Camp Healing Hearts returns
Camp Healing Hearts returns
Baseball is back as the Travs return to North Little Rock on Monday for Opening Night, Maumelle Expo is today, North Little Rock City Council to take up ward redistricting plus headlines
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Weekly deaths pick back up
After weeks of numbers headed down, Arkansas saw its weekly death toll from the ongoing pandemic increase to 78, since this last week.
Weekly deaths had dropped to 66 and the total number of dead Arkansans now stands at 11,296.
As for the national trends, the forecast numbers from the Centers for Disease Control are below and through April 30.
Most of the forecasts are still between 11,500 and 12,000 total deaths in the next four weeks.
If you don’t want to get sick and die, there’s some things you can do:
Get vaccinated
Get boosted
Wear a mask
Avoid crowdsThe Headlines
Choral Society to have concert on April 22
The Arkansas Choral Society will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven with a concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 22, in the worship center of Calvary Baptist Church, 5700 Cantrell Road, Little Rock.
The concert was scheduled two years ago but was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The concert will feature Society singers and the University of Arkansas at Monticello Concert Choir and soloists Mary Sandell, soprano; Aubrey Odle, alto; David Garst, tenor; and David Farwig, bass, members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kent Skinner for Beethoven's “Mass” in C major.
The chorus will also sing the so-called “Hallelujah” Chorus from Beethoven's oratorio “Christ on the Mount of Olives.”
The Arkansas Choral Society, made up of amateur singers primarily from central Arkansas, regularly pairs with college and high school choruses and awards scholarships to young choral
singers, and has been performing all or part of George Frideric Handel's “Messiah” — pandemic years excepted — since 1930.
The orchestra opens the concert with the Overture to “The Creatures of Prometheus,” Beethoven's only ballet.
Tickets are $20, $15 for students. Visit lovetosing.org for more information.
Losing sleep over the pandemic? Work flexibility may be a boon for health of night owls
Upcoming meetings: The North Little Rock School District will meet tonight. The agenda can be viewed by clicking here. The North Little Rock City Council also meets on Monday and for more on that meeting, keep scrolling.
Covid toolkit
There’s now a one-stop shop to learn about vaccination sites and other Covid related information. Click here to learn more.
Sports
The Boys are back in town
After a troubled spring with Major League Baseball, the Arkansas Travelers will start the season on Friday with a road trip to Frisco, Texas.
The Travs will be in the Metroplex through Sunday and will be back in North Little Rock for the home opener at Dickey-Stephens Park at 6:05 p.m. on Monday.
The Monday series is against Springfield with the Tuesday game being an 11:05 a.m. Sreaming Kids Day at the park.
Minor League Baseball is still going with the six game series, one day off schedule, with the first week being the exception to that rule.
The following week will start with a road-trip to Corpus Christi that begins on Tuesday as the schedule settles into its normal routine.
Road swing
Friday ... 6:35 p.m. ... at Frisco
Saturday ... 6:35 p.m. ... at Frisco
Sunday ... 4:05 p.m. ... at Frisco
Homestand
Monday ... 6:05 p.m. ... vs. Springfield
Promotions: Opening Night and Magnet Schedule Giveaway
Tuesday … 11:05 a.m. ... vs. Springfield
Promotions: School Day and Senior Day
Wednesday … 6:35 p.m. ... vs. Springfield
Promotion: Dog Days Of Summer and Magnet Schedule Giveaway
Thursday ... April 14 ... 6:35 p.m. ... vs. Springfield
Promotions: $3 Thirsty Thursday and Magnet Schedule Giveaway
Friday ... April 15 ... vs. Springfield ... 7:05 p.m.
Promotions: Fireworks and Magnet Schedule Giveaway
Saturday ... April 16 ... 7:05 p.m. ... vs. Springfield
Promotions: Fireworks and Clear Bag Giveaway
All the pretty, and fast, horses
In front of 60,000 fans, Cyberknife won last Saturday’s Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn in Hot Springs.
As a Kentucky Derby qualifier, that means Cyberknife will run at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Cyberknife covered the 1 1/8 miles of Oaklawn over a fast track in 1:50.42.
Racing continues through May 7.
Maumelle’s Lanny Thompson checks in after his very famous photo of a cardinal in flight began making the rounds of the internet, again. Watch the video he produced by clicking below.
Camp Healing Hearts returns
After two years of dormancy due to the ongoing pandemic, Methodist Family Health’s Camp Healing Hearts is back this year with a day camp for Arkansas children and families struggling with grief.
Coordinated by Kaleidoscope Grief Center, which is a program of Methodist Family Health.
Camp Healing Hearts is free to families attending and will begin at 8 a.m. on Sat., May 21 at Camp Aldersgate in Little Rock. This camp is open to any family in Arkansas who is grieving the death of a loved one.
Losing a loved one is difficult for everyone, and grieving that loss is essential to accepting painful feelings and creating an opportunity for growth and a new sense of normal. Camp Healing Hearts is for Arkansas children ages 5 to 18 and their families who have lost a loved one and are coping with grief and bereavement. Utilizing both therapy and recreation, Camp Healing Hearts offers children and families an opportunity to discover their own inner strength.
The camp includes heart-to-heart time, swimming, fishing, crafts, games, campfires and s'mores and much more. An adult caregiver is required to accompany the grieving child or children attending camp. Only 100 spaces are available so those interested in attending are encouraged to complete and return an application prior to the deadline, which is 4:30 p.m., Thursday,May 5.
Camp Healing Hearts is made possible by community partners in the Alliance for Grief and Loss, including Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock School District, Pulaski County Special School District, Griffin-Leggett Funeral Homes and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
For an application, visit MethodistFamily.org. For more information about Camp Healing Hearts or Kaleidoscope Grief Center, contact Dao Ward at dward@methodistfamily.org or call 501-537-3991 or 800-756-3709 toll-free.
Westrock Coffee going public
Westrock Coffee, with its primary processing facility just off Maumelle Boulevard, announced this week that it would be a publicly traded company after striking a deal with Riverview Acquistion Corp.
In the announcement Westrock said they have an annual estimated revenue of $960 million for this year and the company is valued at approximately $1.086 billion.
Westrock said that going public would allow for additional financing as they looked to expand in international markets like Europe and Asia.
The company will be traded on Nasdaq under “WEST” as its ticker symbol.
Not bad for a company founded by Scott Ford, who was essentially bored after selling Alltel Wireless to Verizon, and looking for something to do.
Westrock said it sells more than 20 million cups of coffee a day as the company is known as the “brand behind the brands” as it sells primarily to food service, restaurant and convenience stores, among others, as it is the largest custom and private label coffee company in the United States.
Little Rock’s Stephens Inc. is serving as Financial and Capital Markets Advisor on the deal.
The Westrock facility in North Little Rock is at 30 Collins Industrial Place and directly behind the New Asian Chinese restaurant on the Boulevard.
North Little Rock: City Council to look at new ward maps
On the agenda for the North Little Rock City Council meeting on Monday is an ordinance that would rebalance the population of the city’s four wards.
North Little Rock’s population after the 2020 Census was 64,591 but those wards were not balanced.
The ideal population for each was 16,148 but none of them were there with the largest being at 18,551, or roughly the population of Maumelle, in Ward 3 and the smallest being Ward 1’s 13,876.
Current population
Ward 1: 13,876
Ward 2: 15,357
Ward 3: 18,551
Ward 4: 16,807
While the 16,148 was the goal, there’s some variance allowed for and the proposed population for each ward is now:
Ward 1 … 16,172
Ward 2 … 16,173
Ward 3 … 16,126
Ward 4 … 16,120
Draft maps have been drawn up and are below.
