New City Committee Has Everyone Buzzing

By Daddy Warbucks

The 16-member action committee for the new Fayetteville Forward Economic Accountability Council has been named and the 38 specific areas of wide-ranging priorities will be getting some real discussions on economic growth, green growth, sustainability and other topics.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan, a member of the committee, has told everyone on the committee to be ready to roll up their sleeves and prepare to put in some real time to make suggestions and ideas become reality.
Those named to the committee are: Alderwoman Shirley Lucas, Chamber head Steve Clark; Michelle Halsell, Eva Madison, Fran Alexander, Larry Driver, Keaton Smith, Jayme Smith, Susan Norton, Sonia Gutierrez, Marta Gywn Collier, Susan Jenkins, Paula Marinoni, Teresa Mauer and Pattie Williams.
These are, for the most part, highly motivated people who don’t mind asking questions and taking suggestion. Yet, they are only the core. You the taxpayers, the citizens of Fayetteville are the ones who can help these committee members make the best use of their expertise to help the city grow and prosper in the ways we all want it to.
Quite a committee. Quite a challenge. Congratulations, committee members. Now resume the work you have already started.
Big Question
The New York Times, in a recent article and survey on tattoos, noted that many Americans regret the inked artwork on their bodies. What percentage wishes they have not been tattooed?
Bad Pants
Former UA golfing great John Daly, who has been suspended by the U.S. PGA, has taken to wearing really weird, ’60s style pants, and began a comeback tearing up the golf tournaments in Europe. Daly, it should be noted, made it through rehab, had stomach reduction surgery and is also the star of a nearby casino’s TV ad. Big John is looking good. And that’s good for golf, here and abroad.
Millage Hike
Looks like the Fayetteville School Board will send a millage increase proposal to taxpayers soon. Good luck with that. The message had better be a strong one in these economic conditions of else it is doomed to fail. Oh, by the way, Dr. Bobby New will leave the district July 1 and this vote will, sadly fall on incoming superintendent Vicki Thomas. What a welcome to Fayetteville gift for her.
Second Rate
Washington County is No. 2 in the state foreclosure numbers for the year to date. Some 357 homes are in foreclosure proceeding in the county, Benton County was No. 1 with 504 homes in the legal morass. The state’s largest county Pulaski County was ranked eighth with 275 homes in foreclosure workings.
New Job
Longtime J.C. Penney manager Dean Redford has left JCP and is now a regional sales coordinator for Liberty Bank. Redford had been at J.C. Penney in the Northwest Arkansas Mall since 1994.
Faith Based
Looks like the Tyson Family has come across with some more dough for the UA since the change in chancellors. The Tyson Family Trust and Tyson Foods Inc., matched a challenge grant from the Walton Family Trust for a Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace. The new center will be in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.
Retail Space
The glut of vacant retail space still hovers around a 14 percent average in NWA. Fayetteville had about 12.4 percent vacant spaces in 2008, as compared to 10.6 in 2007. Springdale had 18.6 percent and Rogers 16.8 percent in the same time period.
More Custard On College
A chain-store, Andy’s Frozen Custard, has opened in what was once an Italian restaurant, turned Mexican restaurant across from the old IHOP on North College Avenue. Trying to make a left turn to get into the place is a challenge. Good luck.
Big Answer
The NY Times reports that 17 percent of all American adults regret some of their tattoo decisions.