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‘I Speak Hendren’: The Best Quotes of 2009

6 min read

"I may be able to help. I speak Hendren."

– Little Rock lawyer and former state Rep. Jeremy Hutchinson, offering to explain a piece of legislation to his uncle, state Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette

 

"Just another real special opportunity."

– Casey Jones of the Janet Jones Co. on a never-been-lived-in, now bank-owned 14,100-SF home listed at $2.9 million in west Little Rock’s Valley Falls Estates neighborhood

 

"I will never have closure. I’ll be in my car parked at a stoplight, no music playing, no phone, and I’ll think, ‘Where’s John?’"

– William Clark, speaking of his friend and former colleague at CDI Contractors LLC, John Glasgow, who has been missing since Jan. 28, 2008

 

"She and I were the last ones to come around to that point of view."

– Roger Glasgow, on his and his sister-in-law Melinda’s reluctant conclusion that his brother and her husband, John Glasgow, was likely dead

 

"I really need to talk to someone before I can answer this."

– Wendy Dooley, when asked whether she had quit or been laid off by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s political action committee, Huck Pac

 

"It’s certainly not business as usual."

– Keith Richardson, partner in Ridge Construction LLC of North Little Rock on the effect on construction caused by the disruption of financial markets

 

"The thing with loans is you have to have someone requesting loans. Credit-worthy borrowers aren’t beating down our doors to get new loans."

– Larry Brandt, CEO of Harrison’s First Federal Bancshares of Arkansas Inc.

 

"Life is never going to be the same."

– Korto Momolu, who finished second on Bravo TV’s reality show "Project Runway," referring to the future of "American Idol" winner and Conway native Kris Allen

 

"If you want a quote, put this: ‘There’s a lot of snakes in the backyard.’"

 – Thomas Andersson, who said he was offended that Arkansas Business would ask him what attracted him and his wife, Dr. Jeanine Andersson, to the 5,841-SF $1.2 million house they bought in Little Rock

 

"I don’t know what his problem is, but I do know he shouldn’t be taking money from me to pay money on his other bills. That’s against the law."

– Greg Henderson, vice president of Henderson Construction Co. of Fredericksburg, Va., on Lewis May, president of Little Rock’s May Construction Co., not paying in full for site work on a Lowe’s project open for more than a year

 

"During the last decade, Arkansas will have lost a third of our dealer population."

– Dennis Jungmeyer, president of the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association

 

"I don’t know if there is any relationship left between commercial borrowers and banks."

– Gary Combs, Springdale developer

 

"It’s a daunting thought to realize at my age you’re starting over. You’re at zero, which is essentially what bankruptcy is. You don’t keep much."

– Jeff Collins, 46, former head of the Center for Business & Economic Research at the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business, who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and listed $10.3 million in debts and $240,000 in assets

 

"A 68-year-old guy playing ‘Rock Around the Clock’ ain’t going to get it. Show me a bar that will hire you."

– Daryl Price, 68, who said in September that he hasn’t been able to find another job since being laid off in June 2008 from his manufacturing position

 

"This style of gotcha politics is why many folks are fed up with Washington and it is a shame serious debate on reform has, once again, fallen off course."

– U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., referring to a Politico.com/ProPublica article that questioned Ross’ 2007 sale of his pharmacy in Prescott to the USA Drug chain for $420,000

 

"I know it was when we said, ‘We want to turn our attention back to Anne. Our Anne.’ I wish I hadn’t struggled as much as I did."

– Christina Muñoz, a KATV, Channel 7 anchor, recalling her on-camera emotions the day Curtis Vance was found guilty of killing KATV newswoman Anne Pressly

 

"To have a corporation as big as UAMS and you cannot tell where your money’s coming from, or where you’re losing money, is a little bit odd. That’s hard for me to swallow."

– Dr. Carl Johnson of Little Rock, a member of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees, after being told that Melody Goodhand, chief financial officer of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said she had no way of telling which departments were losing or making money

 

"I’m confident that the financial challenges are addressable in a systematic way that certainly is going to require teamwork and really careful, disciplined work."

– Dr. Dan Rahn, interviewed before he took over Nov. 1 as chancellor of the financially strapped UAMS

 

"Oh, not a penny. And the reason I’m really angry is my husband has Alzheimer’s and I could use the money."

– Pat Scucchi of St. Charles, Mo., complaining about the lack of return on the $30,000 her husband invested with Darrell Lainhart of Sherwood in 1998 and 2000

 

"First and foremost, this package needs to do two things: One, give the taxpayers something for their money, something they actually need, and two, put people to work, so that all these folks who are either scared about losing their job or the folks that have lost their jobs will have meaningful employment."

– Gov. Mike Beebe, discussing Arkansas’ portion of the federal economic stimulus package

 

"Right now the industry is shifting from television to the Web – that is where it is all going to. I’m from the old school."

– B.J. Sams, KTHV-TV, Channel 11, anchor who retired in July after 50 years in broadcasting

 

"This keeps as many people on the job as possible."

– Deputy Editor Frank Fellone, referring to the mandatory furlough policy instituted in March by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, not long after the newspaper announced it had cut 50 to 60 people throughout its statewide operations

 

"The global economic situation has created a shortfall in donations of around 22 percent from this time last year. We did our best to avoid layoffs but have had to make some extremely difficult decisions to ensure Heifer’s sustainable community development work for years to come."

– Jo Luck, Heifer’s president and CEO, announcing that 20 percent of Heifer’s staff was being laid off

 

"I’m sick of this. I’ve hired an attorney and I shouldn’t have had to. I wouldn’t do anything like they’re alleging, and it’s really frustrating."

– Julie Benafield Bowman, former commissioner of the Arkansas Insurance Department, who was accused by attorneys for the Arkansas Surgical Hospital of North Little Rock of having a conflict of interest when she interpreted the state’s "any willing provider" legislation in a manner favorable to insurers and costly to the state’s three surgical hospitals

 

"Nobody wrote more good books about Arkansas than he did."

– Donald Hays, a University of Arkansas creative writing professor, on the passing of his colleague Donald Harington at age 73

 

"Would there be a threat to the public if interior designers were to go unregulated?"

– State Rep. Dan Greenberg, R-Little Rock

 

"There’s just no difference in the way that I’ve been treated in comparison to any of the male officers or employees of the company."

– Judy McReynolds, incoming president and CEO of Arkansas Best Corp. and the first female CEO of a large publicly traded company in Arkansas

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