Staying cool
Staying cool
Maumelle City Council has another light night; Candidate filings start next month; Casino Night is July 30 and Travs back in town, plus headlines
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!Death toll inches back up
The weekly death toll from the ongoing pandemic took a big jump the total number of dead Arkansans was at 34.
The previous week it was at 24 and the week before that it was 16.
The total number of dead Arkansans is now at 11,654
As for the national trends, the forecast numbers from the Centers for Disease Control are below and through Aug. 13.
The forecasts for both weekly and total death counts are on the upswing. The reason isn’t complicated, cases are on the rise now and death rates are a lagging indicator.
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
Upcoming meetings: The North Little Rock School Board will meet tonight while the North Little Rock City Council will meet next Monday night. The North Little Rock A & P Commission will have its quarterly meeting at 2:30 p.m., next Tuesday, July 26, at the North Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau Board Room.
Upcoming events: Emerge Arkansas, the state’s organization for recruiting and training Democratic women to run for office, is having its Pulaski County stop at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Trio’s in Little Rock. It is the last stop of an eight-city tour. Conducting the meeting are Emerge Arkansas Executive Director Stephannie Lane Baker and Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor Kelly Krout.
Covid toolkit
There’s now a one-stop shop to learn about vaccination sites and other Covid related information. Click here to learn more.
Travs on the road
The rare three-game series starts this Friday with the Frisco RoughRiders at North Little Rock’s Dickey-Stephens Park.
Homestand
Friday ... 7:05 p.m. ... vs. Frisco; Promotions: Fireworks and Baseball Giveaway
Saturday ... 7:05 p.m. ... vs. Frisco; Promotions: Marvel's Defenders Of The Diamond Night, Jersey Auction and Kids Run The Bases
Sunday ... 1:35 p.m. ... vs. Frisco; Promotions: Operation: Military Appreciation and Family Sunday
STEVE MOSLEY: Candidate filing starts Aug. 3
Maumelle Council member Steve Mosley provides the following information about municipal candidate filings that start in August.
I'd like to make Maumelle residents aware that this November's elections will include a number of elected Maumelle City positions this year including Mayor, City Clerk, City Attorney, and the position 2 Council member in each of Maumelle's 4 wards.
As I understand it, the filing period for these offices is Aug. 3. through noon Aug. 10. If you have questions about what ward you are in, what must be provided at filing, or have other questions, feel free to call me as a resource at 501-240-6700.
Official information can be obtained from the administrative office at the Pulaski County Court Clerk.
Maumelle: City Council report
The Dog Days of Summer continue in Maumelle with relatively light council agendas.
Regarding the heat, one item I will note is that a large portion of the west and north side of Maumelle lost power multiple times over the last week. According to @EntergyArk via Twitter on Tuesday evening, the outages stemmed from a construction crew digging into an underground line last week. Hopefully the repairs will work going forward so we won’t have repeated outages across the same areas in the future.
Onto the council agenda, this week we reviewed financials through the first six months of the year.
So far, the city’s revenue is approximately $1 million ahead of budget and our expenses are approximately $940,000 under budget. This continues to put our city in a strong financial position for the remainder of the year.
The city is in the process of completing our 2020 audit and it should be completed early in the month of August. As you’ll recall, the city completed the 2019 audit a few months ago, so our finance department has done a tremendous job getting our reporting back on track. Once the 2020 audit is completed in August, we will immediately begin the 2021 audit and should have that completed by the end of the year.
In new business this week, the council only took action on two small budget items. The first was a budget amendment to approve $8,500 to be used towards outfitting a fire department vehicle that was purchased. We approved this same request back in 2021, but the new vehicle didn’t arrive until this year so we had to appropriate those funds again to be used in 2022.
The second budget item was a request for $3,500 to repair a 2014 Ford F150 that’s used by Animal Services. This vehicle still has usable life so it made sense to approve the repair at this point.
That’s all for the week.
Be sure to cool off in the city’s splash pad during the upcoming heat! The splash pad is open daily until 8 p.m. and is free to the public.
If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Chad chad4maumelle@gmail.com, 501-529-1336
Casino Night to be July 30 in Maumelle
The Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce will have its 8th annual Casino Night at Maumelle Country Club on Saturday, July 30.
It will start at 6 p.m. and registration is $40 for chamber members and $45 for non-members at the door.
Heavy appetizers will be served and will include one drink and playing chips for blackjack, roulette, craps and poker. The event will also feature a cash bar and you’ll be able to buy more chips to keep playing. Entertainment is provided by Celebration’s Events and the night will also feature a silent and live auction.
Tickets may be purchased by contacting the Maumelle Chamber at macc@maumellechamber.com, registering for the event on the Maumelle Chamber of Commerce Facebook page or by visiting our event calendar at www.maumellechamber.com.
Casino Night is sponsored by Saracen Casino Resort, Manpower, Stanley Steemer and Team CPR.
Memphis the Musical at the Argenta Community Theater
The Judy Kohn Tenenbaum Argenta Community Theater will have a production of Memphis the Musical that started this week.
The first show was Wednesday and will continue through Saturday, July 30.
All shows are at 7:30 p.m. except the Sunday, July 24 matinee that will start at 2 p.m.
While next Wednesday is opening night, preview performances are set for next Thursday and Friday with those tickets costing $25.
All other shows are $35.
The theater is located at 405 Main St., in downtown North Little Rock.
For tickets, click here.