State Taking Comments on Speed Limit Increase

Current Events

Earlier this year the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 1097 authorizing the state Highway Commission to increase the speed limits on some of Arkansas’ highways.

According to the act, speeds on Interstate highways could be increased to 75 miles per hour; speed limits on state highways could be increased from 60 to 65 miles per hour.

Family Council does not have a position on highway speed limits, but we want to make sure our friends are aware the Department of Transportation is taking public comments on this issue.

If you would like to weigh in on whether or not speed limits ought to be increased, you can submit your thoughts to the State here.

You can read Act 1097 of 2017 here.

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Boy Scouts to Admit Girls Into Program

Current Events

Yesterday the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced it will admit girls into its scouting program beginning in 2018.

The decision has met with harsh criticism — particularly from the Girl Scouts.

Over the past few years, the Boy Scouts of America seems to have lost its way. This latest move is just one more in a long line of foolish mistakes the BSA has made since its 2013 decision to allow openly gay boys into its scouting program.

America needs productive men and women who know how to lead. That’s what has made organizations like the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts so valuable for more than a century. We need organizations who understand and cater to the differences between boys and girls. Unfortunately, the Boy Scouts’ decision simply sows more confusion about gender into our culture.

Once upon a time the Boy Scouts of America helped boys grow up to become men. Sadly, today it seems the BSA has sacrificed its identity for the sake of political correctness.

Photo Credit: By Rennett Stowe from USA (Boy Scout on Memorial Day) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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The Passing of Betsy Hagan, a Gracious Warrior

Current Events

My friend Betsy Hagan of Little Rock recently passed away.

Betsy was one of the kindest and most gracious warriors I have ever known. Beginning in 1977, she and other Arkansas ladies working with Phyllis Schlafly’s nationally powerful Eagle Forum were a force to be reckoned with at the State Capitol.

After stopping Arkansas’ ratification of the federal Equal Rights Amendment, she and the Arkansas group known as F.L.A.G. (Family Life America and God) mobilized Christians statewide to fight the liberal legislative agenda.

Betsy won time after time not because she was stronger, but because she cared more deeply. She was the best kind of lobbyist. Not only was she a gracious, Christian lady who lobbied that way, but she was never paid a dime for any of her work. She spent thousands of hours at the Capitol fighting the good fight for free, because she knew she was in the right.

When she knew she was in the right, there was no stopping her. She was a warrior. For her it was a calling — a calling from God — a destiny that she faithfully fulfilled until the end of her physical strength.

When some people leave, their shoes are soon filled. Others are simply irreplaceable. Betsy Hagan was one of a kind. When I look at her legacy, and I see the empty shoes she leaves behind, I doubt that anyone else can ever take her place.

Jerry Cox; September 27, 2017

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