Monday, October 21, 2013 at 4:11 pm
Someone is a *little* obsessed, me thinks.
Tag Archives: Arkansas
Pea Ridge in the News over HIV Concerns
Some of you might have read about this by now:
PEA RIDGE, AR– The Disability Rights Center of Arkansas, Inc. (DRC) claims the Pea Ridge Public School District has removed three siblings from school, two of whom have disabilities.
The group claims the students have been denied the right to attend school until documentation is provided that they are not HIV positive.
…
Read more:
Joe.My.God. link
thenewcivilrightsmovement link
5newsonline link
Box Turtle Bulletin
I live in Pea Ridge. All I can say (so far) is that I find what Superintendent Rick Neal has done to be appalling. And I’m fairly certain illegal. I’m attempting to find out more information from within my community about what’s going on, and why.
I can say I am somewhat surprised, but at the same time I’m not. Pea Ridge is a small town. In the South. While this area in Northwest Arkansas is more progressive than a majority of the state (thanks in part to Walmart and vendors to Walmart bringing in people from all over the US and the world), there are still many “backwoods” locals that are filled with teachings from organized religions that choose to live in the past.
If you want to email Superintendent Rick Neal, his email is: rneal@prs.k12.ar.us, or call 479-451-8181. You can find a list of his staff here if you would like to contact them as well.
I’ll post more as I find out about it.
Update @ 2:26pm:
In case the above mentioned staff list “disappears”, here is a list of the email addresses of the Pea Ridge School District officers:
- Rick Neal, Superintendent. rneal@prs.k12.ar.us
- Danielle Rose, Superintendent’s Assistant. drose@prs.k12.ar.us
- Keith Martin, Assistant Superintendent. kmartin@prs.k12.ar.us
- Bonnie Colville, Treasurer. bcolville@prs.k12.ar.us
- Gail Langston, Payroll Clerk, Human Resources. glangston@prs.k12.ar.us
- Stephanie Stamps, Human Resources, Insurance. sstamps@prs.k12.ar.us
Knowing how unlikely it is ANYONE will respond to emails, I suggust you call the school district at 479-451-8181.
The irony(?) is, on the Pea Ridge School District website, the footer states: “Pea Ridge School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin or disability in any of its policies, practices or procedures.”
Update @ 2:35 pm:
The first news video I found of it… (also seen on thenewcivilrightsmovement.com)
Until next time...
Monday, September 9, 2013 at 4:35 pm
And that, my friends, is how a beer is served in Arkansas.
Destination Arkansas?
This week I had several bloggers visit me here in Arkansas. Who’d have thought?
Mark of Voenix Rising and his partner Ben from Colorado arrived on Monday.
J.P. of Life is Such a Sweet Insanity. and his husband Earl from New York arrived on Tuesday.
It was a veritable bloggerpalooza!
They were preceded by John (of Twitter and Facebook) from South Carolina on Saturday.
As everyone hopefully knows, Monday is Beveraging Monday. And Mark and Ben arrived just in time! We ate dinner at Fred’s Hickory Inn, and then went to JJ’s to meet up with my regular beveraging buddies. Good beverages and conversation was had by all.
On Tuesday, I tattooed both John and Mark. It was John’s first tattoo, and Mark’s second.
After the tattooing, we all went out for dinner and were joined by J.P. and Earl when they arrived in town. My buddy Dwayne and the Husbear even managed a visit! Beverages were had (mostly by me, hence the blog title) and much conversation was had.
This morning (Wednesday), we met up at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville to take in the art.
After wandering around Crystal Bridges, we all said our goodbyes to Mark and Ben as they had to get on the road to start heading home.
J.P., Earl and I then headed to a lunch place I had never been to before in town that recently opened called Maid-Rite. It’s a loose meat sandwich place. And was tasty.
Later this evening, J.P. and Earl swung out to the house for a visit. We lost track of the time conversing (or at least I did), and next thing you know it was 9pm. We totally missed dinner!
As they have to get on the road early in the morning, we all said our goodbyes and they headed back to their hotel room for the night.
I had a great time visiting with everyone. In each case it was as if I picked right up with a friend I hadn’t seen in ages. After this week, maybe the Husbear now understands a little better about how I feel about my blogging buddies and the connections I have with them.
Until next time...
Spontaneous Park-ing
Around 11 this morning, the fabulous GypsyBiscuit texted me that she and MAG were headed out to Pea Ridge National Military Park and wanted to know if we would like to join them to enjoy the brisk (i.e., 50 degrees!) sunny day, take pictures, and have a picnic.
So we did. And we had a wonderful time!
The park is exactly 7 miles from our home. But neither the Husbear nor I have been since we’ve lived here in Pea Ridge. He went to the park when he was a child, and I went at some point when I was in college. The last few weeks we had actually been talking about going for a visit. Perfect timing!
The park is 4,300 acres. There is a nice visitor center with many cool displays, which oddly enough were narrated by Edward James Olmos. They also have a little shop, everyone loves a little shop. There is a driving road around the park, as well as a 7-mile hiking trail, a horse trail, and a bicycle trail.
We took the driving trail around the park and stopped at the various tour stops along the way to read the signs and take photos.
There was a lot of nature to look at around the park.
And then something I haven’t done ever in the 15 years the Husbear and I have been together: a picnic!
I need to study up more on the history of this area where we live. Our home sits on a route called the “Bentonville Detour” which was used during what would come to be called the Battle of Pea Ridge.
Following the path of present day Ryan Road, the Bentonville Detour turned north through this ravine as it left the valley of Little Sugar Creek. Based on input from McCulloch and McIntosh, Van Dorn expected this route would keep his army hidden from the Federal Army. The Federal entrenchments at little Sugar Creek were approximately 4 miles east of this point.
History. It’s awesome.
And thank you GypsyBiscuit and MAG for the invitation to spontaneity.
Until next time...
Jump, Jump, Jump
The Husbear and I have lived in Pea Ridge for 10 years now. A decade! In one place! In an old home of our own. Pea Ridge is a rather small town. When we moved here, the population was roughly 2,699 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the 10 years that we have lived here, the population has increased to 4,929. But that’s not the point of this post. Kind of. It’s more like a reflection about the rest of this post.
Every year—and I mean every year for the last nine—I chuckle when a certain sandwich board sign positioned at the only four-way stop in town appears. It’s a simple sign. One that I have yet to capture a picture of. Maybe this year.
It says “Pea Ridge Mule Jump” with a silhouetted donkey jumping over what looks like a pike.
I kid you not.
So I’m at my favorite fast food drive-thru this afternoon, and I see a flyer. And guess what’s coming up? The 24th Annual Pea Ridge Mule Jump!
One of these years, maybe I’ll go. Just to say I went. Maybe. Can you think of a better way to spend a Saturday?
Or maybe I’ll just watch this video instead!
Welcome to “my” town….
Until next time...