The 16-seeded University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions will face the number one-seeded Duke Blue Devils at 6:25 p.m. Friday on CBS. It’s been a dream run for the boys from the Bluff.
The team lost their first 11 games but advanced into the NCAA tournament’s “play-in” game after winning the SWAC conference. They walloped Winthrop earlier this week.
Congratulations to the University of Arkansas @ Pine Bluff Golden Lions for their first-ever NCAA tournament victory. The team beat Winthrop Tuesday night.
The Golden Lions will face Duke next. More info soon.
The Union County Investment Angels (UCIA) organization is looking for entrepreneurs who have ideas for businesses but no money to make their dreams happen.
The UCIA will link entrepreneurs with 12 local investors who will review their ideas and finance them if they like what they hear.
Look for more on the UCIA very soon in the News-Times.
It saddens me, as a Hog fan, that the Razorback basketball team won’t be making an appearance in this year’s NCAA Tournament. It’s probably just as well, though, considering how badly the team played at season’s end.
Look to the Delta now.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the 2010 SWAC Tournament Champions, will face Winthrop of the Big South Conference in the opening round game of the Big Dance.
The winner will face *gulp* No. 1-seeded Duke.
Hopefully, the Golden Lions can pull of a win against Winthrop and go on to give the Blue Devils a shock. Being a Pine Bluff native (born there but moved away when I was 6) I still identify with this raspy Delta city, and hope that this basketball team can offer a little bit of hope to the Bluff.
Click here for more. Game time is 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
John Worthen/Between Editions
In Saturday’s News-Times I’ll have a feature about Strong resident Jerry Swart, who built this bike. You may remember seeing it in the El Dorado Christmas Parade last December.
The 17th Annual Daffodil Festival is underway in Camden today through Saturday. There are plenty of beautiful yellow blooms to gaze at, and a steak cook-off and other events are planned.
Click here for complete details.
Photo courtesy of Arkansas Online. Click here for more.
Severe storms and several tornados were reported across the state Wednesday evening. The above photo, taken in White County, shows the result of powerful winds. This horse seems unphased by the destruction around it.
The Murphy USA store in Camden, according to arkansasgasprices.com, a site the tracks fuel prices by asking users to submit information from their communities, has one of the lowest prices in the state for a gallon of regular: $2.54.
At least five other stations in Camden are also featured on the low-end scale, with none charging more than $2.60 per gallon.
Here, we’re paying an average of $2.79 per gallon.
*Grumble.*
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Progress on the El Dorado Conference Center is shown in this image, taken by a camera that’s fixed on the project. Photo courtesy of SouthArk.
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If you haven’t yet, check out South Arkansas Community College’s live construction cams. They are tracking progress on the El Dorado Conference Center and the new Health Science Center.
Click here for the conference center cam, and here for the Health Science Center cam.
The science center cam looks more like a parking lot security camera to me. Perhaps shifting its location would better serve its purpose? Just a thought.
The Associated Press is reporting today that one Arkansan died Wednesday night after a round of strong storms passed through the state.
“I can confirm that we have one fatality,” Cleburne County Sheriff Marty Moss told the AP, but he declined to identify the victim or provide more details.
Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Renee Preslar had said four people were injured during the storms, including three who were in a home that was destroyed near Pearson in Cleburne County.
Moss would not say whether the victim was among those three.
The storms, which forecasters had been warning about since the weekend, missed much of the state’s populated areas.
About 1,600 customers remained without power Thursday morning, with Entergy Arkansas reporting on its Web site nearly 1,500 outages from southwestern to northeastern Arkansas. First Electric Cooperative reported 83 outages, most of those in Saline County just southwest of Little Rock.
There were no reports of significant damage in Union County, though there have been reports that a small tornado was spotted near Mount Holly.
••UPDATE••
U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln has issued the following statement about Wednesday night’s storms:
“My heart goes out to the families affected by the severe weather that hit our state last evening. I pray for the family and loved ones of the Cleburne County resident who lost his life. I also pray for the quick recovery of those injured in this devastating storm.
“As Arkansans, we have experienced our share of severe weather. Through it all, our citizens remain strong and resilient and neighbors reach out to help neighbors. I am especially thankful for the courageous and skilled emergency responders in our state.
“My office has been in close contact with officials in the areas affected by these storms. Arkansans should know that their federal government will be there for them in their time of need. That’s why I will continue to stay in close contact with local, state, and federal officials, and I will work hand-in-hand with the affected communities to provide any support needed from the federal level.”
Some of you may have seen a post here yesterday that is not here today. I cannot discuss it at this time, but more information about this will be forthcoming. Thanks, and sorry for any confusion.
Many thanks to our new photographer, Michael Orrell, for helping me keep the blog updated over the past couple of weeks.
Today, I’m back with a vengeance.
The topic: Sarah, the dog that was shot and killed by the City of El Dorado this week.
Sarah died from a gunshot wound that was inflicted, according to witnesses, by an El Dorado city employee who had reportedly been chasing the dog for several hours after receiving a complaint that it had gotten into garbage and was roaming the neighborhood surrounding Anders’ house in the 1200 block of Robinson.
According to the El Dorado City Code Book, “The poundmaster or other officials as designated by the mayor of city shall have the authority to destroy any wild or tame dogs in packs that are a threat to the health and safety of the citizens of city, only after all other avenues of capture have been exhausted. The animal control division must show a reasonable effort was made to locate any owner or custodian prior to destruction of said dogs.”
The first thing that stands out in the above paragraph is the phrase “dogs in packs.”
Sarah was not traveling in a pack. Sarah was alone, in her owner’s front yard, when she was gunned down.
The second red flag is a lack of clarification when mentioning “authority to destroy.”
Does this mean that the animal control officers can use a baseball bat to beat the dog to death? Can they use a homemade bomb to blow the dog up?
The city council should have addressed the wording of this particular piece of city code Thursday during their meeting.
The city must expound upon the meaning of “destroy” in relation to animals, and they must make it clear that animal control officers are allowed to carry loaded weapons.
The citizens of this city need to know that law enforcement officers are not the only people who have the power to shoot and kill.
I doubt that many residents here knew that their animal control officers carried weapons. I certainly didn’t and was shocked when I found out.
It makes no sense for an animal control officer to have a loaded weapon. There are other ways to deal with vicious animals — much better ways. There are stun guns, tasers and special sprays that can subdue animals long enough for them to be collared.
At Thursday’s city council meeting, El Dorado Public Works Director Robert Edmonds told aldermen that the .22 caliber rifle Ray Johnson used to exterminate Sarah was a “tool of the trade,” and that a city ordinance (highlighted above) gives officers the power to destroy animals in packs.
“Tool of the trade?” I find that statement completely extemporaneous. Nowhere in the city’s code does it mention that animal control officers are permitted to carry weapons.
Do these officers go through the same training as law enforcement officials? If not, they should. And the city should take a long, hard look at this code, because as written, it seems as if what happened to Sarah was completely unlawful.
The Union County Quorum Court on Thursday appointed Shelly Kuhn to fill the vacancy in the Union County Treasurer’s Office. Linda Morgan, who had for decades filled that office, died earlier this month.
Kuhn retired as the Union County Tax Assessor in 2000.
Kuhn’s term will expire on Dec. 31 of this year, and she is not eligible to run for the position.
There are many stories and many photos and videos to share, but here’s one to start. I shot these guys on Rue Royal in the French Quarter on Lundi Gras (the Monday before Fat Tuesday).
They were very entertaining. **NOTE** If you want to watch the video in a larger format, just click on it and you will be taken directly to the Vimeo page.
If this doesn’t say New Orleans, I don’t know what does. from John Worthen on Vimeo.
I’ll be in New Orleans until Thursday, so blog postings will be scarce. I will do my best to post some offerings from Mardi Gras. This will be my third year to participate in the largest festival on our continent. I expect it will be extra raucous since the Saints won the Super Bowl.
I snapped the above photo two years ago on Fat Tuesday.
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