Dear Mahatma: This picture was taken at the stoplight on Bowman Road and Chenal Parkway on Dec. 28. The temporary license is dated Oct. 9, 2017. -- Vicki
Dear Vicki: You are the leader in the clubhouse in the Oldest Temporary Plate Contest.
We are not fans of exclamation points, which have proliferated in the age of social media. However, we must note: Oct. 9, 2017!!
Yo, police guys. This is a white Nissan NV200 van.
Dear Guru of Roads: When I was a kid, Mom made me eat Brussels sprouts. I still don't like them. The government is my Mom now and tells me to buy an electric vehicle. Guess what? EVs are my Brussels sprouts. I am not against EVs but don't want one. Brussels sprouts either. -- Vegetable Hater
Dear Veggie: We worked with a guy at the newspaper who only ate from two food groups.
Meat. Potatoes.
Great guy. Older than even us, so meat and potatoes work fine for him.
Maybe that's the lesson. Maybe drivers like you should have the option of fully electric, hybrid or fossil-powered.
We keep coming back to the fact that Arkansas has about 3,000 registered fully electric vehicles. Out of about 2.75 million. It will be many moons before EVs dominate the roads.
Dear Mahatma: Who pays the road tax on these EV cars? -- Kelly
Dear Kelly: By road tax, we figure you mean in lieu of taxes imposed on every gallon of gasoline we put into our cars and trucks.
The Legislature, in its wisdom, noted that EVs don't pay gasoline taxes. So it has imposed a yearly road tax on fully electric vehicles of $200, and on hybrids of $50.
Dear Pisano: Felipe Anno Nuevo. -- The Big L
Dear Big: Thanks for the opportunity to wish all our readers -- every one of them good-looking and above average in intelligence -- a wise and wonderful 2023. May all your troubles be little ones.
Dear Mahatma: Don't get excited about right-of-way work for 40 miles on U.S. 67 in Northeast Arkansas. It was a civics assignment for Corning ninth-graders in 1972. And the Highway Department held hearings 17 years ago on three possibilities. Still no decision. -- Georgia
Dear Georgia: Thank you for referencing a recent column in which the Arkansas Department of Transportation said that environmental study was progressing on the 40 miles of U.S. 67 from Walnut Ridge to the Missouri line.
Someday, that segment will be built to interstate specifications. After which U.S. 67/167 from its intersection with Interstate 40 in North Little Rock to Missouri will be designated part of a new Interstate 57.
We have learned over the past 15 (!) years of writing this column that planning, development, funding and building of major highways is a long-term process.
In fact, there's a race between our personal longevity and completion of the Interstate 40 project over the Arkansas River.
Vanity plate: KEEPLVN