Well, it's Friday in Arkansas and it's been an interesting week here -- not that most of the country cares. But this is the Internet and people are always looking for mole hills to turn into mountains. With that in mind, here's three things that happened in Arkansas this week for you to discuss, deride or ignore.
1. The Private Option is here to stay -- for now
As you know, Arkansas was one of the many states hit by the so-called Red Wave which saw many, many Republicans elected to office at both state and federal levels. During the 2014 election, many state legislators ran against the private option ... but when newly elected Asa Hutchinson announced he wants to keep the plan through Dec. 31, 2016, many Republicans changed their tunes.
Except for two: State Sens. Linda Collins-Smith and Scott Flippo.
The two state senators pushed their own bill to kill the private option instantly. Both bills died.
Considering the private option was the only issue the two candidates ran on, their political careers may do the same. At the very least, they'll probably be largely ignored by their own party, which has enough sense to know kicking 200,000-plus people off healthcare in the state.
2. A proposal to put an end to the joint Martin Luther King/Robert E. Lee Day died.
Not that anyone that had a life cared or was aware that Robert E. Lee is co-honored (and very much dwarfed by) on the same day as Martin Luther King. But this is one of those things where some people have the opportunity to have a pissing contest at the state capital, which they did.
Of course, the bill died on committee. After all, most Arkansas legislators in the state are elected by largely white districts and they feel that they'd lose more votes changing the holiday instead of keeping it. So, considering that there's not a vocal "end the Robert E. Lee holiday" voice in their districts, they just assume that the pro-Lee holiday faction is thew
Now, people can believe anything they want to about Lee the man himself. That's a fight for people into history. But let's face it, the reality is that it's about celebrating the Confederacy, which many consider central to the Southern identity (not seeming to bother with the 200-plus years outside of the four years of the Civil War). While they mask their fight under the banner of "history" they don't seem to be very good at it. While the pro-Confederates are right, preserving the Union - not ending slavery - was the primary reason for the Civil War, they don't bother mentioning that the reason for secession itself was slavery.
Anyway, the bill was introduced by Nate Bell of all people. He gained a level of MSNBC/Internet infamy from his comments on the Boston bombings in 2013. If you need a remind, her was the Arkansas legislator who said "I wonder how many Boston liberals spent the night cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 with a hi-capacity magazine?"
3. The state will take over Little Rock School District
The Arkansas Department of Education voted 5-4 to take over the Little Rock School District. This is because six schools are in what's considered "academic distress. Keep in mind, this is six out of 48 schools which students are performing at levels of less than 49.5 percent proficient at math and literacy.
This means that the elected school board has been dismissed and the state will run the day to day operations of the schools. This decision has upset many citizens in Little Rock because the majority of schools are performing above 49.5 percent.
There have been rumblings that this will allow the state to hire companies to form charter schools. Many of Arkansas' powerful are invested in such schools, the Walton family being one of the most visible.
J. Robert Hall is a journalist from Arkansas. He welcomes readers to friend him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.