Summers For Senate District 1

to raise the state tobacco tax by 56 cents per pack in 2009. He was the only member of the Benton County House delegation to vote for that tax.

Nevermind the state tax on cigarettes remains below the national average. That tax hikeState Rep. Tim Summers is a bona fi de conservative with an independent streak.

He made a lot of conservatives unhappy, for when he votedwent toward setting up a statewide system of trauma centers. It also provided money for a new satellite campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Fayetteville, which had been declared the No. 1 priority of this region’s legislative delegation.

Summers’ vote was the right one - and the courageous one, given the opposition he faced to it at home.

Summers, 67, works for Decision Point, a drug and alcohol abuse recovery program with facilities in Bentonville and Springdale. He has been a state representative since 2009 and performed well. He also has served honorably on the Bentonville City Council (six years) and Benton County Quorum Court (14 years). He was finance chairman on the Quorum Court for most of his time there, and he deserves credit for helping build the solid reserve fund Benton County enjoys today.

Now he hopes to move from the state House of Representatives to the state Senate representing District 1, which includes Bentonville, Centerton, Cave Springs and a fragment of Washington County.

He is opposed in the Republican primary by Bart Hester, 34, a newcomer to politics. Hester is a contractor and real estate agent from Cave Springs.

The primary winner faces no Democratic opponent in November.

Hester has great potential, but his claim he’s the “true conservative” in this race is disconcerting.

Signing an anti-tax pledge, as Hester has, doesn’t prove you’re conservative; it only shows you’re willing to restrict your voting options to win points with a certain segment of your constituency. That’s not leadership.

We recommend Summers for Senate District 1.

CONSIDER SIGNAL FOR TRAIL EXTENSION Fayetteville plans to extend the Frisco Trail about a half-mile. As part of the $1.2 million project, a tunnel would be built under Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and a pedestrian crossing would be added at South School Avenue.

The proposed tunnel clearly is warranted. About 23,000 motorists pass through that section of Martin Luther King Boulevard daily, according to 2010 data.

School Avenue’s traffc count is about half that of King Boulevard’s. Still, the thought of cyclists, walkers and joggers - including children - crossing such a big road with only a pedestrian crossing to protect them makes us uneasy. That’s a tragedy waiting to happen.

A pedestrian bridge or another tunnel at School Avenue would be costly. A bridge, for example, would nearly double the trail project’s total cost.

But there ought to be discussion of ways to mitigate the threat trail users would face while trying to cross School.

Last week, the City Council’s Street Committee signed oft on installing a stoplight at North Street and the Scull Creek Trail. Users of the trail will be able to activate the signal by pushing a button. The cost of the signal is estimated at $21,500.

Such a safety enhancement also should be considered for the Frisco Trail when it comes to School Avenue.