Add one to the Tim Griffin household.

The Republican 2nd District congressional candidate and his wife, Elizabeth, welcomed the birth of their son this afternoon at Baptist Health Medical Center.

John Timothy Griffin Jr. weighed in at 9 lbs., 1 oz.

“We are very thankful for this blessing from God. My wife and son are doing well,” Griffin said.

This is the second child for the Griffin family, and first son. The Griffins also have a 2-year-old daughter.

The state Democratic Party is trying to make political hay out of a tweet today by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kim Hendren.

Hendren posted on Twitter, “Had to sell 5 black angus cows to stay in the game! But we’re in to win and still have a few more cows!!!”

In a follow-up tweet, Hendren said he needed cash to pay the $12,500 filing fee.

In a release headed “Kim Hendren Bets the Farm,” state Democratic Party spokesman Gabe Holmstrom says, “Sen. Hendren may have more cows to sell left in his barn, but lots of Arkansans can’t even afford meat for the dinner table. With a voting history like his, Arkansas might be better served if Kim Hendren stayed on the farm and tended his cattle.”

Gov. Mike Beebe’s office says his statewide call-in shows on the Arkansas Radio Network and the Arkansas Education Television Network are going on hiatus until after the November election.

Both shows have halted production during past election seasons to avoid giving any perceived advantage to the sitting governor.

A campaign spokesman for Lt. Gov. Bill Halter says the bad-mouthing Halter got from Congressman Marion Berry came from a bitter man.

Asked about Halter’s possible Democratic primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Berry told Congressional Quarterly, “I don’t know anybody that cares what Bill Halter is going to do except Bill Halter. He is only of consequence in his own mind.”

Lincoln and Berry are both from East Arkansas and have been political allies. The retiring congressman told CQ that Halter would lose if he ran against Lincoln.

“He’s pretty much exhausted his ability to raise money in Arkansas,” Berry said. “It was kind of fluke he got elected to lieutenant governor’s office” in 2006.

Halter campaign spokesman Bud Jackson responds that Berry is still bitter because “his candidate”— Tim Wooldridge — was defeated by Halter in the lieutenant governor’s race four years ago.

Jackson continues, “It was no fluke that Bill Halter was elected by a wide margin, earning more votes than even Mike Beebe against Asa (Hutchinson). It  was no fluke that more than 60 percent of Arkansans passed the scholarship lottery that (Halter) fought for in the face of insider and special interest attacks.”

And he adds, “Thankfully, for the thousands of Arkansans who will soon receive a scholarship, Bill Halter was on their side, fought for them and won. If he does run for federal office, Arkansans can expect more of the same because Bill Halter understands that Washington is broken and needs to be fixed, even if it means taking on the insiders and special interests.”

Otherwise, Jackson says he has “nothing new” to report on Halter’s decision about his political future.

On the last day of the fiscal session, the House and Senate today honored term-limited members who likely served in their last legislative session in the chamber.

“You are just wonderful and it’s been a great privilege to be with you,” said Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, one of 11 senators prevented by term limits from seeking re-election this year.

An emotional Sen. President Pro Tem Bob Johnson, D-Bigelow, said he really understood the old saying, “parting with sweet sorrow.”

“The sorrow is you’re leaving what you love and you’ve got to leave people you love, and that means you guys,” he said.

Johnson, who served in the House and was House Speaker before being elected to the Senate, also said that any “heated battles … only made us better.”

Along with Johnson and Glover, the other term-limited senators are Terry Smith, D-Hot Springs; Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith; Shane Broadway, D-Bryant; Steve Bryles, D-Blytheville; Steve Faris, D-Malvern; Barbara Horn, D-Foreman; Paul Miller, D-Melbourne; Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rick; and Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff.

In the House, Rep. David “Bubba” Powers, D-Hope, gave a personal farewell to each term-limited member, sometimes jokingly.

“Frank, I just enjoy you,” Powers said to Rep. Frank Glidewell, R-Fort Smith. “I enjoy your wife more, but you’re kind of a package.”

Addressing Rep. Steve Harrelson, D-Texarkana, who maintained an active blog while serving as House Majority Leader and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Powers complimented his multi-tasking ability and said, “I wish I’d known you before Ritalin.”

One state senator found humor in the budget squabbles of Arkansas’ first ever fiscal session.

Term-limited state Sen. Terry Smith of Hot Springs took a jovial jab at Gov. Mike Beebe in a poem he read to Senate colleagues today on what likely was the final day of the three-week session.

Patterned after “The Night Before Christmas,” Smith’s poem recalled when Beebe was in the state Senate in 1997 and supported taking away the governor’s authority to distribute all General Improvement Fund money.

“That is until now, the historic fiscal session, when Beebe the king tried to corner the action,” Smith’ poem read. “He says he’ll give presents to good girls and boys but in order to do so, he needs all the toys.”

The senator was referring to Beebe’s recommendation to use $9 million of surplus money set aside to fund projects in legislators’ districts to plug holes in the state budget through the rest of the fiscal year.

“So shovel your coal, throw your luggage on board and tell folks back home that their ox was gored,” Smith read. “It was sacrificed for Beebe — the best gov in the nation and forget local projects, that train’s left the station.”

Beebe later visited the Senate floor and asked Smith for a signed copy of the poem.

“That was clever, and cute,” Beebe told reporters later, although he did not withdraw his threat to veto the Legislature’s use of money from other state funds to cover some of the state needs Beebe wants to pay for out of lawmakers’ local projects fund.

Longtime state House Parliamentarian Tim Massanelli remains in a Little Rock hospital today undergoing treatment for respiratory problems.

House spokeswoman Amanda Manatt says Massanelli has been at St. Vincent’s Infirmary Medical Center since falling ill Friday night. A hospital spokeswoman says Massanelli is in guarded condition today.

Manatt says people who have spoken to the parliamentarian report he is in good spirits.

Massanelli, a Pine Bluff resident, has served as House parliamentarian for more than 30 years.

University of Oklahoma President David Boren, former governor and U.S. senator for the Sooner State, signs a copy of his book “A Letter to America” for state Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, at the Arkansas Capitol today. Boren’s visit was arranged by state Sen. Randy Laverty, D-Jasper, and included a talk by Boren and introductions by Gov. Mike Beebe and former Gov. David Pryor. (Photo by John Lyon/Arkansas News Bureau)

The daughter of former Arkansas governor and president candidate Mike Huckabee has signed on to run Republican 3rd District Congressman John Boozman’s campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Sarah Huckabee has been named Boozman’s campaign manager after serving as executive director of her father’s political action committee, HuckPAC. She also was national political director for her father’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Also today, Boozman Patrick Creamer as his campaign’s communications director. From 2001-2006, Creamer was press secretary and communications director of Boozman’s congressional office.

Democratic state Rep. David Cook of Williford has scheduled a Wednesday news conference to throw his hat into the ring for the 1st District congressional seat.

The retired school administrator and term-limited legislator will announce his plans at noon on the Capitol steps.

Cook will join a growing list of candidates who have announced for the seat now held by retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Marion Berry of Gillett.

The field so far includes Republican Scott Crawford of Jonesboro, who operates a radio station; Democrat Chad Causey of Jonesboro, Berry’s former chief of staff, and former state Sen. Tim Wooldridge of Paragould, also a Democrat.

Republican Princella Smith, a protege of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, has formed an exploratory committee, as has Democratic state Sen. Steve Bryles of Blytheville.

Kenton Adler of the Green Party also has announced for the seat.