Casinos in Arkansas will make things worse
I'm against anything that takes food off the table or medicine from the poor, who are more apt to buy a lottery ticket or visit a casino, trying to "hit it rich." Some people who live near a state that has casinos will use them, no doubt. I don't think that is a good reason to "rob" 95 percent of the minimum-wage earners of Arkansas, which casinos (and, yes, lotteries) will.
People will tell you how many scholarships the lotto has produced. What they don't tell you is how many more people in Arkansas have had to rely on Medicare and Medicaid because of it.
I will vote against the casinos if the proposal reaches the ballot. We have, for years, had Hot Springs and West Memphis. Those people who have a "surplus" [and] have nothing against gambling can go and wager on the horses and the dogs, and that's fine. But if casinos are built in Washington, Boone and Miller counties, more people in those areas will go on welfare and draw food from the food banks.
If I read the paper correctly, too many children in Northwest Arkansas are below the poverty level and rely on free school breakfasts and lunches now. Do the people of Washington and Benton counties to want to see more children fed daily -- even pack lunches on weekends -- at taxpayers' (and church charities') expense? I sure don't.
William C. Schaefer
Lincoln
Fayetteville could make library lawsuit go away
I'm sitting in the Fayetteville Public Library. Looking out from the south windows I see beautiful mountains and the sad, empty, controversial site of the old City Hospital. I am ashamed of how the city and Washington Regional Medical Center have handled the disposal of the property.
Whoever suggested the "land trade/swap" for the WRMC roundabout didn't seem to care about the Stone family legacy gift or the history of Fayetteville families who lived, worked and died there for many decades. But that dirty/dumb/dishonorable deed (as I see it) could be mitigated by a simple act by our city attorney, Kit Williams. We could put a stop to wasteful lawyers fees and start the healing, renewing, building and connecting we all deserve.
To honor the Stone family's intent in good faith, we get "stakeholders" together and build a small assisted-living facility on the east one-third of the lot. It can be done and the sooner we stop paying lawyers, the more money we'll have to build it.
To make good use of the two-thirds west-side section, we should encourage the library's architect to build the activity center the library does need. Where the "old folks home" faces the library center, there could be a minimal or an extravagant open outside space with a marker noting the extensive history of the hospital so many Fayettevillian ancestors had known and the history of the Stone family's generous gift. What I've read in the newspaper by the heirs statements, I think they would drop the lawsuit. I agree with them and believe they have not been treated well by WRMC or the city of Fayetteville.
Sharon Davison
Fayetteville
Bella Vista fees bigger
than letter implied
Shame on letter writer Jo Gaspord, or your copy editor, for the erroneous implication that the proposed Bella Vista Property Owners Association assessment increase would bring the monthly total up to $9. It actually would be $33 from the current $24.
Whew! Can't do much rejuvenation with such a measly amount, even with the additional $3 a month from people who own land but don't live here.
Patrick McKelvey
Bella Vista
Commentary on 08/28/2016