At the start of 2014, the team behind Big Orange announced plans to open a brewery, and then were able to make it happen before the end of the year. Officially opened the weekend before Christmas, here are a few things to know before you visit Lost Forty Brewing, a Q&A with the head brewer, and a photo tour of the facility. (Oh, and also this year, Big Orange — along with liquor stores around the state — began filling growlers.)
Diamond Bear Brewing Co. moved it's headquarters from Little Rock to North Little Rock this year (and now they offer food!). Also new to DB in 2014? Southern Blonde in can form.
We held our first-ever Sync Craft Beer Tournament, narrowing a field of 32 regional beers down to 16, eight, four and then finally a winner. (Here's a recap of how we picked which beers to include, in case you're wondering.)
In April, there was noise of new brews making their way to Arkansas shelves. Local distillery Rock Town had similar news as its rum hit local shelves shortly after. This year also saw the ABC working to catch up with the boom of craft breweries in the state in terms of regulation.
Two independent brewers — Matt Foster and Josiah Moody — kept us up-to-date on what their recent endeavors in the world of brewing, and nanobrewery Stone's Throw Brewing celebrated its anniversary with news of expansion.
It was actually late last year that Joel Antunes hinted about big changes at Ashley's, and this year saw those changes come to life in the form of One Eleven at the Capital. Updates worth getting excited about: a predictably still-delicious menu and a new wine program.
In the fall, more breweries: news of a River Market brewery. One of Blue Canoe's brewers, Laura Berryhill, is one of the few females currently behind craft-beer production in the state.
Speaking of the River Market, Boscos closed, and soon after, Damgoode Pies announced plans to fill the space with an eatery and its first brewery. Plus, Raimondo Family Winery announced that it'd be moving its production facility and tasting room to downtown Little Rock.
Along Main Street, Maduro owner Michael Peace closed his cigar bar and reopened the spot as a speakeasy called 109 & Co. And lastly, down the street, Samantha's Tap Room — set to open in early 2015 — released a first look at its menu.
Plus, it's worth noting that in November, voters elected to make alcohol sales legal in Saline County.
What a year, right?
Bonus: Take our quiz on where to drink in the metro.
Attorneys for ousted Red Bank police Chief Larry Sneed on Tuesday filed a Hamilton County Chancery Court lawsuit alleging that three city commissioners and the city manager secretly conspired to fire him.
The lawsuit asks for Mr. Sneed's reinstatement and $1.5 million in damages, which equates to 29 percent of Red Bank's $5.1 million budget for fiscal year 2011.
City Manager Chris Dorsey, Vice Mayor Monty Millard, Commissioner Greg Jones, Commissioner Floy Pierce and the City of Red Bank are named as defendants in the lawsuit. The four individuals have remained silent about the former chief's July 2 firing.
Along with Red Bank City Attorney Arnold Stulce, Mr. Millard said he hadn't read the lawsuit and declined to answer questions surrounding its details.
Mr. Jones and Mrs. Pierce also declined to comment Tuesday.
Drafted by attorneys Lee Davis and Bryan Hoss, the lawsuit places particular blame on Mr. Millard, the commissioner twice arrested by Red Bank police in the last year. Both arrests involved Mr. Millard's estranged wife, records show.
When Mr. Sneed testified in a civil divorce action involving the couple, his deposition was "honest, though not beneficial to Millard," the lawsuit states.
These events prompted Mr. Millard to say publicly he would "bring down" the police department and get Mr. Sneed terminated, according to the lawsuit.
To gain a quorum of support for the maneuver, Mr. Millard "recruited two other Commissioners, Greg Jones and Floy Pierce, who entered into an agreement to retaliate against Chief Sneed." The three commissioners then "recruited and/or made threats to Dorsey to terminate Chief Sneed," according to the lawsuit.
Under state law, Mr. Dorsey must retain the support of at least three commissioners on the five-member board to keep his job. Red Bank Mayor Joe Glasscock and Commissioner Ruth Jeno did not find out about the firing until after it happened, they said.
"You've got two commissioners left in the dark," Mr. Davis said. "Why would you not have a conversation with either one of these people unless you knew you had the votes committed?"
Mayor Glasscock called Mr. Sneed's firing "a travesty of justice" and quickly reacted to Tuesday's filing.
"I hope the good chief gets his job back," he said. "The truth will finally come out."
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of breaking the Tennessee Open Meetings Act in connection with a "secret meeting" at the home of an unspecified commissioner. It states that younger police officers joined the group and complained that Mr. Sneed was too "old fashioned, strict and would not give them take-home cars and uniforms."
The lawsuit also states Mr. Dorsey has no documentary evidence to support those claims.
Last week, Mr. Sneed's personnel file revealed two dropped complaints from 2007 and 2009, but nothing from this year. Mr. Dorsey has said he looked into the issues behind Mr. Sneed's firing beginning about three weeks ago.
Early in the 16-page lawsuit, Mr. Sneed's attorneys stress the former chief's seven-year tenure, saying the police department was "at a high risk of being de-certified" and Mr. Sneed "turned the Department around."
The lawsuit asserts that neither the commissioners nor the city manager "ever expressed that they were unhappy with his level of service, commitment and/or management style" before July 2.
It also mentions two state law enforcement boards he no longer will be able to serve on as a result of termination.
"We're confident about everything we put in the lawsuit," Mr. Davis said.