City gets a square on Monopoly board
Little Rock will be one of 22 cities included as a square in the U.S. version of the Monopoly Here & Now game to be released this fall.
An online voting competition resulted in 20 cities being chosen, and another two cities were chosen through a special write-in process. Little Rock came in 16th place among the top 20 cities. It will be shown as a magenta property space.
Pierre, S.D., ranked first in the voting and will be the Boardwalk spot on the game.
There were almost 4 million votes cast in 182 countries during the competition. Another 22 cities were chosen for the World edition of the game. The special editions are to celebrate Monopoly's 80th anniversary.
The game will have players try to visit as many locations as possible, collecting passport stamps along the way and cash from visitor fees when opponents land on their locations. The first player to fill a passport wins.
A release date hasn't been announced.
Visitor agency chief to get bonus for '14
The executive director of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau will receive a $47,575 performance bonus for work completed in 2014.
The Advertising and Promotion Commission, which governs the bureau, approved the bonus last week. The commission voted to keep President and Chief Executive Officer Gretchen Hall's base pay at $132,153.
The bonus was contingent upon the bureau reaching several goals set by the commission the year before. The bonus program started in May 2011 when the commission appointed Hall to her current position. The program is an incentive to reach certain benchmarks, such as the number of hotel rooms booked.
Goals for 2014 included booking at least 122,000 room nights. Actual sales were 128,326 room nights. Other benchmarks included meeting facility performance measures, achieving a revenue surplus of more than $150,000 and successfully continuing demolition and renovation of the Robinson Center. All of those measures were met.
Out of a total 40 percent bonus allowed, Hall received 36 percent -- the same as in 2014. The commission has yet to set 2015 goals.
Last year, Hall received a $46,800 bonus and 1.5 percent raise. In 2013, the commission approved a $44,640 bonus and 5 percent raise. In 2012, Hall received a 5 percent raise and $14,000 bonus. She became interim executive director in October 2010 and became head of the bureau officially in 2011.
Port's 'green' steps earn LEED's silver
The Port Authority's new headquarters has been LEED certified.
The U.S. Green Building Council awarded the Arkansas River Resource Center a silver level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.
The certification is given for certain "green" measures included in a building's design, including its water energy, materials used and indoor environmental quality.
"When the Little Rock Port Authority board of directors decided to build the new office building, it was important to raise the bar and set a precedent for our future. Sustainability is very important to this organization, and it made sense to pursue a LEED rated building," said Chris Mathews, the board's chairman.
The headquarters is at the end of Industrial Harbor Drive on the banks of the Arkansas River.
More than 63 percent of the building's construction waste was diverted away from landfills. None of the indoor plants or floors contains volatile organic content. More than 24 percent of materials used in construction contained recycled content, and the building has a 34 percent energy efficiency improvement over the base-line model comparison.
In addition, there is an 85 percent reduction in potable water used for irrigation compared with a typical irrigation system.
Rick Fedrizzi, the founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council and its chief officer, said the Arkansas River Resource Center is a "prime example" of moving faster and reaching further with environmentally friendly practices.
Metro on 03/22/2015