AQ Chicken tops Oklahoman's list
WASHINGTON -- Foodies in the nation's capital got an early Christmas present, courtesy of a major tire manufacturer. The company this month released its first-ever Michelin Guide for Washington, D.C., making it one of only four American cities that can claim this status. (New York, Chicago and San Francisco are the others.)
If the company ever comes up with an Arkansas Michelin Guide, former U.S. Sen. David Boren, D-Okla., has a restaurant he'd put near the top of the list.
Boren, now president of the University of Oklahoma, isn't a food snob, but he knows a thing or two about Natural State cuisine.
"My mother's family originally came from Berryville and Eureka Springs and around that area. I grew up going over to Arkansas as a little child," he said last week. "I still like AQ Chicken House in Springdale. It's one of my favorite places to eat in the entire world."
The restaurant has been serving poultry -- and politicians -- for decades, including to Vice President Alben W. Barkley in 1952.
Rutherford issues vote-night invite
Skip Rutherford, dean of the Clinton School of Public Service, is inviting pundits and prognosticators to participate in what he's calling The Electoral College Challenge.
Entrants make their best guesses about how the 538 electoral votes will be allocated on Election Day.
Election observers of any age and political persuasion can compete by sending an email to [email protected].
The deadline is 5 p.m. Nov. 7.
"The winner(s) of the challenge will be announced during the November 10 2016 class that I'm teaching. 'Trump v Clinton: Follow the Numbers,'" Rutherford said in an email. "We'll also announce the winner(s) via news release and social media. We may do more recognition depending on how many get it exactly and where they are. Former White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty is one of the early entrants."
The class will be live-streamed and then archived at clintonschool.uasys.edu/the-2016-election-trump-v-clinton/
Authority targets businesswomen
The Delta Regional Authority on Thursday held a Twitter Town Hall on women-owned small businesses.
Local officials from an eight-state region were invited to participate. Women entrepreneurs from across the Delta were invited to join in. The business owners and the agency's federal co-chairman, Chris Masingill, participated.
October is National Women's Small Business Month.
The Delta Regional Authority works to improve economic opportunities in some of the nation's poorest counties.
The authority "has made supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs a core component of its investments in the region," officials said in a news release.
"The effort is working -- with Louisiana and Mississippi ranked as the top two states with the highest growth in women-owned businesses," agency officials said, citing figures from the National Women's Business Council.
Womack tours Illinois air base
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack visited Scott Air Force Base on Monday. The facility is in Illinois, roughly 20 miles southeast of St. Louis.
The Rogers Republican was one of four House members who made the journey.
U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., said he was pleased that Womack had made the trip.
"By providing decision-makers in Congress with a firsthand understanding of the critical role that Scott AFB plays in America's military readiness, we can better ensure that critical funding is allocated to support the base's mission," Bost said in an email.
As a member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Womack frequently visits military installations.
In March, he traveled to the Arctic to observe Navy exercises, sleeping on a submarine bunk and visiting U.S. Navy Ice Camp Sargo.
In November, he boarded another submarine -- the USS Kentucky -- and observed the launch of an unarmed Trident II (D5) missile in a test range off the coast of Southern California.
Lincoln seen on Cabinet short list
Former U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., is on the short list for U.S. secretary of agriculture if the Democrats win the White House, Politico reported earlier this month.
The transition team for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Politico said, also was weighing Kathleen Merrigan, former deputy secretary of agriculture; Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper; former Kentucky Gov. Steve Brashear; and Karen Ross, secretary of California's Department of Food and Agriculture.
The list "remains fluid," the Washington political publication said.
Lincoln, a Phillips County native, grew up with agriculture. Her family grew rice, cotton, wheat and soybeans.
The youngest woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, Lincoln was just 38 when she was sworn into office. She was also the first woman to serve as chairman of the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee.
Boozman urges fair-lumber deal
U.S. Sen. John Boozman was one of two dozen senators who is asking President Barack Obama to craft a "fair, effective and sustainable agreement with Canada on softwood lumber."
The lawmakers want to see a deal that would require Canada "to maintain softwood lumber exports at or below an agreed U.S. market share," Boozman's office said.
In a letter to the White House earlier this month, the senators alleged that "subsidized and dumped Canadian lumber imports" have created an unfair playing field.
They want the administration to strike a new agreement that will "provide stability and certainty for the industries on both sides of the border," the letter stated.
In a written statement released recently, Boozman said forestry and the timber industry are important in Arkansas.
"It is important that our trading partners agree to participate in the U.S. market on fair and equal footing," he said.
Planning to visit the nation's capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (202) 662-7690 or [email protected]. Want the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Washington bureau? It's available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.
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