It was a GOOD week for …
RAIL BUFFS. U.S. Rep. Marion Berry won approval of a feasibility study for high-speed rail passenger service between Little Rock and Memphis.
GOV. MIKE BEEBE. He said he leaned toward ending the state rule that bars placement of foster children in homes with unmarried couples. He said the child’s interest, as determined by experts, should be the state’s first consideration.
The ARKANSAS SUPREME COURT. It said it would review an argument that the state Workers Compensation Commission is unconstitutionally biased against injured workers. There’s no doubt of the bias. The only question is whether the court can do anything about it. The attention to a brutally unfair system can’t hurt, however.
The ARKANSAS ECONOMY. State tax revenues continue to run ahead of forecast, which might give the governor more budgeting leeway.
It was a BAD week for …
NORTH LITTLE ROCK MUNICIPAL JUDGE JIM HAMILTON. He set an extraordinarily low bond — $25,000 — for a man accused of bludgeoning a homeless man to death. The suspect’s relationship to a prominent local lawyer seems to have contributed to the judge’s leniency.
JERRY COX, the head of the Arkansas Family Council. He said only “pro-homosexual groups” oppose his group’s initiated act to erect barriers to adoption and foster parenting. The only homosexual agenda is Cox’s — to marginalize gay people if he can’t make criminals of them.
The FEDERAL BENCH. Federal Judges Bill Wilson and Jim Moody, a couple of Arkansas’s best, have taken senior status, a form of retirement. The next president will control the quality of their replacements.
SEN. GILBERT BAKER. He called a news conference to accuse opponent Joe White of breaking the law by improperly labeling a campaign mailer that questioned Baker’s relationship with the University of Central Arkansas. Oops. Baker was wrong. The mailer was legal.