QUEEN ESTEEM: Pretty, popular and a cheerleader, Claire Fortson sounds like an ordinary homecoming queen.
But the 18-year-old senior at Little Rock Christian Academy who wore the crown at last weekend's festivities is quite extraordinary.
Claire, the daughter of Jaime and Grant Fortson, has Down syndrome.
"Down syndrome is just part of her ... it affects every part of her body," Jaime says. "Anything that she accomplishes, she has to work harder." Whether that's doing back handsprings (she can do three in a row) or taking the driver's test (she passed).
"Claire's just kind of like any other kid. ... She's got a lot of good friends. The kids just couldn't be any better to her," Jaime says, adding, "They have loved her, and she loves them."
President and Head of School Gary Arnold says, "I love the fact that our students recognize and rally around true beauty, grace and grit. Claire is the real deal."
MATT CHAT: Once the spokesman for former Gov. Mike Beebe and now the founder of Capital C Consulting, Matt DeCample is no stranger to debates.
But when he made an appearance during last Monday's health care debate on CNN, he wasn't there for work. He was there as a patient.
DeCample, an improvisational comic who documents fighting Stage 4 liver cancer with "bad jokes" in his blog "Mattie D vs. The Evil C" (decample.tumblr.com), posed a question to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, asking why Congress wasn't seeking "consensus solutions."
Organizers flew DeCample to Washington, D.C., on the recommendation of a friend who also has cancer but couldn't participate due to her chemotherapy schedule.
While he was in D.C., his proud parents were cheering for him in the other Washington, DeCample's home state. He says, "To this day, they're holdouts and they don't have cable TV, so they went to a neighbor's house and they all watched it together."
A cute tidbit, given DeCample -- a former news reporter for Little Rock's KATV, Channel 7 -- was once in TV full time.
TAT COMBAT: The ink has dried on the ninth season of Spike's Ink Master, which featured a team of competitors from Black Cobra Tattoos in Sherwood -- owner Matt O'Baugh and artist Katie McGowan.
Viewers during Tuesday's finale voted via Twitter, selecting O'Baugh and McGowan as having the best tattoo during the live competition, securing their team's place in the final two with an Arizona team. Ultimately, the judges selected the Arizonians -- not the Arkansans -- to win the $200,000 prize.
Though grateful for the experience and the exposure, O'Baugh, a two-time competitor and finalist, says, "It's definitely a bummer, but the judging of the art is very subjective."
We say the judges' decision just totally inks.
Email: jchristman@arkansasonline.com
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