NWA EDITORIAL: Thursday's thumbs

It's Thursday and another chance to fire off a few thumbs about some of news developments in our neck of the worlds and elsewhere:

Unfortunately, a healthy (no, that's not quite right) portion of the population will continue to ignore or reject the advice of people like Gov. Asa Hutchinson and public health experts about wearing masks, avoiding crowds, observing social distancing and even frequent hand-washing. Count it as laziness, orneriness or some misguided version of rebellion. Hutchinson, however, took time this week to warn everyone do his best "Game of Thrones" impression by warning Arkansans that winter is coming. No, he's not suggesting a horde of reanimated dead people are about to invade; rather, he stressed the need to prepare for anticipated adverse effects -- namely the potential multiplication of cases and the complication of navigating a flu season in the midst of a pandemic. Getting the flu and covid-19 at the same time ups the ante in terms of how difficult it is for the body to overcome either illness. And naturally, someone with the flu is likely to be coughing and sneezing, sure-fire ways to spread the coronavirus. Our thumbs down is for people who will still refuse to take the steps necessary to reduce the spread of either illness, but we'll credit Hutchinson and others for at least trying to make people aware of the added dangers fall and winter bring.

Body cameras for police don't suddenly solve every problem related to use of force or its abuse. Sometimes video can raise as many questions as they answer. But in this technological age, the diminutive size of body-worn cameras and the quality of video they provide makes their use a no-brainer for both training and accountability. The Bentonville City Council is in the process of adopting body cameras for the city's officers. Their adoption is a step toward building trust between law officers and those the public they serve.

It was ludicrous that federal lawmakers got within days of a government shutdown until Tuesday House vote supporting a continuing resolution to keep federal operations going through Dec. 11. The year has already been pretty awful. The nation doesn't need to go through the turmoil of a partial government shutdown. Sure, it's just a stopgap measure, but it at least protects the economy from unnecessary damage. Who needs the added stress of even more financial uncertainty?

A vaccine for covid-19 is going to be ready when it's ready. All this back-and-forth chatter about finishing one up by Election Day or before the end of the year or mid-2021 is just spitballing and fodder being used as influence in 2020's election. Science, transparency and a reliable process, not serving anyone's political interests, must be the foundation of a vaccine or few people will have faith in it. Public confidence is vital.

This one's a thumbs up on behalf of all the college students who have ever gotten a parking ticket. We don't generally suggest suing a state university if there's any way to avoid it. But how many college students have really wanted to fight back against the ubiquitous parking violation. Maybe even some faculty, too? Turns out a college freshman's father/lawyer isn't just going to complain about his daughter's $100 fine and having her car towed. He's claiming the University of Arkansas' entire system is unconstitutional. He's pushing a class-action case, hoping to get money back for those ticketed over the last three years. The UA believes its system is legal, but we suspect thousands of former students will be watching this one with more than drive-by interest. We'll see if it goes anywhere.