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Rev. William Robinson addresses the media and public gathered at Simmons arena for the news conference. (UAMS photo)
Simmons Bank Arena in downtown North Little Rock will host four Covid-19 vaccination clinics over the next three months.
The first will be Saturday, April 10, then May 1, May 9 and June 12.
The times are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for each clinic and they’re sponsored by the cities of Sherwood and North Little Rock, along with Pulaski County government, Simmons Bank Arena, UAMS, Arkansas BlueCross BlueShield and the state of Arkansas.
After nearly three months, the Maumelle City Council on Monday night had its final reading on Ordinance 1022, which would repeal the ban on certain dog breeds and also strengthen the animal services code.
A motion was made to table the ordinance and send it to a referendum, but it failed 3-5. This was the third attempt at tabling and the Council also discussed splitting the ordinance into different pieces, an idea proposed by Council Member Doug Shinn, but he ultimately decided he didn’t want to continue the debate any longer and didn’t offer an alternative version.
When the ordinance finally came to a vote, it passed 5-3. — Chad Gardner
This summer, the annual Arkansas Governor’s School will be held at Arkansas Tech University and five Maumelle High School students will be among those attending.
Four local high school athletes were selected to be 2021 high school All-Stars by the Arkansas High School Coaches Association and the Arkansas Activities Association.
The four are:
Cole Shoemaker, Central Arkansas Christian, football
It seems that the Maumelle City Council decided to save us from ourselves. Not willing to allow a public referendum, they voted 5 to 3 to lift the dog-breed ban.
Council Members Steve Mosley, Ken Saunders and Jess Holt voted against the ordinance while the sponsor of the ordinance, Chad Gardner, and Terry Williams, R.J. Mazzoni, Michael Tierney and Doug Shinn voted to lift the ban.
I have never expressed my opinion either way. I have only advocated allowing the people to decide. Several of the Council members who supported the ordinance said they based their decision on their emails and — an even worse indicator — social media.
Social media postings are NOT a representation of how the people necessarily feel. They’re a representation of how the most vocal/passionate and online people feel. There’s no assurance that the posters are even registered voters in Maumelle.
But what is done is done and now the city will have to sort out the complicated issues surrounding enforcement of the ordinance. We’ll never really know how the majority of Maumelle citizens feel.
The Council has done us a disservice. But maybe they’ll move on to issues that are more important and particularly pressing to the needs of the citizens. Surely, they can think of something.
Don’t get me wrong. I love living in Maumelle, the home of first-world problems and complainers. I’ve been here over 15 years and really wouldn’t want to live anywhere else unless it was a home in the woods near the Buffalo River. Fighting over a dog breed is definitely a first-world problem and we’ve exhausted and spewed enough vitriol to last us for a while. Let’s move on.
In a quote to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Mayor Caleb Norris said, “It has been disheartening and frustrating,” he said. “With this being over for now, hopefully we can get back to other issues.”
Amen.
Food Drive
According to the Maumelle Center on the Lake, over 500,000 Arkansans people — 1 in 4 children — suffer from food insecurity. In response, the center started a Canned Food Drive April 1 that will last through April 22. The donations will benefit the Hope Ministry Alliance and the Amboy Community Food Pantry. Some will also go to the food boxes around town. The center is asking for donations of canned and nonperishable food items to be taken to the center at 2 Club Manor Cove anytime between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m. More information is available from Kim White at 501-851-4344 or kwhite@maumelle.org.
Foodie Notes
After having my second vaccination and moving toward invincibility, I felt more comfortable visiting one of my go-tos, Asian Buffet, which only reopened last week. The only change they have made is giving you disposable plastic gloves to wear while visiting the buffet. It was a good experience and I’ll certainly be returning. My next stop will be Bobby’s Café for a good ole country breakfast.
Get Your Vaccines
There are ample opportunities to get the Covid vaccine. Simmons Bank Arena is hosting mass vaccination clinics on April 10, May 1, May 22 and June 12. Everyone present at the clinics must wear a face mask. The clinics are prepared to vaccinate from up to 2,000 people daily. To make an appointment to receive a vaccination, call 501-526-2211 or go to VaccineSignup.UAMS.edu/mobileclinic.
Locally, Achor Pharmacy continues jabbing arms. It’s easy to sign up on Saturdays at 5 p.m. for the next week. Visit www.achorpharmacy.com for more information.
Remember, anyone 16 and older is eligible. GET IT DONE! I’m gonna keep wearing my mask and keeping my distance. Less than 20 percent of Arkansans have gotten a vaccine. There are virus hot spots all over the country. The pandemic is not over.
Coming Next Week: An Interview with Phil Elson, Voice of the Diamond Hogs
Next week, I am going to stray away from politics of any sort. Between our Council and our Mensa-level state legislature, I’m tired of all of them. I love Razorback baseball, and Phil Elson is one of the best play-by-play announcers in the business. Don’t miss it.
NOTE: If you haven’t been following the nationally ranked team, tune in this Friday at 6:30 p.m. on the SEC Network when they play Ole Miss, also at the top of the rankings. You can hear Phil at FM 103.7.
The water utility serves nearly 500,000 people, mostly in Pulaski County, but they also have customers in Saline and Grant counties.
The utility was formed in 2001 when the city water departments of Little Rock and North Little Rock merged and Maumelle, which had been on well water, merged its water department in 2015.
The company is the main water utility for all of Pulaski County, but the city of Jacksonville, and has more than 2,700 miles of water main in service.
Of those, none have lead, the utility said.
“CAW has eliminated all of its lead service lines,” said spokeswoman Chelsea Boozer. “We are fortunate that both the North Little Rock and Little Rock utilities that merged to form Central Arkansas Water put a focus on doing so long before the [American Water Works Association] began setting regulations on lead pipes in response to the Flint, Michigan crisis, and CAW began a Lead Service Line Replacement Program in 2016.”
For the most part, lead pipes in homes went out of use in the 1950s and Maumelle didn’t exist then, so there’s no homes here that would have had lead pipes in the first place. Lead solders were banned as part of the federal Safe Water Drinking Act in 1986, so any home built after then would likely not have lead pipes or lead solders in the home’s plumbing system.
In a report for a trade publication, Sharon Sweeney, a Compliance Manager for the utility, wrote, “[We] embraced the opportunity to remove lead service lines and further reduce the potential risk of exposure to lead in drinking water” and “the utility invested over $1 million to replace more than 10,000 lead service lines.”
CAW has been a great improvement over the previous system.