Dogtown Wire

Rose City Dolly Faux talked to City Council about a shooting on her street.

During the council meeting public comments section Rose City resident Dolly Faux asked the City Council and the police to help her with an ongoing problem with neighborhood teenagers.

Years of conflict with teenagers on her street escalated from four calls about fireworks and motor scooters Saturday night, to one of being shot at , she said.

Monday Faux said at her house she took her gun and shot into the air as a Rose City teenager was riding away from her house on his bike after shooting at her.

Pulaski Technical College (PTC) Communication and Special Events Manager Tracy Courage announced Friday that the Arkansas Culinary School will have a new home this fall.

The school, currently housed in the Performance Food Group building at 4901 Asher Avenue in Little Rock, will move to the college’s Little Rock-South site, located at 13000 Interstate 30, Courage said.

Beginning this fall, classroom and laboratory instruction will take place at the new location. Classes begin Aug. 18.

An Arkansas Business whispers snippet on work at the Shoppes at North Hills shows that developer MBC Holdings (this was Belz-Burrow/Hocker first and then Belz-Burrow Development Group) is still trying to reel in an approval for this estimated 850,000 square-foot mall.

Bass Pro Shop hasn’t been ruled out as the anchor store yet.

The project has been talked about since 2004, but opposition to it has left little done on the property besides the City Council giving the okay for the developer to clear some trees there.

A judge threw out a lawsuit in 2006 by the Arkansas Nature Alliance and the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas saying they didn’t have a standing in the area to sue on what they saw as an environmental issue.

It sure has been a welcome relief to have our national election news arrive at the point where we are down to listening to just two candidates.

That the Democrat nomination race brought more voters into this fray – creating some of the most amazing political theater I have seen in my lifetime – has me excited for our local City Hall races to get started.

But…

The Starlite Diner at 250 E. Military Drive became the destination for firefighters Monday at the 2 a.m.

Chief Phil Pounders reported that smoke was showing from the building when the crew from Engine 6 arrived at the diner.

The crews finally left after 4 a.m. with the diner estimated to have suffered $80,000 in damages to the building valued at $250,000 and $70,000 damages to contents valued at $80,000.

Pounders said, “All damage from the fire was to wall coverings, the ceiling, and to contents. It did not appear that any major structural damage occurred as a result of the fire.”

A side door was reported to “appear” to have been forced open and that fire crews did not force open this door when attacking the fire.

The North Little Rock Visitors Bureau sent an email to say it is currently out of the 200 free tickets to view the July 4 fireworks display. The Democrat-Gazette received about 1,000 of these ticket to hand out with the remainder going to the city of Little Rock and elsewhere.

They will be getting another 50 to 100 tickets sometime soon, but ask that people call the Bureau at 758-1424 beforehand to ensure they have arrived.

Argenta Community Development Corporation will present a free homebuyer education classes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 12, at 401 Main Street, Suite 200.

Taught by HUD-certified homebuyer counselors and industry professionals, the class will include topics about budgeting, managing credit, the mortgage loan process, choosing homeowners insurance, foreclosure prevention and more. Participants are given a variety of timely resources to take home. Individuals who complete the class will receive a certificate, which is a requirement for certain mortgages and down payment assistance programs.

Courtesy John C. Jones

It’s been my privilege to know Pulaski County Bridge Facilities Board Chairman Billie Ann Myers since she was one of the first Arena Board appointees, and I have come to admire her calm thoughtfulness and her pluck over the years.

But I’m beginning to wonder if she, and the other members of the Bridge Board, put enough thought into the issue of crowding on the Junction Bridge.

True, they’ve placed a strict limit of 2,500 people for watching the upcoming Fourth of July fireworks display from that span. But that’s not the crowd the Bridge Board should be paying the closest attention to – rather, it should be the even bigger crowd that could pour onto the span after the display is over.

One of the wonders of the south I was excited to partake of again when I was hired to come to North Little Rock was barbecue .

As a matter of fact I think it might have been the deal maker. After then-NLR Times managing editor Eric Francis had finished grilling me about my qualifications, I told him it was my turn and I had a few questions for him during my phone interview in December 2006.

I had done my online research on NLR and told him the most important thing I needed to know was if the White Pig Inn, Lindsey’s Barbecue, or Dixie Pig had the best BBQ.  

Mike Myer’s latest film offering “The Love Guru ” has hit the theaters with both feet running.

Guru Pitka (Myers), called GP by his close personal friends, has moved to the USA so that he can break into the self help business and replace Deepak Chopra as number one. Pitka is tutored by Guru Tugginmypudha (a funny Ben Kingsley) in the fine art of becoming a guru.

In Los Angeles at the Guru Pitka Ashram, we find Pitka being told by his personal manager Richard Pants (The Daily Show’s John Oliver) that if he can get the love life of hockey player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) straightened out then he will be booked on Oprah and become the undisputed number one guru.