Joomla! site syndication http://www.dogtownwire.net 2008-11-20T08:40:46+01:00 http://www.dogtownwire.net http://www.dogtownwire.net/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2008-08-18T18:09:07+01:00 http://www.dogtownwire.net http://www.dogtownwire.net/20080818573/News/Dogtown-Hibernation.html This is one of the toughest things I have written. You probably noticed Clay has not been writing articles for well over a week. It seems his personal demons have resurfaced and he has walked away from this opportunity. He was doing a wonderful job and taking Dogtown Wire exactly where I thought it should go. That being a neighborhood resource and local news outlet. I have invested thousands of dollars and countless hours in Dogtown Wire and I still believe in this type of local media outlet. Our neighborhoods are the soul of our City and the print, radio and TV outlets do not have the time, space or resources to cover what is really happening in our neighborhoods. There is just so much going on, we would all be surprised and sharing these experiences would bring us all together. However, I will not put out a half done or partial web site only covering limited parts or areas of the City. I have become extremely busy with work at my engineering business, work on a wireless network for the neighborhood and my bed and breakfast. Oh yea, then there is the Ward 2 alderman election (I filed today). Bottom line I will have to put Dogtown Wire in hibernation until after the election and restart it then. I apologize to all you regular readers and supporters of Dogtown Wire. You have been great and you have given me strength and confidence that I am doing the right thing with this site. I will e-mail you when we come back. WE WILL BE BACK!!!! I have been aware of Clay's personal demons for several years and I knew this opportunity was a risk. But even though I knew better in my head, my heart could not keep from throwing him this lifeline one more time. After all, would any of us do any less for our own child?. I may have lost Dogtown Wire for a few months, but I fear I may have lost Clay to his demons for a lot longer. This may be the personal demon that I have to live with, knowingly putting Clay in a position where his demons could resurface and possibly losing him. text/html 2008-08-18T01:42:43+01:00 http://www.dogtownwire.net http://www.dogtownwire.net/20080818572/News/Mayor-Hay-s-City-Travel.html Based on records obtained by a citizen from a Freedom of Information Act request, Mayor Hays travel expenses have been reviewed. The expenses from January 2007 through May 2008 were reviewed to provide a comparison against the alderpersons travel reported here previously. The highest travel cost for the same time period by any alderperson was nearly $9,000 for Alderman Parker. From January 2007 through May 200 the total travel expenses reimbursed to Mayor Hays was $23,573.73. This represents travel to approximately 26 cities in the US including Key West, Minneapolis, DC, Newark, LA and Seattle for US Conference of Mayors meetings, LA and Houston for Rivers of Trade Corridor meetings, several Arkansas cities for AR Municipal League meetings, Albequerque and Fayetteville AR for ICLEI meetings, Seattle for the American Public Power Association, Norfolk for an Argenta/Rockwater trip, Houston to meet with Bomasada officials, Seattle to attend an Air Mobility Rodeo, St Louis to attend a Soccer Association meeting, and Rogers AR for a sustainability conference among others. More on the jump text/html 2008-08-18T01:09:13+01:00 http://www.dogtownwire.net http://www.dogtownwire.net/20080818571/News/International-City-Travel.html The following is a partial list of City International travel by Mayor Hays and alderpersons from October 2004 through May 2006. This information was supplied to Dogtown Wire as a result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by a citizen. Trip to Seoul, South Korea in October 2005. Those City officials whose travel was reimbursed by the City included Mayor Hays and Aldermen Bryant, Witcher and Parker. The airfare cost was only provided at $1.276.45 per person Trip to Istanbul, Turkey in May 2004 by Mayor Hays, to bring the USS Razorback to NLR. Expenses documented included airfare, lodging, taxis, and reception for 120 people. The total cost of the trip documented was $6,534.25 Trip to Instanbul, Turkey in May 2006. Those City officials whose travel was reimbursed by the City included Mayor Hays and Aldermen, Bryant, Thomas and Parker. The airfare cost was only provided at $1,416.60 per person. Complete records were not provided, probably as a result of the wording of the FOIA request. This a partial list of the City international travel and only represents travel by the Mayor and alderpersons. A recent trip to South Korea did not include any alderpersons or the Mayor and is not included. text/html 2008-08-18T00:34:15+01:00 http://www.dogtownwire.net http://www.dogtownwire.net/20080818570/News/Fatal-Stabbing-on-East-Washington.html According to the DemGazette, a 48 year old woman was fatally stabbed by her boyfriend Dan Simpkins (60 years old) Saturday afternoon. Mary Williams was stabbed several times by Simpkins and later died at UAMS, Simpkins was charged with first degree murder and is being held in the Pulaski County jail. The fatal stabbing occured at 1219 East 2nd Street, near east Washington Street and not far from the area Mayor Hays said at a recent Council hearing that he would porch sit to help the citizens. text/html 2008-08-15T23:11:03+01:00 http://www.dogtownwire.net http://www.dogtownwire.net/20080815569/Op-Ed/Bad-Leadership.html The nonsense with Lu Hardin at UCA these past few weeks has reminded me of how stressed my family was some 20 years ago. My dad, a long time history professor and prominent local university administrator, was a finalist for the Presidency of UCA. He’d also been offered the Presidency of East Central State University in Ada, Oklahoma. Being the city boy I am, I’m not sure which scared me more. Dad turned down East Central State and didn’t get the UCA gig, all to the delight of everyone in his family….except him, I think. I got my way, and until now didn’t really care. Knowing my Dad the way I do, I’m not sure he cares either. He loves to teach research and write. And yet somehow his colleagues have found a way to make him President of the Faculty Senate, and Chair of the History Department (which he’s been in nearly 40 years) and the Foreign Language Department (he only speaks English) at the same time. Somehow he’s always called in when administration needs a mediator, a peacemaker, or a decision maker that faculty and administration both can trust. More on the jump