Short-term rentals on council agenda
A proposed ordinance regulating short-term rentals is on the agenda for the North Little Rock City Council on Monday.
Whether it will be given a third and final reading, preceding a vote Monday, remained unknown Saturday.
The proposal -- which would regulate numbers of occupants, parked vehicles and noise in the affected residential areas where short-term rentals would be authorized -- has been delayed in part because of Senate Bill 197 at the state Legislature.
That proposed bill would essentially prohibit cities from establishing local laws that would specifically and strongly regulate, cap or prohibit short-term rentals.
"A local government shall not regulate the operation of a short term rental marketplace," the proposed legislation states.
Local ordinances -- either in place or proposed -- have been controversial in Hot Springs, Fayetteville and other cities, with some residents opposing short-term rentals in their residential neighborhoods and others -- mostly owners -- advocating for short-term rentals with limited requirements.
The cities of North Little Rock and Little Rock, both of which view short-term rentals as a regulatory measure, tourism opportunity and revenue income in the form of permit fees and sales taxes, have put their proposed ordinances on hold while awaiting the outcome of Senate Bill 197.
The North Little Rock City Council agenda is available at https://bit.ly/3njYiOj. The proposed short-term rental ordinance is available by clicking on O-23-09 under the first item of "Unfinished Business."
Resolution to laud cheerleading team
Arkansas' 94th General Assembly is about to honor the North Little Rock High School cheerleading team.
Senate Resolution 37 would recognize the North Little Rock High School Charging Wildcats cheerleaders for winning the 2022 6A All-Girl State Cheerleading championship on Dec. 16, 2022, at the Hot Springs Convention Center in Hot Springs.
The cheerleaders have won three consecutive 6A All-Girl State Cheerleading championships. Nationally, they placed 18th at the Universal Cheerleaders Association competition in Orlando, Fla., and, in 2023, placed fourth at the National Cheerleaders Association competition in Dallas.
Cheerleaders cited in the resolution are Caroline Jolly, Julia French, Abby Schaefer, Anna Baggett, Tiyah Green, Abrielle Crump, Haley Jordan, Kylie Sartain, Aspen Frensley, McKenna Chism, Iyuana Jones, Kamryn Cottrell, Amaya Kindle, Revell Hogan, Emma Dill, Mallori Holloway, Avery Bilon and Tori Moody, as well as the head coach, Missy Sela.
"I am so proud of these young ladies and to be their coach," Sela is quoted as saying in the resolution. "Being the three time state champs is not an easy feat. It takes a lot of hours of practice to get ready for competition season. They give it all they have, all while maintaining stellar grades. We endured the tragic loss of one of our members, Tori Moody, but this team came together and dedicated this season to her memory. I cannot say enough about their resilience."
Moody died in October 2022, less than three months after her 18th birthday, of an apparent pulmonary embolism.
Honors planned for Irma Hunter Brown
Irma Hunter Brown -- who first moved to Arkansas to enroll at Shorter College in North Little Rock and later became the first Black woman elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives and the first Black woman elected to the Arkansas Senate -- is on a path to be honored by the state Legislature.
Among the resolutions going through the standard legislative process is Senate Resolution 39, which honors her legacy.
Brown, 84, a resident of Little Rock, was born in Tampa, Fla., and grew up in Forsythe, Ga. Brown moved to North Little Rock to attend Shorter College, according to the resolution and the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. She received her associate's degree in 1958 from Shorter College. Afterward, she continued her education at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1960 with a double major in history and government and a minor in education.
She taught in the Memphis public schools from 1961 to 1964 and the Washington, D.C., public schools from 1965 to 1969 before returning to Arkansas.
Brown served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1981 to 1998 and in the Arkansas Senate from 2003 to 2008. She was a founder of the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus, becoming its first chairperson, and a 2019 member of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.
Brown is recognized by a plaque on the Arkansas Civil Rights Heritage Trail.