Unreasonable rules
I agree completely with Mike Orndorff's opinions expressed in last Sunday's paper. It may be too late for the changes he seeks to help my wife and me, but Little Rock needs and deserves the reforms he proposes.
Sharon and I bought two small lots in the Pettaway neighborhood two years ago. We hoped to build a small home and rental properties to supplement our income. The difficulty of doing so has delayed our plans long enough that we may have to stay in Jefferson County. The regulations Mr. Orndorff mentioned have forced us to rethink our plans to become part of Pettaway and SoMa.
The fact that those regulations permit special consideration for "servants' quarters" is disgusting and indicative of the mindset of those who wrote them.
I sincerely hope the mayor and City Council will change their minds and those unreasonably restrictive regs.
TREAT GILBERT
White Hall
No time to go wobbly
The grievances expressed in the recent mass protests across the country are not new. They have been coming from African American communities for decades on end. Have the rest of us not believed them? Have we thought they did not know what they were talking about? The videos of the killings of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks have validated those long-standing complaints, as shown by the protests for reform ignited by the killings.
I was pleased to see that Gov. Asa Hutchinson has appointed a "Task Force to Advance the State of Law Enforcement in Arkansas" in response to the protests in Arkansas.
First and foremost, the task force must engage African Americans--parents, students, community leaders, police, judges--to understand African American experience with contemporary law enforcement. Go to the source. It is African American grievances regarding law enforcement that need to be resolved. The fact is, if we can get policing right in predominantly African American sections of our cities, then we will have policing right everywhere.
The task force must acknowledge that most law enforcement officers are honorable and dedicated men and women who are willing to put themselves in harm's way to protect others. Yet this does not mean that our policing system as a whole is working well for everyone.
If the new task force, then our elected officials, have the backbone to stand tall now, in 20 years they could look back and say with pride, "Our work made a big difference." If instead they go wobbly and don't make the most of the moment we are in, we will continue to have a lengthening list of tragic events between police and African Americans; only the names of the victims will change.
JOEL E. ANDERSON
Little Rock
Humans can do better
I just finished watching Sean Hannity's interview with the father of Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr. His son, age 19, was recently shot and killed while attending the "peaceful" protest in Seattle that was supposedly in honor of George Floyd, who died as a result of the action of overzealous cops.
At age 89 and the last surviving sibling of 13, I have experienced a lot, including two tours to Korea aboard the LSMR 403 as a fire control technician, which is not a specialty of fighting fires. About 30 LSMs were converted to heavily armored suicide LSMR ships to be used for in-shore bombardment for the anticipated invasion of Japan. Armaments included a 5-inch gun mount as is used on destroyers, two 40mm gun mounts, four 20mm gun mounts, mortars and 10 rocket-firing mounts. The LSMRs were floating ammo dumps. Each rocket mount could fire 30 per minute. The LSMRs were the forerunner of today's missile-firing ships. I transferred at sea outside of Wonsan Harbor on Thanksgiving Day 1951 to the 403. That night, the 403 was deeply inside the heavily mined Wonsan Harbor on a bombardment mission.
I recently unexpectedly lost my wife of nearly 64 years to cancer of the pancreas. Our 61-year-old healthy, athletic daughter is now also diagnosed as having stage four cancer.
I am not ashamed to tell you that the tears flowed while Mr. Anderson Sr. related how he has been treated by the authorities of Seattle after his son was killed. No human deserves such treatment. The so-called humans of this United States of America can do better.
WILLIAM S. TUCKER
Benton
Award well-deserved
I read in the June 28 issue of the new honor our Arkansas poet laureate has received. Jo McDougall, a competitor of mine for the poet laureate title in 2018, is not only a dear poet friend, but also a deserving winner of the Pushcart Prize, a small-press award established in 1975. Jo has been nominated several times, and after 30 years finally won it. That is quite an honor. I have been nominated also, as have numerous qualified poets. So finally receiving it must have been a special joy to Jo.
Jo's poetry is thought-provoking always, but also accessible to the non-academic reader. Her winning poem is titled "Rivers," a short meditation of the nature of them, some good, some devastating. Congratulations to a poet who truly communicates.
JOHN W. CRAWFORD
Arkadelphia