Arkansas Times | January 2023

Saturdays are for Oaklawn. We start at the track. Nothing beats the stretch run. Cash an exacta. Then, on to the casino. Blackjack, slots, drinks and a few high fives. Dinner reservations at 8. After that, live music and more good times. This is my Oaklawn. What’s yours?

RACING / CASINO / HOTEL / SPA / EVENT CENTER / DINING / OAKLAWN.COM

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JANUARY 2023

DEATH AND DESIRE: On the luminous fiction of Carl Napolitano.

FEATURES

27 VISIONARIES

Arkansans pushing for change across the state.

By

Austin Bailey, Rhett Brinkley, Griffin Coop, Daniel Grear, Mary Hennigan and Stephanie Smittle

34 NATIVES GUIDE

Top 10 tracks from Arkansas musicians, top 10 meals from Arkansas restaurants and a help guide.

By

Guy Choate, Daniel Grear and Stephanie Smittle

9 THE FRONT

From the Farm: A turkey manure tale. Q&A: With Democratic dynamo, Aliah Rowe.

Big Pic: Actors from Arkansas.

17 THE TO-DO LIST

Tanya Tucker in Forrest City, Prokofiev at the symphony, the Arkansas Shorts film fest in Hot Springs, Ozark Mountain Music Festival and more.

23 NEWS & POLITICS

"You'll never see" Tom Cotton at his Arkansas apartment, neighbors say.

By Ryan Tarinelli

51 SAVVY KIDS

Caring for a child with special needs is about more than hardship.

By Katherine

Wyrick

56 CULTURE

A Q&A with fiction writer Carl Napolitano.

By Daniel Grear

60 HISTORY

The story of Sharpe Dunaway, the most famous traveling salesman in Arkansas history.

By

Ernie Dumas

62 CANNABIZ

When (and whether) we can expect Arkansas to expand its list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana.

By

Griffin Coop

66 THE OBSERVER

Resolutions.

ON THE COVER: Maxie Fauna by Ebony Blevins.

CARL NAPOLITANO

FROM

TURKEY MANURE SMELLS LIKE MONEY

BEING AN AMBITIOUS PART-TIME FARMER MEANS WORKING AHEAD.

BY ALAN LEVERITT

Arkansas Times publisher Alan Leveritt has lived on his great-grandparents’ farm in north Pulaski County for 40 years. This is the latest in a series of columns about day-to-day life on the land where he raises heirloom tomatoes and other crops for local restaurants and the Hillcrest Farmers Market.

Andy Jones, a Clarksville turkey farmer, pulled his big RAM 2500 pickup through my farm gate one Monday towing a Bull Neck tripleaxle dump trailer full of turkey manure and litter. In three loads, he delivered 24 tons of the stuff, about enough to fill a tractor trailer. At first it smelled like I had a feedlot of dead animals laying in my front yard, but then I thought, nope, smells like really good organic heirloom tomatoes. In the old days people said the Pine Bluff paper mill smelled like money. Well, so far, most of the money has eluded me but I’m sure about the tomato part.

That truck was impressive. It didn’t run so much as it growled as it rolled slowly down my gravel drive. Jones is a young guy with a cue ball head and a great red beard. When he eased out of the front seat I noticed the holstered pistol hanging from his belt. I’m old enough to remember when only police officers carried pistols on their belt, but I know that time is passed. Still I am never quite comfortable at first with an armed stranger.

I asked Jones about the gun.

“The way the world is, you can’t always trust people,” he said. “I kiss my wife and child goodbye every morning and tell them I’ll see them tonight. I intend to keep that

promise.”

Jones is also a member of the Johnson County Rural Fire Department No. 4, and when he responds to an emergency it isn’t always a fire. “Sometimes it might be a drug situation or some kind of violence. I also keep a fire department bulletproof vest in the truck.”

I visited with Jones and realized that while he might not trust strangers, he is also the kind of guy that would stop and help someone on the side of the road with a flat tire. Such is the odd yet hopeful character of rural Arkansas.

My tomato and vegetable farm consists of about 40 150-foot-long raised beds and three long hoop houses. Every three years I go on the hunt for some kind of manure to amend my soil. I don’t use chemical fertilizer and am dependent on manures and compost. Chicken or turkey litter is hard to find, especially with transport, which is most of the expense. Jones charged me $60 a ton delivered from Clarksville. I’ll take turkey or chicken litter, whichever I can find.

Jones has four 500-foot turkey houses with 16,000 birds in each. He will rotate about three and a half flocks each year, cleaning out the houses after each. I happened to catch him right after he

sent off his Thanksgiving turkeys. In my experience, chicken manure is easiest to find about the first of the year when many houses are cleaned.

Starting Thanksgiving week, I began shoveling those 24 tons of turkey manure onto my raised beds, unearthing and repairing last year’s drip tape and then gently mixing the soil and manure with my walk-behind tiller. During the hot summer temperatures, the field rats become desperate for water and gnaw through the irrigation lines, causing the breaks. The final step before planting in the spring is to push about 30 1,000-pound rolls of spoiled hay down the length of the beds, smothering everything in about eight inches of hay mulch. I used to lay plastic mulch down the beds, which was a lot faster but the hay mulches the raised beds and the aisles and feeds the soil as it slowly decomposes. When the hay is down I’ll use a 20-pound pile driver to sink about 400 6-foot oak stakes into the rows and then run nylon baling twine between the stakes in what is known as the Florida Weave, which will hold the tomato plants upright as they grow.

In spring, friends are surprised that I can do this with one good part-time worker, but the secret is, we take all winter and

SUNRISE: At India Blue Farm.

spread out the labor. And my other secret is young William Johnson, who does some of the heavy work I can no longer easily do alone. It takes two men to push the hay rolls down the aisles, for example. Decades ago I hired a housekeeper, Linda Smith, who was part of a small, very conservative church in Cabot. The women and girls wear long dresses and keep their hair up. You might mistake them for Mennonites. I enjoyed many conversations with Linda, and soon Ed, who was her pastor, was mowing our place, and his sons and later other church members worked with me in the field. We have little in common theologically but these are some of the finest, hard-working people I have known. Ed is retired now and William is helping out with the preaching until the church settles on a permanent pastor. They have all been a great help at the farm.

When I was in college I thought of farming as repetitive and mindless, as if plowing rows was all there was to it. Now I know that every season brings with it new challenges and new opportunities to learn. As William and I walked the field recently and talked about all that needed to happen between now and March, I was excited to tell him about my big crazy plan for growing in the No. 3 hoop house, a 96-foot by 30foot unheated plastic greenhouse.

Hoop houses are used for season extension. A warm weather crop can be planted in the hoop house a month before one plants the same crop outdoors, and a fall crop will last about a month longer into the winter. For too many years I have planted heirloom tomatoes in all three hoop houses on March 15, about five weeks before tomatoes can be planted outside. I get quality, organic tomatoes, which ripen before the stink bugs have even hatched.

But over the past couple of years I had noticed some of my healthy hoop house plants suddenly wilted and died just as they were putting on tomatoes. This year I had a lab in North Carolina graft my heirloom tomato seedlings onto wild, disease-resistant rootstock. It was a disaster. Every single tomato plant in all three hoop houses died within two weeks of one another, all of them loaded with small green tomatoes. When I sent the dead plants to the University of Arkansas for autopsy, the news could not have been worse. The soil was infected with deadly bacterial wilt, which has no cure other than not planting anything in the nightshade family, which includes tomatoes, for at least three years. Hoop houses are expensive real-estate, the

96-footer cost $12,000. So each year I filled it with my most expensive crop, heirloom tomatoes. Now I am paying for it.

But just as one hoop house door closes, another has possibly opened. Driving home one afternoon I caught the tail end of a piece on KUAR-FM, 89.1 about organic farmers converting some of their hoop house crops to hydroponic as a way to deal with soil disease. I got online and after talking to a hydroponic supply outfit in

systems for everything from the home gardener to a medium-sized operation like my own. We determined that my hoop house could hold 283 four-gallon “Dutch buckets,” as the hydroponic containers are called, each with a tomato seedling anchored in pearlite. A nutrient drip would run down the row atop the buckets and the excess nutrient water would then exit through a bucket drain into a recycle pipe just below the bottom of the bucket. The water is constantly recycled to the plants using very little water.

I thought the solution was elegant. Using Platow’s system I could give the soil a rest for several years and still grow early heirlooms under the protective plastic. I plan to grow Moon and Stars watermelons in one of the other infected hoop houses and Kentucky Wonder pole beans and Nickel French filet beans in the other. These crops, while not as valuable as the heirloom tomatoes, can be planted directly into the rich soil of the hoop house since they are impervious to bacterial wilt.

I’ll keep you posted on how the hydroponic experiment unfolds, or possibly unravels.

Canada, was directed to, of all places, Rose Bud (White County) and Randy Platow at Complete Growing. Platow struck me as sort of an eccentric enthusiast, an engineer by training who lives to spread the hydroponic gospel.

I drove up on a Saturday to Platow’s place off a county road near Rose Bud. It was a somewhat random collection of doublewalled, heated plastic greenhouses full of papaya, orange and mango trees, along with a huge tank of 1-pound tilapia fish. Waste from the tilapias sinks to the bottom of the tank and gets pumped out into a reservoir. There, the fish feces nourish lettuces and greens floating on Styrofoam sheets, their roots extending through holes in the Styrofoam.

Platow designs and sells hydroponic

Throughout all of this, I have become fascinated by the whole idea of grafting tomato plants much like one might do with fruit trees. The idea is to combine the most vigorous, disease-resistant rootstock with the variety that has the most desirable fruit. Heirloom tomatoes have little disease resistance, which is why they have been crossbred into hybrids. The problem with hybrids is, we often trade disease resistance and yield for taste. So grafting is an alternative. At the Hillcrest Farmers Market I noticed that my neighbor, Bob Barnhill of Barnhill Orchards, had beautiful Cherokee Purple tomatoes into the fall, long after my Cherokee Purple vines had given up the ghost. He told me they were grafted plants and put me in touch with Grafted Growers in North Carolina. The grafted tomatoes they did for the hoop houses were a loss but I planted the same grafted plants outside next to ungrafted plants of the same variety and while the regular plants were dead by mid-August, the grafted plants were still bearing at frost. So this season my hydroponic hoop house heirlooms, which will not touch soil, will be ungrafted and the 1,300 outside heirloom tomatoes will be grafted to a rootstock called RST-04-105. At about $2 a plant that represents a significant investment but in an increasingly hot, humid and disease-prone environment, I’m gambling it will pay off.

DUTCH BUCKETS: The feeder lines on top of the buckets provide nutrients. The drain pipe below recycles the nutrient-rich water back to a holding tank.

The BridgeWay is more than a hospital-it’s a place of hope and recovery from substance use disorders and mental illness. With the belief that each person can change and heal, we offer a program and treatment plan unique to each patient.

Our outpatient treatment represents our least restrictive and most flexible care options. Our Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) offer either day or evening schedules. These options allow patients to receive recovery-focused treatment that addresses a full range of psychiatric and addictive issues while attending to daily family and work obligations. In addition, our outpatient programs provide specialized group therapy for adults 18 and older with specific mental health or substance use disorder needs.

ARKANSAS TIMES LOCAL TICKETING:

UPCOMING EVENTS CENTRALARKANSASTICKETS.COM

NYE Party w/ Rachel Ammons

Arkansas’ original No Man Band

Dec 31, 2022 9:30 PM to Jan 1, 2023 1:00 AM Four Quarter Bar

Sugar in Our Wounds

Jan 13-15, 20-22, 27-29 (times vary) The Weekend Theater

BOOMERS ROCK -

Clinton Library Tour

Feb 2, 2023 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Clinton Presidential Center Lawn

Arkansas Times local ticketing site! If you’re a non-profit, freestanding venue or business selling tickets through eventbrite or another national seller – email us Rick@arktimes.com – we’re local, independent and offer a marketing package!

MOLDED BY THE HORRORS OF 2016, A NEW GENERATION EMERGES

Fresh-faced Democratic dynamo Aliah Rowe of Little Rock is not as locally famous as you might expect. On the national stage, though, she’s a pretty big deal. Recently elected vice president of College Democrats of America, Rowe crams in her political leadership work between bartending shifts and law school applications.

When did you launch your political career?

I started getting interested in politics when I was 18, during my freshman year of college [at Arkansas State University]. That’s when I got involved with Young Democrats of Arkansas State. I became VP and then president, then got involved nationally in my junior and senior years. I was elected with the College Democrats of America in October.

Why did you cast your lot with the Democrats?

I grew up in Arkansas. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily the most progressive state ever.

I grew up in a unique position. As a Black woman, I see the world differently than my white counterparts.

FOLLOWS: Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers

COLLEGE MAJOR: Economics and prelaw, with a minor in Spanish

HOBBIES: Playing guitar and posting to TikTok, find her @amoneyy31

My grandma and mom were Democrats, and I was always Democrat but didn’t know why until 2016, when Donald Trump was running for president. I thought, there’s no way this guy who says anything that comes to his mind can be president. Obviously, the woman who’s more qualified will win. Obviously. But that didn’t happen.

I want leaders who lead with empathy and believe in equality for everyone.

What keeps you engaged?

I want leaders who will understand that we should all have the right to govern our own bodies. The issues most important to me are bodily autonomy, equality and human rights. I think the Democratic Party embodies all of those.

My mom is mixed, half white and half Black. My grandma is white. They were big Obama fans. When Trump won, it was devastating to them. I was still in high school then, and when you’re 16 you feel like you can’t do anything. You can't vote and you feel helpless. But then you realize that no, you’re not. There are so many things you can do! You can always volunteer for campaigns, knock on doors, phone bank. You can, at the very least, encourage people who you know to vote. You can work

at polling places, put up signs. There’s so much you can do.

Was Arkansas State a very politically active campus? Were there many Democrats there?

I wouldn’t say it’s a very political campus. If it is, it’s more conservative. When I started there in 2018 I took Intro to Politics, and there were maybe three Democrats in a class of 20. Our Young Dems chapter is a lot more active than the Republicans, but I think that’s due to Democrats having to work harder in this state. We have to work 10 steps ahead when it comes to elections. Maybe we know we won’t win, but if we turn out a lot of voters, that looks good for the next round.

It sounds like abortion rights are important to you. Why is that?

You can’t force someone to be a parent. There are so many reasons why people get abortions. If you want to stop abortions, banning them isn’t the right thing to do. Poverty is the No. 1 cause of someone getting an abortion. I think before Dobbs everyone thought abortion access was untouchable. Once this happened, I feel like it really sent people into shock. We’re actually in danger. Some people don’t pay attention to politics because they think, ‘It doesn’t affect me.’ When it does hit close to home I think that makes people want to get involved. I think it definitely woke a lot of young people. Voter turnout really grew among Gen Z.

You also mentioned human rights. What do you mean by that?

Who you love, who you don’t love, the right to marriage is a human right. Abortion is a human right. The right to live the life you want to live, I think that’s a human right. For our trans youth, I don’t think they should be having so much hate sent their way. I think we should all have the right to live the life we want to live.

Looking ahead, what’s your prediction for the 2024 elections? I think Biden should run. That might be unpopular but I think he’s doing a really good job. He’s doing more than Obama did at this point. I think if he runs again, he will win.

CASTING CALL

HEY, THEY’RE FROM ARKANSAS!?

BY DANIEL GREAR AND MARY HENNIGAN

When just binge watching movies and television was no longer enough, pandemic listlessness led some of us on staff into the weeds of IMDb, scouring for trivia that might help stave off boredom. After the accidental discovery of one Arkansas hometown in the bio of a random actor, we became fascinated with which performers, big or small, come from The Natural State. Through an afternoon of office brainstorming, researching and sharing of useless knowledge, we learned that the answer was more expansive and peculiar than we anticipated. Here’s an indisputably incomplete list of what we found:

HUNTER DOOHAN

As a love interest in the new Netflix series “Wednesday,” Hunter Doohan from Fort Smith showcases innocence and deception through the character Tyler Galpin. The 28-yearold actor also starred in the sci-fi movie “Soundwave” and the Showtime miniseries “Your Honor.” With his husband and his cat, Doohan shares a mix of his personal and professional life to over 3 million Instagram followers.

RODGER BUMPASS

Little Rock native and Arkansas State University alum Rodger Bumpass has voiced the iconic and overtly negative Squidward Tentacles from “Spongebob Squarepants” for decades. He even broke out the voice in front of the Arkansas Senate in February to be honored for his accomplishments. In addition to bringing to life the sarcastic clarinet player and other peripheral underwater characters in Spongebob, Bumpass has a career’s worth of voice acting credits.

MOIRA MACDONALD

Remember baby Holly from “Breaking Bad?”

The daughter of Skyler and Walter White was played by a few children, but Moira MacDonald, who lives in Central Arkansas, played Holly for the majority of Season 5. It’s been almost 10 years since the series finale, and MacDonald is out doing regular pre-teenage girl stuff like performing in Ballet Arkansas’s production of “The Nutcracker,” of course.

BRENT JENNINGS

Say what you will about actors who bop around from show to show for just an episode or two of stardom, but Brent Jennings has an impressively diverse and extensive filmography. The Little Rock-born actor and 1969 Central High grad has shown up in programs as wide-ranging as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Glee,” “Veep,” “Modern Family,” “Insecure” and “Young Sheldon.” Dig through the “ER” archives for a particularly memorable Season 4 appearance in which he gives a moving speech about what it means to be an emergency room custodian.

WES BENTLEY

Known mostly for his role as teenage Ricky Fitts in “American Beauty” and follicularly blessed Seneca Crane in “Hunger Games,” Wes Bentley usurped his previous fame with a standout residency in Paramount’s “Yellowstone,” which began its fifth season in November. Described by the Arkansas Times staff as a “fun to hate asshole with hair made of granite,” Bentley plays attorney Jamie Dutton. Bentley was born in Jonesboro, grew up in Little Rock and attended Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood.

HENDRIX YANCEY

Shaved head and all, Hendrix Yancey from Benton starred as Thirteen on Season 4 of Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” Yancey missed out on most of the Upside Down demogorgon tomfoolery, but scored a part as one of Dr. Brenner’s brutally controlled lab children. Being doused in fake blood has got to be a “Stranger Things” honor, and Yancey had that one covered. Only 11 years old, Yancey also played the young Jan Broberg in the newly released “A Friend of the Family” drama series.

MARY MOUSER

In “Cobra Kai,” Pine Bluff’s own Mary Mouser plays central character Samantha LaRusso, Daniel LaRusso’s daughter (or “The Karate Kid”’s kid), a teenage badass who continues Mr. Miyagi’s legacy of using her powers for good. She’s been in show business since she was 8 years old and her siblings, Aaron Parker Mouser and Laura Ashley Mouser, are also actors. Before finding her home in the world of martial arts, Mouser held main roles in “Life Is Wild” and “Body of Proof.”

One of the many young actors who found success after playing a high schooler in 1993’s cult classic “Dazed and Confused,” North Little Rock native Joey Lauren Adams’ most notable performance was a lead role in Kevin Smith’s 1997 romantic comedy “Chasing Amy.” The character might be considered problematic by contemporary standards (she plays a lesbian who acquiesces to a romantic relationship with a man after he confesses his feelings for her), but she did a good enough job to be nominated for a Golden Globe. Her most recent gig as a guest on Season 3 of “The L Word: Generation Q” finds her once again inhabiting the role of a queer woman.

Award-winning

and studied at Hendrix College briefly before seeking success in New York City. A waitress at the time, Jack Nicholson discovered Steenburgen, and she was cast in a lead role in her first movie “Goin’ South.” Steenburgen’s IMDb is full of impressive characters, including the kind but worried-about-candy-spaghetti mother in “Elf,” sexual interest in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”— which she said was “unforgettable; my whole part was just kissing Johnny Depp” — and as the mom in comedy’s iconic “Step Brothers.”

Despite being born in Gurdon (Clark County), Daniel Davis is known for the convincing British accent he adopted in his role as Niles the butler in “The Nanny,” so believable in fact that many viewers mistook him for an Englishman. Before joining British high society for seven years and 145 episodes, Davis got his start in “Texas,” an ’80s soap opera. He’s no stranger to the theater, either, and has popped up in no less than five Broadway productions.

JOEY LAUREN ADAMS

DANIEL DAVIS

MARY STEENBURGEN

actress Mary Steenburgen was born in Newport

COURTESY OF HENDRIX YANCEY

BY DANIEL GREAR

TANYA TUCKER

SATURDAY 1/21. EAST ARKANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE, FORREST CITY. $44.

Tanya Tucker didn’t put out any original music for nearly 20 years, but when her comeback album “While I’m Livin’ ” was released in 2019, it sounded like she’d just taken the weekend off. With the help of Brandi Carlile, who co-produced the record and wrote most of the songs, Tucker made a career-defining statement at the age of 61. In Rolling Stone’s 40 Best Country and Americana Albums yearend list, Tucker came out on top. When she sings, “I don’t think I’m ever gonna get my fill. I’m gonna love you ’til the day my heart goes still,” she seems so at home that she might as well be reflecting on her artistry, not a lover. We’re secretly glad she’s still hungry and might never be satisfied. Forrest City is an hour and a half east of Little Rock, but it’ll be well worth the drive.

DERREK KUPISH

R.B. MORRIS

SUNDAY 1/22. WHITE WATER TAVERN. 5 P.M. $10.

Lots of songwriters call themselves poets, but R.B. Morris is the real deal. Crowned Knoxville, Tennessee’s first poet laureate in 2016, the cleverly economical lyrics accompanying his sleepy folk melodies and slow-motion pedal steel feel like a proper extension of his verse. In “Red Sky,” a cut off his 2020 solo album, he recounts peculiar yet familiar regrets: “I wish I had a sweet kiss for every step I took, I wish I had my best thoughts all down in some book.” In “Old Copper Penny,” he likens himself to a one-cent coin, and the metaphorical potential feels endless: “I’m heads up, I’m happy, I’m ready to roll. I know I’m not silver, I know I’m not gold. But I’m good luck to whoever holds an old copper penny like me.” In addition to his songs and poems, Morris is a James Agee-obsessive, and has written and held the lead role in a play about his life. Hopefully when he comes to the White Water, some of this peripheral expertise will trickle into his stage banter or show up at the merch table.

BILL FOSTER

ARKANSAS SHORTS

FRIDAY 1/6-SUNDAY 1/8. HISTORIC MALCO THEATER, HOT SPRINGS. $10 INDIVIDUAL SCREENINGS, $65 WEEKEND PASS.

The Academy Awards defines the length of a short film as anywhere between zero and 40 minutes, including credits. It’s a mind-bending range, if you think about it. Arkansas Shorts, an annual Hot Springs festival, uses the same criteria. For more than a decade, Arkansas Shorts has been a one-day event. Last year, it expanded to two. Now, for its 16th run, it will be a three-day weekend affair including workshops, panel discussions and after-parties. One reason for the growth is that Low Key Arts, the parent sponsor, opened a year-round, all-ages film school in August, which has resulted in an influx of high-quality submissions. A comprehensive completist could have the chance to see 70-80 films in total. In addition to entries by Arkansas residents, the festival will screen some of the most buzzed-about North American and international short films, including pictures that have been shown at Sundance, Cannes and Tribeca.

ARKANSAS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA:

Prokofiev, the

includes a 1903 Gabriel Pierné piece that

and demanding feature from ASO’s principal

magic”

Times’ own Stephanie Smittle. Also on the bill is Beethoven’s

Overture No. 3,” which brings to life the story of a woman who

disguise to save her husband from wrongful imprisonment.

Akiko Fujimoto, the first female conductor for the Mid-

who appeared with ASO in April 2022, recently enough that

BLACK HOMESTEADERS OF THE SOUTH

WEDNESDAY 1/4. ROBERTS LIBRARY. NOON. FREE.

Three years before the ratification of the 13th Amendment, the Homestead Act of 1862 was passed, granting those who applied access to up to 160 acres of public land. Following emancipation, many eligible Black Americans bravely entered the rigorous application process. The previously buried stories of 49 formerly enslaved individuals from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi — told in the voices of their descendents — are bundled into Bernice Alexander Bennett’s book, “Black Homesteaders of the South,” released in October 2022. For January’s Legacies & Lunch, CALS will bring Bennett to Roberts Library, where she’s in conversation with Lyle Gibson, Jessica Trotter and Angela Walton-Raji, genealogical scholars and researchers whose own Arkansan ancestors are featured in the collection. Pack a sandwich and CALS will take care of the drinks and cookies.

OZARK MOUNTAIN MUSIC FESTIVAL

THURSDAY 1/19-SUNDAY 1/22. BASIN PARK HOTEL, EUREKA SPRINGS. 4-DAY PASS, $85.

Housed on multiple indoor stages at the cozy and historic Basin Park Hotel, amid the preserved Victorian architecture of downtown Eureka Springs, the 9th annual Ozark Mountain Music Festival promises four days of wintertime bluegrass, folk and roots music from over 20 groups and solo artists. Attendees and musicians alike are encouraged to book a room at the hotel for the long weekend, and there’s no designated backstage area, meaning the festival is designed to put performers and fans on a level playing field. This year’s headliner is Lindsay Lou, a Nashville by way of Michigan singer whose affinity for traditional bluegrass has slowly migrated in the direction of a more contemplative Americana sound in recent years. Other recognizable acts on the lineup include Marbin, Willy Tea Taylor, The Mighty Pines and The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers. Homegrown Arkansan talent like Ashtyn Barbaree and Eureka Strings will also appear.

KELLER WILLIAMS

FRIDAY 1/20. REV ROOM. 9 P.M. $22-$25.

Keller Williams performs by himself, but he’s surrounded by instruments. For a second, the bass and electric guitars that flank him look like they’re levitating. In reality, they’ve been suspended horizontally by unique stands, designed so he can spin his main axe — an acoustic guitar — behind him and sidle up for a quick riff. With the help of an electronic drum pad and a loop pedal, Williams combines all these forces to create spontaneous, one-man jams that will transport you instantly to a ’90s outdoor music festival. If that’s not interesting enough, it turns out that one of the floating guitars he flirts with has been fitted with a MIDI pickup that allows him to transform the sound into a cello, flute or really any noisemaker of his choosing. As you can imagine, he’s the kind of musician for whom every show is vastly different, so don’t kick yourself for missing him at the Rev Room.

STEVE MOYLES

ARKANSAS TIMES FILM SERIES: ‘JOHNNY GUITAR’

TUESDAY 1/17. RIVERDALE 10 VIP CINEMA. 7 P.M. $5.99.

At first blush, Nicholas Ray’s “Johnny Guitar” (1954) seems like a traditional Western, rife with steeds, saloons and shootouts. Upon closer inspection, however, much about this film is askew. Take Johnny Guitar himself, played by Sterling Hayden, a visitor from out-of-town who doesn’t carry a gun and broaches conflict via philosophical monologue and a strum on the six-stringed instrument he got his name from. Then dwell on the real main character, Vienna, played by Joan Crawford, Johnny’s confident ex-lover who’s unafraid to threaten with a deadly weapon and is the owner of a soon-to-boom watering hole that’s the subject of much local resentment. Finally, pay attention to Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), the most frightening and fiery figure in the whole movie, and the one who leads the effort to ruin Vienna’s business. In another subversion of genre tropes, “Johnny Guitar”’s greatness stems mostly from its character psychology, explored through dialogue that New Yorker critic Richard Brody compared to “bruising and vulnerable lyric poetry” in his 2022 review of this “cinematic opera.” “How many men have you forgotten?” Johnny asks Vienna in an exposed moment. “As many women as you remember,” she replies, before they embrace after years apart.

POTLUCK & POISON IVY: PAULA MARTIN

MONDAY 1/23. THE JOINT THEATER AND COFFEEHOUSE. 7 P.M. $35.

If you’ve never been to Potluck & Poison Ivy, an Argenta series that pairs live storytelling with dinner, this is probably the time to try it out, given that January’s guest of honor, Paula Martin, has tried her hand at about every kind of narrative-related venture you can imagine. In addition to being Potluck & Poison Ivy’s own producer and creative director, Martin created “Tales From the South,” an internationally-syndicated live radio show that had some of its stories snatched up by NPR’s “Snap Judgment.” Outside of the oral tradition, Martin has more than dabbled in the written word, leading her to publish two novels and four poetry collections. This month, she’ll release her first album as a songwriter. Come out to The Joint and find out which version of herself she’ll be putting on display. The Salty Dogs will serve as the musical guest.

TOMMY EMMANUEL

SATURDAY 1/14. THE HALL. 8 P.M. $30-$260.

Tommy Emmanuel rarely plays a song more than once during his brief visits to the studio. He strives for his recordings and live performances to match up identically. Artistic integrity aside, Emmanuel’s process probably shakes out like this because he’s one of the best acoustic guitar players of all time. Revered for being an exceptional fingerstylist and for practically transforming the guitar into a percussion instrument, the Australian has made albums with the likes of David Grisman and Chet Atkins. Because of his willingness to scratch, beat and bend his guitars into unconventional territory, they usually look like they’ve been through hell. That said, it’s just as likely that you’ll catch him plucking gently if you make it out to his performance at The Hall.

ARKANSAS SHAKE SHAKERS

SATURDAY 1/21. CENTRAL THEATER, HOT SPRINGS. 8 P.M. $5-$250.

Looking to see Krystal Cornelius (aka Maxie Fauna), one of this issue’s Arkansas Visionaries, do her thing in the flesh? Put on whatever the hell you want and saunter over to Central Theater, a charming playhouse in downtown Hot Springs that calls itself “Arkansas’s only true performing arts venue embracing all forms of expression.” In a space that boasts billowing stage curtains, velvet seats, VIP sofas, a cat walk and playfully alternating red and blue letters on the marquee outside, you’ll be taken care of by the Arkansas Shake Shakers (A.S.S.), the state’s first and sole all-POC burlesque troupe.

ALYSSE GAFKJEN

IMDB

TOM COTTON DOESN’T LIVE HERE

DESPITE HAVING A LITTLE ROCK APARTMENT AS AN OFFICIAL RESIDENCE, THERE’S LITTLE EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT HE’S ANYTHING MORE THAN AN OCCASIONAL VISITOR.

BY RYAN TARINELLI

Several years ago, an unassuming Little Rock apartment became the official home of a U.S. senator.

In signed paper filings, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and his wife switched their voting residence from a house in Dardanelle to a 905-square-foot unit near the bank of the Arkansas River. By that time, the couple had two sons and Cotton was a national political figure.

But since the address change in June 2019, it remains unclear exactly how much time Cotton spends in the state he represents, with social media posts and Senate financial reports offering an imprecise view of his travel.

Further, it’s unknown how much time the couple, whose two boys are ages 6 and 7, spend at their voting residence in Little Rock.

David Coffman, the senator’s next-door neighbor in Little Rock, told the Arkansas Times that he never sees anyone going in or out of Cotton’s unit.

“You’ll never see him,” Coffman said of Cotton.

Coffman, who bought his own apartment years ago and was able to describe other people on the same floor, said he’s seen Cotton around the complex a few times in the last three years.

The man said he met the senator for an introduction and handshake in the stairwell once. But Coffman said he hasn’t seen Cotton at the complex since the summer of 2021.

Cotton’s apartment is immediately adjacent to Coffman’s guest bedroom. The man said that sometimes he hears noises late at night, but never during the day.

He’s noticed multiple voices coming from the apartment at night as recently as early December, he said.

Cotton’s across-the-hall neighbor asked to remain anonymous

MICHAEL VADON

because of concerns for her employment. The woman, who moved into her apartment in February 2021, said she has never seen anyone entering or leaving Cotton’s unit and did not think anyone lived there.

One time last year, she heard children in the apartment during a weekend, but thought that maybe the unit was functioning as an Airbnb, she told the Arkansas Times.

Meanwhile this summer, Cotton's personal financial disclosure report listed a 30-year mortgage through a bank in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The mortgage was taken out last year. The mortgage ranges from $1 million to $5 million, according to the disclosure report. It’s unclear if the mortgage is for property in the D.C. area or elsewhere.

For his part, Cotton has acknowledged having a residence in the Washington, D.C., area.

“I’ve always had the home in Arkansas, obviously — first in Dardanelle, then in Little Rock. But since I was elected, like most members, I also have a residence in the D.C. area as well,” the senator said in an interview earlier this year.

Cotton’s office did not respond to media inquiries for this story and did not make the senator available for an interview.

News broke last month that the Republican senator would pass on a 2024 presidential run. Cotton pointed to family concerns, including that a campaign would pull him away from his sons, according to media reports.

"This is not the right time for our family for me to commit to a six-to-seven-day-a-week campaign for the next two years," Cotton told Fox News.

ARKANSAS APPEARANCES

It’s difficult to say precisely how much time Cotton has spent in Arkansas since changing his voting address to Little Rock.

When money from a senator’s office is used to pay for their travel, the trips are outlined in a report posted on the Senate’s website. The reports can offer a view into how often a politician journeys between Washington, D.C., and their home state.

For example, the reports show that U.S. Sen. John Boozman frequently travels to and from The Natural State, with his office paying for several dozen of his trips between Arkansas and Washington, D.C., each year in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

And for travel from January through September of this year, Boozman’s office has paid for at least 30 trips between Arkansas and Washington, D.C., according to available Senate reports.

Unlike his Republican counterpart, the reports from Cotton’s office show a different travel schedule. Cotton’s Senate office paid for zero of his trips between Arkansas and Washington, D.C., in 2021, three trips in 2020 and approximately 30 trips in 2019, according to the Senate reports.

And between January and September of this year, Cotton’s office paid for zero of his trips between Arkansas and Washington, D.C., according to available Senate reports.

His office did not respond to questions regarding if — or to what extent — the senator is using campaign funds to pay for his travel to Arkansas. The office also did not respond to questions regarding how much time the senator spends in Arkansas.

Unlike every other member of Arkansas’s congressional delegation, Cotton did not include his city of residence in the biography on his congressional website as of Dec. 20. No city of residence appears in the biography on his campaign website as well.

All four of Arkansas’s U.S. House members have said they regularly travel back to the state.

In recent history, it’s become the norm for congressional lawmakers to try and spend as little time as possible in Washington, D.C., said Casey Burgat, director of the Legislative Affairs program at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University

With six-year terms, U.S. senators are more likely to develop stronger roots in Washington, D.C. compared to their counterparts with twoyear terms in the lower chamber, Burgat said.

Still, the expectation is that senators live in their home state and travel there as much as possible, he said.

When Congress is not in session, the expectation is that “you're back in your district or state meeting and working with local constituencies,” he said.

Social media posts provide some insight into how often Cotton is in Arkansas, like when the senator attended a March for Life rally in Little Rock or posed outside a crime lab in Arkansas.

In particular, Cotton’s Twitter and Facebook accounts are used to share pictures of meetings and appearances in Arkansas. But those accounts can go many weeks without posting pictures that confirm his presence in the state.

State Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) said there is speculation about the amount of time the senator spends on the ground in the state. In particular, he pointed to a July post from Cotton’s Twitter account.

“One of the many reasons I’m happy to be back in Iowa — Casey’s pizza!” read the tweet, which featured a picture of Cotton with pizza outside a Casey’s general store.

“To me, anyone who has campaigned in Arkansas ought to know that there are plenty of Casey’s general stores in Arkansas with that pizza available,” said Tucker, who ran for Arkansas’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018. “So you know, when something like that happens, it really fuels the speculation that he may not be spending a whole lot of time here.”

In the past, critics of Cotton have seized on the topic in attacking the junior senator from Arkansas.

But any speculation about his time in the state has not appeared to hurt him at the ballot box. Cotton earned a second Senate term in 2020, winning more than 66% of the vote.

Eddie Arnold, the chairman of the Clark County Republican Committee, said Cotton is a high-profile politician who has two younger children. The senator can’t be expected to be everywhere at once, he argued.

Cotton holds a busy schedule, he said, and should be spending a significant amount of time in Washington, D.C., where he can represent conservative Arkansas values in Congress. Arnold said he’s never heard any Republicans carp about the senator not being available.

“I've never heard anyone complain about that,” said Arnold, who also serves as the 4th Congressional District chair for the Republican Party of Arkansas.

Arnold also said he saw Cotton in October when the senator spoke in person in Arkadelphia at a Lincoln Day Dinner.

“I’ve heard a lot of political speeches, and I think the speech that he gave that night was the most powerful,” he said.

TIES TO VIRGINIA

The bank in Virginia is not the only connection the senator and his wife, Anna, have to the Washington, D.C., suburb of McLean, Virginia.

In at least three signed absentee ballot applications, Anna Cotton has requested that her ballot be sent to a U.S. Postal Service office in McLean, according to records obtained through the Pulaski County Circuit and County Clerk’s office.

On those application forms, the Little Rock apartment is listed as Anna Cotton’s voting residence, but she attested that she would be unavoidably absent from her polling site on those Election Days. For at least one election, the senator has requested that an absentee ballot be sent to the same U.S. Postal Service office location in McLean, according to a record obtained through the Pulaski County Circuit and County Clerk’s office.

Anna Cotton has often voted absentee in Arkansas, according to the Arkansas secretary of state’s office.

In Arkansas, Anna Cotton has voted absentee 11 times since 2016, according to a voting history report from the secretary of state’s office.

The last time she voted in person in Arkansas came more than eight years ago in the November 2014 general election, when her husband challenged Democrat Mark Pryor for the U.S. Senate seat, according to the report.

Attempts to reach Anna Cotton for this story were unsuccessful. Media inquiries sent to an email associated with her name were not returned.

Anna Cotton also has professional ties to McLean.

She is listed as a lawyer in at least four different states: New York, Minnesota, Wyoming and Montana. On a Minnesota lawyer database, the listed address for Anna Cotton is a U.S. Postal Service office in McLean — the same location recorded on her absentee ballot applications.

Lawyer databases from the Wyoming State Bar and the State Bar of Montana also associated Anna Cotton with McLean.

Anna Cotton is a former federal prosecutor and is the founder of SLG Solutions, according to an online biography.

The listed principal office address for SLG Solutions, LLC is a U.S. Postal Service office in McLean — the same location listed on Anna Cotton’s absentee ballot applications, according to Virginia’s State Corporation Commission.

Anna Cotton’s biography says she has worked as the deputy general counsel of the National Reconnaissance Office and worked as assistant general counsel at the Central Intelligence Agency.

Anna Cotton is part of the board of directors at ClearForce, according to their website. ClearForce is a “people risk management company,” according to the website, and lists an address in Vienna, Virginia.

Daniel Grear and Mary Hennigan contributed reporting.

VISIONARY ARKANSANS

Not content to sit back and wring their hands, these Arkansans are conjuring a smarter, safer and saucier future. Our fresh-faced Arkansas Times Visionaries for 2023 are leapfrogging right past the old boys’ club to deliver good health, a strong economy, political might and even some artistic flair.

Let’s face it: Asking working-class Arkansans to be engaged, active participants in the democratic process while simultaneously feeding their families and leading complicated lives is a pretty big ask. The truth is that maintaining an awareness of your political landscape — particularly at the state and local levels that don’t always make national headlines — takes time, and it’s pretty unlikely that working parents are going to find themselves at the end of their day with the mental bandwidth to delve into the minutia of tax cuts for the wealthy or pay raises for educators. That’s where For AR People comes in.

The group describes itself as a “nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of Arkansans restoring fairness, transparency and accountability to our state government,” with aims to reshape Arkansas into a place where “all voices are valued regardless of the net worth of the speaker, all workers have the basic protections they need to be productive and healthy, and our government works for the good of all of us.”

Or, in Founding Director Gennie Diaz’s words: "We basically connect the dots between policy at the state level and people’s lives. … We’re not reporters, per se, or journalists. We’ll provide the information via other sources, or provide it ourselves if there’s nobody else doing it.” (Notable here is that For AR People and the Arkansas Times have a partnership, sharing information to make sure Arkansans have the access they need to participate in their own democracy.) “But we’re always providing an action element,” Diaz, 38 and a mother of two children, said. “An onramp for people to be engaged in democracy in the state. And we want people to wake up to the importance of that, because: One, our electorate is so disengaged in Arkansas. But, two: Once people start participating in these smaller ways, at the local level and the state level, they start to feel a sense of empowerment.”

As for Diaz’s on-ramp into political work? That came courtesy of former state Rep. Megan Godfrey. Godfrey also happens to have been Diaz’s college roommate, and when Godfrey decided to run for office, Diaz — whose work had ranged from graphic design to communications — signed on as Godfrey’s communications director. “My degree is in political science, and I never thought that I would be able to marry my love for visual communications — and my obsession with information, and being in the know about things — with my actual trained degree in poli sci until I started doing For AR People. So everything kind of led up to this point.”

Diaz’s ancestors are from the Arkansas Ozarks, and moved out west during the Dust Bowl era, so when Diaz moved to Fayetteville for college, she felt right at home. “I guess half of my DNA is from the Ozarks, and it’s a really special place to me.”

During the upcoming legislative session, she says, For AR People has its eyes “all on public education. We of course are still going to be advocating for teacher pay increases for public educators, including paid staff … We’ll also have our eye on anything that, in our opinion, attacks public education or pulls resources from public education. An example of that would be vouchers for private schools. We’re also going to be watching jail expansion, and we know that is a priority of the majority party, so we will look for ways in which our audience can be part of that conversation. Just like anytime, we’re gonna be watching for anything that materially harms Arkansans. Or is there something that’s going to materially improve their lives? We will champion those pieces of legislation that will make people’s lives better.” SS

OBSTETRICIAN NIRVANA MANNING DELIVERS BETTER HEALTH CARE TO ARKANSAS MOMS

As a member of the Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee, Dr. Nirvana Manning helps investigate every maternal death in the state. In 2020, the committee determined 92% of the 30 maternal deaths that year could have been prevented.

“Those are astounding statistics,” she said. But maybe not surprising.

Arkansas is not a safe place to be if you’re an expectant mother. The state has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country, roughly double the national average.

Manning aims to change that.

“We live in a time where we don’t have to wonder what the best way is to take care of postpartum hemorrhage, we know how to take care of preeclampsia,” she said. A doctor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Manning wants to make sure caregivers at all of Arkansas’s 37 hospitals where babies are delivered have the knowledge they need when these emergencies arise.

“We will take that show on the road and help support all of our delivering hospitals,” she said. “We hope a postpartum hemorrhage doesn’t happen, but when it does, in a small town that only delivers 200 babies a year, we hope that they know quickly how to address it, how to fix it, and they know how to get that patient the best care at that time.”

There’s plenty of work to be done beyond hospitals, too. We need community health care workers to make sure expectant and new mothers in rural areas are linked with adequate medical care, Manning said.

“There may not be a hospital within 50 or 100 miles. We need someone who can coordinate that care.”

And getting more Black clinicians on the job in Arkansas could help close the racial disparity in maternal outcomes.

We need to break down that distrust in the medical establishment,” she said. “We need more Black health care providers.”

Manning appears in the documentary “Giving Birth in America: Arkansas,” produced by supermodel-turned-documentarian Christy Turlington Burns and the organization Every Mother Counts. In December, Manning shared a stage with Burns and Chelsea Clinton during the Women’s Voices symposium at the Clinton Presidential Center, where she talked about her efforts to turn Arkansas’s dismal maternal mortality rates around.

Part of a series that captures women’s birth experiences in different states, the film was “a good way to shed light on some of the things we could do better here,” Manning said. It follows several mothers through delivery and afterward, as they wrangle with the new demands of mothering a newborn on top of work, classes, family and other obligations. Mental health challenges are more common than not in those first grueling months.

Half of Arkansas births are covered by Medicaid, but coverage runs out 60 days after the baby arrives. Manning said she’s hopeful Arkansas legislators will come through in 2023 to expand Medicaid to run a full year after birth. The extension would mean new mothers could address the physical and mental health challenges that can follow childbirth, and they could get the birth control they need to be in charge of if or when they’ll have another baby. There’s no way to cram all of that into the 60 days after giving birth.

“Your life is still upside down at 60 days,” Manning said, speaking from experience as a mom of three. AB

LOCAL NONPROFIT OFFERS A SECOND CHANCE TO TEENS

Anger management, conflict resolution, deescalation strategies and career readiness. Every day, Amber Govan works to give teens in Pulaski County the opportunities and resources she needed as a young girl.

As the founder of Carter’s Crew, Govan has created a comfortable environment for teens to commit to life-changing outcomes. Govan said she grew up facing adverse challenges herself; violence, poverty and homelessness pushed her to sell drugs at a young age and write bad checks in college. It was these experiences that propelled Govan’s efforts to provide youth programs in the community.

“I think that when you live in chaos, you just become accustomed to that being the way of life,” Govan said. “I would probably be a menace to society if it were not for community interventions.”

Carter’s Crew, which is named after Govan’s 7-year-old son, started in 2018 and operates on federal funds and community donations that keep the resources free. The teens’ needs ultimately drive the types of services offered, but community members also visit to provide tutoring and discuss topics like financial literacy, mental health and gender identity.

Teens are welcomed into a space with a computer lab, shower, fully stocked kitchen, dining area, activity room, pantry with donated clothes and activities and an art room where teens can make T-shirts to sell.

“The [large] majority of our kids who are here at the program, they come from the courts,” Govan said. “Our program is a second chance for them. After they go through the program, they don’t have to go to detention.” Govan said she and her team work with teens who live in high crime areas, are involved in gangs and have been — or are at risk to be — involved with the justice system. The teens’ parents are also offered programs to help with career readiness and resume writing; they can even earn vouchers for business attire.

Programs are 10 weeks long and are offered in person or virtually, but there’s currently about 50 people on the waitlist, Govan said. Her team follows up with the teens for nine months after the program, and they can reenter the program twice. Carter’s Crew served thousands of people in 2022, and Govan said she’s looking to expand the services soon.

Govan said that when she’s offered a new seat at the table or to speak for a committee, she takes the kids with her. They also call Govan “Big Ma,” which she said is representative of the person who holds everyone together in her culture. While Govan only technically has one son, it feels like she has a bunch of kids, she said.

On top of working directly with the youth, Govan wears many hats working closely with the federal government as a liaison between law enforcement, the justice system and the community. Govan is also part of the probation system review team in Pulaski County working to find detention alternatives and sentencing discrepancies. Eight staff members, 60 community partners and about 30 volunteers work toward the success of Carter’s Crew. “Without this community that we have, we wouldn’t exist,” Govan said. MH

CARPENTERS BEGIN GROWING A NEW LEAFY GREEN

The Carpenter family has a long history of growing produce in Southeast Arkansas and, last year, they added one more leafy green to their repertoire.

The Carpenters planted their first marijuana crop last year and have received rave reviews since their flower first hit dispensary shelves in August, according to Abraham Carpenter Jr., the head of the operation.

“According to the people who have partaken in it, they say that it’s the best flower in the state,” Carpenter said. “When they come to the dispensaries, when they look at the appearance of it and the quality of it, they say that it’s the best flower out there.”

The Carpenters are no strangers to agriculture and success. Abraham Carpenter Sr. was inducted into the state Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Carpenter Family was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame the same year, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The family was also named the state Farm Family of the Year by the Arkansas Farm Bureau in 1988.

Carpenter Medical Group, owned mostly by Abraham Carpenter Jr., received a license from the state Medical Marijuana Commission to grow marijuana in 2020.

About a year ago, the Carpenters began growing in their newly constructed 60,000-square-foot cultivation facility in Grady where they employ many family members and people from the local community.

The Carpenters grew their first 25 strains from seed and have applied their knowledge from growing produce to marijuana cultivation.

“Just growing plants in general helps us to identify anything that a plant needs,” Carpenter said. “We can look at a plant and tell whether it needs water, tell whether it needs nutrients, by just looking at it.”

Carpenter said his family got into the business when his father saw a TV news report about medical marijuana being legalized in Arkansas. His father asked him if it was true that medical marijuana would treat or cure illnesses as its proponents claimed.

When the younger Carpenter replied that the supporters vouch for the plant’s medicinal capabilities, the elder Carpenter, now 92, said, “Well, we need to grow some of that stuff.”

Venturing into the marijuana business was a bit of a divergence for the eldest Carpenter.

“My mom and dad wouldn’t even let me sell beer and wine in a family restaurant,” Carpenter said. “When I got that approval, I knew it was time to try to move forward on trying to get a license to grow some medical marijuana to help heal the patients.”

Carpenter Farms has flower and vape cartridges on the market, with edibles and topicals hitting the market in the first quarter of 2023. GC

BRIAN CHILSON

CENTRAL HIGH STUDENTS TAKE UP THE MICROPHONE IN THE

NAME OF RENEWABLES

When it comes to talks about policy change, the adults in the room are not always the adults in the room. Take Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, for example, or the Parkland, Florida, students standing up to the big gun lobby. Or our very own Sela Booher, Heather Jennings, Gryffyn May, Rory McCuien, Ernest (Ernie) Quirk, Abe Wardlaw and Melissa Xiang. All members of Little Rock Central High School’s Young Leftists Club, the group has spent much of the school year urging the Little Rock Board of Education to replace a portion of its energy consumption with solar energy — a transition, they say, that would save the district “a significant amount of money with zero upfront costs.”

A move to renewable energy, the students’ research posits, means “the district would pay less over time than it would if it continued to pay for energy at its current rate,” even excepting barriers like preserving Central High’s historical architecture in any new facility plans. With direction from their club sponsor Malik Marshall, the students enlisted support from the student body and from administrators, collecting over 700 signatures and 100 written comments supporting the idea of implementing a power purchase agreement, in which the energy generated by LRSD’s solar power facilities would be sold back to the district at a lower rate than the standard utility rate.

Sounds great, right? But energy is high stakes stuff, and a potential bidder on the district’s solar contract — Entergy — has spent time in front of district decision-makers attempting to sell the company’s own energy programs to the district, and has been allowed to make its case not only before other bidders could weigh in, but before a Request for Proposals was officially approved by the school board on Sept. 22. The students spent hours together after school on Tuesdays and Thursday and often on weekends, making sure their arguments were locktight

and preparing facts in the face of resistance, structural inertia and, Ernie added, “condescension.”

“They don’t all treat us as qualified,” Abe added. “And it makes us have to go the extra mile in terms of getting research and presenting these ideas that have no holes, no gaps in them.”

“We had to have evidence that you can’t refute,” Gryffyn said, “and to put it in the plainest, simplest words possible that are absolutely true. Because otherwise, it could just be misconstrued and make it sound different than we intended. It’s a challenge for young people who are trying to make change on this level.”

The students’ argument is rich and informed, but it’s also personal. Heather has a younger brother coming up through the Little Rock School District, and Gryffyn has a younger sister in the same boat. Though concerns about renewable energy are pressing ones, “I think it’s more about setting a precedent for future grade levels to want to get involved but maybe don’t know how,” Gryffyn said. “This sets an example and gives kind of a bar for ways that students have pushed to see change happen. It gets the ball rolling.”

Beyond the unified mission they’ve adopted this year, their interests and college aspirations range widely. Melissa plans to study computer science. Ernest is considering social work. Abe is eager to get on the pre-law track. Heather is interested in wildlife biology, and Gryffyn plans to put her experience at the school newspaper to work with a focus on political science and journalism. All of those fields, they’d point out, can intersect with policy-making — and therefore, with things like economics and corporate overreach and equity. Lucky for anyone in their sphere of impact, they’ve got some practice with that. SS

STEPHANIE SMITTLE

EROTIC HISTORY IN THE MAKING

When Krystal Cornelius, known on stage as Maxie Fauna, started performing in 2018, she was one of two people of color in the Central Arkansas burlesque scene. Her relationships with other performers of color, especially those who had found their way into all-BIPOC groups or events, were exclusively virtual and far out of state, cultivated through social media.

The gears turned for Cornelius, leading her to timidly host an interest meeting in late 2019 for the state’s first all-BIPOC burlesque troupe. Curiosity was high, drawing potential members from a variety of entertainment backgrounds like drag and theater who were eager to make the leap to burlesque. Even people with no performance experience were intrigued. The Arkansas Shake Shakers (A.S.S.) debuted on a Facebook livestream in May 2020.

The 41-year-old Cornelius is the leader of the troupe, but is unmistakably a loyal fan of every member and can’t help but gush about them. She’s hesitant to call them a family because of how corporations have co-opted that kind of language, but it's clear that’s genuinely how she sees it. The A.S.S. includes Cheetah Neutrále (“an amazing performer”), Lola Champagne (“an absolute smokeshow”), Ashleigh Wiggins (“a dazzling songbird”), Jada Coca (“an incredible ray of light”), Dom Trè X (“our wonderful drag king burlesquer”), Miss Angel Cakes (“an invaluable stage kitten and a captivating artist”), and Miki Gaynor (“a larger than life MC”).

According to Cornelius, the burlesque community has been welcoming to the Shake Shakers. However, performing in Little Rock is a challenge for burlesque performers of all races due to skepticism around the financial viability of the form. Because of its history of offbeat, suggestive entertainment, Hot Springs is the most reliable place to find accepting venues.

Cornelius’ aspirations are modest. In addition to performing, she’s a jewelry maker under the name Krystal Bijoux, and hopes to design pieces that can be comfortably worn by burlesque entertainers. As far as the Shake Shakers are concerned, she just wants a home bar where they can consistently perform every month. She longs for others to understand the wonder and complexity that she knows resides in burlesque, “an expressive art form” that she believes can be used for purposes as far reaching as straightforward eroticism, playful humor, sincere political statements and ironic commentary. DG

GETTING CRYPTO UNDER CONTROL

In early 2018, University of Arkansas School of Law professor Carol Goforth was invited to meet with two men who were seeking entrepreneurial guidance for their new crypto asset business. At that point, the extent of her knowledge about digital currency was merely a basic awareness that Bitcoin existed, but she decided to go anyway. She was impressed by their charm, zeal and mastery of the technology, but recognized immediately that what they were proposing was illegal under banking and securities regulations.

“Why hadn’t they done their homework?” she wondered. “Why hadn’t they looked up these relatively basic regulatory structures that were obviously going to apply?” When she went back to her office to dig up some resources to pass their way, she quickly realized that there was almost nothing written on the topic of cryptocurrency regulation, so she became an expert. After 25 years of an academic career spent jumping from topic to topic, she finally found her niche. In the five years since, she has published two editions of a textbook, 18 scholarly journal articles, and dozens of blog posts and commentaries about the subject.

Goforth was born in Fayetteville, but spent most of her childhood in Alberta, Canada, only to return to Northwest Arkansas for college and law school. Her parents both earned Ph.D.s, and the curiosity and drive that motivates one to do so has clearly influenced her. She’s the type of interviewee who answers questions in 10-minute-long bursts because she’s so enthralled by and informed about what she studies. “With crypto, there is always something new that nobody else has yet articulated where I think I have something valuable to contribute,” she said. “It continues to be endlessly fascinating to me.”

When asked about the stakes of cryptocurrency regulation, Goforth was emphatic — money laundering, avoidance of taxes, the funding of international terrorism and human trafficking, Ponzi schemes, fraud, conflicts of interest and a lack of investment transparency are just some of the seemingly endless list of risks associated with an unregulated or underregulated cryptocurrency market.

Despite these challenges, Goforth believes in the social justice potential of cryptocurrency. For people who live in countries with avalanching inflation, or for those who live under government regimes that steal from their citizens’ bank accounts, or even for unhoused folks in the United States whose lack of an address prevents them from banking, digital currencies might be a saving grace. “There are hundreds of millions of people without access to reliable banks, but 70% of them have a smartphone,” Goforth said. DG

MADISONHURLEY

DESIGNER CELEBRATES TRANS JOY THROUGH FABRIC AND NEEDLE

When it comes to design inspiration, 25-year-old Aubrey Costello reaches all over. Costello draws from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantastical worlds, books that don’t yet have visual influence to skew imagination, colorful 1960s art nouveau and historic Edwardian fashion to create pieces that tell a story. Costello also pulls influence from their personal experiences as a neurodivergent, nonbinary transgender man.

Their recent collection titled “Wellenstil” — “wave style” in English — was presented during Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week at Crystal Bridges in November and captured vibrant trans joy, the late 1960s and magic island myths like Atlantis. All trans models presented the clothing.

Trans people are “very pathologized,” Costello said. “Everything is framed in terms of dysphoria — in terms of being unhappy with your body and in pain because you’re not being perceived correctly. But there’s a flip side, which is trans joy, and the joy of finally getting into the body you want.” Gender neutral clothing has largely become muted and drab in today’s fashion, or “masculine light,” Costello said. Instead of leaning into this, Costello creates designs that celebrate the playfulness of experimenting with clothing while finding one’s identity.

“The nonbinary community is very, very vibrant,” they said. Costello underwent top surgery this year, and they said that has opened the door for more feminine fashion exploration with a lower likelihood to be misgendered. Losing the body marker will also likely encourage Costello to make more of their own clothing, something that had previously sparked body dysphoria.

“I think there’s something magical [about] creating your identity kind of from scratch,” Costello said. “When people come out as trans to their friends, we should be having parties. We should be saying, ‘Congratulations on your new name.’ ”

Costello said clothing design has long been a part of their life. As an autistic child, “pants just made me want to crawl out of my skin,” Costello said. At age 7, Costello’s mom helped them make their first dress. After some faltering over the years, Costello committed to design about 10 years ago.

Costello is a graduate of the University of Arkansas’s apparel studies program, and is pursuing a master’s degree with the same focus. A lover of extravagant neckwear and vintage pieces, Costello is fully immersed in the design world with five sewing machines, one serger, projects on the horizon and aspirations to complete a doctorate program in Helsinki, Finland. MH

NAKITA LOVELADY SPEARHEADS A PROVEN STRATEGY TO TACKLE GUN VIOLENCE

People spend a lot of time worrying and complaining about Arkansas’s persistent top-10 ranking for gun violence, but most of us spend very little time doing anything about it.

That’s not the case for Nakita Lovelady, head of the efforts to launch a hospital-based violence intervention program in Little Rock. Modeled on tried and tested programs in Boston, Philadelphia and other larger cities, Project Heal at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will officially get rolling this month.

Victims of stabbing and gunshot wounds who come in for treatment at UAMS will be offered more than just medical care.

“Mortality is on the rise, but everyone needs to know there are more survivors than those who actually die. We have a lot of people in recovery and picking up pieces of their lives. This is what hospital-based intervention does.”

Patients can tap into mental health services, along with social services they might need to extricate themselves from a cycle of violence. Project Heal will help victims find housing, transportation, legal assistance and jobs.

“What I will say about these programs is they have a history in urban northern areas like Baltimore, D.C., Boston, in some parts of Michigan. There have been hospital-based intervention programs around for more than a decade,” Lovelady said.

“What we know about community violence, gun violence, is that there has been a recent increase over the past few years affecting communities across the nation,” Lovelady said. That increase was met with more federal funding for research and prevention. The city of Little Rock is sending some of its American Rescue Plan funds to take Project Heal from the planning stage to implementation.

One novel component of Project Heal will be the social support peer specialists, former victims or perpetrators with a lived experience of community violence who can help stop cycles of retaliation and re-injury. These specialists make near-daily phone calls and visits to the victim to find out what he or she needs and make the needed connections.

These social support peer specialists are the secret sauce for keeping participants engaged and making strides, but the work is tough. And integrating these street-smart peer specialists into the buttoned-up institutional atmosphere of a hospital can be tricky, adding to the stress of an already challenging job. Turnover is usually high, Lovelady said.

Keeping victims engaged can be a challenge, too. The goal will be to keep them in the program for nine to 12 months, but they’re welcome to stay as long as they like.

Lovelady says she’s a health disparities intervention researcher at heart, which means she focuses on the preventable differences in suffering, injury and opportunity to achieve optimal health for socially disadvantaged groups. And like most of us, she has her own close brushes with gun violence. Battling Arkansas’s high gun violence rates with a proven program will help.

“I know I don’t have the magic solution, but I know I can make a difference in the community,” she said. AB

RUSSEL COTHREN

PLANT-BASED GAINS

“Today’s a good day for plants, man,” Little Rock Chef Alicia Watson said in a confessional interview after winning the 2022 Food Network competition series “Big Restaurant Bet.” Hosted by celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian, Watson competed on the network’s inaugural cooking competition cooking plant-based (when challenges allowed) while pitching the concept for a deli version of her food delivery and culinary wellness business Vito and Vera. Watson, a former occupational therapist in home health, enrolled in UA Pulaski Technical College’s culinary arts program at age 58 with a plant-forward focus inspired by the idea that food is medicine.

Watson’s prize for winning Big Restaurant Bet was $250k in Zakarian Hospitality consulting services. She met with investors and made trips to Florida and LA, but ultimately decided against opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2022 citing the high investment costs. Six months after winning the Food Network show, she’s still in her same house in Little Rock and still cooking all the food for Vito and Vera with her sous chef in a commercial kitchen space in a West Little Rock church.

But Vito and Vera has grown. In addition to the catering and weekly e-commerce deliveries to people’s homes in Little Rock, North Little Rock and Maumelle, this August she started wholesaling Vito and Vera meals to the Ozark Natural Foods co-op in Fayetteville, Drug Emporium and the Green Corner Store in Little Rock. She’d like to expand further.

“We’re passionate about wholesale because Vito and Vera’s mission is to meet people wherever they are on the plant-based continuum,” Watson said.

Watson envisions Vito and Vera plant-based meals carried by a food distributor and served in local restaurants and to one day be able to offer a frozen line of plant-based meal options for patients in area hospitals.

While one of Watson’s mantras is “change your plate, change your life,” she said it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

“Maybe you only make the effort to do plant-based one day a week and maybe you do that for a month and check in and say, ‘Do I feel better or not?’ If you have high blood pressure or diabetes, eating oatmeal and increasing your fiber for breakfast could be the one thing that helps you. … Get rid of the idea that you’ve got to go all the way or you’re not going to see a benefit.” RB

Performing abortions is no longer legal in Arkansas, but that doesn’t mean it’s illegal for Arkansans to get abortions. Women looking to end a pregnancy but lacking the finances and/ or know-how to make that happen can look to the Arkansas Abortion Support Network, where a team of firebrands still safeguards a right the Supreme Court and Arkansas lawmakers got wrong.

Ali Taylor teamed up with co-founders Roz Creed and Karen Musick to launch the organization in 2016. The three women met during their shifts as abortion clinic escorts, and joined forces to form the Arkansas Abortion Support Network when they realized the need.

“At the time Arkansas was one of 11 states that did not have an abortion fund, so we decided to start it, and we did,” she said.

That money helps women cover their costs, which are usually in the hundreds of dollars.

“We raise money to help people, typically low-income folks, pay for their abortions, because typically the vast majority of patients pay out of pocket,” Taylor explained. “Abortions can cost anywhere from $600 up to several thousand, depending on the circumstances.”

The Arkansas trigger law banning providers from facilitating abortions except to save the life of the mother went into effect in the summer of 2022. This post-Roe landscape demanded a new playbook, one Taylor is now working full-time to execute. She became the Arkansas Abortion Support Network’s first paid director in September.

THE CHOICE IS STILL YOURS, ARKANSAS ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK

DIRECTOR SAYS

When Arkansas’s only surgical abortion provider closed it doors, the Arkansas Abortion Support Network took up residence in the former clinic and offers Saturday hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They encourage people to come pick up free pregnancy tests or Plan B to have on hand. The group’s website links women with vetted, reliable information about medication they can use to manage their own abortions at home. They also offer information and support both financial and emotional.

Taylor grew up in Rochester, New York, but moved to Sherwood in 2009. She’s worked to try to give women in Arkansas access to the same reproductive care that’s available in other parts of the country.

She remains outspoken and unapologetic about her work, which she admits can cause some social strain with people who have different politics. For the most part, though, Taylor said she finds most Arkansans are far more open-minded about reproductive health than our laws might have you believe.

“Through this work I’ve found that Arkansas may not be quite so cut-and-dried conservative about the topic of abortion as people might think. I think most people have much more complex views than what we give them credit for,” she said. “If you are someone who wants abortion to be legal in some circumstances then you are in the majority, in Arkansas and in the nation.” AB

BRIAN CHILSON

THE TOP 10 ARKANSAS MEALS OF 2022

ONE MAN’S BEST BITES.

BY GUY CHOATE

Editor’s note: Little Rock writer Guy Choate documents and photographs every restaurant meal he takes in each year and keeps a record of them on his “I Cleaned This Plate” Tumblr page. Here are his top 10 Arkansas meals of 2022 and his food goals for 2023.

By the time the end of the year rolls around, I’ll have eaten about 390 meals at 225 different restaurant establishments. Nonchain restaurants in Little Rock/ North Little Rock make up just over 30% of them, 6% are in Northwest Arkansas and 4% are in other parts of our state. The remaining 60% of the restaurants fall outside Arkansas borders. (I wish our borders were a smidge wider so I could have included the delicious salmon with chorizo-corn hash I had at Pecan Point Brewing in Texarkana, Texas, but alas … .)

I just read “Down and Out in Paradise,” Charles Leerhson’s biography of Anthony Bourdain, and now I’m racing through the pages of Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” on my phone every night as I lie on the hardwood floor beside my 18-month-old son’s crib. He’s got a cold that makes him needy, so my wife, Liz, and I take turns all night long serving as the presence in the room he needs to fall back asleep. He tosses and turns every half-hour or so and never fails to peek over the edge of the mattress to ensure we’re there. It’s awful. We were past this stage, but for the last two weeks we’re back in the trenches with the baby.

Liz and I fantasize about the trips we will take when our children are more self-sufficient; trips to places that Bourdain and his film crew visited for “Parts Unknown.” Trips to places without a kids menu. But for now, when we treat ourselves to a prepared meal, it’s usually something chosen for its speed and convenience. With the exception of the Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich, we are anti-fast-food people, though in a desperate moment with the baby screaming on the way home from Motley’s Pumpkin Patch in October, we introduced our children to Wendy’s.

I couldn’t have felt more defeated to say into the crackling drive-thru speaker, “I think I need a Feed the Fam meal deal.” My 5-year-old was blown away by how easy and delicious the whole process was.

I write all this to say that after compiling my list of the 10 best meals I had in Arkansas this year, I recognize they are not the kind of meals you consume on special occasions. I didn’t have time for meals like that this year — at least not while in the state. When I'm not traveling for work, I mostly only eat out for lunch, which is how I explain the somewhat boring nature of this year’s list.

I also recognize that I have fallen into the routine of going to the same places over and over. The chopped salmon salad at Cheers has made this list three years running. It’s good and it deserves to be considered for the list every year, but I recognize that it’s my responsibility to get out there and find its competition in the state. Raduno, The Oyster Bar, Allsopp & Chapple, Farmer’s Table Cafe, Brood & Barley, Kemuri and Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling Co. have all appeared in two of my last three lists. I don’t want to be a creature of habit, but it’s happened.

To combat this issue next year, I just sent Liz a text vowing to make a list of every restaurant in Little Rock so I can visit them all in 2023 instead of repeatedly hitting the restaurants I inevitably frequent. She likes the idea, she said. And then after a short pause for segue, she replied, “Come get your youngest child. Not taking a nap is a worse offense than not sleeping at night at this point.” The exchange is a perfect representation of where my ambitions as an eater run up against my responsibilities as a parent.

TOMATO & ONION SOUP, DANNY TREJO AS “MACHETE.” LEVERETT LOUNGE. FAYETTEVILLE. 8.24.2022.

I told a co-worker’s husband my go-to Fayetteville restaurants are Farmer’s Table Cafe and Mockingbird Kitchen, so he recommended I try Leverett Lounge. Fifteen minutes later I was sitting at the bar, overlooking the tiny kitchen. The chef describes the “Danny Trejo as Machete” (which is not on their current menu) as ancho braised beef short rib, chorizo mashed potatoes, crispy red onion, queso fresco and jalapeno relish. The brilliant thing about this dish is that everything on that plate could be divvied up and forked at the same time, so that each bite had the full range of flavors and textures. This meal was not my overall favorite of the year, but it may have contained the single best bite. I hadn’t planned on ordering soup, but as soon as I tasted the entree and understood the caliber of food I had in front of me, I needed to try more things. While the short rib was the hero of the meal, the tomato and onion soup held its own, reminding me of the tomato basil soup at Raduno that has appeared on this list previously.

DRY-AGED PORK CHOP. ALLSOPP & CHAPPLE. LITTLE ROCK. 9.7.2022.

The pork chop came with grilled apple and a cherry bourbon glaze. I’m a sucker for cherries and that fruity tartness worked well on this plate that essentially sat in a butter bath. The entire entree was a beautiful battle between sweet and savory — banana sweet potato mash, butter, juicy pork, butter, cherry bourbon glaze, butter — and I was the big winner. I need A&C to open for lunch.

TOMATO & ONION SOUP FROM LEVERETT LOUNGE

Had I been left alone in the room with this private buffet spread, I might’ve hurt myself. Thank gawd there were witnesses there to shame me back into my place. I lived in New Orleans for three years, but I never had Gulf oysters as good as the ones I get at The Oyster Bar in Little Rock. They are big and have the unmistakable Gulf taste, but they are also cleaner than most. (Also, I was a broke graduate student in New Orleans, chasing the cheapest oyster specials I could find around town.) Their gumbo is fantastic, and this trip introduced me to The Oyster Bar’s chicken skewers and beef and mushrooms. Chicken skewers have a low ceiling for me because I feel like they are food for people who make most life decisions based on fear. But the beef and mushrooms impressed me for a restaurant that specializes in Cajun seafood.

I forget about Red Door and its sister restaurant, Loca Luna, both of which used to be staples in my life 15 years ago. Was Red Door called Bene Vita back then? But when my out-oftowner in-laws suggested picking up take-out, I looked forward to it. I don’t know why I forget about it. The Pork Osso Bucco was a massive hunk of tender meat that satisfied my inner Viking — an inner Viking who doesn’t mind his dinner showing up in a clam-shell to-go box. In a desperate attempt to educate myself about osso bucco, I unearthed an Arkansas Times article from a decade ago with the headline “At Red Door, osso bucco is king.” In a year in which I will describe some of my favorite meals by saying that they aren’t consistently good anymore, I’m glad to find this one is apparently as good as it always has been. Also, if you are a chicken liver person, these were good ones that came with gravy and hot pepper jelly — a choice for the ages.

Three Fold is my most frequented restaurant this year (if you don’t count all the times I hit up Starbucks for those mediocre sous vide egg bites) and my favorite dish is the Noodle Bowl with pork. I’m a noodle man and Three Fold has some of the best. I feel like the chopped pickled veggies/cilantro combo understands who I am as a person. I used to go the tofu route, but the pork is just too juicy to pass up. HOWEVER, lately the pork has been fatty. As has the beef in the beef noodle soup (which nearly made this list). To the point that I have to ask myself if the proper etiquette for pulling chewed animal fat from my mouth is the chopsticks I used to put the bite into my mouth (I think it is), and then I have that awkward moment where the person I’m eating with sees me put the fatty ball onto my tray. It’s weird for everyone, and I pray Three Fold has not decided to try and cut some costs via the cuts of meat they’re purchasing. Stay tuned.

CATERED DINNER (BEEF AND MUSHROOMS, CHEESE GRITS, CHICKEN SKEWERS, CALAMARI, OYSTERS, GUMBO, KEY LIME PIE BITES). THE OYSTER BAR. LITTLE ROCK. 11.4.2022.

CHICKEN LIVERS APP (SHARED), PORK OSSO BUCCO. RED DOOR. LITTLE ROCK. 11.3.2022.

NOODLE BOWL WITH PORK, ADD EGG. THREE FOLD NOODLES AND DUMPLING CO. LITTLE ROCK. 6.1.2022.

DRY-AGED PORK CHOP AT ALLSOPP & CHAPPLE

CATERED SPREAD FROM THE OYSTER BAR

PORK OSSO BUCCO FROM RED DOOR

THREE FOLD NOODLE BOWL

AHI TUNA NIÇOISE. ZAZA FINE SALAD & WOOD OVEN PIZZA CO. CONWAY. 8.23.2022.

Zaza has become my place to go when I need a salad. I mostly alternate between the Petit Jean Ranch and the Santa Fe South, but when I stopped into the Conway location this summer, I noticed their salad special had a lot of things in the ingredients list that speak to me: cherry and heirloom tomatoes, green beans, roasted potato, Niçoise olives, 8-minute egg, ahi tuna, white anchovies, caper berries, lemon-garlicanchovy vinaigrette. I got my salad to go, but I was so excited about it that I ended up eating it in my truck before I left the parking lot. I assume the salad didn’t appeal to a lot of people, but I appreciated such bold choices for a salad special. A month later I visited a French bistro in Dallas with a Nicoise salad on the menu, but it didn’t come close to this one. Put it on the regular menu, please.

CHICKEN AND GOAT CHEESE NACHOS APP (SHARED), CHOPPED SALMON SALAD. CHEERS. MAUMELLE. 9.26.2022.

The Chopped Salmon Salad at Cheers is the best salad I’ve ever had and the Arkansas Department of Tourism should list it among our state’s top amenities. I could have chosen to list any of the seven instances I had with the salad this year; I opted for the time I also

got the nachos — because why not include bonus nachos — but ultimately that appetizer was forgettable and a nonfactor in this ranking decision.

SUSHI ROLLS (PRINCESS, VOLCANO, RED DRAGON, KEMURI, BEVERLY HILLS, MANGO TANGO) (TO GO). KEMURI. LITTLE ROCK. 2.10.2022.

For years, I adamantly told anyone and everyone that Kemuri was easily the best sushi restaurant around, and that was still true at the beginning of the year. When ordering with friends, I basically didn’t care what we ordered because I knew it would all be good. I could order the same six rolls twice in a row — and I did, a week apart — and have a different favorite each time, which is the best-case scenario. But at some point this year, in what I hope is a coincidence, the rice-to-fish ratio became more and more unfavorable. While this meal from February made my top 10 — and I stand by the ranking — my last visit to Kemuri barely broke the 50th percentile.

they opened, I wrote them off as the kind of place that charges too much for mediocre food because they had decent plate presentation. But this year I discovered their $12 lunch specials and started showing up for the value, oddly enough. But I don’t rank meals based on anything but taste. Their fried chicken lunch gets it done. Comfort food done right from an unlikely venue. I’ve had the selection multiple times this year and the sides are always shuffling, but for me the savory collard greens, fresh cucumber and tomato salad, and cornbread are as good as it gets. I’d trade the hashbrowns if I could. I also recommend the taco salad on Tuesdays. Skip the ginormous chicken fried steak on Wednesdays — it’s mostly breading.

RIBEYE WITH COLLARD GREENS. SAMANTHA'S TAP ROOM. LITTLE ROCK. 9.20.2022

FRIED CHICKEN LUNCH

SPECIAL

WITH COLLARD GREENS, CUCUMBER AND TOMATO SALAD, HASH BROWNS, CORNBREAD. CACHE. LITTLE ROCK. 5.12.2022.

After my first few meals at Cache, just after

People told me to come for the Cuban, so I came, but it didn’t do anything for me. And I’ve been to their party room for their catering, which was OK. I usually stick with the Chopped Salmon Salad because it’s nearly identical to Cheers’s (same owner). But this is the best meal I’ve ever had here. A good steak done right — seasoned, wood-grilled mid-rare, and finished with herbed butter — is hard to beat. But the greens were even better.

AHI TUNA NICOISE FROM ZAZA

RIBEYE FROM SAMANTHA'S SUSHI ROLLS FROM KEMURI

FRIED CHICKEN FROM CACHE CHOPPED SALMON SALAD AT CHEERS

HOW TO GET HELP

A QUICK START GUIDE TO RESOURCES IN PULASKI COUNTY.

If you or someone you know could use some help, here are a few resources to tap in Central Arkansas. We can’t promise it will be easy, or that this list is exhaustive, but it’s a start.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services is a good jumping-off point, with connections to rental assistance, SNAP benefits and Medicaid benefits, and Medicaid-subsidized private health insurance through a program called Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me (ARHOME). And if you don’t find what you need at humanservices.arkansas.gov, or in our list below, Our House and C.A.R.E. (Central Arkansas Re-Entry Coalition) are among the organizations that maintain extensive directories of community relief resources on their websites; click “Programs” at ourhouseshelter.org or “Help Yourself Directory” at arkansasreentry.com.

ABORTION ACCESS

Arkansas Abortion Support Network

Before the Dobbs decision criminalized access to abortion, the Arkansas Abortion Support Network was best known for its abortion clinic escort volunteers, who shielded patients showing up for their abortion procedures from harassment and intimidation by anti-abortion activists. Now, they’ve opened the YOU Center (Your Options, Understood), which offers free emergency contraception, free pregnancy tests and judgment-free counseling on your options, whether that’s seeking an abortion out of state, adopting or parenting. arabortionsupport.org

I Need An Abortion

Disillusioned by the fake clinics they found while googling abortion clinics near them, a designer and engineer built this website in 2013

“to make it as easy as possible for people to find the information and resources that apply to them, without having to sift through a lot of noise or, worse, misinformation and stigma from anti-abortion organizations.” Ineedana.com collects three pieces of nonidentifiable information (age, ZIP code and weeks since last period) to link up abortion seekers with vetted, localized options. ineedana.com

Plan C

If you’re looking to manage a medication abortion at home, you can find reliable information at plancpills.org. The information campaign and platform was launched by veteran public health advocates, researchers, social justice activists and digital strategists. Their goal is to transform access to abortion by

normalizing the self-directed option of abortion pills by mail. plancpills.org

Reproaction

This “left-flank culture change organization” does tons of advocacy and community organizing, but is also a helpful resource on SMA (self-managed abortion) — abortions that happen outside of a provider’s care, often with a pill called misoprostol. Head to reproaction. org/campaign/self-managed-abortion for some detailed mythbusting on the differences between Plan B, misoprostol and mifepristone. reproaction.org

MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Call the Arkansas Crisis Center at 888274-7472 if you or someone you know is

OUR HOUSE: A homeless shelter and much more.

BRIAN CHILSON

considering suicide or exhibiting warning signs. Alternatively, call the National Suicide Prevention Line at 800-273-8255, or at 888-6289454 for Spanish-speaking callers.

AR-Connect, a program of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Psychiatric Research Institute, connects callers with relief for mental health issues. 501-526-3563, psychiatry.uams.edu/clinical-care/arconnect.

North Little Rock’s Bridgeway Hospital offers inpatient services for children, seniors, adults and adolescents, including treatment of mood disorders, thought disorders and substance abuse issues. 800-245-0011, thebridgeway.com.

Little Rock’s Centers for Youth and Families offers same-day access to outpatient counseling services for children, teens and adults experiencing emotional or behavioral problems. Bilingual counselors are available and a range of insurance coverage types is accepted. 501666-8686, centersforyouthandfamilies.net.

The Trevor Project offers crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth. Call 866-488-7386, text START to 678-678 or visit thetrevorproject.org.

Little Rock-based Professional Counseling Associates operates five clinics across Pulaski, Lonoke and Prairie counties, with telehealth options available. PCA offers group and individual counseling, child and adolescent services and more. 800-592-9503, pca-ar.org.

The Pointe Outpatient Behavioral Health Services operates 12 outpatient clinics across the state, treating children, teens and adults for depression, hyperactivity, anger problems, anxiety, family conflict and a range of other issues. 501-603-2147, thepointebhs.com.

Methodist Family Health offers a range of psychiatric and behavioral health treatment, including the Methodist Behavioral Hospital in Maumelle, a psychiatric treatment center in Little Rock, therapeutic day treatment program in Little Rock, the Arkansas Center for Addictions Research, Education and Services in Little Rock and more. 866-813-3388, methodistfamily.org.

Arkansas AA Central Service Office connects people with times, dates, locations and contacts for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings across the state. 501-664-7303, arkansascentraloffice.org.

Al-Anon and Alateen provide a support network for friends and family members of people with alcoholism. Find meeting times, digital and in-person, at arkansasalanon.org/ meeting.

Narcotics Anonymous connects recovering drug addicts with monthly meetings and resources. Find a list of virtual and in-person meetings at the Central Arkansas Area Service Committee chapter website at caasc.org.

A variety of inpatient and outpatient mental health, detox, rehabilitation and drug treatment facilities operate in the Little Rock area. See Our House’s directory at ourhouseshelter. org/resources, and Central Arkansas ReEntry Coalition’s (C.A.R.E.) directory at arkansasreentry.com.

HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND TEMPORARY SHELTER

Jericho Way, a temporary shelter run jointly by DePaul USA and the city of Little Rock, offers day center services on weekdays, including computer access, case management, laundry services and job counseling. 501-916-9859, depaulusa.org/programs/little-rock.

LUCIE'S PLACE: A resource for Central Arkansas's LGBTQ+ community.

BRIAN CHILSON BRIAN CHILSON

Our House runs an 80-bed shelter program and a family house for a limited number of homeless and near-homeless people, plus programs in career development, mental health and early child development. 501-374-7383, ourhouseshelter.org.

The Van offers street-level outreach services, delivering food, hygiene products, clothing, flashlights, emergency inclement-weather shelter and more to unsheltered people in the Little Rock area. 501-955-3444, itsthevan.org.

The ministry-based Little Rock Compassion Center operates a men’s and women’s shelter for temporary stays, a food pantry, a kitchen that serves three meals a day and a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. It also operates Awaken, a 75-bed facility for women and children. 501-296-9114, lrcompassioncenter.org.

Lucie’s Place offers shelter and relief resources to LGBTQ+ people living in Central Arkansas. 501-508-5005, luciesplace.org.

The Veterans Day Treatment Center offers veterans access to VA programs, including residential placement at its St. Francis House. 501-257-4499 (day treatment), 501-664-5036 (St. Francis House), stfrancishouselr.org.

Women and Children First offers shelter to women and children, particularly victims of domestic violence. 501-376-3219, wcfarkansas.org.

UNEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

Arkansas Department of Workforce Services administers unemployment benefits. Call 501-682-2121 or visit dws.arkansas.gov/ unemployment to check eligibility and file an unemployment claim.

The Arkansas Employment Career Center provides young adults, veterans, the homeless and others in need with GED prep, college entrance assistance, resume development, job referrals and other forms of job counseling. 501615-8922, arkansasemploymentcareercenter.com.

TAX ASSISTANCE

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) connects in-person visitors with free tax preparation sites in Pulaski County. Visit 700 W. Capitol, Suite 1412, Little Rock, or make an appointment by calling 844-545-5640.

Arkansas Community Organization (ACO) provides income tax preparation services to low-income Arkansas households, as well as credit counseling and resources for financial

literacy. 501-376-7151, arkansascomm.org.

The UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law offers a legal clinic for tax issues and other noncriminal matters. Call the clinic at 501916-5424 to check availability or visit ualr.edu/ law/clinical-programs/legal-clinic-services.

Legal Aid of Arkansas offers free income tax assistance to low-to-moderate income people who cannot prepare their own taxes, with Spanish-speaking interpreters available. Call 1-800-952-9243 to make an appointment or visit arlegalaid.org.

FOOD PANTRIES

Visit foodpantries.org or ourhouseshelter. org/resources for a list of open food pantries.

MEDICAL, DENTAL AND EYE CARE

ARCare offers general medical clinics and referrals for patients with and without insurance. 1-866-550-4719, arcare.net.

UAMS Dental Hygiene Student Clinic allows dental students to perform routine dental care services for $30 per visit or $10 per tooth sealant needed. 501-686-5733, healthprofessions.uams. edu/clinics/dental-hygiene-clinic.

River City Ministry offers faith-based general medical services, vision and dental care and pharmacy services to certain lowincome patients. Call 501-376-6694 Monday or Wednesday for a general adult medical appointment or call at 10 a.m. sharp on Thursdays to make a dental appointment. rivercityministry.org.

Shepherd's Hope Neighborhood Health Center is a Christian medical, dental and health education ministry currently serving the South Midtown area of Little Rock. 501-614-9523, shepherdshopelr.org.

Jefferson Comprehensive Care System (JCCSI) offers medical and dental exams by appointment, with copays based on income (proof of income and Social Security card required) with locations in College Station, Little Rock, North Little Rock and a special clinic for the homeless on Springer Boulevard. Visit jccsi.org for phone numbers and hours.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE AND ADULT MALTREATMENT

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911.

The Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence works to stop domestic violence, teen dating abuse. 501-907-5612, domesticpeace. com.

Women and Children First, a facility that provides temporary shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children, also operates a crisis intervention line and provides court advocates to assist in filing orders of protection and accompany survivors to court, along with other forms of counseling. 1-800-3324443, wcfarkansas.org.

Dorcas House: A Division of Union Rescue Mission offers a 9- to 12-month program for women and children who are victims of domestic abuse with an adjacent substance abuse recovery program. 501-374-4022 ext. 3, urmissionlr.org/dorcas-house.

RESOURCES FOR IMMIGRANTS AND UNDOCUMENTED ARKANSANS

El Zocalo Immigrant Resource Center connects immigrant individuals and families with a variety of resources and relief. 501-3014652, zocalocenter.com.

ARKids First is a medical insurance program for children administered by the Arkansas Department of Human Services. Spanishspeaking interpreters available. 888-474-8275, humanservices.arkansas.gov.

Catholic Immigration Services helps immigrant individuals and families with legislative advocacy, preparation of immigration forms and other counseling services, including counseling for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. 501-664-0340, dolr.org/ catholic-charities/immigration-little-rock.

Center for Arkansas Legal Services provides free legal services to low-income Arkansas residents in noncriminal cases, and has Spanish-speaking interpreters available. 501376-3423, arkansaslegal.org.

RESOURCES FOR CREATORS AND ARTISTS

Nonprofit venture Creator’s Village seeks to connect artists, musicians and creators with mentorships, industry tools and business skills to help them make a living in Arkansas. creatorsvillage.org.

The Center for Cultural Community links creative professionals with advice and resources for financial health, health care access, networking and career management. centerforculturalcommunity.org.

LISTEN UP

10 NOTEWORTHY TRACKS BY ARKANSAS MUSICIANS

BY DANIEL GREAR

FROM 2022.

WILLI CARLISLE, “TULSA’S LAST MAGICIAN”

Willi Carlisle, based in the Ozarks, is the kind of folk storyteller who can make you feel sympathy for anyone. I don’t mean to imply that aspiring magicians are any less deserving of attention, but it’s rare that they’re cataloged so tenderly in song, or perhaps at all. When Carlisle states that the eponymous character “pulled a quarter from his own ear and spun it on the floor” at the age of 4, our hearts break. This tune feels reminiscent of “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton” by The Mountain Goats, not because the two songs are stylistically similar, but because they’re united by a mutual recognition of the kind of tough life that befalls misunderstood peddlers of a peculiar craft.

BANZAI FLORIST, “DEATH IN DRAG”

If you keep your head to the ground, you’ll notice that the lyrics from “Death in Drag” tell you everything you need to know: “Maybe the weed is laced with speed.” This perfectly sums up the feeling of departure that radiates from Banzai Florist’s newest tune, a track that trades in the languid, bedroom quirk of their old material for blown out snare hits, fuzzy guitar and sweetly megaphoned vocals that suggest singer Harry Glaeser might be being chased. This is the fastest, rockiest and catchiest the Little Rock group has ever sounded, and the toy piano line reinforcing the “oos” will hammer the melody into your head.

KIN & COMPANY, “AWAY, AWAY”

Atop vinyl crackle, a jazzy triplet shuffle, suspended piano chords and a syncopated acoustic guitar, Kin & Company’s Jonah Thornton sings “away, away” over and over again, as if lullabying the listener into stillness and calm. But when you’re suddenly thrust into two desperate, chill-inducing choruses with crushing lines like “it feels like a lifetime was held in six months,” you realize that this is an indie rock breakup song and that the only person Thornton is trying to cradle is himself. Kin & Company, a Northwest Arkansas project, is built from the ashes of Willowack, who won the 2019 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase.

JOSHUA ASANTE, “CURE FOR BLINDNESS II”

“Cure for Blindness II,” tracked in one take and with no overdubs like all the songs on “I Don’t Act Like I Used To,” begins with a soft, slightly metallic and almost childish drumbeat that doesn’t relent for the entire song. The swirling synths are consistent, too, as if doggie paddling in place. And yet, the song has real movement, thanks in large part to an arresting chord change at 1:05. The lyrics at this point aren’t entirely discernible and they’re not listed anywhere online, but I’m not sure it matters. The voice of Little Rock’s Joshua Asante becomes an instrument of its own when it reflects off the walls of the seemingly cavernous space it was recorded in.

MODELING, “IN CREASES”

Modeling’s brand of epicly atmospheric synth pop can sometimes drift into the background. As creators of film soundtrack-influenced music, this effect is by design. However, in lieu of the dark and occasionally ominous textures that run through much of their music, “In Creases” — the closing song on debut LP “Somewhere Before” — is all honey and nostalgia. It’s one of about half of their songs that privilege vocals and melody, and it easily has the most specific and compelling lyrics of the whole bunch. When the sharply vocoded voice harks back to a time when “television was your best friend,” you can picture the lonely little kid behind those words. Was that moment better or worse than the present? It’s hard to know.

KYLE MAYS, “LITTLE ONE”

Because of a limited palette, it can be difficult to stand out as a singer-songwriter. There’s only so much you can do with a voice and an acoustic guitar. A lot relies on a perceived sense of authenticity, whether the artist’s essence feels real and reachable, if they’ve managed to successfully toe the line between truth and sentiment. Maybe that’s a convoluted way of saying that evaluating simple art is subjective, but “Little One” by Little Rock’s Kyle Mays checks off all those boxes for me. When Mays sings “love grows like fire, the burning is real,” attempting to capture the awe and fear that are inextricably tied up in newfound fatherhood, I believe him.

MELISSA CARPER, “HANGING ON TO YOU”

Do y’all remember She & Him, that cutesy duo from Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward that emerged in the late 2000s? Melissa Carper’s “Hanging on to You,” another album finisher, shares the same classic jukebox love song quality, but it’s more countrified and croony and rough around the edges, as if it’s a real relic from the past. When Carper sings “they don’t make ’em like they used to” with the support of a chorus of backwoods voices, I’m compelled to look her in the eye and say, “What about you?”

COMO SASAKI, “DAK INTERLUDE”

In just the first 30 seconds of “Dak Interlude” from his 2022 LP “Meraki,” Como Sasaki skillfully rhymes peons, beyond, neon, rerun and Celine Dion. You don’t have to know much about hip-hop to understand how intuitive the flow is. Underneath the Magnolia native rapper’s verses is a falsetto pushed far in the distance by buckets of reverb, a quietly affecting electric piano and a humble kick and snare from a drum machine that together leave Sasaki sounding serious and alone, somewhere between the understated melancholy of Drake and SZA.

PETT, “NEVERENDING”

Formed from members of I Was Afraid and Headcold, PETT is an emo-adjacent band, but the adjacent modifier is important. Yes, the voice is artfully strained and wistful, the lyrics are existential (“the days start to blend, I’m not alive or dead”) and the chord tone is twinkly, but there’s also a musical mischievousness that extends beyond the typical confines of mathy indie rock. In “Neverending,” a cut off the Little Rock band’s second EP, the guitars bounce and groove like they’re making conversation with each other, funky and smooth on one side of your ear buds and bright and crystalline on the other.

ZILLA, “MASTERMINDIA”

People aren’t wrong when they label Zilla a heavy band, but I like the Little Rock outfit best when they’re on their poppiest behavior. Just because “Mastermindia,” the final track on “Mushroom Kingdom,” contains a few made-up words like “existentialize” and “abramaterialize,” doesn’t mean we aren’t supposed to sing along. At least until the halfway point, when the song transforms into a 3-minute shoegaze jam. Even though the production is crunchy and homegrown like it might have crawled out of a mic-splayed accident, “Mastermindia” is simultaneously so easy on the ears that it’s likely the product of labored-over, DIY experiments in the garage or living room.

NATIVE'S GUIDE

As locals, we often get stuck in the same patterns and don't venture out to new places. Do you ever find yourself arguing over what to eat for dinner, where to go, what to do this weekend? Join the club!

Do you ever wonder where you should go for healthcare or where to send your kids to school? Here are some local businesses, schools and healthcare facilities that would love to earn your business.

WHERE TO EAT?

BIG WHISKEY'S

Big Whiskey’s has been serving Little Rock for almost 12 years. Since day one in 2009, we have strived to offer great food, from burgers, salads and wraps to fresh salmon and hand-cut steaks. Our ever-changing bar menu always includes a great selection of drafts and wines, as well as one of the largest varieties of bourbons and whiskeys you'll find. All of this keeps locals and tourists coming back for business lunches, events downtown and on Game Day, and we don't see that stopping any time soon. 225 E. Markham St., 501-324-2449

BRAVE NEW RESTAURANT

With 32 years in the business, Brave New Restaurant is an institution in Little Rock. Offering beautiful river views, remarkable service and fantastic cuisine providing customers with an upscale yet familial dining experience. As one of the original farm-to-table restaurants in the city, Brave New uses the freshest and highest quality ingredients, including a constant rotation of adventurous and flavorful specials while continuing to feature long-time favorites. Without question, Brave New will keep you coming back for more! 2300 Cottondale Lane, 501-663-2677

WHERE TO SHOP?

BANG-UP BETTY

Bang-Up Betty was voted Arkansas’s best gift shop, best artisan and best jeweler by Arkansas Times readers in 2022. This creative shop began as unique and unusual handmade jewelry that gained national attention and grew into a boutique also filled with locally made art and pottery as well as clever, hilarious and affordable gifts you won’t find elsewhere. Bring your sense of humor to this delightful, must-see, rainbow-covered shop in the historic Argenta Arts District of downtown North Little Rock. 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m.Wednesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. 501-2910071, 429 Main St. (above Ristorante Capeo) North Little Rock, bangupbetty.com.

RHEA DRUG

As a traditional pharmacy, we take care of all of your prescription needs, including delivery. We accept all major insurance coverage and Medicare Part D plans. As a neighborhood gift shop, we have something for everyone. We even throw in free gift wrapping! So after you drop off your prescription, browse for great gifts you won’t find anywhere else.

A R E F O R C A R E F O R Y O U R M I N D

Y O U R M I N D

C A R E F O R C A R E F O R Y O U R B O D Y

Y O U R B O D Y

C O M B I N E D

C O M B I N E D

T h e C e n t e r s i s n o w o f f e r i n g p r i m a r y c a r e s e r v i c e s f o r a l l a g e s i n a d d i t i o n t o e x i s t i n g m e n t a l a n d b e h a v i o r a l h e a l t h s e r v i c e s , a l l o w i n g f o r i n t e g r a t e d c a r e a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n f o r p a t i e n t s b e t w e e n h e a l t h c a r e p r o v i d e r s . O u r d e d i c a t e d t e a m o f p r i m a r y c a r e p h y s i c i a n s , A P R N s , p s y c h i a t r i s t s , t h e r a p i s t s a n d n u r s e s a r e r e a d y t o s e r v e y o u a n d y o u r f a m i l y , t r e a t i n g m i n d a n d b o d y c o m b i n e d .

NATIVE'S GUIDE HEALTHCARE

METHODIST FAMILY HEALTH

For more than 120 years, Methodist Family Health has made a significant impact addressing the trauma in the lives of the Arkansas children and families we serve. Through community contributions of time, funds and prayer, the abandoned, abused and neglected children and adolescents throughout our continuum of care understand — many for the first time — their value as human beings. This legacy began in 1899, when the Methodist Episcopal Church South established the Arkansas Methodist Orphanage in Little Rock. In the next 12 decades, Methodist Family Health expanded to a statewide continuum of care for children and their families struggling with psychiatric, behavioral, emotional and spiritual issues. Today, we continue our mission of providing the best possible care to those who may need our help through our behavioral hospital, psychiatric residential treatment facilities, qualified residential treatment programs, outpatient community- and school-based counseling clinics, the Kaleidoscope Grief Center for children and their loved ones dealing with the loss of a loved one, a therapeutic day treatment program, the Arkansas Center for Addictions Research, Education and Services (Arkansas CARES) and the Methodist Family Health Foundation. If you or someone you love is struggling, contact us at Info@MethodistFamily.org or visit methodistfamily.org.

BRIDGEWAY

The landscape of Arkansas is adorned with mountains and caves, rivers and streams, and spacious skies and foliage as far as the eye can see. It’s no wonder that Arkansas is known as The Natural State. And each season is painted by the trees that beautify our state. When it comes to trees, most of our attention is focused upon what grows above ground. That is, after all, the part of the tree we actually see. Yet, it’s only half of the story, as what grows below ground — the roots — is just as important. Over 35 years ago, Arkansans experienced a seminal moment in behavioral health care when The BridgeWay was established as the first free-standing psychiatric hospital in the state. What began as a seedling is now a thriving tree rooted throughout the health care system. The BridgeWay is located between Interstates 40 and 430, in the woods of the Ouachita Mountains and near the banks of the Arkansas River, affording our patients breathtaking views. In 1983, the facility comprised 60 beds and served children, adolescents and adults of all ages through inpatient hospitalization. Since then, the hospital has branched out, growing along with the needs of Arkansans to include 127 inpatient beds, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient services for people of all ages. With an empathetic approach toward providing quality patient care, The BridgeWay has been the source of strength for Arkansans crossing from unsteady soil to solid ground. Today we offer a continuum of care that is safe, secure and serene. To learn more about our programs and services, call 800-245-0011.

UAMS

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is committed to the health and well-being of Arkansans. As the state’s only academic medical center, UAMS fulfills that commitment through its mission of providing high quality and innovative patient care today, educating the health care workforce of tomorrow, and making research discoveries that will change the future of health care.

“This promises to be a busy year for UAMS,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, chancellor of UAMS and CEO of UAMS Health. “Between the opening of new facilities and our expansion into comprehensive at-home care, UAMS is committed to bringing the best care to all Arkansans.”

This spring, the UAMS Health Specialty Center will open in Premier Medical Plaza at 10915 Rodney Parham Road in West Little Rock. The center will house Ambulatory Surgery, Interventional Radiology, a Urology Clinic and an Advanced Imaging Center, all in a convenient location.

For the past two years, construction crews have been busy on UAMS’ Little Rock campus — work that is nearing an end. In late spring, UAMS will open The Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital, a 158,000-square-foot facility with 12 operating rooms, patient rooms and examination rooms for the orthopedic, spine and pain management teams.

Opening this summer is the new Radiation Oncology Center, a 52,249-square-foot-building that will house the Proton Center of Arkansas, which will offer an advanced form of radiation treatment that uses precisely focused protons to target tumors, rather than photons used in standard X-ray radiation. One of only 41 proton centers in the U.S., the Proton Center of Arkansas is a partnership between UAMS, Arkansas Children’s, Baptist Health and Proton International.

Finally, UAMS will begin offering comprehensive care at home this year, thanks to a partnership with Amedisys and Contessa. The UAMS Health Comprehensive Care at Home combines all the essential elements of primary, hospital or rehabilitation level care with the comfort of patients’ homes.

ARKANSAS DERMATOLOGY AND SKIN CANCER CENTER

Arkansas Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center, with locations in Little Rock, Conway, North Little Rock, Heber Springs, Cabot, Stuttgart, Searcy and Russellville, provides the highest level of expertise in both general dermatology and the treatment of skin cancer. Whether we are addressing your skin cancer concerns or informing you of the latest skin care tips, our top priority is to ensure that your experience with our practice is second to none. Our talented team of physicians and physician assistants recognize that every patient has different needs, and we pride ourselves in the courteous service we deliver to each person who walks through our doors. With a wide range of medical and cosmetic dermatology procedures delivered by a team of skilled and experienced professionals, our patients can be confident they are receiving the highest standard of care available. We are committed to patient education and will take the time necessary to ensure you are thoroughly informed of your treatment/procedure details and the results that can be expected. We work together to provide quality care for our patients. Your skin deserves the best, and we thank you for choosing us to keep your skin healthy and beautiful for years to come! For more information, go to arkansasdermatology. com.

THE CENTERS

The Centers is committed to meeting the unique and evolving needs of individuals by providing comprehensive, integrated care that promotes physical, emotional and social wellness for all. A designated Community Mental Health Center, The Centers provides child and adolescent residential care, therapeutic foster care, day treatment programming, substance use treatment, prevention services, outpatient counseling for all ages, pharmacy services, primary care services, human trafficking treatment and a free 24/7/365 crisis hotline. Call the Centers at 501666-8686 or visit TheCentersAR.com.

Special Advertising Section of the Arkansas Times

EDUCATION

LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT

BRICK-BY-BRICK — THE BUILDING OF EDUCATIONAL DREAMS AT LRSD

Several significant milestones have been reached in LRSD’s new construction and renovation projects. At the Dr. Marian G. Lacey K-8 Academy — site of the former McClellan High School — the district hosted a passing of the baton ceremony last year and introduced the new and improved Crimson Lion mascot. This year, LRSD held groundbreaking and beam-signing ceremonies for the new campus. The school becomes the district’s latest K-8 model and will accommodate 1,400 students; it’s scheduled for completion in 2024.

These enhancements were made possible by the Little Rock community with voter approval of the November 2021 millage extension, equal to $300 million worth of projects and facilities upgrades across the district. In West Little Rock, community conversations continue as academic programming is fleshed out for a new traditional high school in that part of the city. This expanded option for high school students will offer more extracurricular opportunities and athletics, complete with the facilities to support those programs. Students zoned for the new “West” High School attend Fulbright, Don Roberts, Terry, Pinnacle View and Little Rock West High School of Innovation. Parents are encouraged to stay engaged to continue providing input on the design and construction of the new school.

Meanwhile, in the mid-section of town, both historic Central High and Dunbar Middle schools can also expect some additions and renovations. The nearly 100-yearold Dunbar is undergoing a roof replacement. Other plans include a new elevator and windows, as well as a massive renovation of the auditorium recently renamed in honor of iconic classical composer and teacher Florence Price.

Central, also nearing the century mark, will see the removal of portable classrooms to be replaced by a new brick and mortar, state-of-the-art science wing, as well as a new athletic training facility, among other amenities.

CATHOLIC HIGH

Catholic High School for Boys is a college preparatory school that educates more than 700 boys in grades 9-12 each year. The school is committed to instilling the values of integrity, duty and faith into its students by creating a tradition of achievement in academics, Class 6A sports, more than 30 clubs, an award-winning Marine JROTC program and community leadership. A fixture in Little Rock for 93 years, many of Catholic High’s graduates are influencers in the state and beyond, including hundreds of politicians (including a current U.S. representative), CEOs, entrepreneurs, physicians, lawyers, journalists, military officers and others. More importantly, Catholic High graduates are committed fathers, husbands and community leaders.

The school’s tuition is kept affordable by design so that students of all walks of life can experience the Catholic High difference. Each year, Catholic High holds its open house in January, with freshmen entrance exams held in February. Learn more at lrchs.org

ARKANSAS REPERTORY THEATRE

A fundamental anchor for the quality of life in Central Arkansas, The Rep creates vibrant and engaging theatrical experiences that are accessible for everyone in our community. With our work, The Rep seeks to make lives more full, more interesting, and more joyful. The Rep is the largest nonprofit professional theater company in Arkansas. For information on the current season, visit TheRep.org.

NATIVE'S GUIDE WHAT TO DO?

UCA REYNOLDS PERFORMANCE HALL

Featuring a 1,200-seat state-of-the-art facility, the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall on the campus of The University of Central Arkansas, provides numerous opportunities for the Central Arkansas community to enjoy performing arts. Reynolds hosts a variety of events each season, including multi-award winning musicians, touring musicals and plays, cultural music and dance events, inspiring speakers, children’s educational programs and more.

Each season features a Broadway series, a Night Out series, a Pops series, Benefits, Speakers and a Main Stage Education program designed for school-age children. The Main Stage program has served more than 52,000 students from around the state of Arkansas since 2015. The program brings world-class entertainment and educational opportunities to children through daytime school field trips.

This season is filled with captivating, crowd-pleasing shows including “Purple Piano” featuring a celebration of the music of Prince, the Broadway sensation “On Your Feet!” bringing the story and music of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, the smash hit phenomenon Blue Man Group, the hilarious premier brass ensemble Mnozil Brass, Grammy Award winner Amy Grant, the incredible light and music show “Floyd Nation” celebrating Pink Floyd, the children’s adventure “The Gruffalo,” the fascinating speaker Steve Burns and more.

Reynolds Performance Hall is a division of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Tickets for each show in the performing arts series range from $30-$40 for adults and $10 for children. Each show in the Main Stage education series are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Information on all events and tickets at Reynolds can be found at uca.edu/ Reynolds or by calling the box office at 501-450-3265 or toll-free at 866-810-0012.

ARKANSAS

Special Advertising Section of the Arkansas

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JAN. 1, 2023: PURPLE REIGN Back by popular demand, the #1 Prince Tribute Show. ARKANSAS’ ONLY CASINO RESORT

Cliff & Susan Parker Francis Band Dino D & the D Train Roots to Branches

DJ Kramer Gravel Yard Bluegrass band ASO String Quartet

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Visit oaklawn.com/entertainment for complete details.

CASINO PROMOS:

Early Bird Specials Monday & Wednesdays, 7-11a.m. $5 Breakfast, 5X Points $5 Table Games

50+ Frenzy Tuesdays,12-8 p.m.

Ages 50+ get a FREE scratch card & discounted menu at Big Al’s

Hot Springs Village Days Thursdays,12-8 p.m. HSV residents get a FREE scratch card & special menu at Big Al’s

Girls Night Out Fridays 100 ladies win $100 cash 6-10 p.m. Drink specials at the First Turn & The OAK room & bar 5-9 p.m.

RACING PROMOS:

Swipe to Win! Every Friday & Sunday swipe at kiosk & win a prize 1 in 3 will win

Thoroughbreds’ Birthday Party January 1

It’s time to celebrate the thoroughbreds turning 3 years! Cookies & giveaways Visit Oaklawn.com for details.

LO UNGE LIVE MUSIC

&

Choose PCSSD

The Pulaski County Special School District is committed to providing an equitable and excellent education for all students through rigorous college and career readiness instruction. District administrators work year-round to assure all students achieve at their maximum potential through collaborative, supportive, and continuous efforts of all stakeholders, including teachers, staff, and community members.

School Choice is an Arkansas state law that allows families to register in a school district that is outside of their residential zone. In Arkansas, families must attend school in their designated attendance zone based on where they live. School Choice allows students to transfer from one district to another district and opens our schools to families outside district lines allowing students to be a part of our school family, no matter their neighborhood.

PCSSD serves 27 schools in Little Rock, Maumelle, and Sherwood. Those 27 schools include 16 elementary schools, four middle school campuses, one junior high campus, four high school campuses and an online K-12 school.

Registration is now open for Pulaski County students who are interested in joining PCSSD. The School Choice application period is open from January 2 - May 1, 2023. Registration for students who are currently zoned for a PCSSD school but do not currently attend a PCSSD school, including Pre-K, opens January 9, 2022. Students who currently attend a PCSSD school will be automatically re-enrolled for the 2023-2024 school year.

“We hope you will consider sending your children to PCSSD,” said Assistant Superintendent for Equity and Pupil Services, Dr. Janice Warren. “PCSSD is committed to providing all students with learning experiences that prepare them for college or career readiness.”

ABOUT PCSSD

If you have specific questions related to registration and school choice within PCSSD, please contact the Office of Equity and Pupil Services at 501-234-2021.

Pulaski County Special School District spans more than 600 square miles in central Arkansas and requires highly skilled and passionate personnel to adapt educational policies and personalization to 26 schools. Every school is accredited by the Arkansas State Board of Education. PCSSD has served schools across Pulaski County since July 1927.

PCSSD is committed to creating a nationally recognized school district that assures that all students achieve at their maximum potential through collaborative, supportive and continuous efforts of all stakeholders.

TOTALLY EMMA

A LITTLE GIRL WITH AN INDOMITABLE SPIRIT AND THE FAMILY WHO LOVES HER.

BY KATHERINE WYRICK

When I arrive at the Wasson’s house on a torrentially rainy December night, the photo session has just ended, and mom Jerilyn is settling her daughter, Emma, into her room. Momentarily transfixed by the beautiful, almost ethereal sound of her singing to her child, I’m surprised when my eyes prick with tears. When Jerilyn emerges to retrieve an iPad for Emma, she radiates warmth and ease. The house is cozy, decorated for the holidays; we head to the open family room where we talk. Dogs circle our legs and Emma’s caregiver, Jennifer Scarlett, busies herself in the kitchen.

I learn that Emma, now age 10, has defied the odds since before birth. Though Jerilyn’s doctor suspected something was wrong, it wasn’t until shortly after she was born that they knew with certainty. Though she appeared to be a healthy newborn, two hours later while in the nursery getting a bath, she turned blue. After the on-call pediatrician discovered that Emma’s oxygen levels were low and she had a heart murmur, she was rushed to Arkansas Children's Hospital. Only six hours after giving birth, Jerilyn and her husband, Kenny, joined her there.

Learning about Emma’s diagnoses and how to care for her was, Jerilyn says, “like traveling to a different country, learning a different language. It’s on-the-spot learning, plus you’re dealing with life and death.”

At 6 days old, Emma was put on a ventilator (which she remained on for six months) and had her first cardiac catheterization, or heart cath. She was diagnosed with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA-IVS), which affects approximately seven to eight out of 100,000 births. She was also diagnosed with Turner Syndrome, a genetic condition affecting only girls due to a missing X chromosome. Only 1% of fetuses live to term with this genetic condition. Only two other people in medical journal history have had this combination of disorders,

with Emma being the only known survivor.

As an infant, Emma endured multiple procedures to try to fix her heart. During one, they discovered a rare heart condition that led to her first open-heart surgery when she was just 2 months old. It was the first surgery of its kind, and she had a 50% chance of survival.

As a result of these many invasive procedures, Emma developed potentially fatal lymphatic issues that led to further complications and surgeries, including abdominal surgery on her 3-month birthday. Emma continued to defy the odds by surviving that operation.

At 7 months, she went through yet another abdominal surgery that would enable her to be fed through a feeding tube for the first time. Today she continues to be fed through a GI tube into the intestines.

At 8 months, Emma was finally able to come home from ACH for the first time. Over the intervening years, she has had multiple catheter procedures on her heart and many hospital stays due to illness and fluid overload.

There have been many times Jerilyn and Kenny have reached the point of having to discuss palliative care and plan for Emma’s funeral. They have also had to think about what her future will look like. “She will never be cured,” Jerilyn said. “We have to plan for Emma being

with us for the rest of her life, which means having tough conversations and asking questions like, ‘How long are we going to live?’ You have to think of these things long before typical parents have to.”

Through all of this hardship, Kenny and Jerilyn have found victories to celebrate, both big and small, like when Emma breathed for the first time since birth without oxygen right before her first birthday. Or when she had her second open-heart surgery at a year old and only had to stay in the hospital for six weeks (unlike the longer stay after the first one). Or how she’s learned to communicate with words and signs and also through a communication device. “Once you get to know her, it’s easy to understand her,” Jerilyn said.

This Christmas marked another big milestone when Emma was able to enjoy decorating the tree for the first time. “That was huge for us. It took 10 years to get here, but we got here. She’s our Christmas Day miracle,” Jerilyn said. Emma was also able to walk, without the aid of a walker or wheelchair, to see Santa. The Wassons have learned not to take anything for granted.

Every day is a challenge for Emma and her parents, but one they meet with strength, determination, acceptance and deep love. On Emma’s CaringBridge site, they write, “She is

EMMA: Defying odds.

BRIAN CHILSON

Sleeping Beauty

The World's Most beloved Story Perfect for Families

a fighter, and we are blessed to have her in our lives … Emma's care is complex, but she is worth

Jerilyn has worked tirelessly to support her daughter and others caring for special needs kids — exhaustively researching Emma’s unique condition, finding a professor with specialized knowledge to communicate with the doctors, connecting with parents online and in person, facilitating support groups, speaking publicly and making videos for caregivers. Her background in counseling and psychology and her work with developmentally delayed children pre-motherhood help with her outreach, but Jerilyn jokes, “I had good training before Emma, but nothing like what she’s put me through!” She adds, “Emma’s a gift to us. I don’t think I would have been a great mom of a typical child. She has taught me how to be an even better

I’m astounded and moved by her fortitude, wisdom and optimism and say so. “I learned from her!” she says. “You have to fight, to be resilient, to keep pushing when you think you can’t. We’ve definitely had our moments of feeling like we just can’t do this anymore, but then you do. For her, you do it.”

That’s not to say that it’s not a struggle at times, and Jerilyn is very clear on that point. There’s no room for stoicism or toxic positivity on this journey; she stresses the importance of self-care and emotional honesty. She’s candid when talking about the challenges that come with parenting kids with special needs, and shares that she and her husband have sought help from mental health professionals both individually and as a couple. She notes that the divorce rate for parents of special needs kids is higher than average, around 60-75%.

Jerilyn also wants to normalize the range of feelings caregivers might experience. “I know there are moms dealing with guilt about normal feelings, like I wish my child could date, drive, get married … I try to remind them to be kind to themselves. That’s something I’ve had to learn, too. There are waves; acknowledge them. Don’t try to hide it or push it down or tell yourself to get over it. Just ride it out and then — always, always — something will happen that’s fantastic, like Emma decorating the tree or walking to Santa. You don’t want to miss these things. Keep your eye on the next miracle.”

She learned the importance of taking care of her physical health after developing arthritis in her 30s and carpal tunnel in both wrists, which required surgery. She had a moment of clarity when she realized the toll caregiving was taking on her body.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so if you experience burnout or start to see your own health decline, you realize you can’t be there for your child. I know that I am the best person to take care of Emma, so if I’m going to be there for the long haul, I need to take care of myself."

Arkansas Children’s is the state’s only health system built just for kids. By working within the communities we serve, it’s our mission to make children better today and healthier tomorrow. We are Champions for Children where they live, learn and play.

Also crucial for parents, according to Jerilyn, is acknowledging chronic grief or sorrow. “It’s unlike the five stages of grief and then you move on. This is ongoing, but I tell parents to remember that it comes in waves; you’ll go back to acceptance again. For a long time, I’d say to myself, ‘C’mon, you gotta get over this, it’s been two years … it’s been three years … eight years. I kept putting a time limit on myself to heal.”

Then she had another realization. “This isn’t something to heal from, it’s something to grow from. Now I’m grateful because I’m so much better of a person. I’m so thankful. People ask, ‘Would you change things?’ Well, yeah, I’d change things for her, but for me and my personal journey, I think it’s been the best thing for me. Blow up my world and let me learn something.” Let’s just pause to take that in — the strength it takes to live with such a brave heart, or as writer and therapist Tara Brach says, “Live with a heart that is ready for anything.”

It also takes courage to ask for help, and Jerilyn learned to do this early on. She praises the social workers, nurses and doctors at ACH, the friends who brought meals, and the online community that she found and helps foster. And, of course, the organizations and caregivers who’ve offered their services.

Emma first went to Pediatrics Plus, which the Wassons loved, but had to move on when she reached elementary school age. They tried public school for a short time, but the school could not meet her needs. Easter Seals was the only place willing to give her a chance, with the stipulation that she have her own aide, provided by the family. Another victory? Two months in, Easter Seals said Emma no longer needed an aide. “I attribute that to the teachers, aides and therapists; everyone at Easter Seals who was willing to learn about how to do a feeding pump,” Jerilyn said. When she went to train the staff, she found a roomful of willing participants.

Emma now attends the Academy at Riverdale (part of Easter Seals), where she’s making great strides. It’s the only place of its kind in this region.

Jerilyn and Kenny have had success finding nonmedical caregivers for Emma through care.com. Jerilyn makes sure prospective caregivers know that though it’s a tough job, it’s also a rewarding one if you have “the heart and willingness.” Many of Emma’s caregivers have been inspired to go on to careers in nursing, audiology and occupational therapy, a testament to how many lives she’s touched. “It’s been so neat to watch people learn what their gifts are through her.” She adds, with a laugh, “but it’s hard to lose them!”

She and Kenny interviewed 200 people during their search for a new caregiver and recruited Jennifer from Texas. She explains to all

prospective hires that they’re not just coming for Emma, they’re coming into a family with all that entails — dogs, for one. The fact that Jenni fer’s Dachshund mix sits serenely curled in my lap at that very moment with the Wasson family dogs beside us leads me to believe that this cur rent setup is working well.

Jerilyn feels that part of her work is to address and dispel some misconceptions about caring for a special needs child. Though it’s hard to believe, some people have asked her questions like:

“Why do you need help if you stay home all day?” and “What do you do all day?” She said, “It’s very misunderstood what it takes to care for a child like this.”

She also discovered there’s a stigma around the caregiving profession, noting that some people who’ve worked for them faced pushback from their own families. “It’s not valued as a profession,” Jerilyn said.

And then there is the financial piece of car ing for a disabled child, compounded by a lack of readily accessible resources. Add to that a shortage of caregivers, health care costs and reams upon reams of red tape, and it can feel hopeless.

“The system works against you. It’s very frustrating for families,” Jerilyn said. “You have to fight for every single thing, and there’s so much paperwork. Kenny and I say all the time, ‘How do families with both parents working do it? Because this is a full-time job.”

The Wassons have only now gotten accepted for a waiver program that’s designed to keep kids out of institutions and in their homes, after 10 years on the waiting list.

Another subject Jerilyn is passionate about is the importance of representation for kids with disabilities. “Everyone needs representation and a sense of belonging. People need to be seen. Emma needs role models; she and others need to see people in wheelchairs or using a walker. We’ve got to embrace all of these adaptations.” And represented she is! Next time you’re on I-630, take a look at ACH, and you’ll see her.

“The only way we’re going to connect is if we’re authentic and honest and put ourselves out there,” Jerilyn said. That’s why they started the Totally Emma Facebook page, which people visit from all over the world as far away as Australia, and her CaringBridge site — to share their family’s journey with others.

For Jerilyn, caring for Emma isn’t a duty or obligation — it is her path, her calling. She reflects, “Not every day, but for the most part, when you get that 1,000-foot view and you’re looking at the whole tapestry, absolutely it’s the best thing that’s happened to me.”

BEYOND THE REAL

A Q&A WITH CARL NAPOLITANO

BY DANIEL GREAR

LUSH: Carl Napolitano's fiction is strange yet inviting.

Carl Napolitano, a queer fiction writer from Little Rock, has only a handful of stories out in the world so far, but his premises are shockingly memorable. They treat the mystical and strange with the utmost frankness and acceptance. Magic materializes and characters just carry on and make due.

In “One of Them Dies,” featured in The Rumpus, there’s a boy who’s visited by alluring male ghosts in his closet of a locker room, and a girl who can get snapshots into the future of people, places and things if she takes a picture of them with a disposable camera. “River Bandit,” available at CRAFT Literary, follows through on its title’s promise and includes a character who steals and consumes rivers because she’s half-human and half-ocean, the love child of a mortal man and the Gulf of Mexico. Napolitano’s story in the Oxford American, titled “A Way to Become a Way to Be,” takes a magnifying glass to the greenroom at the House of Glamour, where several performers are mourning the death of their drag mother. “The Little Men,” his most recently published story in McSweeney’s, is perhaps the oddest: When the narrator’s semen touches the bare ground, it magically transforms into six pocket-sized men who share his exact likeness and need to be taken care of.

Napolitano grew up in Arkansas and attended Central High School, then Hendrix College. After graduating from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a year of working as an adjunct professor, he returned to Little Rock. In addition to his luminous fiction, he is a drag performer and visual artist. With the sound of the World Cup whispering in the background, I sat down with him over margaritas and baleadas at El Sur to talk about the subjectivity of interpretation, his new novel and why a fantastical approach to storytelling is so appealing.

I’ve read four stories by you. Three are marked by an exploration of the fantastical and one — the piece featured in the Oxford American — is significantly more realistic. What draws you to writing outside the realm of real world possibility? How do you feel about strict realism?

In a very broad sense, part of my draw to the fantastic is that it’s fun. If writing fiction gives me the choice to do anything I want, why would I limit myself to what is quote-unquote realistic? I’ve also found that using speculative conceits allows you to explore ideas and problems in a way that you can’t with realism. You can make

some things more literal through metaphor. [laughs] Also, even realism can have a sense or feeling of magic to it. Whether it’s through the point of view, or abstraction, or whether it’s through a structure that resembles a fairytale.

What you’re saying about point of view resonates with me. While your story in the Oxford American is more plausible, I was surprised by how the perspective moves. It’s a very close third-person narration style, but it roams from character to character every few paragraphs, which is uncommon.

I wrote that story for a workshop at Iowa with Ethan Canin, who leans towards a very particular kind of character-driven realism. He feels that a story should only have one point of view. He said that when you shift points of view, it takes the reader out and therefore ruptures our empathy. He used the royal “we” [laughs] and I was like, “Who are you talking for?” To me, narrators exist on a spectrum from character to storyteller, and that’s a story that leans towards the storyteller, which is an intelligence outside of a character’s brain. And you see that kind of narrator in fairy tales, speculative fiction, fantasy and sci-fi. I did think about what Ethan said, but ultimately I just wanted to convince the reader. If this could be perceived or experienced as a problem for them, how can I make it more apparently deliberate?

When you write fantastically, do you have a specific interpretation of the far-fetched elements in mind or are you more interested in just presenting readers with evocative materials that they can do whatever they want with?

I think it’s a little bit of both. You have to have an idea of what a speculative conceit is doing so you’re actually in control of the meaning to some degree. But it’s not a one-to-one metaphor, of course. There are always resonances outside of what you intended or were aware of while writing. For the McSweeney’s story, I was thinking about fatherhood, and father/son relationships, and daddy/boy relationships, and the body and sex, which to me are very much exemplified by the little men in the story. But when I read part of that story at the Argenta Reading Series in October, someone asked whether I’d been thinking about the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I’d written it far before that happened, so no, it’s not supposed to be about abortion and reproductive rights, but I could see why it’d make you think about that because it deals with reproduction through a strictly male lens.

Despite a leaning toward the supernatural, your work feels stylistically varied to me. Would you argue that there’s something that binds all of your writing together? The project of my writing is trying to understand

better the romantic and familial relationships queer people have, and the relationships they have with themselves and their own bodies. More broadly, I’m interested in desire and death and the various ways it haunts us in our lives, whether through grief or loss, or the threat of it, or the abstraction of it. I also think a lot about what it means to love someone and how loving someone affects your understanding of yourself. I think about what’s pleasurable about love but what’s difficult about it, too.

Does having grown up in Little Rock influence your writing? Would you ever write something that was overtly set in Arkansas? I think place always inspires and influences you as a writer. My novel is based in Little Rock and

sexual relationship with another boy as well as a shifting relationship with his twin sister. My agent, Rachel Kim, is currently sending it out to editors. Since it’s out on submission, I’m not touching it. I worked on it for two years on my own and then I worked with her pretty closely for another two years. I feel confident and proud of it as it is. I’m not working on it again until someone’s going to pay me to do it. [laughs] I’ve done as much as I can without the intervention of an editor.

The older I get, the more I struggle with the question of whether or not I find writing to be a pleasurable pursuit. Do you enjoy it? I find the drafting process to be pleasurable. That’s what drew me to writing, even when I was a teenager. Creating something out of nothing. Revision is such a different process and I don’t think it’s very fun. At a certain point when you look at something for so long and you’re trying to figure out what’s working and not working, you see it more for the object that it is. These are just words on a page. It becomes impersonal. You don’t feel the immediacy of character emotions or what’s happening. It does sometimes become pleasurable again in the technical aspects, when you’ve figured out a problem. It’s a give and take. But writing is unlike other art forms, where you can move by feeling. If I’m working on a painting or a piece of pottery, I’m not thinking about what these colors and lines mean. It just looks or feels nice. With visual art, the intellectualizing comes after the making. With writing, every sentence has to mean something.

What’s the dream trajectory for your writing career?

if it’s ever published, anyone who lives here will be able to recognize it. Pinnacle Mountain is there. The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts makes an appearance. My character goes to a high school that was famous for desegregation in the ’50s. The suburbish nature of West Little Rock is highly featured in the book, too. You could imagine any of my stories taking place in Arkansas. At least I did when I was writing them. That said, I’m not one to specifically name it because in fairytales there’s a vagueness of place. But it’s important to me, as the writer, to know where it’s supposed to be set.

Speaking of your novel, what can you tell us about it? How far along are you and when will you know you’re finished with it?

The novel is called “Every Wound Will Disappear.” It’s about a 16-year-old boy who, on the night of his first kiss, hits a fox with his car and discovers that he suddenly has the magical ability that anything he kills comes back to life. So he has to reckon with this new, mysterious power while also navigating his first romantic and

Right now, I would like for my novel to be published. Period. [laughs] I don’t have super grand ambitions. I hope that I can write books and that people will want to publish them and that people will want to read them. I don’t think my work has a wide appeal and so I have no expectation of financial success or awards. I just hope that the people who need to read my work and who it’ll impact most or mean the most to will get the chance to read it. I definitely want to make a career out of it, but I’m modest or cautious. Having gone to Iowa, I have a lot of friends and classmates who have gotten big book deals or have been finalists for big awards like the Booker or the National Book Award, which is so exciting. And it would be cool to have that kind of success. But I don’t think that’s actually what’s most important. The work itself is the most important. I think that’s ultimately what matters to most writers. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

"IF

In the documentary “Boycott,” award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha pulls back the curtain on a push by conservative legislators and lobbyists in the United States to silence free speech.

Lawmakers in 33 states have introduced anti-boycott laws, which require individuals and companies seeking public contracts to sign a pledge promising they will not boycott Israel.

Arkansas Times Publisher Alan Leveritt refused to accept this blatant First Amendment attack. He joined forces with an attorney in Arizona and a speech therapist in Texas to launch a legal battle. Their stories cut to the heart of a pressing national debate and illustrate how the right to free speech could slip out of our grasp.

The film is 78 minutes long and will be followed with 30 minutes of Q&A with Bacha, Leveritt and representatives from the ACLU of Arkansas legal team.

MR. GAZETTE

THE STORY OF SHARPE DUNAWAY: TRAVELING SALESMAN, POLITICO AND AUTHOR.

BY ERNEST DUMAS

This article first appeared in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

Sharpe Dunaway may be the most famous traveling salesman in Arkansas history, a distinction only partly due to his sidelines: politics, writing and state promotion. For nearly 50 years, Dunaway was a sales agent for newspapers, mainly the Arkansas Gazette, which earned him the sobriquet “Mr. Gazette.” He was a friend and supporter of many Arkansas politicians, notably Gov. and U.S. Sen. Jeff Davis and U.S. Sen. Hattie Caraway. Dunaway wrote two books, one about the life and speeches of Jeff Davis, and the other a collection of observations about Arkansas and its people titled, “What a Preacher Saw Through a KeyHole” in Arkansas. The short book, published in 1925, would become an important contribution to Arkansas history for a chapter titled, “The Blackest Page in State History,” which argued that the so-called race riot at Elaine (Phillips County) in 1919 had actually been a massacre.

Louis Sharpe Dunaway was born on Jan. 10, 1870, at Beryl (Faulkner County) into a family steeped in history. His grandfather, Isaiah Dunaway, moved from North Carolina to Old Austin (Lonoke County) in 1819, the year that

Arkansas became a territory. His father, John Dunaway, joined the Confederate army, was wounded in the Battle of Murfreesboro, spent part of the war in a hospital, and afterward married a Tennessee woman, Emma Blackwood. They moved to Faulkner County, where he became a planter and community leader. He was a delegate to the 1874 constitutional convention.

Sharpe Dunaway was the third of his parents’ eight children. He attended Conway High School and Hendrix College in Conway (Faulkner County) but dropped out in his third year to travel. At Mineral Wells, Texas, he was a reporter for a small newspaper and then spent a period reporting for newspapers in Dallas and Fort Worth. He moved back to Conway, buying local newspaper the People’s Advocate and changing its name to the Faulkner County Times. In 1899, Dunaway married Lela Witt, whom he had met at Hendrix. They would rear three children. He shortly went to work for the Arkansas Gazette, not as a writer or editor, but as a circulation manager, soliciting subscriptions. For a short spell, he did the same for the paper’s afternoon competitor, the Arkansas Democrat, but then rejoined the Gazette for the rest of his career.

As Dunaway traveled the state as the

Gazette’s agent, his salesmanship became legendary. He was heavily responsible for the newspaper building a statewide readership. Fred W. Allsopp, whose career as a business manager and writer for the Gazette was equally legendary, described a few of Dunaway’s spiels about the necessity of a good citizen’s reading the great newspaper and his promise to barter a Gazette subscription for almost anything. Among the items he collected, according to his obituary, were “nine steeltraps, three raccoon hides, a large beef hide, two cords of cook wood (three miles from the railroad), and two hives of bees.” He traded Gazette subscriptions for a small alligator, a bear cub and a wolf cub. The wild animals were traded for either three-month or six-month subscriptions with the proviso that the animals would be delivered to his home in Conway by parcel post with the full postage paid.

Dunaway knew Jeff Davis when both were youngsters, and they remained friends until Davis’ death in 1913. Dunaway would attend Davis’ campaign speeches (he claimed to have heard 850 of them) and sell Gazette subscriptions in the crowd, although Davis sometimes attacked him from the podium. Dunaway said he had sold a number of

COURTESY OF THE BUTLER CENTER FOR ARKANSAS STUDIES, CENTRAL ARKANSAS LIBRARY SYSTEM

subscriptions at one of Davis’ rallies, but when Davis yelled that he would rather be caught with a dead polecat in his pocket than with a Gazette in his possession, several men found Dunaway to get their money back. All his life, however, Dunaway insisted that Davis was one of the state’s greatest governors and senators. His book on Davis’ life and speeches, published soon after Davis’ death, collected a number of Davis’ most colorful diatribes and his taunts of opponents, critics and newspaper editors, particularly Dunaway’s employer.

During his travels for the Gazette, Dunaway met a young soap-and-pencil salesman named Huey P. Long at the Gleason European Hotel in Conway. When Dunaway’s friend Hattie Caraway was running for reelection in 1932 and seemed headed for defeat, he telephoned Long, by then a populist U.S. senator from Louisiana, and suggested that he come to Arkansas and campaign for her. Dunaway claimed that he organized the weeklong speaking tour of the state, which brought out huge crowds and helped Caraway easily defeat four prominent men in the Democratic primary, although she fell short of a majority, which was not required then.

Although Dunaway frequently passed news tips to the Gazette newsroom from his travels around the state, he rarely, if ever, reported or wrote for the paper. He was a promoter and very rarely a critic of anyone. That was what made his 1925 book, “What a Preacher Saw Through a KeyHole in Arkansas,” unusual. As he explained in the book, it was intended to be an antidote to the bestselling joke book in American history, “On a Slow Train Through Arkansaw,” written by Thomas W. Jackson, a brakeman for the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, and his wife. Dunaway called Jackson “that ill advised and uninformed gentleman” and referred to his jokes as “slanderous.” Jackson’s book was a collection of minstrel jokes and racial and sexual puns that relied on familiar stereotypes about Arkansas “darkies” and women. It would sell 7 million copies by 1950.

“What a Preacher Saw” painted a different picture of the state. It profiled communities, tourist sites and people all over Arkansas, including local and state leaders and politicians. All were characterized as marvelous. Then came the chapter about the slaughter of Black people in Phillips County in October 1919. Outside a union organizing meeting at a rural Black church near Elaine, shots were fired, killing one of the white men sent by the county sheriff to break up the meeting and wounding the other. Although Dunaway’s account at first followed the usual theme of Arkansas newspapers that the white leaders, including Gov. Charles Hillman Brough, were honorably motivated to stop “meddlers” from inciting ignorant Black locals to riot and kill white plantation owners, he concluded — after considerable

HE TRADED GAZETTE SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR A SMALL ALLIGATOR, A BEAR CUB AND A WOLF CUB.

investigation, he wrote — that what actually happened was far different. He said that local white leaders, including armed vigilantes from surrounding counties deputized by the sheriff, had acted honorably and legally, but that the soldiers sent from Camp Pike ostensibly to preserve the peace, including veterans of World War I, had not acted with honor — rather, they got drunk and committed violent acts.

While he only implied, occasionally, the sources of his information, Dunaway pinpointed what he believed was the exact number of Black men, women and children slain in the fields and canebrakes, along the roads, or in their shanties: 856. Nearly all of them, he said, were innocent of planning to harm anybody. Nearly a century later, historical research has verified Dunaway’s outline of events, although not such specific details as the number of murders. Dunaway identified no sources by name but reported that a teacher from Miller County had witnessed the murder of 28 Black people in one bunch. They were shot, dumped into a pit and set on fire. The same person seemed to have witnessed the hanging of 16 Black people on a bridge 4 miles from Helena (Phillips County).

Dunaway said it was “chivalrous” of whites to want to avenge the death and injury of the two white men who had been sent to the union meeting and of the three or four other white locals and soldiers who died from gunshots in the hunt for Black rioters. It was unforgiveable, however, that “Federal soldiers, aided and abetted by a collection of low-lived creatures who call themselves WHITE MEN, march down among the ramshackle homes of good old innocent, hard-working Darkeys, and then and there unlimber their guns on those poor old servants of the rebellion, finally snuffing out their lives before passing on to the next house, where the same cruel scene was enacted.”

His account did not appear in his own newspaper, the Gazette, whose editorials — and whose coverage of the massacre and trials — adopted the account of the local whites in power. Without identifying certain “news hounds,” Dunaway’s chapter disparaged Arkansas reporters who gave the standard account of Black rioters intent on killing white plantation owners and of professional soldiers and lawmen restoring order. But Dunaway’s story would embolden historians like Grif Stockley 70 years later to search for the evidence. Historians have concluded that hundreds probably died, but no one has a more reliable figure.

Dunaway’s book claimed that Gov. Thomas McRae, who pardoned the last six Black men unfairly sentenced to die for the “rebellion,” had told him that he was the only person who ever gave a full and correct account of the massacre.

Dunaway died on September 3, 1959. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Conway.

MARIJUANA FOR MORE

THE STATE OF ARKANSAS COULD OPEN UP MEDICAL MARIJUANA TO NEW PATIENTS, BUT INSIDERS AGREE THAT IT'S UNLIKELY.

BY GRIFFIN COOP

Although recreational marijuana failed at the polls in November, there’s still a pathway for more Arkansans to gain access to the state’s legal marijuana products. Some people close to the state medical marijuana industry, however, aren’t sure that pathway will lead anywhere other than a dead end.

The amendment voters approved to legalize medical marijuana in 2016 created a process for adding more qualifying conditions through the Arkansas Department of Health.

The department shot down the only attempt to add a new condition five years ago, though, and an anti-marijuana public health advisory on its website suggests the department doesn’t have a very generous outlook on the medical benefits of cannabis.

The state medical marijuana amendment requires the department to consider new medical conditions that would qualify residents for medical marijuana cards and the department established rules that lay out the process applicants must use for a new condition to be considered. Once the department makes a decision, its rulings can be appealed to Pulaski County Circuit Court, according to the amendment drafted by Little Rock lawyer David Couch.

“When I drafted it, I intended it to be a fairly easy process,” Couch said recently. “If there were some medical conditions that could

benefit from using cannabis, the Department of Health should add them. Period.”

That sounds easy enough. So, what’s the problem?

Among the requirements set by the Department of Health is the submission of evidence, such as medical studies, that shows patients with the condition in question would benefit from marijuana.

The department’s requirements ask for “evidence generally accepted by the medical community and other experts that the use of medical marijuana alleviates suffering caused by the debilitating medical disease and/or treatment.”

Marijuana’s federal criminal status has long created many obstacles for researchers, and as a result there aren’t many studies that explore the health benefits of cannabis. It’s difficult to clear the bar set by the Department of Health, according to Robbin Rahman, executive director of Harvest Cannabis dispensary in Conway.

“You're just not going to be able to meet that burden,” Rahman said. “Even if you meet that burden, the Department of Health is gonna reject it because of the politics.”

The department’s website includes a public health advisory on department letterhead from 2019 that says marijuana is addictive, has only been proven to treat four limited conditions and is associated with psychoses

such as schizophrenia. The advisory calls for “heightened awareness” of cannabis products “claiming to benefit health.”

If an application for a new qualifying condition is denied by the department, the medical marijuana amendment says the ruling can be appealed to Pulaski County Circuit Court. The court must make its decision based on whether the Department of Health abused its discretion when making its decision. That’s another “very tall hill to climb,” Rahman said.

“Unless you can point to some sort of abuse of discretion or capriciousness or something to that effect, you’re going to lose,” Rahman said, adding that there’s also the challenge of funding a legal challenge.

Bill Paschall, director of the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association, echoed Rahman’s belief that the Department of Health’s process is difficult. Given the lay of the land, is it possible there would be any movement to try to add new qualifying conditions?

“The short answer is, ‘I don't think so,’ ” Paschall said. “The process with the health department is a difficult one. Nothing has successfully gotten through that process.”

The day after the November election, Rahman engaged in a snarky Twitter exchange when Couch said the process of adding qualifying conditions is easy. Rahman strongly disagreed.

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ignorant of the way things actually work,” Rahman told Couch. “Go ask the ADH when they plan to consider new conditions. Hint: Day

Couch told Rahman to “read the amendment — the process is stacked in favor of adding conditions.” Couch offered to petition the Department of Health himself if Rahman or someone brought him a case involving a patient with a condition that could benefit from

While Couch might have intended for the process to be easy, it hasn’t played out that

In 2018, the Department of Health considered an application to add bipolar disorder to the

Bipolar disorder is “a mental illness that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Cultivation in Fort Smith, weighed in on the 2018 application as a representative of the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association. He told the department the medical marijuana amendment set a low bar for approving new qualifying conditions and that a medical study had shown a benefit for bipolar patients. Nolan also said marijuana would be better for bipolar patients than lithium, a common treatment that he said causes renal failure.

QUALIFYING CONDITIONS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN ARKANSAS

Source: Arkansas Department of Health

• Cancer

• Glaucoma

• Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome

• Hepatitis C

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

• Tourette’s syndrome

• Crohn’s disease

• Ulcerative colitis

• Post-traumatic stress disorder

• Severe arthritis

• Fibromyalgia

• Alzheimer’s disease

• Cachexia or wasting syndrome

• Peripheral neuropathy

• Intractable pain which is pain that has not responded to ordinary medications, treatment or surgical measures for more than six (6) months

Dr. Gary Wheeler, the chief medical officer at the Department of Health at the time, said in a letter to then-Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith that one limited study provided by the applicant did show “evidence of benefits.” Wheeler dismissed the rest of the supporting documentation.

“The rest of the articles are unhelpful reviews largely of the basic science of why THC/CBD might work or a series of anecdotal reports,” Wheeler wrote.

• Severe nausea

No state expressly lists bipolar disorder as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, although patients with the disorder would still qualify in some states. The Oklahoma medical marijuana program, for instance, does not have qualifying conditions at all, so it doesn’t list bipolar disorder or anything else for eligibility. Instead, the state requires physicians to determine whether marijuana would benefit a condition a patient is experiencing, just as they would with any other medication.

• Seizures including without limitation those characteristic of epilepsy

• Severe and persistent muscle spasms including without limitation those characteristic of multiple sclerosis

• And any other medical condition or its treatment approved by the Department of Health

Dr. Richard Smith, a professor of psychiatry, medicine and public health at UAMS at the time, also opposed the application.

“The depressive effects of THC cause and prolong depression and THC’s frontal lobe release function impairs the judgment needed to manage a severe disease like bipolar disorder,” Smith wrote.

Nate Smith, the state secretary of health at the time, denied the application.

Missouri's medical marijuana program also does not expressly allow patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder to qualify, but it does accept patients with debilitating psychiatric disorders diagnosed by a state-licensed physician. Missouri also legalized recreational marijuana in November.

The 2018 application to the Arkansas Department of Health included medical studies and public comments on the impact of marijuana use on patients with bipolar disorder.

Storm Nolan, owner of River Valley Relief

Nolan said in a recent interview he believes the Department of Health “unconstitutionally denied the application based on its own criteria.” Smith’s decision was not appealed to circuit court because, Nolan says, no one was willing to fund the legal challenge at the time.

As the state transitions to a new gubernatorial administration, Gov.-elect Sarah Sanders could name someone different to run the state health department and manage the qualifying conditions process.

“Obviously, we don't know at this point who will be the new secretary of health for the state, so that could change,” Paschall said. “But that process is very difficult.”

Keep better snacks in my car

The Observer can pinpoint the exact moment in time she fell deeply, deeply in love with celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, and that is when Lawson turned to the camera during an interview and confessed that one of her biggest fears involved being out and about in the world, being hit with a hunger pang and having no food. Heard, Nigella! The velvet-voiced TV star went on to say that she keeps snacks stashed in her handbag — an accessory she’d come to talk about a lot in the media, thanks to her penchant for toting not only snacks, but Colman’s English mustard and a tin of Maldon sea salt. (Also cocaine, the Brit gossip machine alleges?) In 2023, The Observer vows to follow suit. Not necessarily on that mustard and salt and cocaine part (but you do you, Nigella), but in a “turn your car’s center console into a sweet snack HQ” sorta way. Thinking maybe some of those wasabi-coated almonds, some salt & vinegar potato chips, some Ratchford Farms elk jerky for when we’re feelin’ fancy and some Dove dark chocolate, which we solemnly swear will not languish long enough for the Arkansas summer swelter to transform it into a puddle of goo.

Less Dwight Schrute, more dish diligence

Like everyone else, I want the new year to be a fresh start. I’d like to exercise more, eat more vegetables, read more books and keep a cleaner house. But let’s be realistic here and set some manageable goals so these resolutions don’t wind up in the trash can by February. First, I’d like for fewer of my meals to be handed to me through a drive-thru window. Second, I’d like to start unloading the clean dishes from the dishwasher so the dirty ones don’t pile up. And, third, I’d like to read more instead of watching reruns of “The Office,” even if it is that episode from Season One when Dwight picks a new health care plan for the office.

RESOLUTIONS

Try out that sustainability thing … again

In the wake of what feels like the impending doom that the world could end at any second, The Observer wants to tackle 2023 with a more sustainably conscious mindset. Reusable sandwich bags and silicone covers already have their place in a kitchen drawer, so I’ve at least made the start of an effort already. But I’m talking about cutting out paper towels completely, bringing glass jars to fill up at the grocery store, never forgetting my reusable sacks in the truck of the car and being less of a consumer overall. In line with being more sustainable, food waste is something that The Observer is ashamed of. Buying the appropriate serving for one or two people at the supermarket is a feat in itself, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to ignore the leftover meals waiting for me and call up my favorite take-out instead. So maybe The Observer won’t be able to ditch the car and bike all around Little Rock, but having a hand in the trash pile that leaves my apartment is a solid start.

The more achievable the better, right?

Last month, the Observer moved into a new apartment in a new city and — while some furniture-related strides have been made — there is still nothing on the walls. By a few months into 2023, I hope to have decorated my way into a home. The saddest part about this resolution is that the issue is not a lack of artwork. The Observer has many photographs, posters and paintings just begging for application to a flat surface. And yet, they remain in boxes or strewn on the dining room table. I’m not the kind of person to look down on sticky tack or tape, either, so what gives? Commitment issues? Maybe a trip to the therapist is in the cards for the new year as well.

Keep Prosecco on hand at all times

Don’t you hate it when it’s Sunday and there’s suddenly something to celebrate but the liquor stores are closed and you have no bubbling libations on hand? 2023 will be the year of prepping, but not for the end times (although Prosecco might work then, too) but for impromptu festivities. This year The Observer resolves to make a clattering fuss over birthdays, promotions, new houses, successfully executed revenge plots, etc. We’ll be keeping a chilled bottle in the fridge, and maybe some raspberries in the freezer to toss in for flair. There are loftier resolutions out there, sure, but this is one The Observer feels confident about being able to keep.

Pray or just keep battling for my cat’s respect, and the politicians’, too

I resolve to teach my cat that I am the head of this household. I already remind her that I pay for her food and litter. Then, I give her that food and change that litter, and she still doesn’t get it. I even give her treats, occasional catnip-spiked toys and a scratching post on which she naps when it’s not bedtime. Still, she ignores my commands and invades the kitchen cabinet, jumps atop the bedroom door, naps in the bathroom sink, and gets stuck in the lidded recycling can. I won’t tell you her name because we’re anonymous here. Besides, she doesn’t like strangers; she tends to hide when they stop by. If they catch her, she’ll likely hiss at them worse than a politician under scrutiny hisses at a reporter. And she has fangs and claws most politicians I know lack. So in the spirit of unity, I ask all you believers, whether you’re dressed in all black, rainbow patterns or blue-pleated dresses with knee-high boots for the Wednesday night square dance, to unite in 2023 and say a prayer that my cat gets it right. If you’re not a believer, just forget the cat and help me out with those low-level politicians.