Thursday’s thumbs

UA student puts some spin on success

Wow, what a news week! But we’ll leave those big-time political issues for another day to offer a few of our thumbs for things happening around these parts.

As Razorbacks fans, we naturally spent a good part of our Saturday at Reynolds Razorback Stadium to see the first victory for Chad Morris’ football team and, we hope, the start of a new era of success for the Hogs. But we couldn’t help notice that young woman twirling the baton on the sidelines as she warmed up for halftime. She was concentrating intensely and could handle that baton better and faster than Bruce Lee handled nunchucks. And she dazzled in the halftime show. How surprising to find a full-fledged feature about Savannah Miller, a University of Arkansas twirler, in Sunday’s newspaper. The UA junior has earned more than 20 national and international titles, including USTA Grand National Champion in solo, USTA and National Baton Twirling Association Collegiate Champion and Grand National Twirling Champion, Miss Majorette of America and a silver medal at the 2016 world championship. Her performances are impressive and she demonstrates drive, skill and hard work. What a great example! And that’s not just spin.

Converting someone in need of housing from homeless to homed doesn’t have to be complicated. The folks at the nonprofit Genesis House in Siloam Springs have been helping people through tough times for years by operating a day shelter. Now, they’re taking their efforts up a notch with construction of so-called tiny houses, four of them, as a way to put roofs over the heads of people while they help them re-organize and relaunch their lives toward better times. The 400- to 600-squarefoot homes would not be possible without dozens of businesses, organizations and individuals who have made donations of materials and money, or without the efforts of many volunteers. Congratulations to everyone involved in these efforts, and to those who may not even know it yet whose lives will be changed because of them.

We don’t have statistical information to back this up, but it seems we get a lot of motorcycle wrecks in these parts come late summer every year. Naturally, spring, summer and fall tend to be favored periods for taking in Northwest Arkansas’ great roads and highways on a motorcycle. More activity is typically going to lead to a higher potential for wrecks. One theory: The approach of the annual Bikes, Blues & BBQ festival each fall also serves as motivation for some of the more casual riders to get their bikes on the open road, and that increases the potential. Maybe there’s some truth to that. Lately we’ve heard the terrible news of wrecks that claimed riders’ lives — a 55-yearold rider hit by another vehicle in Fort Smith, another in the same city going “at a high rate of speed” when a 22-year-old struck a car turning into a driveway, a 20-year-old riding his 2017 bike runs off Arkansas 59 and dies. It seems appropriate just before the annual motorcycle rally to remind drivers of other vehicles to watch out for the smaller, less-protected riders on two wheels. But the riders themselves can increase the odds of surviving a crash by wearing a helmet. And yes, we get the whole freedom/wind blowing through your hair argument. But living to a ripe old age and not leaving behind a mourning family sound like pretty good reasons to practice safety. As Sgt. Phil Esterhaus used to say, “Let’s be careful out there.” Helmets can handle the ground better than a head can.

It’s great to hear the report from Canopy NWA that two children in a refugee family are the first in the organization’s resettlement efforts to pursue higher education degrees. Since 2016, the group has organized the relocation of 112 people from other countries to Northwest Arkansas for a chance to build new lives. It seems the region has the capacity to create such opportunities for people escaping difficult circumstances. In other words, we can afford to share some of the blessings of being Northwest Arkansas residents with people in need. These young people are just two examples of lives changed through the compassionate efforts of Canopy NWA and other organizations like it.

A bullet-riddled Arkansas Game and Fish Commission truck is symbolic of the hazards — potentially deadly — that face law enforcement officers across the country. And now, it’s going to remind thousands of visitors of that as part of the National Law Enforcement Museum when it opens next month in Washington, D.C. In 2010, game warden Michael K. Neal rushed toward the scene of a West Memphis shootout in which a man and his teen son had already fatally wounded two city officers. The assailants — Ohioans who advocated anti-government sentiments — had started firing on a sheriff and a deputy. Neal seized the moment to make a life-saving difference: He accelerated straight toward the car from which the father and son were firing, crashing into its side. That drew their heavy fire and Neal backed away, giving other officers a chance to shoot. Within about 30 seconds, they brought the violence to an end. The two gunmen lay dead. Now, that heavily damaged truck will serve as a vital reminder of the risks law enforcement officers take to protect the public and the courageous actions many of them are willing to engage in. We applaud the museum for using Neal’s heroism as one example of what law enforcement officers do.