September 1996

CANDIDATE IN LR'S WARD 4 Date: 09/10/96 Category: NEWS Page: 2B A candidate for the Ward 4 position on the Little Rock Board of Directors was declared ineligible Monday because he didn't have enough signatures on his petition, City Clerk Robbie Hancock said.Meyer Marks had 47 signatures of registered voters, three short of the required number, Hancock said.His departure from the Nov. 5 ballot leaves three candidates eligible to run for the Ward 4 seat, which will represent northwest Little Rock beginning Jan. l.The candidates are Brad Cazort, a lawyer; Ernie Davis, an accountant; and Arleta Power, one of the leaders in a fight against Jennings Osborne's 3 million light Christmas display, which led to traffc jams in their neighborhood and a lawsuit that eventually forced Osborne to tone it down.

Richard Hughes Marble creations satisfied rich tastes Date: 09/20/96 Category: OBITUARIES Page: 4B SHAREESE HAROLD, Arkanas Democrat-Gazette Staff Writer BATESVILLE -- Richard Hughes knew there was a future in marble when he created his business 21 years ago. As founder of the House of Marble in Little Rock, Hughes earned the respect of several builders and homeowners throughout the South.Hughes also could take credit for creating some of the most beautiful bathrooms, countertops and marble artworks in some of the state's most famous homes."He did some amazing work for us," said Jennings Osborne, who hired Hughes 10 years ago to work at the Osborne family's west Little Rock estate."It's some of the most beautiful work in our house," Osborne said. "He was a real craftsman and a true gentleman who created works of art out of marble."Hughes died of a heart attack Thursday at White River Medical Center, said his wife, Aunine Blankenship Hughes. He was 67.She said they moved to the Batesville area from Little Rock after Hughes sold his business, retired and built a house.Born in Collins, Miss., to John Cumbee Hughes and Myrtis Hudson Hughes, he moved to Little Rock with his family when he was 12 years old. He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with an accounting degree in 1 952.After college, he moved to Los Angeles after landing a job with Hughes Aircraft. After several years, his wife said, he moved back to Little Rock, where he opened his own business in 1975, shortly after they got married.The couple met through a mutual friend, she said. "I was working at a Cadillac dealer in Forrest City and he came in with a friend of mine. We just hit it off."Hughes built bathtubs, showers, columns, mantels, windowsills, floors and countertops. The House of Marble created and installed the vanity countertop inside Hillary Rodham Clinton's bathroom at the Governor's Mansion.He belonged to the Cultured Marble Association and the International Cast Polymer Association.His stepson, Mike Stotts, vice president of the House of Marble, said Hughes started the business because "he knew a good business opportunity when he saw one."Hughes' work can be seen inside bathrooms at the Win Paul Rockefeller estate, the Embassy Suites hotel in Greenville, S.C., the Holiday Inn in Springdale, Dillard Department Stores and St. Joseph's Hospital in Hot Springs, Stotts said."People will remember him as a fair businessman who was very well respected and well liked in the business community," Stotts said.

Radio quiz show packs in Arkansans, chuckles Date: 09/22/96 Category: NEW Page: 2B FRANK FELLONE, Democrat-Gazette Staff Writer Caption: Photo by BENJAMIN KRAIN, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Michael Feldman, host of National Public Radio's comedy quiz show "Whad'ya Know," talks with Greg Farque of Little Rock about Farque's colorful shirt Saturday morning during a live broadcast a Little Rock Central High School. Michael Feldman came to Little Rock on Saturday and did what he was supposed to do -generate laughs. Feldman and his crew broadcast two entertaining hours of "Whad'Ya Know" humor and music live to a nationwide audience from the Central High auditorium. So that's how radio looks. How does it look? Casual, lighthearted, not at all serious. Namely, up to the standard of "Whad'Ya Know," a production of Public Radio International, heard here in Little Rock on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon on KUAR-FM, 89.1. Feldman featured famous and not-so-famous Arkansans. Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., dropped by and briefly chatted with Feldman. "Incidentally, you're much younger than I expected," Bumpers told Feldman. Jennings Osborne had his moment. Little Rock's king of Christmas lights told a story about being in a doughnut shop in Hot Springs with a bunch of ornery Texans who couldn't make up their minds about which doughnuts to buy. "So I bought them all," the well-heeled Osborne said. There was plenty of participation by ordinary audience members, too, with the famous "Whad'Ya Know" quiz each hour, and light banter as Feldman roamed the crowd. Little Rock's High Praise Choir provided gospel music, too. But the hit of the show was Delbert Harris of Pocahontas, who was interviewed at length. Harris is a weekly phone guest of a Detroit radio station, offering homespun wisdom for city folks. Some highlights: • He drove a truck before he retired, Harris said, meaning he didn't stay in one place "long enough to raise too much sand." • If he were Bob Dole, he surely wouldn't be running for president at this stage of life. "I'd let 'em see my back as I went over the hill." • About life in general, "The shoe doesn't always fit, but you don't have to wear it --they make a lot of shoes." • Would Kenneth Starr want to know about any trouble in Harris' past? "Not that I can recollect." • Harris has numerous grandchildren. "Sixteen or 18." Speaking of Starr, the independent counsel was the target of more than a few jokes, as was Whitewater in general. "I thought I saw Miss Piggy at the Capital Hotel," Feldman said in his opening monologue. "But it turned out to be Jim McDougal in a blond wig. He was in the witness protection program." As for Susan McDougal, decked out in black hose, a miniskirt and shackles, Feldman now considers her a "sex goddess." A handful of empty seats was scattered about the 2,100 seat auditorium for the show, a benefit for KUAR and the Central High Museum. For those who missed it -- or for those who were there and want to enjoy it again -- KUAR will repeat the show today at 1 p.m. The "Whad'Ya Know" band --JeffEckels on bass, John Thulin on piano and drummer Clyde Stubblefield -- will appear tonight from 6-9 at the Afterthought.

Osborne suffers setback in fight over yule lights Date: 09/28/96 Category: NEW Page: 2B PATRICIA MANSON, Democrat-Gazette Federal Reporter A federal judge has dealt a setback to Little Rock businessman Jennings Osborne in his legal battle over his massive Christmas lights display. In an order released Friday, U.S. District Judge James M. Moody threw out a petition challenging Osborne's contempt-of-court conviction for switching on part of his light display in December 1994. Ten months after Osborne had lighted 174,600 bulbs, the Arkansas Supreme Court found him guilty of criminal contempt. The court determined that Osborne had flouted an order to scale back the display, which at one point contained some 3 million lights. The order was issued in a lawsuit filed by neighbors in 1993 to end the traffic jams caused by thousands of people who came to see the light display at the home of Osborne; his wife, Mitzi; and their daughter, Breezy. The state Supreme Court gave Jennings Osborne a 10-day suspended sentence and ordered him to pay a $500 fine for each of the three days the display was lit in 1994. The court also ordered Osborne to pay $7,000 in fees for the plaintiffs' attorney and a special master appointed in the case. In a challenge filed in federal court, Osborne argued that he was denied his constitutional rights to due process and a trial by jury. Osborne also contended that he was tried twice for the same offense and that he was not allowed to conduct discovery, the process of gathering evidence and questioning witnesses before trial. But in the order released Friday, Moody said that Osborne's case didn't belong in federal court because Osborne was not "in custody" when he challenged his contempt conviction. Moody adopted the recommendation of U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry W. Cavaneau in throwing out Osborne's petition. In proposed findings issued Sept. 4, Cavaneau said that a person is considered to be in custody if he is behind bars or on probation, parole or bail. A person under a suspended sentence also is generally considered to be in custody, Cavaneau said. But he said that the Arkansas Supreme Court has drawn a distinction in sentences imposed for contempt. In those cases, suspending the sentence is the same as nullifying it, Cavaneau said. Osborne's attorney could not be reached for comment Friday.

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