MORE PATIENTS: Active patient cards have surpassed 100,000. Arkansas now has more than 100,000 active medical marijuana patient cards — a milestone reached this week as a group begins collecting signatures to place an expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program on the November ballot.  In its latest update on April 13, the state Department of Finance and Administration reported 102,222 active cards, an increase of more than 8,000 from the 93,977 active cards a year ago.  Bill Paschall, executive director of the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association, gave credit for the ..read more

Rhett Brinkley The new Scoops Homemade Ice Cream shop that’s been in the works at the corner of the busy downtown intersection at Third and Broadway is now open. Scoops has a Central Avenue store in Hot Springs and has been slow-churning homemade ice cream since 2003. The new Little Rock shop is its second location. Seriously good since 2003, its website says, the menu features about 25 ice cream flavors, including cake batter, cafe latte, animal cracker, Death By Chocolate and hummingbird cake. Milkshakes, sundaes, concretes, floats and ice cream cookie sandwiches are also available. The Li ..read more

Spring only just started, but summer is right around the corner. The bugs will soon return with vigor, and we’ll probably wonder how there was ever a time when we felt cold outside. Arkansas summers are hot and humid, and in Little Rock, the significant amount of pavement sends temperatures to the top of the thermometer. With hopes of finding out just how hot it gets on Little Rock’s streets, the city’s sustainability office in August 2023 led groups of volunteer scientists equipped with sensors to collect temperature and humidity levels within 121 square miles. As expected, it was hot. The st ..read more

The Sue Cowan Williams Library, a branch of the Central Arkansas Library System, is reopening Friday. Located at 1800 S. Chester St., the library has been closed since early November, when it shuttered for renovations, which include reimagined areas for teens, studying and podcasting; a more robust makerspace; and the addition of a community kitchen. Also, a new mezzanine has been constructed, which will provide extra space for staff. Everything’s received a fresh coat of colorful paint and the floors have been redone as well. Details on the progression of the project can be found on the CALS ..read more

What a great editor! Pic from La Hacienda. The post The Benji’s birthday open line appeared first on Arkansas Times ..read more

Celebrate! Maya Project announced this week that, immediately following the film screening of ‘Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” Friday, April 19, at the Ron Robinson Theater; Janis F. Kearney, president and founder of Celebrate! Maya Project, will moderate a discussion with Dr. Karen Bryan, executive director of Arkansas Learning through the Arts. Their discussion will center on the before, after and in-between of the “rise” of Maya Angelou, which began with childhood trauma and ended with her role as a beloved global literary icon. Dr. Karen Bryan is a musicologist and independent schola ..read more

In a ruling today that will likely please only Second Amendment advocates and the ghost of Warren Zevon, the Arkansas Supreme Court held that lawyers are entitled to carry guns into courthouses — but not courtrooms, at least not yet — around the state. The opinion, written by Justice Shawn Womack, disagreed with a Pulaski County Circuit Court’s decision that lawyers were barred from carrying firearms into Arkansas courthouses under Amendment 80 to the Arkansas Constitution. Section three of Amendment 80 gives the Arkansas Supreme Court superintending control over practice and procedural rules ..read more

A staid but supportive audience turned out to Club Sway in downtown Little Rock Wednesday night for a performance from Q, a contestant on Season 16 of “Rupaul’s Drag Race,” the finals of which air on Friday. (#teamsapphira here, for the record!) Q, known on the season for immaculate runway looks crafted with a meticulous seamstress’s hand, is also a dynamic mover on stage — and a comedy queen, at that.  Her runway looks last night were, as ever, stunning, the first being a sort of “Lucille Ball takes the Magical Mystery Tour, but dressed as a Popple.” (Eat your heart out, Sid & Marty ..read more

Bentonville-based breakfast restaurant The Buttered Biscuit is now hiring for its new Chenal Parkway location, slated to open in late May or early June. In December, the restaurant announced plans to expand into Little Rock with two stores to open in 2024. The second branch, the release said, will open in the Heights neighborhood at 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd. sometime later this year. Founded by Sam Russell (“Chief Biscuit Officer”) and Anna Russell, The Buttered Biscuit has two Bentonville stores, as well as one each in Springdale and Fayetteville. This morning there was a press conference at the U ..read more

Brian ChilsonCentral High teacher Ruthie Walls, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. A federal judge on Wednesday scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for April 30 in a case challenging the constitutionality of a portion of the LEARNS Act that bans “indoctrination” in public schools. Little Rock Central High School parents, students and a teacher involved in an AP African American Studies pilot course that received scrutiny for potentially violating the “indoctrination” ban, filed the lawsuit in late March against Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva. In Wednesday’s ord ..read more