eType Editor

The 1811 earthquake that centered near New Madrid, Missouri in December of that year, and again a couple of months later in 1812, got the attention of a large amount of the citizens of the newly founded United States of America. Its noise and shaking was heard or felt within the boundaries of our new country almost everywhere. I have heard stories about it most of my life. While growing up in Clay County, I even experienced at least one fair-sized tremor on a warm spring day in the mid-1950s. As I looked out the window of the little Methodist Church called French-Grove, on the Hickoria Road east, 10 miles east of Corning, I could actually see the ripples of the tremor as it passed through. In 2015 I wrote a novel about a catastrophic disaster that struck North America in 2022, and I did considerable research of the New Madrid area. But I wish I would have had the book I am now reading about that mighty disaster, and about the danger that still lies there waiting. The book I am referencing is titled, “Southeast Missouri From Swampland to Farmland: The Transformation of the Lowlands”, by John C. Fisher. The title is good, but he should have included NE Arkansas in the title, because the same thing happened at the same time in Clay County and parts of Greene and maybe a bit of Randolph. The book begins in the Cretaceous period of our planet and sets the stage for our particular terrain and landscape that made up the world that many of us that grew up in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri, land a bit more difficult to claim than much of the country, and slower and more expensive on top of that. The description of the evolution of our part of the planet was thrilling and most informative.

LITTLE ROCK – A legislative committee voted to add $25.2 million to a revolving loan fund for safe drinking water projects. The majority of the funds will be loans, but local water systems can apply to have the principle forgiven.

Last Monday, lawmakers received required notice that the Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC) Executive Subcommittee would consider an emergency rulechange regarding gender information required to be displayed on Arkansas driver’s licenses and state-issued IDs. Since 2010, Arkansans have been able to choose among M, F, or X as their gender marker on their driver’s licenses and state-issued IDs. Under the emergency rule adopted last week, X is no longer an option, and any Arkansas looking to change their gender marker must provide an amended birth certificate.

Women’s History Month is special to me. My mom, a lifelong educator, helped shape me. My beautiful wife, an Air Force veteran and emergency medicine physician, is more than I prayed for. My three phenomenal girls are the joy of my life. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, let’s honor the history of Arkansas women.