Tractor Supply has grand opening
Tractor Supply has grand opening
Graduation weekend is here; Weekend of Champions is here: Maumelle, CAC to play for state titles plus headlines and sports
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The Headlines
Meetings: The North Little Rock School Board will have its regular monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. tonight. The Maumelle City Council will meet next Monday night at City Hall.
Events: The Weekend of Champions is here and will be held at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, starting today, weather permitting. Graduation ceremonies for Maumelle Charter, Maumelle High School and Central Arkansas will also be this weekend. For more, keep on scrolling.
ICYMI: Simmons Bank, Stephens Inc. partner on PGA event in Little Rock
Something to read: As we ponder and report out on the Travs sale to Diamond Baseball Holdings, check out this piece from The Athletic on the new owner of North Little Rock’s team by clicking here.
Graduation weekend is here
Maumelle Charter High School will get graduation weekend going with a 6:30 p.m. commencement this Friday at the school.
Maumelle High School will follow with its graduation ceremony at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday at the Jack Stephens Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
It is one of four ceremonies that day for PCSSD schools. The others are:
9 a.m. Sylvan Hills High School
Noon, Mills University Studies High School
5:30 p.m., Robinson High School
Graduation weekend wraps up with a 2 p.m. Sunday graduation ceremony for Central Arkansas Christian.
North Little Rock’s graduation ceremony will also be at
Tractor Supply has grand opening
The Tractor Supply Distribution Center in Maumelle had a ribbon-cutting of sorts with several hundred in attendance on Tuesday morning.
If you could call firing up a chainsaw and cutting through a pallet a ribbon-cutting.
Which, they did.
A fair number of dignitaries and elected officials were on hand including Maumelle Mayor Caleb Norris, Gov. Sarah Sanders and Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge, who lives in Maumelle, and the state’s top two elected officials had a very awkward exchange of hellos and a half-hug before the ceremony’s second-half began.
The event was in two parts. The first was outside where the Maumelle High School choir and band performed along with a ceremonial raising of the U.S, and state flags, along with much milling and gabbing.
After that portion was complete, the event moved inside the cavernous distribution center. As previously noted, the facility is huge with 1.1 million square feet under roof, and has a footprint covering 26 acres.
Former Mayor Mike Watson was among those on hand and he detailed the nearly two-decade process to get the city’s industrial park up and going.
Watson said that in 2006, 2006, when he was then on the city’s Planning Commission, he successfully opposed a move that would have converted the Tractor Supply site into single family residential.
Then, as he was wrapping up his third and final term as mayor, he and Judy Keller, then the city’s head of economic development, had that area converted into a select site for industrial growth.
Keller and then Courtney Dunn, her replacement and who currently leads the city’s economic development efforts, kept things going and the groundbreaking was held in 2022.
The facility represents a $175 million investment by Tractor Supply and when fully staffed, something that will happen this summer, it will employ a total of 500.
Cody Ritchson, the facility’s general manager, was among those who spoke at the event as did Tractor Supply CEO, Hal Lawton, who came from the company’s headquarters in Brentwood, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville.
They both noted that the Maumelle facility is the 10th opened by the company and will serve roughly 10 percent of its stores, or about 250 locations.
“On behalf of the City of Maumelle, I am proud to welcome Tractor Supply to our thriving industrial park,” Norris said. “Boasting Tractor Supply’s largest distribution center in the nation is a major milestone for our city, and the company’s Out Here philosophy closely complements our live, work and play community spirit. It is an honor to bring an economic opportunity of this caliber to Maumelle’s residents and the greater state of Arkansas, and I look forward to a future of growth supported by our shared values.”
It was chainsaw that wrapped the day up, along with presentations to the Maumelle police and fire departments, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Maumelle Future Farmers of America, resplendent in their blue corduroy jackets with their signature yellow trim, who got a $5,000 donation.
Weekend of Champions is here: Maumelle, CAC to play for state titles
High school sports wrap up this weekend at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway as state championship games and matches will be held for the four spring sports of baseball, softball and boys and girls soccer.
Maumelle and Central Arkansas Christian are among the schools competing for state titles.
For the Hornets, they’re playing Valley View (30-2) for the 5A state title at 7 p.m. on Friday night. Maumelle, while having played for multiple state titles over the years in different sports, have never claimed a team championship.
Obviously, Maumelle hopes to come back with a ring.
The Hornets are 18-11 on the season, and lost to Valley View, 2-1, at the start of the season.
As for the Blazers, they’re playing for the title for the fourth time in the last four years and have yet to lose to an in-state team this season.
It is also a rematch of sorts in other ways as it was Valley View who defeated Maumelle in the first round of the 5A football playoffs last November.
The game will be televised on Arkansas PBS and in-game live stats will be at aaa.statbroadcast.com, just click through for the Maumelle-Valley View game.
CAC is also playing for a state title at 10 a.m. on Saturday as the Mustangs (18-5) will face Gosnell (25-8) in another case of central Arkansas vs. northeast Arkansas matchups.
This is the two school’s first meeting this season.
Expected to get the start for CAC is Grayson WIlson, a junior, and a familiar name as he also plays quarterback and was a starting forward on CAC’s state championship winning basketball team. Wilson, 6–foot-3 on the football roster but 6-2 on the basketball roster, is a junior and has already committed to play quarterback at the University of Arkansas, but still has some more chapters to write in the school’s history book.
CAC is far from done as both the boy’s and girl’s soccer squads are playing for titles on Saturday.
The first title match of the day is when CAC (15-3-2) faces undefeated Green Forest (18-0-1) for the 3A boys title.
CAC is riding a nine-match winning streak, while Green Forest had a 1-1 draw to Dardanelle back in April to keep them from a perfect season.
Expect a noisy atmosphere at UCA’s Estes Stadium where the soccer matches will be played on the stripes.
Immediately following CAC-Green Forest is CAC and Episcopal Collegiate for the 3A girl’s title.
CAC is 16-3 on the season and the two teams split during the regular season. Episcopal is 15-2. The other loss was to 6A Little Rock Central at the beginning of the season.
State championship game schedules were adjusted to accommodate graduation ceremonies as 18 of the 40 participating schools had scheduling conflicts.
AAA also announced that in case of inclement weather, games delayed by weather would be pushed to Sunday with the hopes of keeping as much of the schedule intact as possible on Friday and Saturday.
Tickets for all 20 state finals games are now on sale and can be purchased digitally using GoFan at gofan.co/app/school/AAA.
Schedules
Baseball Finals
Thursday: 10 a.m. - Taylor vs West Side, 1A Championship
Thursday: 4 p.m. - Prairie Grove vs Robinson, 4A Championship
Friday: 1 p.m. - Rogers vs Har-Ber, 6A Championship
Friday: 7 p.m. - Valley View vs Maumelle, 5A Championship
Saturday 10 a.m. - Central Arkansas Christian vs Gosnell, 3A Championship
Saturday: 4 p.m. - Woodlawn vs Ouachita, 2A Championship
Softball Finals
Thursday: 1 p.m. - Taylor vs Scranton, 1A Championship
Thursday: 7 p.m. - Sheridan vs Beebe, 5A Championship
Friday: 10 a.m. - Farmington vs Pea Ridge, 4A Championship
Friday: 4 p.m. - Har-Ber vs Bentonville, 6A Championship
Saturday: 1 p.m. - Riverside vs Mansfield, 2A Championship
Saturday: 7 p.m. - Hackett vs Lincoln, 3A Championship
Soccer Finals
Friday: 10 a.m. - Bentonville vs Rogers, 6A Girls Championship
Friday: Noon - Russellville vs Van Buren, 5A Boys Championship
Friday: 2 p.m. - Siloam Springs vs Pulaski Academy, 5A Girls Championship
Friday: 4 p.m. - Clarksville vs Dardanelle, 4A Boys Championship
Saturday: 10 a.m. - Catholic vs Conway, 6A Boys Championship
Saturday: Noon - Harding Academy vs Shiloh Christian, 4A Girls Championship
Saturday: 2 p.m. - Central Arkansas Christian vs Green Forest, 3A Boys Championship
Saturday: 4 p.m. - Episcopal Collegiate vs Central Arkansas Christian, 3A Girls Championship
Arkansas Latino Hall of Fame to be launched by the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
The North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce announced on Friday the launching of the Arkansas Latino Hall of Fame), a statewide initiative whose mission is to foster unity, honor cultural richness, and amplify the voices of those whose stories have woven the fabric of our state. Nominations for the inaugural 2024 Induction Class are now open.
The Arkansas Latino Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, an innovative initiative by the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, stands as a testament to our commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and community engagement. This groundbreaking event will annually bring together leaders, visionaries, and community members to celebrate the remarkable achievements of Latinos who have significantly contributed to the cultural, economic, and social tapestry of Arkansas.
Each year a group of Latinos are inducted in the Arkansas Latino Hall of Fame who have:
Made significant and enduring contributions to their field of endeavor, professional or otherwise.
Affected the social, cultural, economic, or political well-being of the community, state or nation.
Elevated the status of Latino and positively impacted the Latino community.
Helped open new frontiers for Latinos and for society in general.
Inspired others by their example.
Nominees are not limited to a certain field or accomplishment and can include pioneers, philanthropists, educators, entrepreneurs, athletes, artists, business leaders and political figures.
Nominations must be submitted by Friday, June 14. Criteria and nomination forms can be found at www.arlatinohalloffame.com. The 2024 Induction Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24 at the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel. For more, email arlatinohof@gmail.com.
Upcoming Travs games
Opponent – Northwest Arkansas
Today, 6:35 p.m.
Mad Mallards Week
$3 Thursday: Enjoy $3 Beer Garden Tickets and Concessions deals, including Hot Dogs, Soft Drinks, Cotton Candy, and a Select Canned Beer & Seltzer!
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Mad Mallards Week
Fireworks Friday - Country Music: Presented By Arkansas State Parks
Saturday, 6:05 p.m.
Mad Mallards Week
Kids Run the Bases:Kids 13 and under are invited to run the same basepaths the Travs run after the game!
Sunday, 1:35 p.m.
Mad Mallards Week
Kids Baseball Clinic: Kids 13 and under are invited to join Travs players on field for a baseball clinic starting at noon! | Presented By Hog Wash
Kids Run the Bases: Kids 13 and under are invited to run the same basepaths the Travs run after the game!
Operation: Military Appreciation: Service Members get $3 off General Admission and Field Reserved tickets by presenting a Military ID (only available at DSP Box Office) | Presented By Mid-South Ford Dealers
Family Sunday: Get $2 General Admission tickets by presenting a physical or digital church bulletin (only available at DSP Box Office)
At Corpus Christi, May 21-26