Service as county JP a 'great experience'
The past three years serving as justice of the peace in District 13 of Washington County has been a great experience, extensive education and an opportunity to work for, and along side, a host of great people.
While I will continue to serve the citizens of Prairie Grove, Lincoln and western Washington County throughout the remainder of this current term (December 2018), I do want to let all of them know of my intention to not continue serving in the upcoming term (2019-2020).
I fully believe the office of "JP" deserves the full attention of the person serving and I will not be able to give the Quorum Court the same level of time and effort in the future, due to unexpected increases in the day-to-day requirements of my primary job.
I am extremely grateful to the citizens of Washington County for trusting me to represent them for multiple terms. It has and will continue to be my honor to give them my best.
I am confident Willie E. Leming will give our residents his best efforts as well.
Many thanks to the elected officials and department heads I've had the privilege of collaborating with over the past years.
Last, but certainly not least, thanks to my fellow JPs, past and present, for allowing me to serve alongside them to make our county the best place in Arkansas to work and to live.
Washington County has a bright and growing future and I look forward to seeing it reach its full potential.
Joel Maxwell
Siloam Springs
Editor's note: Willie E. Leming is the only candidate who filed to challenge Maxwell in the May 22 Republican primary. Maxwell's name will still appear on the ballot. Leming will be elected if he receives more votes than Maxwell, but if Maxwell gets a majority, a vacancy will be declared and the governor would appoint Maxwell's successor, according to election officials.
Generation must nix 'deadbeat' behaviors
The April 22 letter from Stephen Christ ["Here's one method to save planet Earth"] was fun and I think we can assume he's under 65 years old (he suggested we get rid of those over 65 and give the money saved to everyone else).
Here's what he missed: We have already overspent by $21 trillion and the debt, thanks to absurd Trump tax cuts, etc. will balloon from now on. Republican administrations -- Reagan, G.W. Bush and now Trump -- always do this, cut taxes and the national debt balloons. When Reagan came in the national debt was under $2 trillion. Now thanks to Republican administrations and repeated tax cuts, it's over $21 trillion.
If you stacked $100 bills tightly so that $10,000 equals half an inch, the national debt would reach more 16,000 miles high! It's all very well giving tax cuts, but, folks, we are deeply, deeply in debt and increasing by well more than $1 trillion a year.
I made loans for a living for 25 years and anyone or any company who behaved like this was called "a deadbeat." Are we becoming a deadbeat nation, making no effort to pay for what we've already spent ?
Let's pay off what we've already spent, shall we? Let's hold our heads up again. Let's tax carbon. Let's increase income taxes (a lot) and let's pay our debts.
Let's become a new "greatest generation."
Reginald Edwards
Compton
Commentary on 04/25/2018