Take a hike

Scouting out trails around Maumelle, New trailhead opens; All-Inclusive Playground Meeting is tonight; Education news; Day of Service for MLK Jr. Day; Maumelle, CAC basketball are hot plus headlines

Jan 12, 2023

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Death toll shoots back up

The total number of dead Arkansans this past week was 38.

Last week, it was 12, and the week before that it was 14.

The total number of dead Arkansans is now at 12,736.

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If you don’t want to get sick and die, there’s some things you can do:

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The Headlines

Upcoming meetings: The Maumelle City Council meeting will be Tuesday night due to the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday on Monday. Also on Tuesday, is the quarterly meeting of the North Little Rock A&P Commission. That meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. while the council meeting will start at 6 p.m.
Upcoming events: MLK Jr. Day is next Monday and North Little Rock is participating in a National Day of Service that day. To read more, keep scrolling
ICYMI: Let your Christmas tree sleep with the fishes

All-Inclusive Playground Meeting is tonight

City Clerk/Treasurer Tina Timmons said a meeting on the all-inclusive playground planned for Maumelle will be held at 6 p.m. tonight. The meeting will be held in the south room at the Jess Odom Community Center.

EDUCATION

Ava Knoedl named to the Dean's List at Mississippi College

Ava Knoedl of Maumelle was named to the Fall 2022 Dean's List at Mississippi College as a freshman and is a graduate of Central Arkansas Christian.

Ava Knoedl in action this season for Mississippi College. (Kathryn Moss/MC athletics photo)

Knoedl is also a member of the basketball team at Mississippi and currently averaging 5.7 points per game.

The Mississippi College Office of Academic Affairs releases the dean's list after the close of fall and spring semesters each academic year. To be eligible for the Dean's List, a student must maintain a 3.5 grade point average, based on a 4.0 system. The student must take a full course load of at least 12 semester hours of undergraduate credit with all academic courses impacting their grade point average.

Mississippi College, affiliated with the Mississippi Baptist Convention, is a private university in Clinton, Miss.

Geneva Millikan named to Baldwin Wallace University Dean's List

Geneva Millikan of Maumelle, a graduate of Maumelle High School majoring in acting (BFA), has been named to the Dean's List for the fall 2022 semester at Baldwin Wallace University, according to Provost Stephen D. Stahl. The Dean's List recognizes students who earn a grade point average of 3.6 or higher while enrolled in 12 or more graded hours during the semester.

Baldwin Wallace University, founded in 1845, is in Berea, Ohio and a suburb of Cleveland.

Jasmin Aranda named to Troy University Provost's List

Jasmin Aranda of North Little Rock has been named to the Provost's List at Troy University for the Fall Semester/Term 2 of the 2022-2023 academic year.

The Provost's List honors full-time undergraduate students who are registered for at least 12 semester hours and who have a grade point average of at least 3.65.

Troy University is in Troy, Ala.

Angelo State University names Fall 2022 Graduates

Angelo State University conferred 643 undergraduate and graduate degrees on 640 graduates during the 2022 fall commencement exercises on Dec. 10, 2022, at the Junell Center/Stephens Arena in San Angelo, Texas.

Graduates include Connor Vargas of Sherwood, who earned a Master of Business Administration in Business Administration .

A full list of the graduates is available on the ASU website at angelo.edu/commencement.

Angelo State University is part of the Texas Tech University system and is in San Angelo, Texas.

Take a hike: Scouting out trails around Maumelle

Golf is a good walk spoiled, or so the saying goes, but, in addition to some fine golf courses, there're plenty of good places to go for a walk in and around Maumelle.

Most notably, just about anywhere around Lake Willastein will get you from point A to point B on a mostly flat, paved path that takes in some nice scenic views. Those paths tend to be mostly uncrowded, but, like rush hour, they can fill up fast, at peak walking times in the evenings and on the weekends.

The same can be said for Lake Valencia, as it winds around City Hall and the public library.

The walking path around Lake Valencia checks in at .57 miles, according to Maumelle Parks and Recreation, while Lake Willastein has five trails that start at .4 miles and go up to 2.1 miles, depending on how far you want to walk, or ride your bike.

Those trails are seen below.

Maumelle also has a significant number of bike paths around the city, and that map is below.

Of course, North Little Rock and Burns Park, one of the country’s largest municipal parks is easy enough to get to and has a number of walking trails, bike trails, BMX course, horse trails and you can also get to the Big Dam Bridge and walk or bike across the river and, essentially, walk, or hike, for as long as you want. There’s an unbroken trail that connects central Arkansas to Mena, if you’ve got a few days to kill and some really good, and broken-in, hiking boots.

It isn’t the Appalachian Trail, but Arkansas does alright that way, at least for activities outdoors.

There’s also some other trails and that led to checking out onXBackcountry, a new, app-based mapping system that will use your location and give you options for hikes, or, at least, in theory give you options for something.

The app has a one-week free trial period before going to a modest monthly subscription.

A test of oNX gave some interesting options with two notable “hikes” along the edge of Maumelle and North Little Rock.

The first, seen below, is off Paul Eells Drive, and, at first glance, you find a rough patch of land with no visible trail markings, but then you realize you aren’t quite there and driving further takes you to one of the many apartment complexes in that part of the town. This one, though, is the one with the golf course, and the “hiking trail” is actually the golf cart path around the course.

That’s not exactly a hike, but it is a fine place to walk.

The second “hike” is near the new campus of Maumelle Charter High School in North Little Rock, at least for now, but if you go up a bit further, you see the Maumelle Field of Diamonds, the six-field complex for youth baseball and softball.

Again, oNX had taken a walking path, the paved sidewalks that connect the fields to the parking lot and had labeled them as “hiking trails.”

So, not really a hike, but also, not really a good place to walk either, unless you happen to be toting a camp chair and heading to a game at one of the fields.

The app, oNX does have some really good uses, especially for those who hunt or are more inclined for unpaved trails, that didn’t get a spin though, as the free trial ran out before an opportunity presented itself.

Take a hike: New trailhead opens in rural, west Pulaski County

Arkansas hikers have a new trail.

A new trailhead opened up for the Blue Mountain Natural Area on Highway 10 in rural, west Little Rock. The trailhead is on the left, if headed west on 10, and before the Alotian Golf Club.

The trailhead officially opened on Dec. 20 with a ceremony as then Gov. Asa Hutchinson and U.S. Rep. French Hill were among the speakers. It will open to the public this Spring.

The Blue Mountain Natural Area is a little more than 457 acres and is considered the third, and final, mountain that makes up the Maumelle Pinnacles chain. The other two mountains in the chain are Pinnacle and Rattlesnake Ridge.

The area was purchased for conservation for a total of $5 million in 2021, by the state using a combination of state and federal funds, along with $1 million from The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas.

Q&A with Fidelity Communications

With the news that Fidelity Communications was going to expand its efforts in Maumelle, Fidelity General Manager Sam McGill did a Q&A with ArkansasNewsroom.com that covers what the company has planned for the future.

The Q&A has been lightly edited and formatted for publication.

Q: About how many residential and business customers do you have in Maumelle/Pulaski County?

A: There are approximately 3,000 Fidelity customers in Maumelle.

Q: And how many of them are Gig Internet customers?

A: As of the third quarter 2022, our sell-in to Gig service is nearly 32% across our footprint (we don’t report market-specific numbers) however, we offer several speeds to meet the needs of all our customers.

Q: From a technical standpoint, converting them automatically, was that difficult. What’s a good way to describe that?

A: It was our goal to ensure our customers received the speed upgrade increase as soon as possible, so we worked to push this upgrade through in our overnight maintenance window. Our technical team notified Fidelity Gig and 100 Mbps customers that we would deploy this automatic upgrade reboot overnight to minimize disruption to their service. Customers who didn’t want to wait for the maintenance window were encouraged to reboot their modems manually to take advantage of the faster upload speeds sooner.

Q: Fidelity has made some significant upgrades in terms of fiber and such. So how much has Fidelity, a member of the Cable One family of brands, invested in those upgrades?

A: The company has invested $1.6 million in Maumelle and nearly $18 million in Arkansas over the last 3 years, building a network with the power and capacity to support the digital future of the customers we serve, as well as extend broadband service to areas previously unserved or underserved. Fidelity will continue to invest in a new era of innovation that will not only enrich the lives of our customers but contribute to the economic development of the cities and towns we serve.

Q: Are there plans for more in the future?

A: Fidelity will continue to invest in the communities we serve to offer a new era of innovation that will not only enrich the lives of its customers but contribute to the economic development of the hundreds of cities and towns we serve by laying the groundwork for 10 Gigabit (10G) speeds – internet connectivity that is more reliable, more secure and 10 times faster than today’s networks.

The recent increase in upload speeds for our Gig and 100 Mbps internet customers is part of that commitment. We continue to strive to bring faster speeds - both upload and download, network improvements for reliability and more speed options to Arkansas.

Q: The traditional cable model has shifted to becoming more of an internet provider. How has that changed your approach in a community like Maumelle?

A: We understand the importance of keeping communities and people connected. Broadband service is key to a community’s growth as families and businesses look to Fidelity to keep them connected through fast and reliable internet. This upgrade is part of our ongoing commitment to investing in the communities we serve and we will continue to stay ahead of customer demand by tapping into our fiber-powered network to provide our communities with the speeds they need to keep their multi-device homes connected to what matters most – whether that is family and friends, work, school or entertainment. People are working, learning, gaming, streaming and staying in touch through the internet and we want to be their trusted provider.

Q: Where else does Fidelity have operations in Arkansas? (As I recall, Maumelle was a bit of an outlier as Missouri was a big focus)

A: We serve several towns in Arkansas including Maumelle, Benton, Bryant (partially), Alexander, Hardee, Haskell, Saline County, Shannon Hills, Tull, Wrightsville as well as parts of North Little Rock, Beebe and Western Pulaski County.

Q: Anything else you'd like add?

A: Our Purpose is keeping our customers and communities connected to what matters most. This goes beyond providing fast and reliable internet. We are committed to developing and supporting programs and initiatives that have a meaningful impact in the cities and towns where we live and work. We have a personal stake in improving the communities we serve and believe it’s our responsibility to help ensure – through donations of time and resources – that our communities grow and thrive.

Cable One® annually awards nearly $250,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations served by the Cable One family of brands (Sparklight®, Fidelity Communications, Hargray, ValuNet Fiber and CableAmerica), across its 24-state footprint through the company’s Charitable Giving Fund. Several Arkansas-area organizations have received Charitable Giving Fund grants including Arkansas Diversity Summit in Maumelle, CASA of the Third Judicial District in Highland, Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas in Little Rock, Piggott Public Library in Piggott and 4 States Youth Flyers, Inc. in Texarkana, Ark.

We’ve also donated Chromebooks to schools in Beebe, Hardy and Benton (Saline County), through our Chromebooks for Kids initiative in which the company donates Chromebooks to Title I schools across its footprint. To date the company has donated more than 2,600 Chromebooks to help bridge the digital divide in schools that lack funding.

North Little Rock: National Day of Service for MLK Jr. Day

North Little Rock is among the cities across the country that will be having a Day of Service for Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday this Monday.

In addition to block parties, volunteers will be installing and filling mini food pantries in an effort with Engage Arkansas.

“It is our honor to answer Dr. King’s call to serve and make a difference in the lives of Arkansas residents,” said Starr Crow, Civic Engagement Manager for Engage Arkansas. “Service has the power to bring communities together, help others stand together against hate, build bridges, and heal divides. Service unites people regardless of race, religion, or zip code. We invite our community members to act on Dr. King’s legacy of social justice and equity; and recommit by volunteering with us on MLK Day and throughout the year.”

The Little Free Pantry Project will take 100 old newspaper boxes and repurpose them to help those in need.

Each pantry will be “adopted” by a community leader so that it remains stocked with food while also conducting drives to collect supplies.

Sports

Basketball: Maumelle, CAC coming in hot

The Maumelle Hornets are the hottest team North Of the River.

Maumelle rolled past Sylvan Hills last Friday and beat Little Rock Parkview, 63-53, at home on Tuesday.

Friday ... at Jonesboro ... 6 p.m.
Jan. 24 ... vs. Bryant ... 6 p.m.
Jan. 27 ... vs. Cabot ... 6 p.m.
Jan. 31 ... vs. Central ... 6 p.m.
Feb. 3 ... vs. Conway ... 6 p.m.
Feb. 7 ... at Little Rock Southwest ... 6 p.m.
Feb. 10 ... vs. Jonesboro ... 6 p.m.
Feb. 17 ... at Bryant ... 6 p.m.
Feb. 24 ... at Cabot ... 6 p.m.

For the roster, click here.

The week that was: North Little Rock beat Southwest on Tuesday in a rebound win after a 65-61 loss to Conway last Friday.

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