Venues to be proud of
Last Sunday morning we read Philip Martin's thoughtful and thought-provoking piece about the Crystal Bridges Museum with interest and appreciation. We have visited the museum ourselves and agree that it is a world-class venue that features exhibits of great strength and seriousness. We know the power of standing in the presence of such works rather than looking at reproductions, and are grateful that we can do so without traveling a great distance.
Later on that same day we attended the concert presented by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to celebrate its return to Robinson after an absence of two and a half years. The newly renovated auditorium is now also a world-class venue, visually and sonically stunning. We were able to stand in the presence, so to speak, of a fine orchestra playing great music, and hear every detail with marvelous clarity.
We look forward to presentations by other arts organizations--dance, traveling shows and others--in the same space. All will benefit from the excellent acoustics and improved amenities of the new Robinson Auditorium.
Arkansans have every reason to be extremely proud of both of these special buildings and to be grateful for the vision and leadership of those who made them possible. No longer will any of us have to travel to either coast to have opportunities "to be brought face-to-face with a miracle of human ingenuity--of connecting with other imaginations across time and space."
ANSLEY and NANCY FLEMING
Conway
Hand me the syrup ...
I have been inspired by the recent president-elect to invent a new product--a red-lined ceramic waffle-maker coated in Teflon. Nothing bad sticks to it, and a flip-flopping mechanism prevents the waffle from ever getting burned.
I call it the Trump Crock.
LARRY McNEAL
Waldo
Justice denied to any
I wonder how many of those ranting "veterans" recall those black veterans who came back from this country's nasty wars and found Bull Connor's police dogs chewing on their knees for trying to exercise the rights they'd fought and bled for. How many defended those black soldiers back then?
Easy enough for those white boys to put out of their memories. Not so easy for the black fellows who are still reminded of those days when rousted by the rare racist cop we still have among the many decent ones.
So a few ladies took the knee to remind so many of all the garbage heaped upon some of them without justification. And please be aware that when justice can be denied to any citizen--it can be denied to any of us for the same reason! Not likely to get your head cracked with a police baton if you're kneeling in front of a few thousand witnesses, is it?
I haven't consulted with any of them, but I'd wager they, like some of us white folks, perceive foundations being put in place for the return of Bull Connor's platoons.
We do know now, after all, what white Christian Southern family values really are, huh? Got us a cretin for a new president--and where does a reasonable person see it stopping?
KARL HANSEN
Hensley
Toss electoral college
I am a junior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts. I am very interested in political science and I am very concerned about the future of our country. I am writing to you about my disdain in the elections recently.
We have a democracy where the will of the voters was denied and handed to the candidate with the second-highest number of votes. I believe we need a change in our system in our country where the will of the voters is not hijacked by 538 electors, a tiny fraction of the population.
We can solve this by getting rid of the electoral college system.
Fortunately, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is introducing legislation to end the electoral college and replace it where the candidate must win the popular vote to win.
Another issue that has taken a hit on me is that President-Elect Donald J. Trump will be able to undo eight years of President Barack Obama's progress with a Republican House and Senate. Job growth, health-care reform, immigration reform, education reform, reduction of the deficit, and many other of his prosperous ideas will be in jeopardy. He will also be able to tip the scales of the Supreme Court to the ultra-right for a generation.
We must stay resilient against Donald Trump, a hard-lined sexist, racist, and populist who I believe fuels the movement of hate in this country.
CHRISTOPHER JAEGER
Hot Springs
Our first toll bridge?
My mother was born at St. Vincent Infirmary on Aug. 14, 1911, in Little Rock. She grew up in North Little Rock in a neighborhood she called the Foot of Parker Street. She attended North Little Rock Schools, graduating from North Little Rock Ole Main in 1929.
After graduating from high school, she went to work at Sterling Department store in downtown Little Rock. She worked the candy counter for 10 cents an hour.
There were a number of girls from the "Foot of Parker Street" neighborhood who worked over in Little Rock, and each morning they would meet and walk over together. They had two options. They could walk down what is now West Riverfront Drive to the Broadway Bridge and cross the river there, or they could take a shortcut by walking to the Baring Cross Railroad bridge and cross there.
The only problem was back in those days the railroads had bridge tenders on duty 24/7. Mother told this story several times and each time she would end it by saying "that old guy charged us a nickel to walk across that bridge." So, was this the first toll bridge in the Little Rock/North Little Rock area?
Just a note, the original Baring Cross Bridge washed out on April 21, 1927, and a new bridge was built, opening up on Feb. 2, 1929.
DOC GEORGE
Pine Bluff
Where were the flags?
This is a common error we see all too often. Philip Martin's column about the JFK assassination referred to seeing "half-mast flags snapping dully above colorless vacant-looking businesses."
He would have seen "half-staff" flags, as masts would have been on a ship or boat. I hardly think in 1963 he would have been riding in town and seeing half-masted flags on businesses asea.
DAVID A. LANDRY
Maumelle
Question of election
The die has been cast, but the outcome remains a question.
Do we have a governing body that governs fair or one that governs fear? Please hope for fair!
NEALUS WHEELER
Mountain Home
Editorial on 11/27/2016