Snow, Snow, Snow
Just go, go, go; Neal Moore offers up his take, Maumelle's Lanny Thompson has picture go viral plus news and sports headlines
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Going to get warmer but maybe more snow coming
The Thursday morning forecast from the National Weather Service office in North Little Rock has expectations for warmer weather and getting above freezing by Saturday, but there’s still a chance for more snow and or sleet on Sunday morning.
That will all be a distant memory by Tuesday as the forecast is calling for highs near 60 degrees.
Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30 and a low around 9.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 33 and a low around 13.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 40 and a low around 26.
Sunday: A chance of snow showers and freezing rain before 8 a.m., then a chance of rain or freezing rain between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., then a chance of rain showers after 10 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 50 and a low around 32.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 58 and a low around 36.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 58.
The headlines
Sports headlines
Moore on Maumelle: My Take
This week we can turn our attention away from one of the biggest snow jobs in history to simply – snow. DJT’s second impeachment resulted in an acquittal. Our two senators didn’t have the courage to vote to convict, so we move on. Their vote most likely won’t hurt their future prospects in a pro-Trump state. Now the Inciter-in-Chief has a whole host of criminal charges to face. Real juries might be harder to convince than the gutless senators. Especially if he keeps those brilliant attorneys.
Maumelle went into a widespread panic when the threats of snow were announced last week. My favorite Facebook post pre-snow apocalypse: “Lines 24 people deep, people screaming, and a fight broke out.” Not sure what they were fighting over. Perhaps the last loaf of bread?
But the snow really did come. It’s beautiful and it’s deep. And there’s more coming down.
The local news preempted the national news show for local weather specials, which amounted to switching to reporters standing stiffly outdoors around the area telling us it’s cold, drive safe, and how to dress. Oh, and they also stuck rulers in the snow to show us how deep it was.
I miss Walter Cronkite.
Quotes of the Week
“We shouldn’t have followed him.” -- Nikki Haley , former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Trump appointee
“There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day.” -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell following the impeachment proceedings
The Dog Debate Is Heating Up
I was surprised and somewhat puzzled why the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has already weighed in with an editorial opposing changing the ordinance to allow dogs of certain origins back in our city limits. Is it more than a coincidence that the Council met on Monday, Feb. 8, the paper ran a lengthy article by Stephen Simpson on Feb. 9 and the paper ran their editorial on Feb. 10?
From the editorial:
According to one study, pit bulls make up only 6 percent of the dog population in the United States. But they are responsible for nearly 70 percent of dog attacks and more than half of deaths after dog attacks. We can’t imagine the people of Maumelle are clamoring to get the animals back inside the city limits.
When it comes to this ordinance, let’s not. Let’s instead, think of ways to improve the quality of life. Emphasis on life. -- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Wednesday, Feb. 10
Another strange twist to the last Council meeting was the appearance of Eva Palmer, who presented a report she had prepared for a Girl Scout project. I’m not sure how she magically appeared and reported her findings as it relates to BSL (breed-specific legislation). I’m not sure she qualifies as an expert, but she did report at least one perspective. But who called her in?
The most logical idea I’ve heard so far would be to appoint a task force to study the issue and report its findings to the city leading to a vote by the people. Otherwise, the Council is going to spend hours of discussion hearing all of the “dog experts” state their positions, coupled with divisive online combat that is already taking place on Facebook and Nextdoor.
NOTE: The Maumelle City Council has moved their meeting to Monday, Feb. 22, due to inclement weather. The proposed dog ordinance change is scheduled to have its second reading at this meeting.
Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner
Local eatery Cypress Social racked up a slew of awards and recognition from the annual Arkansas Times 2021 Reader’s Choice Awards. They won the following categories: Best New Restaurant, Best Chef, Best Fun, Best Desserts, Best Catfish and Best Patio / Deck for Drinking. They were also named a finalist for: Best Cocktail List, Best Outdoor Dining, Best Burger, Best New Bar and Best Beer Selection. I’ve only had takeout from them, but I’ve heard many Maumellians sing their praises. I hope to visit soon.
Ink Custom Tee Nominated for Award
Ink Custom Tees, a screen-printing company in Maumelle, has been nominated as a finalist for Business of the Year sponsored by Arkansas Business each year. They were nominated in Category II, 31-55 employees. According to the write-up on the company, they’ve been in business since 1988 and are owned by Holt Condren and Scott Masters.
The company makes shirts for special events, local businesses and nationwide retail brands. According to the article, Ink has designed and printed up to 750,000 shirts annually and ships them worldwide. They employ 40 to 50 employees and, like most firms, their business has been affected by the pandemic. The award ceremony is March 3. We’ll let you know how it turns out. Congrats!
Double Up
Now they (scientists) are telling us maybe we need two masks for protection from the more contagious Covid variants. Let’s hope those who wouldn’t wear one mask will now at least wear one while those of us who aren’t worried about our “rights” will wear two.
Stay safe. Stay warm. Stay home.
See you on the Boulevard. Hopefully, soon.
More news at www.ArkansasNewstoom.com.
Neal Moore is a public relations consultant and resident of Maumelle. Send your Maumelle news or comments to neal.moore@sbcglobal.net. Thanks, PJ.
Bird’s the word and a photo
The first thing you need to know is Maumelle’s Lanny Thompson took that photo of the cardinal that is now rocketing around the world.
It has been shared about 172,073 times, and counting, on Facebook as the picture has become something of a viral sensation.
The reason is pretty simple, the photo is spectacular as it catches the underside of a cardinal in mid-flight, with wings outstretched as the bird’s cardinal red is displayed against a clear blue sky, with a white, snowy ground.
Another thing you need to know is the photo wasn’t taken in Maumelle.
“The view from my house in Kentucky was spectacular,” Thompson said in an interview with ArkansasNewsroom.com. “But, it wasn’t spectacular enough for me.”
Thompson said he needed to bring the birds closer to him so they weren’t, “a speck on my pictures.”
The last thing you need to know is that the picture wasn’t taken this year, or last but in January and February of 2015 and that’s when Thompson came up with a plan to get closer to the birds.
“I replaced the second floor glass window in the kitchen with Plexiglass,” Thompson said. “I cut a small hole in it so my IPhone 5 lens would have a clear shot to the outside. Then, I taped it there.”
The next step was bait.
“I placed a basket of sunflower seeds under the window sill and attached a small tree branch to the house, over the food for birds to perch on,” Thompson added. “I bought a little remote button to manually operate the burst mode of my camera and sat and waited for birds to fly in and out of my aerial diner.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: We have a bird feeder attached to the window of our home and can confirm cardinals really love to eat sunflower seeds, but we digress.
The result for Thompson was that he got lots of pictures, every day.
“I would sift through thousands of images, and, like panning for gold,” he said. “I would find a few rare ‘nuggets.’ That’s it. Cool, huh.”
Thompson said the weather conditions that day in wintry Kentucky helped immensely.
“It really helps to have a beautiful backdrop and bright snow,” he said. “The glare of the snow automatically caused the camera to speed up the shutter speed. That’s really important for a picture like this one.”
He also said the photo has produced some doubters.
“Some, people think they’re faked. Photo-shopped,” Thompson said. “Other people think I used a drone. … Some of them feel bad because they spent too much money on their equipment and can’t do what my cheap iPhone can do. Some say this picture is impossible to produce.
“Well, it happened. I am just as amazed.”
Some of Thompson’s other photos have enjoyed a bit of success on the Internet before, but that was measured in what he called, “thousands.”
“I’m really happy that so many people across the world are enjoying this wonderful image,” Thompson said. “I only share pictures that I love. I try to respect people’s time and senses by not subjecting them to what I feel are lousy or ordinary images.”
He also added, “I take a lot of bad pictures. I just don’t let anybody see them.”
See more of Thompson’s work
Lanny Thompson published a book about his encounter with a wild Trumpeter Swan and will be available to order on Amazon in a “couple of weeks.”
He also has a website and you can also follow him on Instagram, @lannythompson942/
