Best of the "lately:" Aug. 29-Aug. 31

Here's a sampling of some of my favorites from lately. The first three are pieces of wild art that I found and shot for the paper. And the last is for a story on overcrowding at a local high school that never ran unfortunately. So, here, it gets life.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER --08/29/11--
Mary Harms Mulkey (left), 2, of Rogers and Abby Lee, 3, of Bella Vista participate in a ballet and tap class inside Kaleidoscope Dance Academy in downtown Bentonville on Monday, Aug. 29, 2011. The weekly class is led by studio director Laine Harper.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER --08/31/11--
Volunteers Misa (cq) Mauricio (cq) (left) of Bentonville and Rita Pittman of Rogers clean one of the eight buses outside the Benton County Sunshine School in Rogers on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011. Through the United Way of Northwest Arkansas, local volunteers were paired with non-profit agencies to complete a variety of projects as part of LIVE UNITED Day.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER --08/31/11--
Jon Cottrell (cq) lifts a stencil after painting one of two parking spaces outside Bentonville High School designating them for police parking on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011. Cottell works in the maintenance department for the school's athletic complex.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JASON IVESTER --08/31/11--
Students quickly change classes on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011, at Bentonville High School. Bentonville Public Schools held a public forum on Tuesday night to discuss options for overcrowding at the high school.