Thursday’s thumbs

Newspaper podcast kicks off a brand new year

Happy new year! We appreciate all the readers who contributed ideas and comments for our (almost) weekly Thursday’s thumbs. Keep those cards and letters (OK, mostly emails and calls) coming. We appreciate hearing from you. It’s also an easy contribution to make if you just can’t find the time to draft a letter to editor. We encourage letters, but we understand folks are busy, busy, busy. Just follow the directions included with today’s thumbs to offer a thought.

Meanwhile, we have a few thoughts of our own, too, to offer as we roll into 2019, which is sure to be full of news like any year around Northwest Arkansas.

On Wednesday, we launched the inaugural edition of “Speaking of Arkansas,” a podcast we’ll use to speak with people involved in issues of importance to the state and to the issues in our communities of Northwest Arkansas. It’s easy to listen, even for those who aren’t into podcasts (although it’s worth getting into if you haven’t already). Readers can visit nwaonline.com/ podcast to see the collection of Northwest Arkansas DemocratGazette podcasts, including “Speaking of Arkansas.” Our first guest is Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is about to start his second four-year term with a regular session of the Arkansas General Assembly. We discussed the legislative session, the underground fire fouling the air in Bella Vista, his appointment to the Arkansas Highway Commission and more. Listeners can also subscribe to our podcasts on Apple iTunes or Google play. A search for Northwest Arkansas usually turns up our feed. Listen in when you get a chance, and stay tuned for more to come in 2019. Thanks to Gov. Hutchinson for sitting in.

Just about any expansion of services to help people facing a mental health issue will get an upturned digit from us. For many years, there was little to celebrate as such services evaporated. People are catching on, though, that many troubles for the individual and society can be minimized or avoided by dealing with mental illness, which can be anything from a bout with anxiety to a lifelong struggle against schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The latest news from the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville is an $11 million expansion of Pat Walker Heath Center, including doubling of space for mental health services and the addition of three classrooms. Officials say younger people are more willing these days to step forward to acknowledge a struggle, and we commend them for it. We also give the leadership at the UA a thumbs up for recognizing the need and responding to it.

Three cheers for connectivity! An official ribbon cutting will be Friday, but traffic has been flowing for a little while on two extensions of Arkansas 265 that take the highway through Lowell and into Rogers. It’s all part of the process to create a viable north-south route east of the communities also connected by the busier Interstate 49 and still-busy U.S. 71B. Traffic is often like water — it flows where there is least resistance. These extensions can open the spigot to the east, providing motorists another option to travel through the two-county area. The extensions represent much-needed relief. Officials gave credit to Dick Trammel of Rogers, who just ended his 10-year term on the Arkansas Highway Commission, for his longtime support for the 265 projects.