Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Bruce Shackleford submits annual report on Fayetteville wetland-mitigation site

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Bruce Shackleford talking with Alderman Lioneld Jordan, the new mayor of Fayetteville, Arkansas, back on August 21, 2008, at the organizational meeting of the Fayetteville Natural History Association's green-infrastructure committee. Shackleford has been the environmental consultant for Fayetteville's new sewage-treatment facility and related projects for several years. His interest in prairie and wetland in Northwest Arkansas has made him a leader in the FNHA project and one of his hopes is to see even more city-owned land at the treatment facility become a part of the nature preserve. A savanna adjacent to the wetland site would be an excellent addition to the city's green infrastructure if put into a perpetual easement.

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of sign at Fayetteville's Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant. Woolsey Wet Prairie was developed as mitigation for destruction of natural wetland on the site of the treatment plant.

As required by individual 404 permit 14207, the City of Fayetteville must submit an annual wetland mitigation monitoring report to the Little Rock District US Army Corps of Engineers by December 31 of each year. The purpose of the report is to provide an update on the status of wetland mitigation activities associated with the City's Wastewater System Improvements Project.

Fortunately, this year I am able to email it before 11:58 pm on December 31, as I did last year. As you will see, 2008 produced extraordinary results well beyond our wildest dreams, and we have achieved 160.13 wetland mitigation credits, when we only needed 79.2 credits. This certainly further reinforces an opportunity for "banking" the surplus 80.93 credits for future infrastructure projects, as discussed in the last section of the report, and paves the way for expanding Woolsey Wet Prairie Sanctuary.

The non-ecologist may not fully comprehend the significance of the data. Therefore, I have attached a Power Point file with photos prepared by Theo Witsell, ECO, Inc. Special Projects Scientist. As the old saying goes, "A picture speaks a thousand words".

Also check out the Woolsey Wet Prairie Sanctuary web site that Erin Billings, ECO, Inc. Environmental Scientist has developed from information I have prepared. It is still under construction and will have a lot of additional information in the future.

http://ecoarkansas.com/WoolseyMain.html

Scientist's report Woolsey Wet Prairie

Chief Tabor steps down to Deputy Chief of Fayetteville Police

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Greg Tabor (seated left), Fayetteville chief of police, on December 1, 2008, during a meeting in city hall.

Tabor out as Fayetteville's police chief
Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor resigned abruptly Wednesday as part of an apparently long-standing agreement with departing Mayor Dan Coody.

The Fayetteville City Clerk sent out the following announcement shortly after 1 p.m.
"Mayor Dan Coody announced today the resignation of Greg Tabor as Chief of Police. Tabor will assume his previous duties as Deputy Chief of Police effective 1-1-09.
"When Chief Tabor accepted the position as Chief of Police he and Mayor Coody entered into an agreement allowing this move since Tabor did not have the necessary years of service for retirement. Since the mayor cannot bind future administrations this agreement was only valid while Mayor Coody is Mayor. Chief Tabor decided it was in his best interest to exercise his right to make this change since there is going to be a change in the mayor’s position."
Alderman Lioneld Jordan defeated Coody for the mayor's post in a runoff on Nov. 25. He assumes office officially on Friday.
Read tomorrow's Northwest Arkansas Times for all the details on this story!
Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact Us

The Morning News' version of the news release provided the following additonal information.
Mayor-elect Lioneld Jordan will be sworn-in Friday morning.

Tabor was promoted to police chief Oct. 24, 2006.

Tabor replaced Frank Johnson who took a job in the private sector.

Peripheral damage common construction side effect

Please click on image to ENLARGE?: Sign knocked down at Eleventh Street and Hill Avenue may have been backed over by a delivery truck. Or was it hit by a drunken driver?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

State Representative Lindsley Smith to bring resolution supporting Equal Rights Amendment back to floor of Arkansas House

The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


State Legislator To Bring Back Equal Rights Amendment Resolution

By John Lyon
THE MORNING NEWS
LITTLE ROCK -- A state legislator said Tuesday she would propose again that Arkansas ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Rep. Lindsley Smith, D-Fayetteville, whose resolution proposing state ratification of the ERA was narrowly defeated in committee during the 2007 session, said she plans to bring back the resolution during the 2009 session and is confident it will pass this time.

"I've had legislators who've questioned it in the past say, 'Hey, I'm going to support it this time.' ... I think everything's in line to pass it in the next session," Smith said.

Jerry Cox, the executive director of the conservative Family Council, said his group will oppose the resolution, which he said would obliterate legal differences between men and women.

"I think it'll be a little easier to stop that, since we've already talked about it during the recent session," Cox said, noting that some of the legislators who initially signed on as co-sponsors of the resolution in 2007 later withdrew their sponsorship.

Congress passed the ERA in 1972, but to date only 35 states have ratified it. Approval in 38 states is required for the amendment to become part of the U.S. Constitution.

The amendment reads, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

Ratifying the amendment in Arkansas would send a message, Smith said.

"We're now in the column of 15 (states) that say gender equality is a bad idea. What this would do would make us No. 36 of the states that say gender equality is a good idea, and that's a great column to be in," she said.

Smith's 2007 resolution, which Gov. Mike Beebe supported, received a 10-10 vote in the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee, falling just short of the 11 votes needed to advance.

Longtime ERA opponent Phyllis Schlafly testified before that committee that the amendment would cause women to be placed in combat, legalize same-sex marriage and eliminate restrictions on abortion.

Schlafly's arguments defied logic, Smith said Tuesday.

"Maybe people at the time believed that, but I don't think they'll fall for some of that this time," she said.

Mayor-elect Lioneld Jordan chairs Tuesday's agenda-setting session preparing for his first meeting as mayor on January 6, 2009

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Lioneld Jordan chairing meeting of the city council to set agenda for its January 6 meeting. Jordan has served as vice-mayor and chaired many meetings the past few years. Next Tuesday will be his first as mayor. Jordan is to be sworn in Friday morning at the Washington County Courthouse.
Please see Jeff Erf's Web log for the tentative agenda for the Jan. 6 meeting at Tentative agenda for Jan. 6, 2009, city council meeting

For the final agenda, check the same link Friday or Monday or go to Final agenda for Jan. 6, 2009, city council meeting for the agenda and link for live web streaming on Tuesday.
Below the photo, please find final report on campaign spending including the runoff from The Morning News edition for Wednesday, December 31, 2008.



The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Coody Outspends Jordan In Mayoral Race

By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody raised more money for his re-election bid than his opponent Lioneld Jordan. The incumbent mayor raised $87,375 -- and $12,464 was his own money that he lent the campaign.

But it was not enough. Coody lost his bid for a third term to Jordan, a two-term city councilman who raised $49,615. Final campaign finance reports were due Tuesday.

Jordan won the 2008 mayoral race in a runoff, capturing 57 percent of the vote to Coody's 43 percent.

"It's got to make you feel good when you raise $50,000 and your opponent raises nearly $90,000 and you win by about 14 percentage points," Jordan said Tuesday.

All told, the 2008 mayoral race picked up $200,857 in contributions. Steve Clark, a former state attorney general and the new president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, picked up $46,214 in contributions. More than $11,000 was a loan to his campaign made by Clark and his wife.

In Coody's final report, which spans Nov. 14 to Dec. 6, he accumulated $14,205 in contributions, much of it from developer interests. For example, Ruskin Heights LLC gave $1,200. Nock Investments contributed $1,000.

"The business community was supportive of my campaign. They recognize that I recognize the importance of a strong business base," Coody said Tuesday.

Jordan's final report, which spans Nov. 16 through Dec. 26, shows $8,000 of his final $10,131 in contributions came from union organizations such as the American Federation of State and Municipal Employees or the International Association of Fire Fighters. All told, union organizations contributed $12,099 to Jordan's mayoral campaign. But unions notwithstanding, the bulk of Jordan's contributions came from local residents.

"It was just a huge diverse group and it was an amazing campaign," Jordan said.

And ultimately, the challenger rallies the troops, Coody said.

"Unhappy people always go vote," he said. "And Lioneld had a broad base of support. And my supporters were happy."

With sizable amounts of money being spent in the last leg of the election --$19,169 going toward television, newspaper and radio advertising -- and other expenses, Coody's campaign ended in the red, owing $11,416.

Jordan closed his campaign with $2,951 still in the bank.

What made me care about the natural world and its resources?

Someone said that I am too impatient and intense when discussing conservation of natural resources and pollution of water and air and destruction of fertile soil, the removal of trees and other vegetation from stream corridors and the general sloppiness of construction practices in Northwest Arkansas.
This Web log and some of my 30 other online sites offer evidence that there is truth in that comment. But this tendency didn't begin in the Internet era. It predates the first time I ever saw a television set or a computer and apparently before I had even mastered the skill of reading. Failing to cure the problem with the one story, I have been doomed to repeat my message forever, it seems.
Several times I have been asked when I became "an environmentalist."
One of my answers went back to age 3 when I asked my parents why there was no sidewalk on a muddy bayou bank in Louisiana and got an answer from my father that clarified what he thought should be a more appropriate attitude toward nature.
Another answer I have given was that seeing oily backwater areas of Caddo Lake with dead cypress trees when I was 13 years old made me feel strongly about destruction of the environment.
Those are sample memories. But there was no single epiphanic moment I can pinpoint. Heck, I may have been born that way. Logically, it would seem that every living thing is born with a love for the earth, because every living thing depends on the earth's resources for life.
Human beings, however, began to try to "improve" on nature. So far, there is no human invention or activity that I can cite as "improving on nature" without having to acknowledge side effects and drawbacks.
Nearly 6 decades hunting, fishing, hiking, floating streams, photographing every wild thing that will be still long enough and just generally enjoying the natural world has only confirmed what my father said to me all those years ago.
Anyway, I don't have any written evidence of the beginning of my lifetime devotion to the protection of natural resources, but I have subscribed to an online site that offers old newspaper articles from our local Northwest Arkansas Times, full-page views, actually, from decades-old microfilm records.
Here is a sample of something of mine published in that newspaper when I was half my current age:

"Tuesday, May 14, about noon there was a stream of
silt-laden, muddy water running across Razorbaek
Road at the corner of Nettleship Street. The mud was
coming from a construction site west of Razorback and
south of Nettleship.
"A witness asserted that the muddy stream was
two feet deep for a time a little before noon. The
water was substantially deeper than one foot at 12:15
p.m. When the heavy rain ended, a coating of slick
mud and gravel was left across most of the street.
"Water from that area drains into a small and
formerly clear and pretty stream which flows south
and east to help form Town Branch, which runs even-
tually into the West Fork of White River, near High-
way 16.
"Town Branch has provided many generations
of children a place to get their toes wet and to catch
crayfish and small fish. In fact, an occasional adult
angler may be seen stubbornly seeking catfish, bass,
or perch from its water."

Source at link below
This is the second part of a column that began on preceding page of the Northwest Arkansas Times.
Arkansas Ponds, Stream of Mud Page 9C of Northwest Arkansas Times May 26, 1974, with second part of Aubrey Shepherd outdoor column from Page 8. First column about the Town Branch and muddy runoff.

My first column about muddy runoff to Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River

Arkansas Ponds, Stream of Mud Page 9C of Northwest Arkansas Times May 26, 1974, with second part of Aubrey Shepherd outdoor column from Page 8. First column about the Town Branch and muddy runoff.

May 26, 1974, aubrey shepherd outdoor column with ponds and lakes and fishing in Mexico plus bass tournament report Bob Carnes 34th at B.A.S.S. Table Rock event.

Jim Bemis of Fayetteville, Arkansas, shares list of things that President Obama will never say

Thanks, Jim. Just what I needed to lift my spirit.

Mayoral Transition Task Force communication subcommittee holds final public hearing January 13

Please announce:

The Transition Task Force Communication Subcommittee holds its concluding open public
hearing Tuesday, January 13 from 6:30 to 8 PM.

This 90 minute open hearing will be held in the Council Chamber (City Hall 219). The
hearing will be broadcast live on the Government Channel (Channel 16).

It will feature live public input for those attending and both a call in or an email
option for those viewing from home.

The contact information for the live call-in open hearing is:

Live Call-In 575-8299

Live Email: GOVERNMENTCHANNEL@YAHOO.COM

For more information please contact Transition Team Chair – Don Marr 479-236-1739 or the
Communications Sub-Committee Chair Walt Eilers at 479-582-0784

Monday, December 29, 2008

Three-hour public-listening session fills Chamber of Commerce meeting room early with small groups toward noon

Transition team committee Dec. 29, 2008, NWAT

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Linda Ralston (from left), Michelle Halsell and James Phillips facing the camera, with Cindy Cope at right and Julie McQuade facing the table. Not pictured were Jeff Erf and Walt Eilers (chairman of the Jordan mayoral transition teams' communition subcommittee).

1975 bombing at La Guardia killed 11 and injured 75 more.

The more it changes the more life stays the same.

1975: Bomb detonates at LaGuardia
A bomb placed in a coin-operated locker near a TWA baggage area exploded this evening at the LaGuardia Airport in New York. Eleven died from the blast and 75 people were injured.

"Flying glass and steel ripped like shrapnel into scores of holiday travelers and airport workers," reported the Bennington Banner on December 30, 1975. "A UPI reporter who was waiting for a flight said she saw a 'human head – just a head – on a window ledge.'"

NOTE: Had the bomb gone off just 15 minutes sooner when passengers from two planes were waiting for their luggage, there certainly would have been more injuries and deaths. "‘Usually a bomber picks a specific target for a specific reason,’ said one New York City police detective. ‘But this was just a senseless attack on innocent people,’" relayed the Bennington Banner on December 30, 1975. The bombing is still unsolved.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Cedar waxwing eats berry of nonnative privit on December 28, 2008, on World Peace Wetland Prairie

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of cedar waxwing with privit berry on WPWP on December 28, 2008.

Jordan mayoral-transition committee sets public-input session for Monday

Northwest Arkansas Times preview of transition team's input session
Transition Committee plans input meetings
BY DUSTIN TRACY Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Sunday, December 28, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/72503/
Fayetteville's mayorelect wants to know how his administration will best be able to communicate with the city's residents and he's using a series of public meetings to help figure it out.

Monday morning marks the first public hearing for Lioneld Jordan's Transition Committee's subcommittee on communication. The meeting is from 9 a.m. to noon at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. Walt Eilers, the subcommittee chairman, said Monday's event is mainly for people in the business community and the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods and will give these groups a chance to drop in and share their thoughts on the best way to have open government.

"We already have 25 people who've RSVP'd," Eilers said Friday. He said an RSVP is not necessary to attend the public hearing.

During Jordan's mayoral campaign he promised transparent and open government to the voters, specifically stating that he wanted to hold four town meetings a year, one in each ward. As a Ward 4 alderman, Jordan and fellow Alderman Shirley Lucas held monthly ward meetings.

...
Eilers said the subcommittee also decided to take advantage of technology available to it through Community Access Television. On Jan. 13, subcommittee members will host a live broadcast question-and-answer session from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Fayetteville City Council chambers. Eilers said that interested parties who wish to remain anonymous can e-mail or call in questions or suggestions about open, transparent government.

Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com
For the rest of the story, please click on the following link Northwest Arkansas Times preview of transition team's input session

Cedar waxwings on December 28, 2008, at World Peace Wetland Prairie eat berries of privet and China honeysuckle

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of cedar waxwing with face shaded. One must scroll left and right and up and down to find bird closeup in enlarged image. Please be patient.

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of cedar waxwing with berry of nonnative privet bush in its bill on December 28, 2008.

Please click on image to see why this bird is called a cedar waxwing.

100 years ago today

Quake in 1908 destroys Messina, Italy

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Huge storm-drain pipe could bring too much water from proposed Summit development across Hill Place project to World Peace Wetland Prairie

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Hill Place storm drain dumping water from east side of Rochier Hill onto World Peace Wetland Prairie. The approved plan was to spread the flow of a small percentage of water from the Summit project uphill from the railroad onto wpwp to guarantee water during dry times of year. However, the 24-inch pipe could bring enough water to wash out a gully through WPWP if the spread of the flow isn't extremely wide!


January 25, 2009, annual meeting of FNHA features water-quality presentations

"Troubled Water: Preserving and Restoring Arkansas' Most Valuable Resource"

will be the program theme for FNHA’s annual meeting at 2:00 pm on January 25, 2009,

in the Walker meeting room of the Fayetteville Public Library.

Two leading experts on water issues in Arkansas, Martin Maner and Marty Matlock, will discuss Arkansas’ persistent water concerns and will talk with us about what they are doing and what we, as citizens, can do to protect the quality of our water and to help restore water quality where it has deteriorated.

Martin Maner is Director of Watershed Management with Central Arkansas Water, a metropolitan system which traces its history to the springs and wells of the early 1800s and which currently provides water to nearly 400,000 users. Central Arkansas Water, which is publicly owned, emphasizes a regional approach to water needs and has won numerous EPA awards for its commitment to water quality. Before becoming Director of Watershed Management for the utility, Maner was chief of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Division.

Marty Matlock is Associate Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Arkansas and has conducted research on a variety of ecological issues. One groundbreaking project which has drawn national attention combines urban stream ecological services restoration with outdoor classrooms, greenway trails and park development. Matlock's ecological engineering group collaborates closely with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, in the School of Architecture, as well as with city and state officials to demonstrate more natural designs for stormwater systems. Among other activities, he will be working with the Springdale water utility in 2009 on the Clear Creek stream restoration project.

Please plan to join us the afternoon of January 25, and encourage your friends and neighbors to come along. Refreshments will be served. The annual business meeting will be brief, and there will be opportunities to learn more about an essential resource on which we and all living things depend.

Barbara Elaine Boland
Green Infrastructure Planning, Project Coordinator
Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association

Friday, December 26, 2008

Sewer construction may be worse for riparian zones than trail building in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Please click on images to ENLARGE photos of new sewer line in the overflow/riparian zone of the West Arm of the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River at its confluence with Cato Springs Branch.


Scull Creek Trail UNDER railroad bridge cuts floodway in half and will back water up over low-water bridge

Please click on images to enlarge view of Scull Creek Trail between Cleveland and Maple Streets.


One of the worst examples of trail planning in Fayetteville is the filled area and paving under the railroad bridge between Cleveland Street and Maple Street. Filling the already narrow floodway will inevitably slow the flow during flash floods and cause floodwater to back up to the southeast and over the low-water bridge that carries vehicles and pedestrian traffic across the creek west of Wilson Park. How often will this happen. Yearly, once in 10 or 20 years? Once is all it will take to drown a car load of people. This work was completed just in time for the mayoral election with no public hearing on the environmental impact and probably with no ruling from the U.S. Corps of Engineers or the ADEQ. While some joggers and bicyclists may have thought it was admirable, anyone with knowledge of the watershed would have said NO. Hundreds of trees were removed from the riparian zone of the stream to squeeze the trail in and the few that remain standing are at risk because their roots were cut or buried. Future trails must be kept away from the streams as far as possible. Construction cost further from the streams would be less expensive as well as less harmful to the greenbelt along the streams.

Next week's government channel program list available at link below

http://fayettevillearkgovernmentchannel.blogspot.com/2008/12/december-28-2008-january-3-2009-program.html

Sixteen veterans seize Statue of Liberty on this day in 1971 to protest the Vietnam War

1971: Veterans seize Statue of Liberty
Sixteen veterans took over the Statue of Liberty today to protest the Vietnam War. The protesters hid as the national monument closed to tourists and then barricaded the doors of the statue after they drove out the night watchman.

"When the veterans took over the Statue of Liberty Sunday night, they had vowed to maintain their occupation until New Year's Eve to protest continuation of the Vietnam war. But this morning, after receiving what they called a consensus of veterans' groups the world over, they issued a statement demanding setting of a withdrawal date," reported The Abilene Reporter-News on December 27, 1971.

NOTE: Two days later, when a federal judge ordered the group to leave the statue so it could reopen to the public, the veterans complied. "Demonstrators in New York left the Statue of Liberty in good shape, according to James Bateman, the statue's superintendent. Floors were cleaned and refuse placed in garbage cans," informed the News Journal on December 29, 1971. "The veterans left behind five $1 bills with a note explaining the money was to pay for some food and coffee they had taken from a refrigerator in an employees' cafeteria."

If you think that Fayetteville residents weren't trying to protect the environment 30 or more years ago, please see

parts of the sample of old outdoor columns in several posts at
Aubrey Shepherd Outdoors
and then go to
Northwest Arkansas Arkansas Environment Central
to check a few old Eco-Logue columns from the Northwest Arkansas Times of the mid-1970s.
If you think the world's problems were less serious or unlike today's problems, check out the news pages from the paper from those same years.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Please click on image to ENLARGE.

Christmas 1975 with international flavor

Christmas 1975 at end of Vietnam War

Christmas Truce of 1914 from newspaper archives

1914: "Christmas Truce" observed
Soldiers on the Western Front laid down their arms this evening in observance of the Christmas holiday. The "Christmas Truce," as it has been referred to, was proposed by Pope Benedict XV earlier in the month but was roundly rejected by commanders on both sides. Although the first denial had come from the Russians, whose Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7, eventually all sides refused to honor the truce.

Despite their commanders' refusal to honor the day, soldiers in the trenches on the Western Front embraced the truce by singing Christmas carols to each other across the area known as "no man's land." "[Foreign Legion officer Phil Rader said,] ‘We had been in the trenches for twenty consecutive days, before Christmas dawned. For twenty days we had faced that strip of land, forty-five feet wide, between our trench and that of the Germans that terrible no man's land, dotted with dead bodies, criss-crossed by tangled masses of barbed wire,’" reported The Sheboygan Press on March 25, 1915. "‘Thoughtlessly I raised my head, too. Other men did the same. We saw hundreds of German heads appearing. Shouts filled the air. What miracle had happened? Men laughed and cheered. There was Christmas light in our eyes and I know there were Christmas tears in mine. There were smiles, smiles, smiles, where in days before there had been only rifle barrels.’"

NOTE: Soldiers emerged from both sides of the trenches and entered no man's land, exchanging gifts, singing songs and in at least one area, playing a game of soccer. Groups of soldiers removed the bodies of their fallen comrades behind the lines, and for a brief time, were able to leave the war and rejoin civilization as they had once known it. Unfortunately, the war resumed the following day and where there had been smiles and songs the day before, there were again only the sounds of artillery and machine gun fire.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve 2008 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Merry Christmas!

Please click on images to ENLARGE view of Kathy Perdue's Christmas characters in the Town Branch neighborhood and the Fayetteville downtown square on Christmas Eve 2008.

Sewer line across Town Branch replaces one under Hill Avenue bridge

Please click on images to see new sewer line across Town Branch where Hoodenpyle and Williams property meet Hill Place.

Sierra Club to meet tonight at the Powerhouse Seafood restaurant, according to NW Arkansas Times' Wednesday edition

Sierra Club Ozark Headwaters Group, 7 p.m., Powerhouse Seafood & Grill, 112 N. University Ave., Fayetteville
However, please click on image to read sign on door of the Powerhouse.

New Heights Church invites everyone to a "service for all ages" at the Fayetteville Town Center on Christmas Eve 2008

Please click on image to ENLARGE to read sign in front of the Fayetteville, Arkansas, Town Center inviting people to attend a Christmas Eve event at the town center. The service is provided by the New Heights Church on December 24, 2008.


Curious about what sort of group would be providing this service for the city, I googled its name and found a Web site for the New Heights Church.
New Heights Church
Here is a "brief history" from the site:
In October of 2000, a few couples that attended a local church in Fayetteville, Arkansas began to pray about the possibility of starting a new church that would allow them more freedom and flexibility in practicing their Christian faith. They desired to be a part of a church body that would be more appealing to their unchurched friends, as well as believers from other traditions.

By January of 2001, that core group had grown to six couples who began to pray more earnestly. After finally receiving what the group believed was affirmation from God, on May 27, 2001 fifty-two people met at Holt Middle School to begin an adventure of grace that we affectionately call New Heights Church.

At that time no one could imagine what God would do, but it soon became evident that He was up to something significant. The congregation has experienced dramatic growth. At this writing there are well over 1000 people associated with New Heights. As we have sought to keep in step with the Spirit many different ministries have emerged and become a part of our identity—prayer ministries, small groups, children and student ministries, worship ministry, counseling and care ministry, special needs ministry, Potter’s House (outreach to children at risk in South Fayetteville), global cross-cultural ministries, adoption ministry, etc.

It has been thrilling to see God build a richly diverse, but completely unified congregation. New Heights has become home to people of many different ethnic, socio-economic, and educational backgrounds. It’s exciting to think about what God will do next!

Wooden pre-fabricated apartment parts left in Hill Place entryway red dirt and gravel on Christmas Eve 2008

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of load of pre-fabricated building parts on ground in roadway entering Hill Place student-apartment project from southeast on December 24, 2008.

LATCO truck backs through HIll Place gate to deliver pre-fabricated construction parts for student-apartment complex on Christmas Eve 2008

Please click on image to enlarge photo from southeast entry to Hill Place's western phase on December 24, 2008.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Verbesina virginica in late summer, by popular request

Please click on image to ENLARGE photos of buckeye butterfly on frostweed on September 14, 2008, at World Peace Wetland Prairie in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Verbesina virginica offers ice display in winter

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Verbesina virginica, aka frost weed, on December 21, 2008.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Long-horned grasshopper unusual sight in late December in Northwest Arkansas

Please click on image to ENLARGE VIEW of long-horned grasshopper, commonly called Katydid but not a true Katydid, on December 19, 2008, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Members and guests relax after enjoying the annual Christmas dinner at the American Legion Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Stormy Lane (from left) holding Isaiah Scott, Kelly Joe Scott, Gloria Oyler, Dylan Scott, 12, Jonathan Lane and 4-month-old Olivia Lane, who is the daughter of Stormy and Johnathan.

Please click on image below to ENLARGE view of 4-month-old Olivia Lane on December 20, 2008.

Shelton-Tucker-Craft American Legion post Christmas dinner

Please click on image to ENLARGE photo of Pinky Hart (left), Lois Williams, unidentified man (center), John Williams and Nancy Hart (right(.

Decade-old story of duck hunting south of Stuttgart near Lodge Corner

Aubrey Shepherd's focal point for display of Labrador retrievers, natural-resource conservation, English language word use, outdoor sports, recreational sports and athletics

First printed 1/16/98 in
The Morning News
of Northwest Arkansas
Decade-old duck-hunting story from Stuttgart trip

Aubrey's Notebook:
El Nino duck season frustrating
to some but not a washout
STUTTGART – Mallards and wood ducks came sailing into Wayne Hampton's favorite flooded timber 30 minutes before sunrise. Dr. Ed Green of Baton Rouge, La., Bounty Grant's Aubunique Egg and I hadn't been there in five years; so we thought the action was wonderful.

Green and I knocked down three mallards and a woodie within 15 minutes after legal shooting time arrived in the Arkansas County bottomland a few miles south of Lodge's Corner.

Egg – a 75-pound, 7-year-old Labrador retriever who got his nickname when I first saw him at Joan Koty's Bounty Grant Farm near Beebe when he was only four weeks old and looked like a big chocolate Easter egg – retrieved happily.

My duck season was a success because of that few minutes.
For the rest of the story, please see:
Decade-old duck-hunting story from Stuttgart trip
and/or Aubrey Shepherd Outdoors

American Legion post in Fayetteville to offer Christmas dinner from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today

Pick up a homeless person on the street or an ambulatory person normally shut in by circumstances and take that person to lunch. You might want to make a small donation to the Legion for your own lunch to support this fine project.

The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Legion Post To Host Holiday Dinner
By THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- American Legion Post 27 will host a Christmas dinner Saturday.
The dinner, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is open to the public. The post is at 1195 S. Curtis Ave. in southeast Fayetteville, between Huntsville Road and 15th Street.
Anyone who cannot travel to the post for dinner can call 442-5291 to request a delivery at home.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Hill Place contractors prepare sewer site for a big night of soil erosion into the Town Branch of the White River

Please click on image to ENLARGE view from Don Hoodenpyle's yard to Robert Williams' yard with a new sewer line being installed under the Town Branch of the West Fork of the White River. A pump was being used to move water from upstream to the downstream side to the right when this photo was made Thursday afternoon December 18, 2008. That is proper but rain was predicted and the exposed mud likely will be eroding downstream tonight if the rain picks up. And it is unlikely that they actually got permission to remove more timber from the riparian zone.

Gas-lease cash to pay new inspectors of drilling sites

IT'S ABOUT TIME! 

Agency says gas-lease cash to aid hiring of inspectors
BY L. LAMOR WILLIAMS
Posted on Thursday, December 18, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/246962/

Gas-lease money to hire inspectors

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is set to get $3.5 million from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission that it will use to hire more inspectors to keep watch on the state's growing natural gas drilling industry.
Teresa Marks, director of the Department of Environmental Quality, said Wednesday that while a formal agreement has yet to be signed, she is looking forward to using the money to hire new inspectors to regulate drill-water disposal sites.
The money will come from leases issued by the Game and Fish Commission to natural-gas firms to drill on state-wildlife management areas.
Drilling for natural gas in the Fayetteville Shale geologic formation has led to the creation of at least 13 drill-water disposal sites, which are permitted to store the water and rock sediment discarded during drilling. Two sites recently were ordered to cease operation until violations have been remedied.
...
The department currently has 17 inspectors who only visit the disposal sites in response to complaints. Eight inspectors are assigned to the Fayetteville Shale.
The Game and Fish Commission earns about $30 million annually on the land leases.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Beebe may not understand that coal-fired power plants should be outlawed but at least he understands that state regulatory agencies can't accept gifts

Let's hope he isn't going to accept any gifts from AEP-SWEPCO or any other state-regulated body.

The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Beebe Nixes Proposed Repeal Of ABC Gift Ban

By John Lyon
THE MORNING NEWS
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/12/17/news/121808lrliquorlaws.txt
LITTLE ROCK -- The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division has dropped plans to ask state lawmakers to repeal a law banning ABC employees from accepting gifts from the people they regulate after Gov. Mike Beebe frowned on the change.

ABC officials had planned to request a repeal of the law as part of a draft bill the agency is preparing for the 2009 legislative session that starts next month, but a Beebe spokesman said Wednesday the governor believes the law should remain in place.

"We've been reviewing that proposal as it goes along, and there are some parts we agree with," spokesman Matt DeCample said. "Repealing the rule in regards to gifts is not something that we agree with."

DeCample said because of "the nature of the regulation and the enforcement that ABC undertakes, we think it's a good rule to have."

ABC is a division of the state Department of Finance and Administration, part of the executive branch of state government. ABC Director Michael Langley said Wednesday, "I support the governor's decision."

Just a day earlier, Langley had said the division was considering asking lawmakers to repeal section 3-2-208 of the Arkansas Code, which prohibits a division employee from soliciting or accepting a gift from any manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler or retailer of alcoholic beverages or any person who has applied with the division for any type of permit.

Langley said Tuesday the law has "no teeth" because it does not provide a penalty. ABC employees already have to report gifts and comply with other ethics laws that apply to all state employees, he said.

DeCample said Wednesday, "Just because there are no penalties in the rule, that does not mean that violators will not be held accountable."

DeCample said Beebe does not oppose the division's plans to seek across-the-board fee increases that Langley has said would generate an additional $1.5 million to $1.75 million per year.

"They're targeted because of the increased enforcement needs and requirements placed on ABC, and we understand their need for that," the governor's spokesman said.

Trail thieves get sentences in the capital-murder category. Did anyone mention trail robberies during election campaign?

Did the newspapers report these robberies BEFORE the ELECTION?
Maybe in the police report. I hadn't heard about them.


The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas

Four Plead Guilty In Series Of Thefts On Trail
By Ron Wood
THE MORNING NEWS
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/12/17/news/121808fztrailrobbers.txt
FAYETTEVILLE -- Four people pleaded guilty Wednesday for their roles in a series of springtime muggings on a city-owned trail that put downtown Fayetteville residents on edge. A fifth person still faces charges.
The group would steal credit cards from pedestrians on the Frisco Trail then use them to buy merchandise at local stores, according to deputy prosecuting attorneys Dustin Roberts and Mark Booher. One victim, who was beaten and kicked, suffered significant facial injuries.
Surveillance tapes from local businesses helped identify the suspects, police said.
Darrell Green, 23, of Fordyce, along with Robert Finks, 21, Britany Moreton, 19, and Keith Matthews, 19, all of Fayetteville, pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to list of charges arising out of five robberies in a two-week period.
Finks and Matthews were involved in robbing a pedestrian at Center and Hill streets on May 31 and two robberies June 4, one at 2100 N. Leverett Ave. and one at Meadow and Center streets.
Moreton is accused of using credit cards stolen in the robberies.
Charges stemming from an attempted robbery were dropped as part of the plea deal.
Martez Butler, 18, of Fayetteville faces charges related to the robberies. His case was reset to Feb. 17. He remains in the Washington County Jail.
Green also robbed a pedestrian at Leverett Avenue and Maple Street on June 7, according to police and prosecutors.
Green pleaded guilty to one count of robbery, two counts of being an accomplice to robbery, two counts of being an accomplice to the fraudulent use of credit cards and one count of theft by receiving. He was sentenced to a total of 60 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with 20 years suspended, leaving 40 years to serve.
Finks pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to robbery, fraudulent use of a credit card and theft by receiving. He also pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge, delivery of cocaine. Finks was sentenced to a total of 60 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with 20 years suspended, leaving 40 years to serve.
Matthews pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to robbery and two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card. Matthews was sentenced to 30 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction with 15 years suspended, leaving 15 years to serve.
Moreton pleaded guilty to two counts of being an accomplice to the fraudulent use of a credit card. Moreton was sentenced to 120 days at a regional punishment center and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Neal announces first Audubon field trip for 2009 series to be held on December 28, 2008!

Everyone is welcome to join the newly reorganized Northwest Arkansas
Audubon Society on a field trip to the Eagle Watch Nature Area, just
west of Gentry in Benton County. Sunday, December 28, 2008. Meet at
the parking area just off highway 12, at 9 AM. I will post directions
below. It can be a birdy place, and not just Bald Eagles. After, some
may want to "retire" to a locale a few miles away, for Great-tailed
Grackles, etc.

DIRECTIONS AND OTHER INFO: Notice Highway 59 on your Arkansas highway
map. Gentry is at the intersection of 59 and Highway 12. From this
intersection, travel W on 12 for approx. two miles. The Eagle Watch
Nature Area is approx. 1 mile W of the city limits on the S side of
the highway. Look for the parking lot on the highway?s S side,
immediately E of the highway bridge spanning Little Flint Creek. There
is an information sign in the parking area.
The approx. 1,500 acres of EWNA are part the 500-acre SWEPCO Lake,
constructed to provide cooling water for the coal-fired plant
generating electricity for NW Arkansas. During winter, temperatures in
the lake average in the low 70s. This warm water is presumably the
source of some interesting bird records. The parking lot is the
starting point for a trail that is 0.5 miles long (1 mile round trip).
The trail is well-marked, generally level, and easily walked because
of a thick bed of mulch. The first 0.3 miles include open fields and
the Little Flint Creek bottoms. There is a farm to the E, and a
forested ridge to the W. The final 0.2 miles includes an optional
steeper path into typical Ozark woodland. The trail ends at an
attractive pavilion that provides tables, an appealing overlook of
part of the lake and forested ridges, and information about the flora
and fauna of EWNA.


JOSEPH C. NEAL in Fayetteville, Arkansas. "I have great faith in a
seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to
expect wonders." -- HD Thoreau

For details of other upcoming Audubon events, please visit northwestarkansasaudubonsociety.blogspot.com
linked at right in the future.

Rumor that Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society was dying put to rest

About half the seats in the Pat and Willard Walker meeting room at the Fayetteville Public Library filled with enthusiastic Audubon supporters Wednesday night. New officers were elected and volunteer board members signed on. Joe Neal offered a slate of outings for 2009, starting on December 28, 2008.
Neal hikes and watches birds and leads organized birding events regularly.
We'll provide updates regularly.
The "new" president is Professor Doug James, who was the adviser/leader of the Northwest Arkansas Audubon when it was mostly made up of graduate students from his biology classes decades ago!
A special treat that Michelle Viney, the Northwest Arkansas coordinator for Audubon Arkansas attended and offered a new level of cooperation before the local and state chapter and national Audubon.
And, most important, some of the most significant young conservationists participated.

Audubon Society meeting at 6 p.m. today at Walker meeting room of the Fayetteville Public Library

Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society (NWAAS) will have an important
meeting Dec 17, 6-7:45, in the Williard & Pat Walker meeting room of
the Fayetteville Public Library. Because of the short time available,
please come a little early. The only business of this meeting will be
whether or not NWAAS will continue to function. I urge anyone with an
interest in the outcome -- whether or not you are currently an Audubon
member -- to come. If you think NWAAS should dissolve, your voice will
be welcome. If you wish to see NWAAS continue into the future, your
voice will also be welcome.
Joe Neal
Fayetteville

Saturday, the Highlands chapter of the Ozark Society will bushwhack into Dismal Hollow in Newton County, visiting an abundance of waterfalls, bluffs and deep gorges. Although the distance is less than 5 miles, the route is rated difficult because of steep slopes.
Participants are to meet at 8 a.m. at FirstCare Medical in Fayetteville or at 9:30 a.m. at the country store in Deer.
For details, call Bob Cross at (479) 587-8757.
On Sunday, the group will explore the trails at Pea Ridge National Military Park. The trail is nine miles long and is rated easy. Participants are asked to meet at 9 a.m. at Root Elementary School in Fayetteville or at 10 a.m. at the park's visitors center in Pea Ridge. E-mail martykerns@juno. com for details.

Raft Creek pollution by gas-driller's waste kills fish in Wildlife Management Area

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission opened a big can of worms when it leased public land for gas exporation and already is having to deal with habitat destruction caused by drilling on private land.
A weakness in the severance-tax passed many months ago was not ensuring that a portion of the proceeds of that tax would be set aside to restore the land leased to the drilling companies. Depending on collecting for damage after it occurs is always risky at best.
Aubrey

Dead fish spur state to ban site from taking driller wastewater
BY L. LAMOR WILLIAMS
Posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/246862
Gas-drilling waste kills fish in Raft Creek

A second facility used to store and dispose of discarded water used by natural gas drillers can no longer accept the wastewater, the director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality said Tuesday.
A property owner reported seeing dead fish on his property near the Griffithville disposal site operated by Searcy-based Central Arkansas Disposal, said Teresa Marks, director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
After investigating, the department issued an emergency order Friday after an inspection found a "large unlined, unpermitted waste treatment reservoir," being filled through an underground pipe from the licensed facility, the emergency order states.
On Dec. 3, the department closed a wastewater storage and disposal facility near Carlisle for improperly applying the water onto farmland.
Marks imposed a moratorium on new permits for drill fluid storage facilities until a study is completed examining the effects the operations have on soils and waterways.
.............
A water sample also found high chloride levels in the stream. The creek feeds the Steve Wilson/Raft Creek Wildlife Management Area in White County.
.............
Mike Armstrong, chief of fisheries for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said ... "We found several largemouth bass up to 4 pounds and quality-sized crappie so there was a robust fish population in those ditches."
For more information, please visit
Gas-drilling waste kills fish in Raft Creek


Copyright © 2001-2008 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. Contact: webmaster@nwanews.com

Final 2008 meeting of the Fayetteville City Council

Please click on image to ENLARGE view of Fayetteville, Arkansas, city council's final 2008 meeting. Lioneld Jordan, mayor-elect, is at far right, seemingly out of focus but actually in the process of turning his head. He'll be in better focus at the Jan. 6, 2009, meeting.


The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Water, Sewer Impact Fees Going Up

By Skip Descant
THE MORNING NEWS
FAYETTEVILLE -- Increased water and sewer impact fees will go into effect in Fayetteville on March 31.

The City Council voted 7-1 Tuesday night to increase the impact fees for new single-family residences by $700. Bobby Ferrell, an alderman from Ward 3, voted against the measure. The increased fees apply to only new development. The increase would bring the water and sewer fees to $1,843.

"Basically, if you need water and you're going to be an additional strain on the city system, you're going to have an impact fee," said Ron Petrie, the Fayetteville city engineer, as he explained the reasoning behind the increased fees.

Residents moving from septic tanks to the city sewer system will not be charged impact fees, officials said.

"Because we want to encourage people to get off the septic system," Petrie said.

The increased fees come as a recommendation from the Fayetteville Water and Sewer Committee and Duncan & Associates, the firm hired to study the fees. The added costs for water and sewer will be phased in over three years. The maximum fees are set at $5,703 for water and sewer.

"So we'll look at this in another year and see where we are," said Kyle Cook, a council member who also serves on the water and sewer committee.

The meeting Tuesday was the final council meeting of 2008 and the final council meeting for Nancy Allen, one of the council members from Ward 2. Allen chose to not seek re-election and will be replaced by Matthew Petty.

Also, Lioneld Jordan, Fayetteville's next mayor, will give up his seat in Ward 4. Sarah Lewis has been elected to the position.

But outgoing Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody took the evening to recognize both council members for their service on the council, presenting both Allen and Jordan with plaques.

"I've been hanging around City Hall for a long time now," Allen told the room of cheering supporters as she went through a lengthy list of both appointed and elected positions she's held in city government.

Allen, a retired schoolteacher, has served on the Fayetteville Planning Commission, the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods and other roles in public service.

"And I have never missed one meeting," she reminded the audience.

"It's the most interesting job I've ever had," Allen said, of her four-year term on the council. "I want to thank the people of Ward 2 for putting your confidence in me, to let me serve my beloved Fayetteville."

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Coal plant appeal set for trial March 9, 2009

The Morning News
Local News for Northwest Arkansas
Trial date set for coal plant appeal
By THE MORNING NEWS
LITTLE ROCK -- A challenge to Southwestern Electric Power Co.'s air permit for a planned coal-fired power plant in Hempstead County will go to trial March 9, an administrative law judge said Monday. At a scheduling hearing, Judge Michael O'Malley set aside March 9-20 for a trial to decide whether the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's decision to grant an air permit for the $1.6 billion, 600-megawatt plant should be overturned.
The Morning News on coal-fired power plant

Monday, December 15, 2008

Didn't Eva Klein hear about the fact that no new landfills can be created anywhere near Fayetteville? Where would the garbage for a million people go?

Why would someone propose turning the magnificent Northwest Arkansas mountains and prairies into a city of millions without even understanding its geology?

The Morning News on Eva Klein report

Amberwood development park to include old farm pond. Please scroll down for more views of Amberwood

Please click on images to Enlarge views of Amberwood.

Amberwood development site beautiful mostly upland prairie with a bit of wetland



Amberwood development site: Two tentative versions of three-phase plan

Please click on images of two tentative versions of the Amberwood development site in west Fayetteville southeast of the intersection of Dot Tipton and Double Springs Roads.
The rezoning request for the site was denied by the Fayetteville City Council at a recent meeting but may be reconsidered at the December 16 meeting of the council.
The Jorgensen and Associates architectural firm continues to make adjustments to match the City's 2025 Plan and approval of the plat would have to come up later. A selling point is that a portion of the houses in the subdivision would be in what is considered an affordable price range, something rare in development plans today. Builder Charlie Sloan has made many adjustments in the plan in past months to please owners of adjacent property and has even promised to pave the currently graveled Dot Tipton Road beyond the limits of the property to be developed. The land can be developed with an eye to managing stormwater runoff and utilizing existing terrain without increasing the cost for potential middle-income buyers. Building the lower-cost, relatively small but well-designed houses before the larger ones may offer the city the chance to meet its goal of providing attainable housing sooner than anywhere else in town in coming months.
Please click on images to ENLARGE.

Amberwood Place on Google interactive map

Please click on larger view below the map to enlarge and navigate the site map.

View Larger Map

Coody says Ferrell's idea on retirement vote is about personality not policy

The Morning News

Local News for Northwest Arkansas


Alderman Wants Mayor's Retirement Plans Changed

By Skip Descant
The Morning News
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/12/14/news/121508fzcouncil.txt
FAYETTEVILLE -- Retirement plans for elected officials became an issue in the recent Fayetteville mayor's race. And it's an issue still lingering.
Bobby Ferrell, an alderman from Ward 3, wants the Arkansas Legislature to consider amending a state law to allow local voters to decide if they want to extend retirement benefits to their retired mayors for the rest of their life.
State law says a mayor in cities of the first class, which includes Fayetteville, can retire after 10 years in office with 50 percent salary for the rest of his or her life. This plan is paid for by the taxpayers of that city.
"To me that's unfunded mandate," Ferrell told the City Council during its agenda session Tuesday.
The issue of mayoral retirement has never actually come up. It's only been since the early 1990s that Fayetteville has had an elected mayor. And none of them have served more than two terms -- a total of eight years.
Lioneld Jordan, Fayetteville's mayor-elect, signed a notarized affidavit that states he would not participate in this retirement program. Jordan already has a retirement plan through the University of Arkansas, where he worked for 26 years.
Outgoing two-term Mayor Dan Coody has said on more than one occasion he does not plan to participate in the state retirement program, and instead has put money into a retirement plan available to nonuniformed city employees. It's similar to a 401(k).
Coody has not gone so far as Jordan with a notarized affidavit. And since he was not re-elected to a third term, the whole issue would appear moot anyway. But mayors may apply time served on the council to the 10 years needed for vesting.
"Up to two years of the minimum 10 years can be credited from City Council service at the rate of one year's credit for each two years served," said Kit Williams, the Fayetteville city attorney. "To get two additional years service toward retirement, a former mayor would need four years of additional service as an alderman."
Ferrell insists his motives to change the state law are policy driven and not political.
"If I had known about this four years ago, I believe I would have to tried to address it then," Ferrell said Wednesday. "This is a policy issue."
Coody's not so sure.
"It seems to me that it's more about personality than policy," Coody said.
"I'm not timid about coming forth with something that's a good deal," Ferrell added.
The resolution to ask the Arkansas State Legislature to amend the state law has been placed on the consent agenda for Tuesday's meeting.

Meeting Information

Fayetteville City Council

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Room 219, City Hall, 113 W. Mountain St.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Cat 18 schedule for the week of December 14 through December 20, 2008

Click on title above or copy and paste link below for schedule.
http://catchannel-aubunique.blogspot.com

Associated Press reports that President Clinton joins Arkansas governor Beebe to announce partnership to bring energy efficiency to state government

Great news below; but, if Beebe had announced that Clinton had talked him into saying no to all new coal plants starting NOW, it would have been even better news:

The Morning News
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/12/13/news/121408arclintonglobal.prt
Local News for Northwest Arkansas

Clinton, State Announce Energy Efficiency Plan
By Peggy Harris
The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK -- Former President Bill Clinton announced a partnership Saturday between his foundation and Arkansas to retrofit state buildings and adopt energy-efficient practices, part of what he said was the country’s “greatest opportunity” to rejuvenate its economy and create a safer, cleaner world.

Clinton joined Gov. Mike Beebe and state Rep. Kathy Webb, co-chair of the Arkansas Governor’s Commission on Global Warming, in announcing the partnership and urging state and business leaders to join them in bigger task of creating “green jobs,” reducing dependence on foreign oil, and stopping the advance of global warming.
Clinton said the foundation’s Clinton Climate Initiative, created in 2006, has been working with 1,100 cities, including New York, where the housing authority is upgrading residences with energy-efficient windows and lighting along with “green roofs” to reduce energy costs. He said a loan for the work will be paid off with money saved in utility costs.
In Pennsylvania, he said, the foundation was helping find ways to sequester carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. He said the Clinton Climate Initiative provides the technical expertise and the purchasing power for its partners to secure material and environmental technology at discounted cost.

“No one is proposing to do anything in Arkansas that is not good business, that doesn’t make sense, that doesn’t create jobs and save money over the long run,” Clinton told an audience of hundreds at the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.

He said six countries, including Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, will be able to meet international goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because they shifted to “a new energy economy” and realized great energy savings and job creation.

“This is the greatest opportunity we’ve had since we mobilized since World War II to completely redo our economy,” he said. “And, if we do this right, I think you’ll have more growth than we did when I was president, and more jobs.”

Both the former president and Beebe recognized J.D. Lowery of Maumelle, a graduate student at the Clinton School of Public Service, for suggesting a partnership between the foundation and the state after Lowery worked on a Clinton Climate Initiative in Australia.

Beebe said the partnership coincides with strides the state has already made to reduce energy consumption and do less harm to the environment. He said Pennsylvania has been working with the foundation on a limited basis, but Arkansas will be the first state to join forces with the foundation on a larger scale.

Agenda for Sunday's meeting of the Carbon Caps Task Force online

Please scroll down right side of this page to find link to Carbon Caps Task Force blogspot.

County campus walking trail to be named in honor of Justice of the Peace Jessie Bryant and her late son, State Trooper Louis P. Bryant

The Morning News report on final 2008 Quorum Court meeting

Friday, December 12, 2008

Robins appreciate China honeysuckle berries

Please click on image to ENLARGE photos of robin in China honeysuckle bush on December 5, 2008.