Opinion

Rob Perez sits across from a vibrant, solid blue potted perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophyte, more commonly known as a tulip. ROB: Well, this is very unusual.

Small towns are a place where values are important, they are practiced, and the people are authentic. One only must look at the popularity of Hallmark movies, the Andy Griffith Show, Sweet Magnolias, Bedford Falls, and the Gilmore Girls’ town of Stars Hollow with themes around small town living to see that people embrace small towns and all they symbolize.

One thing you can take to the bank – or your bookie – is that the times will keep changing. Willie Mays, the best baseball player who ever lived, got in serious trouble years ago for taking a P.R.

Last week the Courier and some of our sister newspapers owned by CherryRoad Media in Arkansas had a visit from the new Vice President of Growth and Development, Lee Bachlet. I proudly discussed the Courier and our community. I explained that we strive to cover local news, and our people, all while fulfilling our role of watchdog for the community. It’s a delicate balance. The newspaper must have the backs of residents and support the school, local governments and businesses. I like to think of the newspaper as a vehicle to help people in the community. The role of the newspaper should be about doing what you can to help solve problems in the town and county where it resides. It’s about supporting the community by shining a light on what is right and what needs to be fixed. It’s challenging work, especially if an entity tries to throw up a roadblock to transparency that is a right given to the public.

These are the times in which we live. People take food, one of life’s essentials, and fashion it into art – a rose bush, the Eiffel Tower, Tom Selleck, whatever.

I’m all for Elon Musk kicking the numerous and annoying ads off Twitter, though how he makes the business continue to work without them is unclear. The bigger issue is running off the fake accounts and streams of disinformation.

With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the area now known as Marion County, Arkansas, became a part of the United States. In 1810 Marion County was a part of the New Madrid district of Louisiana Territory and in 1812 was a part of Missouri Territory. Arkansas Territory was created in 1819. In 1820 a small portion of Marion County was in Lawrence County, while most of it was within the Cherokee Indian Tract. It wasn’t until November 1835 that Arkansas was recognized as a state. During this transitional period, the first white settlers came - some to trade with the Indians, some to find a new way of life. Mostly these people were hunters, trappers, and fishermen; none were farmers.