Pluses and Minuses from 2019

                                             Pluses and Minuses from 2019

Plus: The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Thanks to the vision of our publisher, Walter Hussman, the new digital paper not only guarantees the paper’s future, but makes it a better paper with worldwide potential.

Minus: The Arkansas Highway Department’s failure to control roadside litter. When I was a Commissioner on the P. C. & E. Commission, we encouraged the State Highway Commission to make littering a $1000 fine and asked that a call number be placed on the signs. The Highway Department did and received hundreds of calls, but not one person ever paid the $1000 fine. (When I last checked, the calls were north of 600 without any fines.)

Plus: The Arkansas Highway Department: State Highway 167 from El Dorado to Little Rock is slowly becoming a four lane roadway…it’s about time.

Minus: The Arkansas Highway Department: State Highway 167 from El Dorado to Little Rock has mowed mediums without trees. “Hey guys, just quit moving the center ten yards of those mediums, and Mother Nature will do the rest.”

 Minus: The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission: Where are the missing quail? According to the Commission, they have just evaporated, but will return if their habit is improved…along with the Easter Bunny? Come on folks! If we restock quail in a perfect habitat, we are just feeding feral hogs, coons, possums, and fire ants. Restore our ecosystem with apex predators to control the out-of-control scavenger animals.

Plus: Arkansas’s Ecosystem: I have had reported probable sightings of three wolves in the Ozark-Buffalo River Area, and additional numerous cougar sighting. Note: all of the cougars are without collars; no escaped pets, as per the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. A North American Cougar expert contacted me and said the cougars are coming down the Arkansas River to our state because of the abundant of whitetail deer and feral hogs. As an additional benefit these apex predators will help control Deer Wasting Disease. Alaska has a huge population of deer, elk, and moose, but they don’t have DWD. Why? The numerous wolves, cougars, and grizzles in Alaska eliminate the sickly animals, and control the spread of the disease.

Plus: The U. S. Wildlife Service has recommend several locations in the Ozarks and Ouachita Mountains as prime areas to re-stock the red wolf. (Get your Bring Back the Wolf bumper sticker…250 are already on Arkie cars.)

Minus: The misguided folks who chop off their crepe myrtle trees. Crepe myrtles are trees not bushes and chopping them off will slowly kill them. And stop raking your yard leaves or you will starve it to death. Mulch the leaves, but rake the pine straw.

Plus: Governor Asa Hutchison: Praise the Lord! Our governor has seen the light, and the light is to turn off the lights of the hog farm on the Buffalo Nation River’s Watershed. Another plus is the Committee charged to protect the watershed from future hog farms.

Plus: Governor Asa Hutchison: Praise the Lord! Our governor has seen the light again, and placed a woman on the Game and Fish Commission.

Minus: Governor Asa Hutchison: The Highway Commission is still a male only board. “Come on Governor. Gals really do drive cars and trucks.”

Plus: U of A; The new Coach of the Hogs, Sam Pittman: He’s the coach we need, so get ready for some positive fall surprises. I’ve been a Hog Fan from as long as I can remember, and when Saint Frank finally turned the program around, he made me a believer that the Hogs could prevail over anyone. One day we’ll sit in the stands and watch our Hogs run up the score on Alabama.

Plus: The SEC; Alabama was beaten twice this year, so take hope. They aren’t invincible.

Minus: The U of A: The head football coach will make more money per year than the President of the University and the President of the United States combined.

Minus: The U of A still doesn’t have an Exhibit Hall for the 7,000,000 historical items stored in an Agri Building Warehouse, but they did scrape up enough cash, north of $150,000,000, to build some end zone seats, which have been turning up empty, and private fat-cat boxes.

 Plus: U of A’s Women’s Cross Country Team is number one in the nation, and Hog Basketball is on a rebound.

 Plus: A number of states and towns have started to ban Styrofoam, plastic straws, and plastic one use bags.



Minus: Arkansas isn’t one of them.



Plus: 50 more coal burning electrical generating plants have closed since Trump became President; including one of the largest “Big Brown” in Texas, and several coal companies have gone bankrupt. Thank you Mr. President!



Minus: None of them are in Arkansas.



Plus: Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old global warming activist from Sweden was named Time Magazine Person of the Year. She also won the #2019in5words Challenge. “Our house is on fire!”

Plus: Trump didn’t win either one.

Minus: The Sorry State of National Politics: Actually, the only bright spot I see is, I don’t think it can get any worse. Online posts make me want to throw up! And not because they are telling me about some horrible fact about certain political parties, it’s because of the out and out lies that flood the social media.

Plus: Mike Bloomberg for President: Yes, the former Republican, Independent, and now a Democrat seems to be the only person in the race who is actually qualified to be president.

Minus: Denying Global Warming: Science has just been tossed out the window, and politicians and individuals are lining up against or for global warming without even considering scientific studies. Australia has just recorded the hottest days ever recorded and Alaska has seen days of 40 below temps drop by double digits. It seem political dogma and greed are more important than our grandchildren’s future. How sad!  

Plus: The Economy and Stock Market: They are doing great! The Bureau of Labor Statistics says Trump has created 800,000 jobs and Obama 3,000,000 jobs. If the market keeps rising, I may be able to retire at 90.

Plus: Downtown El Dorado: When the new remodeling is finished, El Dorado will have 100% ground floor occupancy around its courthouse square, along with a majority of second floor space and basements occupied…and there is a list of tenants waiting for any retail space to become vacant. As added features: Goat Electric Scooters are on the streets, and there’s ice skating at MAD.

Minus: Downtown El Dorado: The Mayor is the Grinch Who Sold Christmas from our downtown retail stores and restaurants by firing and not replacing the downtown parking attendant.

Plus: Environmental grocery shopping: We went to Walmart, bought $72 worth of assorted groceries without using one plastic sack.

Minus: Non-environmental grocery shopping: Following us out the door was a lady with two buggies of groceries. There were so many plastic sacks that you couldn’t see anything she bought.

But don’t be depressed by looking back at 2019. I can see progress on a lot of the minus categories, and I believe our state will continue to improve in 2020. So hang in there and don’t give up hope.