PAPER TRAILS: David Bazzel's on-air choke; Verizon Arena tops bigger cities; Arkansas ranking on driving list

Funny meeting you in the Arkansas section!

You and I -- except for occasional performance reviews that appear in the news sections because of deadline constraints -- have limited our quality time to the Style section, mostly Tuesdays and Sundays. But beginning today, I hope to continue our conversations here, too.

In addition to writing those weekly columns, editing a couple of Style sections and reviewing everything from low-calorie foods, to cafes, to concerts, I am your new Paper Trails columnist. I'll probably be your paper carrier, too, before it's all over.

As a longtime fan of this column about the colorful, quirky and goofy goings-on in our state, I'm honored to carry on the tradition. And as a longtime friend of Carrie Rengers, Michael Storey and Linda Haymes who admirably blazed these Trails before me, I pray to continue their legacy proudly.

FRAZZLED BAZZEL: Up the dial from Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5, where I'm a morning show co-host, David Bazzel, co-host of The Show With No Name on KABZ-FM, 103.7, The Buzz, choked Thursday morning.

Not on words, but on beef.

At a Mount Magazine State Park remote, Bazzel bit off more than he could chew; a bite of steak from the lodge got lodged in his throat. Shea Lewis, a state parks regional supervisor, successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver.

And listeners heard it all. Says Bazzel, who can chuckle about the scary incident now, "If I'm going to do it, I might as well do it live on the air, right?" This former Razorback football player is still a good sport.

SIZIN' UP VERIZON: Pollstar recently released its midyear rankings of arena venues by ticket sales. North Little Rock's Verizon Arena came in 27th in the United States, beating bigger cities like Houston, St. Louis, Orlando and Boston and its 2016 midyear ranking (33rd). With other big shows scheduled, including Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Janet Jackson, Bruno Mars and Chris Stapleton, such figures are music to the arena's ears.

HEELS ON WHEELS: The nonprofit Kars4Kids recently released a study: "Which States Have the Most Courteous Drivers?" Idaho came in first. Those notoriously coarse New Yawkers came in last.

But so much for Southern hospitality. Louisiana took 47th place; South Carolina took 49th. Right between them idles Arkansas in undesirable, uncouth 48th place. We'll be darned if dawdlers are going to merge in front of us, and we scoff at superfluous communication devices ("turn signals," the survey calls them).

When it comes to civilized driving, we have nothing to toot our own horns about!

POST WITH THE MOST: Responding to the announcement that Little Rock's annual Riverfest, which lost its flow, has been canceled after 40 years, Facebook poster Glen Hooks of Little Rock commented, "Well damnation! Are you telling me that I will have to TRAVEL to see .38 Special next year???"

Contact Jennifer Christman at (501) 378-3513 or jchristman@arkansasonline.com

SundayMonday on 07/23/2017

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