LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Vote for Williams Looking at the two candidates for Arkansas Court of Appeals I see that Ron Williams is an accomplished attorney who has represented a wide variety of clients in a multitude of legal situations. He started a thriving and busy law firm. Williams is an energetic, modest, selfeffacing, insightful man who does not make exaggerated claims about himself. The other, Courtney Henry, is not qualified to sit on the Court of Appeals, but could earn a Pulitzer Prize for resume’ padding. Examples : “Handled 1,300 cases.” She clerked on these cases and wants to jump from clerking to the seconnd highest court in Arkansas. “Zero learning curve.” Everybody has something to learn. Is she so smart and wise that she has nothing to learn? - Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Expect no sympathy from me

Douglas Grant

I find it really hard to have compassion for people who try to make their situation look a lot worse than it truly is. Take for example the auto industry. Just the other day, I saw a news story that claimed General Motors had lost $3.3 billion in the first quarter of this year. Officials with the automaker blamed a weak U.S. economy for their woes. The attempted deflection away from themselves might work on some people, but not me. I would argue it is not the country’s economy but the company itself — more specifically its workers — that is causing the problem. Once I saw the headline, I began doing a little Internet exploration and discovered the following. In 2007, workers from all three major auto makers — GM, Ford and Chrysler — signed new contracts. - Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Get those dogs vaccinated

If you own a dog, get ready to bite the bullet. Beginning this month, the city is requiring all dog owners to have their four-legged friends licensed. Some of you probably think this is another form of Big Brother having too much power, and government should stay out of your home. But, if you step back a moment and look at what the city is trying to do, you might have another opinion. This isn’t just another way for the city to raise money at your expense. In order to receive a license — which is required to be renewed annually — the dog in question, or at least his or her owners, must provide proof of rabies immunization. This is a great way for the local government to make sure dogs in the neighborhoods and those humans who live among them are protected from this deadly disease. Because of the rural nature of the city, there are all sorts of wildlife creeping and crawling around at all hours of the day and night. Some of these, in particular skunks, foxes and raccoons, can and do carry the rabies virus. If - Wednesday, May 14, 2008