Dogtown Wire

Arkansas Business said that Havertys Furniture at 4200 Landers Road will be closing Sept. 21.

The story said some of the 14 North Little Rock employees will then be moved to Havertys Schackleford Road store until it closes in January 2009 when a new store is scheduled to open to “consolidate” the two local stores.

The Dogtown Wire has joined forces with the North Little Rock Animal Shelter to help connect homeless dogs and cats with people through the adoption program. There is a fee to adopt the animals if they need to be spayed or neutered.

If you have any questions on the animals shown please call the shelter at 791-8577 or email them at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Rufus is a 4-month-old neutered male Shepherd mix.

Thursday at the Argenta News blog, host Scott Miller raised the question of what Alltel Arena might be renamed now that Verizon has taken ownership of the company that originally bought the naming rights.

Here’s a suggestion, if one built on wishful thinking: Name the facility in a way that honors the folks who put up the cash to build it — the taxpayers.

It could be as simple as Public Arena. Or the Pulaski Center. Or Hall of Fame Arena, to acknowledge the Arkansas sports greats whose shrine shares the building. Anything that clearly identifies it as a public structure — perhaps supported by the slogan: “Your tax dollars at play!”

It’s a nice thought. After all, the vast majority of the arena’s cost was paid for by taxes. It’s owned by the people and run by a public board. Everything about the arena just screams “I belong to the taxpayers.”

Everything except the name, of course.

A 3:24 p.m. fire at a carport at 1005 W. 13^th St. Wednesday was put out in about 30 minutes by the responding crews.

Firefighters found the wooden cabinets sunken below the concrete slab at the back of the carport used as a storage area, and its wooden ceiling burning, said Capt. Lynn Dereuisseaux’s report.

No vehicles were parked in the carport at the time. No tarp, which were made illegal Aug. 28, 2007 by ordinance 0-07-70 that could have made the fire worse.

No one was at the rental property and Dereuisseaux said door hangers were left on both apartments to notify the occupants of the incident.

Through the generosity of the management at The Enclave on Riverfront Drive I was able to take some shots of the fireworks from the roof.

The crowd downtown was plentiful as I and others listened to music wafting up from the band playing at the USS Razorback.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture a bursting shell against the Little Rock skyline whose that added some color of its own to the display. More photos are presented below

Except for breaking news, the staff at Dogtown Wire will be off the web today to celebrate Independence Day. Have a safe, fun weekend.

The adoption of the Declaration of Independence is the reason we celebrate this day every year now since 1776. To recognize this, the words that Thomas Jefferson and so many others signed their names to, and so many rallied behind to take a stand against tyranny is presented below.

Friday, July 4

The Clinton Presidential Center at 1200 President Clinton Ave will offer free admission to the library in celebration of Independence Day. The Delta Brass Quintet will be performing in the Great Hall from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. There will be a free family festival starting at 2 p.m. with children’s activities, food vendors, live music and more! The Dell Smith Experience featuring Tawanna Campbell and J. White will provide music and entertainment from 6 to 9 p.m. Watch the Fourth of July fireworks over the Arkansas River at 9:30 p.m. Come join us on the Fourth of July. Sponsored by Radio Disney.

Hot Springs, Gallery Walk, Participating Galleries on Central Avenue from 5 to 9 p.m.

Pops on the River ~ A free Patriotic Concert at Riverfront Park Amphitheatre at 400 President Clinton Ave.  Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for Happenstance at 6:30, the Arkansas Symphony at 8:30 Orchestra and the 9:30 fireworks show.

Saturday, July 5

Arkansas River Valley Arts Center in Russelville presents artist Richard Stephens. Opens with a reception from 1 to 3 p.m. and runs through July 31.  Info (479) 968-2452

Sunday, July 6, 2008

The bad news is Electric Department Director Joe Gertsch resigned his position June 16 after 13 years at the department and will be leaving as of today.

The good news for us is Gertsch will be starting his new job Monday to use his law degree for Southwest Power Pool (SPP) that is a form of watchdog organization that ensures electric companies comply to rules crucial to keeping our electrical power flowing.

Gertsch also holds an engineering degree.

SPP’s website said, “SPP is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure, and competitive wholesale prices of electricity.”

Gertsch said he was asked by Mayor Pat Hays to not say anything about the resignation until last Friday to give him time to call people to inform them that Gertsch was leaving.

The police department is running a new mandatory training class for all its officers, and Sgt. Terry Kuykendall has the bruises to show for it.

Terrible lessons were learned from the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 that have resulted in decisions by law enforcement agencies on how to deal with people determined to take lives for reasons known only to them.

“It’s an active-shooter training all of our police officers at the police department have to go through,” said Kuykendall. “It’s being taught by SWAT Team member Officer Steve Chamness and SWAT Team leader, Sgt. Patrick Shoemaker.”

Strategies on how to handle incidents involving an armed, and sometimes heavily armed, gunman or gunmen have changed in the wake of Columbine, Kuykendall said. There are the occasions when police will deal with a potentially mentally imbalanced person taking hostages in an effort to publicize their perceived problem with society by using hostage negotiators.

As people celebrate our 232^nd Independence Day tomorrow police will be out in greater numbers to ensure they can respond to calls of people illegally using fireworks and shooting guns in the air.

Capt. Mike Davis said the night shift was actually increased the past couple of nights as people impatient for July 4 to come light up illegal fireworks. Friday night will see the largest number of extra officers driving around the city to react to the calls, he said.

Sgt. Terry Kuykendall said Tuesday that the department responded to 565 fireworks calls last year, but he didn’t have the records yet for arrests made.

The portion of the city’s ordinance on fireworks is listed below: