OUT OF THE PARK! Five-time Major League Baseball All-Star Torii Hunter was among three former players recently inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence for 2016. Hunter, who played in the National Little League in Pine Bluff, was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1993 and went on to play for 19 years with the Twins, Angels and Tigers. Hunter, who retired after the 2015 season, was inducted into the Twins' Hall of Fame in July.
BREAKING BREAD: After a daytime speaking engagement with business executives last Monday, Charlie E. Cook Jr., editor and publisher of the Washington, D.C.-based Cook Political Report and a nonpartisan political analyst for National Journal magazine, spent the evening dining with politicos in the private room of Doe's in downtown Little Rock to talk (what else?) politics. So while the rest of the nation is busy choosing sides in the presidential campaign, inside this steakhouse, a mix of Republicans and Democrats -- including Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Tim Griffin, Mark Pryor, David Pryor, Ed Bethune and French Hill -- were coming to the table, literally. Others joining them included Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford, Rex Nelson and Kirkley Thomas.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF RING: Remember boxing champ Jermain Taylor, who in May was given a suspended sentence, fined and ordered to community service for numerous felony charges? For incidents such as shooting his cousin in late 2014 and aggravated assault against fellow attendees of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in early 2015? These days, his name is in the paper for happier reasons. Taylor, 38, recently married Lutza Gayot, 41, of Florida, who's pursuing careers in modeling and acting in Little Rock.
HIGH NOTES: Just days after Arkansas native and Nashville session musician Derek Wells accepted the Academy of Country Music's Guitar Player of the Year award last week, it was announced he was one of five nominated for the Country Music Association's Musician of the Year award. When Wells was just 1 year old, he moved from Nashville, Ark. (although many relatives remain in the state), to Nashville, Tenn. In the music business, he's worked as a session musician and spent several years as a member of Josh Turner's band. Wells' dad Kent is also a Nashville musician who recently stopped in Arkansas while on tour with Dolly Parton.
ROLL 'EM! Little Rock filmmaker Graham Gordy's series Quarry will debut on Cinemax this coming Friday. The eight-episode drama set in the 1970s focuses on a Marine who returns home to Memphis and becomes caught up in a string of crimes, including murder.
DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT: KTHV, Channel 11, evening anchor Dawn Scott has been working the morning show lately after the departure of Alyse Eady, who moved to a station in Atlanta. Scott says the move is temporary and she's enjoying the additional time with her children.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com
SundayMonday on 09/04/2016