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Public Schools May Be Starting Sooner Effecting Tourism
LITTLE ROCK – The House on Wednesday voted 80-15 to approve a bill to give school districts flexibility on when to begin the school year.
HB 1099 by Rep. Homer Lenderman, D-Brookland, would allow public schools to start on or after the Monday of the week in which Aug. 19 falls. State law now requires schools to start no earlier than Aug. 19.
Rep. Kelley Linck, R-Flippin, spoke against the bill, saying it would shorten the summer break and hurt businesses that depend on summer tourism.
ARKAWARE.ORG – Citizens Rights To Information
We are excited to announce the creation of a new online site called ARKAWARE.ORG this site is dedicated to ALL CITIZENS in Arkansas that have experienced problems with local and state government in regards to FOI (Freedom Of Information).
The goal of ARKAWARE is to ensure that individual citizens are aware and educated in the rights that they have in regards to our Freedom Of Information laws within the State of Arkansas. Many support sites exist to assist news/media outlets, but we wanted a source for the individual citizens who too, need a place to go when they feel their rights to public records and access are being either hindered or outright denied. The online site will offer guidance and support to you in your quest for public information.
FOHA Request Starting To Happen!
When you wish for something long enough and hard enough they sometimes really do come true! When you stand strong and persist even when you feel alone, things still can come true too!
With that said, Friends Of Hardy Arkansas (FOHA) is excited and happy to report that our Mayor and the City appear to actually be listening and responding to what the people want. Has it been the smoothest and easiest road? Not exactly, but sometimes you do what you have to do to try to get things done. We only hope that in the future a better open communication can be achieved between not only FOHA but the business community, citizens and city hall too!
Data Backup – System Secure !?
In a recent story posted on the Mayor’s personal website, we noticed a story in regards to a incident with a power outage on Friday Jan. 21, 2011. In her story, the Mayor reported on the sudden outage due to a problem on the utility pole at the intersection of Woodland Hills and Forty Island Creek Bridge. This resulted in a loss of power at City Hall and at the sewage plant too. It was good to read about the quick response and plan of action of city employee’s in regards to getting the power back online and following a plan of action too.
Hardy Merchants Must Come Together
It is time to finally realize that the business community in Hardy is in desperate times. With this said, it is important that the businesses COME TOGETHER as a group and become a united organization, if not - then you may continue to see a decline in business and tourism in our area. The Mayor in an email over a year ago to one of this websites founders stated that “she felt she was doing her part by ensuring that the basic needs of our city were being properly provided.”I am criticized and accused of “not Liking someone” or “picking on them” when all I want is some action for the money we pay Main Street. No more than I would expect from any business that I pay money to. -Mayor Thornton
The City of Hardy pays them to do a job and if you will read their mission you will see that it is what they are all about. Economic dev, etc for downtown areas. – Mayor Thornton
You have all the amenities that a city needs, water, sewer, trash, streets, none of those are failing and I am in charge of those so what needs to be done? I challenge you to start a merchants association and to keep it running more than a year. -Mayor Thornton
This is even more important because the Main Street Of Hardy, Inc. program’s 2011 budget was once again cut by the City! Remember, our area also has an A&P committee. The business leaders of the community, must come together and present a thought out marketing plan to the A&P Committee, a plan that will work for the purpose that A&P was established for – ATTRACT TOURISM to our area. If we do not attend meetings and get heard by them, they will continue to spend in ways that we believe have not been successful. Currently, there is no marketing plan for the City of Hardy, but there is plenty of money to create one.
History Of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
While Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis, TN, it took until 1983 for Martin Luther King day to become a holiday. The history behind MLK Day and how did it become a holiday is a story of persistence.
Congressman John Conyers of Michigan was the first person to propose legislation for a commemorative holiday honoring the peace and freedom fighter King. He began his push for the holiday shortly after the assassination and re-submitted the request each legislative year. Public pressure finally took hold in 1982 and 1983 with civil marches in Washington. Congress passed the legislation and President Ronald Reagan signed it into law November 2, 1983. The compromise that was made to give it more favor was moving the date from January 15th, King’s birthday, to the third Monday in January. This gave more space between New Year’s Day and the holiday.
Arkansas Municipal League Winter Conference
With the start of a new term for our city leaders, it is nice to see that our Mayor and Recorder/Treasure were fortunate to be able to attend this years winter 2011 Arkansas Municipal League conference. The conferance was held at the Peabody Hotel/Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, AR.
This three day conference provided many great work shops and training classes too. Some of the scheduled programs presented at the conference are listed below:
Jan 12th & 13th
- Managing your municipal organization
- General session on funding sources and assistance programs
Popcorn and a movie, anyone?
In an age of streaming videos on our cellphones, ipads and other hand held electronic devices, it nice to be able to still go to the movies. Since moving to Hardy I have been able to drive 5 minutes to our local movie theater, The Highland Cinema, and enjoy first run Hollywood productions.
Sharp County Sheriff’s Office – Just A Click Away!
Below is a snap shot off of our own area’s Sharp County Sheriff Departments online website. They offer a anonymous crime tip HOTline number or a email submission to report known crimes taking place in the area or just information to help in regards to prior crimes. This is another great use of the Internet to help make our community safe. We applaud their office for bringing useful information online! Keeping our community safe for today and tomorrow!
A Year In Review 2010 – Hello 2011 !
Well everyone, it has been a fun and crazy long year here online at www.mainstreethardy.com, the online news and resource site brought to you by Friends Of Hardy Arkansas better known as (FOHA).
In reflecting back on the year and reviewing all the interesting articles and news that have been posted on our site it is remarkable how much actually happens at times in our small city of Hardy, Arkansas. Our original goal over a year ago, was to bring lively information about the Main Street business and area for the viewers of our site, and to help the local business have an affordable place, if desire to advertise their business too! However, as those who have been regular visitors to our site already know, we have slowly evolved into much more.
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