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Little Rock notebook

County taps Brown for library board

Pulaski County plans to appoint retired Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Robert Brown as its representative on the Central Arkansas Library System board of trustees.

The Pulaski County Quorum Court is scheduled to vote on the appointment Tuesday.

Brown, 76, served as an associate justice on the state Supreme Court from 1991 through 2012. Before that, he was the deputy prosecuting attorney in Pulaski County and worked as either a legal aide or legislative assistant to former Gov. Dale Bumpers from 1972 through 1977.

In the next two years, he was an administrative assistant for Jim Guy Tucker when he was a U.S. congressman.

Brown currently serves as counsel at the Friday, Eldredge and Clark law firm.

Clinton school sets 3 events for week

The University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service plans three events at Sturgis Hall this week.

On Monday, a discussion titled "Foodbank: Community Conversation about Hunger in Arkansas," will take place at noon in partnership with the Arkansas Foodbank. In a recent study, the state ranked at the nationally in food security.

On Wednesday, "A Presidential Evening with Theodore Roosevelt" is planned at 6 p.m. Roosevelt became the second sitting president to visit Arkansas on Oct. 25, 1905.

During a speech in modern-day MacArthur Park, he met with prominent Arkansans.

Roosevelt re-enactor Joe Wiegand will talk about the critical issues confronting the U.S. in 1917 on the 112th anniversary of that visit. He will discuss America entering the Great War, women's suffrage and more.

On Thursday, Politico reporter Daniel Lippman, co-author of Politico's Playbook newsletter, will talk at 6 p.m. Lippman was previously a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and covered environmental news for E&E Publishing.

Halloween-themed run set Saturday

The Little Rock Marathon is sponsoring a Halloween-themed race for the first time this weekend.

On Saturday, race organizers are putting on the Creep 'N Crawl Fun Run at 5 p.m. at Two Rivers Park.

There will be a 10K and 5K race, a "Lil' Monsters Dash" for children under age 10, a virtual race and a costume contest. The event will benefit Little Rock Parks and Recreation.

The event replaces the annual Mud Run.

Downtown stretch shut until Nov. 3

A portion of West Eighth Street downtown will be closed through Nov. 3.

Eighth Street between Main and Louisiana streets will be closed to allow for equipment placement and construction related to adjacent buildings.

The segment of the roadway has been closed since Monday. Detour information is in place to direct motorists to use Ninth Street to get around the closure.

2 state authorsdue literary prizes

Arkansas authors Kenneth C. Barnes and Padma Viswanathan will be awarded top literary prizes Thursday by the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies.

Barnes will receive the Booker Worthen Literary Prize for his book Anti-Catholicism in Arkansas: How Politicians, the Press, the Klan, and Religious Leaders Imagined an Enemy, 1910-1960.

Viswanathan will receive the Porter Fund Literary Prize in recognition of her body of work. Her debut novel, The Toss of a Lemon, was published in eight countries and became a bestseller in three. It was a finalist for the Commonwealth (regional) First Book Prize, the Amazon.ca First Novel Prize and the Pen Center USA Fiction Prize.

They will receive the awards Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Main Library Darragh Center, 100 Rock St.

Dinners in plans at Clinton center

The restaurant in the Clinton Presidential Center, 42 bar and table, will begin serving dinner on Nov. 2.

Due to renovation, some lunch services will be interrupted.

The restaurant will be closed Monday for lunch and offer limited lunch service Thursday through Nov. 1. Only grab-and-go options such as salads, soups, sandwiches and sweets will be available during this time.

"We apologize for the brief interruption in service, but we hope the new restaurant and bar will be worth the wait," Chef Michael Selig said in a news release.

The renovation includes a large custom-designed bar area with seating, charging stations and handbag hangers. It will also have its own dedicated entrance with free valet parking.

Starting Nov. 2, new hours will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays for lunch and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays for dinner. The bar will be open until midnight Thursdays through Saturdays.

Newspaper access available at library

Central Arkansas Library System patrons can now access digital versions of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette online.

The image edition is now available from Sept. 9 through the present. Text-based versions have been available and date back to 1994.

The new offering is part of the library's digital resources program. The program also includes interactive databases with practice tests such as the GED, SAT and driving tests, as well as a program called Pronunciator that has lessons to self teach 80 languages.

Metro on 10/22/2017

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