Wait nearly over

The state Parole Board has approved parole for 73-yearold Willie Mae Harris, the black grandmother who lost her sight while serving 23 years of a life sentence for killing her abusive and alcoholic husband.

The board’s admirable action required for her release came some two months after Gov. Asa Hutchinson granted her clemency.

It was the final hurdle to being united with her family. Well, I wish that was true. It’s almost the end because I know how the hamstringing red tape of government can bring even the most worthy of efforts to a snail’s crawl.

Since Miss Willie, as she became affectionately known during years of incarceration where she helped many fellow inmates become literate and faith-centered, wants to move to Texas to live with her family, that state now gets its turn.

Willie’s attorney, Lee Eaton, explained that the interstate compact process between both states began last week, allowing Texas up to 45 calendar days to approve her relocation while officials there conduct an investigation of their own.

“I plan to follow up with Texas authorities next week,” said Eaton. “When approved, the process returns to Little Rock for some background clearance, which I’m told will take one or two days.”

So Miss Willie continues her wait as Texas officials determine whether the increasingly frail blind lady is a possible threat to anyone in the Lone Star State.

With someone like Miss Willie, the Texas Rangers might need three or four years.

Don’t you enjoy it when sarcasm emerges full bloom?

Her existing record speaks for itself. Hopefully, it won’t take 45 days to make the determination and allow Miss Willie to finally reunite with her children and grandchildren.

And it’s a good time to acknowledge all the concerned Arkansans who wrote to our governor and Parole Board members in support of deservedly setting this lady free.

You did the right thing, and I feel certain your comments were heard and appreciated by Willie Mae Harris more than she can express.

There is one more way we all can offer assistance as she emerges from years of confinement so late in life without resources or earning potential. I understand a GoFundMe page is being established for her. When that’s complete, I’ll let you know how we all can celebrate her freedom in a most meaningful way for her.

Revealing eyes

We live in an age where cameras, like a raging case of measles, dot nearly every aspect of our landscape, which means it’s becoming darn near impossible to get away with anything.

They rest on the dashboards of our cars, are attached to police uniforms, front porches and street corners, in hotel lobbies and at churches. If you’ve driven through the Bobby Hopper Tunnel south of Greenland on Interstate 49, you’ve also passed beneath cameras monitoring each end.

For that matter, every one of us carrying a cellphone is a walking camera capable of still color pictures or videos complete with sound.

When weighing all the changes in society during the past two decades, the role that cameras play undoubtedly would rank near the top.

And as we’ve used them for years, it’s become obvious that where we place them makes a crucial difference in their effectiveness at revealing facts.

This has become increasingly obvious at the Juvenile Treatment and Assessment Center in Alexander where a teenager confined there made headlines by stating that some staffers at the center shoved him to the ground after harassing him out of the sight of the facility’s 224 video cameras.

You’d think 224 cameras would be sufficient to capture everything transpiring at the center. But there obviously are known areas where those watchful eyes cannot see. And, lo and behold, that’s where some bad things apparently can and do happen.

More cameras from shuttered facilities are available to install at Alexander and supposedly soon will be, along with strategic repositioning of some existing lenses in order to provide complete visual coverage of what transpires there.

Darn! No more of those hidden spots. Sounds to me they can’t get those prying eyes installed fast enough to ensure any form of future hidden mistreatment is documented.

Neck and neck

The number of Arkansas deaths attributed to covid-19 as of Thursday had reached 110 since the virus began spreading a few months back.

And while this virus has significantly different health effects on our bodies than what we normally suffer from the annual Type A and B strains of seasonal influenza, the number of Arkansas deaths reported from flu this season as of April reportedly stood at 118, not that far off.

These two microscopic curses on humanity are different animals for sure. But for me, a person’s death from any cause still represents a death. And these viruses have proven they can kill.

For what it’s worth, I also read that just over 500 people died as a result of vehicle accidents in our state during 2019, while 8,270 Arkansans (including smokers and obese residents) succumbed to heart disease during 2017. Lots of risks await our choices in this lifetime we share.

Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.