Thursday thumbs

Hogs’ NCAA run a good sign

Thumbs up to the Arkansas Razorbacks for their run in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. With about 3 minutes to play against North Carolina, it seemed like the Hogs, nursing a 5-point lead, were headed for the Sweet 16. But it wasn’t meant to be as the Tar Heels, the top seed in the South Region, closed the game on a 12-0 run. The grit and determination the Hogs showed in roaring back from a 17-point deficit won’t be forgotten. Neither will a few questionable calls that went against the Hogs in the final minutes. But the game did sew up a few things. Mike Anderson is the man to coach the Razorbacks and a run to the Sweet 16, and possibly more, could happen in upcoming seasons.

Thumbs up to leaders in the cities of Rogers and Lowell beginning the discussion of mobile vendor areas and food truck courts for their cities. “This is something we’re sorely needing,” Joe Rheingans said to the Lowell Planning Commission at a meeting in late February. Rheingans filed a request to place a food truck court in the city. Details have to be worked out in both cities, but it’s a start. Fayetteville and Bentonville are seeing success with the concept.

Thumbs up to the Rogers Parks and Recreation Department for its suggested “Art the Skate Park” in the city’s skate park. “The project would showcase local creativity while reinforcing the skate park’s ability to engage the youth in athletics and art,” according to the proposal. More and more public art is being created in Northwest Arkansas and this project fits into that plan.

Thumbs up to Crossland Heavy Construction for its plan to have repairs done to the historical War Eagle Bridge by the end September. The process to get the bridge repaired has been a long one, but Crossland’s time estimate for the work to be completed is a welcome light at the end of the tunnel.

Thumbs up to the Benton County Committee of the Whole for making a decision on a site for a new courts building, even if our preference is the Southwest 14th Street location. Like repairing War Eagle Bridge, selecting a site has been been a long process. The justices of the peace last week voted 11-2 in favor a of a site on Northeast Second Street in downtown Bentonville. That decision will now go to the Quorum Court for approval. There is still a long way to go before this project is finished, but it is good to finally see a site selected.

Thumbs up to the reopening of Central Avenue between Walton Boulevard and A Street in Bentonville. Work on a water and sewer lines closed the major east-west travelway for five weeks and left drivers to seek alternate routes to get to and from downtown. Central from Northwest A to Northwest F streets was closed for 20 weeks. Not a great situation to have when you have a downtown that is booming like Bentonville’s. But it all worked out in the end. Now if only the work on Eighth Street in front of the Wal-Mart Home Office, another major east-west traffic artery, would wrap up. Then it’s on to the another project. Ah, the price of progress.

Thumbs down to the safe opening in Harrison last week. For decades, the 600-pound safe sat in the back corner of Harrison District Court’s room in the Old Federal Building. Nobody knew the combination of the 52-year-old safe or what, if anything, it contained. “As far as we know, the safe hadn’t been opened since the 1970s,” said Lucretia Richardson, executive assistant to Boone County Judge Robert Hathaway. A sign on the front of the safe referred to a U.S. government agency, the General Services Administration. That led people to believe that the safe — a type described in government documents as “a security filing cabinet” — might contain evidence from a decades-old federal court case. After the safe was drilled opened inside was found ….. a paper that contained the combination to the lock and instructions on how to open the safe.

Thumbs up to the Arkansas baseball team for its strong Southeastern Conference opener this past weekend against Mississippi State at Baum Stadium. The Razorbacks swept the Bulldogs, the defending conference champion, outscoring them 14-6 in the three-game series. Arkansas is at No. 23 Missouri for another SEC series that starts Friday. Alabama will be at Baum for a three-game set March 31-April 2. If the Hogs can sweep this weekend, Baum should be packed when the Crimson Tide roll into town.

Thumbs down to the saga that is Cave Springs city government. Last week, a lawsuit by two Cave Springs city employees against city officials was transferred from circuit to federal court. Now comes the news that Mayor Travis Lee would like to hire back former city attorney Justin Eichmann to replace Tom Gaurino, who quit in February. Lee and members of the City Council also remain at odds. Perhaps Gaurino summed up the situation in Cave Springs best. “I wish them luck,” he said.

Thumbs down to the one-two punch this weekend that came in the form of the deaths of the legendary guitarist Chuck Berry and newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin. A headline, in part, in Esquire’s online edition said Berry and Breslin “reinvented the English language.” Berry and Breslin certainly were poets in their own ways and will be missed.

Thumbs up to the renovation work being done at The Melvin Ford Aquatic Center in Bentonville. The largely cosmetic remodel started in mid-January was much needed. The center was built in 1992, and there’s been nearly no cosmetic upgrades since, said David Wright, parks and recreation director. The pool, compared to other outdoor swimming venues in Benton and Washington counties, seemed a bit dated. Hopefully, the remodel will spruce up this facility that has been a mainstay for Bentonville parks for years.

Thumbs up to the recovery of Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey. According to the Associated Press, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said investigators, relying on a tip from an informant, tracked jersey to Mexico after it went missing last month after the New England Patriots’ 34-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons. They also found the quarterback’s jersey that had gone missing after the Patriots’ 2015 Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks. The NFL says the jerseys were in “possession of a credentialed member of the international media.” Acevedo, according to the AP, said the theft was the only blemish on an otherwise smooth Super Bowl and “you don’t come to Texas and embarrass us here on our own turf.”

Thumbs down to the news that broke last week that the Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari in Gentry violated U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations from 2012 to 2016. A complaint was filed by the department in January. The infractions in the complaint are serious and, if true, need to be addressed. Manager Leon Wilmoth, however, says the safari has fixed every issue the department has identified. The 400-acre safari is home to more than 800 animals, many of them exotic. Wilmoth has hired legal representation and this situation will be a continuing disagreement between Wilmoth and the USDA and groups like the Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington-based organization, that released the complaint last week.

Thumbs up to the three Northwest Arkansas schools that are among the newest Diamond Schools to Watch based on academic excellence, developmental responsibility to students and social equity. Bentonville’s Old High Middle School and Fayetteville’s Woodland Junior High School and Holt Middle School earned Diamond status for the first time this year. They are three of about 150 middle schools nationwide designated as Schools to Watch. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform launched the Schools to Watch initiative in 1999 to draw attention to commonalities of high-performing middle schools, said Michelle Hayward, principal of Fayetteville’s McNair Middle School and co-director of Arkansas Diamond Schools to Watch. Schools to Watch is a national program, but Arkansas is the only state adding “Diamond” to the honor’s name. The designation is good for three years; after that, a school may apply for redesignation. Holt Middle School and Woodland Junior High School join two other Fayetteville schools, Owl Creek School and McNair Middle School, as Diamond Schools to Watch. Kirksey Middle School in Rogers became the first school in Arkansas to achieve Diamond School status in 2007. Others include Hellstern Middle School, Helen Tyson Middle School and J.O. Kelly Middle School, all in Springdale.