I’d never have bet (or even guessed) that over a third of the motorists arrested on the charge of driving while intoxicated in Springdale are Hispanic men. Springdale is 35 percent Hispanic.

A recent news account says that eye-popping statistic is high enough to concern Hispanic leaders in the community, including the always-energized Margarita Solorzano, who heads Hispanic Women of Arkansas. This strong-willed woman I came to know and respect a decade ago says she’d like more detailed information before reaching any conclusions. That’s just as it should be.

Yet for me, these numbers do raise questions about similar arrest percentages in Arkansas cities with larger Hispanic populations.

One news account says the number of DWI arrests among Springdale’s Hispanic males annually since 2008 has ranged between 44 percent and 32 percent. Census projections in Springdale reveal17 percent of Springdale’s residents are Hispanic men, which is said to be in line with an overall 18 percent arrest rate for that population.

The Marshallese population around Springdale, said to be at about 3 percent, had a 2013 DWI arrest rate of 11 percent, well beyond balance with the overall population in that culture.

So is there more involved than mere chance? Profiling, for instance? Police say no way.

The city reports nine nightclubs in Springdale that cater to ethnic minorities such as Hispanics and Marshallese, although Club Congo (reportedly a favorite of the Marshallese) has now closed. Eddie Vega, who owns one active nightspot for Hispanics called the Civic Center, as well as a Spanish-language radio station, told a reporter his employees regularly encourage patrons to call cabs or have a designated driver. He also said his radio station airs public service announcements that discourage drinking and driving.

Capt. Ron Hritz of Springdale’s police department insists his officers don’t single out any ethnic group when stopping a suspected DWI driver. “When it’s dark outside, you can’t tell who you are pulling over,” he explained. I have a hard time believing police there intentionally target drivers of any particular race or culture, although far stranger things most definitely happen in today’s society.

Seems to me any patterns for these arrests can be easily established by examining the times and locations of such arrests.

And the matter can be confusing to my pea-sized brain. For example, about the time this news story appeared, I read another explaining that overall, reported DWI arrests in Washington County (including Springdale) and Benton County have declined overall by 19 percent between 2009 and 2013.

Hritz of Springdale said that today’s motorists often use cell phones to report a suspected drunken driver. Thirty percent of Springdale’s528 DWI arrests in 2012 reportedly came as a response to such calls from citizens. That means it’s become far more difficult for an imbibing motorist to avoid detection and arrest. Some callers even follow a suspected DWI until police can catch up.

It could be that some police departments, such as Springdale and Fayetteville, also have fewer officers than previously to patrol to streets, which naturally would result in fewer stops and arrests.

Suffice it to say the numbers definitely prove that it’s most unwise for anyone anywhere, and especially those of Hispanic or Marshallese descent in Springdale, to swill back a few then climb behind th ewheel of a vehicle and turn the key.

Questions for candidates

In the ongoing campaign for governor between Republican Asa Hutchinson and Democrat Mike Ross, I believe each candidate during their statewide campaign stops should be asked some simple yet hardball questions about the state’s wrongheaded permitting of that hog factory in our treasured Buffalo National River watershed. Below are six I feel they each should answer honestly rather than in typical political doublespeak.

In fact, they are welcome to respond in this space at my email address and I will gladly tell the state.

What legislation would you support to protect our land and rivers in karst areas of north Arkansas from factory hog farms?

What’s your specific position on the role of the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, the Department of Environmental Quality, and the governor’s office toward adequately protecting Arkansas’ precious groundwater and surface waters from agricultural pollution?

Which is more significant to you, protecting the business of the Cargill-sponsored hog factory or the state’s tourism business of the Buffalo River?

What would you specifically do to resolve the ongoing matter of this hog factory versus the pollution of the Buffalo River?

Would you take whatever actions are necessary to reinstate the moratorium on factory hog farms in the state’s ultra-sensitive karst regions, in particular, for the Buffalo National River watershed?

Would you appoint members to the Pollution Control and Ecology Commission with ties to the agricultural industry, or those with scientific/ environmental backgrounds?

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Mike Masterson’s column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected]. Read his blog at mikemastersonsmessenger.com.

Editorial, Pages 11 on 03/04/2014