Yes, my friends, it has come to this: we have icebergs in Arkansas. I drove over one of them trying to force my way into a parking spot this morning. The recipe for icebergs goes something like this: fluffy snow followed by sleet and rain. That's exactly what we've had the past couple of days and mini-icebergs are what's left behind.
The aftermath of our latest blast with winter tops what folks are talking about around Central Arkansas today, as some schools reopened and the wheels of state government began to slowly turn back to life. Most major roads were clear this morning, although the tough, hard, ice remains a problem on some side streets and secondary roads. Another bout with winter precipitation is possible Thursday night into Friday morning. Forecasters (at least for now) are saying that batch should focus more on Southern Arkansas.
The medical testing center once owned by Jennings Osborne is closing. Osborne sold Arkansas Research Medical Testing in 2004. The new owners changed the company name to Axient Research. Osborne sued the new company in 2008, alleging they had not paid him millions of dollars in consulting fees. A jury awarded him some 3 million dollars. Osborne says he's opening a similar company in the next month or so.
It looks like all state elected officials in Arkansas will see their salaries frozen at the current levels. The House of Representatives passed a bill locking in the current pay rates. Many Representatives said they couldn't feel right giving themselves a raise if nonelected state employees wouldn't get raises. The vote came as part of the first annual fiscal session of the legislature.
Bouncing around the blogs this Wednesday morning, here's a sampling of what Arkansans are writing and reading:
Folks who were afraid an Arkansas Lottery would take away money from retailers got some more ammunition for their argument this week:
Larry Fugate, writing in the Pine Bluff Commercial, surveys a dozen retailers who all say they've seen a decline in business that they believe is [...]
Since we're just getting into the major part of this election year campaigning, I was interested to see a blogger doing some snow-day research into lobbying groups - who's spending with republicans and who's spending with democrats:
I have been browsing the Center for Responsive Politics website Opensecret.org to get a feel for corporate and individual donations to political parties and candidates. I highly recommend it for those who want to know who’s getting how much from whom, and also for those who simply enjoy looking at well-presented data. A good place [...]
If you're following the story of the Duggar family of Arkansas - the folks with 19 children - you might be interested in the comments from readers of this blog, noting a new People magazine interview with the Duggars:
Now comes some serious discussion from the Duggars about whether there is a time that enough is enough. For them: No [...]
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