Opinion

As Governor, I’m a member of the National Governors Association, which was founded in 1908 to promote bipartisanship. In politics, we call that “reaching across the aisle.” I became chair of the National Governors Association last summer, and in that role, I have seen more clearly than ever that if we are going to overcome big challenges, we must set aside our differences to get things done.

When we’re young we don’t realize how sacred life really is. We tend to think more about ourselves and what is more convenient for us. Years later, sometimes many years later we admit that OUR CHOICE regarding abortion was a mistake, not the innocent baby.

Little Rock– The state Division of Children and Family Services intends to try out a new method of intervention, by assigning cases to a team of workers instead of to an individual. The Division is part of the state Department of Human Services (DHS).

As a member of the Joint Budget Committee, we have spent the last two weeks reviewing agency budget proposals in preparation for the 2022 Fiscal Session. This week, the hearings focused on requests for public safety and for the Department of Human Services.

President Biden marked one year in office on January 20. So far, his agenda hasn’t lived up to his own lofty rhetoric and unbridled confidence when he was asking voters to send him to the White House.

Today I’d like to talk about two doctors and the mask-making company they started in Mountain Home. Dr.

Dear (Your-Name-Here) Foundation: I have a plan. Your part is to help.

Dear Editior, I would like to thank the linemen from Entergy for working around the clock in terrible weather to repair the storm damage and restore power to Marion County. -- Representative Jack Fortner .

I like machines. Occasionally, usually on the couch, I envision an idyllic future, like the one in The Jetsons, where a robot rolls over to me with a martini. In the timeless classic by Flight of the Concords, the song Robots, set in “the distant future, the year 2000”, it is Man vs. Robot. The song is so good I’m rooting for the robots! And who could forget Short Circuit, the 1986 film starring Steve Guttenberg alongside a delightful robot, Number 5? The picture also gave us the hit single Who’s Johnny, by El Debarge. Okay, fine. Most people forgot that film but I did not! #neverforget!

One thing we have learned or have had reinforced from this pandemic is our need for human contact. And the important role of technology in communicating with others. There’s a skill to communicating efficiently and properly using technology. Even a basic text can be misunderstood without the element of facial expression; hence the creation of emoticons to assist in getting a message across.