Text The Times.

Text The Times.

Ms. Early Mae Wallace lost all of her belongings in a house fire this past weekend. Donations for Ms. Wallace are currently being accepted at the Earle Mayor's Office. Donations will be accepted from 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. [ Editor’s Note: I’ve known a few families who have lost their homes and posessions in a fire, and it’s always very tough to recover. So, consider the word passed to any altruistic folks out there who might be in a position to help her out. If anyone wants to bring anything here to the office rather than drive out to Earle, we’ll gladly make sure it gets where it needs to go. We are at 1010 Hwy. 77, in Marion]

*** To the person complaining about the family burning logs and barking dogs in Crawfordsville. Well we all know who you are referring to. You have complained about them anonymously since they moved in. I’ve lived on Wallace Street, for many years and I love our town. In fact, it’s the safest and cleanest town in the county and for the most part some fine folks. This family is the kind of folks that make our town special. It’s a shame that you would attack them instead of going to talk to them about your concerns. If you needed any kind of help they would be the first ones there for you. So grow up, be a good neighbor and welcome them. We are lucky to have them. As far as I know, logs are mostly used in log cabins. I have a fire pit the same size and I can’t get a log in it. Just keeping it REAL.

[ Editor’s Note: Well, if there’s one thing we can get behind around these parts, it’s keeping it real… I mean REAL]

*** I live in River Trace, a place where the city of Marion receives most of its tax base. I can’t understand why there was only one way in and one way out of the subdivision when we had the heavy rains a few weeks ago. And, might I add, if another couple of inches had fallen that entrance would have been blocked also. The road is eroding on the right side coming into the subdivision. I would like for our “good” mayor and city counsel person to respond or county judge since this may be a county road. Do they have any plans to address this issue? [ Editor’s Note: I think your statement about Marion receiving “ most of its tax base” might be a little presumptuous. I also think that having “ one way in and one way out” seems a sight better than the “ no way in and no way out” situation that many flood victims experienced recently. That’s the thing about natural disasters — they sure are inconvenient. But they call it an “ Act of God” for a reason, and I don’t think the mayor or the city council has much pull in that area]

*** Where are black leaders on rebuilding wealth in the black community? [ Editor’s Note: I’m sitting here struggling to write an answer to this question ( I have, in fact, already deleted two). I do see where you’re coming from, in that very little of the growth this area has seen recently has been to the direct benefit of or due to the direct effort of the black commu-nity, but I don’t think that’s because of a lack of effort from black leadership. The West Memphis City Council, for example, is 60 percent black, and that city has seen a good deal of economic development. I’m particularly thinking of Dr. Susan Ward-Jones’ efforts with the new East Arkansas Family Health Center. There are others that spring to mind, but any attempt to make a list is likely to accidentally omit someone. It’s also worth noting that a significant amount of support for the new Baptist hospital came from the black community. It might be better to simply focus on rebuilding wealth in the community and not worry about the color of the skin of the person doing it]

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