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« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 - 08:55:42
Alcohol has already caused a spike in Marion County's crime rate:
As I’ve posted previously, Marion County will have the pleasure of voting on making the county wet or keeping it dry. The issue has the county in quite a stir. After receiving several reports in recent weeks regarding the theft of political signs on the issue, the Marion County sheriff’s department set up surveillance over some “vote dry” signs. In two separate incidences, the department arrested four individuals—two of which were minors.Oddly enough, the thieves only stole the “vote dry” signs.
Sunday, October 29, 2006 - 08:04:02
Bell woefully bemoans AR Dept. of Agriculture's lack of funding
When Richard Bell, head of Arkansas' Dept. of Ag, visited Batesville last week, he discussed the frustrations of our newest state Agency. The Dept. of Ag was created in the last legislative session. At the time, Arkansas and Rhode Island shared the distinction of being the only two states without a Dept. of Ag. Rhode Island doesn't have much in the way of an Ag industry. Agriculture in Arkansas, on the other hand, is our state's largest industry. It made no sense to have various agencies and the Farm Bureau marketing and working to improve our largest state-wide industry.It still doesn't. Bell explains in the article that "some powerful groups" opposed the formation of the department. In what sounds like a passive-aggressive legislative move, the Department was not funded; it still isn't fully funded.
I personally would like to see this department work to help small farmers find creative ways to market their products. Just one example would be getting the mushroom farmer in Leslie together with the dairy farm in Marshall, along with the various organic farmers around the state, in order to help market their products regionally. The big boys have the money to buy influence but these folks work tirelessly on a daily basis just to build their small business. As a group, they don't have a strong advocate in our state. Well, they've got Jody Hardin of Hardin farms but he's got his hands full and could use some help.
Marketing these products doesn't require flying in a gaggle of foreign delegates. By helping these folks penetrate the Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis, and Kansas City markets, the State will have made a huge difference in the local economies within which these farms operate.
These small farms are often located in areas of the state that desperately need economic development. I tell you, if a man could make a living in Newton county, that's where I'd be. These Ozark counties are tremendously beautiful but the economies are not very diverse. Many of the residents drive to the nearest large town or have indentured themselves to the chicken industry. Nonetheless, because the property in these areas is so affordable, they make attractive locations for small organic farming ventures.
Folks this is not crazy-talk; organic produce, artesian cheeses, and organic eggs, meats and dairy are huge. The organic market is mainstream and growing every year. Arkansas could cultivate a sizeable organic food industry if it tried. I'm afraid, however, that the Dept. of Ag will focus on Rice, Cotton, Soybeans, and Ag Corn instead of working to build new small-farming markets. It's easier, as the ADED can attest, to focus on the home runs than to cultivate the base hits and the RBI's.
Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 16:06:12
Alma School Principal Earns National Award
From the Ft. Smith Times Record comes a story of one Jim Warnock. Jim is a past recipient of the AEA's Principal of the year and is now being recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Ed. as a National Distinguished Principal. You know it takes a special kind of person to be a good educator. I suppose it takes an amazing kind of person to be like Principal Warnock. There are so many Mr. Warnocks out there in our Arkansas Schools. I wish there were a way to better recognize the contribution they make to our children and to our communities. I have always respected the Arkansas Times Education Awards Edition that they put out each spring. The Times should be applauded for their efforts. Maybe its our culture, I don't know, but in so many other countries around the world, educators are held in as high a regard as doctors or as lawyers. As an example, read the Times Dispatch article below where Mrs. Weeless was repeatedly asked for her autograph while in Japan on a Fulbright exchange program.For now, I'm glad that the state and the federal government bring our most dedicated educational professionals to Little Rock and Washington once a year to put them up in a Hotel and feed them a rubber-chicken dinner (that is unless the Gov is there and then they'll have to settle for a salad). I only wish we could do more as a culture to honor these amazing human beings. Unfortunately, I believe that respect will only ever come in the form of a bigger paycheck. If we paid educators more, that would then translate into more respect. They should start out at about $50k. Shocking? That's not even equivalent to the salary of a doctor or a lawyer.
Doing right by our children is expensive. Overcoming being 49th in everything will be expensive. Having what we say are our values and what we actually value, be the same: is expensive. The good news is that having a more highly educated population and a higher earning capacity as a state are tied together, as are a number of other indicators.
Friday, October 27, 2006 - 11:31:11
The District 57 race heats up over ED
The debate between Jerry Brown and Carol Hess seems to be about--hold onto your hats--economic development. Hess, a Republican, wants to "work closely with the Arkansas Department of Economic Development and any other state and local organization to recruit new factories to the area by offering to repeal the sales tax on manufacturers," (Don't we already have this? I could be wrong.) And Brown, the Democrat, says this about Cross and Woodruff counties: "[w]e're largely agriculture and that's good, but I want to work to attract different kinds of jobs to the area. We all know that as farms get larger there are fewer farmers, and that means fewer jobs in that industry."The District 90 race heats up over cows and huntin'
Republican incumbant Roy Ragland didn't take too kindly to Democratic challenger Eddie Yancey's claim that he's not a Farmer and a Cattleman. Ragland fired back with the most serious of serious claims that could be made against an Arkansas politician; he claimed that Yancey doesn't hunt or fish.In other news: our children go to inadequate schools and our state is 49th behind Alabama in per capita income.
Crossett and Hamburg High School Students FAIL their AP Tests
When 71.9% of the Crossett Students and 83.3% of the Hamburg students who took AP tests last Spring made what amounts to an F, the school superintendent had this to say: "I don't know if it is the format of the tests, or what it could be." Hmmmm, I too wonder what it could be. Could it be the fluoride in the water? No, that's not it. Could it be an alien mind-trick? No, that's not it. How 'bout gays or illegal aliens? No, not them either. I've got it! It's the pesky class they took that failed them. We're not talking about a few derelict students in the back of the class; we are talking about 72% and 83% of the students. That's a systemic problem. Its not the test's fault those kids were unprepared. The system failed them.There is nothing wrong with our kids. They are just as able as any student anywhere in the world. They need their parents and their teachers to give them the knowledge necessary to compete in the world. We, THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, need them to be given the knowledge necessary for ARKANSAS to compete with the rest of the world!
Thursday, October 26, 2006 - 12:26:31
Senator Fulbright is helping Arkansas from beyond the grave
This is a story of a fifth grade science teacher from Walnut Ridge who recently participated in a Fulbright funded teacher program that sends American teachers to Japan to study the Japanese educational system and culture. Ms. Weeless was surprised to find that in Japanese culture teachers are held in such high regard that she found herself being asked for her autograph. She was a long way from home now wasn't she?
Stubby lays into Congressman Berry at a Lonoke Cty. Farm Bureau Meeting
Folks go missing in Newton Cty
A$A vows to return to Malvern for Brickfest
The Baxter Bulletin's Op-Ed page heats up:
Prescott voters leave their school in a lurch:
The ED dialog continues in Arkadelphia
Butterflies converge upon Ashley and Chicot Counties
Hope looks to wireless broad-band Internet for Economic Development
Uniforms everywhere...
Wet vs. Dry
Remember Roy Moore?
High School Newspaper now Online
Percy Malone is disappointed in Rex Nelson
Rex Nelson sends a wake-up call to his home town of Arkadelphia
Can you imagine life with dial-up internet?
Eureka Springs City Council doesn't believe in a market economy
Crossett School Board votes to end their school uniform policy
Dan Flowers lays the roadbed for highway bonds--Oh, I mean he tells Baxter Cty about budget shortfalls
Marion County JP's get to hear a parade of horribles
Hoxie doesn't want to be passed by
Main Street Paragould Gets it!
Watson Chapel sings a new tune
State Rep Candidate Under Attack
Alpena gets a legislative forcast from State Rep. James Norton
Clark County (Arkadelphia) compiles a list of strengths and weaknesses
A bit of a departure for this space but not too far I hope
Lu Hardin talks about his life with the Searcy Daily Citizen
Norfork River placed on international list of endangered fisheries
Lagrone breaks a toe kicking Daniels in Searcy
FEMA to Distribute Hope Trailer-Houses--but to what extent?
Booneville Folks are fed up with our new Oil and Gas Industry:
Black Rock Ark had School Shooting Scare
Note to Bush: Global Warming exists in Baxter County
Arkadelphia dosen't have a monopoly on college towns in decline:
A$A? Lays His Goals Out at UCA:
Is there a law against this?
Harrison School District Begins Drug Testing Students:
Fraudulent Checks are in the Mail:
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