WESTSIDE — Editor: Though addressed to Dr. Barrett, this letter commending Gentry Coach Nick Bartmier and Gentry School District Superintendent Randy Barrett was shared with the Eagle Observer for publication.
Dr. Barrett,
I am not going to tell you anything that you don't already know but I do ask that you share this with the school board so they don't think that you are "ringing your own bell." The success of an education is measured in life after one graduates ... not how someone performs in school prior to entering the "real world." You have a individual on your staff who not only recognizes this but whose actions would suggest that they carry the requirements of their job description into their life or perhaps vice versa. Somewhere in this there also needs to be some recognition for your ability to recruit and motivate or if necessary to stay out of the way of quality teachers and coaches.
While in Saint Louis, Coach Bartmier found the time to look up Gunter and Sikora and took them out to supper. The attached picture is of his trip to see Kevin play basketball. A student/person can certainly confirm the legitimacy of his interest in them when things like this take place. I feel assured that this is just a very limited sampling of the quality of educator and person Coach Bartmier is. I suspect that his character in what he does and your ability to put quality people on board can't totally be measured by annual evaluations. My friend ... they can be measured by me as a patron of the school district. If what you and he does is measured by a won-loss record ... you are both undefeated. It is a breath of fresh air to know that my tax dollars are reaping huge returns through the Gentry School District and that concern for the future of Gentry students goes far beyond those walls and does not end after four years when they are given a piece of paper.
Thank you both,
Brad DeZurik (The guy who never wanted to hire you)
Editor,
I found the letter to the editor (Wednesday, Jan. 25th edition) very interesting and at the same time leaving me to wonder how accurate information on Wikipedia is. Not just the information shared in the letter, but any information. Does anyone know where Wikipedia gets their information?
One source I do believe is accurate (as far as I know) is the Congressional Record. And I wonder why politicians and the media don’t quote it more often.
With all the talk about balanced budgets and raising or not raising taxes and what doing so would or would not do, I think it is interesting to note some facts from the Congressional Record.
The last balanced budget passed by Congress was in 1992. (Not one Republican voted for it. Why? Because it raised taxes on the most wealthy Americans. Sound familiar? But it passed).
What happened six years after this budget was passed? We had a surplus in the treasury, unemployment was low, the stock market and our 401Ks were doing great. The wealthiest Americans were even more wealthy (even though they were paying higher taxes). And the national debt was on track to be paid off in 2014. (That’s right ... PAID OFF).
A lot of reference has been made about a former president that many feel was one of the greatest presidents we ever had. About how we need another like him running today. The interesting fact is that, during his two terms as president, he raised taxes five times. But no one talks about that. Also, before he was president and before he was governor of California, he was the president of the Screen Actors Guild, a very big union in California. But that’s just it. He was known as the great negotiator and a master at compromise. It was his experience as a union leader that helped him get things done as president.
For those that have ears to hear ... let them hear.
Robert Honderich
Gravette
Editor,
I frequently ride in or drive a vehicle and thus I have the occasion to see miles of highway and streets. I cannot get used to the huge volume of litter I see scattered along these public avenues.
I seldom see anyone throw litter out of the window and rarely do I see anything flying or falling off open vehicles. It would be bothersome for drivers or passengers to eject items since the vast majority of vehicles are occupied by people running the air conditioner or the heater and most probably are playing the radio, so most have the windows rolled up tightly. How does all this litter get onto the public transportation arteries?
I do not very often go out after 10 p.m. I think a crew goes out after that time and spreads the litter. Probably two people are in the vehicle, a driver and a litter distributor.
With the price of aluminum, not many beer or soda cans are thrown out. I used to notice about a mile down the road from the liquor stores was a great place to pick up aluminum cans. I do not notice this since most of my motoring is in Benton County.
What can we do to stop litter along our public highways and streets? We could remind the public about the penalty of littering and devise a method of capturing those who are perpetuating this act.
I also have a solution to clean it up. Most every town in Northwest Arkansas has some means of detaining people who have not been model citizens. Most of them eventually end up in Bentonville at our excellent facility called the Benton County Detention Center. What was wrong with the term jail? The sign out front proudly displays the occupancy rate each day.
I don’t have the faintest idea how many employees are at the jail, nor do I know how many deputy sheriffs are riding around in patrol cars trying to catch someone speeding or whatever a deputy sheriff does.
I occasionally notice the little portable toilet (out house) strapped on a trailer behind a fancy county-owned vehicle with blue lights on top and several individuals trudging along on the shoulders of the road while the deputy keeps the motor running. I think they are a litter crew. How many of these portable toilets does Benton County have? More than one, I hope, so we can have more than one group out at the same time.
I suggest the sheriff select a squad of eight prisoners, pick the toughest dude and tell him along with the rest of the crew how many days each has to serve on their sentence. He must impress upon them that if one person from this group happens to become misplaced, his time will be divvied up among the remaining group members to serve.
The county should purchase about five hundred contraptions similar to the leg bracelets that are placed on people who might consider doing some extra traveling. These devices should have imbedded into the straps a circuit that would send a signal if the device is unbuckled. Next, these should be made with a highly reflective bright orange color. Forget about the leg. I suggest these be placed around the neck and worn like a dog collar. This would make them highly visible to any and every person. Would make it pretty hard to march into a liquor store and rob it to obtain get-a-way money. Think this might be a little extra insurance (assurance) for the public.
I further propose the groups be dropped off at the designated locations at 8 a.m., be given a sack lunch and a bottle of water, allowed a one hour lunch around noon, resume work until 5 p.m., and afterwards returned to the lockup. They should be working an eight-hour day just as you and I. If I have to be productive for eight hours, I believe it would also be to their benefit.
The deputy sheriff should continue to carry a sidearm and be equipped with something with a little more range, such as a good radio connection to the dispatch center. It should not be difficult to locate an individual walking around with a bright orange dog collar equipped with a GPS tracking device especially equipped with bright flashing lights and a beeping sound that is activated when the deputy calls dispatch to report a misplaced prisoner.
This should greatly enhance the beauty of our public areas and I think would encourage the operators of vehicles to ensure the litter is placed in the proper receptacles, possibly their own trash can.
My sister’s brother
Amos Carver
Gentry