Council fidgets with fluoridation ruling Nicky Boyette At its Oct. 13 meeting, Eureka Springs City Council heard well-prepared citizens decry the impending mandatory fluoridation of water by the Carroll-Boone Water District as well as sentiment against allowing a circus to perform at Lake Leatherwood City Park in early November. Council also had plenty of comments of its own. Regarding fluoridation of Eureka Springs’ water supply, Darlene Schrum told council during Public Comments much of Europe has already banned the kind of fluoride additives CarrollBoone Water District is required by Arkansas law to add, and the additives would have deleterious effects on immune-compromised individuals. “This needs to be worked out,” she stated. Kit Shepperd also spoke against fluoridation. She said people in this country are supposed to have some say in what goes on in their lives, and “these people [CBWD] are about to do something terrible that we don’t want… and if we can’t stop it at this level, we need to go higher.” Shepperd pointed to studies which indicate these kinds of additives in drinking water might even cause autism which no kid deserves, and she wanted to make sure children in our area have good water to drink. Holly Winger commented, “I want to reiterate in the strongest words possible I urge you to support the ordinance against fluoridation.” She called the legislation that prompted the move to fluoridate “idiotic policy.” Alderman Mickey Schneider took up the charge against fluoridation when council got its turn. She said operators at CBWD “are trying to do due diligence, but not enough.” She had presented a proposed ordinance that she claimed would force CBWD to follow all laws and keep people safe. “We have voted it [fluoridation] down, and we should not be forced to pay for something we voted
Monday morning coming down – The insurance adjuster who assessed the damage to this residence on Houseman Access in Busch said there was no doubt it was a tornado. The carport ended up on the roof, a dozen healthy, tall trees on the property were snapped in two or toppled, support posts were found some distance away and a tire chain was spotted 35 feet up this oak. Another oak tree fell on the house next door, severing electric lines and causing sparks, bringing the IP Fire Department to the scene before daybreak. A home and barn on Butler Creek and a business on Houseman were also heavily damaged. Photo by Mary Pat Boian
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This Week’s INDEPENDENT Thinker
Photo from Dreamstime.com
Life is full of surprises, really. Who’d a thought we’d make a corporation an Independent Thinker? But Lego® did something last week we found highly evolved. Shell Oil cut a deal with Lego, the Danish toy builder, whereby Shell would give away Lego sets at gas stations in 30 countries. That’s a lot of building blocks and translates to a lot of kroner for the Danes. But Lego said, “Nej,” after watching a Greenpeace video depicting an Arctic landscape with a Shell drilling platform made of Lego bricks covered in oil. We don’t know everything, but we know that where tragedy is invited it flourishes. And we know Save the Ozarks is a lot like Greenpeace.
Inside the ESI ES in Top Ten
2
Constables on Patrol
10
CAPC 3
Independent Art
11
Council – Circus
4
Independent Lens
13
Sheriff’s race
5
Astrology 14
City Clerk
6
Sycamore 15
Are voters happy?
7
Indy Soul
18
Independent Mail
8
Dropping A Line
21
Independent Editorial
9
Crossword 21
Just because the monkey’s off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town.