Note to subscribers: An annual or monthly subscription is billed to your debit or credit card as ARKANSAS.SUBSTACK.COM and if you have questions, please email arkansas@substack.com. Thanks for reading and subscribing!The Headlines
MEETINGS: The North Little Rock 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. Meeting tonight is the North Little Rock School Board. The meeting is the regular monthly meeting and will start at 5:30 p.m. at the district’s administration and the meeting will also be livestreamed on YouTube. The meeting is open and the public is invited.
EVENTS: Football! One can almost taste it. Watching Hard Knocks on HBO is fine enough but there’s about to be real games and getting the action started this Friday, Aug. 21, Robinson will travel to North Little Rock for a 7 p.m. kickoff in a scrimmage game. Kickoff time is contingent on weather conditions as teams will not play in extreme heat. Following that, is the Little Rock Touchdown Club has Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield as the speaker at next Monday’s meeting. The club has a full lineup and for more details, keep scrolling. North Little Rock gets first North of the River kickoff next Thursday when they host Class 7A Rogers. CAC and Maumelle follow on Friday and for more details about all three schools, keep scrolling.
Eye on the Sky
Today: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 100. Heat index values as high as 107 and a low around 74.
Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Heat index values as high as 107 and a low around 74.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 99 and a low around 74.
Sunday: A 20 percent chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98, with a low around 75.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of morning showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 97 and a low around 75.
Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Sunny and hot, with a high near 99, with a low around 76.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 99, with a low around 76.
Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce to have bingo night
Get ready to shout “BINGO!” as one of Central Arkansas’ most exciting new community events arrives this September.
The Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting Red, White & Bingo, a patriotic-themed bingo night featuring cash prizes ranging from $100 to $1,000, a 50/50 raffle, great food and beverage, and an evening of fun for the entire community.
The event will take place on Thursday, Sept. 3 at The Venue at West Wind, located at 7318 Windsong Drive in North Little Rock. Doors open at 5 p.m. to pick up bingo cards and opportunities for early bird game sales, with bingo beginning at 6 p.m.
Admission is $20 per person, which includes Games 1-16, giving players multiple opportunities to win throughout the evening. In addition to exciting bingo action, attendees can take part in a 50/50 raffle, enjoy food, and compete for cash prizes throughout the night.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce and its efforts to support local businesses, strengthen the community, and promote economic growth throughout the region.
Tickets are now available and can be purchased by calling 501-851-9700 or by visiting the Chamber office at 115 Audubon Drive, Suite 14.
Putt Chip Chill in North Little Rock opens Aug. 28
Putt Chip Chill, a new 22-acre golf entertainment venue located at 5403 Northshore Cove, will officially open to the public, Friday, Aug. 28.
The investment exceeds $5 million, expanding on the success of Northshore Golf Range and offering a new entertainment experience for golfers, families, groups and visitors seeking outdoor recreation in Central Arkansas.
Construction began in November 2025 on the 3,235-square-foot building and facilities. North Little Rock-based Hydco was the general contractor for the project.
Putt Chip Chill also partnered with several area businesses and that list includes Tacos Godoy, Lost Forty Brewing, Rock Town Distillery, Outlaw Brewery, Conway Fence and Oxford Graphics.
Putt Chip Chill will be open seven days a week:
Monday-Saturday: 10 a.m. to midnight
Sunday: 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
For additional information or to make a reservation, visit PuttChipChill.com.
High School football
The Get Up prayer
Some parents are lucky to never have uttered the “Get Up” prayer. Other parents have, and the God they prayed to delivered. And, worst of all, are those who had their prayers go unanswered and are left with a lifetime of sorrow and regrets.
What’s the “Get Up” prayer?
It is as straight forward as you can imagine. Your child, out there, playing the sport they love, or maybe the sport you love, takes a hard hit. They go motionless on the field.
Teammates frantically signal to their coaches. They go running. The trainers, if the school has them, go running as well. The ambulance parked on the track and its crew wonder if they’re next.
You, the parent or uncle or aunt or just a friend, look intently at the scene unfolding in front of your eyes, and the prayer you didn’t know until that moment starts rattling through your head.
“Get up.”
You don’t close your eyes. You keep staring. Your gaze stays on the field, looking for a sign of motion. Your eyes start to dry, so water wells up in the corners.
“Get up.”
Your kid’s team takes a knee. The other team takes a knee. They all stare.
“Get up.”
The longer the scene goes, the quieter it gets. A high school stadium full of loud, boisterous folks, goes silent. All you can hear are the moths bouncing off the stadium lights.
“Get up.”
The worry grows as does the intensity of the prayer.
“Get up. Get up. Get up.”
You aren’t the only one. Everyone in the stadium is now doing the same, from the coach’s wife sitting three rows back to the old men who lean along the fences that run beside the track and have been going to games for decades and have watched generations come and go.
“Get up. Get up. Get up. Get …”
Something changes, and that’s when it becomes a choose your own adventure.
The first is a cheer. The stadium full of those loud, boisterous folks claps as your kid hops up and walks off the field, shaking his head, trying to clear the cobwebs while someone says “must have been a stinger.”
The second is the signal. A trainer or a coach or the school resource officer motions to the ambulance crew to drive onto the field to fetch their patient. A screwdriver is deployed to remove the face mask, while the ambulance crew bundles your kid onto a spine board, and various pieces of stiff plastic are deployed to stabilize the neck or the back or the broken bone.
Once the ambulance rolls away, the teams regather, warm back up, and go back to playing.
Not that you’d know. You headed down to the field to find out what the hell happened and then head to the hospital yourself, with family in tow.
The third, the rarest and worst of all, is all the above but whatever happened was bad enough for the game to be called, and everyone shuffles off the field as the PA announcer says play will not resume.
As it is every season, the hope for every team, every player, and every parent is that they don’t learn the “Get Up” prayer. Not that it is taught in Sunday School or sold on an FCA T-shirt. It just comes to you, like the mystery of faith, when you need it and fades when you don’t.
As for the grief from the worst possible outcome, someone really smart once said that grief never really fades. That it was best to imagine grief like an inflated rubber ball inside you, and when that pain is fresh, it touches all of you and causes immense sorrow. But time heals; the sorrow ebbs some, and the rubber ball shrinks a little. And the grief becomes less or at least more manageable. It is always there and you’ll always carry it, but you can manage.
You have to.
High school previews
Maumelle
Coach: Nick Vaughn, first season with the Hornets
Last Season’s record: 6-5 lost in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Hootens Arkansas Football preseason pick: 4th in the 5A-Central, No. 11 in the preseason Class 5A state poll
Returning players to watch: Quarterback Levi Warrior is a senior and passed for 2,655 yards enroute to all-state honors. Warrior is being recruited by a number of schools. Warrior’s best receiver might be his brother, Isaac, who is a sophomore but started last season as a freshman.
Must watch games: The season opener will be a test when Class 4A Ozark comes to town, and that’s followed by a trip to Class 6A Sylvan Hills. Neither matter for the playoffs, but both will be a good measure of what kind of team Maumelle will have this season. As for the conference, Mills, Parkview and Robinson and how the Hornets perform will determine playoff seeding.
Schedule
Friday, Aug. 28 ... Ozark
Friday, Sept. 4 ... at Sylvan Hills
Friday, Sept. 11 ... at Hot Springs
Friday, Sept. 18 Bye
Friday, Sept. 25 ... at LR Mills
Friday, Oct. 2 ... Vilonia
Friday, Oct. 9 ... at Parkview
Friday, Oct. 16 ... at Beebe
Friday, Oct. 23 ... Jacksonville
Friday, Oct. 30 ... Greenbrier
Friday, Nov. 6 ... Robinson
Friday, Nov. 13 ... First round of the playoffs
Roster: For the roster click here
CAC
Coach: J,D, Plumlee
Last Season’s record: 4-7, lost in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs
Hootens Arkansas Football preseason pick: 6th in the 2-4A, unranked state-wide
Returning players to watch: Jackson Plumlee, the coach’s son, was all-state last season after splitting time at quarterback and running back. And by quarterback, more the single wing variety who gets snaps and takes off. Plumlee is an efficient passer though and Hoover Brogdon (a Brogdon at CAC I never) was all-conference last season and Plumlee’s top target.
Must watch game: Heber Springs and Haskell Harmony Grove will likely determine if the Mustangs make the playoffs.
Schedule
Friday, Sept. 4 ... Cutter-Morning Star -
Friday, Sept. 11 ... at Mena
Friday, Sept. 18 ... at Dierks
Friday, Sept. 25 ... Heber Springs -
Friday, Oct 2 ... Clinton
Friday, Oct 9 ... at Mayflower-
Friday, Oct 16 ... Lonoke -
Friday, Oct 23 ... at Bald Knob
Friday, Oct 30 ... Harmony Grove
Friday, Nov 6 ... at Bauxite
Friday, Nov. 13 ... First round of the playoffs
Roster: For the roster click here
North Little Rock
Coach: Brad Bolding
Last Season’s record: 3-8, lost in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs
Hootens Arkansas Football preseason pick: 4th in the 7A-Central, No. 6 in Class 7A statewide
Returning players to watch: Running back Christian Reeves has the physical tools to be a top running back, and rushed for 1,250 yards last season. If healthy, he could be dominant. Brad Bolding has a ton of players out this season, so depth won’t be a problem.
Must watch game: A trip to Conway starts October and the month ends with nationally ranked Bryant on Oct. 30. Not quite Halloween but if they pull off the trick, it will be quite the treat. (I’m sorry.)
Schedule
Thursday, Aug. 27 ... Rogers
Sept. 4 ... at Parkview
Friday, Sept. 11 ... at Springdale
Friday, Sept. 18 ... Bye
Friday, Sept. 25 ... Pulaski Academy
Friday, Oct. 2 ... at Conway
Friday, Oct. 9 ... FS Northside
Friday, Oct. 16 ... at LR Christian
Friday, Oct. 23 ... at LR Central
Friday, Oct. 30 ... Bryant
Friday, Nov. 6 ... Cabot
Friday, Nov. 13 ... First round of the playoffs
Roster: For the roster click here.
CAC’s Williams signs with Dallas Wings.
Christyn Williams, a former National High School Player of the Year at Central Arkansas Christian, signed last week with the WNBA’s Dallas Wings.
A former first-round WNBA pick and star at UConn, Williams, 26, had dealt with injuries early in her WNBA career and had been playing back into shape with the Greensboro Groove of the UPSHOT League.
In 14 games with the Groove, Williams was good for nearly 10 points a game, while also averaging 3.0 rebounds and not quite 2 assists.
She’s the second UPSHOT League player to make a return trip to the WNBA.
Williams’ career at CAC was simply stellar. The country’s top prospect. Multiple national player of the year honors and was a three-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Arkansas. As a senior, Willians led the Lady Mustangs to a 36-1 record, the Class 4A state title and averaged nearly 27 points a game, while also pulling down 10.4 rebounds, along with 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game
Williams has seen action in her first four games with the Wings and is averaging a little more than 4 points a game. She’s one of the three UConn players on the roster because Geno’s mafia is everywhere and there’s roughly two more months of WNBA action.
For the Wings game and broadcast schedule, click here.
Arkansas TV to provide livestreaming for Little Rock Touchdown Club 2026 season
As part of its Arkansas Live initiative, Arkansas TV will be the livestreaming provider for the Little Rock Touchdown Club 2026 season, giving viewers statewide a front-row seat in the room with veteran coaches, NFL Hall of Famers, analysts and others. Each week, starting this Monday, Aug. 24, and continuing through Nov. 23, Arkansas Live will provide livestreaming coverage of the Little Rock Touchdown Club at arkansastv.gov/arkansaslive.
Founded in 2004, the Little Rock Touchdown Club meets weekly this fall at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Little Rock during football season, featuring speakers ranging from college and professional football legends to ESPN hosts, SEC reporters and coaches. The weekly meetings begin Aug. 24 and will continue through Nov. 23.
This year’s speaker lineup will include:
Monday, Aug. 24 – Ryan Silverfield, University of Arkansas Razorbacks football head coach.
Monday, Aug. 31 – Emmitt Smith, Three-time Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP, NFL’s All-time leading rusher, NFL Hall of Famer, College Football Hall of Famer.
Tuesday, Sept. 8 – Lynn Swann, Four-time Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl MVP, NFL Hall of Fame, NCAA National Champion, All-American, College Football Hall of Famer.
Monday, Sept. 14 – Gus Malzahn, Former Arkansas Razorbacks assistant coach, former Arkansas State University head coach, former Auburn University head coach.
Monday, Sept. 21 – Doug Flutie, Heisman Trophy winner, College Football Hall of Famer.
Monday, Sept. 28 – Jason Peters, Super Bowl Champion, nine-time Pro Bowl selection, elected to 2010s NFL All-Decade Team.
Monday, Oct. 5 – John Tyson, CEO of Tyson Foods.
Monday, Oct. 12 – Will be announced at a later date. *Will be held at Simmons Bank Arena. (Personal note, I will donate $50 to the charity of your choice if this isn’t Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari.)
Monday, Oct. 19 – Wally Hall, Sports Editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Monday, Oct. 26 – Butch Jones, Arkansas State University Red Wolves football head coach.
Monday, Nov. 2 – Nathan Brown, University of Central Arkansas Bears football head coach.
Monday, Nov. 9 – Frank Ragnow, Former Arkansas Razorback Center, Four-time Pro Bowl selection.
Monday, Nov. 16 – Lance Barrow, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer, 13-time Emmy Award-winning producer.
Monday, Nov. 23 – Matt Stinchcomb, College Football Hall of Famer, two-time All-American tackle at the University of Georgia.
Sports
Upcoming Travs games
Six-game homestand with the Springfield Cardinals
Tonight, 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!
Singles Night: Let the Travs help turn a single into a double! Join us at the ballpark for a pre-game “Singles Mingle” event. More info coming soon!
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Fireworks Friday
Saturday, 6:05 p.m.
Harry Potter Night: Enjoy a magical time at the ballpark, with your Travs wearing specialty jerseys!
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
Hogwarts House Hat Giveaway: Fans will receive a randomly-selected hat representing either Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. | First 900 Fans (one item per person)
Teacher Appreciation Night: Educators get $3 off General Admission and Field Reserved tickets by presenting a valid Teacher ID (only available at a WinChoice Box Office Window) | Presented By Arkansas Department of Education .
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 Wichita, Aug. 25 through Aug. 30
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