LITTLE ROCK — NLR council moves meeting to Nov. 8
North Little Rock City Council's next meeting will be Nov. 8 to allow members to attend a conference in New Orleans and to have further information on a proposed change in employees' health insurance.
The meeting had been changed once from Nov. 12 to Nov. 5 because of the National League of Cities meeting in New Orleans, then switched again on Monday night to Nov. 8 to wait for additional details on its insurance options.
The Council normally meets the second and fourth Monday of every month.
The city is considering changing coverage from the Municipal League's self-funded health benefits plan to Qual-Choice of Arkansas.
The Municipal League Health Board won't meet until Nov. 7, when an expected 10 percent increase in the city's premium, or other options, willbe determined. A 10 percent increase would cost the city about $546,000 more annually.
The city pays $5.4 million annually for 100 percent coverage of employees and 75 percent of dependent coverage. The total cost is more than $6 million, counting employees' contributions for family members.
QualChoice would match the city's current plan and costs, though 105 city employees signed a petition requesting to keep the Municipal League coverage.
Six city employees told the council on Monday that they and many other employees don't want to switch coverage because of fear of having to change doctors. QualChoice doesn't include as many local providers as the current plan.
Traffic lights set up
near Wal-Mart site
Traffic signal poles have gone up where Crystal Hill Road will be extended across Maumelle Boulevard to help traffic in andout of the Wal-Mart Supercenter under construction near North Little Rock's border with Maumelle.
The traffic signals won't become operational until a week before the store's opening in "late spring or early summer," said Laurie Smalling, a Wal-Mart spokesman based in Little Rock.
Maumelle Boulevard runs between Interstate 430 and Arkansas 365, providing the only access points for Maumelle's more than 15,000 residents.
War historian plans
to give library talk
Ken Hechler, a World War II historian and author, will be a guest speaker at the Laman Library, 2801 Orange St., at noon Friday.
Hechler, 93, of Charleston, W.Va., has written a recently published book Super Marine! that chronicles the life of Marine Sgt. Orland D. "Buddy" Jones, a native of Biscoe in Prairie County and a 1938 graduate of Conway High School. Jones was killed at Iwo Jima in World War II at age 24.
Hechler, a former congressman and secretary of state in West Virginia, will also speak at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Donaghey Student Union at 6 p.m. today.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 10/24/2007