'Thanks' from LH
Dear editor:
Last week, the Lake Hamilton School District was host of the 5A State Basketball Tournament at Wolf Arena. Over the course of the week, 30 schools from around Arkansas and over 7,300 fans enjoyed spending time on the Lake Hamilton campus and in the Greater Hot Springs area.
I would like to take a moment to thank all of the tournament directors, school employees, students, volunteers, and donors who generously gave up their time, energy, effort and services to make the tournament a huge success. Each person involved in helping with this tournament played a huge part in the overall success of the event.
A huge thanks to all of the Lake Hamilton fans who supported our basketball teams during the tournament. Lake Hamilton is blessed to have such a strong fan base and I know our coaches and athletes truly appreciated the support they received on the court.
The number of positive remarks and compliments I've received and continue to receive following the tournament are too many to count. Last week was just another example of why I am so proud and honored to be the superintendent of the Lake Hamilton School District.
Steve Anderson
Superintendent
Lake Hamilton School District
Life lessons
Dear editor:
I'm writing regarding the shooting death of the young man in Northern California. The issue is not about the police officers who shot him, as the national media and/or protesters would like us to believe, it's about the behavior of the young man who tragically lost his life.
I learned many lessons from my father. He grew up in East Omaha, Neb., poor, and mistreated by his alcoholic mother and stepfather. He left home in 1917 at age 14 to triumph over it all, learned a useful trade as a jeweler, and lived a long and productive life until his 105th year. One of the many lessons he passed on to me was that even though he didn't like the police very much, they had the guns so you must acknowledge their authority and comply with their instructions. Even though he saw many dysfunctional demonstrations of their sometime abuse of power, growing up in that neighborhood, he understood and taught me to respect the fact they were in charge. If there was abuse you needed to live long enough to try and get it right. To defy them was at your peril. It was a tough thing for me to accept and that even though we all would hope that the police would get it right all the time they sometimes don't. However, we are dealing with humans, under pressure, and often in fear of their own or their fellow officers' safety.
It would be fair for the media sometimes to give the police the benefit of the doubt. It is clear that Stephon Clark did not acknowledge their authority nor comply with their instructions. This seems to be the case, since both the city attorney and California's attorney general have agreed the officers were not at fault.
If young Mr. Clark were to have been taught the simple lesson of respect and compliance for authority, police, teachers, coaches, etc., he would most assuredly be alive and facing some minor charges of breaking and entering and maybe theft of property as seemed to be the reason he was being sought by the two officers in the first place. Compliance with those in authority seems to be a simple concept. For the life of me I do not understand why it seems to be so difficult to grasp by some folks residing in our great nation.
Dennis Brown
Hot Springs
Editorial on 03/08/2019