Little Rock notebook

Free access open to online classes

The Central Arkansas Library System has begun offering free access to thousands of online classes through the subscription website Lynda.com, expanding its digital-learning offerings to promote lifelong education.

Users can now access Lynda.com at all 14 library branches and from home by logging in through cals.org with their library cards and pass-codes.

Courses include business, photography, design, and Web and software development, according to its website. For people not accessing the service through the library system, the monthly subscription normally ranges from $19.99 to $29.99.

The library system’s addition will complement other digital classes, including research databases, electronic books and Universal Class, which is self-paced but instructor-led and covers more than 30 subjects.

Library to feature 1944 horror flick

The Central Arkansas Library System will show the 1944 film The Monster Maker on Tuesday as its summerlong Terror Tuesday film series continues.

A mad scientist who injects his enemies with a virus, causing them to be deformed, is the subject of the 62-minute, science-fiction horror film, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Admission is $2. The library system will show the movie at 6 p.m. in the Ron Robinson Theater at 100 River Market Ave. in Little Rock.

Pot-sites zoning on planners’ plate

The Little Rock Planning Commission on Thursday will consider amendments to its zoning ordinance as the legalization of medical marijuana moves forward.

Commissioners will consider defining medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation centers in line with state law and allowing the centers in areas zoned for pharmacies, according to a memo from Dana Carey, the city’s zoning and subdivision manager.

Pharmacies in Little Rock can operate in areas zoned for offices — with size limitations — as well as commercial and industrial zoning districts, Carey said.

Cities cannot place restrictions on medical-marijuana facilities that exceed those in place for pharmacies, said Jeff Sims, president of a’TEST Consultants, who has advised cities on how to prepare for the medical-pot rollout.

Arkansas on June 30 will open the 90-day period to accept applications from people hoping to grow or distribute medical marijuana. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission has decided to grant up to 32 dispensary licenses — with eight regions in the state qualifying for up to four each — and five licenses for cultivation centers.