A few odds and ends on my mind:
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It's almost a pleasure to see covid-19 reports these days, comparatively speaking.
Rather than hundreds of new cases in Benton, Washington, Sebastian or other counties, the numbers come in single digits or low double digits. For example, the numbers for Benton County on Friday totaled eight new cases. In Washington County, it was 22.
Hospitals, according to a tally by the Northwest Arkansas Council, were collectively caring for less than five covid-19 patients in Benton or Washington counties.
And, of course, last night's gathering of just a few of Garth Brooks' friends in low places in Razorback Stadium certainly suggests we've all gotten back to something resembling "normal." Thankfully, we've gone from a man getting arrested for refusing to put his mask on at a Razorback football game to packing them in for a concert.
Is it impossible to get covid now? No, but thankfully we're in what everyone hopes will be a long-term reprieve from the disease. As of last Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 98 percent of the U.S. population lives in a location with a low or medium covid-19 "community level."
The vast majority of Arkansas is at the low level. Medium levels remain in central Arkansas, namely Pulaski, Grant, Lonoke, Prairie, Saline, Perry, Conway, Van Buren and Faulkner counties.
Long may this "normal" reign.
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The Associated Press did report last week that flight attendant unions are outraged because airlines apparently want to reinstate flying privileges for the many thousands of passengers banned for not wearing face masks when they were required.
I suppose nobody expected such bans to last forever, but it sure seems lifting penalties for disruptive behaviors so quickly flies in the face of the seriousness with which the airlines suggest passengers must take the rules of flying.
Any flyer is familiar with the warnings about this and that, about failure to follow the directions of the flight crew, etc., and how they supposedly are violations of federal law subject to serious penalties.
Is lifting a ban on a disruptive passenger just because covid has eased, perhaps temporarily, really much of a punishment? Most people and businesses were limiting their flying a lot during covid anyway, so did the banned people have to give up much? Now is the time the penalty would actually hurt enough that it might make them less disruptive in the future.
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A reader last week told me he was unhappy about candidates -- primarily gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders -- who appear to have given up retail politics in favor of controlled environments and crafted television ads.
Sanders, for example, skipped a forum for all candidates last week at the Arkansas Press Association.
Sanders has a lot of ready-made cachet among Republican voters. She's former Gov. Mike Huckabee's daughter and she stood behind a podium defending President Donald Trump's administration. That second qualification -- is that really a qualification for governor? -- puts her in pretty good standing with Arkansas Republicans.
Anyone with even a modicum of a chance against the well-funded Sanders -- Tim Griffin and Leslie Rutledge -- scampered off to more surmountable public office campaigns.
Sanders is going to win the Republican nomination, so there's no point in her campaigning very aggressively right now. Hopefully, though, once the race is marching toward November, she'll embrace the opportunity to deliver to Arkansans more clarity about what she wants to accomplish during four years as governor.
And resisting the liberal cabal in Washington, D.C., may be important to her, but Arkansans need to hear a bit more about how she will govern their state, even if she's perceived to be a shoo-in candidate.