Letters

Should wear a helmet

May is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. In Arkansas it is only required for motorcyclists under the age of 21 to wear a safety helmet. We should change the law to require all motorcyclists and passengers to wear a helmet while in motion.

My great-uncle and aunt were in a very bad motorcycle accident on their way up the Pig Trail to Fayetteville. They just got back onto the freeway when a deer jumped out of the ditch and landed on them. They slid across the concrete, causing very bad injuries to my uncle, including broken ribs, a punctured lung filled with blood, a broken wrist, and a broken leg. He was med-flighted to UAMS for emergency treatment, where doctors said that if he hadn't worn a helmet he would have died immediately. My aunt walked away from the accident with only a broken right arm. If she hadn't worn a helmet, her injuries would have been more substantial. My uncle was in the hospital for a month, and then therapy after he was released.

Our family is very grateful for their helmets. If you have a family member that rides, wouldn't you want them to wear a helmet to ensure their safety?

SYDNEY McCORD

Sherwood

Have to stick together

I do not know which presidential candidate I will vote for in 2016, but it will be for the one who wins the primary.

My message is for those who lose. They should put all their efforts toward the winner and not start a third party. All this will do is split the main party vote and give it to the Democratic Party.

RICHARD M. OGDEN

Conway

Mixed media message

Fox News Channel "Fair and Balanced"? Sure.

An example, The Five, a 4 p.m. Central news show with four far-right members on the panel and one moderate left member.

I did not fail math and I know that four versus one is not balanced.

Also, Fox News continually criticizes what it refers to as "the media." It never defines "the media," but I assume it means NBC, ABC and CBS, plus maybe CNN.

How can Fox News not be part of "the media" they are so critical of? If not media, then what is Fox News?

GEORGE W. McCLAIN

Little Rock

Explain millage better

Regarding the closing of Paron Elementary School to save money, and the growth of the Bryant School District, I always wonder why government units need so much more money to handle growth. If the school district is growing by 300 students per year, I would think that the tax base would be growing at the same rate. Perhaps the revenue lags way behind the needs.

I think millage increases would have a better chance of passing if this were explained better.

JAMES BRITT

Little Rock

Get back to Reagan

I am 48 years old and in my lifetime I can remember seven presidents. Gerald Ford I don't remember too much of; Jimmy Carter was elected when I was in fourth grade. From him I remember gas lines, no jobs to be had and the hostages held by Iran (Islamic terrorists). I'm the youngest of 10 kids and I remember most of my older siblings looking for work at that time.

Then Ronald Reagan, and things got much better; the hostages held by Iran were released right after Reagan took office. Then George H.W. Bush--"No new taxes" and the Persian Gulf War. Bill Clinton--"Don't ask, don't tell," "I feel your pain," and let's not forget, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." Then George W. Bush--we were attacked on 9/11 by Islamic terrorists and have been fighting them every day since. Our debt was at $10.6 trillion when Bush left office. Then Barrack Hussein Obama, with a year and a half left in office, our debt is $18 trillion and climbing, and Islamic terrorists are running most of the Middle East, Christians are being killed every day for not rejecting Jesus Christ and not switching to Islam. I believe our Constitution has been slowly taken apart since 1988 and is getting closer to being torn up and thrown out every day.

We have a choice in 2016. Look how much we've gone downhill since Reagan. Now running for president we have another Bush and another Clinton. I say enough. It's time to go back to someone like Ronald Reagan. A president who leads and one the Islamic terrorists are afraid of. We need a president who will bring honor back to America and the Oval Office. Maybe Cruz will make it into the presidency and we can once again become that shining "city on the hill" we once were.

MARVIN BAIR

Rogers

Elderly deserve jail

The average semi-private nursing home room is about $6,235 per month, yet families of the elderly have to question if their loved one is possibly being mistreated. Some patients aren't seen by a doctor often enough or aren't receiving proper hygiene assistance.

In prison, the inmates receive three meals a day, are under constant working video surveillance, and have mandatory recreational time. Let's not forget that inmates also receive free medication! For our older loved ones, none of this is guaranteed and they are often treated as burdens.

If the roles were switched, then criminals would be receiving cold meals, inconvenient-sized rooms, and limited medical assistance while paying around $6,000 a month's worth of rent.

Our elderly citizens have contributed so much to their society and now it should be our turn to return the favor as a country. Yet, prison's a rather industrialized life and senior citizens are being caged as inmates should be.

BRANDI TUCKER

Sherwood

He's standing for us

It begins with one true, lone voice. Thank you, Tom Cotton.

I don't think people understand what just happened in Washington, D.C. As all eyes have been on Baltimore, there has been an upheaval of our Constitution taking place in Congress, disguised as trade.

Again, thank you, Tom Cotton, for standing.

PAM MONTGOMERY

Conway

Editorial on 05/17/2015

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