Election Season Begins
Filings complete for North of the River races; More Than a Museum plus headlines and sports.
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MEETINGS: The North Little Rock School Board will have a special call meeting and workshop tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the district’s administration. The meeting will be livestreamed on the district’s YoutTube page. The North Little rRock City Council will meet next Monday night at City Hall. That meeting will be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube page and the public is also invited.
EVENTS: The North Little Rock CARES Youth Coalition will be hosting its annual “Family Fun Day” this Saturday, Aug. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Sherman Park Community Center, 624 Beech St. in North Little Rock. This event is open to the public. Free backpacks, school supplies, and haircuts will be distributed to our youth. Other activities will include bounce houses, face painting, food trucks, snow cones and more. For more information, please contact Darrell Montgomery, 501-247-2291, or Linda Robinson, 501-945-8820. Linda Robinson and Darrell Montgomery are co-founders of the North Little Rock CARES Youth Coalition. In other North Little Rock news, the Funland Splash Pad is shifting to back-to-school hours starting on Monday, Aug. 10 and will be closed Monday through Thursday with Friday through Sunday hours being from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
SOMETHING TO READ: Scott Faldon weighs in Bugscuffle, a town I have, in fact, heard of. Click here to read more.
NEXT WEEK: There’s bingo and some cool local golf stuff but while the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak as the campaign filings turned out to be quite time consuming.
Back to school
School calendar
First day of school for North of the River.
Maumelle Charter began school on Monday.
Pulaski County Special School District, Monday, Aug. 10
Note: Maumelle High School does not have a specific supply list. Students will be advised of necessary items for specific teachers once school begins.
Central Arkansas Christian, Wednesday, Aug. 12
North Little Rock School District, Thursday, Aug. 13
Football
Practice Began on Monday: Monday.
Benefit Games: Aug 17-30
Zero Week: Aug 24-30
Week 1: Thursday, Sept. 3, Friday, Sept. 4
Filings complete, let election season begin
Maumelle and North Little Rock will have a busy campaign season after filings were completed at noon on Wednesday.
Among the contested races will be for Maumelle Mayor as incumbent Caleb Norris, seeking his third term, will have an opponent in Neil Byron Allen, while City Clerk will also be contested as Tina Timmons, seeking her second term, is being opposed by Rebecca French.
City Attorney Andrew Thornton is not seeking another term but only Oliver Benton Cushing elected to run and by virtue of being unopposed, will automatically win in November.
Lucky him as you either run scared or unopposed.
There’s also contested races for Maumelle City Council, along with some uncontested, and for more, keep scrolling.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3 with early voting beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Maumelle
Mayor
Mayor Caleb Norris and Neil Byron Allen
City Clerk
City Clerk Tina Timmons and Rebecca Lin French
City Attorney
Oliver Benton Cushing
City Council
Ward 1, Pos. 2
Christine Gronwald
Ward 2, Pos. 2
Chad Gardner and Todd Patrick Hoover
Ward 3, Pos. 2
John Charles Jones and Micheal Edward Tierney
Ward 4, Pos. 2
Travis Reed Henderson
North Little Rock
City Attorney
City Attorney Amy Beckman Fields
City Council
Ward 1, Pos. 2
Debi Ross
Ward 2, Pos. 2
Marvin Louise Benton, Louis Dillard, Anna Beth Gorman, Harlan Harold Hunter and Rodrick Williams
Ward 3, Pos. 2
Steve Baxter and John Pflasterer
Ward 4, Pos. 2
Vincent Insalaco III
Note: Incumbents are in bold and all photos courtesy of the Pulaski County Clerk’s office.
More than a museum
Some of central Arkansas’s most notable names, along with a handful of reporters, gathered last week at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts as it rolled out a new campaign to support local education and cultural tourism.
The museum announced that it was partnering with Sherwood’s Sylvan Hills Elementary, North Little Rock’s Westwind School for Performing Arts and Little Rock Parkview High School to develop Classroom that would expand access to arts instruction, and educational experiences at the museum,
The Westwind School was founded by former Maumelle City Council Member Gloria Timmons and she was among those in attendance at last week’s event. Her school serves grades 6th through 8th, while Sylvan Hills and Parkview cover the other grades.
Museum CEO and Director Victoria Ramirez said the Classroom developed for those three schools would become the “framework” that would be shattered with other schools across central Arkansas and eventually the state.
Ramirez also talked about the importance of cultural tourism and noted that while Little Rock was not a “Big 4 City,” it was a big four city in terms of the arts with the museum, a professional theater company, a professional ballet company and a professional symphony in the Arkansas Symphony. A “Big 4 City” is a term used in the sports world to describe a city that has teams in Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA and the National Hockey League.
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott was one of the speakers and noted that Little Rock stood out among its peer cities for having all four as none of the others did.
Also announced was the “More Than a Museum” campaign, which puts the museum at the center in the region’s bid to increase local tourism.
The museum, since its re-opening, has offered free admission, but the goal is to increase art classes, social events and performances. Since 2023, the museum has had over 3,500 programs, tours and events, while more than 500,000 have visited.
Central Arkansas’s professional arts institutions have:
Served over 1,000,000 patrons
Annual budgets exceeding $50 million.
Offered over 1,500 programs annually.
Employed over 500 staff members.
“These organizations have put Arkansas on the cultural map,” Ramirez said. “We have received international media attention and national awards and brought the very best artistic talent to our community. Collectively, we are a powerhouse: a cultural corporation.”
Sports
Upcoming Travs games
Six-game homestand with the Amarillo Sod Poodles
Today, 6:35 p.m.
Ticket Offer: $3 Thursday: Enjoy an amazing value for the whole family and the best patio in Central Arkansas! Get $3 General Admission or Beer Garden tickets at a WinChoice Box Office Window. Plus, feed the whole crew for less with select concession items for $3 each!
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Fireworks Friday | Presented By Garver
Video Game Night with Sonic the Hedgehog: A celebration of arcade and console classics, featuring an appearance by everyone’s favorite supersonic hedgehog!
Saturday, 6:05 p.m.
Clunker Car Night: The return of a Travelers classic! Multiple “lucky” fans will hopefully drive away from the ballpark in a new-to-them ride. | Presented By McLarty Auto Group
Kids Run the Bases: Kids 13 and under are invited to run the same basepaths the Travs run after the game! | Presented By First Community Bank
Sunday, 1:35 p.m.
Kids Run the Bases: Kids 13 and under are invited to run the same basepaths the Travs run after the game! | Presented By First Community Bank
Baseball BINGO: Presented By Arkansas Brighter Future 529
Operation: Military Appreciation: Service Members get $3 off tickets by presenting a Military ID (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window) | Presented By Mid-South Ford Dealers
Family Sunday Deal: Get $3 General Admission tickets by presenting a physical or digital church bulletin (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window).
Six-game road trip to Tulsa, Aug. 11 through Aug. 16
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