Cox Cable Throws Money At The AMP

It came as a bit of a surprise, but then again, Daddy W. is guessing the $50,000 gift from Cox Cable to the Arkansas Music Pavilion was in the works long before the January ice storm.
Daddy W. is glad to see businesses (and Cox is a B-I-G moneymaker in our community) give back. But is tossing $50,000 for a concert really giving back?
The AMP, the outdoor venue under a big top in the parking lot of the Northwest Arkansas Mall is a marginal venue and in today’s economic downturn, well … But back to the Cox contribution. The Sept. 5 event will feature Collin Raye — who was born in south Arkansas — and the band Restless Heart. Do your fingers itch for those tickets?
Sept. 5, oh yeah, is the night the Razorbacks open against Missouri State in Little Rock — first game of the year — so don’t count on any Hog fans to be flicking lighters for ole Collin.
Even if it’s free to the public, there’s to be a donation to split between the Boys & Girls Club and Jones Center coming from the sale of VIP tickets, sold to those who just gotta get close to the stage.
Woo Pig. Let’s hope this deal works. And by the way, look at your cable, computer and cell phone bills closely. Cox may be a generous company, but not that generous. And the AMP is a business.
Big Question
How much stuff is laying around the typical American home that could be sold for quick cash? (Answer at the end)
Gone Almost
Parkway Bank, that southeastern Arkansas transplant bank, has closed two of its three offices in Northwest Arkansas. Gone are the West Walnut digs in Rogers, and a storefront on S.E. Walton Boulevard in Bentonville. Still open, the bank’s main office at 3350 Pinnacle Hills Parkway. The bank, which relocated its charter from tiny Portland in Ashley County to Rogers in 2004, lost $1.59 million in 2008 after losing $490,000 at the end of 2007. The bank has offices in Portland, Crossett and Monticello, all in south Arkansas.
New Burger
Burger lovers look at this. The Über Burger Bistro has opened on Dickson Street under the direction of Peter Steinhart, co-owner and chef of the 36 Club. The eclectic burger menu has classic beef burgers and an assortment of more exotic offerings such as antelope, alligator, crab and salmon. Pricing ranges from $7 to $15 for the Emperor Burger with Japanese Waygu beef. The Über Burger Bistro is open for lunch Tuesdays through Fridays and for dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays. Über Burger Bistro shares a common kitchen with the 36 Club, a Dickson Street favorite for many years. The word ‘über’ has German origins just like Steinhart, so it’s a natural fit. View the menu online at www.36clubfayetteville.com.
Big Oops
Seems like J.B. Hunt Transport made a wrong delivery that has cost nearly $100,000. The Lowell trucking company said it hired PGT Trucking of Monaca, Pa., in January 2008 to deliver a shipment of finished forged steel from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Ellwood City Forge in Ellwood City, Pa. Instead, the shipment was sent to Ellwood Quality Steel in New Castle, Pa., which handles scrap metal, the lawsuit said. The shipment was then turned into scrap metal. Uh oh.
New Man
Tyson Foods of Springdale has added Robert C. Thurber, former vice president of purchasing for Sysco Corp., as one of 10 Tyson directors and one of seven independent members of the meat processing company’s board. The association with a past at Sysco couldn’t hurt.
Rent Flap
Questions are still pouring in over the rent issue between the partners of Mary Maestri’s in Tontitown. Will the restaurant survive? Is this just a tiff? Is this a Tontitown thing? Daddy W. knows this: Mary might rise up out of her grave with a wet dish rag and whip the snot out of some businessmen over this black mark on her valued name.
Not A Barber
But still another local developer has gone bust. This time it was Rogers developer Carmen Lehman who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under her C.R. Lehman Properties LP. According to the bankruptcy paperwork, Lehman Properties declared assets between $0 and $50,000 and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million, including a $27.3 million unsecured loan with Arvest Bank-Rogers. Lehman was the developer of the posh Village on the Creeks retail and office park in Rogers, just north of the Pinnacle Point developments.
Big Answer
According to a Nielsen study, the typical American family has about $2,200 in stuff laying around their home that they could quickly sell for cash. Wow.