A text message sent to us this past Friday raised our eyebrow: “Heard you are leaving the paper. Is that true?” Absolutely not! We stepped away for a few days to attend the trial of the person who in March 2020 shot and killed Hot Springs OFC Brent Scrimshire. Brent was our immediate family. His killer was found guilty by a jury and given two life sentences: one for Brent’s murder, and another life term for shooting at Brent’s backup partner, Anthony Larkin. Brent’s untimely death has left its mark on the entire HSPD agency, and to say his family misses him would be a negligent understatement. To know that his killer — an arrogant young man who claimed he returned fire in self-defense — was found guilty and will never be freed was a temporary sigh of relief for the family.

Fuel prices are coming down, slowly. Who would’ve thought gas cheaper than $4/gallon would be cause for slight celebration? Apparently these prices have something to do with pressuring Americans to buy electric cars. Yet our electric grid can’t support the current demand. When a sawmill in Sparkman, Arkansas, has to halt its operation during the hotter days to relieve the electric company, we’re not ready for the masses to refuel their vehicles using an electrical outlet. This opinion comes from the owner of a Prius.

Crime in Stuttgart has gotten so out of hand that city officials there have imposed a curfew for those younger than 18. Several homicides this year in this Arkansas County seat have concerned citizens speaking up and demanding action. How can we expect our government and law enforcement to stop violence in its tracks? Impossible! Violence stops when the cycle is broken, and engraining life’s basic values begins in the household. Raise your children to value life, to respect their elders and fellow man. Just this week in Arkadelphia, a lady informed police that four young men told her to stay away from “this side of town” or else. That “side of town” happened to be on Henderson Street, where for four years I walked from my home on Haddock Street to attend class at Henderson. I never felt like I was in a sketchy part of town, and she shouldn’t have, either. Not on Henderson Street, not even if she was at 16th and Gresham. There is no side of town set aside for anyone.

Speaking of violence and justice, one of Osama bin Laden’s right-hand men recently found himself on the wrong side of a razor-laden, drone-fired missile when he stepped onto the balcony of his Kabul home. Did I hear that correctly? A missile of razor blades fired remotely from a drone? While the two Hellfire missiles didn’t explode, as one would expect, al Qaeda’s top leader was “completely obliterated” and there was little damage caused behind the intended target. I miss Radio Shack.

We’ve got a new reader poll on the website, and we want your vote! We want to know where your preferred vacation spot is. Is it the beach? The mountains? Somewhere else? You tell us! For mobile users, scroll past the stories on the homepage. Desktop users have it easy: just look at the right-hand side of the homepage for the poll.

Joel Phelps is publisher and editor of The Arkadelphian, and Brent would be proud of him. Email Phelps at editor@arkadelphian.com or call him at 501-304-2134.