efforts]

Saw your viewpoint article on winning ination now. Did you see the latest? Kamala has come out with a policy now…ready for this? Government control of food prices!!! Wow. That’s just great. Oh, wait a minute…isn’t that how Mao intentionally starved 40 million peasants to death during the “Great Leap Forward” campaign launched against the Chinese tribes of people he saw as his political enemies from 1958 to 1962? On second thought … [Editor’s Note: Price controls are an interesting idea, and certainly nothing new. Both Democratic (FDR) and Republican (Nixon) have tried, with very limited success, at using price. They are currently in place for certain items at a state level in some places but nothing on a scale of a nationwide cap on food prices. And while I get the idea, it’s not really a realistic longterm solution to much of anything (although the hoops you’d need to go through to get from Kamala Harris attempting to improve low-income families’access to food to Chairman Mao’s enslavement of his own citizenry are silly at best and fear mongering at worst). The truth is, we either live in a free market or we don’t. But that doesn’t stop the government from sticking its nose into things. For example, the recent merger of Kroger and Albertsons is being looked at very closely by the FTC. In a time when we seem determined to break up these mega corporations, it’s hard to see how such a merger would bene_t anyone but the CEOs and stockholders of these two companies. But back to your original idea: There’s a little bit of debate as to whether the Harris plan is indeed “price control” or a more aggressive “anti-price gouging” policy. The truth is, the economy will always have its ebbs and ows, regardless of who is in the White House, and if there’s a drop in food prices, you can rest assured there will be a hike in prices of other goods] For several years now this has proudly been the motto for the state of Arkansas. Every part of the state has natural features that draw people to enjoy their beauties, ranging from the Ozarks in the northwest to the more subtle cypress swamps and sweeping agricultural _elds of the southeast. Cities and towns develop parks, big and small. Central Park in New York City comes _rst to mind along with Golden State Park in San Francisco, and closer to home is Overton Park in Memphis. Jonesboro too has parks to be proud of: Craighead Forest Lake and Crowley’s Ridge State Park, and until recently there was the Arkansas State University Farm at the corner of Aggie Road and Stadium Drive. But the Arkansas State Highway Department, the City of Jonesboro and Arkansas State University have decided that this lovely part of “The Natural State” should be turned into a round about and road, bisecting and destroying this lovely site forever. However, such decisions can be reversed. We have a _ne example of such action in Memphis with Overton Park. In 1969 the Federal Highway Department decided to bisect Overton Park with Interstate Highway 40. This egregious decision did not stand. The citizens of Memphis and a host of savvy lawyers took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, where the decision was reversed in 1971 and Interstate 40 was rerouted around the city. I hope the citizens of Jonesboro and of the state of Arkansas at large will recognize the value of this bucolic site right at our doorstep and lodge protests against its destruction, asking why our public of_cials see the need to build this monstrosity. Otherwise, we will need to change the motto for the State of Arkansas to the Unnatural State. [Editor’s Note: Anyone remember the old Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi”? You know, the one where “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” This gives me those kinds of vibes. Not gonna lie… I hate roundabouts. I’m sure someone could point me to some statistics that support their use but they do take up a lot of space and they can be confusing. And oh yeah, here in West Memphis, we’re about to get three of them! Anyway, I don’t think this plan in Jonesboro is quite the disaster you seem to think it is but good luck in your opposition