Christmas time is here
Recycle that Tree; A White Christmas isn't happening; Planning Commission vacancy plus headlines and sports
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MEETINGS: There’s no meetings on the schedule for the coming week. Being the holidays and all. There’s always a chance for an emergency meeting as North Little Rock City Council once met famously on New Year’s Eve. Doesn’t seem like it was really an emergency, more of a budget thing.
EVENTS: Thursday is Christmas. Next week is New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The various government offices will be closed for the holidays and the Friday after. Trash and recycling will run on New Year’s Eve, but one-day delayed because of New Year’s with pickup scheduled for Jan. 2.
NOTICE: PLANNING COMMISSION VACANCY
The Maumelle City Council is accepting resumes from residents interested in serving on the Maumelle Planning Commission. The Council will make an appointment to Position 2 for a four year term ending Jan. 31, 2030. Resumes should be submitted to Tina Timmons, City Clerk/Treasurer, 550 Edgewood Drive, Maumelle, Arkansas 72113 no later than 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. Resumes can be emailed to cityclerk@maumelle.org. All applicants will be interviewed by the City Council at the next scheduled Council meeting, Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at 6 p.m. The City Council will appoint immediately following the interviews. For additional information call 501-851-2500.
Christmas time is here
Today is Christmas Eve, which seems weird since it is somewhere in the 70s and everyone seems to be looking for their dress flipflops.
But, it is Christmas Eve and the day after that is Christmas and the day after that is Boxing Day, which is when Canadians engage in the sweet science, Or maybe it is the day they box up Christmas decorations. Or maybe it is something else.
I’m not Canadian and while I know a few, I think a couple even subscribe, I’ve never bothered to ask the provenance of Boxing Day and its significance in Canadian culture, or if there is any.
As an American, I’m not obligated to care and it hasn’t been covered on Letterkenny, so it will continue to be a mystery.
Anyway, after Boxing Day is the day that, if you traveled to see family, then this is the day you start to head home.
Christmas is tricky, especially for those who have lost loved ones and family members since the previous holiday which gets me to the two elves pictured below.
They were made by my Aunt Pat, at her basement kiln in Metcalf, Illinois. She, I learned much later in life, had gone with some friends to buy a kiln together and they made various pieces of pottery together, I guess to sell, or give to family members as gifts.
They were previously at my late mother’s home and have been part of my life for as long as I can remember and because I am old, very old, that means decades upon decades.
I don’t know if they have names, or were ever named, so I have christened them Sexton and Pervis or “Sexy” and “Perv” for short. That’s not really what I named them. What I actually named them is unprintable in a family publication,
They’ll stay here for now, and, maybe, some niece or nephew will take them or, more likely, they’ll end up in an estate sale where they will be sold for a dollar or two.
At some point today, I’ll get around to the annual tradition of watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special. For all intents and purposes, the only reason I pay for Apple TV.
Enjoy the holidays. Hold the ones you love close, remember those who aren’t with us this year.
Thanks for reading, Jeremy.
Christmas North of the River
The Ice Skating Rink at Lakewood is now open through Jan. 4 at 4500 Lakeshore Drive
A Very Merry Maumelle
The Whimsical Trail opens at Lake Willastein Park and features a lighted trail around the lake starting at dark:30 daily.
The city will also start a holiday stock the pantries drive.
No snow on Christmas here, there or anywhere
The weather forecast this year is kinda bonkers.
Record highs and no snow at least for Christmas but then taking a turn to chilly starting next week and into the New Year.
Eye on the Sky
Christmas Day: Patchy morning fog, otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 76 and a low around 62.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79, with a low around 59.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78, with a low around 62.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of afternoon showers, with a high near 72, with a low around 31.
Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 40, with a low around 24.
In other words, this is an extremely warm forecast for Arkansas at Christmas with record or near-record highs and, generally, snow on the holiday has been exceedingly rare but here and around the state.
That’s unlike 2022 though where parts of northern Arkansas got a light dusting of snow, and temperatures dropped into the single digits with wind chills below that.
The lack of forecast snow means the elusive “White Christmas” remains that way for Arkansas.
The National Weather Service has been keeping records in Arkansas since 1875 and the state saw snowfall in just 12 of those years on Christmas, while in three other years, the state already had snow on the ground, so people at least woke up to a White Christmas.
The most recent “White Christmas” was when a surprise blizzard hit Arkansas in 2012.
A real blizzard, not the kind you get at Dairy Queen, when the Weather Service issued a “blizzard warning” for northeast Arkansas. Making it the state’s first “official blizzard.”
Little Rock, that day, saw a recorded nine inches of snow, while most other parts of the state saw more than 10 inches of snow. There was even more snow in the higher elevations of north-central Arkansas getting 15 to a high of 17.5 inches that day.
The snow kept falling as 1.3 inches of snow were recorded in Little Rock on the following day, with other portions of the state getting more.
The results from the snow were fairly typical, snarled roads, stranded travelers and more than 260,000 homes and businesses lost power that day, with the state taking a week, or more to recover.
That year was just one of two White Christmases, where snow starts that day and accumulates to at least one inch, with the other happening in 1926.
There’s been a total of 16 times with snow in and around Christmas in Arkansas, with measurable snow seen four times, with flurries or trace amounts falling nine times. The other three times were from Christmas Eve, or earlier, snow.
Past White Christmases
1876: Two inches of snow was on the ground from snowfall on Christmas Eve.
1879: Christmas Eve rain changed to snow, which continued into Christmas morning.
1887: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1897: One inch of snow fell on Christmas Day morning.
1913: Snow started at midnight and continued on Christmas Day. A total of 1.5 inches of snow fell.
1914: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1918: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1926: Sleet turned into snow with a total of 1.7 inches of sleet and 2.5 inches of snow.
1935: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1939: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1962: Christmas Eve snow of 1.5 inches but it melted during the night leaving only patches of snow on the ground Christmas morning.
1963: Heavy snow on Dec. 22 left more than four inches still on the ground by Christmas Day.
1975: Snow fell with no accumulation.
1983: Snow from earlier that week left about an inch of snow and ice still on the ground.
1990: 2.4 inches of snow and sleet fell earlier in the week and most of it remained on the ground through Christmas Day.
2000: A trace of snow was on the ground on Christmas Day but the worst was still to come as a major long-term ice storm developed that day and continued through Dec. 27. It left three inches of ice in Little Rock and more around the state, completely shutting down Arkansas in one of the worst ice storms in recorded history.
2009: Snow fell with no accumulation.
2012: Nine inches of snow in Little Rock, with more around Arkansas for the state’s snowiest White Christmas.
2022: After seeing some 1 to 2 inches across the state’s northern third and extending south to West Memphis on Dec. 21-22. Hopes were high last year and while some parts of northern Arkansas’s hill country woke up Christmas morning to see a “light dusting” of snow. It missed the authentic White Christmas experience of at least 1 inch of snow. While central Arkansas didn’t even get that, it was, as you might remember extremely cold last year with single digit temperatures and wind chills well below that.
Recycle that Christmas tree
If you want to get all Christmas-y about it, you’re supposed to keep your tree up through the first week of January.
The whole 12 days of Christmas, Epiphany and all that but not everyone does that and now might be the time you’re trying to figure out what to do with that beautiful tree you bought at Junior Deputy.
There’s an environmentally friendly, good for nature option that the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission offers annually in dropping off that tree to be used as a fish habitat in one of the state’s many bodies of water.
This offer only applies to live Christmas trees, the fake ones need not apply..
There’s other options, of course. You could put your Christmas tree out on the curb ““on your yard waste day” if you live in Maumelle or North Little Rock and for more information in Maumelle, call 501-851-2888, while those in North Little Rock can call 371-8430.
You should, under no circumstances, burn the tree in your fireplace as it is a really good way to set your house on fire.
But, if so inclined, you can sink the tree yourself. Any Arkansas stream or river or lake will do.
Game and Fish said, “the small spaces and dense cover offered by fresh Christmas trees make excellent nursery habitat for small fish as well as great places to fish.”
If sinking it yourself, weigh it down with either cinder blocks or sandbags, so the tree will stay sunk and then remember where you put it.
What’s also really great is while Game and Fish will take care of the trees come February, you can also take trees from the pile for yourself to sink.
They note, “trees are relatively short-term habitat because they don’t have much thick woody material, but they can be gathered in clusters easily and sunk in large groups” and “the main stems will last longer than the wispy branches and continue to draw fish throughout the year.”
Trees can be dropped off at any of the following locations until the end of January:
Trees can be dropped off at any of the following central Arkansas locations until the end of January:
Arkansas River – Riverview Park Access in North Little Rock
Lake Barnett – Reed Access
Harris Brake Lake – Chittman Hill Access
Lake Pickthorne – Holland Bottoms Access
Lake Overcup – Lake Overcup Landing
Cox Creek Lake – Cox Creek Lake Public Access
Lake Hamilton – Andrew Hulsey State Fish Hatchery Access
For more locations around the state, click here.
Sports
Upcoming SEC bowl games
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
Dec. 27 / 6:30 p.m: Missouri (8-4, 4-4 SEC) vs. #19 Virginia (10-3), ABC | SiriusXM: 381 [ESPN Radio - 81] Live Statistics/Matchup/Preview: https://www.secsports.com/scores/football?date=2025-12-27
Kinder’s Texas Bowl
Dec. 27 / 8:15 p.m.: LSU (7-5, 3-5 SEC) vs. #21 Houston (9-3), ESPN | SiriusXM: 374 [ESPN Radio - 117/201] Live Statistics/Matchup/Preview: https://www.secsports.com/scores/football?date=2025-12-27
Basketball schedules
Maumelle Charter
Boys
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... at ... Episcopal ... 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 9 ... at ... Lisa Academy North ... 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 ... at ... Rose Bud ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... vs ... Riverview ... 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 ... vs ... Bald Knob ... 5 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 23 ... at ... Pangburn ... 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Harding Academy ... 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ... vs ... Episcopal ... 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 ... vs ... Lisa Academy North ... 8 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 ... vs ... Rose Bud ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 ... vs ... St. Joseph ... 7 p.m.
Girls
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... at ... Episcopal ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 ... at ... Rose Bud ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... vs ... Riverview ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 ... vs ... Bald Knob ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 23 ... at ... Pangburn ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Harding Academy ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ... vs ... Episcopal ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 ... vs ... Rose Bud ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 ... vs ... St. Joseph ... 7 p.m.
Maumelle
Boys
Friday, Jan. 2 ... at ... Morrilton ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... vs ... Jacksonville ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 ... at ... Sylvan Hills ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... at ... Greenbrier ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 ... vs ... Little Rock Christian Academy ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 23 ... at ... Vilonia ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Catholic ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ... at ... Beebe ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 ... at ... Parkview ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 ... at ... Jacksonville ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 ... vs ... Sylvan Hills ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 17 ... vs ... Greenbrier ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 20 ... at ... Little Rock Christian Academy ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 24 ... vs ... Vilonia ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 27 ... vs ... Catholic ... 7 p.m.
Girls
Friday, Jan. 2 ... at ... Morrilton ... 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... vs ... Jacksonville ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 ... at ... Sylvan Hills ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... at ... Greenbrier ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 ... vs ... Little Rock Christian Academy ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 23 ... at ... Vilonia ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Mount St. Mary Academy ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ... vs ... Beebe ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 ... at ... Parkview ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 ... at ... Jacksonville ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 ... vs ... Sylvan Hills ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 17 ... vs ... Greenbrier ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 20 ... at ... Little Rock Christian Academy ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 24 ... vs ... Vilonia ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 27 ... vs ... Mount St. Mary Academy ... 6 p.m.
CAC
Boys
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... vs ... Lisa Academy West ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... vs ... Morrilton ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 ... vs ... Robinson ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Heber Springs ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ... at ... Lisa Academy West ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 ... at ... Morrilton ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 ... at ... Robinson ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 20 ... vs ... Heber Springs ... 7 p.m.
Girls
Monday, Jan. 5 ... at ... Mt. Vernon-Enola ... 6 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 8 ... vs ... South Side ... 7 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 12 ... at ... Faulkner County HomeSchool ... 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 15 ... vs ... St. Joseph ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... at ... Morrilton ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 ... vs ... Robinson ... 5 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 23 ... at ... White County Central ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Quitman ... 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 29 ... at ... South Side ... 7 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 2 ... vs ... Mt. Vernon-Enola ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 ... vs ... Bigelow ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 ... vs ... Conway Christian ... 5 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 ... vs ... Robinson ... 5 p.m.
North Little Rock
Boys
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... vs ... Central ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 9 ... vs ... Conway ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 ... at ... Little Rock Southwest ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... vs ... Jonesboro ... 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Bryant ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ... at ... Cabot ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 ... at ... Central ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 ... at ... Conway ... 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 ... vs ... Little Rock Southwest ... 7 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 ... at ... Jonesboro ... 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 24 ... vs ... Bryant ... 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 26 ... vs ... Cabot ... 7 p.m.
Girls
Tuesday, Jan. 6 ... vs ... Central ... 6:45 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 9 ... vs ... Conway ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 ... at ... Little Rock Southwest ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 ... vs ... Jonesboro ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 ... at ... Bryant ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 ... at ... Cabot ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 ... at ... Central ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 ... at ... Conway ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 ... vs ... Little Rock Southwest ... 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 13 ... at ... Jonesboro ... 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 24 ... vs ... Bryant ... 6 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 26 ... vs ... Cabot ... 6 p.m.
Health
Pandemic deaths unknown
The state Department of Health didn’t update the state’s dashboard this week, again, and deaths still total 532 for the past year. There’s no tab created for 2025 either and the virus has now killed 14,162 Arkansans since the pandemic began then. That would mean the pandemic death toll has now passed Marion’s 13,635 people, the state’s 29th largest city.
Covid toolkit
There’s now a one-stop shop to learn about vaccination sites and other Covid related information. Click here to learn more.
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 crowds