Daddy Warbucks
Daddy Warbucks
Scary times for small, medium and large investors
Halloween is only a month away, but these are scary economic times. When one sees John Taylor, the local TV money advisor guru, stumbling and stuttering to explain the situation, look out.
Yes, the folks in Washington D.C. seem to have caught onto the crisis and they are allegedly in action. If you want to see something grind slowly, watch the politicians.
Banks are failing. Credit is drying up.
Heck, that guys who has been President for eight years – and doing a very bad job at it – even broke in on National TV for an address to make us all feel safe and better.
But do we?
Walmart has installed its own in-house bank (they call it a financial center) and are looking closely at the checks they cash, the money they wire etc. When we see Walmart pulling back…well we all know the economy is bad.
Locally we’re seeing more lay-offs and downright job scalebacks. If you have a job, protect it. Now is not the time to be scrolling though the Internet or paging through the classifieds looking for work.
If the winter is harsh, and there are some indications it will be, look for rising heating bills, high unemployment and a lackluster economy to make for a slow holiday season and more economic woes for whomever occupies the executive mansion at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave.
SEWER SUIT
The lawsuit against the city of Fayetteville is gonna be political fodder before it’s done. The suit brought by Jeanny Romine, the blind woman who claims a city sewer line above her house repeatedly overflowed during heavy uphill usage, sending raw sewage under her house and across her property is set for jury trial just 10 days before the mayoral election and could be the sleeper issue of the race. Romine has said that the mayor and water and sewer department head ignored her pleas and complaints. The city is denying her allegations. Romine is also suing uphill property owners from where she says the sewage originated. Stay turned folks, it could get stinky.
BINGO TAX WOES
The Vets showed pouted to lawmakers that they want the tax on charitable bingo games repealed. Seems the VFWs, American Legions and other groups can’t make their expenses when they have to pay the state’s tiny tax on bingo operations. The tax, for all intent and purposes is only one-cent on each bingo card and granny can play 10 to 12 cards at a sitting. Gov. Mike Beebe later said he’s open to reviewing the tax, but opposed to repealing it entirely. Daddy W. says keep the tax. Vets need to charge more for their beer.
A TOP 10
Bella Vista up in Benton County continues to get national recognition for the outstanding quality of life it offers. The community was ranked one of America’s Top 10 Best Healthy Places To Retire, according to U.S. News & World Report. The announcement is right on the heels of Bella Vista being named one of the Top 25 best places for affordable homes by CNNMoney.com and Money Magazine.
MOVIE DINING
An Alamo Drafthouse Cinema wants to come to Fayetteville. It’s the nation’s oldest cinema-eatery concept. Plans are to open a location in the Fayetteville area in the next two years. Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas is the only franchised movie theater chain and the only franchise concept that offers the unique combination of theater and restaurant. Some locations have as many as 30 handcrafted specialty beers on tap and 120 to 150 beer brands, and a nice selection of wines.
BUSTED
Poor Brandon Barber, the once young, dashing developer of the Legacy Building and other properties has been arrested again on a drunk driving charge and to add insult to that, he was held for the settlement of a $16,000 gambling marker to a Las Vegas casino. Who knew you could get a marker in Las Vegas these days?
PILGRIM SALES
Will the Texas-based Pilgrim’s Pride be on the sale block? Sure looks like it. The company has not kept up with some new innovations and the hit by the fuel and feed crunch may spell doom for them. Watch closely Tyson folks. Watch closely.
NO TV ADS
If one has watched TV this year, you might have noticed one glaring absence: political advertising. Some are calling it the slowest political advertising season in two decades, maybe longer. Because Arkansas is not a “swing” state, the major camps aren’t speeding their ad dollars here. That’s not a bad thing for us viewers.
