PAPER TRAILS: Trump, Arkansan on 'Idol', KATV anchor Inman's last day

FROM THE SMALL-WORLD DEPT.: After his rally Wednesday in Little Rock's Barton Coliseum, Donald Trump -- Republican presidential hopeful, New York business tycoon and former reality TV star -- spent time signing autographs and greeting people who lingered afterward.

One person of note? Paula Jones, who sued then-President Bill Clinton in 1994, claiming that when Clinton was governor and she was a state employee, he sexually harassed her. The case eventually led to Clinton's impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1998 and acquittal by the Senate in 1999.

On Wednesday night, Jones took a couple of selfies with Trump and afterward reported on her Facebook page: "Yeah ... he came right to us from the stage! He held my hand and told me he was proud of me and said I was lovely and beautiful and shook my boy's hand too and told hubby that he was a lucky man! How COOL." Visit tinyurl.com/jtfacu2 to view a video of the meeting.

PRINTING A WIN: Oxford American magazine, with offices based in Little Rock, last week won a national magazine award from the American Society of Magazine Editors. The magazine won for general excellence for literature, science and politics, an award that honors smaller-circulation general-interest magazines, as well as publications that cover the arts.

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO: Bentonville native Thomas Stringfellow, 17 and a high school student, has made it into the Top 24 of the final season of Fox's American Idol singing talent competition. And here's a fellow contestant from this season, who made it into the Top 24 and also has an Arkansas connection -- Trent Harmon, 24, who's from Amory, Miss., but is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello, where he was active in choir and in the university's musical theater program. He recently made history on the show when, suffering from mono and prohibited by his physician from singing with others, he performed solo in the competition's group round to advance to the next round.

IN AND WITH A KEY: Fayetteville resident Barrett Baber, who recently came in third place in Season 9 of NBC's The Voice, was given a key to the city on Tuesday in Fayetteville, where officials named the day Barrett Baber Day in his honor.

PULLING ANCHOR: As reported here back in November, longtime KATV, Channel 7, evening news anchorman Scott Inman is leaving the station after 15 years to pursue other interests. Later reports stated that he was joining GenWealth Financial Advisors as director of business development. Inman recently reported, via Twitter, that his last day at KATV will be March 1.

SWEET DREAMS: The AAA recently released its list of diamond-rated hotels. While no establishment in Arkansas snagged a five-diamond rating, four of them scored a four-diamond one -- Angel at Rose Hall in Eureka Springs, Pratt Place Inn in Fayetteville, the Empress of Little Rock and the Capital Hotel in Little Rock.

Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com.

SundayMonday on 02/07/2016

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