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The Government We Deserve (Editorial)

2 min read

We’re in the dog days of summer, so we have energy only for the arrows.

 Arkansas and COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says that, as of Wednesday, the state had the most new cases per capita in the U.S. during a rolling seven-day period. Only 3.4% of the state’s ICU beds were available Wednesday. The state ranks 49th in the percentage of residents who are fully vaccinated. More than 6,000 Arkansans have died of COVID, which is now a preventable disease.

Meanwhile, Gov. Asa Hutchinson continues to promote vaccination, but has been met with skepticism. In Texarkana earlier this month, he told the audience: “Let me make sure it’s clear: I’m not asking you to trust government. I’m asking you to look at, do your own research, talk to people that you trust, and that to me is the right approach.” That was a gut punch to the fools among us who persist in believing that Americans are their government. Or maybe we really do have the government we deserve.

Walmart and Union Pacific Railroad. Walmart said it couldn’t accommodate the schedule of a longtime Wisconsin employee with Down syndrome, Marlo Spaeth (see the law column on Page 23), and the railroad told a veteran, Perry Hopman of Benton, that his service dog couldn’t accompany him to work. Some requested employee accommodations can be excessive. These weren’t. Juries agreed and neither company came off looking good.

 The Hot Springs Board of Directors last week approved a contract to sell the former Majestic Hotel site to a developer who plans to build a 6,000-seat amphitheater there. The developer, R.A. Wilson Enterprises, hopes to persuade the Walton Arts Center to operate the site. Those people know what they’re doing. If they determine it’s a viable plan, we won’t argue. n

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