The governor's daily press conferences have become must-watch TV. Or at least must-watch Internet. (This newspaper links to his pressers every day at arkansasonline.com.) There are no sports to root for, so we're always pulling for the "under" at these conferences. Some days are better than others.
The other day provided a bit of good news, in the form of a poll. Gov. Hutchinson noted a survey by the Gilmore Strategy Group that showed 82 percent of Arkansas adults wear masks in public places. That's far more than some of us thought, given our weekly trips to the grocer. But, in the least, 82 percent of Arkansas adults tell pollsters they think masks are a good idea. Leaving only 18 percent.
Actually, leaving 16 percent, according to the poll. (There's always a 2 percent who won't say/don't know.) The pollsters then went further, asking that 16 percent why they didn't wear masks. A plurality of those folks said masks weren't effective, which may have to do with the advice coming from experts in April who claimed as much way back then. But there was another 11 percent of the 16 percent who said the virus was a "hoax."
Let's see, 11 percent of 16 percent . . . carry the 2 ... If our iffy math skills are even close, that's between 1 percent and 2 percent of those polled who claim that science and disease and death really aren't. Given what we've seen on social media the last six months, we'd consider such a low number to be great news.
• While some movie theaters like AMC and Cinemark remain closed for now, drive-in theaters, like the 112 Drive-In in Fayetteville, are still open and still doing well. People feel safer watching a movie in their cars instead of a crowded theater. Which, until a covid-19 vaccine is found, is smart.
Walmart, to nobody's surprise, is capitalizing on this one. The retail giant announced it'll soon be transforming 160 store parking lots into drive-in theaters.
The drive-in movies will start in August and run through October, giving people a safe way to get out of the house and watch a film. When it comes to infrastructure, who has the better ability than Walmart to deliver this promise to thousands of customers?
Walmart already owns properties in every state, and parking lots are rarely 100 percent full. So using that extra space to provide entertainment during a pandemic is a smart move.
Walmart and drive-ins. How American. Or how Americana.
• It seems the questions about cities in Arkansas being allowed to pass mask ordinances have been answered . . . somewhat.
The governor seems to recognize simply saying "please wear a mask" wasn't cutting it as infection rates continued to rise by the hundreds day after day. Governors in Texas and Kansas have issued orders requiring masks in public.
Still, the ever pragmatic Gov. Asa Hutchinson seems to have reached a compromise between the cities in Arkansas and state authority. He signed an executive order last week allowing cities to enact a mask ordinance. If your locally elected city council or board of directors want to enact a mask ordinance, they now can.
This would seemingly create the patchwork of mask rules across Arkansas the governor said he didn't want, but it appears to be the most direct compromise right now. And it puts authority where it's most effective: within local control.
• There are a lot of reports in the papers now about Phase 3, and we're not talking reopenings. Several drug companies are testing drugs and mixes of drugs to fight the spread of covid-19, or at least treat patients with it. Antibody therapies and even vaccines are still months away. But what this means is this, according to the experts:
Phase 3 testing of these drugs mean they've been effective, and safe, in the first two phases of testing. So the drug companies have expanded testing to include thousands of others to get a better sample of the population, to see if their ideas really work. Something tells us in a few months Americans are going to be singing the praises of Big Pharma.
• Dispatches show that some Asian Americans have been targeted, or at least insulted, because of fears resulting from the new coronavirus. A Los Angeles Times reporter found a Filipina woman who said a woman yelled at her: "You started the corona!"
Let's hope such ignorance is less than 1 percent.