BREAKING HER PROMISE: NBC's chief medical correspondent, Nancy Snyderman, who began her broadcasting career in 1984 at KATV, Channel 7, in Little Rock, is under fire for breaking a voluntary quarantine.
Snyderman and her crew agreed to the quarantine when they returned recently to the United States from Liberia, West Africa, after their exposure to Ashoka Mukpo, an American freelance cameraman working for the network who was diagnosed with the deadly Ebola virus.
The quarantine was to last until Wednesday. But Snyderman, who lives in Princeton, N.J., was recently seen picking up a takeout order outside the Peasant Grill in nearby Hopewell, reports People magazine.
"While under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed," Snyderman said in a statement read by anchor Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News. "We remain healthy and our temperatures are normal. As a health professional I know that we have no symptoms and pose no risk to the public, but I am deeply sorry for the concerns this episode caused."
SHARING HIS STORY: Randy Oates, formerly of Little Rock, has written a book called The Healing Begins Today, drawn from his diaries of becoming a paraplegic after completing a triathlon seven years ago and a medical procedure went awry.
Oates, a former marketing director for Bank of the Ozarks and the son of the late Willie and Dr. Gordon Oates, is now retired and lives in Punta Gorda, Fla. After spending the past few years learning to walk again, Oates will sign copies of his memoir from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Oct. 30 at WordsWorth bookstore in Little Rock.
HARD ACT TO FOLLOW: Hollywood actor Judge Reinhold, who spends part of his time in Little Rock, will portray Don Meyer, one of the winningest coaches of college men's basketball in NCAA history, in a new film. Meyer, whose coaching career includes 24 years at Lipscomb University, is credited for his inspirational teaching and coaching both on and off the court. After losing a leg in 2008, he continued to coach from his wheelchair before dying of cancer at 69 this past spring. The film is set for an April release.
CHECKING IN: The historic Hotel Pines in downtown Pine Bluff, which opened in 1913 and was shuttered in 1970, is the subject of a photo/video exhibit. The free exhibit, "100 Years of Light Through the Pines," runs Nov. 3-8 at High Cotton at 220 Barraque St. in Pine Bluff from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. A free reception with the artists is set for 2 to 5 p.m. Nov. 8.
SWEET SWEET RIBBON: Connie Hamzy of Little Rock, best known as a rock 'n' roll groupie, scored a first-place ribbon at this year's Arkansas State Fair for a doll dress she made. In 2011, she won a second-place ribbon for a baby bib she'd crafted.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636.
SundayMonday on 10/19/2014