Museum again host for Pearl Harbor Day
The Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum on the downtown riverfront, in partnership with the secretary of state's office, will again host the state's official Pearl Harbor Day observance at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Phillip McMath, an attorney and Marine Corps veteran, will be this year's keynote speaker at the ceremony outside the museum, 120 Riverfront Park Drive, on the east side of the Main Street Bridge.
McMath, an advocate for Arkansas literature and history who has written several historical novels, is the son of former Gov. Sid McMath, a World War II Marine veteran.
The maritime museum began hosting the annual observance in 2015 after the arrival of the USS Hoga, a tugboat that survived Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. During the 75th anniversary observance of the attack last year, the event drew an estimated 1,000 participants.
After this year's ceremony the main deck of the Hoga, a National Historic Landmark, will be open to visitors.
Tours of the World War II USS Razorback submarine also will be available and free for all veterans, active and retired military members, and their dependents. Refreshments will be available, according to a news release.
Additional information is available on the museum's website, aimmuseum.org.
More time granted to remove concrete
After a lengthy discussion Monday evening, the City Council granted an extension until May 31 for AR Trison Group LLC, AR Trison Farms and Kaye Lynn Tankersley to remove concrete rubble from residential-zoned property Tankersley owns, 12602 Faulkner Lake Road.
The extension will allow the continuing the removal of recycled concrete that will be sold to the Arkansas Department of Transportation for use in work on Interstate 440. The original deadline set by the council was Thursday. The interstate project's completion date has been extended by the state until the spring.
The City Council in February had refused Tankersley's request for a special-use permit to allow AR Trison Farms to crush, store and sell concrete at the property that is within a residential zone.
The operation continued, nevertheless, without proper zoning or a city-issued business permit, resulting in a "significant amount" of concrete rubble to accumulate on the site.
The council agreed in August to allow the concrete to be cleared out for the contract with the state to be honored.
Metro on 12/03/2017