Morning Roll Call~ News You Need to Know (okay afternoon)

Wow the news is coming in so fast it is hard to keep up. I woke up at 5am this morning in an effort to have the Roll Call posted by 8. As I was reading, things were developing into more of complete stories rather than just blips. Disenfranchised Arkansas District 83? and You Can't Make This Stuff Up are just two issues that I felt need a little more expounding on. 

Okay  to the Roll Call~

A Man, A Plan, A Tax

On Wednesday Gov. Mike Beebe laid out his agenda for 2011~ tackling the state's escalating prison population~ cha ching, massive Medicaid costs~ Cha Ching  and our $330 million (really well of $400 million now) debt to the feds for unemployment insurance~ Cha Ching.  Also an incentive program to increase college graduates.~ Ring Ring Ring (I thought that would be a job).

They are looking at …wait…wait for it… A TAX INCREASE. NO!! Say it ain’t so?  Folks you heard it here first….

One of the solutions the Governor offered is a temporary hike in the payroll taxes paid by businesses, which would sunset when the debt is cleared. LOL… REALLY?? Aren’t we one of the highest taxed business states in the nation?  Let me see YES. REASONS ARKANSANS NEED TO GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV)

Arkansans are once again being led down the “if we don’t do this” trail. Highway safety is going to be the horse.

Our anxious to serve lawmakers have pre-filed over 60 bills in advance of the session, some of which would reduce taxes and programs. Gov Beebe reaffirmed he would oppose any reductions unless the sponsor was able to show how  the state would make up lost revenue.

No Hires for You

According to KATV  newly elected Saline County Circuit Clerk Dennis Milligan is in a bit of hot water. He evidently let several employees go when taking office and has now petitioned the Quorum Court to hire replacements, only at a higher salary. See more details here.

Mr. Milligan made headlines just a few days ago because Judge Grishom Phillips refused to swear him into office. Read more…

Pulaski County Special School District needs Extreme Make-Over

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported that nearly 300 parents were more than a little hot under the collar. Parents, students and School Board members packed a public meeting Thursday night at Robinson High School, in an effort to squelch the closing of their school.

Seems Derek Scott, executive director of operations for the district, who came up with the idea to close the school, has backed off and sided with at least on board member and Superintendent Charles Hopson assuring parents the school would not be closed.

Looks like the district has gotten themselves in a bit of a “death spiral”. Shrinking state funds due to lower enrollment along with expanding facilities and utility costs have over financially overextended the district.

Read all about it, it is my belief that this will be the prevailing story of our schools around the state in the coming years. We have allowed them to put the emphasis on grandiose buildings, mega athletic programs and anything but students and education.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

According to the Times Record Online  “three central Arkansas police officers are among five men facing federal charges in a string of armored car heists and planned robberies dating to 2005.” ~I have no words

These are some folks you should follow to keep up with what is going on in our state~ if you know of others please let me know~ 

 
                     FEED

@AR_Majority

@lauriemasterson

@ttoelke

@aymond

@AFPArkansas

@lobbyup

@RobyBrock

@ProgressiveAR

@TolbertReport

@ArkansasOnline

@ArkansasBuzz

@ArkBusiness

@5NEWS

@4029News

@KATVNews

@Region8News

Disenfranchised Arkansas District 83?

If you have ambitions of being a playwright I hope you are taking notes on the political happenings here in Arkansas. You could have a best-selling drama.


Remember the story of Tom Fite and Leslee Post from district 83? Mr. Fite was found ineligible to be an Arkansas Representative by Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Collins Kilgore because he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor bribery charge more than 26 years ago. (Read more here)


Yesterday afternoon members of the 2011 Arkansas House of Representatives voted to seat Leslee Milam Post (D-Ozark) who received only 41% of the vote.


Rep. John Burris (R-Harrison), the Minority Leader, made a motion to delay the seating of District 83 (Post's seat) asking that the Claims Commission be able to review the case just as they had for Rep. Elect Fred Smith just days prior.  Burris explained that the wished of the people in district 83 need to be taken into account and their votes counted."
His motion failed, 60-28.


Then there was a motion to seat Ms. Post to which Rep. Nate Bell (R-Mena) made a statement pointing out that the ruling to disqualify Tom Fite clearly usurped the Arkansas State Constitution and a ruling by the Arkansas Supreme Court case in 2002, Magnus v Carr.


Here is a note from Rep. Bell explaining~

Today I spoke against the seating of Leslee Post in District 83.  My opposition was based on the need to preserve the constitutional separation of powers outlined in the Arkansas Constitution Article 4 sections 1 and 2  and Article 5 section 11 and was not intended to address the merits of the Post/Fite case which is pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court.  The Pulaski Circuit Court ruled in October that the ballots cast for Tom Fite were not be counted.  My argument today was based on the Arkansas Constitution as interpreted by the Arkansas Supreme Court in Magnus v Carr and numerous precedent cases.  The court held that the judicial branch does not have jurisdiction in election cases involving the legislative branch of government due to the separation of powers.  The court has repeatedly held that allowing the judicial branch to intervene in matters related to legislative elections would allow the judges to essentially choose members of another branch of government.  My viewpoint was defeated today 61-29.  I will always stand for constitutional principles even when it is politically unpopular.  6 Republicans voted with the Democrats to allow the judge to usurp the constitutional authority of the legislature.

The citizens of District 83 deserve to have their votes counted.  The votes would have been counted and Fite would have been declared the winner had the judge not intervened. The House would then have determined Fite's eligibility as outlined in Arkansas law.  If he was deemed ineligible then a vacancy in election would have been declared and a special election held.  Instead, the house today voted to seat the person who lost the election garnering less than 42% of the votes cast.  We allowed a circuit judge to elect a person to the legislature who received less than a majority of the votes cast.  I believe we set a very dangerous precedent today.

Here's a link to the case I cited:

http://courts.state.ar.us/opinions/2002b/20021024/02-604.html

The legislature voted 61-29 for Ms. Post to be sworn in and seated on Monday.


Anyone else see a problem here? The way I understand it ( and if I am wrong please let me know) according to the Arkansas Constitution and a case that was decided just 9yrs ago by the Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge Kilgore circumvented the Constitution of our state, ignored precedence, and did a huge disservice to the voters of Dist. 83.


The voters clearly voted for the more conservative candidate, as did the majority of voters in the state, and nation for that matter, and were smacked down. Was this a case of  over-reaching judge. Isn't that the story?


P.S
THANK YOU!! to our 29 Arkansas State Representatives that held the line. Thank you to Representatives John Burris and Nate Bell for attempting to stop the circumvention of our Constitution. I look forward to working with these men and women to bring to Arkansas fiscal responsibility, limited government, and Constitutional soundness.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up~

Okay, let me get this straight; we (Fayetteville) spent just shy of a million dollars for the city to implement a paid parking lot to increase revenues. Back in June of 2010 the city council agreed, 7-1, to a budget adjustment, adding 2.5 new full-time paid positions and allotting $289,000 each year to the Walton Arts Center.

Fayetteville residents now have well over a million dollar initial investment and hundreds of thousands of dollars annually committed for this one project; all the while citizens, mostly business owners on Dickson, screaming no.  

It goes downhill from there. Over the course of the last several months this parking tale has been a point of contention for merchants and patrons alike. To my knowledge this has been an ongoing issue addressed at every council meeting since. So on December 7th, the city council made changes to the times of paid parking, the maximum amounts of fines and freeing up Charles Ave.  and a few other changes that are spelled out in the Fayetteville Flyer story

Move to December 29, 2010 the City of Fayetteville puts this out:

Starting December 31, the new Dickson Street shuttle will begin.  This shuttle will be running on Friday and Saturday nights from 5:30 pm to 11:30 pm.  It will be on a ten-minute frequency schedule, making a trip every 10 minutes from Dickson Street to the Fayetteville Historic Downtown Square. 

 Free parking is provided in the City of Fayetteville parking lots that are located one-half block west of the Downtown Square--behind the Bank of Fayetteville and on both sides of Center Street.  These city parking lots are free during those dates and times.  Moreover, there is no fare being charged to use this shuttle, courtesy of Ozark Regional Transit.  Donations will be accepted on the bus to help out local charities.  Please see the attached map for the routing.

The purpose of this route is to help out the public and the Dickson Street merchants/Walton Arts Center by providing even more access to free parking in the Entertainment District.

So (I need a Red Bull) we are now using a government funded transit system to help people avoid paying the parking fees of a government funded project implemented to increase revenue~ again at the expense of the taxpayers?

Now how do we pay for the parking lot? How are we paying for the gas for the FREE shuttle, the transit worker for the extra hours?  How are we paying the 2.5 full-time employees, the $289K to the Walton Arts Center not to mention the maintenance of the parking system now not being used?? 

HELP ME~Is it just me; or our “leaders” on every level constantly implementing plans that cost us HUGE amounts of money only to come back, sometimes just moments later, to cost us MORE money to fix what they broke?

I encourage you strongly, if you are the least bit concerned about the direction of our city, state and nation, the debt  being heaped upon the backs of unborn taxpayers  compounded daily by government entities on every level and the consistent usurpation of the will of the people; please get involved. Please help in any capacity you can. 

Morning Roll Call~ News You Need to Know

Open up your Wallets Folk

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aid=125137.54928.137266

Ten highway projects totaling an estimated $62 million will be on the table Thursday when the Arkansas Highway Commission meets.

The commission will meet during the morning for a business session, followed by a 10:30 a.m. bid-opening session.

The meetings will be held at the state Highway and Transportation Department's headquarters in southwest Little Rock.

Birds, Fish, Crabs and Fireworks??

Authorities are trying desperately to put the Arkansas Alfred Hithcock bird-pocalypse story to rest. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission released a statement yesterday that the “red-winged blackbirds died from blunt force trauma on New Year’s Eve.”

Supposedly the birds were frightened from fireworks sending them “crashing into buildings and other structures after becoming disoriented and panicked”. That is the finding from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, WI.

  

 Compounding the problem is the rampant distrust the people have for government. As you can imagine the conspiracies are flying around like jet- monkeys; everything from government conspiracies to end-of-the-world.

While I am not ready to jump on the train of the government dropping chemical agents over cities to see how it affects people and animals I am inclined to think there is a little more to the story.

For instance just days later the same scenario happened in Louisiana and Kentucky, UNLESS the reverberations from the AMAZING fireworks displays here in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve caused the deaths of those in our neighboring states. But what about the ones in Sweden?

In other, unrelated news,sea life has died in mass in various locations around the globe including Arkansas, Maryland, Brazil, New Zealand, and Britain.

Don’t Forget the Meeting~

Today at 1pm at the Washington County Farm Bureau office, located at 1165 N. Meadowland Drive (just off Wedington, just west of 540).

They will be discussing employing a streamside protection ordinance. If you do not know what that is I encourage you to read this fact sheet put out by the University of Arkansas Public Policy Center.

This proposed regulation will affect citizen property rights, restrict property owners of activities on their own land, eminent domain seizures, increased tax burden and other financial liabilities.

 

 

         FEED

@ArkansasOnline

More people applied for unemployment aid last week: More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, one... http://bit.ly/hXbVJk

@Region8News

Panel to open bids on $62M of AR highway workhttp://bit.ly/f65gGd

Been following the #deadbird story? Check out this Google Map. Kind of scaryhttp://bit.ly/dGimm7

AR lawmakers to discuss ex-Globetrotter's seathttp://bit.ly/g7o3R

@TolbertReport

New Post: Video: Beebe Open to Online Checkbook Idea http://tolbertreport.com/2011/01/06/video-beebe-open-to-online-checkbook-idea/

Afternoon Update~

Here’s the scoop from some of the bussell that went on in Little Rock today~ Arkansas Highways, Taxes, and Healthcare~ Get your shovels ready~ Read More…

Pulaski Co. Special School District just can’t keep out of the news~ their new board member Tom Stuthard of Jacksonville needed to read the school board hand book and perhaps recognize that he indeed works for the people of Pulaski Co. Read More…

The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics released figures on Tuesday Northwest Arkansas has the lowest metro rate in the state at 5.9%., while Memphis-West Memphis has the highest at 9.7% in Memphis-West Memphis, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Forty-eight percent of metropolitan areas had unemployment rates that were higher and forty-four percent that were lower in November than last November, leaving six percent unchanged

There is a ton of information that you can extrapolate from this site, it is a good one to keep bookmarked. Read more on this report at TalkBusinss.net~ Read More…

The Arkansas Contingent was sworn in today. Senator John Boozman and Congressmen Rick Crawford, Tim Griffin and Steve Womack took their oaths of office. May the Force be with them. Read More…

Morning Roll Call~ News You Need to Know

News is beginning to gear up here in the Natural State, I hope that this news reel is helpful.

I would like to ask for your help in making it as Arkansas specific as possible by informing me of any stories that have to do with government transparency, fiscal issues, or over reaching. Hopefully we will build over the next several months a network of citizens across this state that are contributing to let others know what is happening to Arkansans everywhere.

If you know additional sources that regularly post on Arkansas issues please let me know.

Be sure and check out the twitter feeds at the bottom and I strongly encourage you to jump on board the social media train... don't be afraid, if they want to find you they already have everything they need to know, lol.


Fayetteville getting “Greener”

Let me clear, I truly believe we need to be good stewards of our environment. I believe littering and polluting is wrong. I am a proponent of recycling, composting and making efforts to live in harmony with our environment. I am strictly against gads of government intervention and programs that do more harm than good, spending enormous amounts of money, and shackling Americans with tremendous regulation.

Fayetteville is on the forefront of continually circumventing the circle of life.  Leaders here constantly orchestrate and employ, at the cost of the tax payer, programs to lead their subjects in the direction they wish us to go.

They are currently in the process of employing a streamside protection ordinance. If you do not know what that is I encourage you to read this fact sheet put out by the University of Arkansas Public Policy Center (this is a wonderful source for information)

This proposed regulation will affect citizen property rights, restrict property owners of activities on their own land, eminent domain seizures, increased tax burden and other financial liabilities.

There is a meeting tomorrow, Thursday, January 6^th at 1pm at the Washington County Farm Bureau office, located at 1165 N. Meadowland Drive (just off Wedington, just west of 540), I hope to see you there~

Fish, Birds,…now Hogs…?

 

The Hogs were just 18 yards from winning after an AMAZING blocked punt with less than a minute to go in last night Sugar Bowl. But two plays later, an incomplete pass and the epic interception that is to scar Ryan Mallett’s record for ever, sealed the fate of our beloved Razorbacks. The game ended with The Ohio State winning 31-26… arggggg.

As far as the fish and the birds dying all over the state, seems that Arkansas is not the only one. I ran across a story from KAIT reporting that in Labarre, La some 500 birds peppered over a quarter-mile in their community.

Mike, my husband, was telling me that there were several stories around the nation of dead fish and birds in the past few weeks, has this happened before? Or is this something new?

Tons of speculation is swirling in our close knit state from fireworks, to sonic booms, H1N1, upper atmosphere hail to chemical warfare (?) Governor Beebe made an astute and comforting comment on Tuesday proclaiming “I never seen anything like it. It's weird," …

Well this may well turn out like that funky smell that hit New York City many months ago, we will just never know.

To Seat or Not to Seat?

That is the question that will be before our Arkansas House of Representatives on Thursday. Progressive Arkansas, a state blog, informed us that “it is possible that the House will also deal with whether to seat Rep.-elect Leslee Milam Post (D-Ozark).”

You may recall that on December 30^th on Morning Roll Call there was a question of residency requirements and Mr. Smith had been charged with theft of property of nearly $30,000.00 of taxpayer money.

Here’s what else Progressive Arkansas says they learned from an undisclosed source:

The House will meet in the House chamber at 1:30 pm on Thursday "to consider what action the Members deem appropriate on the matter of Fred Smith and any other matters relating to the seating of a member based on 'qualifications, returns and elections,'" according to a House e-mail.

A House source tells us that "any other matters relating to the seating of a member" may refer to Post. She has been implicated, though not proven guilty, in the illegal obtaining of private documents relating to her former opponent, Tom Fite (R-Alma), who was disqualified for election due to a conviction for Medicare fraud.

This story is developing. We will post updates as new stories on the website, not as edits of this article.

This should be an interesting Arkansas saga to follow…


UPDATE~

http://www.progressivearkansas.com/content/breaking-arkansas-house-will-meet-thursday-determine-smiths-fate

LAST ONE FOR TODAY~

Arkansas Inmates Get/Make a Break

There’s a new blog in town, IndependentArkansas.com, and they have an interesting story concerning our prison system. Evidently “the state’s prison population has doubled in the past 20 years, and costs are rising even faster – from $45 million then to $349 million today. That will only get bigger as the state adds more than 100 people to the prison system each month.”

There has been a “Working Group” established to take a look at the problem and offer recommendations which then our legislators will take a look at and determine which route to take.

In their post, IndependentArkansas.com has an interview on YouTube of Governor Beebe’s statement, it goes like this:

“This is (pause) … People want honesty? People want transparency? People want their government not to lie to them? … This is the honest, laydown truth. You can like it or you can not like it, but it’s the truth. If you don’t like these solutions, you’d better have different ones because if you don’t, someone’s going to have one for you. I’m not taking any money away from education to pay for this prison stuff. I’m not kicking anybody out of a nursing home with my vote to pay for this stuff. All this rhetoric, well we’ve got fraud and abuse and we can save money. You bet. If you show it to me, we’ll save it. You find me some fraud, let’s arrest them. You want to save $100 million with abuse, show it to me where it is, let’s take it and put it wherever it needs to be. But let’s be honest and be specific.”

You know what?... I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE GOVERNOR!! This government~ Of, By and For the People, can be really painstaking effort, and WE need to take it. And Gov. Beebe is right on the mark when he says “You can like it or you can not like it, but it’s the truth. If you don’t like these solutions, you’d better have different ones because if you don’t, someone’s going to have one for you.”

Isn’t this what WE THE PEOPLE say we want, for our legislators and leaders to listen to us? Well then we need to start talking.

That also requires us to know what the heck is going on, which would require us to take the time to pick a subject, a legislative body, a level of government from the state down and become involved.

Friends we can rally in the streets all day long, protest till our faces turn blue and we pass out, but the ONLY thing that is going to change what is going on in our government is it’s people, and that is YOU and I.

Please consider to resolve this year to help by becoming more informed, engaged and empowered. If you need ideas on how to do that please contact me and I will help by giving you several options.

 

         FEED

@ArkansasOnline

Blytheville aircraft firm announces new jobs: A Blytheville-based aircraft repair and maintenance firm formally ... http://bit.ly/ewUTIh

Dozens of birds found dead in Sweden: Officials say about 50 birds have been found dead on a street in Sweden. http://bit.ly/g1MPF8

Multifaceted fowl: If you’re hoping to stretch your grocery dollars in the new year, look to foods that can pull... http://bit.ly/ft5nK6

@KATVNews

3 police officers charged in LR armored car caperhttp://bit.ly/fat46G

Mallett's INT ends otherwise spectacular seasonhttp://bit.ly/hh0VEj

@Region8News

AR editors to hear from governor, legislatorshttp://bit.ly/eEBM2R

Some looting of storm victims' homeshttp://bit.ly/gqC9Jt

@RobyBrock

Aviation Repair Technologies expanding in Blytheville. $10M, 300 new jobs.

Pryor says sacred cow programs (Medicare and Soc. Sec.) must be re-examined to control fed. budget.http://bit.ly/hTLpDu

Metro unemployment conditions worsening by and large in Ark. http://bit.ly/gDafSj

Morning Roll Call~ News You Need to Know

Want the scoop?

According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette this morning If you want to get a preview of what is going to happen in the US Senate then perhaps you should schedule lunch at the  Doubletree Hotel on Markham Street in the downtown Little Rock today.

Senior Senator Mark Pryor will be the guest speaker at the Little Rock Rotary Club.

Bait and Switch?

My parents told me time after time “if it sounds too good to be true it probably is”. Have you been following the story on the Arkansas Lottery Scholarships? Apparently those making the decisions (and the huge salaries) with NO accountability to their employer (the tax payer) set aside on 22% of the HUGE profits they are making on the backs of the poorest in our state.

Paychecks, advertising, overhead expenses, and prizes seem to be soaking up what was touted to be best  lottery in that nation to pave the way for all our children to go to college, sound familiar?

Jerry Cox, president of the Family Council has a wonderful statement about the situation here. http://familycouncil.org/?p=1757

Arkansas In the Energy Game

Do you know all that is packed in the “new Bush tax cut bill”?

Seems there is a tax credit for biodiesel production. Senator Pryor is in favor of the credits.

According to the story in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette it is not an open and shut case. In their article a fellow at the Cato Institute and a professor at Cornell University think biofuel subsidies are “indefensible and parochial market distortions.”

My question is who stands to gain? Companies that blend corn into gas get a .45 cent per gallon credit, in 2009 these companies kept $5.2 BILLION yes with a B, instead of paying them in taxes. In that same year soybean and animal fat blenders had tax credits of $840 million.

What is actually ironic about this is those homeowners who decide to “go green” in their personal homes are eligible for a credit for installing energy efficient stuff….lol ummm 10 percent with a limit of $500! LOL… $500??? Really?… I have no words…

There is more… I encourage Arkansans to get the skinny on this because it seems to me that once again the tax payer will be the one footing the bill for huge corporations to take record profits, lining the pockets of our illustrious leaders… I could be wrong…

Bank take heavy losses in Arkansas and Florida

Roby Brock at Talk Business reported yesterday: “

Home BancShares, Inc., parent company of Centennial Bank, which has been on a Florida acquisition spree in 2010, said it would record a $60-$65 million charge against its loan loss reserves to right several financial matters, including a potential $53 million write-off of "impaired loans" in Arkansas and Florida.”

The higher-ups don’t seem to think this will be a huge problem, their Chairman, John Allison was quoted in the story as saying “Because of our conservative nature, we have maintained strong capital and reserves for tough economic times such as these. The strength of our balance sheet affords us the ability to take these charge-offs and provisions without the need of any additional capital."

 "We have always been extremely well capitalized. Even after these charge-offs and provisions, we will continue to have capital levels significantly above the capital requirement of our regulators."

Maybe Mr. Allison should run for office to help the state of Arkansas get our fiscal house in order. 

 

         FEED

@ArkansasOnline

Benton County to test emergency warning system: Days after Benton County’s emergency warning system failed to al... http://bit.ly/i4TDtH

Big booms suspect in death of birds: For a time, it looked as if the central Arkansas town of Beebe was the site... http://bit.ly/f6GSud

Beebe gives leftover kitty to state party: Gov. Mike Beebe gave almost $900,000 to the state Democratic Party la... http://bit.ly/eRy0w2

Manufacturing hits 7-month high: Manufacturing in the U.S. grew in December at the fastest pace in seven months,... http://bit.ly/evBUsf

@Region8News

House Republicans plan vote on #healthcarelaw next Wednesday http://bit.ly/g8EjOe

AR governor to help release state prisons study http://bit.ly/dWMIKt