Category Archives: Famous Arkansans

Pryor on possible government shutdown (Part 3)(Glen Campbell, Famous Arkansan)

April 7, 2011 – 8:57 am

Senator Mark Pryor wants our ideas on how to cut federal spending. Take a look at this video clip below:

Senator Pryor has asked us to send our ideas to him at cutspending@pryor.senate.gov and I have just done so at 9:51 Central Standard Time on April 7, 2011. Here is the first portion of my suggestions below in the form of an article by Senator Rand Paul.

Mark Pryor made some comments on April 6, 2011 on the floor of the U.S.Senate concerning the possible federal government shutdown. I will provide all of his comments in my next few posts. Here is a portion below:

Our fiscal challenges that the debt commission has focused on and many of us have focused on, they’re beyond politics. They’re bigger than politics.  They’re more important than the next election.  In fact, they’re more important than our own personal political fortune.  This fiscal situation that we’re in is not about the next election, but it’s about the next generation.

If Senator Pryor really believes this, then why won’t he join Senator Rand Paul and ask for cuts of at least 500 Billion out of the budget this year? If Senator Pryor really believes this is so big that it affects the next generation then why only cut 1.6% like the other Republicans are suggesting, but get more ambitious like Rand Paul does. Below you will see an article that Rand Paul wrote Feb 7, 2011 for the Wall Street Journal.

A Modest $500 Billion Proposal

My spending cuts would keep 85% of government funding and not touch Social Security or Medicare.

After Republicans swept into office in 1994, Bill Clinton famously said in his State of the Union address that the era of big government was over. Nearly $10 trillion of federal debt later, the era of big government is at its zenith.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this will be the third consecutive year in which the federal government is running a deficit near or greater than $1 trillion. The solution to the government’s fiscal crisis must begin by cutting spending in all areas, particularly in those that can be better run at the state or local level. Last month I introduced legislation to do just that. And though it seems extreme to some—containing over $500 billion in spending cuts enacted over one year—it is a necessary first step toward ending our fiscal crisis.

My proposal would first roll back almost all federal spending to 2008 levels, then initiate reductions at various levels nearly across the board. Cuts to the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation would create over $42 billion in savings each, while cuts to the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development would save about $50 billion each. Removing education from the federal government’s jurisdiction would create almost $80 billion in savings alone. Add to that my proposed reductions in international aid, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and other federal agencies, and we arrive at over $500 billion.

My proposal, not surprisingly, has been greeted skeptically in Washington, where serious spending cuts are a rarity. But it is a modest proposal when measured against the size of our mounting debt. It would keep 85% of our government funding in place and not touch Social Security or Medicare. But by reducing wasteful spending and shuttering departments that are beyond the constitutional role of the federal government, such as the Department of Education, we can cut nearly 40% of our projected deficit and at the same time remove thousands of big-government bureaucrats who stand in the way of efficiency.

Examples of federal waste are more abundant than ever. For example, the Department of Energy’s nuclear-weapons activities should be placed under the purview of the Department of Defense. Many of its other activities amount to nothing more than corporate handouts. It provides research grants and subsidies to energy companies for the development of new, cleaner forms of energy. This means nearly all forms of energy development here in the U.S. are subsidized by the federal government, from oil and coal to nuclear, wind, solar and biofuels. These subsidies often go to research and companies that can survive without them. This drives up the cost of energy for all Americans, both as taxpayers and consumers.

The Commerce Department is another prime example. Consistently labeled for elimination, specifically by House Republicans during the 1990s, one of Commerce’s main functions is delivering corporate welfare to American firms that can compete without it. My proposal would scale back the Commerce Department’s spending by 54% and eliminate corporate welfare.

My proposal would also cut wasteful spending in the Defense Department. Since 2001, our annual defense budget has increased nearly 120%. Even subtracting the costs of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, spending is up 67%. These levels of spending are unjustifiable and unsustainable. Defense Secretary Robert Gates understands this and has called for spending cuts, saying “We must come to realize that not every defense program is necessary, not every defense dollar is sacred or well-spent, and more of everything is simply not sustainable.”

For those who take issue with any of the spending cuts I have proposed, I have two requests:

First, if you believe a particular program should be exempt from these cuts, I challenge you to find another place in the budget where the same amount can feasibly be cut and we can replace it.

Second, consider this: Is any particular program, whatever its merits, worth borrowing billions of dollars from foreign nations to finance programs that could be administered better at the state and local level, or even taken over by the private sector?

A real discussion about the budget must begin now—our economy cannot wait any longer. For 19 months, unemployment has hovered over 9%. After a nearly $1 trillion government stimulus and $2 trillion in Federal Reserve stimulus, the Washington establishment still believes that we can solve this problem with more federal spending and the printing of more money.

That’s ridiculous, and the American people have had enough.

Many in Washington think that a one-year, $500 billion spending cut is too bold. But the attendees at the newly formed Senate Tea Party Caucus say, “Bring on the cuts! And then, bring on more!” My Republican colleagues say they want a balanced-budget amendment. But to have any semblance of credibility we must begin to discuss where we will cut once it passes. My proposal is a place to start.

Mr. Paul is a Republican senator from Kentucky.

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I am doing a series on Famous Arkansans and today is one of my favorites.

Glen Campbell

Inducted in 1996

 (b. 1936) – A native of Delight in Pike County, the famous pop/country singer and songwriter hosted his own TV variety shows, “The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour” (1969) and “The Glen Campbell Music Show” (1982). His hit recordings include: “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Gentle on My Mind.” He appeared in the movies “True Grit” (1969), “Any Which Way You Can” (1980), “Uphill All The Way” (1985), and “Family Prayers” (1993). Campbell, who in 1960 was a session musician playing on recordings by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley and counless others, now headlines concerts throughout North America and the British Isles. www.glencampbellshow.com

Glen in an interview with Jim Gaver talks about his PBS special and TV shows like Shindig

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Fayetteville Finger gone, Rep Luker’s amendment to pass? (Part 15)(Mary Steenburgen, Famous Arkansan)

April 7, 2011 – 8:34 am

 

April 6th, 2011 by Jason

Jason Tolbert has pointed to Representative Jim Luker of Monroe County and his amendment as the latest. The funny thing is that wife Jill Sawyer Hatcher had a great grandfather named “Stephen Decatur Sawyer” who served as the Representative from Monroe County in both the 1925 and 1927 sessions of the General Assembly. In fact, his granddaughter, Mary Anne Salmon, is the current Senator from North Little Rock.

Sawyer was a Baptist preacher and farmer. I never met him, but I grew to love and respect his son L.R. “Tom” Sawyer who I have written about before.

What does this new map from Representative Luker do? Tolbert comments:

 Ashley County stays in AR4 (which gets several south Arkansas Democrats on board); Pope County stays in tact (bringing on board Rep. Lea) but is moved to AR4 along with Johnson and Yell.  Logan is the only county split between AR4 and AR3.

Not a bad map. Relatively smooth edges. Only one county split. No fingers as best I can tell.

My sources says this will likely be introduced in the House State Agencies Committee as an amendment to the map passed today by the Senate.  This one has a better chance at 11 committee votes which currently appears to be the biggest hurdle in the House.

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I think that Tolbert is right in his assessment. Hopefully this will be the last hurdle.

I am doing a series on Famous Arkansans. Here is some info on a wonderful lady from North Little Rock.

Donald Sutherland and Diana Ross presenting Mary Steenburgen with the Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Melvin and Howard” at the 53rd Academy Awards® in 1981.

Mary Steenburgen

Inducted in 1996

 (b. 1953) – This Academy Award-winning actress from North Little Rock was discovered by Jack Nicholson. She has starred in “Ragtime” (1981), Woody Allen’s “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” (1982), “Parenthood” (1989), “Back to the Future III” (1990), “The Butcher’s Wife” (1991) and many other movies. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in “Melvin and Howard” in 1981. She produced and starred in “The End of the Line” (1987), a movie filmed in Arkansas. Steenburgen also starred, along with her husband, actor Ted Danson, in the television miniseries “Gulliver’s Travels” (1996) and the television series “Ink” (1997). She last appeared in the television show “Joan of Arcadia.” www.tvguide.com/celebrities/marysteenburgen

Craig Ferguson welcomes to the show Mary Steenburgen who is promoting Step Brothers.

You will notice the interview seen above, Mary mentions how touchy her husband Ted  is about his bald spot. I was in the Little Rock Airport about a year ago and I was getting money out of the Bank of America ATM and I turned around to leave and both Ted and Mary were standing right behind me. Ted was fumbling around with his wallet and the first thing I noticed was his bald spot.

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Jason Tolbert | Comments (0)

Pryor on possible Government Shutdown (Part 2)(Tess Harper, Famous Arkansan)

April 7, 2011 – 7:25 am

April 5 (Bloomberg) — Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, talks about the possibility of a government shutdown if Democratic and Republican leaders fail to reach a budget compromise by April 8, when current funding authority expires. Edwards, speaking with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack,” also discusses House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposed fiscal 2012 budget plan. (Source: Bloomberg)

Mark Pryor made some comments on April 6, 2011 on the floor of the U.S.Senate concerning the possible federal government shutdown. I will provide all of his comments in my next few posts. Here is a portion below:

In Washington, the blame game has become par for the course.  It’s become just become politics as usual.  In fact, it’s one thing that people in my state are sick and tired of and one of the reasons why they’ve lost confidence in Congress and in our government.

Besides that, how in the world does holding press conferences and pointing fingers at others help resolve anything?  It’s not true.  The truth of the matter is that we are in this fiscal situation that we’re in today because of decisions that all of us have made over the last decades.

In fact, I saw yesterday in the paper where Speaker Boehner was talking to his caucus about getting ready for the shutdown and there were ovations over there.  There are no ovations over here for a government shutdown.  We do not want to see it.  I’m not just talking about the Democrats in the Senate.  I don’t know of any Republicans in the Senate who want to see a shutdown.

One of the tests I use when I look at politicians is the louder they are and the more often they have press conferences to blame other people, it probably means they are more to blame for the problems we have today.  I certainly hope as the elections roll around next year the American people will remember many of the politicians’ attempts here in Washington to avoid responsibility for this terrible fiscal crisis.

One thing we need to keep in mind is that we’re talking about this week in terms of shutting down the government. I hope that doesn’t happen.  But what we’re talking about this week is really only important for the next six months.  We’re only talking about for the rest of this year.  The only fight that we need to have is over the long-term fiscal policy of this country.  So for the next six months, I don’t want to say that it’s not important because it is but I would say it’s time for us to demonstrate to the American people, to the markets, and to the world that we can come up with political solutions to the very challenging problems that we have.

I’m also very concerned in this fragile economy that if we do shut down the government, that might be something that would shake this economy and, possibly, stop it in its tracks.  I hope not reverse it, but I do have concerns about what an abrupt cutoff of government spending will do to the economy.

You will notice the words that I have put in bold print.

One of the tests I use when I look at politicians is the louder they are and the more often they have press conferences to blame other people, it probably means they are more to blame for the problems we have today.  I certainly hope as the elections roll around next year the American people will remember many of the politicians’ attempts here in Washington to avoid responsibility for this terrible fiscal crisis.

I too hope the voters will remember who has been in favor of cutting the budget and who has not. That is the cause of the “terrible fiscal crisis.”

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former special assistant to Ronald Reagan. He has some great insights in his article “It’s time for  a government shutdown,” Forbes, April 4, 2011.

Legislators continue to negotiate a budget deal to avoid a federal government shutdown. Most everyone in Washington assumes that the public would be angry if the bureaucrats were sent home. But a new Rasmussen poll indicates that 57% of Americans like the idea if it is the only way to get deeper budget cuts.

No doubt, the budget needs to be pared. Uncle Sam will spend about $3.8 trillion this year. The deficit will run a record $1.65 trillion.

But the Democratic leadership has decided to stand fast on behalf of Big (Really, Really Big) Government. The budget plan released by President Barack Obama earlier this year relied on the usual “rosy scenarios” to understate future outlays and overstate future revenues, yet still predicted that the annual deficit will remain above $600 billion throughout the coming decade. More realistically, the red ink over that period is likely to approach $10 trillion. Congressional Democrats are acting like there is no program, no expenditure in the entire federal Leviathan that is not essential.

Republicans have taken up the cause of the taxpayers. Of course, their conversion to the cause of fiscal responsibility came late: President George W. Bush and his GOP Congress squandered money on virtually every program known to man — and some previously unknown ones too. Republicans share the blame for today’s fiscal mess. But at least they are now using the phrase “budget cuts” in polite company.

It’s obviously hard to quickly close such a huge gap, especially since the 2011 federal fiscal year is about half over. But given the budget crisis facing America, Congress still should make a serious start.

From all of the sound and fury coming out of Washington, one would think that the two parties were arguing about something important. Presumably the GOP is proposing budget cuts of, oh, a few hundred billion dollars? No. How about a couple hundred billion dollars? No. Well, certainly at least $100 billion? No. Think $61 billion. And that amount — about 1.6% of federal outlays — has the Democrats in full battle cry. Imagine! Cutting federal expenditures by 1.6%! Doing so would destroy America!

It makes me wish for last year’s Snowmageddon, which closed the federal government in Washington for an unprecedented four days. Amazingly, the country staggered on without guidance and nurture from Uncle Sam. The economy continued to function, contra President Obama’s recent warnings about the impact of a government shutdown. In fact, Americans did a lot better without having to look over their shoulders those four days.

As the majority of the population recognizes, there’s no reason to fear a government shutdown this year. We have grown far too reliant on Washington. It is time to regain our independence. Even the most essential agencies waste a lot of time and money on non-essential tasks.

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This is a series I am doing on famous Arkansans.

Tess Harper

Inducted in 2008

(b. 1950) – Born and raised in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, Tess Harper attended Missouri State University in Springfield and began acting in theater production and appearances in theme parks, dinner theaters and children’s theater. In 1982 she won the role of Robert Duvall’s younger wife in the film “Tender Mercies,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She appeared in the TV mini-series “Chiefs” (1983) and “Celebrity” (1984), as well as many made-for-TV movies. Also in 1983, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Chick Boyle in “Crimes of the Heart.” She also had roles in “Ishtar” (1987), “Far North” (1988), “The Man in the Moon” (1991), “The Jackal” (1997) and “Loggerheads” (2005). She had a regular role in the CBS TV series “Christy” from 1994 to 1995. She shared a Screen Actors Guild Award in the Best Ensemble Cast category with her fellow cast members in 2007’s Best Picture, “No Country for Old Men.”

 


By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Cato Institute | Comments (0)

George Washington at 279 (Born Feb 22, 1732) Part 11(The Wilburn Brothers, Famous Arkansans)

April 7, 2011 – 7:11 am

Steeling the Mind Bible Conference Pt 3 of 6 David Barton

In the next few days I will post portions of George Washington’s Farewell speech (which really was just a newspaper article) but since it is so long I will put an outline of the speech that is provided by David Barton of Wallbuilders.

Foreign “attachments” are “alarming” because they open the door to foreigners who might:

  1. “tamper with domestic factions”
  2. “practise the arts of seduction”
  3. “mislead public opinion”
  4. influence “Public Councils.”

 

Washington’s own words:

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak toward a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens), the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests.

Trivia about George Washington:

Washington died on December 14, 1799 of a throat infection and was mourned by the nation for months.

— At his death, Washington owned more than 300 slaves. They were emancipated in his will and some were paid pensions for decades.

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By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in David Barton, Founding Fathers | Comments (0)

Pryor on Government Shutdown (Part 1)(Sonny Boy Williams III, Famous Arkansan)

April 6, 2011 – 11:41 pm

Mark Pryor made some comments on April 6, 2011 on the floor of the U.S.Senate concerning the possible federal government shutdown. I will provide all of his comments in my next few posts. Here is a portion below:

Mr. President.  We find ourselves in dangerous territory while Republicans and Democrats continue to point fingers and hold fiery press conferences, a government shutdown is quickly approaching.  The blame game is like quicksand.  It has the ability to drag down not just the Senate and the House, but our entire economy and even our country.  No matter how you look at it, a shutdown would be reckless and irresponsible.

We can get this short-term budget problem resolved if all parties would turn off the rhetoric and stop the campaigning.  A few extreme partisans stand in the way of progress, blocking a good-faith effort of many others seeking common ground.  I ask them to take to heart what it says in the Book of Isaiah, “Come now, let us reason together.”  We need to overcome this budget impasse and live up to the oath we took to the people we represent.

Larger challenges await our attention.  It is not in our best interest to see a government shutdown, and I don’t think it is in the best interest of the nation to continue on this deficit spending cycle that we’ve been on.  We owe it to the American people and the world watching us to show American leadership on both our short-term and long-term fiscal challenges.

I’d like to see us turn our efforts to the blueprint provided by the debt commission. We must find ways to reduce spending, address entitlement programs, and reform the tax code.  And now with all the momentum built up over the last few months, it is the time to lead.  We must make the serious decision to get our nation out of the red so that we can be competitive for the future.  Again, I’d say let’s turn off the rhetoric and be part of the solution, not the problem.

Senator Pryor does not want us to continue this deficit spending but what does a CR do? It continues the current spending levels!!!!

Daniel Mitchell of the Cato Institute wrote a great article called, “Winning the Government-Shutdown Fight,” National Review Online, Feb 25, 2011. Let me share with you some history about the federal government shutdown in 1995. These events also lead me to disagree with Senator Pryor”s assertion that bad things will happen if the federal shutdown occurs. Good things happened last time. Here is what Mitchell wrote:

With the GOP-led House and the Democratic Senate and White House far apart on a measure to pay the federal government’s bills past March 4, Washington is rumbling toward a repeat of the 1995 government-shutdown fight (actually two shutdown fights, one in mid-November of that year and the other in mid-December).

This makes some Republicans nervous. They think Bill Clinton “won” the blame game that year, and they’re afraid they will get the short end of the stick if there is a 1995-type impasse this year.

A timid approach, though, is a recipe for failure. It means that President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can sit on their hands, make zero concessions, and wait for the GOP to surrender any time a deadline approaches.

To put it simply, Republicans need to hold firm and fight hard.

In other words, budget hawks in the House have no choice. They have to fight.

But they can take comfort in the fact that this is not a suicide mission. The conventional wisdom about what happened in November of 1995 is very misleading.

Republicans certainly did not suffer at the polls. They lost only nine House seats, a relatively trivial number after a net gain of 54 in 1994. They actually added to their majority in the Senate, picking up two seats in the 1996 cycle.

More important, they succeeded in dramatically reducing the growth of federal spending. They did not get everything they wanted, to be sure, but government spending grew by just 2.9 percent during the first four years of GOP control, helping to turn a $164 billion deficit in 1995 into a $126 billion surplus in 1999. And they enacted a big tax cut in 1997.

If that’s what happens when Republicans are defeated, I hope the GOP loses again this year.

Dan Mitchell of Cato Institute

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I am doing a series on famous Arkansans and today we have a special treat.

Sonny Boy Williams, III

Inducted in 2008

(1908-1965) – Born Aleck Ford in Glendora, Mississippi, Sonny Boy Williams was a masterful songwriter and performer. He was one of the most influential blues performers of his generation and, along with Robert Lockwood, was one of the first electric blues acts in the Delta. In the late 1920s he began performing at jukes and parties, traveling throughout Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee working as a one man band with harmonicas, drums and the zoo thorn at dance halls, lumber camps, carnivals and ballparks. In the mid 1930s he was being called “Little Boy Blue” and worked at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. In late 1941, he adopted the “Sonny Boy Williams” name and along with Robert Jr. Lockwood began performing on KFFA in Helena and the “King Biscuit Time” radio program where he performed daily until his death. Some of his songs, “Don’t Start Me Talking,” “The Key,” “Nine Below Zero,” “Help Me” and many more can be found in any serious blues harmonica player’s repertoire today.


By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Cato Institute | Comments (0)

Is Fayetteville Finger back on the table? (Part 14)(Lefty Frizzell, Famous Arkansan)

April 6, 2011 – 7:33 am

Talk Business reported yesterday:

Today, Sen. Robert Thompson (D-Paragould) advanced SB 871, a map that would reconfigure Arkansas’ 4 Congressional boundaries, through the Senate State Agencies Committee on a voice vote.  There were no audible dissenting votes.

The plan would split Pope and Searcy counties with Russellville moving to the Fourth District. Yell County moves from the Second to the Fourth. The eastern side of the map makes the Mississippi Delta counties fairly contiguous through the First District, with Ashley County added to the First, too.

Madison, Franklin and Johnson counties move from the Third to the Fourth, still leaving a “thick finger,” jutting through the heart of northwest Arkansas. That has been a major argument against a plan known as the “Fayetteville Finger,” or “Fayetteville to the Fourth,” which has passed the House but failed to make its way past the Senate panel, so far.

It is unclear if the Thompson plan has 18 votes to pass the Senate, but it does have some Democratic and Republican support – neither party unanimously. State Sen. Jimmy Jeffress (D-Crossett) is against Ashley County moving from the Fourth to the First District under the plan.

If it does, it’s passage in the House is cloudy. First District Democrats in the House object to Baxter and Lonoke counties both remaining in the First District. House Speaker Robert Moore has expressed dissatisfaction with the Senate plan.

The Senate convenes at 9 am on Wednesday to consider the bill. Also, the possibility remains that the “Fayetteville to the Fourth” map could also be drawn out of its Senate committee onto the Senate floor for debate.

Finally, at this juncture the two plans in the Senate end seem to be the only options on the table. Does a third path to resolving this issue through the legislative body exist? “Who knows?” says one Democratic confidante.

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Yesterday I posted about John Brummett’s praise concerning Gred Leding’s courage to vote in the house for the Fayetteville Finger even though 81% of the people he represented opposed his actions. I said that it was foolish of Leding to do that. Notice what the liberal Max Brantley said on his Arkansas Times Blog yesterday:

You have to feel sorry for Rep. Greg Leding of Fayetteville. He stood with his Democratic House colleagues for a plan many voters in his district opposed more on sentiment than reason. The plan has fallen, but his vote won’t be forgotten.

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Is the Fayetteville Finger back on the table.  I hope not, but there is always a chance. Max Brantley noted yesterday:

Nothing will surprise me. Including the House sending back its original bill to the Senate for concurrence.

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I have started a new series on famous Arkansans and today is Lefty Frizzell.

ONE OF THE GIANT OF REAL COUNTRY MUSIC IN A RARE TELEVISION SHOW I GUESS IN 1970

Lefty Frizzell

Inducted in 2005

 (1928-1975) – William Orville “Lefty” Frizzell was born on March 31, 1928 in Corsicana, Texas. His family moved shortly after his birth to El Dorado, Arkansas where they remained until the early 1940s. He was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s and a leading exponent of the “honky tonk” style of country music. His relaxed style of singing was a major influence on such later stars as Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. His song “Saginaw, Michigan,” which was released in 1964, earned him a Grammy Award nomination. In 1972, Lefty Frizzell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. He was also the first country star to have his name enshrined on Hollywood’s “Walkway of the Stars.” His song “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time” earned him a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. www.rockabillyhall.com/LeftyFrizzell

 

 

By Everette Hatcher III | Comments (0)

Fayetteville Finger may be gone and replaced by new map (part 13)(Jerry Van Dyke, Famous Arkansan)

April 5, 2011 – 3:31 pm

 

Jason Tolbert just reported:

Sen. Steve Harrelson (D-Texarkana)  tweets this picture of what could be the new map that the Senate will consider.  He says this leaves Fayetteville, Fort Smith, and Russellville all in the third district.

The liberal Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times Blog:

 A Senate committee will meet at 4 p.m. today on what may be a compromise redistricting plan. Rep. Steve Harrelson has distributed the map above and says it or something like it will be under consideration. It still features a “finger” that juts up into Washington and Madison Counties and also takes a part of Sebastian County, but the cities of Fort Smith and Fayetteville and Russellville in Pope County remain in the 3rd District. The map is pretty much a screw job to 2nd District Democrats, adding Hot Springs Village, part of Pope and the Republican end of Lonoke County while giving up Democratic Yell County. The 1st District is a true Delta district, thought to be friendlier to Democrats, but that could prove wishful thinking. In all, the Republican howling — aided by unhappy Fayetteville Democrats — has produced a map much friendlier for Republicans. But, as I’ve said repeatedly, Democrats may have been chasing ghost voters long gone anyway. I’ll leave what I wrote earlier, because I think I was on the mark in predicting the outcome. 

We will have to wait and see if this will fly or not.

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I know that Jerry Van Dyke is a frequent vistor to Arkansas. I found this unique video of him on youtube from a  1963 Tonight Show visit.

Jerry Van Dyke might have been more famous than his older brother, Dick, had he taken the role as Gilligan on Gilligan’s Island he was offered. Instead, he turned this role down citing that the series was one of the worst things he ever read and started the series My Mother the Car. This show, about a man who discovers his talking 1928 Porter Flivver is his dead mother reincarnate, only ran for one season and has become known as one of the worst shows in television history. I think it’s a playful bit of television kitsch.

Another role he turned down was the role of George Utley on Newhart. This role was written for him but eventually went to Tom Poston. The show would have taken a whole new direction had Van Dyke taken the role.

Jerry Van Dyke was born in Danville, Illinois. He began performing in High School and soon moved on to stand up. It was his brother who gave him his big television break with a guest appearance on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962). He was soon hired to host Picture This (1963) and as comic relief on the Judy Garland Show (1963).

He was cast for various other film and television projects until he got his next “big break” playing Luther Van Dam on Coach, the role he is probably most remembered for. Luther was the lovable, cranky, but hilariously funny assistant coach to Hayden Fox, played by Craig T. Nelson.

More recently he was found again guest starring on his brother’s show, Diagnosis Murder. This time, he also got to guest star with his nephew, Barry Van Dyke. Television is a family activity for the Van Dykes.

So, why the heck is he a famous Arkansas local? He and his wife, Shirley, once owned and operated a 500-acre ranch in Saline County. He also owned an entire block in Benton which housed “Jerry Van Dyke’s Soda Shoppe & Royal Theater,” a candy shop and an antique store. I’ve been informed that the soda shop has been closed down and the Royal Theater is now under new management but you can still see the block that was once Van Dyke heaven! If you were a Van Dyke fan (any of them) you could see all sorts of photos of Jerry and his famous relatives in the Soda Shoppe. It also housed Coach memorabilia and other cute items. The menu featured items named after some of his characters and great prices. It’s just a fun place to eat and get a great soda. Formerly located at 117 S. Market.

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Jason Tolbert | Comments (0)