourche empties into the Arkansas River. We did not see another person on the creek for the entire trip except at our “take out” spots.

at Benny Craig are not maintained, the debris overwhelms them. If you squint your eyes to obscure the bottles, washing machines and beer cans, you can see in your mind’s eye how beautiful this area would be if a thousand volunteers would descend on the creek and pick things up for a day or two. It could stay that way, if half a million people would quit abusing storm drains and stop dumping in Fourche Bottoms. We only had to portage twice in this 5-mile, six-hour float, once over a log and another time over a gas pipe. • Launch at Benny Craig Park and float to Interstate Park. If you can only float one section of Fourche Creek, this is the one to choose. It probably has enough water even in midsummer to accommodate a canoe, and concrete boat ramps are at both ends. The surroundings are gorgeous on this section and much of the floating debris from upstream of Benny Craig Park is captured by a floating boom. A group called Friends of Fourche Creek has focused much of its cleanup efforts on this section, and the group’s good work is apparent. After floating this section you will want to sample the others. There is a pipeline and a brushy logjam that will require two short portages. We traveled these 4.4 miles in seven hours. • Launch at Interstate Park and float to Remmel Park. This section of the creek has some of the largest and oldest cypress trees in Fourche Bottoms, and on this stretch the creek runs through three or four lakes so that the creek channel is obscured. In other portions the creek runs directly under I-440 so that the massive concrete piers that support the road and its ramps are planted in the creek bed. The creek has been channelized for about a half mile as it flows along

Day floats

Five manageable daylong floats can be made on these sections of the creek:

• Launch from the north side of the bridge on Stagecoach Road west of Otter Creek Park and take out near I-430. The upper portion of this 4-mile section has the clearest water you will see on the creek, and there is little of the trash you will find in abundance later on. This section also has washed gravel shoals that are easy to stop on for a rest or snack without getting muddy. After passing under Baseline Road, however, the number of logs blocking your passage increases. Water level determines the number of logs a boat has to be pulled over or can be floated under. We had to get out of the boat for short portages 11 times on this section and the trip took seven-and-a-half hours. • Launch near I-430 one mile south of the Stagecoach Road exit and take out above the low-water bridge in Hindman Park. This portion of the creek is the most isolated and maybe the most scenic, but steep banks make this launch a bit dicey. The clear water seen earlier becomes cloudy on this stretch. It passes under no roads. The elevation 16

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

of the land drops a good deal on this section and there are a few mild whitewater rapids. We had to get out of the boat to portage over logs or cypress knee fences only seven times on this 4-mile, six-hour float. • Launch below the low-water bridge at Hindman Park and take out at Benny Craig Park. This section of the creek receives the waters from other tributaries, including Rock Creek and Coleman Creek, which turn the color of the water to coffee with cream. The stream widens and navigation is easier, but there is still enough current to allow you to drift without paddling so as to enjoy abundant wildlife. These tributaries receive an inordinate amount of trash that washes into the Fourche through the stormwater system of Little Rock from as far north as Cantrell Road. Flotsam is debris that floats on top of the water after a shipwreck, or it is just trash on the water. In this case the shipwreck has been the careless littering in neighborhoods all over the city of Little Rock. Fourche Creek has thousands of Styrofoam cups, soda cans, children’s toys and whiskey bottles that have been swept through the storm drains of Little Rock into its stream. Car tires, washing machines, old roofing and even a piano were dumped directly into the creek. Much of that trash collects on the banks during periods of flooding and lodges itself among the bushes, reeds and trees. On a recent boat trip down a 3-mile stretch of the creek, a pair of boaters retrieved 22 balls that had washed down the creek, mostly basketballs, but footballs and soccer balls, also. In less than 20 minutes they filled their boat with six trash bags of the flotsam to dispose in a dumpster. If the floating booms

Savor the specials. Only in August. CHECK THESE LISTINGS THROUGHOUT AUGUST OR VISIT DINELR.COM FOR WEEKLY SPECIALS B = BREAKFAST • L = LUNCH • D = DINNER • AD = ALL DAY

LittleRock.com

FREE DELIVERY with coupon code

“RestMonth” in the amount of $4.95 chefshuttle.com One coupon per customer. Expires 8/31/15

4 SQUARE CAFE & GIFTS

AFTERTHOUGHT BISTRO & BAR ALL ABOARD RESTAURANT & GRILL AMERICAN PIE PIZZA

1620 SAVOY

Crispy wings with candy ginger glaze $7. (D)

1620 Market St. 221-1620 1620Savoy.com

ANOTHER ROUND PUB

405 Pres. Clinton Ave. 244-2622 4SquareGifts.com

Three-course meal $25. Soup or salad, an entrée, any dessert. Dining room only. (D) 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 663-1196 AfterthoughtBistroAndBar.com

Half-price “lil” engineer meals. Donating 1% of Restaurant Month sales to Potluck and Easter Seals Arkansas charities. (LD) 6813 Cantrell Rd. 975-7401 All-AboardRestaurant.com

Free slice of cheesecake with purchase of 14” pizza. (LD) 10912 Colonel Glenn Rd.

$7.95 ultimate two person nachos. $11.95 salsa, cheese dip and guac with chips. $6.95 black bean burger sliders (no meat). Daily drink specials are offered. (LD) 12111 West Markham 313-2612 AnotherRoundPub.com

ARKANSAS BURGER CO.

@ THE CORNER

A.W. LIN’S

BAR LOUIE Half-price Bruschetta Pomodoro: tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan crostinis. Not valid with other offers. (LD)

BEST IMPRESSIONS RESTAURANT 10% off daily special. Tomato and bacon grilled cheese with pesto. 501 E. 9th St. 907-5946 BestImpressionsRestaurant.com

BOBBY’S COUNTRY COOKIN’

BOOKENDS CAFÉ

Free cake truffle with sandwich purchase. (LD)

$2 off any platter. (LD) 7410 Cantrell Rd. 663-0600 ArkansasBurgerCompany.com

BIG ORANGE

Burger’wich Week, Mon-Wed - free cheese dip when you order any Burger’wich. Must say “Savor the City” to redeem your offer. Limit one per day, one offer per guest. (L) 17809 Chenal Pkwy, Ste. G-101, 821-1515 207 N. University Ave., Ste. 100, 379-8715 BigOrangeBurger.com

15% off any breakfast entrée. (B) 201 E. Markham St. 400-8458 thecornerlr.com

BIG WHISKEY’S

$2 off any burger. (LD) 225 E. Markham St. 324-2449 Facebook.com/BigWhiskeysLittleRock

BOSTON’S RESTAURANT & SPORTS BAR

BOULEVARD BREAD CO.

valid with any other discount. (LD) 3201 Bankhead Dr. 235-2000 Bostons.com

1920 N. Grant St. 663-5951 BoulevardBread.com

CAFÉ BOSSA NOVA

CAFÉ BRUNELLE Tagliatelle Primavera $9.99 (LD) 17819 Chenal Pkwy. 448-2687 CafeBrunelle.com

CANTINA CINCO DE MAYO

CANTINA LAREDO

Free frites or pimento cheese appetizer with purchase of dinner Free appetizer with any entrée purchase. Dine-in only. $10 max value. Not entrée. Dinner Only. (D)

Get a free appetizer with the purchase of any 2 daily specials or dinner entrées. (LD) 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. 614-6682 CafeBossaNova.com

One free cheese dip or guacamole with entrée purchase. Buy two dinners and two drinks, get $5 off. Mariachi band every other Sunday! (LD) 25 Rahling Circle 821-2740 CantinaCincoDeMayoLR.com

COMMUNITY BAKERY

Free cookie with your choice of any purchase. (BLD) Downtown: 1200 Main St. 375-7105 WLR: 270 S. Shackleford Rd. 224-1656 CommunityBakery.com

CRAZEE’S CAFÉ

$1 off any appetizer. (D) 7626 Cantrell Rd. 221-9696 CrazeesCafe.net

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LITTLE ROCK CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

Special Restaurant Month menu - Three-courses for $17.99 per person. 207 N. University Ave., Suite 130 280-0407 CantinaLaredo.com

Buy one sushi special, get second one of equal or lesser value for Half-price. (LD) 17717 Chenal Pkwy., Ste. 101 821-5398 AWLins.com

BLACK ANGUS

Two Hamburger Steak Dinners $13. Includes hamburger steak, baked potato or fries, salad and bread. $1 off #4 Salad Burger Combo. (D) 10907 N. Rodney Parham Rd. 228-7800 BlackAngusCafe.com

225-1900 AmericanPiePizza.net

Pleasant Ridge Town Center 11525 Cantrell Rd., 228-0444 BarLouieAmerica.com

$1 off dinner and a drink. Mon and Fri only. (L) 301 N. Shackleford Rd., Ste. E-1 224-9500 BobbysCountryCookin.com

(MAIN LIBRARY CAMPUS)

Hot French Dip sandwich, potato salad and canned soda $7.75. (L)

120 River Market Blvd. 918-3091 CALS.org/about/locations/cox.aspx

CACHE RESTAURANT & LOUNGE

CAFÉ 201 (CROWNE PLAZA)

CAFÉ @ HEIFER

CAJUN’S WHARF

CAMP DAVID RESTAURANT (HOLIDAY INN PRESIDENTIAL) Buy two entrées, get an appetizer for Half-price. Dine in only. (BLD) 600 I-30 and 6th St. 975-CAMP(2267) HIPresidential.com/Dining/campdavidrestaurant

CAPERS

CAPITOL SMOKEHOUSE & GRILL

CIAO BACI

10% off any plate lunch. (L) 915 W. Capitol Ave. 372-4227 CapitolSmokehouseAndGrill.com

Early Bird Special: Three-course dinner for $25 from 5-7pm – will change weekly. (D) 605 N. Beechwood St. 603-0238 CiaoBaci.org

THE BUTCHER SHOP

Half-price drinks and appetizers 5-7pm Mon-Fri, bar area only. (D) 10825 Hermitage Rd. 312-2748 TheButcherShopLittleRock.com

Half sandwich, side and drink $5.99. (L) 1 World Ave. (Heifer Village) 907-8801 Heifer.org

$30 Prix Fixe 3-course restaurant month menu. (LD) 14502 Cantrell Rd. 868-7600 CapersRestaurant.com

Free dessert with entrée purchase and a special bar snack with drink purchase during happy hour 4-6pm. (D) 425 Pres. Clinton Ave. 850-0265 CacheLittleRock.com $33 Prix Fixe 3-course restaurant month menu. (LD) 2400 Cantrell Rd. 375-5351 CajunsWharf.com

Buy one entrée, get one free. Equal or lesser value. (LD) 201 S. Shackelford Rd. 223-3000 CrownePlazaLittleRock.com

COPELAND’S

COPPER GRILL

CORKY’S RIBS & BBQ

COTIJA’S MEXICAN GRILL

DAMGOODE PIES

DAVE’S PLACE

DEMPSEY BAKERY

DIANE’S GOURMET

Half-off Al’s Cajun Popcorn Shrimp or Bayou Broccoli with entrée purchase. (LD) 2602 S. Shackleford Rd. 312-1616 copelandsrestaurantlittlerock.com

Half-price appetizers. (LD) 6706 Cantrell Rd. 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. 500 Pres. Clinton Ave. 10720 N. Rodney Parham Rd. 664-2239 DGPies.com

$15 Prix Fixe 2-course restaurant month lunch menu. (L) $30 Prix Fixe 3-course restaurant month dinner menu. (D) 300 E. 3rd St. # 101 375-3333 CopperGrillLR.com

Buffalo chicken salad - romaine lettuce, celery, apple, croutons, blue cheese dressing, with buffalo chicken $7. (L) 210 Center St. 372-3283 DavesPlaceRestaurant.com

$1 off Cajun shrimp dinner. (LD) 12005 Westhaven Dr. 954-7427(RIBS) CorkysBBQ.com/location/littlerock

Free sugar cookie with lunch purchase. (L) 323 S. Cross St. 375-2257 DempseyBakery.com

Free small cheese dip with the purchase of an entrée. (L) 406 S. Louisiana St. 371-0733 Find us on Facebook

Buy three casseroles and get one free, same size and price. (L) 11121 N. Rodney Parham Rd. 224-2639 Dianes-Gourmet.com

DOE’S EAT PLACE

One free dessert with steak purchase. Limited to one per table. (LD) 1023 W. Markham St. 376-1195 DoesEatPlace.net

DOUBLETREE PLAZA BAR & GRILLE

FLYING FISH

Crab Cake Sandwich. Seared jumbo lump crab meat and our Cajun spiced rémoulade on a brioche bun $10. (L) 1023 W. Markham St., 372-4371 Doubletree3.Hilton.com

EMBASSY SUITES ATHLETIC CLUB BAR & GRILL Your choice of a free dessert with purchase of the Tavern Burger. 11301 Financial Centre Pkwy. 312-9000 ext. 2033

FRANKE’S CAFETERIA

GARDEN SMOOTHIE

GREEN LEAF GRILL

HEIGHTS TACO & TAMALE CO.

HILLCREST ARTISAN MEATS

Free salsa trio with entrée purchase 2:30-5:30pm. 5805 Kavanaugh Blvd. 313-4848

$1 off any sandwich purchase. (LD) 2807 Kavanaugh Blvd., Ste. B 671-6328 Facebook.com/HillcrestArtisanMeats

LARRY’S PIZZA DOWNTOWN

Purchase one entrée, receive a small salad or one vegetable for free. (LD) Market Place Shopping Center 11121 N. Rodney Parham, 225-4487 Regions Center Building 400 Broadway • 372-1919 FrankesCafeteria.com

Hot boiled shrimp 1 lb. $16.99. (LD) 511 Pres. Clinton Ave. 375-3474 FlyingFishInThe.net

THE FOLD

Free queso with purchase of three taco plate. (LD) 3501 Old Cantrell Rd. 916-9706 TheFoldLR.com

River Market Ottenheimer Hall

Fish Market! Try a fish option at any station, receive a super fruit fresca for free. (L) 601 S. Gaines St. 818-0166

IRIANA’S PIZZA

J. GUMBO’S

JACKIE’S MOBILE CAFÉ

KILWINS

Buy one slice of fudge, get the second one free. 415 Pres. Clinton Ave. 379-9865 Kilwins.com

50¢ oven-roasted wings. Offered in Naked, Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo, Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ, Sweet Red Chili or Teriyaki. Choice of ranch or blue cheese dressing. Dine-in or carry-out. Six wings minimum order, no maximum limit. (LD) 1122 S. Center St., 372-6004 LarrysPizzaOfArkansas.com

LAS PALMAS III

LAYLA’S GYROS AND PIZZERIA

THE LOBLOLLY CREAMERY

LOCAL LIME

LOST FORTY BREWING

Gyro sandwich, french fries and drink $7.50. (LD) 6100 Stones Dr., 868-8226 9501 N. Rodney Parham, 227-7272 LaylasGyro.com

INSIDE THE GREEN CORNER STORE & SODA FOUNTAIN Purchase our summer combo: one small waffle cone + any handcrafted soda, limeade or lemonade and get 50¢ off. (AD) 1423 S. Main St., 374-1111 LoblollyCreamery.com

MEXICO CHIQUITO

MIDTOWN BILLIARDS

OLD MILL BREAD

THE OYSTER BAR

THE PANTRY & PANTRY CREST

PAXTON’S PIZZA

PONCHITOS MEXICAN GRILL

POTBELLY SANDWICH SHOP

THE PURPLE COW

RADUNO BRICK OVEN & BARROOM

15% off any whole pizza (LD). 201 E. Markham St. 374-3656 IrianasPizza.com

Buy one combo #1-15 and get one of equal or lesser value at 25% off. (LD) 10402 Stagecoach Rd. 455-8500 LasPalmasArkansas.com

Two drinks, one appetizer, two entrées $15.99. (LD) 13924 Cantrell Rd. 217-0700 MexicoChiquito.net

Medium Supreme $2 off. $12.99 + tax. (LD) 13420 Otter Creek Pkwy. 455-4242 Facebook.com/OCPizza

Half-off fresh fruit smoothie with the purchase of sandwich or wrap. (L) 400 Pres. Clinton Ave. 244-9964

Cajun wrap, chips and fountain drink $7. Reg. $9.35. (LD) 12911 Cantrell Rd. 916-9635 JGumbos.com

Maggie’s turkey salad sandwich weekend special $5.50 during happy hour, Sat & Sun 3-8pm. (LD) 1316 Main St. 372-9990 MidTownAR.com Purchase two entrées and receive free queso. (LD) 10901 N Rodney Parham Rd. 246-5282 Facebook.com/PonchitosMexicanGrill

15% off any fish dinner. Excludes one piece fish. (LD) 838-6167 facebook.com/JackiesMobileCafe

$1 off when you buy from our new Grab and Go Sandwich and Deli Station. (LD) 12111 W. Markham, Ste. 366 228-4677 OldMillBread.com Free cookie with sandwich purchase. (LD) 314 S. University Ave., Ste 160 660-4441 PotBelly.com

Lunch Pronto, Mon-Thurs - Free guacamole with Pronto Plate purchase. Must say “Savor the City” to redeem your offer. (L) 17815 Chenal Pkwy. 448-2226 LocalLimeTaco.com $2 off one lb. shrimp. $1 off half lb. shrimp. (LD) 3003 W. Markham St. 666-7100 LROysterBar.com

$2 off milkshake (excludes alcohol). Must say “Savor the City” to redeem your offer. (LD) 8026 Cantrell Rd., 221-3555 11602 Chenal Pkwy., 224-4433 PurpleCowLR.com

Beer Snack Week, Mon-Thurs - $1 off all small beer snack (limit 2 per guest). Must say “Savor the City” to redeem your offer. Limit one per day, one offer per guest. (LD) 501 Byrd St. 319-7275 Facebook.com/Lost40Beer 15% off your total bill. Alcohol, tax and gratuity not included. Just say “Restaurant Month”. (LD WLR location) (D Hillcrest location) 722 N. Palm St., 725-4945 11401 N. Rodney Parham Rd., 353-1875 LittlerockPantry.com

Half-price eggplant caponata appetizer. (LD) 1318 Main St. 374-7476 RadunoLR.com

RED MANGO SMOOTHIE & JUICE BAR

THE ROOT CAFÉ

ROSALIA’S FAMILY BAKERY

SANTO COYOTE

$1 off green smoothies. (BLD) 5621 Kavanaugh Blvd. 663-2500 RedMangoUSA.com

Weekday Breakfast Special: 20% off your breakfast entrée. Available Tues-Fri, 7-11 am. (B) 1500 S Main St. 414-0423 TheRootCafe.com

SOUTH ON MAIN Free appetizer with purchase of two entrées (Mon-Fri 11am-2:30pm). (L) • Buy one bar snack, get one for Half-price during social hour (Tues-Sat, 4-6pm). 1304 Main St. 244-9660 SouthOnMain.com

SKY MODERN JAPANESE

SLICK’S SANDWICH SHOP

SO RESTAURANT – BAR

SONNY WILLIAMS STEAK ROOM

THE SOUTHERN GOURMASIAN

All appetizers Half-price. (LD) 11525 Cantrell Rd. 224-4300 SkyLittleRock.com

STAR OF INDIA

15% off dinner entrée. (D) 301 N. Shackleford Rd., Ste. C4 227-9900 LRStarOfIndia.com

TRIO’S RESTAURANT

Half-off desserts with entrée purchase. (LD) Half-off selected special Restaurant Month wines by the bottle. (D) Specials are for dine-in only. 8201 Cantrell Rd., Ste. 100 221-3330 TriosRestaurant.com

20% off total bill with Arkansas Times ad. (L) 101 E Capitol Ave., Ste 116 375-3420 SlicksMenu.com

SUSHI CAFÉ

See special “Savor” menu for great deals on both sushi and entrées. (LD) 5823 Kavanaugh Blvd. • 663-9888 11211 Cantrell Rd., #120 • 954-7866 SushiCafeRocks.com

THE VEG

Veggie burger for $5. Code word Herbie Hancock. (L) 400 Pres. Clinton Ave. River Market Ottenheimer Hall

838-3634 Facebook.com/TheVegLR

Get a free Sonho with any $10 purchase (before tax). Limit one per purchase. (BLD) 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. 719-7035 CafeBossaNova.com/Rosalias-Bakery Special Chef’s Menu: Threecourse, $45 per person, new menu each week. 3610 Kavanaugh Blvd. 663-1464 SoRestaurantBar.com

SWEET SOUL Free cookie with purchase of Southern Classic Plate. (L) 400 Pres. Clinton Ave. 374-7685 LittleRockSweetSoul.com

WASABI BAR & GRILL 15% off two entrées. (L) 101 Main St. 374-0777

10% off any food purchase. (LD) 11610 Pleasant Ridge Rd. # 110 225-1300 Santo-Coyote.com

Sonny’s Frog Legs with Citrus Butter appetizer for $12.50. (D) 500 Pres. Clinton Ave., Ste. 100 324-2999 SonnyWilliamsSteakRoom.com

Free cookie with purchase of entrée. (L) Three-course prix fixe $25. (D) 219 W. Capitol Ave. 313-5645 TheSouthernGourmasian.com

TAZIKI’S MEDITERRANEAN CAFÉ TRACY CAKES Say the phrase “Happy seven year anniversary Taziki’s” and receive 10% off. (LD) 12800 Chenal Pkwy., 225-1829 8200 Cantrell Rd., 227-8291 TazikisCafe.com

Buy three cupcakes, get one free. (LD) 10301 N. Rodney Parham Rd. 227-4243 TracyCakesAR.com

ZAZA

Gelato Happy Hour 2:30-5:30pm - get a large gelato for the price of a small. Must say “Savor the City” to redeem your offer. Limit one per day, one offer per guest. 5600 Kavanaugh Blvd. 661-9292 ZazaPizzaAndSalad.com

LittleRock.com

www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

Arts Entertainment AND

LET THE GAMES BEGIN: Stephen Chenault at work.

DUNGEON MASTERS

Little Rock’s Troll Lord Games still going strong after 15 years. BY DAVID KOON

hough you might think tabletop fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons went the way of the Dodo bird around the same time as leaded gasoline, the genre is still alive, kicking and winning new fans. Part of the reason it has survived into the digital age is undoubtedly due to the efforts of small publishers like Little Rock’s Troll Lord Games, a company that has kept the flame alive for over 15 years now. Troll Lord started out publishing “adventure modules” for D&D, but now fields its own tabletop gaming universe called “Castles and Crusades,” and has 20

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

recently branched out into publishing fiction. The company has seen some ups and downs thanks to the online revolution, but co-founder and CEO Stephen Chenault said Troll Lord has weathered the rise of digital video gaming by adapting and embracing the Internet rather than trying to fight against it. Chenault has been playing Dungeons and Dragons — the classic, turn-based role-playing game developed in 1974 by Gary Gigax and Dave Arneson — since 1976. For those not familiar with games like D&D, Chenault gives the following nutshell description: “It’s four or five people

get together. They sit at a table, and one of our adventures, Mac Golden took them them is going to be the game master. He’s over to Gary’s booth at GenCon and just left them at the booth and said thank you going to be the one who runs the game, telling people what happens. Everyone for the game, and all that. Then, about two else will make characters in his scenario, or three months later, when we got diswhich is called an adventure module, and tributor orders and we got catalogues in he’ll kind of guide them through. They’ll to see what was going on and kind of learn say what they do or what they don’t do if the industry we had sort of stumbled into, we noticed that [Gigax] had a very small they go through a door or attack a monster, what have you. Then he tells them what publisher he was working with. So Mac happens afterwards. Dice [rolls] govern suggested I email him. We did, and a conversation quickly cropped up after that. I whether you’re successful or not successful at certain actions.” think he found that he liked working with us. We’re from Arkansas, so we’re pretty Chenault eventually became interested honest and straightforward when we do enough in the storytelling aspect of Dunbusiness. He liked that.” geons and Dragons that he started writing his own adventure modules while in colThough Chenault said the tablelege, shopping them around to publishers. top fantasy gaming industry suffered as In 1999, he and his brother Davis Chenault online video game universes like World and their friend Mac Golden decided to of Warcraft were established, the market has rebounded in recent years. Chenault start their own adventure module publishing company under the banner of Troll believes a large part of that rebound is due Lord Games, writing and printing books to the Internet. Troll Lord’s full catalogue to provide players with thrilling scenarof adventure modules was picked up in ios around which to build their games. recent years by steam.com, an online marChenault said the creativity of writing ketplace that’s known for selling computer the stories that drive the game modules games. Online orders now make up over 90 percent of the company’s sales, he said. appeals to him, while his partners are more driven by game mechanics. “They like to “Well, you can now download my game, create rules and rule systems,” he said. “So, Castles and Crusades, on the computer, it was a match that worked really, really and play it remotely with other people,” well. For me, it was a nice creative outlet. he said. “As soon as it hit Steam, our sales I could create stories.” started to climb markedly because peoAfter writing ple can see it very, very and printing their easily. So I think we’re first game modseeing tabletop kind of ule books, Troll join that online comLord lurched munity. … You can get north to Milwauon Skype now, and you kee to attend its can do video calls so it first GenCon, a really is like four or five convention that people sitting at a table, draws tens of but you’re not. You’re thousands of sitting in your office gamers. There, or wherever you are. two big things They’ve got online dice happened for rollers and the whole Chenault and thing.” Co.: They picked Another big factor in Troll Lord’s up their first discontinuing success tributors, and PLAY ON: Troll Lord’s “Castles & Crusades.” has been access to they met Gary crowdfunding. As computer games Gigax, the co-creator of Dungeons and came online, distributors saw the Dragons. Troll Lord eventually became Gigax’s publisher from 2001 until he passed shrinking market for tabletop games away in 2008. and stopped carrying games and update “It was just one of those [moments packs, shrinking the market even furwhere] you’re luckily standing in one spot,” ther and making publishers reluctant Chenault said. “When we first published to invest in the format, Chenault said.

ROCK CANDY Check out the Times’ A&E blog arktimes.com

A&E NEWS

BRANCHING OUT: A shot from the short film “To the End.”

The company has since crowdfunded almost a dozen projects. “When Kickstarter launched, some of us got into it kind of early, at least for the [role playing game] industry,” Chenault said. “The fans found that, ‘Oh, I don’t have to wait for something to trickle its way down through distribution and retailers to get to a shop, if that ever happens. I can get it here on Kickstarter. Very quickly, the fans joined Kickstarter. Some of these guys have backed 400 projects. So it’s a community of gamers who we stepped into. We’ve funded lots of our projects. It’s fantastic.” The company is running Kickstarter campaigns for several projects, including a Steampunk-themed game called “Victorius: The Role Playing Game.” At this writing, the project has raised $19,716 from 314 backers. In recent years, Chenault said, the company has started branching out, publishing five fantasy fiction titles in the past year. At last weekend’s GenCon in Indianapolis, Troll Lord released its first short film, a piece called “To the End.” Set in a

post-apocalyptic world, the film serves as a sort of commercial for Troll Lord’s “Castles and Crusades” series, and is available to view at trolllord.com. Chenault said that in the past two years, Troll Lord has seen “a nice, steady growth” in sales. He attributes it to the rebounding economy and advances in technology. There are more female players now — about 20 percent of the demographic, Chenault said, and they’re still minting younger tabletop gamers, even among those who cut their teeth on video games. “I’ve run a lot of games for children who are used to video games,” Chenault said, “and it’s interesting how very quickly they adapt and love playing these tabletop games. It gives their normal imagination a huge outlet.” Locally, Troll Lord’s titles are available at Little Rock’s Game Goblins at 1121 S. Bowman Road and Sherwood’s Warp Drive Comics and Cards ,525 E. Kiehl Ave. Chenault said both stores have regular role playing game nights, allowing those who’ve never played before to quickly get up to speed.

NEXT UP FOR THE ARKANSAS TIMES Film Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 20, is “Hands on a Hard Body,” a 1997 documentary about the contestants of the annual Longview, Texas, competition to see who can keep their hands on a pickup truck the longest. The Oxford American put the film on its essential Southern documentary list and Quentin Tarantino, who commissioned a new 35mm print so he could screen it at his L.A. theater, has called it one of his favorite documentaries of all time. OUR HOUSE, THE LOCAL HOMELESS shelter presenting this weekend’s Shakespeare at the Shelter production (7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday), has also announced a 12-part documentary series highlighting stories of clients and alumni of the shelter. The films, which are 5 minutes each, were directed by Zachary Crow and will premiere each week throughout August, September and early October. You can find the videos at www.ourhouseshelter.org/ projectvoice. THE 2ND EL DORADO FILM FESTIVAL has announced its dates and lineup. The event will take place September 17-19 and will be held at the South Arkansas Arts Center, with screenings of locally produced and international features and shorts. For scheduling and ticketing info, check the festival Facebook page: facebook.com/eldofilmfest. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS ENGLISH

faculty member Davis McCombs had a poem published in the Aug. 3 issue of the New Yorker. A press release from the University notes that McCombs got the idea for the poem, which is called “Dumpster Honey,” “after a colony of bees set up a hive on an outer wall of the building where his office is located.” “Some of us noticed that the bees were quite territorial about the dumpster by the loading dock at Kimpel Hall and would fly at you if you walked past,” McCombs said. “My colleague John DuVal said, ‘I’ve heard of apple blossom honey, but never of dumpster honey.’ Well, I loved that phrase, and over the next couple of weeks, I wrote the poem with that title.”

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www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

THE TO-DO

LIST

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK AND WILL STEPHENSON

FRIDAY 8/7

THIRD ANNUAL ZINE NITE

7 p.m. Dunbar Community Garden Project.

SCREEN APOCALYPSE: The Little Rock Picture Show IV will feature live music and screenings of sci-fi, fantasy and horror films (including "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior") at various venues in downtown Little Rock, Thursday through Sunday, $15-$30.

THURSDAY 8/6-SUNDAY 8/9

LITTLE ROCK PICTURE SHOW IV Various venues. $15-$30.

The Little Rock Picture Show, the horror, fantasy and sci-fi film festival that the Arkansas Times’ David Koon once described as “the horrid genetic mistake the Little Rock Film Festival keeps chained in the attic,” returns this week for four days of film screenings,

live music and special events. Day passes are $15, festival passes are $30 and the full schedule is available at facebook. com/LittleRockPictureShow. Highlights include a free screening of “Mad Max II: The Road Warrior” presented by the KABF 88.3-FM show “Tomorrow’s Dream” at the Studio Theater (11:15 p.m. Friday); a Q&A with local musician and horror film composer Rocky Gray at the Public Theater (6 p.m. Saturday); a

screening of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent epic “Nosferatu” with a live score by Mainland Divide at the Studio Theater (9:15 p.m. Saturday); and screenings of very promising-sounding recent films “Dude Bro Party Massacre III” (7 p.m. Thursday, Ron Robinson Theater) and “Dog Soldiers” (8:15 p.m. Sunday, Studio Theater), both of which will include panel discussions with their respective filmmakers. WS

“psychedelic afro-futurism” proponent Amasa Hines on Friday night, both because it is one of the state’s best bands and because White Water is its natural habitat. The group makes indie rock in the cosmic mode, with saxophones and searing urgency and a sense of history. “Every time we get

on stage, there’s a door,” as frontman Joshua Asante explained in a recent interview. “We can either stay within ourselves and not cross that threshold, or we can lose ourselves.” The goal, he said, is “to try to step outside of our physical selves and feel something — and heal something.” WS

FRIDAY 8/7

AMASA HINES

9:30 p.m. White Water Tavern.

Fans of The National and TV on the Radio and electric-era Miles Davis and “Maggot Brain” and cautious optimism and astral projection are all encouraged to see self-described 22

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

Sometimes I look around at the Times office in all its decadent, free-for-all, playboy sprawl — the discarded caviar and truffles and blow, the empty champagne bottles, the stacks of neglected hundred dollar bills — and I wonder, have we sold out? Are we like Kurt Cobain, ineffectually wearing his “Corporate Magazines Still Suck” T-shirt on the cover of Rolling Stone, as if nothing had changed? For that matter, what’s left out there that’s actually fun and life-affirming and imaginative, now that “magazines” are mostly just millennials writing recaps of “True Detective” and aggregating Donald Trump tweets? See for yourself at the Third Annual Zine Nite, hosted by Little Rock’s own Tree of Knowledge distro (founded at punk shows in the mid-’90s) and the Missouri-based Mini Comix Co-Op. There will be a huge assortment of DIY books and zines and comics, all of them handmade and idiosyncratic and inimitably personal. Box Populi, Little Rock’s “first worker-owned-and-operated cafe tricycle,” will provide food and the Waffle Wagon will provide waffles. There will also be dark, doom-laden folk from Arkansas songwriter William Blackart, scrappy garage punk from locals Sad Magik and angular math rock from New Orleans band Tare. In other words: Don’t despair. WS

FRIDAY 8/7

THE ART DEPARTMENT: SALLY NIXON Thea Foundation. 6:30-9 p.m. $10.

Drawings by illustrator Sally Nixon will be featured in the Thea Foundation’s latest “The Art Department” series, which features work by emerging artists. Nixon’s pencil and pen drawings might best be described as Edward Gorey on a happiness bender. Nixon holds a B.F.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has published a book, “The Inevitability of Spiders and Flies.” The event, the eighth in the Thea series, includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, live music by the Funk A Nites, and a drawing to win an original illustration by Nixon. The exhibition runs through August. LNP

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 8/6

FRIDAY 8/7

JOHN BUSH QUINTET

7 p.m. Ron Robinson Theater. $10.

John Bush has a history here. Aside from being the great-grandson of the John Bush who founded the Mosaic Templars of America in 1883, Bush has been playing jazz in Little Rock since he was a high school student in the late 1950s and

early ’60s. He comes from a family of Ninth Street regulars and musicians, including an uncle who played saxophone for Count Basie’s band. He had the unique experience, too, of leaving Little Rock right before the downtown scene was desiccated by Interstate 630 and the vagaries of “urban renewal.” He came back

25 years later and hardly recognized the place. A direct lifeline to a nowvanished music culture, he is also an inspired saxophonist and a great pick for this month’s Arkansas Sounds concert series. What other musicians performing this weekend can tell you about the first time they met Pharoah Sanders? WS

TUESDAY 8/11

SCI-FI DOUBLE FEATURE: ‘FANTASTIC VOYAGE’ AND ‘LOGAN’S RUN’

7 p.m. Riverdale 10 Cinema. $5.

HALLELUJAH I'M A DREAMER: Memphis singer-songwriter Amy LaVere performs at Maxine's in Hot Springs with Will Sexton, 9 p.m. Saturday, $5.

SATURDAY 8/8

AMY LAVERE

9 p.m. Maxine’s, Hot Springs. $5.

Amy LaVere plays upright bass and writes songs about murderers and “pointless drinking.” She’s maybe the only artist who has worked with both Jim Dickinson and Samuel L. Jackson. Growing up, she attended 13 different schools, fronted punk bands and flirted with acid and crystal meth (“Without drugs, that small town was so boring,” she said in a recent interview. “There was nothing I turned down.”) She even-

tually found her way to Memphis, where she immediately booked time at Sun Studio and fell in love with the city’s mythic Americana quality. Since then, she’s shared stages with Lucero, Lyle Lovett and Todd Snider; played Wanda Jackson (First Lady of rockabilly) in “Walk the Line”; had a song featured on the Oxford American’s Tennessee Music issue CD, and recorded an album that Spin Magazine called “the breakup album of the year.” She’ll play in Hot Springs on Saturday night with her husband, the guitarist Will Sexton. WS

If you ever find yourself aboard a miniaturized spaceship traveling through a human inner ear, it is important to remain quiet so as to avoid turbulence. This is one of the many crucial lessons of the 1966 medical sci-fi epic “Fantastic Voyage,” directed by Richard Fleischer, who had previously introduced the world to underwater pipe organs and giant squid wrestling matches in his version of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” The films are pretty similar, except that in “Fantastic Voyage” the crew is dodging blood clots and tiny saboteurs rather than sea monsters. Isaac Asimov, who wrote the novelization of the screenplay, apparently complained that it was full of plot holes, but I’ve always been too distracted by the hallucinogenic color scheme to notice. “You are listening to the sound of a completely new screen experience,” as the original trailer promised, “a startling new kind of excitement.” Following that screening, the folks at Riverdale 10’s Classic Movie Series have decided to keep things rolling by fast-forwarding to the year 2274. “Logan’s Run,” the first film ever to feature laser holography, also predicted Internet dating and protein shakes and a lot of other things that haven’t emerged yet, like ray guns, giant mirror robots, ice tunnels and life-clocks. Roger Ebert called it “unabashed cornball utopian.” I call it the future. WS

The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association hosts its Legends For Youth Clinic, a charitable baseball camp for kids, at DickeyStephens Park, starting at 9 a.m., free. Self-described “gypsy blues” group D.on Darox & The Melody Joy Bakers plays at Juanita’s, 7 p.m., free. Alt-rock band Trapt plays at Revolution with Sons of Texas, Vinot and Poynte, 8 p.m., $12 adv., $15 day of. The Outsiders Comedy Tour is at The Joint in Argenta, featuring James Curtis, Jackson Curtin and Michael Mann, 8:30 p.m., $5. Local indie rock band Charlie Virgo plays at the Afterthought with Pageant, 8 p.m., $7. Bonnie Montgomery is at the White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m.

FRIDAY 8/7 Homeless outreach shelter Our House presents its fourth annual Shakespeare at the Shelter, in which clients and alumni of the shelter perform Shakespeare’s monologues and scenes, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, $20. Former David Bowie guitarist (and current member of The Cure) Reeves Gabrels performs at Stickyz, 8:30 p.m., $8. Riverdale 10 Cinema presents an interactive screening of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” at 9:30 p.m., $10. The Fatty Acids play at Maxine’s in Hot Springs with Brother Andy and His Big Damn Mouth and Fayetteville art-rock band The Brothel Sprouts.

SATURDAY 8/8 Verizon Arena hosts auditions for American Idol Season XV. The 30th Annual Arkansas Antiquarian Book Show is at the Jacksonville Community Center, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., $5. Late ’80s glam metal band Extreme plays at Magic Springs’ Timberwood Amphitheater in Hot Springs, 8 p.m., $54.99. Mad Trucker and FACTS performs with rappers Ill Chemist and 9th Scientist, plus Don’t Cry Paula and more, Afrodesia Studio, 9 p.m., $5. Country singer and former “The Voice” contestant Grace Askew performs at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $7. Local indie rock band Bombay Harambee returns to the White Water Tavern with Fayetteville’s Pagiins and Big Flikkr, 9:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY 8/12 Local neo-soul group MellowDee Groove plays a free show at South on Main as part of the Oxford American’s Local Live series, 7:30 p.m. The firstever Storyteller’s Club, featuring true, unrehearsed stories from life, will be at White Water, 8 p.m. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

AFTER DARK Whiskey Myers, Stephens Neeper & The Wild Hearts. Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $15 adv., $18 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.rumbarevolution.com/new. The Woodpeckers (headliner), Lauryn & Matt (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

All events are in the Greater Little Rock area unless otherwise noted. To place an event in the Arkansas Times calendar, please email the listing and all pertinent information, including date, time, location, price and contact information, to calendar@arktimes.com.

THURSDAY, AUG. 6

COMEDY

MUSIC

Arkansas River Blues Society Thursday Jam. Revolution, 7 p.m., free. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.rumbarevolution.com/ new. Bonnie Montgomery. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Charlie Virgo, Pageant. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501663-1196. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com. Chris Long. Kent Walker Artisan Cheese, 6 p.m. 1515 E. 4th St. 501-301-4963. www.kentwalkercheese.com. D.on Darox & The Melody Joy Bakers. Juanita’s, 7 p.m., free. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-3721228. www.juanitas.com. Hopeless Jack, Pollen Rx. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.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, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Mayday By Midnight (headliner), Alex Summerlin (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Open Jam. Thirst n’ Howl, 8 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com. Open jam with The Port Arthur Band. Parrot Beach Cafe, 9 p.m. 9611 MacArthur Drive, NLR. 771-2994. RockUsaurus. Senor Tequila, 7-9 p.m. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-224-5505. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-370-7013. www. capitalbarandgrill.com. Trapt, Sons of Texas, Divot, Poynte. Revolution, 8 p.m., $12 adv., $15 day of. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.rumbarevolution.com/new.

COMEDY

James Curtis, Jackson Curtin, Michael Mann. The Outsiders Comedy Tour. The Joint, 8:30 p.m., $5. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-3720205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

EVENTS

Hillcrest Shop & Sip. Shops and restaurants offer discounts, later hours, and live music. Hillcrest, first Thursday of every month, 5 p.m. 501-6663600. www.hillcrestmerchants.com.

FILM

Little Rock Picture Show IV. Featuring live music, screenings of feature films and shorts, a Q&A with horror film composer Rocky Gray and a special showing of “Nosferatu.” $6-$30. www. facebook.com/LittleRockPictureShow. 24

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

“HOGNADO!” An original production by The Main Thing. The Joint, 8 p.m., $22. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

DANCE

ROCKONICA: Former David Bowie guitarist (and current member of The Cure) Reeves Gabrels performs at Stickyz, 8:30 p.m., $8.

KIDS

Legends for Youth Clinic. A charitable baseball camp hosted by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. Dickey-Stephens Park, 9 a.m., free. 400 W. Broadway, NLR. 501664-1555. www.travs.com.

FRIDAY, AUG. 7

MUSIC

All In Fridays. Club Elevations. 7200 Colonel Glenn Road. 501-562-3317. Amasa Hines. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Efron G and the Earthtones. Kent Walker Artisan Cheese, 7 p.m. 1515 E. 4th St. 501-301-4963. www.kentwalkercheese.com. The Fatty Acids, Brother Andy and His Big Damn Mouth, The Brothel Sprouts. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com.

The John Bush Quintet. Ron Robinson Theater, 7 p.m., $10. 1 Pulaski Way. 501-320-5703. www. cals.lib.ar.us/ron-robinson-theater.aspx. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Reeves Gabrels. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8:30 p.m., $8. 107 River Market Ave. 501372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Route 66. Agora Conference and Special Event Center, 6:30 p.m., $5. 705 E. Siebenmorgan, Conway. School of Rock, Jet420. Juanita’s, 6:30 p.m., $7. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-370-7013. www. capitalbarandgrill.com. Tyrannosaurus Chicken. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501663-1196. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com. Upscale Friday. IV Corners, 7 p.m. 824 W. Capitol Ave.

Ballroom dancing. Free lessons begin at 7 p.m. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 8-11 p.m., $7-$13. 12th and Cleveland streets. 501221-7568. www.blsdance.org. Contra Dance. Park Hill Presbyterian Church, 7:30 p.m., $5. 3520 JFK Blvd., NLR. arkansascountrydance.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.

EVENTS

LGBTQ/SGL weekly meeting. 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 501-2449690 or search “DYSC” on Facebook. LGBTQ/ SGL Youth and Young Adult Group, 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St. 3rd Annual Zine Nite. With music by William Blackart and Sad Magik and food by Waffle Wagon and Box Populi. Dunbar Garden Project, 7 p.m. 1800 S. Chester. 501-529-8520. dunbargarden.org.

FILM

Little Rock Picture Show IV. See Aug. 6. “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Riverdale 10 Cinema, 9:30 p.m., $10. 2600 Cantrell Road. 501-296-9955.

SATURDAY, AUG. 8

MUSIC

Amy Lavere, Will Sexton. Maxine’s. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. www.maxinespub.com. Bombay Harambee, Pagiins, Biq Flikkr. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-3758400. www.whitewatertavern.com. Extreme. Magic Springs’ Timberwood Amphitheater, 8 p.m., $54.99. 1701 E. Grand Ave., Hot Springs. Funk Mothers (headliner), Trey Johnson (happy hour). Another Round Pub, 6 and 9 p.m. 12111 W. Markham. 501-313-2612. www.anotherroundpub.com. Grace Askew. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $7. 107 River Market Ave. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Just Sayin (headliner), R&R (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. 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. www.rumbarevolution.com/new.

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 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Mad Trucker and FACTS, Ill Chemist, 9th Scientist, Don’t Cry Paula and friends. Afrodesia Studio, 9 p.m., $5. 9700 Rodney Parham Rd. 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. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-370-7013. www. capitalbarandgrill.com.

COMEDY

“HOGNADO!” An original production by The Main Thing. The Joint, 8 p.m., $22. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501-372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

EVENTS

American Idol XV Auditions. Verizon Arena. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 501-975-9001. www. americanidol.com/auditions. 30th Annual Arkansas Antiquarian Book Show. Jacksonville Community Center, Aug. 8-9, $5. 5 Municipal Drive, Jacksonville. Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell and 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. Little Rock Farmers’ Market. River Market pavilions. 7 a.m. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info. 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.

FILM

Little Rock Picture Show IV. See Aug. 6.

SUNDAY, AUG. 9

MUSIC

Al White. Kent Walker Artisan Cheese, 4 p.m. 1515 E. 4th St. 501-301-4963. www.kentwalkercheese.com. Irish Traditional Music Session. Hibernia Irish Tavern, 2:30 p.m. 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.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. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com.

EVENTS

30th Annual Arkansas Antiquarian Book Show. Jacksonville Community Center, $5. 5 Municipal Drive, Jacksonville. Artist for Recovery. A secular recovery group for people with addictions. Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 10 a.m. 1601 S. Louisiana.

FILM

Little Rock Picture Show IV. See Aug. 6.

LECTURES

“Rachel Carson’s Environmental Movement.” Talk by author William Souder. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 4 p.m. 600 Museum Way, Bentonville. 479-418-5700. crystalbridges. org.

MONDAY, AUG. 10

MUSIC

The Icarus Account, The House on Cliff, Deleasa, Clay Borrell, Run 2 Cover, Ali Isabella. Juanita’s, 7:30 p.m., $12-$30. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Lizard Love, Love Moon. Vino’s, 7 p.m. 923 W. 7th St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com. Monday Night Jazz. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., $5. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com. Open Mic. The Lobby Bar. Studio Theatre, 8 p.m. 320 W. 7th St. Richie Johnson. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com.

CLASSES

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.

TUESDAY, AUG. 11

MUSIC

Jeff Ling. Khalil’s Pub, 6 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 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. willydspianobar.com/prost-2. Karaoke Tuesdays. On the patio. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 7:30 p.m., free. 107 River Market Ave. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Marvin Berry. White Water Tavern, 9:30 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.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.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com.

COMEDY

Stand-Up Tuesday. Hosted by Adam Hogg. The Joint, 8 p.m., $5. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

DANCE

“Latin Night.” Juanita’s, 7:30 p.m., $7. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.lit-

tlerocksalsa.com.

EVENTS

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. Trivia Bowl. Flying Saucer, 8:30 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-8032. www.beerknurd.com/ stores/littlerock.

FILM

Sci-Fi Double Feature: “Fantastic Voyage” and “Logan’s Run.” Riverdale 10 Cinema, 7 p.m., $5. 2600 Cantrell Road. 501-296-9955.

SPORTS

Arkansas Travelers vs. Corpus Christi. DickeyStephens Park, 7:10 p.m., $6-$12. 400 W. Broadway, NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs.com.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 12

MUSIC

Acoustic Open Mic. Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbistroandbar.com. Brian and Nick. Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf. com. Drageoke with Chi Chi Valdez. Sway. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582. Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com. Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub.com. Karaoke. MUSE Ultra Lounge, 8:30 p.m., free. 2611 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-6398. Kim Lenz & The Jaguars. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8 p.m., $10. 107 River Market Ave. 501-372-7707. www.stickyz.com. Live music. No cover charge Sun.-Tue. and Thu. Ernie Biggs. 307 President Clinton Ave. 501-3724782. littlerock.erniebiggs.com. Lucas Jack. Juanita’s, 7 p.m., free. 614 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com. MellowDee Groove. South on Main, 7:30 p.m., free. 1304 Main St. 501-244-9660. southonmain. com. Open Mic Nite with Deuce. Thirst n’ Howl, 7:30 p.m., free. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com. Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 7:30 p.m., free. 111 W. Markham St. 501-370-7013. www. capitalbarandgrill.com.

LECTURES

Brown Bag Lunch Lecture: Women in Bicycling. Old State House Museum, 12 p.m. 300 W. Markham St. 501-324-9685. www.oldstatehouse.com.

POETRY

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.

SPORTS

Arkansas Travelers vs. Corpus Christi. DickeyStephens Park, through Aug. 13, 7:10 p.m., $6-$12. 400 W. Broadway, NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs.com.

ARTS

THEATER

“American Idiot.” The Weekend Theater, through Aug. 9: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m., $20. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. www.weekendtheater.org. “Hairspray.” Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, through Aug. 29: Sun., 11 a.m.; Tue.-Sun., 6 p.m., $34-$36. 6323 Col. Glenn Road. 501-562-3131. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com. Shakespeare at the Shelter. Our House Shelter, Aug. 7-8, 7:30 p.m., $20. 302 E. Roosevelt Road. 501-375-2416. www.ourhouseshelter.org.

COMEDY

The Joint Venture. Improv comedy group. The Joint, 8 p.m., $7. 301 Main St. No. 102, NLR. 501372-0205. thejointinlittlerock.com.

DANCE

Little Rock Bop Club. Beginning dance lessons for ages 10 and older. Singles welcome. Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, 7 p.m., $4 for members, $7 for guests. 12th and Cleveland streets. 501-350-4712. www.littlerockbopclub.

EVENTS

Storyteller’s Club. White Water Tavern, 8 p.m. 2500 W. 7th St. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

LYONS, CONT. to buy a ticket to Madison Square Garden. One of the great grudge matches of the era took place there in November 1957 when Dr. Graham and Dick the Bruiser took on Rocca and Edouard “The Flying Frenchman” Carpentier. A riot erupted. Hundreds of fans got arrested. Several cops got hurt by flying chairs. Order was restored only after Rocca stood on the ring ropes saluting the “Star Spangled Banner.” It made the front page of the New York Times.

So you bet I’m looking forward to this week’s Fox News debate, featuring Trump versus a bunch of Koch brothers’ marionettes, as he recently dubbed them. Would anybody be astonished to see The Donald enter wearing a sequined robe? If he voted at all, my grandfather Connors certainly never voted Republican. But he’d never have missed the show. It’s sure to be HUGE!

LOADED DOWN, CONT. Henry, a DCFS caseworker for nine years and five months in Faulkner County. She quit in 2011. “I felt like I was being set up for failure,” Henry said. The duties of caseworkers are many. They may need to transport children to counties away from their homes for medical appointments, counseling and visitation with family members, while having 30 other cases to look after. Often caseworkers spend hours in court waiting for one case to be called for review. At the hearing, a judge might order the caseworker to provide a service that day to a family that the caseworker did not have on her schedule, requiring her to rearrange her day. Weekly to monthly unannounced home visits are required in every case, and every child must be seen outside the presence of his or her caretaker. Regular case plans are periodically evaluated and updated by caseworkers; every contact made on every case in the DCFS reporting system must be documented. A case plan objective could require a parent in a case to submit and pass a regular drug test that the worker would have to administer. Caseworkers also must take on-call duties, meaning they could be called to work in the middle of the night and on weekends. When a county does not have enough investigators, investigations are often assigned to caseworkers. A caseworker who did not want her name used said that in addition to her regular caseload, she often had to travel several counties away to work cases in a county that was short on staff. If a busy caseworker isn’t on top of every case, neglect could occur that would put more children in the foster care system. Already, Arkansas far exceeds the national standard. “We remove about 5.3 children per thousand compared to the national standard of three,” Blucker said. “So we know we have been running that way.” As of April, Arkansas had 4,242 children in foster care. Webb, the DCFS spokesperson, said the agency brings kids into foster care for a broad variety of reasons characterized as maltreatment. One of the reasons is drug 26

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

use by parents. Webb said some courts will remove children from homes in which drugs are used “regardless of the impact to the parents’ ability to keep their children safe.” Because of that, Webb said, caseworkers, fearing reprimand, may act based on their anticipation of judicial decisions that a child should be removed from a home rather than their own decision-making. A former lawyer for DCFS who asked not to be identified believes the state “is taking too many kids” from their homes. To reduce the number of kids going into foster care, DCFS established a “differential response unit” to work with families whose problems have the potential of creating abuse or neglect. DCFS offers these families services and referrals to resources as a preventative measure, rather than taking punitive steps such as removing children from the home. Even with the addition of the differential response unit, foster care numbers continue to increase. Hutchinson’s goal is to reduce field worker caseloads over a three-year period to 20 — a number still higher than the national standard of 15, but a significant improvement over where we are today. Vincent’s review also referred to the state’s high number of child fatalities on a per-capita basis, the need for more foster homes and DCFS’ low placement of children in the homes of relatives compared to neighboring states. Vincent’s report also recommended that the state spend more money on its mental/behavioral health services. However, the governor said the state would turn to its “faith-based partners” to help address the “challenge of placement of those in need of protective services and foster care” and would seek other “private partners” to “make sure our children are not spending the night in a DHS office.” Funding for this reporting was provided by people who donated to a crowdfunding campaign on ioby.com and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel.

BOOKS FROM THE ARKANSAS TIMES

THE UNIQUE NEIGHBORHOODS OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS Full of interesting voices and colorful portraits of 17 Little Rock and North Little Rock neighborhoods, this book gives an intimate, block-by-block, native’s view of the place more than 250,000 Arkansans call home. Created from interviews with residents and largely written by writers who actually live in the neighborhoods they’re writing about, the book features over 90 full color photos by Little Rock photographer Brian Chilson.

Also Available: A HISTORY OF ARKANSAS A compilation of stories published in the Arkansas Times during our first twenty years. Each story examines a fragment of Arkansas’s unique history – giving a fresh insight into what makes us Arkansans. Well written and illustrated. This book will entertain and enlighten time and time again.

ALMANAC OF ARKANSAS HISTORY This unique book offers an offbeat view of the Natural State’s history that you haven’t seen before – with hundreds of colorful characters, pretty places, and distinctive novelties unique to Arkansas. Be informed, be entertained, amaze your friends with your new store of knowledge about the 25th state, the Wonder State, the Bear State, the Land of Opportunity.

Payment: CHECK OR CREDIT CARD Order by Mail: ARKANSAS TIMES BOOKS 201 E. MARKHAM ST., STE. 200, LITTLE ROCK, AR 72201 Phone: 501-375-2985 Fax: 501-375-3623 Email: ANITRA@ARKTIMES.COM Send _____ book(s) of The Unique Neighborhoods of Central Arkansas @ $19.95 Send _____ book(s) of A History Of Arkansas @ $10.95 Send _____ book(s) of Almanac Of Arkansas History @ $18.95 Shipping and handling $3 per book Name _________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________ City, State, Zip ____________________________________________ Phone _________________________________________________ Visa, MC, AMEX, Disc # _________________________ Exp. Date _______

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AUGUST 6, 2015

Dining WHAT’S COOKIN’

THE SIXTH ANNUAL SAVOR THE CITY is underway for Little Rock Restaurant Month, when eateries provide discounts and specials to promote their chow. Find all the deals on the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau’s website, dinelr.com, and its Twitter page, @LittleRockCVB. Participants include Big Orange, Boulevard Bread Co., Cache Restaurant, Doe’s Eat Place, The Fold, The Pantry and more.

DINING CAPSULES

AMERICAN

BEST IMPRESSIONS The menu combines Asian, Italian and French sensibilities in soups, salads and meaty fare. A departure from the tearoom of yore. 501 E. Ninth St. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-907-5946. L Tue.-Sun., BR Sat.-Sun. GARDEN SQUARE CAFE & GROCERY Vegetarian soups, sandwiches and wraps just like those to be had across the street at 4Square Cafe and Gifts, plus a small grocery store. 4Square does unique and delicious wraps with such ingredients as shiitake mushrooms and the servings are ample. A small grocery accompanies the River Market cafe. River Market. No alcohol, all CC. 501-244-9964. GIGI’S CUPCAKES This Nashville-based chain’s entries into the artisan-cupcake sweetstakes are as luxurious in presentation as they are in sugar quantity. 416 S. University Ave., Suite 120. No alcohol, all CC. $. 501-614-7012. BLD daily. GRAMPA’S CATFISH HOUSE A longtime local favorite for fried fish, hush puppies and good sides. 9219 Stagecoach Road. Beer and wine, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-407-0000. LD Tue.-Sat, L Sun. GUILLERMO’S GOURMET GROUNDS Serves gourmet coffee, lunch, loose-leaf tea, and tapas. Beans are roasted in house, and the espresso is probably the best in town. 10700 Rodney Parham Road. CC. 501-228-4448. BL daily. 28

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ARKANSAS TIMES

Boss Bossa Nova Unique, delicious, Brazilian.

n a dining landscape wrought with sameness — even among ethnic restaurants — Cafe Bossa Nova stands alone. We’ve been to Central and South American-themed restaurants that offer dishes that would be at home at your usual Mexican joint. But that’s not Bossa Nova. We all have our favorites at certain restaurants, the go-to dish that’s hard not to order. Ours at Cafe Bossa Nova is Salpicao ($17.29), a Brazilian take on chicken salad — shredded breast, bits of Fuji apple, carrots, English peas, herbs and spices, bound with not too much mayonnaise and served over rice. The accompanying Mista salad (spring mix, mandarin orange segments, sweet nut clusters and slivered almonds with a sweet vinaigrette) makes for a nice summer plate (or winter plate, for that matter). Another fallback for us is Mineirinho ($13.99), simple and good — black beans and rice with two eggs served on top. We get our eggs fried, which makes for a gooey mess of wonderfulness. The collard greens salad provides a pungent complement. Our usual dessert is four-layer pie, something many of us have had at church potlucks but rarely done this well. A fabulous pecan shortbread crust is topped with cream cheese, chocolate pudding and whipped cream with a dusting of crushed nuts. Determined to break out of our tasty rut, on a recent trip we started with Bolinho de Arroz ($4.99 for five), deepfried rice balls bound with egg and laced with Catupiry, a creamy Brazilian cheese featured in several dishes at Bossa Nova. An herbed mayonnaise sauce accompanied. We also had a cup of luscious vegan

BRIAN CHILSON

SKINNY J’S RESTAURANT AT 214 Main St. in North Little Rock, in the spot where Cornerstone Pub and Grill used to be, is now open. Skinny’s serves oysters prepared five ways, manager Sarah Reeves said. Steaks, burgers, seafood — including a lightly fried avocado stuffed with crab and crawfish — pastas and vegetarian dishes are also on the menu. Skinny Saturdays will feature live music from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. James Best, owner and chef of Skinny J’s, opened his first Skinny J’s in Cash, outside Jonesboro, in 2009. He’s since closed that one and opened Skinnys in Jonesboro and Paragould. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The bar is open until 11 p.m. on Saturdays.

A FAVORITE: Salpicao, a Brazilian take on chicken salad at Bossa Nova.

black bean soup ($5.79 for eight ounces). It is rich, hearty, and while it obviously is animal-fat-free, it’s not fat-free, and that helps. Soups are a highlight here: Count on chicken with hearts of palm and chili as well as a couple of others. We got Almondegas ($6.79) — another killer appetizer — as one main course. Two herby, tender meatballs are encased in puff pastry and served with a hot dipping sauce that’s like a Brazilian Tabasco. Our second main course was Panquecas de Frango ($18.79), two large chicken crepes served over rice. We chose the Catupiry cheese instead of the homemade marinara, and it worked well. The crepes aren’t bland, but neither are they boldly flavored. This is comfort food at its Brazilian best. Our chocolate flan ($4.75) was not as custardy as most flan. It’s not jiggly and therefore doesn’t threaten to slip off your spoon. The chocolate taste was subtle. Key lime pie ($5.75) is an absolute winner — a huge slab, tall with a creamier-thanusual filling and whipped cream atop a thick, crumbly graham cracker crust. Cafe Bossa Nova is consistently fabulous — in variety, authenticity, taste and

service. Our waiter knew all there was to know about every menu item, which makes sense as he’s the nephew of Rosalia Monroe, the owner and namesake of the adjacent bakery. But what Cafe Bossa Nova is not is inexpensive. Quiche with salad is $15.29. Sandwiches with salad (lunch only) are $14-$18. But some things are worth paying for, and that’s why we put Bossa Nova near the top of our list of favorite restaurants in Little Rock.

Cafe Bossa Nova 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. 614-6682 cafebossanova.com

QUICK BITE Love Cafe Bossa Nova? Then head next door to Rosalia’s Family Bakery. Dan and Rosalia Monroe, of Cafe Bossa Nova, opened the bakery in 2010, and it’s great for breakfast, lunch, or picking up pastries or other goodies to take home. HOURS 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. OTHER INFO Full bar, credit cards accepted.

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.

B Breakfast L Lunch D Dinner $ Inexpensive (under $8/person) $$ Moderate ($8-$20/person) $$$ Expensive (over $20/person) CC Accepts credit cards

BELLY UP Check out the Times’ food blog, Eat Arkansas arktimes.com

DINING CAPSULES, CONT. HONEYBAKED HAM CO. The trademark ham is available by the sandwich, as is great smoked turkey and lots of inexpensive side items and desserts. 9112 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, all CC. 501-227-5555. LD Mon.-Sun. (4 p.m. close on Sat.). IZZY’S It’s bright, clean and casual, with snappy team service of all his standbys — sandwiches and fries, lots of fresh salads, pasta about a dozen ways, hand-rolled tamales and brick oven pizzas. 5601 Ranch Drive. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-868-4311. LD Mon.-Sat.

ASIAN

FLAVOR OF INDIA Southern Indian food, including chaat (street food), dosas with lentils, rice and other ingredients, lentil soup, coconut chutney, and northern dishes as well. 11121 N. Rodney Parham, Suite 40B. 501-554-5678. GENGHIS GRILL This chain restaurant takes the Mongolian grill idea to its inevitable, Subwaystyle conclusion. 12318 Chenal Parkway. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-223-2695. LD daily. KEMURI Upscale Japanese from Little Rock restaurateur Jerry Barakat features entrees grilled on robatas (charcoal grills), sushi bar and other Asian dishes, plus American favorites given a pan-Asian twist. You’ve never had baby back ribs likes these cooked on a robata. 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., No. 2. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-660-4100. L Mon.-Fri., D daily. LILLY’S DIMSUM THEN SOME Innovative dishes inspired by Asian cuisine, utilizing local and fresh ingredients. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer and wine, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-7162700. LD Tue.-Sun. MT. FUJI JAPANESE RESTAURANT The dean of Little Rock sushi bars offers a fabulous lunch special and great Monday night deals. 10301 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-227-6498. L Mon.-Sat., D daily. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-227-6498. VEGGI DELI A small cafe in the back of the massive Indian and Mediterranean supermarket Asian Groceries, where vegetarian chat (South Indian street food) is the specialty. Let no one complain about our woeful lack of vegetarian restaurants before trying the food here. 9112 N. Rodney Parham. No alcohol, all CC. $-$$. 501-221-9977. LD Tue.-Sun. (closed at 7:30 p.m.).

BARBECUE

PIT STOP BAR AND GRILL A working-man’s bar and grill, with barbecue, burgers, breakfast and bologna sandwiches. 5506 Baseline Road. Full bar, No CC. $$. 501-562-9635. LD daily. WHITE PIG INN Go for the sliced rather than chopped meats at this working-class barbecue cafe. Side orders — from fries to potato salad to beans and slaw — are superb, as are the fried pies. 5231 E. Broadway. NLR. Beer, all CC. $-$$. 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. 2516 Cantrell Road. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-664-5025. LD daily 12111 W. Markham. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-907-6124. LD daily. 150 E. Oak St.

Conway. No alcohol, all CC. $$. 501-513-0600. LD Mon.-Sat., L Sun. 5107 Warden Road. NLR. Beer and wine, all CC. $$. 501-753-9227.

EUROPEAN / ETHNIC

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. YA YA’S EURO BISTRO The first eatery to open in the Promenade at Chenal is a datenight 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.

ITALIAN

BRAVO! CUCINA ITALIANA This upscale Italian chain offers delicious and sometimes inventive dishes. 17815 Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, all CC. $$$. 501-821-2485. LD daily. BR Sun. BRUNO’S LITTLE ITALY Traditional Italian antipastos, appetizers, entrees and desserts. Extensive, delicious menu from Little Rock standby. 310 Main St. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-7866. D Tue.-Sat. GRAFFITI’S The casually chic and ever-popular Italian-flavored bistro avoids the rut with daily specials and careful menu tinkering. 7811 Cantrell Road. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-2249079. D Mon.-Sat. SHOTGUN DAN’S PIZZA Hearty pizza and sandwiches with a decent salad bar. Multiple locations, at 4020 E. Broadway, NLR, 945-0606; 4203 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, 835-0606, and 10923 W. Markham St. Beer, CC. $-$$. 501-224-

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9519. 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 and wine, all CC. $-$$. 501-375-8466. LD daily. ZAZA Here’s where you get wood-fired pizza with gorgeous blistered crusts and a light topping of choice and tempting ingredients, great gelato in a multitude of flavors, call-yourown ingredient salads and other treats. 5600 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer and wine, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-661-9292. LD daily. 1050 Ellis Ave. Conway. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-336-9292. LD daily.

LATINO

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. $$$. 501-280-0407. LD daily, BR Sun. CHUY’S Good Tex-Mex.from an Austin-based chain, We’re especially fond of the enchiladas, and always appreciate restaurants that make their own tortillas. 16001 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-2489. LD daily. JUANITA’S Menu includes a variety of combination entree choices — enchiladas, tacos, flautas, shrimp burritos and such — plus creative salads and other dishes. And of course the “Blue Mesa” cheese dip. 614 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-1228. LD Tue.-Sat. LA SALSA MEXICAN & PERUVIAN CUISINE Mexican and Peruvian dishes, beer and margaritas. 3824 John F. Kennedy Blvd. NLR. Full bar, all CC. 501-753-1101. LD daily. LOCAL LIME Tasty gourmet Mex from the folks who brought you Big Orange and ZAZA. 17815 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, all CC. $$-$$$. 501-448-2226. LD daily. LUPITA’S ORIGINAL MEXICAN FOOD Mexican, American food and bar specializing in Margaritas. 7710 Cantrell Road. Full bar. 501-420-0052. LD daily. SENOR TEQUILA Typical cheap Mexican dishes with great service. Good margaritas. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, all CC. $$. 501-224-5505. LD daily. 9847 Maumelle Blvd. NLR. 501-758-4432; 14524 Cantrell Road. Full bar, all CC. $$. 501-868-7642. LD daily. TACO MEXICO Tacos have to be ordered at least two at a time, but that’s not an impediment. These are some of the best and some of the cheapest tacos in Little Rock. 7101 Colonel Glenn Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-4167002. LD Wed.-Sun. TAMALITTLE RESTAURANT Authentic Mexican food, including pastes, small flourbased empanada-like pastries and other traditional dishes. 102 Markham Park Drive. No alcohol, all CC. $-$$. 501-217-9085. BLD Mon.-Fri., LD Sat. 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. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

MOVIE REVIEW

Gone ‘Rogue’ Cruise returns to form in latest ‘Mission Impossible.’

RISKY BUSINESS: Cruise takes chances in latest.

BY WILL STEPHENSON

ere’s a thought I had on the way home from seeing “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation,” maybe an obvious one: Most good action movies are about tangible risk. Or the sensation of tangible risk. They succeed to the degree that they can demonstrate real consequences — these scenarios matter in a physical, nontrivial way. When the airplane takes off with Tom Cruise clinging to the outside door, this is a scenario that must be resolved. If not, he will be hurt. It only works if we believe that. The plane gains altitude and speed, and we can see Cruise’s cheeks rippling from the wind. His jaw is rigid. He seems to be having trouble breathing. For the minute or 30 seconds this lasts, we either feel a tightening in our chests and pulses, in our throats, or we don’t. And moment by moment, without exception, those are the only terms of success or failure that hold any weight. The terms are: Did it make you nervous? I brought a notebook with me and tried taking notes during the film. The first thing I wrote down was “Shadow Wilson.” Shadow Wilson was a jazz drummer. He played with Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane and Sonny Stitt, and he died of a heroin overdose in 1959. Why did I write this down? I won’t ruin it for you. Some other words I wrote down include “Havana” (when Cruise goes rogue, he leads the CIA, which is trailing him around the globe, to believe that he’s holed up in Havana) and “turtleneck” (the villain played by Sean Harris, who also played Joy Division’s Ian Curtis in “24 Hour Party People,” is nasal and nebbishy and who wears turtlenecks that give the impression of a sexually deviant Steve Jobs). It was hard to take notes in the dark and also focus on the action, which was fast-paced and breathless, so after a while I gave up. I think that a film like this must be reverse-engineered. As in, you must begin with images, flashes of danger: Cruise holding his breath in an underwater carousel, a man at a candlelit dinner table with a bomb under his jacket. You start with these still lifes, dreamlike and implausible, and then you arrange them in sequence and you fill 30

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES

in the gaps. In the case of “Mission Impossible,” you fill them with vague, wispy suggestions of geopolitical anxiety. This is all plot and connective tissue, which are not at all unimportant — they’re what distinguish the immersive Space Mountain from some bland, outdoor Six Flags knockoff — but the physical mechanics of the roller coaster remain first priority. Gravity is what makes you nervous, not backstory. “Rogue Nation” has several impressive scenes. Maybe my favorite takes place at the Vienna Opera House, during a performance of Puccini’s “Turandot.” There’s something kind of cocky and middlebrow about setting an action sequence during an opera (see also the recent James Bond film “Quantum of Solace,” which staged a bravura set piece during a visually exciting performance of Puccini’s “Tosca”). But it works fine here, because the scene is all about process and math — angles and geometry and probability. Cruise has to make a decision by the end of the scene that reminded me, in its devious simplicity, of an SAT word problem: Two assassins have guns trained on the same man. You have one bullet and just a few seconds to make a decision. Who do you shoot? The movie is either chauvinistic or the opposite of chauvinistic, but I couldn’t decide, and I finally lost interest in the question. There’s the IMF, which is Cruise’s organization, a deeply classified and controversial American group with unconventional methods of informationgathering and peacekeeping. And then the film postulates the existence of an “antiIMF,” alike in every way, but working toward different goals; in this case that’s the terrorist villains, led by Cruise’s turtlenecked doppelganger. But their otherness is downplayed. “We only think we’re fighting for the right side because that’s what we choose to believe,” says Ilsa Faust, played by the Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson, articulating a form of moral relativism that is usually unnerving in the context of a Hollywood blockbuster (like a monster catching sight of its reflection in a mirror). But her remark just sits there — they let it stand, never countered. I guess we are supposed to agree.

IT'S THE PARTY TO THE PARTY! Ride the Arkansas Times BLUES BUS to the King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena

It's the 30th Anniversary and we're bringing the partY with us!

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ADOPTION:

Adoring couple longs to adopt newborn. Safe, secure, forever love. Rachel & Elliot. 866-936-1105. Exp. pd.

Entergy is acquiring a unit of the giant but largely idle clean gas-burning Union Power Plant at El Dorado (its sister subsidiaries are acquiring the other two) and investing in solar and wind power. The big utility will register a pro-forma complaint about what it has to do, but it acknowledges the grave greenhouse problem and it will make the transition to clean energy that will be both healthful and economically good for Arkansans. Your grandkids will breathe purer air in a cooler climate, and Leslie Rutledge’s and the chamber’s lost efforts to protect the profits of the coal monarchs in Wyoming and Montana will be long forgotten.

DR. CHRISTOPHER LARSON, D.D.S.

(501) 565-3009 (501) 562-1665

www.faithdentalclinic.com

PEARLS ABOUT SWINE field after Cornelius, Keon Hatcher and other returners protect the ball and generate positive yards. 5. Does Arkansas’s quiet offseason signal that it has perhaps overtaken LSU for the short term? The Hogs throttled the Tigers on the field last year, which was overdue and beautiful even in a sloshy, chilly game in mid-November, but it may have signaled something else. Once again, LSU had an offseason fraught with negative headlines, namely an incident involving onetime starting quarterback Anthony Jennings. Les Miles had another decent recruiting class, but it could also be perceived as one of his least

potent since he arrived in Baton Rouge in 2014. Last year, Pearls correctly predicted the Hog uprising against the Tigers in Fayetteville and noted it would be the first five-loss LSU team in six seasons, and lo and behold, that prognostication was accurate. The sheen is missing and even with Leonard Fournette coming back, how functional will this offense be with several gaping holes in it? If the Hogs can win in Death Valley, notching backto-back triumphs against their rival for the first time since 2007-08, then that alone could cause enough disenchantment down South to put Miles’ job status in the crosshairs come December. www.arktimes.com

AUGUST 6, 2015

The Arkansas Times is launching its second annual Women Entrepreneurs issue in October, and we want to know who you think we should feature. Here is what to keep in mind: • Your nominee must be a woman who started her own business or took over a business and is still the owner/operator. • She must be an Arkansan. • She must be in business currently and have at least one year in business by the time of your nomination. • We welcome nominees who are LGBTQ.

• She must fit in one of these industry categories: food, professions (teachers, doctors, attorneys, financial advisors, etc.), nontraditional, retail and design, and two new categories - trailblazers (women who do not have their own business but have led their profession to success – pastors, teachers, CEOs, writers, etc.), and those women entrepreneurs outside of Pulaski County.

NOMINEES WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 4, 2015. Submit your nominee and her contact info to Kelly Lyles, kelly@arktimes.com and we will announce those selected in September. A panel of judges will determine the finalists and they will be announced by industries in the following issues:

OCTOBER 1, 8, 15, 22 AND 29 WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR CLASS OF 2014 FOOD

Capi Peck, Jan Lewandwoski, Kristi & April Williams, Faith & Sharon Cabin, Alexis Jones, Mary Beth Ringgold, Diana Bratton, Kavion Wang, Judy Waller

NON TRADITIONAL

Dee Sanders, Sarah Tackett, Marla Johnson, L. Elizabeth Bowles & Jennifer Peper, Beth Killingsworth, Jana Cohen, Jennifer Heron, Natalie Canerday, Robyn Connell.

RETAIL & DESIGN

Cynthia East & Terry Dilday, Joyce Holt, Korto Momolu, Meredith Hamilton Ranouil, Tanarah Hayne, Jean Cazort, Garbo Hearne, Melissa Tanner.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Kay Bona, Michele Towne, Joyce Fowler, Mary Parham, Gloria Lawson, Cindy Minor, Carol Ann Hicks

ASSETS INDUSTRY

Cindy Conger, Charlotte John, Janet Jones, Elizabeth Small, Cara Wilkerson Hazelwood, Anne Powell Black

A luncheon hosted by First Security Bank is planned.

AUGUST 6, 2015

ARKANSAS TIMES