Alley near theater named for Baker
An alley behind the Arkansas Repertory Theatre in downtown Little Rock has been formally named for the institution's founder.
The alley adjacent to the theater connecting Sixth and Seventh streets had been informally known as "Baker's Alley," for founder Cliff Baker. Baker died Sept. 6, a week shy of his 71st birthday. At the time, he was part of a team working to help the theater find its fiscal footing after it suspended operations in April because of cash-flow problems.
Mayor Mark Stodola formalized the name with a proclamation and an official Little Rock street sign Tuesday at an event announcing the theater's 2019 season.
LR, firm to test scooter use in city
Little Rock has entered into an agreement with electric scooter company Lime to start a pilot program in the city.
The program would involve locating the scooters in the city for a few months and deciding whether to extend the agreement based on whether people like them, Mayor Mark Stodola said Friday.
Scooters by Lime and other companies have shown up as a new mode of transportation and entertainment in recent months in cities including Los Angeles, Dallas and Washington, D.C. The city of Russellville and the Arkansas Tech University campus received a combined 175 scooters from the company Bird in October.
Library to accept food to pay fines
The Central Arkansas Library System will allow patrons to shed library fines in exchange for donations of nonperishable food items.
The system's annual "Food for Fines" event will run from Dec. 2 to Dec. 8. During that period, each food item donated will offset $1 in fines for overdue library materials, up to $10. Fines accrued for billed items or replacement fees are not eligible under the program.
Food collected in Pulaski County during the drive will be donated to the Arkansas Foodbank. Donations collected at Milam Library will be donated to Partners for Progress in Perryville.
More information about the program is available by calling (501) 918-3000 or visiting cals.org.
Water utility looks to haggle on land
Central Arkansas Water plans to negotiate the price for about 620 acres that it intends to buy from PotlatchDeltic Corp.
The utility's board of commissioners Thursday declined to approve a resolution authorizing the purchase of the property. Multiple members said the purchase price of roughly $4.6 million, averaging to $7,425 per acre, was too high.
They asked Tad Bohannon, the utility's chief executive officer, to negotiate with the corporation, which is a merger of the El Dorado-based Deltic Timber Corp. and Potlatch Corp. of Spokane, Wash.
The utility has continuously acquired land in the Lake Maumelle Watershed. That allows Central Arkansas Water to better manage water quality, spokesman Doug Shackelford said.
The price of land the utility seeks to acquire is sometimes based on its proximity to the water source and the possibility of the land being developed, Shackelford said.
Metro on 11/18/2018