Taken to church
It seemed obvious to me at the time that whoever was vandalizing the historic Mount Hebron Methodist Church in Rogers had to be teenagers.
Sure enough, last week police arrested Jacob Bilyeu, 18, of Rogers on charges of breaking or entering and criminal mischief. His 17-year-old buddy was charged with criminal mischief and commercial burglary. Seems they and others had been using the church, built in 1904, to play with a Ouija board and smoke, police said.
If that weren’t desecration enough, they are accused of using cinder blocks and other objects to break eight magnificent sanctuary windows reportedly valued at about $2,000 each.
Bilyeu, who was already a guest of the Benton County jail, charged with two counts of burglary, theft by receiving and theft of a firearm in Centerton, was arrested on July 31 for the church desecrations. He told police the windows were broken accidentally.
A witness told police she watched the youths toss cinder blocks and brooms through several church windows during one break-in on July 12.
The news story by reporter Amye Buckley said the Centerton arrest on July 27 came after police there found Bilyeu and five other teens outside a car in the Sienna subdivision at 3:48 a.m.
They also found a .22 revolver in a holster with ammunition, along with items believed to have been stolen, and burglary tools. One suspect told police they’d been “flipping vehicles.” Others said Bilyeu had lifted the gun from an open garage, police records say.
Those records also show that Bilyeu told Centerton police the group drove through Bentonville and Centerton breaking into unlocked cars and entering garages, Buckley’s story says.
The unnamed 17-year-old minor arrested with Bilyeu was released to the custody of his parents after being charged.
That leads me to the natural question: Where are the parents in these instances? Six teens loitering in a subdivision at 3:48 a.m.? As the father of that 17-year-old, the last person I’d want him befriending an 18-year-old with this kind of criminal behavior and history. Unless, that is, I expected police to come to my door at 4 a.m.
I always insert the familiar disclaimer that Bilyeu and his younger buddy remain innocent until proven guilty. This information is based on police records and the news account of the charges filed against them.
Should they be found guilty of these thefts, as well as intentional desecrations of a cherished community church that since 2003 has been on the National Register of Historic Places, I hope the judges find a way to keep these young men far away from potential victims who deserve to live in peace and safety.
Judge gets wind flap
Washington County Circuit Judge John Threet, rather than the Elm Springs City Council, for now will decide whether the 300 unincorporated acres for the controversial Dragonfly Industries wind farm is annexed into that community on the western edge of Springdale.
It would be the state’s first energy-producing wind farm.
County Judge Marilyn Edwards already decided the annexation process is eligible to proceed through a petition sent to her, which throws the final decision back to a city council vote. But since opponents have appealed her decision, saying the property doesn’t meet legal requirements to be annexed, it means Threet gets to decide (for now, at least; it could be further appealed to the state Appeals and Supreme courts).
This flap has been spinning for at least a year. Proponents basically contend the new industry with its dozens of windmills generating several megawatts of power will benefit the community while opponents argue it might affect their health and reduce property values.
Since Dragonfly already owns the acres beside Elm Springs, the question also has arisen of why the annexation is even necessary. The only answer in reporter Dan Holtmeyer’s story was a quote from a leader in the opposition, Jonathon Hamby, who speculated the company must believe it’s easier to get approvals through Elm Springs planners than the county’s planning commission.
At this point, I’d beg to disagree.
Damaged credibility?
Did you read last week that President Barack Hussein Obama delivered what amounted to an assault on all in our representative government who oppose the controversial nuclear deal his administration cut with Iran?
Seems the president said those in Congress who disagree with the plan made with the Iranian mullahs (who regularly encourage crowds to shout “death to America) are “selling a fantasy” and risk damaging national credibility.
Damaging our credibility by daring to disagree with Obama’s preferred agendas and plans for our America, eh?
Believe I’ll leave the relevant matter of wholesale lost credibility (and trust) on a national level with the president’s own words.