Dogtown Wire

The nonsense with Lu Hardin at UCA these past few weeks has reminded me of how stressed my family was some 20 years ago. My dad, a long time history professor and prominent local university administrator, was a finalist for the Presidency of UCA. He’d also been offered the Presidency of East Central State University in Ada, Oklahoma. Being the city boy I am, I’m not sure which scared me more.

Dad turned down East Central State and didn’t get the UCA gig, all to the delight of everyone in his family….except him, I think. I got my way, and until now didn’t really care. Knowing my Dad the way I do, I’m not sure he cares either. He loves to teach research and write. And yet somehow his colleagues have found a way to make him President of the Faculty Senate, and Chair of the History Department (which he’s been in nearly 40 years) and the Foreign Language Department (he only speaks English) at the same time. Somehow he’s always called in when administration needs a mediator, a peacemaker, or a decision maker that faculty and administration both can trust.

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Jose Medellin was executed by the state of Texas this week.

Jose never knew it, but his path and mine crossed.  In 1993 I spent considerable time and effort to convince my wife to move from Arkansas to Texas.  We left a house that we loved in the quiet country of rural Washington County to move to Houston.  Just a few weeks after we arrived, the bodies of 14 year old Jennifer Ertman and 16 year old Elizabeth Pena were found.  Both girls had been raped and tortured for over an hour before being killed by a gang led by Mr. Medellin.  I can still vividly recall the terror of the time, even after 15 years.

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Other, wiser, people can argue the pros and cons of the death penalty and the fine points of international law.

I just remember that my wife almost divorced me over Jose Medellin’s actions.  She was scared and angry that I had uprooted her from safe Arkansas to a place where little girls could be raped and murdered by boys who would brag about it.

I will not mourn Jose Medellin.

I will morn for Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena, even after all these years.

   The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the following prayer:

   Let us pray.
   Loving God, our mighty rock and fortress, we have no secrets from You. You know us far better than we know ourselves. Help the Members of this body to humble themselves before You and find in Your love a very present help in times of trouble. Touch every person in the Senate with grace and love and healing. Forgive and restore wherever there is need in heart and office and home. Help us to see that it is our weakness that qualifies us for Your strength.

   Lord, we commit this day to live and work for You, inviting the indwelling power of Your spirit to control our minds and give us discernment. We pray in the Name of Him who never fails to supply our needs. Amen.

Is it legal, under the U.S. Constitution, for the city of North Little Rock to establish its own official religion?

Of course not.

But an item on National Public Radio this afternoon raised – in my slightly off-kilter mind, at least – any number of theoretical  scenarios involving the Bill of Rights and government at any level other than federal.

And it all starts with gun control.

Here’s what I mean: In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the handgun ban in Washington, D.C., the National Rifle Association is filing lawsuits against other cities that have stringent gun-control laws, arguing that they should be revoked, as well.

Marketing of local web sites is truly viral in nature, unless the site is owned by a corporation with a big advertising budget (unlike this site). Local web sites like Dogtown Wire rely on word of mouth and readers to spread the news of the web site to their friends, coworkers and relatives. Each reader's e-mail address book is a marketing tool and it is time to use it.

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This is viral marketing and it works.

It’s not too often that the race for a North Little Rock seat in the state House of Representatives merits top-of-the-page, A1 coverage in the statewide daily newspaper. On a Sunday, no less.

However, that’s what we got over the weekend, when the Democratic Party of Arkansas met to certify its nominees for the general election ballot ... but only after crafting a new rule meant to explicitly prohibit Dwayne Dobbins from making a run for the District 39 seat he once held.

You probably know the story, but here it is again in a nutshell: Dobbins left that seat three years ago as part of a plea bargain to avoid a felony sexual assault charge for fondling a 17-year-old girl in his home. His wife Sharon took over his seat after a special election, then won election in 2006, but this year instead of filing for re-election as expected, she sat out ... and he walked in at the end of the filing period to get on the primary ballot — unchallenged.

You can’t beat it with a stick, or at least it is better than the stick our ancestors once used to beat on hollow logs to communicate over distance with each other.

The 60 plus seats of the meeting at Trinity Lutheran Church were barely empty after last Tuesday’s Park Hill meeting and a new website was established that now permits neighborhood residents to discuss issues of concern.

By Sunday morning there were 13 topics posted and 22 comments written on those posts. Not a bad start in less than a week.

This discussion site cannot take the place of the hoped for founding of a neighborhood association in Park Hill that would bring residents together monthly to prove the old adage that there is power in numbers. But it can surely add to gathering support for its founding and participation.