NWA editorial: Thursday's thumbs

In tumultuous times, a lot of good news still happens

This so far has been a week that just makes you go ... wow! The week's events in Charlottesville point out the wounds of a war that ended 152 years ago are still unhealed, and that wrong-headed ideas reasonable people extinguished years ago still burn in the minds and hearts of others. Pray for our country.

Then there was the passing of Frank Broyles. For a lot of Arkansans, it's the first time the state hasn't had Broyles around to serve as its biggest cheerleaders. He was at the helm of Razorbacks athletics for so long, it felt as though he was as permanent a part of Arkansas as Mount Magazine, the waters of the Buffalo River, the diamond mine in Murfreesboro and the caverns at Blanchard Springs. In a way, he very much is.

Give’em a thumb

Want to give some brief feedback on news? Someone who deserves a pat on the back? An idea that needs a dose of common sense? Recommend a “Thursday thumb” by calling Greg Harton at (479) 872-5026 or by email at [email protected].

In weeks like this, it's hard to recognize some of the good news sprinkled around us, but but it's there, thank goodness. Here are a few items worth a (mostly) upturned digit.

[THUMBS UP] It was good news to hear that Arkansas senior U.S. senator, John Boozman, had successfully gone through surgery to repair his aorta, the body's largest artery. It all came as a followup to Boozman's 2014 emergency surgery to repair a tear in the aorta. Word from his family is he's doing well and expected to remain in a Northern Virginia hospital for a few days. We wish him the best for a speedy recovery.

[THUMBS UP] A reader from Huntsville says Tom Dillard, a historian who writes a weekly column for our newspaper, deserves kudos for telling it like it was in an Aug. 6 column titled "Boil, scrub, rinse repeat." The column described the tedious chore of doing laundry before automatic washers were around. "Perhaps I'm hanging on to my old metal and glass rub boards to keep me humble, our reader, Dixie Howard of Huntsville, says.

[THUMBS UP] Speaking of health care, isn't it great to Arkansas state law passed in the last legislative session requires insurance companies to cover ultrasound and 3-D mammogram screenings that some believe will save more lives? The technology certainly holds great promise to do just that. The breast cancer death rate in women in Arkansas is 23 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hopefully, this screening will improve that number.

[THUMBS DOWN] The influence of money in politics, particularly Washington, D.C., politics, gets deserving criticism, and a look at U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman's campaign contributions provides a taste of how it happens. Westerman serves the 4th Congressional District in Arkansas, which juts northward to include areas such as Huntsville and Jasper. So, Westerman is in his first stint on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In the first half of this year, he's gotten more campaign donations from transportation associations and related businesses than he has during the same period over the last three years combined. That doesn't necessarily mean Westerman is being influenced by the money, but it's reasonable to assume those giving the money are hoping to have some influence.

[THUMBS UP] What's not to rave about in Gov. Asa Hutchinson's decision to tap an extra $1.4 million from "rainy day" funds so that Northwest Arkansas and three other areas of the state will be able to create crisis stabilization centers. These centers will provide a place of medical refuge for people taken into custody by law enforcement but who need mental health treatment far more than they need to be jailed. The Legislature originally authorized spending for three centers and it was reasonable to expect Northwest Arkansas might be shortchanged. Development of these centers won't be a solution for everyone facing mental health issues, but it's a step in the right direction to get people the help they need. Hopefully, the lawmakers that sit on the Legislative Council, a panel that considers such proposals when the full Legislature isn't in session, will understand how sensible Hutchinson's proposal is.

[THUMBS UP] It's great to see the final touches being put on Springdale's Apollo Theater building on Emma Avenue. The building is a piece of Springdale's history and very easily could have fallen to a wrecking ball. Tom Lundstrum and Brian Moore, the latest owners, have converted the building into an event center, not exactly preserving the building in historically accurate fashion, but keeping it part of the Emma Avenue landscape in a way that's meets modern needs. That's the only way some old buildings can be saved.

Commentary on 08/17/2017

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