Thursday’s thumbs

Council’s willingness to listen gets reader’s attention

Temperatures in Northwest Arkansas look to be downright balmy today and beyond, at least compared to the teeth-chattering conditions of the last few days. Warmer (but not exactly warm) temperatures are welcome, giving us a chance to doff our gloves just in time for our Thursday thumbs.

Reader Toni Carter of Rogers delivered an upturned digit to the Bentonville City Council for embracing public discussions and keeping open minds about previously announced plans to send stray dogs within the city to a shelter in Centerton. The city administration earlier announced the end of a prior agreement with Rogers’ shelter and a push for an agreement with Centerton. On Jan. 9, the City Council gave speakers three minutes to speak about their concerns with the new arrangement. Then the council compassionately voted to table the Centerton contract until more research could be done to make sure the animals will be treated humanely.

It’s great to hear Airbnb, the company that employs an Internet-based app to pair travelers with private rooms, apartments or houses whose owners are willing to rent out their spaces for short-term stays, will begin collecting and remitting Fayetteville’s 2 percent hotel, motel and restaurant tax. It’s not expected to generate a massive amount of new income, but fairness suggests such services should collect the same taxes for the same services as full-scale hospitality operations such as hotels. Some lawmakers who have mindlessly adhered to a no-tax pledge would probably call this a tax increase, but it’s not. It’s the application of an existing tax to a new player in the local hospitality industry. Fairness suggests such taxes paid by local businesses shouldn’t be legally avoided just because the Internet and an app are involved.

When the temperatures drop as low as they have this week, it’s heartwarming to know the Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas stands ready. The organization has opened cold-weather shelters for overnight stays in recent days in Bentonville and Fayetteville for people who do not have warm places to stay. That’s lifesaving action when the thermometer drops below freezing.

Any big-name Razorback football or basketball player should know this: For the rest of their lives, they’ll have the opportunity to make headlines. The ones we love are those headlines that reflect success or contributions to making the world a better place in the years after their playing days are over. The disappointing ones are hard to take. That would include the one in Wednesday’s Sports Section detailing the arrest of former all-SEC running back Fred Talley by Springdale police on drug possession and intent to deliver charges. It’s so sad that a man who brought throngs of Hog fans to their feet cheering is now involved in activities that led to his arrest. Talley has not been found guilty, but he does face challenging times ahead in court. If he’s guilty of the charges, Razorback fans will have one more example of a student-athlete whose promise has gone unrealized. When there are so many student-athletes at the University of Arkansas, a few are bound to make these kinds of headlines, but our ongoing wish for these gridiron gladiators and on-the-court competitors is success.

Speaking of sports, did you catch the reports about Millie Wall, a 99-year-old Minnesota Vikings fan for the last 56 years. She was a guest of the team at last Sunday’s game the Vikings came from behind to win with a last-second and unlikely touchdown. Wall has seen her share of disappointments with the team over the years. That was true enough that she occasionally threw a brick at her television. Thankfully, it was a foam toy that did no lasting damage. “There were years I got up all the time, so I thought, ‘Well, this is dumb.’ So now, I put a string on [the brick] so I can retrieve it.”

C-SPAN’s cameras came to Northwest Arkansas to film segments for its BookTV and American History TV programs recently. University of Arkansas professors/authors were interviewed, and crews toured places like the Shiloh Museum, the Clinton House Museum, Headquarters House and the Arkansas Air and Military Museum. Undoubtedly the crew came to a great place for interesting material. We appreciate C-SPAN’s historic role in expanding Americans’ access to Congress and policy makers and value its contributions, but let’s just say it’s not going to draw an audience like, say, HBO, which is making its own show here in Northwest Arkansas. It’s unfortunate, perhaps, that more impressions about Northwest Arkansas will be made through the fiction of True Detective than the reality shown by C-SPAN. We’ll have to wait and see whether those impressions are good, bad or somewhere in between.

The Jones Center in Springdale will develop a 3-acre mountain bike skills park with a $1.1 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation, incorporating a North American P-51 Mustang fighter plane into it. Nothing goes together like bikes and warplanes, right? But seriously, this park promises to be a magnet for more activity in and near downtown Springdale, furthering the city’s growing image as a happening place. Northwest Arkansas is a natural location for mountain biking and similar outdoor activities, so it’s great to see developments like parks for biking and paddling, for example. They all represent amenities that grow Northwest Arkansas’ reputation as a great place to live, play and work.

Hawaiians and visitors to the islands were horrified by the transmission of emergency messages warning of an impending ballistic missile attack. “This is not a drill,” the ominous message told cellphone users. State officials quickly announced the alert was a mistake and reassigned an employee, but the population was shaken given recent tensions with North Korea. We’re just glad Hawaii’s system doesn’t have a direct connection to the Oval Office.