Dogtown Wire

McCain Mall has been at 3929 McCain Boulevard since 1973 and it is going to keep serving Central Arkansas for years to come, said Lisa Meyer, director of Mall Marketing last Thursday.

A link to the thread on the website UrbanPlanet.org about titled “McCain Mall, The demise of North Little Rock's mall” was emailed to the Wire back in early June which had a rumored $6 million renovation at McCain Mall.  

But a call to the Indianapolis, Ind.-based Simon Property Group Inc. that manages the mall bought only the fact that Meyers would be the person to answer questions regarding the mall once she came back from vacation.

The first question posed concerned the rumored high dollar renovation and was quickly put to rest.

“I don’t know of any $6 million renovation, I’m not aware of a renovation, but if there were one I’d tell you,” said Meyers, who has worked at the mall for 13 of its 35 years.

President George Walker Bush will be in North Little Rock today to discuss the housing foreclosure crisis at a round table discussion hosted by the Family Service Agency.

A story by of all media giants, Canadian Business Online , has the news of what will be discussed before the President heads to Little Rock for a $150-a-plate Arkansas Republican Party fundraiser. For $5,000 you get to a have your photo taken with Bush.

NWAnews.com has a story about a 12-year-old Conway boy who will meet the President to receive a President’s Volunteer Service Award.

It appears that we have a bicycling hero supporting our city kids.

Mayor Pat Hays proclaimed Saturday Peggy Muncy Day after Muncy returned from a 3,415 mile cross-country bike trip to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Central Arkansas.

Muncy is a former board member of the Boys and Girls Club and raised almost $20,000 on the ride. You can view some of the photos of Muncy’s trip at her blogsite .

About 12 Street and Electric Department employees were busy at the city's new riverfront RV park Monday.

North Little Rock Street and Electric departments employees were busy putting in utilities at the city’s new riverfront RV park Monday.

Excavation work on the park began last Monday with Electric Department employees showing up about two hours after his crew had opened up trenches for them, said Street Department Director Patrick Lane.

Lane said he has had about three large excavating machines on site to fill the two dump trucks. The crew includes two operators, two truck drivers and 2-3 employees to lay water pipes. There were about 4-5 Electric Department workers on hand Monday suing a smaller track hoe putting in conduit for the power boxes to be used by the recreational vehicles.

The city is building the RV park – the plans now show 68 RV pads, with all but five having water and electrical hookups – to first enable organizers and volunteers of the Family Motor Coach Assoc. (FMCA ) to park their RVs during its Sept. 24 to 28 rally.

Officials from UALR, Central Arkansas Water , and the U.S. Geological Survey’s Arkansas Water Science Center entered a partnership today that will integrate environmental education with valuable research aimed at protecting and enhancing the area’s drinking water sources.

The agreement, announced at the shore of Lake Maumelle , creates the Central Arkansas Watershed Center of Excellence. The collaboration will allow UALR students and faculty and USGS scientists to work together to improve water quality in Central Arkansas and to inspire students to pursue graduate education in scientific careers.

Capt. Don Payne said firefighters arrived Thursday morning at 11:44 a.m. and found heavy smoke and fire coming from the attached garage at the rear of the house in the Pike View neighborhood at 4717 West St.

A chainsaw was used to cut a hole in the roof for vertical ventilation, with positive-pressure fans used for additional ventilation. Firefighters placed an upright brace to the roof of the covered walkway leading to the garage from the side of the house that had been weakened by the fire.

After salvaging items within the house, a “salvage cover” was put in place to prevent further water damage.

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ ) has scheduled a public meeting and hearing for Koppers, Inc. (Beazer East, Inc) to be held July 10, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Glenview Community Center, located at 4800 East 19th Street in North Little Rock, Arkansas.  Koppers, Inc. is located at 2201 Edmonds Street in North Little Rock. 

ADEQ received the Corrective Action Strategy Risk Management Plan (RMP) for Koppers, Inc, (Beazer East, Inc.) wood treating facility on March 6, 2007.  The RMP proposed remedial actions concerning releases of hazardous substances into the soil and groundwater.  The RMP was approved by ADEQ on October 31, 2007, and has developed a Remedial Action Decision Document (RADD) to implement the proposed remedies.  Based upon the comments received during the hearing and at the close of the comment period, ADEQ will prepare a final RADD containing the Department’s final decision.

Assistant City Clerk Linda Marshall busy at her desk at City Hall.

The number of new resolutions (14) and new ordinances (2) Mayor Pat Hays had sponsored on the June 23 City Council agenda got the gears working. Only Ward 1 Alderwoman Debi Ross and Ward 2 Alderwoman Linda Robinson sponsored new business legislation on the June 23 agenda with one ordinance each.

Assistant City Clerk Linda Marshall quickly responded to a request to compile the number of resolutions and ordinances the mayor and each council member had sponsored since 2004. The year was chosen to permit the last year served by those before the 2004 election and to include the current term each council member has served since the last election.

Ward 1 Alderman Neil Bryant and Ward 3 Alderman John Parker began their first terms on Jan. 1, 2005, Ward 1 Alderwoman Debi Ross and Ward 3 Alderman Cary Gaines did so on Jan. 1, 2007.

For the past several months The Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum (AIMM) has been working with a team of students from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) to develop a new website design. The new website design will be up and running sometime in July.

The AIMM website address will not change.

UALR has a unique IT minor program, as part of the College of Engineering and Information Technology, which provides an opportunity for students in liberal arts majors to take computer courses which will enable them to better compete in the job market.

In case you hadn’t hear it yet, if you’re thinking about doing a little flying Tuesday there will be a few restrictions.

North Little Rock Airport Director Willie Elizandro sent out the following note dealing with President Bush’s visit here.

“The FAA has notified me this morning that general aviation aircraft will not be able to conduct operations at NLR Airport on July 1, 2008 from 2:35 pm to 6:55 pm.  The time is tentative right now and is subject to change.

Please check NOTAMS as the date draws near for updates.  Again, Tuesday, July 1, 2008 and the tentative time is 2:35 pm to 6:55 pm.” 

It has been reported that Bush will be participating in a round table discussion on housing in our fair city and then will attend a Republican Party fundraiser on the south of the river.