BITS & PIECES: Power to the People

By JOEL PHELPS | The Arkadelphian

The powers that be in The Natural State know that Arkansans would likely veto Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ educational reform, and they’re doing their best to keep voters under an oppressive thumb. In the latest move to shove the Arkansas LEARNS Act down our throats, Attorney General Tim Griffin again rejected a proposed ballot title aimed at overturning the act through an election. He says the Citizens for Arkansas Public Education and Students — the organization behind the move to swat the act down — failed to adequately summarize LEARNS in the title. He says now that the font is too small. Meanwhile, the Charlie Brown in us is rolling his eyes and saying, “Good grief.” This reminds us all too well of a time in Clark County when a majority favored alcohol sales, but the few who couldn’t stand the idea of it (and knew what the outcome of an election would be) fought back — successfully, at first — by blocking the ballot with a lawsuit. In the end, the people of Clark County made the decision. The good news for us Arkansans is that there will eventually be an election at which we can remove the tyrants from office, hopefully in exchange for lesser evil politicians. Right on!

Arkadelphia’s two universities have inclement weather plans for graduation ceremonies this weekend. We know Henderson has moved their Friday commencement indoors at the Duke Wells Center. With classes ending, parking lots at both colleges are bare. Arkadelphia sure is a quiet town when the students are gone for the summer. We hope Henderson will retain its current students and attract future pupils.

We’ve had a blast documenting the Veolia kiln as it makes its way to Gum Springs. We’ve been transparent about our stance on a hazardous treatment facility being next to our river — it’s no secret that we’re not big fans;  however, we’re documenting this kiln operation objectively. We read many comments on social media about lithium car batteries being processed in this furnace, so we point-blank asked the plant’s top representative if that is true. He says no, the plant will not be burning car batteries. If we later find out otherwise, we’ll nail Veolia to the wall, but in the meantime we’re glad to report the truth as it’s presented to us by an official. Simply put, this new kiln will replace the one Reynolds used and Veolia now uses, and it’s supposed to burn cleaner and more efficiently than any of its kind in the world.

Arkansas Business reported this week that Entergy Arkansas and Adopt a Charger has plans to add 54 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the state, 12 of which should be along interstates 30 and 40. Caddo Valley, Arkadelphia or even Gum Springs might benefit from this.

One of our favorite people, Nikki Chandler, was recently recognized  by KTHV’s Craig O’Neill as Arkansan of the Day. You go, girl.

We wonder if there are any Clark County squirrel hunters who want to take a shot at the 2023 World Champion Squirrel Cook Off.

Joel Phelps is editor of arkadelphian.com. Opinions expressed in Bits & Pieces are his own. He shares a home office with an iguana (Zori), a parakeet (Chickpea) and a Chihuahua (Ozzy) who occasionally serves as copy editor. Contact him (Joel, not Ozzy) at editor@arkadelphian.com.