Courts much too slow
Like a lot of folks, I muse daily over which of our three branches of government is the most disgusting--the executive, the legislative, or the judicial. Today, the judicial won out.
Re Garland County v. Twila Gail Watson, you recently ran an article about the sentencing of a woman to 22 years in a 2013 "drunken-driving havoc." But hark: The offenses for which the defendant was sentenced occurred nearly three years ago. I must assume that the sentence cited in the article was handed down within the last few days or weeks, because surely you're not that far behind in your reporting.
Now, mind you, this was not an international money-laundering or treason case in which INTERPOL or even the FBI was involved. Neither did it involve a parallel House or Senate probe. It simply involved (to paraphrase your article) the defendant driving while intoxicated, striking multiple vehicles and injuring three pedestrians.
The obvious excuses of busy docket schedules, multiple continuances, changes of venue, and other legal idiom just don't work for me here. This is just plain, simple ineptitude and flagrant disregard for taxpayer money used by the courts. It must stop!
JOHN E. McCOWN
Hot Springs Village
Address teen births
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report indicating that the birth rate among American teenagers has fallen to an all-time low since the 1990s. In Arkansas the rate of births for female teens, ages 15-19, fell 31.4 percent between 2006-07 and 2013-14. That translates to a decrease from about 60.5 to 41.5 births per 1,000 young women.
Sounds good, sounds encouraging! Unfortunately, that 41.5 rate is still the highest of any state in the country.
On April 19, a group of citizen lobbyists led by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland visited the Capitol to share similar statistics with Arkansas legislators and talk about the urgent need for inclusion of evidence-based sexual health education instruction for our young people. Lawmakers were given a one-page handout citing research from reliable information sources that illustrate the effectiveness of medically accurate, age-appropriate and evidence-based curriculum. Studies show that students who receive this type of instruction delay sexual activity and increase their use of contraceptives.
I recommend that readers contact their Arkansas senators and representatives to urge them to support legislation that will give all teenagers access to education about contraception and birth control. If we all work together, perhaps we can change another humiliating Arkansas ranking on this particular list of states.
SARAH B. THOMPSON
Fayetteville
Insensitive comment
I think Mr. J. Fred Hart's comment about replacing Andrew Jackson's image with Harriet Tubman's on our currency as "politically correct" is insensitive and insulting.
He imagines that characterizing one of our most courageous American heroes as being from a list of "celebrities" like Amos and Andy is clever, when in truth it is ignorant and pathetic.
DIANE PLUNKETT
Little Rock
Relationship needed
In the First World, absolute poverty is something that we simply do not understand. We have a tendency to think that as long as we give to charity, or go on a summer trip to build a school, we will have done our part to alleviate poverty, and it will resolve itself. However, poverty is not something that can be conquered so easily, and many of these attempts to lessen it may in fact worsen the lives of the very people they were intended to help.
The trouble with charity is that it is often given blindly to whichever organization makes the best sales pitch. Not knowing exactly where your money is going can be a really big problem. Too often, well-meaning Americans will give money to a charity that pushes funds through a developing nation's government first. Corruption is a massive problem in many of these countries, and an opportunistic bureaucrat may capitalize on a large inflow of "charity cash."
Many Americans feel that they can bypass this problem entirely by going to a developing nation themselves to directly affect the well-being of the country by building a school, or making short-term friends with the local populace. Unfortunately, the bulk of people who do so are amateurs in construction, and produce a subpar product which falls to pieces in the coming years.
Perhaps the big lesson is that charity requires more than a dollar bearing a positive thought to be effective. If you want to help a developing nation, you have to want a long-lasting relationship with that nation. You have to know where your money is going, who it's going to, and be willing and able to follow up. It's not a well-meaning two-month vacation, but a lifetime of asking questions and resolving problems as they come. If you don't see yourself talking to the people you meet next year, then you're probably only making things worse.
CHRISTOPHER A. NOONER
Conway
Wandering in desert
The Bible speaks of 40 years wandering in the desert. Isn't that just about how long the leadership of the the Little Rock School District (with little effective support from our city's visionary leadership) have been fumbling and bumbling their way, trying to address the problem with our schools? Years of misguided direction and billions of tax dollars only to arrive at state control for academics. Fiscal management would be a stronger reason for control.
Now suddenly these local visionaries are speaking up. They want local control. They want Baker Kurrus back even though he was initially rejected by many of these same people. Several of our city directors are even talking about the city controlling the school district. Like they could do a better job? Many are questioning the credentials of Mr. Johnny Key to lead the Department of Education. Where was the outcry when Shane Broadway faced similar resume shortfall?
These folks see charter schools as the demon. Tell that to the 6,000 parents on eStem's waiting list. I believe the explosive growth of charter schools, private schools and the population increases in the suburbs are the "report card" for the Little Rock School District.
It's time to stop the moaning and groaning and go to work. It took years and years for the district to slowly burn; it will take time to put out the fire. Control in local hands should come when there has been a proven track record of progress.
Caving in to the emotional, irrational demands of some special-interest groups and local politicians is not the answer.
DON SHELLABARGER
Little Rock
Editorial on 05/03/2016