minute commute. ..]

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does Osceola keep on getting all the businesses and Crittenden County can’t? I see where another business is going there, an electric car plant that will have approximately 800 employees, they just got another big steel mill, what’s the problem here? I know we could use the jobs. [Editor’s Note: The answer I have always heard when someone of some authority in the matter has been asked this question is, in short, “No one here wants to work.” Now, obviously, that’s not entirely true because, as I am sure you are aware, thousands of Crittenden County residents have jobs. It is worth noting, however, that the unemployment rate in Crittenden County is currently 8.4 percent, compared to the state average of 3.1 percent. So, you might see those numbers and say, “Oh, I guess people in Crittenden County really don’t want to work,” but the unemployment rate in Mississippi County is 9.2 percent so there are even more unemployed people (and about 7,000 fewer potential workers) there, so that’s not necessarily what’s really happening here. The truth is, Crittenden County in general, and West Memphis in particular, gets a bad rap because of high crime rates and a lot of negative publicity (some of it deservedly so, but not all of it). Perhaps the most damning data is the violent crime rating. Crittenden County had four times as many violent crimes from 2011 to 2020, which was the latest data I could _nd. It does seem like that number is improving but it’s hard to say when you can’t necessarily produce data that shows that. While our city and county of_cials have had some luck bringing in new business and industry, we have yet to land that home run that would really make a real impact. I will say, though, Osceola is only like a 35

Russia Today and Sputnik News should both be kaput! Contact the US Senate at (202) 224-3121 and the US House of Representatives at (202) 225-3121 and ask for the broadcast licenses of Russian state media psychological warfare outlets Russia Today and Sputnik News to be revoked immediately. Time to take out the garbage. It’s bad enough already that America has to deal with the foolish, foreign-owned, fake Fox News network feeding fascist lies and pro-Putin propaganda to its unpatriotic and unrepentantly racist ignoramus viewing audience. So-called Fox “News” is a blight on the body politic, just like the GOP is itself. With Russia’s murderous and illegal invasion of Ukraine in mind, why in the world would we self-respecting Americans continue to allow the Kremlin-controlled crapfests known as RT Russia Today and Sputnik News to continue to purposefully pump dishonest disinformation into our domestic media environment? Let’s deport these lying sacks back to Moscow where their worthless White supremacist soulless selves belong. Russia Today and Sputnik News are the media equivalents of Chernobyl – radioactive, toxic, carcinogenic, and under Russian military occupation! Make those phone calls to Congress. Be unafraid and unapologetic in demanding that RT Russia Today and Sputnik News go off the air ASAP. Do it today, and contact these Russian tools while you’re at it and let them know what you think of their vocal support for Vladimir Putin: Russia Today – feedback@rttv.ru, Sputnik News – feedback@sputniknews.com, Fox News – FoxNation Customer-Care@fox.com. Sincerely, Jake Pickering Arcata, CA,

[Editor’s Note: I have literally never heard of either Russia Today or Sputnik News until today (I am vaguely aware of Fox News), so I’m not sure either are being very effective in promoting the Russian agenda. In fact, I had to Google them just to make sure they were even real, and it turns out, they are. Good news for you, as of yesterday, the European Union blocked Sputnik News from broadcasting, but it is still available here in the U.S. (for some reason… is this something we need here?). Anyway, if you think it will help, do as this guy asks and demand that we not carry these broadcasts here, and hopefully it will in some way help Ukraine] Maybe you can _nd out then they are going to put a left turn signal at highway 77 going north and Highway 64. [Editor’s Note: I must not be thinking of the right place, because I’m almost sure that spot (where they tore down the steamboat mural) has a turning lane and light. Maybe I’m wrong. I go down 77 almost every day … I dunno. I’ll check it out and get back to you. In the meantime, they will have to redo that entire intersection (again, if it’s the one I’m thinking about) when they widen Highway 64 later this year and perhaps that will alleviate whatever issue you’re concerned about]