Opinion

Jerry ran a bar called Tom and Jerry’s. I think he figured that helped him with the common touch that’s genuinely useful for a politician, and he was probably right.

Sometimes people ask me how I stay ahead of the news. Well, I have many trusted sources but I’ve been reading one publication in particular for longer than all the others. The periodical both informs and entertains. Its prose is simple and clear, but not without style. Their news stories cut to the chase. There is a focus on the natural world. And their puzzles keep me razor sharp. That’s why I still read Highlights magazine.

Hello everyone. Hopefully this last snow is the last time Jack Frost will show his nose until next year. It’s time for pretty weather to stay for a while, then bring on summer. I’m challenging myself to keep my yard and garden work up this year even better than I have before. I plan on keeping busy and drama free. Try to keep up if you can.

LITTLE ROCK – The legislature completed the 2022 fiscal session in 23 days, approving a budget for state government that calls for spending about $6 billion in general revenue next year. A highlight of the fiscal session was approval of crime prevention measures, such as funding $5,000 salary supplements for local law enforcement officers.

From one-time bonuses to increased funding for safety equipment, the 93rd General Assembly made support for law enforcement a top priority in this fiscal session. Act 224 provides a onetime stipend of $5,000 to full-time certified city and county law enforcement officers as well as probation and parole officers.

I’ve written many times about the importance of newspapers to our democracy and communities. For centuries, newspapers have always been there to inform, educate, announce weddings, births, and deaths. An important role of newspapers is to protect citizens by supporting the public’s right to know what their local, state and federal government officials are doing, and the records kept.

In discussing his whereabouts on August 8, 1985 with a group of reporters, President Reagan stated “I’d like to ask one question of everybody... Everybody who can remember what they were doing on August 8, 1985, raise your hand.” Not a hand went up that I know of except mine.

Just as we are finally seeing Covid cases recede, the flu, specifically Type A Flu has begun to impact our community. Last year when we were wearing masks during the pandemic, flu cases in our state were much lower than in previous years. A stomach bug also seems to be circling town. My late grandpa, Bob Harpole, who survived the Depression, would often state that perhaps someone had the epizootic when they exhibited cold or flu symptoms. The epizootic or “epizooty” as old timers would call it, is in fact a term for a disease temporarily widespread in an animal population. Back in 1872, a mysterious illness plagued horses in approximately 33 states, and it was called, “the epizootic”. Soon people were using it to refer to human illness. It was a folk word passed down through families. The epizootic was disastrous at the time because transportation and farming relied on horse power. People at that time saw a slowdown in their supply chain as well because of it. We can relate to that. This week I’ve received a few articles from the Extension Service concerning Avian Bird Flu and it dawned on me that they are in fact concerned about a global epizootic of the bird flu.

Everybody and his neighbors came to Corning Wednesday in holiday attire and despite the heat and dust the large crowds thronged the streets, of business houses and the picnlc ground near the schoolhouse. The band boys had a number of fat hogs sheep barbecued and plenty of well-cooked meats and other vegetables were served on long tables on the grounds.