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North Little Rock teen charged after officer shot during struggle

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North Little Rock Police Department
OFFICER SHOT: A North Little Rock officer was shot during a struggle for a gun.

North Little Rock police have charged a teen as an adult after an incident Sunday afternoon left an officer with a gunshot wound to her leg. 

Antwonie Sanders, 16, of North Little Rock, was arrested Sunday and has been charged with first-degree battery, fleeing and resisting arrest, according to a press release from the police department. 

At about 2:30 p.m. Sunday, officers arrived at the 2300 block of Highway 161 “in reference to a group of suspicious persons who were described as juveniles,” the press release says.

An officer made contact with two of the individuals, one of whom was carrying a semi-automatic weapon. She “made an attempt to disarm the suspect when a struggle for the weapon ensued. During the struggle, the officer was shot in the upper thigh,” the release says.

Additional officers arrived at the scene at that moment, and one of them fired his weapon as Sanders began to flee. Sanders, who was not injured in the incident, was taken into custody moments later, the release said.

The officer who fired his weapon has been placed on administrative leave as per department policy. The injured officer was taken to a local hospital and has since been released. 

Anyone with information on the incident can contact the North Little Rock Police Department Tip Line at 501-680-8439 or Detective Coburn at 501-771-7155. Callers can remain anonymous.  

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Prisoner dies in suspected suicide at Tucker Max

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PRISON SUICIDES: The death was the third suspected suicide in Arkansas prisons this year.

A prisoner at the state’s Maximum Security Unit in Tucker died yesterday in a suspected suicide, according to a report from the Arkansas Department of Corrections. 

Tyler Spencer, 22, was found hanging in his single-person cell at 10:15 a.m. After efforts to resuscitate Spencer in his cell and later in the unit’s infirmary, he was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. 

Officers spoke with Spencer about 30 minutes before the incident and he gave no indication he was planning to harm himself, the department’s press release said. 

Spencer was serving a four-year sentence for several felonies, including possession of meth and two counts of aggravated assault on a family or household member. He was last sentenced May 5, 2022, the report said. 

The Arkansas State Police is investigating the death, and the Division of Correction is performing an internal investigation, the release said. 

Spencer’s death is the third suspected suicide in Arkansas prisons this year, according to Department of Corrections spokeswoman Dina Tyler. There were eight suicides in state prisons last year.

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Cabot superintendent says campus visitation restrictions lifted for Missy Bosch

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Cabot School District Superintendent Tony Thurman confirmed Tuesday that the district recently removed campus visitation restrictions on Moms for Liberty activist Melissa “Missy” Bosch after the district prevailed in a lawsuit filed by Bosch.

“We are pleased with Judge Lee Rudofsky’s decision in favor of the District … but we are also mindful of the Court’s concerns,” Thurman said in an email today. “In the interest of moving past this issue that occurred almost two years ago, the District withdrew the notification requirement. The District stands by its decision to put the notification requirement in place at that time, and we will always act to protect staff and students.”

Rudofsky, a U.S. district judge, last week rejected Bosch’s request that he reconsider his dismissal of the lawsuit, which named the district, the city of Cabot and Thurman as defendants.

The school district had restricted but not banned Bosch’s visits to campus in June 2022, shortly after she was recorded during a Moms for Liberty meeting at which she mused about gunning down a school librarian. Thurman said the restrictions had required that Bosch “provide notice of her intent to access District property unless she was attending to the affairs of her children.”

In his statement today, Thurman said, “We look forward to putting this matter to rest and focusing on what matters most: educating students in a safe environment.”

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Little Rock is an alright place to live, Southern Living proclaims

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Great news, y’all. It turns out that Little Rock isn’t the grimiest, nastiest, most crime-ridden city in the South, despite misconceptions about the city often perpetuated by people who don’t actually live here. 

Of course we already knew that, but this year Arkansas’s capital city scored a spot on Southern Living’s list of best southern cities, and it feels like a modest win.

It’s Little Rock’s first time to make it on the lifestyle magazine’s list, and it barely squeezed in at No. 25 out of 25. Still, the mention is good news for tourism, the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau noted in a press release on Tuesday. “Appearing in this list is a major win for our city,” LRCVB President & CEO Gina Gemberling said. “The amenities we offer travelers closely align with the subscriber base for Southern Living, and inclusion on this prestigious list will help us attract more leisure travelers.”

Brian Chilson
LRCVB: President Gina Gemberling addresses a crowd at a tourism event.

There are some things that are off about Little Rock’s inclusion, though. The accompanying photo is of the Old Mill, which is definitely in North Little Rock and not Little Rock. The short description also mentions the Argenta Arts District, which is also on the other side of the river.

But Southern Living does capture some of Little Rock’s best features: “You can embark on top-notch outdoor pursuits one day, and enjoy all the hallmarks of a buzzy metropolitan city the next,” Southern Living writes. The River Market and the Big Dam Bridge also get a shout-out.

Reporting the Ottenheimer Hall food market as “bustling” may be another miss, as is the failure to mention the new Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts or any of Little Rock’s drool-worthy restaurants.

Bentonville beats out Little Rock on the list coming in at No. 21. No mention for Fayetteville, though, or any other Arkansas city.

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UCA announces $5 million gift

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An anonymous $5 million gift to the University of Central Arkansas will support the Conway university’s interior design program, UCA announced today.

“The majority of the gift, $4 million, will be used to endow faculty positions allowing at least four named professorships. The remaining $1 million will be designated to support internship and experiential learning opportunities for students,” the university said in a news release.

UCA President Houston Davis said the gift “will ensure the retention and recruitment of outstanding faculty and make certain that our students are placed in challenging and meaningful experiential learning opportunities.”

According to UCA, its interior design program has seen a 41% increase in enrollment since the 2016-17 academic term.

You can read the full news release here.

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Governor’s office offered lucrative parole board seat in exchange for political favor, state senator says

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Arkansas state Sen. Jimmy Hickey (R-Texarkana) came forward Monday to allege that the governor’s office offered outgoing Republican state Rep. Danny Watson of Hope a lucrative seat on the state parole board if he secured a replacement for himself who would be friendly to Gov. Sarah Sanders’ administration and who could be elected without great expense.

Hickey took to Facebook Monday to make the accusation, and confirmed the veracity of the post Tuesday.

“I was very careful that everything I’ve got in there is the absolute truth,” Hickey said Tuesday. 

“BACKROOM 6 FIGURE ARRANGEMENT, LIES, ARROGANT INEXPERIENCE, OUT OF STATE DARK MONEY, POLITICAL SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, SMOKE AND MIRRORS, PUPPETS AND RUBBER STAMPS,” begins Hickey’s Facebook missive, posted at 12:46 p.m. Monday.

Hickey goes on to claim that dirty politics are poisoning the race for the next representative for state House District 88, a position Watson currently fills. 

“Rep. Danny Watson told Rep Carol Dalby that a senior staffer at the Governor’s office had told him that he would get an appointment on the Parole Board ‘if’ he (Watson) found a replacement that the Governor’s office would approve of and if they did not have to fund a lot of money into this SW Arkansas race,” Hickey wrote on Facebook.

All parole board members save one are paid more than $100,000 per year, according to the state transparency website.

Newcomers Dolly Henley and Arnetta Bradford are competing for the Republican nomination for the seat in an April 2 runoff. The district spans parts of Hempstead, Miller and Howard counties in the southwest part of the state.

Bradford, of Hope, is the governor’s friend and her favored candidate. In January 2023, Sanders appointed Bradford to the Black History Commission of Arkansas. And in April, she hand-delivered a certificate for Arkansas Business of the Month to Bradford’s faith-focused cafe in Hope, Hebrews 11:1.

Watson kept his plans to not seek reelection a secret as part of his plan to dissuade other candidates from entering the race to make it easier to get Bradford elected, Hickey suggests in his Facebook post. 

“Rep Watson told Rep Dalby and other State Representatives that he was not going to publicly tell that he wasn’t running for re-election. His plan was to bring Arnetta Bradford, Dolly Henley’s opponent, to the Capitol on the very last day to sign up for this seat with only a few minutes remaining,” Hickey wrote in the Facebook post. 

Rep. Carol Dalby of Texarkana, another long-serving state Republican lawmaker, said by phone Tuesday that Hickey’s statement was true. 

“I stand by what Senator Hickey wrote. What he wrote is accurate,” Dalby said.

When asked if she was concerned about the politics of calling out wrong-doing by fellow Republicans, Dalby said no.

“I’m never worried when you’re telling the truth,” she said.

The political tricks Hickey alleges could be criminal, former lawmaker Nate Bell said on Twitter:

Henley’s campaign has been kept busy recently fending off accusations that she’s a secret Democrat. Those accusations are coming from out-of-state groups, she told Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Mike Wickline. Wickline also reported that former governor and current first dad Mike Huckabee contributed $1,000 to Henley’s campaign, saying he’s friends with the family.

Bradford told Wickline she had nothing to do with the mailers and texts accusing Henley of being a secret Democrat.

In his Facebook post, though, Hickey muses about the possibility of Bradford working with Watson in a secret mutually beneficial arrangement.

“Arnetta Bradford did wait until the last day to sign up and Rep Danny Watson told Rep Dalby that he was helping with the sign up and was also going to carry Arnetta Bradford to visit with a political campaign consultant. Did Arnetta Bradford know about or have an involvement in this Parole Board six figure ‘discussion or arrangement’?,” Hickey wrote.

Bradford’s filing records with the secretary of state’s office show her paperwork was completed on Nov. 14, which was the last day to file.

An email to Gov. Sanders’ office seeking a comment was not immediately returned.

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The Momentary’s Live on the Green Concert Series Kicks Off with Multi-Grammy and Oscar Winner Jon Batiste

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The Momentary’s Live on the Green Concert Series is back! This year’s lineup of acclaimed artists includes John Legend (June 1), Portugal. The Man (July 6), Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (July 14), Lake Street Dive (July 17), Slash (August 16), deadmau5 (August 24), Kaskade (September 27), and a special kickoff performance from multi-Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste on April 23.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Batiste is one of today’s most prolific and accomplished musicians. He studied at the world-renowned Juilliard School in New York City and served as the bandleader and musical director of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” from 2015 to 2022.

Batiste won an Academy Award for Best Original Score for his work on the Disney/Pixar film “Soul,” becoming the second Black composer in history to achieve the honor.

His 2021 album, “We Are,” received overwhelming critical acclaim and made history. It was the first album to be nominated for 11 Grammys across seven different categories. Batiste went on to win five of those Grammys, including Album of the Year.

“We can’t wait to welcome Jon Batiste to the Momentary this year, in addition to so many other outstanding musicians,” said Jill Wagar, director of the Momentary. “Northwest Arkansas has already garnered acclaim for its remarkable visual arts scene, and with the Momentary emerging as a leading concert venue, we’re poised to earn a reputation for outstanding music as well. Our efforts are significantly shaping the region, and our annual Live on the Green concert series plays a key role in this transformation.”

More Live on the Green acts will be announced in the coming weeks, as the Momentary expects to double the number of 2024 shows.

In addition to Live on the Green, the Momentary is home to a robust indoor music series. On April 12, Grammy-winning composer Antonio Sánchez will perform a live drum score to the cinematic masterpiece “Birdman.” The Dip will also perform in the RØDE House on April 13 and Chicano Batman on May 1.

Additionally, FreshGrass|Bentonville returns to the Momentary this May with performances by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Trampled by Turtles, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Valerie June, and more. Tickets for all shows can be purchased at theMomentary.org, which also has the most up to date information on future concert announcements.

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Tuesday open line


Arkansas legislative charity basketball tournament gives defeated House squad a chance at redemption

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Hoops For Kids’ Sake, the annual Arkansas legislative charity basketball fundraiser benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas and the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas, is set for Monday, April 22 at the Eddie L. Boone and Oliver Fitzpatrick, Jr. Fieldhouse at Little Rock Central High School.

This year’s game, the ninth of the modern era, the release says, will be the first iteration of a 3-on-3 tournament format with teams squaring off from the Arkansas House, the Arkansas Senate, the Office of the Governor and the Office of the Arkansas Attorney General. Arkansas House and Senate members will also participate in “Olympiad-style contests like free throws, three-pointers, half-court shots and more.”

The House team is coming off five consecutive losses and a shambolic 36-12 rout in last year’s contest, despite the hubris of Representatives tweeting “HOUSE by 90” before tipoff. Last year’s House team, which was coached by Gov. Sarah Sanders, also suffered basketball season-ending achilles tendon injuries to Rep. Brandon Achor (R-Maumelle) and Rep. Kendon Underwood (R-Cave Springs). Props to Achor for still showing up to the legislative session the following day.

The game resumed in 2023 after shutting down in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year’s game will be played at Central High School — Gov. Sanders’ alma mater — for the second time.

It isn’t clear if the new 3-on-3 format was adopted to level the playing field or to provide more excitement for the public in an effort to drive ticket sales to raise more money for the children’s charities. The new format doesn’t appear to have quashed the rivalry between legislative branches of the General Assembly.

“The Senate looks forward to supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters and the CACs of Arkansas on the court as we go head-to-head versus the House,” said Arkansas Senate President Pro Tem Bart Hester in a press release. “The burden to defend our back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back wins is weighty, but we’re ready.”

Social media posts following last year’s blowout indicate that the Senate might’ve benefited from the recruiting of ringers, and despite the lopsided victory, the House actually outscored Senate legislators. If that’s true, the House might stand to end the Senate’s winning streak.

“I was happy to see the tradition return,” Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd said, “but I expect the House to put forward a much stronger effort this year in this new 3-on-3 format particularly with the Senate not being able to recruit, unlike years past. It will afford us a much better chance of taking back the championship title, and most importantly, we look forward to continuing to raise money for these charities that do so much for the children of Arkansas.”

General admission tickets are $10 at the door. Since its inception in 2013, the game has raised nearly $250,000, the release said. For sponsorship information, please contact Kristin Koenigsfest at 501-441-2070 or kkoenigsfest@bbbsca.org.

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Jan. 6 defendant files motion suggesting he was at Capitol as a freelance journalist

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Nathan Earl Hughes, a Bentonville man charged in the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021, has come up with an interesting, if questionable, defense. Hughes contends he is a “freelance independent journalist” and may be the victim of “selective prosecution.”

Hughes has “a history of reporting on political rallies, demonstrations and protests going back to 2017,” his attorney, William L. Shipley of Hawaii, said in a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

“That Mr. Hughes was a freelance journalist for several years prior to January 6, 2021, is also not disputed,” Shipley wrote.

Charges against Hughes, 34, include assaulting a police officer.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Bill Bowden reported Tuesday on the latest developments in Hughes’ case. Bowden wrote:

Shipley wrote that he is considering filing a motion to dismiss the indictment against Hughes because of “government misconduct/selective prosecution.” But first, Shipley wants to get lists of all journalists who were on the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, whether approved to be there or not. Prosecutors haven’t provided the requested lists.

Federal prosecutors responded to Shipley’s request three days later, saying the court would need to weigh in. “We are not going to be producing this list without more to show that it would be material to preparing Mr. Hughes’ defense,” they said.

Hughes wasn’t arrested until August and is free on his own recognizance.

Hughes is charged with two felonies — assaulting a law enforcement officer and obstructing, impeding or interfering with a law enforcement officer during commission of a civil disorder. He is also charged with three misdemeanor offenses: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings. His jury trial is scheduled to begin July 15.

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First Pentecostal’s “I AM” Easter show is both over the top and riveting

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I haven’t been a religious person for close to 15 years now, but no amount of agnosticism could stop me from going to “I AM,” a 10-performance Easter production boasting “a cast of 500, a 50-voice choir, live musicians, animals, and special effects,” according to the slick flier I received in the mail.

Blame it on divine intervention or an impressive marketing campaign, but once I learned that the First Pentecostal Church in North Little Rock — that colossal, many-columned set of buildings that sort of looks like it’s on its own island beside Interstate 40 — was promoting a show where Jesus would literally soar above the raised hands of his followers, I knew I had to check it out. 

Despite the show’s promised magnitude, I had my doubts about whether it’d be well-attended, especially on opening night, a full nine days before Easter. Boy, was I wrong. The shockingly tall and ornate sanctuary — outfitted with an impressive stone backdrop and an enormous digital screen — was stuffed to the gills with people eager to spend their Friday evening in church.

Zach Ward, the church’s director of communications, said each performance is being capped at 2,000, and they’re all either sold out or approaching it. In other words, by Sunday, roughly 20,000 people will have paid somewhere between $10-$50 (plus a service fee) to pass through the hallowed and architecturally exorbitant walls of First Pentecostal for a dramatic and high-budget telling of Jesus’ rise and fall (and rise again). 

The production, which has been performed in various forms at First Pentecostal since 2014, is based on the Gospel of John, and opens with John himself sitting down to record his testimony as one of Jesus’ disciples.

Quickly, though, we’re shot further into the past, where a group of people are mourning the death of a man named Lazarus. This is where we first meet Jesus (Logan Ellis), who I was delighted to discover was being played by a decidedly shorter and more average-looking man than the hunky portrayals I’ve become accustomed to. He seemed sweet and accessible. One of my colleagues who was also in attendance referred to him as “snuggle-sized.” 

FPCNLR Media
GIDDYUP: Logan Ellis, one of two actors playing Jesus during 2024’s “I AM” performances, riding a donkey through the pews.

His everymanness, however, doesn’t last for long. With the mourners a bit peeved that Jesus wasn’t around to save their friend before his death, Jesus tosses off a miracle like it’s nothing. “Lazarus, come forth,” he says, and Lazarus instantly pops out of the tomb amid sophisticated light and smoke as if he’s a jack-in-the-box, the band springing into action with a ripping guitar solo. “Hell yeah,” I instinctually shouted, the music too loud for anyone to hear my blasphemous slip of the tongue. 

From there, the narrative alternates between Jesus continuing to impress the masses with his supernatural powers and the religious elite becoming increasingly more threatened until a plan hatches to take him down. It’s a story that most people know fairly well, but what you’re less familiar with is the hilariously electrifying and epic ways in which that story can be told on stage, if only you’ve got the resources and willpower to do so. 

FPCNLR Media
FLYING HIGH: The best method for convincing the audience that Jesus has really ascended into heaven? Hoisting him high until he disappears into the rafters, obviously.

How to persuasively depict Jesus kicking out the merchants and money changers from the temple in Jerusalem? By rigging up a table to fall in slow motion when he tosses it over, of course.

The most thrilling form for Jesus to take when he first returns after his crucifixion? A hologram, duh.

The best method for convincing the audience that Jesus has really ascended into heaven? Hoisting him high until he disappears into the rafters, obviously.

Real camels, donkeys, horses, sheep and chickens? You betcha. And what kind of music should be soundtracking all of this? ‘70s- and ‘80s-influenced rock ballads and a score recorded by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, naturally. It was both outlandish and riveting. 

Easily the most intense part of the show is the crucifixion, which I figured would probably be glossed over because, well, it’s horrific. Wrong again. For what felt like ages but was probably about five to 10 minutes, an extremely bloody Jesus hobbles through seemingly every aisle in the church, straining miserably under the weight of the sizable cross he’s carrying. To make things even more gratuitous, hundreds of cast members follow him around, either weeping at his suffering or passionately yelling, “Crucify him!” And this is all before they stand the cross upright on stage for another few minutes of agonizing pain. 

FPCNLR Media
GRUESOME: “I AM” features an extended depiction of the crucifixion.

It was a lot to endure for someone who’s not compelled by the symbolism. But it’s arguably worth it for an otherwise thrilling production that’s not nearly as preachy as you might think, as long as you can swallow the irony of walking into the lobby to find commemorative merch for a show that hinges on a radical who rallied against the commercialization of the church.

Performances of “I AM” run through Sunday, April 1. Find tickets here.

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Glass, new types of plastic may soon be recyclable in Little Rock

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The contract between the city of Little Rock and Waste Management for recycling is about to expire, and officials are looking to negotiate expanded recycling services with the new contract. Glass and clamshell-style plastics — like fruit, pastry and to-go containers — are potential newcomers.

Jon Honeywell, director of the city’s Public Works department, gave the rundown of potential changes to city officials on Tuesday. The contract renewal with expanded recycling services will be up for a vote on April 2.

The proposed additional services come with an increased cost, Honeywell said. If approved, customers would face an increase from $5.25 per month to $5.99 per month starting in April 2024. The rate would increase about 30 cents each year, putting the end cost for customers at $6.64 per month by 2027.

Little Rock residents are currently limited to paper, plastic and aluminum recycling. Within those confines, some plastics aren’t allowed because they can’t be processed at Waste Management’s recycling center in east Little Rock. 

Waste Management’s Materials Recovery Facility, also known as the MRF, is where recycling in the region ends up after it leaves residents’ recycling bins.

Brian Chilson
COVERED WALL TO WALL: The Waste Management recycling facility gets filled every morning.

When crews arrive in the early morning, the entire warehouse floor is piled high with boxes, bottles and cans. A large tractor then collects the material and sends it on the first of many conveyor belts to be sorted by human hands and innovative technology.

What starts as a huge mass of jumbled up recyclables ends as compressed cubes of sorted materials, which are then sold and shipped to companies for repurposing.

Brian Chilson
BALES FOR SALE: The materials at the MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) are compressed tightly and sold.

Glass recycling used to be the norm in Little Rock, but it was phased out in 2018 because of the danger that came with sorting it. The sharp pieces of broken glass were contaminating other materials at the recycling center and putting employees who sort by hand at risk.

Brian Chilson
HAND-SORTED: Machinery does a lot of the heavy lifting at the recycling center, but crews are on deck to pull out wrongly recycled goods.

Honeywell said Tuesday that Waste Management officials are predicting about 95% of the glass recycled will be recovered using new equipment. The new process wasn’t explained at the meeting on Tuesday, but Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said it would be delivered in writing to city directors afterward.

Other opportunities to recycle glass are available in the interim. A “Green Station” opened in February off Asher Avenue for folks who want to chuck their glass, plastic bags, electronics and household chemicals. The city has also organized quarterly recycle days in partnership with the Little Rock Zoo where several items, including glass, are accepted. The next scheduled event is on March 30.

Brian Chilson
RECYCLE DAY: Every few months, a group of recycling companies come together and collect non-traditional items near the Little Rock Zoo.

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Arkansas opioid abatement efforts go mobile, both on wheels and via a new app

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A mobile clinic devoted to treating opioid use disorder took its debut voyage to Second Baptist Church in Malvern last Monday. Its aim: to help solve Arkansas’s opioid problem by meeting addicted people living in rural communities right where they are.

“Our intention is to bring outpatient treatment options for substance use disorder directly to the communities where transportation and other factors limit access to specialized health care,” Tucker Martin said. Since 2022, he’s been the chief operating officer of River Valley Medical Wellness, an organization with offices in Hot Springs and Russellville that provide primary care, mental health care and addiction care to Arkansans. Now, he also serves as an executive board member of Arkansas Mobile Opioid Recovery, the mobile clinic’s nonprofit.

At an overdose abatement summit in November, Attorney General Tim Griffin earmarked $770,000 to create the mobile clinic, named Arkansas Mobile Opioid Recovery (ARMOR). It was spearheaded by Dr. Kristin Martin of River Valley Medical Wellness (no relation to Tucker Martin) and “will work with rural and underserved community stakeholders and law enforcement,” a release from the Attorney General’s office said, “to bring comprehensive addiction medicine directly to those who need it most.”

The $700K in funding comes from the state’s share of the opioid settlement fortune, won in litigation waged against pharmaceutical companies, drug store chains and other businesses that profited from the nation’s opioid epidemic. Around $250 million will come to Arkansas incrementally over the next decade or so. That money gets dispensed in separate buckets. One-third of the money Arkansas receives goes to state government and is distributed by the attorney general’s office. The other two-thirds is distributed by the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership, established to administer settlement money to Arkansas’s cities and counties.

River Valley Medical Wellness
ARMOR: The interior of the Arkansas Mobile Opioid Recovery health clinic.

The ARMOR clinic is a recovery hub on wheels, a Class A motorhome-ish structure outfitted with a nurse’s station, a bathroom and three exam rooms, one of which doubles as a laboratory where blood is drawn.

Any of those rooms can be used for a variety of consultations,” Tucker Martin said. “So you may be meeting with a medical provider to initiate buprenorphine right for your opioid use disorder, you may go to another room and talk to a mental health professional and start the process of therapy, which is an integral component of long-term recovery. Or you may have some medical needs that you need to be addressed as part of your pathway to recovery. So all of the things that we do at River Valley Medical Wellness at our brick-and-mortar clinics in Russellville, in Hot Springs, we do in a consolidated way on the armor mobile health clinic.”

Importantly, Tucker Martin added, the clinic has a full-time peer recovery support specialist named Russell Boyd. Specialists like Boyd, Tucker said, must be someone who has lived experience with addiction and who has had at least two years of sobriety.

River Valley Medical Wellness has five such specialists on staff, licensed by the state to act as a safety net and a source of encouragement while an addicted person is navigating through long-term recovery. That could mean helping the person in recovery find employment, get a driver’s license, get a basic financial education or sign up for insurance for the first time.  

As opposed to 911 or first responders, the mobile clinic isn’t a vehicle that gets dispatched to provide an emergency response to an overdose (though it can do that, too), but acts more like a pop-up at spots along the I-30 corridor and elsewhere, ideally in places where an organization already has an established relationship with unsheltered or vulnerable populations, whether that’s through a regular food pantry or another form of outreach. Plans are developing, too, to place the mobile clinic at courthouses in Morrilton and Danville where Arkansans may be appearing at drug treatment courts for opioid-related charges.

River Valley Medical Wellness
RECOVERY ON WHEELS: The Arkansas Mobile Opioid Recovery Clinic is a custom vehicle built atop a freightliner framework, with multiple exam rooms and capacity to facilitate lab work.

A Charlotte, North Carolina-based nonprofit called HarborPath donated “more than 1,000 units of naloxone” to RiverValley Medical Wellness, a representative from HarborPath told us, “which accounts for all of the naloxone currently stocked on the mobile health unit.” Founded in 2012, HarborPath describes itself as a “safety net” for uninsured and underserved residents, distributing naloxone and other medications to Arkansas and 23 other states in the country.

It’s not HarborPath’s first boost to addiction services in Arkansas. Last November, Griffin approved the $232,880 purchase of 5,680 Naloxone kits from the company to be distributed to Arkansas law enforcement. Funding for that purchase comes from the state’s portion of the settlement money, as does the ARMOR clinic and a $50 million investment in a new pediatric opioid research facility at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
OVERDOSE REVERSAL: Naloxone has been a key component in fighting opioid deaths in Arkansas.

Opioid abatement efforts are going mobile in another sense, too, with a new app called ReviveAR, launched by the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership. It’s free to download, and greets phone users with a giant red button that says “REVIVE NOW” in English and Spanish, linking swiftly to a one-page opioid reversal tutorial, which you can read on the screen with accompanying illustrations or hear in audio form, hands-free.

Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership
ReviveAR app

Opioid recovery efforts like ReviveAR in Arkansas have been ramping up for years, and it’s not all been the work of well-funded state entities. Since 2017 when the Arkansas Naloxone Protocol was enacted into law, allowing pharmacists to sell the overdose reversal drug without a prescription, forward-thinking organizations like the Central Arkansas Harm Reduction Project have been providing life-saving Narcan (and lots more) to individuals in need — no questions asked.

Stephanie Smittle
NO STRINGS ATTACHED: From left to right, Eric Reese, Shelby Darden, Rahem White and Amber Kincaid of Central Arkansas Harm Reduction in March 2023.

As deaths from fentanyl overdoses have reached crisis mode in Arkansas, it’s become harder to defend the notion that the state should — or could — arrest its way out of its addiction problem. Even the toughest of police officers have begun to see overdoses less as crime scenes and more as instances of medical/mental health crisis. “Help doesn’t always have to mean going to jail,” Kirk Lane told us in 2023. He’s the former chief of police in Benton, and now, as director of ARORP, he oversees the dispensation of Arkansas’s opioid settlement money set aside for cities and counties. “I think we need to be creative in rethinking, ‘Do these people need to be handled in a criminal fashion, or are these people being victimized? Should we be criminally incarcerating them or pushing them to seek help and making that available to them?’”

Brian Chilson
DIRECTING THE DISBURSEMENT: Kirk Lane oversees the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership.

The Partnership reports 175 projects funded so far with opioid settlement money. They range across all 75 counties.

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Little Rock Starbucks workers vote to unionize

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Starbucks employees at a West Little Rock store (11121 N. Rodney Parham Road) have voted 12-2 to join Starbucks Workers United, the union announced Wednesday in a press release. Over 10,000 Starbucks employees and 410 stores nationwide have unionized over the past three years, the release says. 

The release included a quote from Lyra Jackson, an employee at the Rodney Parham store for over a year. “Winning our election was the most empowered I’ve ever felt in a workplace,” she said. “I am so excited to see this movement continue to grow, and I’m hopeful that the upcoming negotiations with Starbucks will be the beginning of meaningful change.”

Arkansas Times Editor Emeritus Max Brantley posted the news to X (formerly Twitter) this morning.

Starbucks employees at a Fayetteville location at Wedington Drive and North Salem Road became the first in Arkansas to join the union in November 2022. The first successful Starbucks union was formed in Buffalo, New York, in December 2021.

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Second-year LEARNS voucher applicants to be notified of approvals in June

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The application window for the Arkansas LEARNS voucher program for the 2024-2025 school year for new participants opens on April 1, but students won’t be notified if they have been approved or not until June. 

The Arkansas Department of Education is in the process of finalizing rules to govern Arkansas LEARNS and, until that is done, the state cannot move forward with the voucher approvals, Dustin Wood, director of school choice and parent empowerment at the Arkansas Department of Education, said in a Tuesday night webinar hosted by the Reform Alliance, a school voucher lobbying group.

The state Board of Education gave the nod earlier this month to open seven sets of rules to public comment with an April 24 deadline.  The rules, which can be found here, cover some of the most controversial pieces of the Arkansas LEARNS Act, including a new requirement for public school students to complete community service as a graduation requirement and rules surrounding school bathrooms and gender identity.  

After the 30-day comment period ends, the rules will come back to the Arkansas Board of Education for further edits or final approval before going on to the Legislature to be finalized.

An Arkansas LEARNS voucher is equivalent to 90% of the amount public school districts received the prior year in per-student state foundation funding, which is about $6,672 for the current year. The amount increases to $6,856 for the 2024-2025 school year, Wood said. 

The renewal window for the 2024-25 school year for existing voucher students opened on March 4 and new students can begin applying on April 1. 

In the current year, those eligible included students enrolled at F-rated schools; who are enrolled in kindergarten; who were or are in a foster care program; who have a disability; or who have an active-duty military parent. 

The 2024-25 eligibility expands to include those enrolled in a D-rated school; who have a parent who is a military veteran; or who are children of first-responders. Homeschool and microschool students are also included. 

Parents can go to the Department of Education website for more information and to register.

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Republican infighting over south Arkansas legislative runoff continues, pitting Sanders against old-guard GOP

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Add state Rep. DeAnn Vaught of Horatio to the list of Republicans crying foul over shenanigans in a GOP runoff for state representative in south Arkansas.

Long-serving Republican legislators Sen. Jimmy Hickey and Rep. Carol Dalby of Texarkana are blowing the whistle on what they say was a scheme to deliver retiring Republican Rep. Danny Watson’s seat to a governor-approved candidate with as little fuss as possible.

Watson represents House District 88, which includes Hope. Hickey and Dalby say a representative from Gov. Sarah Sanders’ office offered Watson a lucrative seat on the state parole board if he would find a Sanders-friendly Republican to replace him in District 88 who could be easily and inexpensively elected.

Hickey says Watson pretended he would be running for reelection — and lied to others about his plans — in order to hold the seat open for the governor’s office’s preferred candidate.

The District 88 race pits Sanders pal Arnetta Bradford, a newcomer to politics, against Dolly Henley, who’s being endorsed by some local old-guard Republican lawmakers. The two are competing in a runoff to be the Republican candidate. The winner will face a libertarian candidate in November.

Vaught hasn’t weighed in publicly on the quid pro quo accusation, but in a Facebook post Sunday she called out what she characterized as dirty tricks on behalf of the Sanders-favored candidate. Vaught’s full post is embedded below.

Text messages and mailers from an out-of-state group reportedly accuse Henley, Bradford’s opponent in the April 2 Republican runoff, of secretly being a Democrat because she’s voted in Democratic primaries in the past, but Vaught notes that Bradford has hardly any history of voting at all.

Indeed, records kept with the Arkansas secretary of state’s office confirm Bradford has voted in only two elections: the May primary and the November general election in 2022.

Chris Powell, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, provided information on Bradford’s voting history.

“According to our records, she registered to vote on 7/29/2008. In 2011, per the NVRA [National Voter Registration Act], she was sent a mailer due to inactivity and was moved from Active to Inactive status,” Powell said by email Wednesday. “She was sent another mailer in 2017 and was moved from Inactive to Removable and was removed from the rolls for inactivity.  She re-registered to vote in 2021.  The attached report shows that she has only ever voted in 2022.”

That report shows Bradford cast ballots twice in 2022.

Bradford’s campaign finance reports show that she has raised a total of $14,761.81, including money contributed toward both the primary and general elections. Of this, $6,600, or nearly 45%, came from Gov. Sanders’ PAC, Team SHS.

Adding another twist to this already strange tale, Dolly Henley has been endorsed by and received a $1,000 contribution from former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sanders’ father. Henley has acknowledged that she’s voted in Democratic primaries: Like many Arkansas conservatives, she’s shifted party allegiance over the decades. Now, though, Henley said she is firmly in the Republican camp. 

WISCONSIN FOR BRADFORD: Mystery mailers from Wisconsin to District 88 voters tout Arnetta Bradford’s connection to the governor.

“Dolly is running to represent the PEOPLE OF THE DISTRICT 88, not for any out-of-state interest groups!!” Vaught wrote on Facebook Sunday. “And it is evident by who has supported her financially and by those endorsing her! Who is supporting her opponent… DARK SWAMP MONEY from out of state interest groups!! So maybe you should ask yourself this question… why are out-of-state interest groups so eager to spend all the money they can to get Dolly’s opponent elected.. could it be that she will represent their interests instead of the District 88 interests?!? It makes one stop and think!”

But Vaught’s accusations about swampy money being spent on Bradford’s behalf are small potatoes compared to Hickey’s accusations. A seat on the state parole board comes with a six-figure salary. If Hickey is right that the governor’s office offered retiring Rep. Danny Watson such a job if he would deliver a Sanders-friendly replacement to fill his House seat, that deal would likely violate state law.

An email shared by Mineral Springs Mayor Bobby Tullis* on Facebook added fuel to Hickey’s allegations that Watson misrepresented his plans and suggested to constituents that he was running for reelection — all to dissuade anyone else from filing to run for the seat. Here’s the email:

On Tuesday, Tullis confirmed the authenticity of the email. He’d considered running for the District 88 seat but abandoned the idea after Watson said on Oct. 1 that Watson planned to run again. 

“I was not certain to do anything, but I did not want to run against an incumbent,” Tullis said by email Tuesday.

Notably, the email exchange between Tullis and Watson took place Oct. 1, the day before Watson is alleged to have told Rep. Dalby he was not seeking reelection. The allegation is outlined below in a Monday Facebook post from Hickey. Both he and Dalby said Tuesday that they stand by the post, which is embedded below.

An email sent to the governor’s communication team about the alleged quid pro quo deal in southwest Arkansas has so far not elicited a response. 

Correction: Bobby Tullis is the current mayor of Mineral Springs. A previous version gave inaccurate information about his tenure in office. The story has since been updated.

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Queer passion in Puritan New England: A Q&A with writer Garrard Conley

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Brandon Taylor
Garrard Conley

In 18th century Puritan New England, two men fall in love. 

After many nights spent cruising the docks for the company of seamen, the kind, gentle doctor Arthur Lyman witnesses Nathaniel Whitfield preach the Word. Arthur is so struck by Nathaniel’s passion he decides to move his wife and child from Boston to the small town of Cana. Nathaniel welcomes Arthur’s family into his flock — the two hundred souls who were awakened during one of his sermons, an event regarded widely as a miracle, and which led to the founding of Cana — but Nathaniel soon finds himself inexplicably drawn to Arthur as well. In “All the World Beside,” Garrard Conley author of the bestselling memoir “Boy Erased” (2016) and an Arkansas native imagines the depths and reverberations of this affair in a time and place that can only understand their love as sin. 

Though Nathaniel and Arthur’s clandestine relationship sets the novel’s plot in motion, the story features an ensemble cast of characters, primary among them: Catherine Whitfield, Nathaniel’s wife, who is overwhelmed by a debilitating depression that leaves her sleeping most hours and craving silence; Ezekiel Whitfield, their sensitive youngest child who is drawn to beauty and squirms under the expectation that he will one day become a preacher like his father; and Sarah Whitfield, their strong-willed daughter who makes her family’s physical and spiritual wellbeing her responsibility despite her youth. As Nathaniel and Arthur oscillate between resisting and embracing their love for each other, struggling to reconcile this love with their faith in God, their families bear the burden of their confusion and become a target of the town’s gossip mill.

As a historical novel, “All the World Beside doesn’t convey setting to the reader through conventional means. Rather than heaping on period piece details or reproducing the stilted language readers might associate with literature and letters written in the 18th century, Conley instead drew from diaries kept at the time to create a formal yet direct narrative voice that may surprise readers with its modern feel. The novel does feature a few choice objects — an ornate wooden clock festooned with cherubs; a salve made of juniper berries, beeswax and mint applied to a wound; and a splintering white cross in the center of town — that anchor the reader’s sense of place through their specificity. But these objects populate the novel’s scenes like props for a play with a minimalist set design, and, like a play, the novel is propelled largely by dialogue-heavy scenes that carry the urgency of the characters’ pressing concerns. 

While much of the novel’s narrative tension comes from the long shadows of secrets kept, it struck me that many of the scenes are actually moments where characters are being honest with each other. They confess to and confront one another, they admit their hopes and fears, their wants and needs, and the novel thickens its plot not through the drama of lies but through the difficulty of honesty. Repeatedly, in moments where characters remove the masks they wear in the world, they are described as appearing like strangers to each other. 

In one pivotal scene, Catherine and Nathaniel directly address his relationship with Arthur and the impact it’s had on their families, and though Nathaniel’s admission is defamiliarizing and causes her pain, Catherine also “feels closer to him than ever.” Here, truth does not offer resolution; it reveals an anguished tangle of emotions and makes the beloved an other. But it is through these revelations that the characters, given the clarity to see themselves and each other more wholly, grasp for grace and show love they couldn’t otherwise. 

Of course, this grace and love cannot fully save them in the end. What makes these characters strange and the revelation of truth difficult is the Puritan world they live in. A world that thrusts restrictive expectations upon them and forces them to wear their masks in the first place. Facing judgment from outside and within, they make decisions that cause harm to themselves and each other. Still, the novel itself, a product of the 21st century and written by a queer author, does not pass judgment. The narrator roves between each character’s point of view with a sense of compassionate neutrality, allowing the reader to understand them better and join in that compassion. The result is a moving, sincere novel that asks difficult questions about the mysteries of faith and love in a hostile world and generously gives the reader a wealth of space to fully feel them. 

Recently, I met with Conley over a video call to talk about his influences, intentions and hopes for “All the World Beside,” which came out Tuesday via Riverhead Books. You can purchase the book here.

“All the World Beside” by Garrard Conley

What drew you to this period in American history as the setting for your first novel? 

I grew up in a small town in northern Arkansas, in the Mississippi Delta, where there were about 100 people and they all had one place to congregate, which was the church. The community that we were in and many of the emotional experiences I had growing up in that kind of environment formed the writing of “All the World Beside.” 

I started all of this because I had conversations with my father in his study. You know, he has all these old books lining his shelves — he’s an unusual Missionary Baptist preacher. He reads a lot and pretty widely for someone like him. He had all these 18th century texts from Jonathan Edwards and all these ministers who were very popular back then. And they were in many ways responsible for the Great Awakening, which was this historical period that really shook up Protestantism and made many other expressions of devotion the staple in churches. 

When you have in a Baptist church someone calling on people to come down the aisle to be saved … or in Pentecostal churches where people are screaming and crying and having an emotional reaction to things, many of those things can be traced directly back to [the Great Awakening]. So I was really interested in continuing the journey I began with my first book, “Boy Erased,” which looked at the origins of conversion therapy and also the origins of a kind of fundamentalist thinking that I grew up with. 

My target in my writing is fundamentalism in any form, a black and white perspective that does not allow for the growth of the human spirit. I think a fundamentalist worldview is of the Pharisees … It is a very anti-Christ sort of thinking in my opinion and it can exist in any religion or even outside of it. And so, to me, the subject of the book is growing up in one of those places [a fundamentalist small town]. But what I found in writing the book was the joy of connection and the small, seemingly insignificant moments when people turn toward each other out of love, rather than away from each other out of hate.

As a queer lapsed Catholic raised in the South, I found it refreshing to read a contemporary queer literary novel where the characters’ belief in God was a given. And I admired how deeply you portrayed the different and singular ways each character wrestled with their faith, how that then impacted their actions in the material world of the story, and vice versa. So, to ask a broad question, how did writing this novel change your understanding of the relationship between the material and spiritual world? 

Wow, I love the philosophy we’re bringing in. A big subject in the book is this battle that often occurs between the head and the heart. It’s been in philosophy since its origins. Obviously, religion and sexuality can be mapped onto some of that conflict. Fundamentalist religion often tells you that you must believe these things, even though everything inside of your body is screaming out that this is wrong. We tend to have this dichotomy, especially in America, between what we think we should do and what we actually want to do. And the Puritans are at the center of that. 

So this book was the kind of map to my own understanding of faith and of Christianity. It’s a wrestling with those demons and angels that I grew up with. I wanted to honor the idea of the queer Christian as it exists today … In going around and speaking about “Boy Erased” and trying to do the activist work I’ve done in the past 8 years, I’ve encountered a lot of people who come up to me and say, “Thank you so much for not attacking my religion or my faith. I’m a queer Christian.” … There aren’t many books that are written that allow for the seeming dichotomy between being queer and Christian to exist. [But] there’s nothing incompatible about it, because faith of any kind, especially the Christian faith, is full of almost miraculous, unbelievable things … Why is queerness and Christianity an impossible thing that we cannot reconcile? Why is your view of God so narrow that you can’t invite everyone into that world? So that’s what I wanted to do. It’s called “All the World Beside,” but really it’s about recentering many of these people who feel left out.

You’ve billed this novel as the “queer ‘Scarlet Letter’,” but I also wanted to ask how you see this book in relation to queer literary tradition? Are there any queer novels that you looked at for inspiration or models, or that you feel this novel is in direct conversation with?

The [queer novel] that really appealed to me for my own craft reasons was “Nightwood by Djuna Barnes … It challenged my desire to map on the identity markers we used today onto the past. As a post [World War I] book written by a lesbian who didn’t really describe characters as such, she just gave us the characters and we just saw them making out with one person and making out with another. And I think in some ways that’s how I would love to write, without these labels that seem to define us and constrict us in some ways. I was really compelled by that kind of necessity.

I would also push back a little bit on “The Scarlet Letternot being queer … Hester Prynne, on her dress, has to have what was supposed to be an ugly “A” to represent adultery, and instead, she uses her art to create this mark of shame into something that is absolutely beautiful, that everyone in the town wants to wear, even as they pass her on the street and won’t look her in the eye. To me, that’s a metaphor for how art can save our lives and how even the most shamed among us can use that mark of shame and transform it into something beautiful. And that’s pride, right? That’s pure pride, to say, “I am no longer bound by your shackles. I’m excited to be a fag, come at me.” To me, that’s the spirit that I want the book to live in. My characters have to be bound to the historical, but they get as rebellious as they can.

One thing I love about the novel is how richly complicated all the characters are, and their very specific and odd ways of seeing and being in the world. Were there any characters who came more easily to you and were there some who were more difficult to write?

You can see the challenge all throughout the book. What felt like a mistake to me at the beginning of the writing process was that they all sort of contradicted each other. Each character, when you left one, you almost entered another perspective that, if it didn’t challenge the earlier section you’re reading, it certainly drew it in a different light. That kaleidoscopic nature felt very splintered for me in the early drafts, but at a certain point I decided I’m not gonna actually fix that because it’s not a bug. It’s what the book is … life is like this. I’m not sure it’s entirely successful, but even if it doesn’t quite work, I was trying to do something that I felt was true to the texture of reality.

Given the current political moment in which state and local governments fueled by a conservative religious fervor, like here in Arkansas, are trying to restrict and censor queer books and stories in libraries and schools — not to mention all of the trans bans they’re trying to pass, too — what do you hope a novel like yours can offer readers? And what are the limitations of a novel?

Visibility is a tough thing because I received some of the most love I’ve ever received after “Boy Erased became popular. And then I received some of the worst stuff I’ve ever seen in my life that triggered me a lot … So I think there’s always a cost to everything that you want … even your dreams and maybe especially your dreams. But within that, I think that the only way to move forward as a society seems to be telling the truth. Not when it’s convenient, but when it’s inconvenient. That’s when it matters. If you are a serious artist with truly moral concerns, you must be saying things that aren’t convenient to say. 

I believe that the truth is still more powerful than lies, even though it’s hard to see that, especially with the Internet, it’s very hard to understand what the truth is. But I do believe that the search for the truth as an artist and the ability to say that truth when you find it is the only thing that puts you among your great forefathers who came before you. Even if I’m a completely inferior artist … I want to be a part of James Baldwin’s legacy. I want to continue something these greats did, even if it’s in a small way, because at least you can die knowing that you did that, whatever the cost is. Both on the right and sometimes on the left, there’s a lot of silencing that goes on and you just have to refuse to be quiet. We’re being told that a genocide is not happening. We’re being told that it’s just complex. I mean, it is complex, certainly. But we’re also being told to ignore what we’re seeing right in front of our eyes. 

I lost almost all of my friends and most of my family whenever I wrote “Boy Erased.” I’m not saying that there wasn’t a great value in writing it, but I didn’t see that value until it started. Like a book that almost no one read and didn’t really change anything? Like, probably it wasn’t worth it. But then I did get an email from a kid that was 16 that said he read my book. Because the parents wouldn’t let him read it in his house, he read it in a library and he didn’t want to kill himself anymore because he read it. And I thought, OK, well, never mind. Screw all the rest of that stuff because this kid’s still alive. And it does help to remember that, but being a writer’s lonely and you don’t know how it’s going to actually affect the world. And that’s where faith comes in. Stories still matter. You have to have faith that when your book goes out into the world, it is found by the people who need it most.

Any last things that you want to say about “All the World Beside or that you want readers to know?

I hope that no matter where you come from politically or in your own life experience, that you keep an open mind to this book because it’ll never be what you think it is, because it was a surprise to me, honestly. I hope that people, even though they might have heard things that they disagree with or feel like there’s a narrow view that I have, realize that books can be better than the people that write them. And that’s what matters to me.

Garrard Conley will speak about “All the World Beside” in Batesville at Lyon College — his alma mater — on April 4 at 4 p.m. More info about that here.

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Decked out in totality: an eclipse merch roundup

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Look, there are throngs of visitors coming to our state for the solar eclipse on April 8 and somehow the weather prognostications have eclipsed the “what are we wearing” question. Embarrassing! Here are a few sartorial accompaniments we’ve spotted around town and online as the moon rolls out the red black carpet over The Natural State.

Eclipse Earrings by Krystal Bijoux

Accented with glittery “star” sparkles and inscribed with the year 2024, these beauties are both fashion and memorabilia, made by a local jeweler working under the name Krystal Bijoux.

TOTALITY, BUT MAKE IT WEARABLE: Eclipse earrings by Krystal Bijoux.

Howdy Bonita’s polymer clay jewelry

I ran across Liz Gracie’s delightful creations at an art market in The Rail Yard last weekend, and it took every ounce of restraint I had not to spend a whole paycheck on earrings. Go see why on her Instagram account; she’s awesome and so is her jewelry.

@howdybonita
Howdy Bonita’s eclipse earrings

Bella Vita Jewelry’s Eclipse Collection

Local jeweler Bella Vita has been slaying the eclipse jewelry game for months now, with eclipse charm bracelets, and a gorgeous pendant inspired by a watercolor painting jeweler Brandy Thomason McNair did last summer. Best of all, the gems in this collection will be wearable long after the eclipse is over.

Bella Vita Jewelry
Bella Vita Jewelry’s eclipse necklace

Bang Up Betty

You gotta love an earring that goes with either gold OR silver, and these eclipse earrings from local jeweler Bang Up Betty’s Space Age collection are the real deal. I’ve also got my eyes on these sweet lil sun studs, which elegantly depict the sun’s flaming fury.

Bang Up Betty
Bang Up Betty’s eclipse earrings

Mugs and more from North Little Rock Tourism

North Little Rock’s eclipse shop is all in! Color-changing mugs, stickers and lots of tie dye. Check it out. 

Explore NLR
Color-changing mugs from North Little Rock Tourism

Bigfoot Steals the Eclipse tees

A portion of profits from these T-shirts goes to the Arkansas Food Bank. Plus, it’s easily the most conspiracy-theory-T-shirt of the bunch, so if you wanna avoid conversation with your fellow eclipse viewers so you can view the cosmic wonder in silence, wearing this oughta do the trick.

Be Nice Arkansas
Bigfoot Steals the Eclipse tee

Nature Backs eclipse tees

This Fayetteville-based company is channeling old school crunchy Faytown with some super cute eclipse tees. Complete with Jerry Garcia font!

Nature Backs
From Nature Backs’ eclipse collection

Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau

The Little Rock CVB has dreamed up some city-specific totes and tees for the taking. Get ’em here. 

Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau
Tote-Tality bag from LRCVB

Mountain View tourism

Mountain View’s getting in on the action, too, and making some big claims about their vantage point for the lunar-solar phenom.

City of Mountain View
Mountain View eclipse tees

Kroger

Some basic eclipse cotton spotted at a local Kroger.

Kroger
Eclipse tees

The post Decked out in totality: an eclipse merch roundup appeared first on Arkansas Times.

‘Lecterngate’ audit is ready, but the public release date is still unknown

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The results of a legislative audit into Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders‘ purchase of a pricey lectern will be delayed just a bit longer, according to auditor Roger A. Norman.

In an email to members of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, first obtained by Matthew Moore of KUAF, Norman wrote:

During the February 2024 Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, I provided an update regarding the status of the audit of “the purchase of a podium or lectern from Beckett Events LLC for the use of the Governor’s Office.” During the update, I informed the members that barring no delays in the finalization process, the anticipated completion date for the report would be before the end of March.

The draft report is complete. However, management response to the draft report has not been received. Management response from the Governor’s Office is due Friday, March 29, 2024. Due to granting an extension requested by the Governor’s Office to provide this management response to the draft report, the anticipated completion date is now early April.

In a follow-up email with the Arkansas Times, Norman explained that a management response is nothing out of the ordinary. “It is the auditee’s opportunity to respond to findings” in the draft report, Norman said. He added that Sanders’ response will be included in the final report.

Sen. Jimmy Hickey (R-Texarkana) requested the audit in September, following heavy media coverage of the governor’s alleged purchase of a $19,000 lectern from Virginia Beckett. Beckett, who is also Sanders’ friend, was a paid consultant on the governor’s 2022 campaign. (Her company, Beckett Events, does not produce or sell lecterns.) The audit committee authorized the audit on October 13.

Initial public optimism that the audit would be completed quickly was short-lived. Norman told legislators in November and again in December it was unlikely that the audit would be wrapped up before the end of the year. In February, Norman said the audit was delayed in January due to holidays and bad weather. Norman told lawmakers the audit process would probably be completed by the end of March.

With multiple delays already, “Lecterngate” watchers are unlikely to be happy about any additional postponements. But that does not mean people should assume anything nefarious with this one. “The normal time for a response is two weeks,” Norman said. “The governor’s staff requested another week because of spring break.”

Reading between the lines, if an additional week makes Sanders’ response due on March 29, then it was originally due on March 22. Since the “normal time” for a response is two weeks, Sanders has likely had the draft report since around March 8.

While some people may not be thrilled about waiting an extra week, it could get worse. An additional two-month delay in releasing the report remains a possibility as well.

After auditors receive Sanders’ response, they will provide the report to Legislative Joint Auditing Committee co-chairs Sen. David Wallace (R-Leachville) and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R-Paragould). Wallace and Gazaway can then choose whether to release the report early at a special committee meeting or wait and present it at the committee’s next scheduled meeting, which is not until June.

Neither Wallace nor Gazaway has said yet what they ultimately plan to do. Gazaway told KATV last month that he does not know which way they will go at this point, adding that legislators could also ask auditors to answer follow-up questions raised by the initial report. “It’s just hard to say, I don’t know at this point,” Gazaway said.

The upcoming fiscal session may add another wrinkle to deciding when to release the auditors’ findings. The report will be big news and dominate at least a few news cycles when it is released, regardless of its conclusions. The fiscal session starts on April 10.

Legally, nothing prevents the report from being released during the fiscal session. Politically, however, a decision to hold the report until June so it doesn’t overshadow the entire session would not be surprising.

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Shooting at Little Rock Children’s Library injures one, causes closure

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One person was injured after a shooting in a vehicle in the parking lot at the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center on 10th Street in Little Rock.

Officers with the Little Rock Police Department responded to a shooting call at the library around 9 a.m. Wednesday. The Central Arkansas Library System announced via Facebook around noon that the Children’s Library would be closed for the remainder of the day because of the shooting.

Information is scant while the police report is still incomplete. An investigation is underway.

The post Shooting at Little Rock Children’s Library injures one, causes closure appeared first on Arkansas Times.

Griffin asks Congress to address hemp-derived THC products

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CALL ON CONGRESS: Attorney General Tim Griffin called on Congress to address hemp-derived THC products.

After Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sent a letter about hemp-derived THC products to congressional leaders last week, a lawyer representing hemp producers and retailers in a federal lawsuit said he thinks Griffin effectively admitted the state doesn’t have the grounds to ban the products. 

Griffin joined 20 other attorneys general in asking the leaders of the Senate and House agriculture committees to “reaffirm” that Congress doesn’t intend to limit states in restricting or regulating intoxicating hemp products. 

The products have been a source of confusion and contention since Congress passed the 2018 Agricultural Improvement Act, better known as the Farm Bill, legalizing hemp for the first time since federal law banned it in 1937. The Farm Bill defined hemp as cannabis plants with a THC content of .3% or less. THC is the component in cannabis that’s psychoactive. Despite the low THC content in hemp, producers have been able to use the plants to create psychoactive products such as edibles and vape pens. 

One analyst earlier this year estimated the size of the hemp-derived THC market to be $28.4 billion, larger than the medical and recreational cannabis markets combined.

Griffin said “bad actors” have exploited the Farm Bill and that a “crisis issue” has been created. Griffin said the Farm Bill was meant to reintroduce industrial hemp as an agricultural commodity, but intoxicating products that are “attractive to children” have been allowed to proliferate. 

Arkansas legislators attempted to address the issue in 2023 with Act 629, which banned the products and included a trigger provision to regulate the industry in case the ban was not upheld in court.  

A group of hemp producers and retailers filed a federal lawsuit on July 31, 2023, a day before Act 629 went into effect, saying the state did not have the grounds to restrict the industry in the way that it had. On Sept. 8, Judge Billy Roy Wilson granted the plaintiffs’ request. Wilson issued an injunction to halt the law while the case plays out in court. Wilson said the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of prevailing on the merits of their case. 

Abtin Mehdizadegan, the Little Rock lawyer who represents the hemp contingent in the case, said he believes Griffin’s letter to Congress last week supports his case that the state doesn’t have the authority to regulate hemp products. 

“I am glad that the attorney general agrees that the solution he requires is one for Congress to provide him and not the courts,” he said. “I think what he said in his letter is effectively an admission as to the nature of our claims.” 

Mehdizadegan said he also disagrees with the potential policy of having a nationwide patchwork of hemp laws. 

“I think that’s a terrible idea,” he said. “I think that gets us back to where we are right now.”

With each state choosing how to regulate hemp, it would be difficult for a person to know what is permitted or what will land them in jail, he said.

The plaintiffs in the case are Bio Gen, LLC of Fayetteville; Drippers Vape Shop, LLC of Greenbrier; The Cigarette Store LLC of Colorado doing business as Smoker Friendly; and Sky Marketing Corporation of Texas doing business as Hometown Hero. Drippers is a retailer of hemp products, including non-psychoactive CBD as well as hemp-derived psychoactive substances Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC, and has stores in Greenbrier, Cabot, Hot Springs, El Dorado and Benton.

The defendants in the case include the governor, the attorney general and all of the state’s prosecuting attorneys.

The post Griffin asks Congress to address hemp-derived THC products appeared first on Arkansas Times.

Wednesday open line


Plan to create state-run insurance company for school buildings in works for fiscal session

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State lawmakers will wait until the upcoming fiscal session to decide whether or not to follow a consulting firm’s recommendation that Arkansas start its own insurance company for school properties, legislators said Wednesday. 

Roberts Lee, president of Meadors, Adams & Lee Insurance Inc., urged lawmakers to make a decision soon during its presentation to the Arkansas Legislative Council’s executive subcommittee. 

“We think the greatest risk is not to take action now,” Lee said, noting the costs of rising premiums and the money that could be coming to the state instead of into private insurance companies’ pockets.

The firm’s recommendations came after months of study, which began in September, to find a solution to rapidly rising property insurance premiums for public school districts and higher education institutions.

Most school districts in the state are insured either through a program managed by the Arkansas School Boards Association or a separate program managed by the state Insurance Department. The consultant’s proposal is to instead create a special purpose “captive,” which would be organized and administered by the state and named Diamond State Insurance Company. In a captive, the insured party owns the entity providing the insurance.

“We all know that there are three programs in place and we know they’re competing against each other for similar limits of insurance,” Lee said. “When you buy insurance like a consumer versus buying insurance like an insurance company it’s very, very difficult to control your costs.”

Lee said a look at the state’s 237 public school districts shows a vast difference in rates being paid from one district to another. The captive would level the playing field by charging each district the same premium per $100 of insurance coverage.

The next step, Lee told lawmakers, was to give the go-ahead for a six-month “proof of concept” phase. An implementation team would need to be selected which would then select a board of directors made up of members including a risk manager, investment advisor and reinsurance broker.

If work begins in April, the concept could be operational by October, Lee said.

“We do believe we have found the solution that you asked us for,” Lee said.

School insurance premiums are increasing across the state and nation. A report by Education Week blames climate change for causing more frequent natural disasters.

The governor’s office last summer said the state’s school districts would see an average increase of 130% in insurance premiums over the 2023-24 school year. In July, Gov. Sarah Sanders authorized the use of state funds to cover 30% of the increase. Lawmakers then approved $10.8 million in funds to be split among school districts to make up for the cost spike.

Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) said Wednesday that the current situation is “clearly not sustainable” and urged fellow lawmakers to take action. 

We have the opportunity because of what we’ve been able to create in reserves and trust fund balances, to be able to create long term savings for the state, which I think will reward our taxpayers with potential decreases in costs,” Dismang said. The strongest lobby the state government has is inertia, he said. 

Legislators took no action on the proposal but will revisit it during the fiscal session, which begins April 10.

The post Plan to create state-run insurance company for school buildings in works for fiscal session appeared first on Arkansas Times.

The wait is over: Moody Brews now open in Pettaway

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After a long and well-documented odyssey, Moody Brews, the new brewery helmed by longtime Little Rock brewer Josiah Moody, is opening tonight in downtown’s Pettaway neighborhood at 414 E. 21st St.

Joel DiPippa

Known for his time at Vino’s Brew Pub as well as partnerships with other breweries under the name Moody Brews, Moody has a reputation for making beers that are both technical and inventive. Situated in Pettaway Square alongside Pettaway Coffee, Paper Hearts bookstore, and the regular spot for the Smashed N’Stacked food truck, the Moody Brews taproom carries on the micro urban themes of the new small business commercial district spearheaded by local developer and Pettaway resident Michael Orndorff. There is a cozy bar area, a patio facing into the square, upstairs seating and an upstairs patio creating four separate spaces. The patios facing inward provide an escape from the usual design of a patio facing out to the street, creating a respite from the hustle and bustle of a busy, car-oriented culture.

Moody Brews showcases Moody’s touch with each beer having subtle notes of floral or citrus components that complement the traditional flavors and make each sip memorable. There are no flights, but pours of five ounces, 13 ounces, and 16 ounces are available. I got a first look over the weekend at a soft opening for local residents. The din of conversation and laughter carried through all of the taproom’s spaces with a laid back and upbeat vibe. This is a tap room built for the community and for locals, which comes through in each detail.

Joel DiPippa
Left to right: Aria’s Bier, Pettaway Pils, Earl Gray ESB

Aria’s Bier (4%)

This tart and slightly tangy session beer has a surprisingly robust flavor and a bright hue to match its taste. The hibiscus provides both the color and the tartness while Moody manages to coax a caramel undertone out of the beer. The addition of orange peel reinforces the bitterness of the hops to balance the brew and create an additional layer of flavor. Easy drinking and thirst quenching, Aria’s Bier makes the most of its saison style and should be in your regular beer rotation as the temperatures increase.

Pettaway Pils (5%)

As a style, pilsners are renowned for laying bare any technical flaws a brewer has, since its no-nonsense and straightforward flavor profiles leave little room to hide. This is a beer that tastes like what you conjure in your mind when you imagine a beer. It is a little bit bitter, a little bit sweet and a little bit malty. The real surprise comes if you manage not to drink it with rapid abandon. As it warms, the nose opens up and you start to find a hint of the softer floral notes that even the beeriest of beers has.

Earl Grey ESB (5.5)

This English style extra special bitter gets its unique flavor from the Earl Grey tea used in the brewing process. The distinct tannic qualities from the tea pair up with the hint of bergamot, the citrus that sets Earl Grey apart from a standard black tea, to set the Earl Grey ESB apart. This legacy brew of Moody’s showcases how early his creative muscles came through in the brewing process. Originally brewed in collaboration with Apple Blossom Brewing in Fayetteville, the malty, tannic, subtly sweet beer is a tour-de-force. It slowly unfolds for the patient drinker with more depth of flavor from the tea and hops giving the deliberate drinker something rewarding to savor.

Half Seas Over (8%)

Joel DiPippa

This double India pale ale is the first commercial beer Moody brewed and showcases his ability to home in on flavors. It has all the flavors of an IPA with its hint of citrusy hoppy notes and assertive bitterness, but balances them against each other so that you can enjoy sip after sip. The control over the flavors lets those brighter tastes come out just as the bitterness is cresting on your palate so that it never overwhelms the drinker and leaves a remnant of sweetness as it settles on the tongue.

Root Beer (0%) & Ginger Ale (0%)

Joel DiPippa
Moody Brews’ root beer (left) and ginger ale.

Moody Brews has house-made ginger ale and root beer. These receive the same attention to flavor and detail, so expect unique and delicious experiences when you order one. The root beer is lighter than most, showcasing more acidity than mass-produced versions. It brings a slight bitterness while avoiding overpowering saccharine flavors. Similarly, the ginger ale tastes distinctly of ginger instead of sugar. It is lighter in body and produces a definite tingling sensation.

It’s a small operation but provides some of the best beers in Arkansas thanks to Moody’s experienced hand. Moody Brews has more offerings like the Katchiri’s Bier, a Belgian-style farmhouse ale (7%) that may be his most personal creation (it’s named after his wife) and the Oatmeal Pale (0.5%) that isn’t quite non-alcoholic but can give you all the flavor of a pale ale without the punch. Visit Moody brews and see what a true passion project looks like in fruition.

Moody Brews is open from 4-9 p.m. Tue.-Thu.; 4-10 p.m. Fri.; noon-10 p.m. Sat.; noon-9 p.m. Sun.

Here’s a grand opening update from Moody Brews’ Facebook page:

The post The wait is over: Moody Brews now open in Pettaway appeared first on Arkansas Times.

Pulaski County weighing options for handling sheriff’s seemingly illegal contract with TV producers

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When does an agreement become a contract? That seems to be the threshold disagreement between Pulaski County Sheriff Eric Higgins and County Judge Barry Hyde regarding the filming of a Netflix reality show in the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility.

The trailer for “Unlocked: A Jail Experiment,” which was released on March 13, describes the as-yet-unaired show as “a radical social experiment to grant men who are incarcerated more agency” within a unit of the jail. The eight-episode series will premiere on April 10.

In August 2022, Higgins signed an agreement that allowed a crew with Lucky 8 TV, Inc., to film inside the jail. The sheriff has since told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the document he signed was only a “location release” that let camera crews and producers access parts of the jail to film the show. State law gives county sheriffs the authority to allow third parties into a county jail at the sheriff’s discretion.

County officials, however, argue that the agreement between Higgins and Lucky 8 TV was a contract, regardless of how Higgins describes it. “A contract is simply a written or spoken agreement that is intended to be enforceable by law,” Pulaski County Attorney Adam Fogleman said via email to the Arkansas Times.

The distinction matters because a sheriff does not have the power to enter a contract that legally binds a county, according to both Fogelman and Higgins himself.

Several provisions of the Arkansas Code “deal with county government, executive powers, and other county officials,” Fogleman said via email. “The constitution and statute establish the county judge as the CEO of the county charged with the administration, care and keeping of county property,” he added. “The county judge is the only person who can bind the county to a legally enforceable agreement.”

According to Fogleman, other county officials only have specific powers that are given to them by the constitution or by statute. “Nowhere in Arkansas law is there ever a reference made to a county sheriff signing a contract on behalf of the county,” he said.

Higgins has not responded to questions from the Arkansas Times, but he has acknowledged to the Democrat-Gazette that he does not have the authority to sign a binding contract on behalf of the county. “I recognize I can’t sign a contract, [but] what we did was a location release, and we looked at it as a memorandum of understanding,” Higgins told KARK last week.

Justice of the Peace Phil Stowers is unconvinced by the distinction Higgins is making, however. “Whether it is a contract or an ‘agreement’ is just semantics,” he  told the Arkansas Times. “It tries to legally bind the county, and that is what matters.”

Hyde echoed Stowers’ sentiment. “[It’s] an illegal contract,” he told the Democrat-Gazette after yesterday’s Quorum Court meeting. “It doesn’t matter what they thought it was,” Hyde said. “It’s a contract.”

While it seems clear that the agreement is a contract, and the legality of such a contract will almost certainly have to be determined by a judge, Higgins’ claim that he  was not signing a contract in August 2022 makes little sense.

A year earlier, he and Fogelman discussed issues and concerns with a proposed contract that Lucky 8 TV submitted in 2021. While that contract was ultimately not signed, the county attorney’s office and Lucky 8 TV’s lawyers discussed the contract’s terms, according to a March 20 letter from Fogleman to Higgins:

You first notified me on December 28, 2021 by email of your ongoing communications with Lucky 8 Productions and your desire to cooperate in the production of a TV series. Between that first notice and through the second quarter of 2022, the attorneys in my office and I engaged in good-faith negotiations with attorneys for Lucky 8 to revise the language of its proposed agreement to protect the interests of the County, its employees, and the detainees to whom you owe a Constitutional duty of care. Those negotiations ended unsuccessfully.

Fogleman’s letter included the marked-up version of the earlier agreement that his office created in 2021, with this caveat: “Questions are contained in the document, which reflects that this [2021 draft] agreement was not a final, executable document.” Those questions include where any hidden cameras would be placed, which parts of the jail facility the production crew would have access to, how many episodes were likely to be filmed and who the parties believe constitutes jail “personnel.” (The draft contract appeared to include inmates within that definition.)

Neither Lucky 8 nor Higgins answered these questions, according to Fogleman. But that silence raises a broader question about Higgins’ actions: Why send the county attorney’s office a proposed contract in late 2021, ignore the county’s edits and questions, then sign a different “agreement” in August 2022 without having the county attorney weigh in on the new document first?

Assuming the agreement is a contract that Higgins had no authority to enter into, it is not immediately clear what Pulaski County’s next steps will be. “We are discovering and examining the facts of this issue,” Fogleman said. “The County Judge, with the help of outside counsel, will analyze the information and determine how to proceed.” Fogleman believes his office is conflicted out of representing either side in this matter.

One issue that will require attention is Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office deputies who may have been paid $40/hour to provide security to the production crew during filming.

When this story first came to light, Higgins said the only payments made from Lucky 8 TV to Pulaski County were $1,000 for each day of filming to offset costs.  But on Feb. 22, 2023, Lt. Denise Atwood emailed a memo to jail personnel “requesting additional deputies, sergeants, or lieutenants to provide security” during filming. Volunteers were to be paid $40 per hour by Lucky 8 TV, according to the memo.

Two deputies were selected according to the sheriff’s office, though they were not included on the list of jail staff and inmates who took part in the filming, according to a list Higgins provided to Fogleman. Stowers told the Democrat-Gazette he believes this contradicts Higgins’ statement about no money changing hands other than the $1,000 per day.

A larger issue with such payments is that they appear to be illegal. On March 12, Fogleman wrote to Higgins regarding “the practices of certain deputies in off-duty employment,” which Fogleman said was “legally suspect.”

Fogleman included with this letter a memorandum from a deputy county attorney, which said, “County property (i.e., uniform and vehicle) cannot be used for a non-county or private purpose,” and “the law prohibits the receiving of gifts or compensation for the performance of the duties and responsibilities in a person’s office or position with the County from nongovernmental or private entities.”

According to the memo, it violates state law for a third party to pay jail staff to provide protection and security in the jail while off duty, since those responsibilities are part of the employees’ regular jobs. The memo cites Arkansas Code Annotated  21-8-801(a)(1), which prohibits a public employee from receiving “a gift or compensation,” other than their regular salary and benefits, “for the performance of the duties and responsibilities of his or her office or position.”

The more pressing concern for the county, though, is how to handle the apparently illegal contract that Higgins signed.

Because the sheriff lacks the authority to enter a contract on behalf of the county , this contract would almost certainly be void. If that is the case, the county and Lucky 8 TV would have to figure out rights and responsibilities regarding the footage already recorded.

Additionally, many of the inmates at the jail were not arrested by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, but by city, state or federal law enforcement. At least one inmate who participated was at the jail by order of the Arkansas State Hospital, the Democrat-Gazette has reported. If the show is still going to air as planned, the county must figure out whether the agencies who arrested certain inmates are entitled to any say over whether a pretrial detainee can be on a reality program while in jail.

Fogleman mentioned this concern in passing last week in an email to Higgins. Fogleman said he had “received requests from multiple agencies for a list of the detainees who participated” in the show and askedHiggins to send that information so Fogleman could provide it to the agencies.

The county will also have to address the money Lucky 8 TV pledged to pay the county. Higgins said the producers had not yet sent a check for the $1,000 per day owed under the agreement, and it is not clear whether Lucky 8 would still owe those payments if the underlying contract is void. (Higgins hasn’t explained why the money has not already been paid, despite the filming ending nearly a year ago.)

But the biggest question hanging over all of this might be whether the county can or will take any steps to prevent the show from airing.

Some county officials have already expressed concerns about the content of the program. “We have a lot of good things going on in Pulaski County [and] in central Arkansas overall,” Hyde said to THV 11. “We don’t want to showcase our citizens at their worst.”

“I am sickened when I watch the trailer,” Stowers, the JP from Maumelle, told the Democrat-Gazette. The trailer shows inmates making “hooch” or prison wine, fighting, and rolling what appears to be a joint. “I can only imagine how damning the full documentary will be,” he added.

Stowers is not the only quorum court member with concerns about the situation, either. “I, like many individuals within the county, am concerned about the initiation and execution of this agreement,” Justice of the Peace Natalie Capps said. “The legality of the agreement and subsequent binding of the county is an initial question [that needs to be answered].”

The quorum court began trying to answer some of these questions yesterday by passing an ordinance that demands Higgins answer 40 questions about the production of the show. “It is important to understand processes, benefits and vulnerabilities to individuals and the county that were created by this agreement,” Capps told the Arkansas Times before last night’s meeting.

The ordinance gives Higgins five days to answer the questions, according to the Democrat-Gazette. The paper reported that the quorum court also allocated $150,000 to Fogelman’s budget for hiring outside counsel.

Ultimately, this situation seems unlikely to go away quietly. Hyde and outside attorneys are looking at the county’s options, according to Fogleman. And some or all of the issues raised by the apparently illegal contract may ultimately wind up in the lap of local Prosecuting Attorney Will Jones or possibly even Attorney General Tim Griffin, whose office recently said he was “investigating the matter.”

As one county official speaking on background with the Arkansas Times put it, “This will end up in court, one way or the other.”

The post Pulaski County weighing options for handling sheriff’s seemingly illegal contract with TV producers appeared first on Arkansas Times.





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