It's no Top 10 list a la David Letterman, but here are a few happenings of late that show us there is a lot to be grateful for in Northwest Arkansas and, yes, one or two downturned digits.
(Thumbs up) Walmart has hired 92,000 veterans in the last two years as part of its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment. The experience has apparently been a good one. As it approaches the two-year anniversary of the program, the retailer announced this week it would drop its plan to hire 100,000 by 2018. In its place is a new commitment to hire 250,000 by 2020. As many employers have learned, the discipline, teamwork and work ethic most veterans develop or hone in the military make for pretty good employees. The veterans deserve such opportunities in the nation they served, and Walmart deserves credit for such a great program of support for the men and women who have completed their military service.
(Thumbs up) David Letterman completed his run on late-night television Wednesday evening. As he signed off, Letterman completed a 33-year run of keeping people up at night with his "Late Show with David Letterman" and its predecessor. He's been quirky and at times temperamental, but here's perhaps the best compliment we can pay him: He entertained.
(Thumbs up) Kudos to the Rogers Education Foundation, which distributed $151,162 to teachers this month for a variety of educational opportunities, including laptop computers and Apple iPads. The total is a 27 percent more than last year and a 300 percent increase over the 2013 total. We appreciate the people and corporations who support local public schools through donations.
(Thumbs up) It's always good news to hear one of the region's major businesses/employers sees a need for expansion. The Lowell Planning Commission has approved a seven-story building to be added to the J.B. Hunt Transport complex most people see from Interstate 49. This one will be the tallest and house about 150,000 square feet. Mayor Eldon Long said the project could bring as many as 1,000 jobs to the region. Roll on, J.B. Hunt.
(Thumbs up) A double-digit gesture for J.B. Hunt Transport, this one for its $500,000 gift to the expansion/renovation of the Walton Arts Center. The arts center will break ground this summer on a $23 million expansion. Kudos to the company and three other donors -- the Walton Family Foundation ($5 million), Walmart Foundation ($1.5 million) and Bentonville residents Marti and Kelly Sudduth ($1 million) for their support of the arts in Northwest Arkansas.
(Thumbs up) The University of Arkansas hired Trevor Francis to lead an office designed to increase the retention of students. The move is part of Chancellor David Gearhart's program to find ways to support students in ways that make it far more likely they won't drop out of their educational pursuits. Learning is a worthwhile investment in and of itself, but Arkansas will benefit if more students stick it out until they earn a degree.
(Thumbs down) The time and energy spent on wresting the emails of presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton out of the shadows is such a waste, necessitated by her unusual use of a private email server for communication while she held the office. A judge this week ordered the State Department to plan a rolling release of Clinton's emails, which she turned over to the agency in December. Perhaps we'll never know what the 31,000 emails Clinton deleted as "personal" related to, but transparency in government should not be such a chore.
(Thumbs down) We hear about it at least once every youth baseball season: Some adult coach or parent gets thrown out of a game for violent or abusive behavior. This downturned digit goes to the youth baseball coach in Siloam Springs who now acknowledges "what I did was wrong." What he did was get into a dispute that involved physical contact with a 16-year-old kid umpiring a game for 9/10-year-olds. Witnesses said the coach struck the teen in the face after the coach was ejected from a game for other out-of-line behavior. The coach had to be physically restrained by other adults. He's been banned from the baseball park and from coaching again. There no place for such behavior in youth sports. That coach says "that is not who I am," which is good to hear. It's better for it to be seen. Youth sports is filled with great coaches and parents who embrace athletics for the good it has to offer. It's disappointing an adult is the one showing the kids the uglier side of competition.
(Thumbs up) Haas Hall got its permit from the Bentonville Planning Commission to move ahead with its facility on J Street. The public charter school has by all accounts performed exceptionally well in its Fayetteville location, and there's significant demand for schools like this in Bentonville, too. The role of charter schools continues to be a point of debate in the educational world, but Haas Hall's record demonstrates its expansion is likely to be a good thing for the students it serves.
Commentary on 05/21/2015