Psych! Washington County justices of the peace won’t be getting a pay bump after all.
Apparently the county governing body received some erroneous information from the Association of Arkansas Counties that a pay increase for the officials was mandated by the state for 2011. This coincided with plans that would can raises for county employees next year.
Raise for elected officials + No cash for employees = AWKWARD.
Even if a raise for officials had been justified, such a move always results in bad mojo.
Luckily, the Association had no idea what it was talking about. After a search of attorney general opinions, County Attorney George Butler determined the mandate only applied to a full-time elected official, not justices of the peace. Result: A modest win. It doesn’t help county employees hoping for a bigger paycheck, but it’s better when everyone feels they’re in the same boat. And kudos to justices of the peace for working hard to stave off any pay bump for themselves when they could have done the opposite.
Fie On Beer!
Apparently losing Sam’s Club to Fayetteville over an issue with booze just isn’t enough for some people in Springdale.
Rep. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, is opposing nine beer licenses at convenience stores in the city. To boot, he’s also throwing down against license requests in Johnson and Tontitown. Anyone remember how that worked out for Springdale when Sam’s Club applied for it’s liquor license. Yep, the city was left singing “Where Has All The Sales Tax Gone?”
Woods says residents don’t want Coors and Bud Light signs everywhere. Springdale council member Kathy Jaycox, who supports the licenses, said she’s trying to be pro-business. In other words, some people would like for residents to have jobs and let business owners conduct business legally as they see fit, a concept that sounds wickedly American.
One pastor who is specifically opposing a license to a Springdale Kum N Go cites the fact that the convenience store is about 400 fee from his church. Result: Fail 🙁 to the nay-sayers. Whatever happened to the idea of letting owners and the marketplace determine what gets sold at a business?
Woods says alcohol can ruin lives. Sure. So can guns, automobiles and fatty foods. The government’s nanny apron strings don’t need to be too long.
And 400 feet away? I supposes there’s some mind-bogglingly small chance a stray beer can might escape off a truck, successfully roll the full 400 feet and come to rest at the feet of an unsuspecting Sunday-schooler who mistakes it for a soda.
Personally, I’d put more effort into convincing the Kum N Go corporation to change its name. Yeesh!
Can Do
Michele Prater, 17, spent eight months of work to enter all 109 junior food preservation contents at the Washington County Fair. Result: Win! Holy cow, it’s the Godzilla of canning! Kudos to Prater for her dedication.
Falling Down K2
Benton County made its first arrests under the hammer of the K2 ban last week.
The Sheriff’s Office arrested John Jason McColly, 31, and Luis Alexander Gomez, 20, in connection with violating the county’s rules regarding possession of the banned synthetic marijuana substitute. Violations can be punished with up to a year in jail and fines up to $1,000. Result: Fail 🙁 Sigh. Don’t we have better things to spend our tax dollars and efforts on?
You’d think we’d have learned by now, but Prohibition apparently taught us nothing. The market for marijuana will never go away. With even conservatives such as New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and weeping willow Glenn Beck actually coming out in support of legalization and regulation, it can only be a matter of time.
Win! / Fail :(
A Good Reversal Of Fortune
Psych! Washington County justices of the peace won’t be getting a pay bump after all.
Apparently the county governing body received some erroneous information from the Association of Arkansas Counties that a pay increase for the officials was mandated by the state for 2011. This coincided with plans that would can raises for county employees next year.
Raise for elected officials + No cash for employees = AWKWARD.
Even if a raise for officials had been justified, such a move always results in bad mojo.
Luckily, the Association had no idea what it was talking about. After a search of attorney general opinions, County Attorney George Butler determined the mandate only applied to a full-time elected official, not justices of the peace.
Result: A modest win. It doesn’t help county employees hoping for a bigger paycheck, but it’s better when everyone feels they’re in the same boat. And kudos to justices of the peace for working hard to stave off any pay bump for themselves when they could have done the opposite.
Fie On Beer!
Apparently losing Sam’s Club to Fayetteville over an issue with booze just isn’t enough for some people in Springdale.
Rep. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, is opposing nine beer licenses at convenience stores in the city. To boot, he’s also throwing down against license requests in Johnson and Tontitown. Anyone remember how that worked out for Springdale when Sam’s Club applied for it’s liquor license. Yep, the city was left singing “Where Has All The Sales Tax Gone?”
Woods says residents don’t want Coors and Bud Light signs everywhere. Springdale council member Kathy Jaycox, who supports the licenses, said she’s trying to be pro-business. In other words, some people would like for residents to have jobs and let business owners conduct business legally as they see fit, a concept that sounds wickedly American.
One pastor who is specifically opposing a license to a Springdale Kum N Go cites the fact that the convenience store is about 400 fee from his church.
Result: Fail 🙁 to the nay-sayers. Whatever happened to the idea of letting owners and the marketplace determine what gets sold at a business?
Woods says alcohol can ruin lives. Sure. So can guns, automobiles and fatty foods. The government’s nanny apron strings don’t need to be too long.
And 400 feet away? I supposes there’s some mind-bogglingly small chance a stray beer can might escape off a truck, successfully roll the full 400 feet and come to rest at the feet of an unsuspecting Sunday-schooler who mistakes it for a soda.
Personally, I’d put more effort into convincing the Kum N Go corporation to change its name. Yeesh!
Can Do
Michele Prater, 17, spent eight months of work to enter all 109 junior food preservation contents at the Washington County Fair.
Result: Win! Holy cow, it’s the Godzilla of canning! Kudos to Prater for her dedication.
Falling Down K2
Benton County made its first arrests under the hammer of the K2 ban last week.
The Sheriff’s Office arrested John Jason McColly, 31, and Luis Alexander Gomez, 20, in connection with violating the county’s rules regarding possession of the banned synthetic marijuana substitute. Violations can be punished with up to a year in jail and fines up to $1,000.
Result: Fail 🙁 Sigh. Don’t we have better things to spend our tax dollars and efforts on?
You’d think we’d have learned by now, but Prohibition apparently taught us nothing. The market for marijuana will never go away. With even conservatives such as New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and weeping willow Glenn Beck actually coming out in support of legalization and regulation, it can only be a matter of time.