Leading up to Election Day, I moderated a contentious debate among the four candidates running for mayor of Little Rock. It was the first debate-style event the candidates had participated in and I questioned them about some controversial issues they had not previously discussed during a public event. It prompted some heated moments.
The debate was organized by the Central Arkansas Library System, KUAR and the League of Women Voters of Pulaski County. A crowd of a couple hundred people were in the Ron Robinson Theater on Monday, Oct. 10 to watch it in-person, while the debate was also streamed on CALS’ YouTube channel and aired live on KUAR.
Though well-organized and fair, the Monday evening Little Rock mayoral forum got heated — particularly between incumbent Frank Scott Jr. and candidate Steve Landers when it came to crime, LITFest and the city’s parks.
KUAR 89.1-FM journalist Michael Hibblen moderated the forum at Ron Robinson theater, and it was the first that could be called a debate. The candidates — Scott, Landers, Greg Henderson and Glen Schwarz — were given two minutes to answer the same question, and if someone was called out, they were given a one-minute rebuttal period.
Later in the story, regarding LITFest:
The forum was also the first time Scott publicly answered questions about LITFest, the city-sponsored festival that was supposed to “unite” Little Rock, but was canceled days before its start.
Scott’s main claim about the festival was that the event brought “key learnings,” and there were some “mistakes made,” he said. “But when the time [came to make] a decision, as a leader, I made sure those decisions were correct. So, yes, it had to be canceled.”
Hibblen phrased the question to include several details of the LITFest saga, including the hiring of the mayor’s former chief of staff to Think Rubix — the company that was chosen to organize the festival, the move to skip the Board of Directors’ approval and the contract concerns that arose. Scott did not include explanations to any of these details in his response. He did not include LITFest in his response concerning city transparency. He did say that if he is reelected, he would fight again to bring the festival to Little Rock.
Landers again took a stab at Scott’s work and said that “LITFest was a bad idea from the start.” He said that it would hurt the State Fair, which was scheduled for the week following the festival’s Oct 7-9 dates, and it was something of a “political rally” for Scott. Landers also called the contract a “sham.”
I was a panelist for a segment on “Arkansas Week” last Friday on Arkansas PBS. It came one day after the Arkansas Supreme Court said voters can consider a proposal on the November ballot to legalize recreational marijuana. The state Board of Election Commissioners had rejected the proposed amendment suggesting the ballot title didn’t fully explain the impact it would have. But the court overturned that decision, saying all of the possible ramifications can’t be detailed in the ballot language.
I also previewed Tuesday’s meeting of the Arkansas Senate to consider a recommendation that Sen. Alan Clark be sanctioned for making what was determined to be a frivolous complaint against another lawmaker. I had covered three of the hearings by the Senate Ethics Committee, including the final one on the matter when members announced the complaint against Sen. Stephanie Flowers was without merit. They also recommended that Clark be punished for making was said to be a retaliatory filing after being punished himself in July for a separate issue and vowing “to burn the house down.”
While casually scrolling through Twitter on Sunday, I came across a post with a graphic video showing police officers pummeling someone who was on the ground. One officer was repeatedly striking the man in the head with a closed fist while another was repeatedly kneeing the man’s body. But the first post I saw wasn’t from a source I was familiar with which caused some doubts about whether it was indeed in Arkansas or even new. Then a tweet from Gov. Asa Hutchinson that evening confirmed its authenticity with the governor saying he had spoken with the head of the Arkansas State Police which would conduct an investigation.
The video spread quickly on social media, getting national attention. NPR soon contacted me, not only interested in me filing a report for its newscasts, but also to join Rachel Martin the following morning for a live four-minute segment on “Morning Edition.”
Interest only intensified as the day progressed and officials reacted to the news. During a press conference that day, Gov. Hutchinson announced a federal civil rights investigation would be conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
I would again go live on NPR, this time talking with Ari Shapiro during a four-minute segment on “All Things Considered.”
At this point, the cell phone video captured by a bystander is the only image we have of the beating. What kind of additional footage is available is not known publicly at this point. Body cameras worn by the officers or perhaps dash camera footage from patrol vehicles might help put this in perspective, especially the moments before the beating occurred.
An attorney for the suspect, who had allegedly been making threats in front of a convenience store in the western Arkansas city of Mulberry, says other complaints about one of the two Crawford County sheriff’s deputies had been filed in the month before this dramatic arrest. I’m sure we will continue learning more.
On the web since 2002, this is the online home and archive of broadcasting news veteran Michael Hibblen. Starting in 1989, I've worked for newspapers, radio and TV stations around the country. Today I'm Director of Public Affairs at Arkansas PBS. This website tells the story of my career, including audio, photos and videos. Also featured are various interests I've researched, primarily about broadcasting and railroad history.
My Book
Released by Arcadia Publishing in 2017, Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas delves into the history of the railroad which once had a huge footprint in Arkansas, as well as other states in the middle of the U.S. The book features historic photos and tells the story of the Rock Island, which was shut down in March 1980. READ MORE
For 13 years, from May 2009 to December 2022, I worked for NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. That included 10 years as News Director while continuing to anchor and report. You can read and hear reports from that time on Little Rock Public Radio's website.
