Thursday’s thumbs

Online encyclopedia a treasure for state history

It’s Thursday and another chance to fire off a few up or down thumbs about some news developments in our neck of the woods and elsewhere:

Viewing trends for the Encyclopedia of Arkansas website Wednesday included entries for Jerry Van Dyke, Van Buren, the Quachita Mountains and the famed West Memphis Three. From Aaron vs. Cooper (desegregation case) to Zinc (a small town east of Harrison in Boone County) the encyclopedia is a treasure trove of the state’s historical figures, locales and familiar/unfamiliar places. Recent upgrades made perfect fodder for a holiday weekend story in the news section and, we hope, exposed more Arkansans to this outstanding resource for learning about their state’s history. It’s a collection that just keeps growing, giving everyone an opportunity to become more grounded in and informed by what’s come before. It’s a site worth visiting for specific information and, perhaps most fun, just to browse. Check it out at https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net. The state owes the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies and encyclopedia founder Tom Dillard (whose columns appear this paper) a real debt.

Too often, we all hear of conditions that do harm to Arkansas’ waterways, so it’s outstanding to learn of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recent recognition of work on the West Fork of the White River as a “success story.” That’s good news for the environment and, subsequently, everyone who enjoys the benefits of Beaver Lake. That includes the cities and rural areas that get their drinking water from the region’s big lake as well as wildlife in and out of the water. It took a lot of collaboration among conservation groups, local and state agencies and others over many years to change the condition of the West Fork, which had been considered “impaired.” Remember, it’s a lot easier to keep our local waterways clean than to clean them up after the fact, so let’s take care to avoid letting bad stuff get in them.

University of Arkansas’ athletics director, Hunter Yurachek, took to social media this week apologizing for part of the fan experience at Saturday’s season-opening victory against ranked opponent, Cincinnati. Namely, he’s heard about the trouble fans had getting into the game. We’re glad he’s tackling the issue. We’d also suggest the difficulties people experienced are, in a way, a reflection of fans’ excitement for the football team and its prospects this year. What an incredible crowd to turn out for the first game of the season. By all means, get the problems fixed, but it’s also great to recognize those times when what was happening on the field (and occasionally off of it) made getting into the stadium no problem at all, because a lot fewer people were showing up. At least that problem seems solved by Sam Pittman and his team.

Speaking of great collaborations, parks and recreation officials in Bentonville will join forces with the Friends of the Bentonville Library and the Public Art Advisory Committee to creatively develop book-sharing boxes that will go in public parks. Promoting literacy amid the outdoors. What a great combo.