Justice Barbara Womack Webb announces campaign for Chief Justice

Justice Barbara Womack Webb of the Arkansas Supreme Court announced her campaign to be the state’s next Chief Justice on July 24. Webb, who has more than 20 years of experience on the bench, was first elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court in 2020.

Her previous roles include Chief Law Judge at the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission, the first female Circuit Judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit, and the first elected female prosecuting attorney in Saline County. Webb has also served as a special associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

Justice Webb issued the following statement:“From private practice, to prosecuting attorney, to justice on the supreme court – my over four decades of courtroom experience have more than prepared me for this opportunity to be our state’s next Chief Justice. With your support, I will continue to be a fair and independent voice that all Arkansans can trust.”

A graduate of the University of Arkansas Bowen School of Law, Justice Webb has been a licensed attorney since 1982. She has been a member of the Arkansas Ethics Commission, Arkansas State Crime Lab Board, Arkansas Coalition for Juvenile Justice, and the U.S. Department of Justice Anti-Terrorism Task Force.

You can read Justice Webb’s full bio at https://webbforarkansas. com/meet-justice-webb/ and learn more about her campaign by visit-

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Pulse Editor:

I learned at a very young age that males were consider more important than females. Why? I don’t know the answer to that, maybe someone can tell me. I never got to go to college.

When I got married, we were pronounced “Mr. & Mrs.” I’m my own person, not my hubby’s Mrs. I think when you are married you should be pronounced “married”. I’m sure many people won’t agree with me & that’s fine!

I’ll keep this short so “other people” will get their letter in also.

Gratefully submitted, Donna Lay, Mena

Truth matters:

Regardless of White Nationalists (racists) spouting lies about Black History in the Red Southern states we must tell the Truth.

Slave owners were not overall kind to their slaves by any stretch of the imagination. The pure unadulterated Truth is well recorded and one must really be full of hate to misrepresent these events. Regurgitated lies do not become the truth and indeed will tend to have the opposite effect of what the liar is hoping for. Todays youth is not stupid and overall are fairer minded than their own parents.

The following is the true history of the South and how the events happened.

Allegations behind lynchings

White mobs often used dubious criminal accusations to justify lynchings. A common claim used to lynch Black men was perceived sexual transgressions against white women. Charges of rape were routinely fabricated. These allegations were used to enforce segregation and advance stereotypes of Black men as violent, hypersexual aggressors.

Hundreds of Black people were lynched based on accusations of other crimes, including murder, arson, robbery, and vagrancy.

Many victims of lynchings were murdered without being accused of any crime. They were killed for violating social customs or racial expectations, such as speaking to white people with less respect than what white people believed they were owed.

I would encourage people to consider the source when reading one sided and hateful comments from those whose views are not healthy or correct.

Let’s do the thing that Jesus would instruct us to do! We don’t need to be known as a Sundown town. Let’s be known for being an inviting and loving place! Let’s not go backward!

Respectfully, Jan Titsworth, Mena

[Eds. A link citing “Allegations behind lynchings” - https://www.loc.gov/ exhibits/african-american-odyssey/ free-blacks-in-the-antebellum-period.html was included, but I had no luck finding the copied article. The article can be found at https://naacp. org/find-resources/history-explained/ history-lynching-america/.]

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Letters may be submitted by e-mail to news@mypulsenews.com; mailed to P.O. Box 1450, Mena, AR 71953 or dropped off at 1168 Hwy. 71 South, Mena, AR. A drop-box is provided by the front door for after-hour convenience.

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The Pulse attempts to publish letters in the order they are received. We do not refuse a letter unless it fails to follow guidelines (e.g. obscenity, libelous language, etc.). Letters do not reflect the viewpoints or opinions of Pulse Multi-Media.

From 2012 to 2021, speeding-related fatalities increased by 19% nationwide. Speeding fatalities have continued to increase over the past few years.

From 2020-2021 alone, law-enforcement agencies documented an 8% increase in speeding related fatalities.

In 2021, speeding killed more than 12,000 people nationwide, accounting for more than one-quarter of all traffic fatalities.

That is why throughout July, Arkansas State Police will be on higher alert for speeding vehicles while participating in the Speeding Slows You Down campaign. This summer, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is teaming up with Arkansas law enforcement to keep drivers and passengers safe by raising awareness about the dangers of speeding and urging drivers to obey speed limits. If you’re pulled over for speeding, you can expect to be issued a ticket for breaking the law. For more than two decades, speeding has been involved in approximately onethird of all motor vehicle fatalities. The National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration reports that 35% of male drivers and 21% of female drivers in the 15- to 20-year-old age group involved in fatal traffic crashes in 2021 were speeding, the highest among the age groups. proved by the legislature earlier this year, some electronic and computer equipment were added to the list of tax exempt items.

Last year, 648 crash deaths occurred on Arkansas roads. The goal for every individual, every family, and every community should be zero deaths on Arkansas roads.

Obeying the speed limit and paying attention are just two things we can all do to prevent future accidents.

In the most recent legislative session, the Arkansas General Assembly strengthened our distracted driving laws by passing Act 445.

It states if a distracted driver causes an accident that results in serious physical injury or death of another person, the driver upon conviction is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. The act also requires law enforcement officers to indicate on the written accident form if the driver was using a wireless telecommunications device at the time of the accident.

Every time we get behind the wheel, we become responsible for not only our own lives but also the lives of others on the road. For more on Arkansas’ ongoing Toward Zero Deaths campaign to eliminate preventable traffic fatalities, visit www.TZDArkansas.org.

Every year the sales tax holiday is the first weekend in August. This year it will be Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6.

Consumers will not have to pay sales tax on any articles of clothing that cost less than $100. The exempted items include not only ordinary clothing such as pants, shirts, dresses and shoes. Also free from sales tax are bathing suits, baby blankets, underwear, raincoats, uniforms, hats and caps, aprons, neckties, scarves and steel-toes boots.

Diapers, even disposal diapers, are included on the list of exempt items.

Accessories are also on the list of exempted items, as long as they cost less than $50. The list of articles is extensive, and includes handbags and purses, sunglasses, jewelry, hair notions, wallets, watches and wigs.

More than 65 categories of cosmetics are exempt from the sales tax, such as mascara, many types of hair products, fingernail polish and fingernail remover, bath salts, artificial eyelashes, perfume and stretch mark cream.

Laptops, desktops, tablets, printers, keyboards, calculators, cell phones, e-readers and monitors are exempt from the sales tax. However, video games, stereos and televisions are not included.

Arkansas families will save an estimated $2.6 million on purchases of electronic and computer equipment.

The sales tax exemption applies to single articles, and is not based on the overall cost of everything you buy. For example, you can buy three shirts $25 each and a pair of pants for $50 and you will not be charged the sales tax, even though the total is $125. Because each item is less than $100, the exemption is applied.

However, if you buy a pair of shoes for $120, you will have to pay the sales tax on the full amount of the purchase.

Essentially, there is no limit on the number of exempt items you can purchase, as long as each item costs less than $100 for clothes or $50 for accessories.

Bruce Westerman 101 Reserve St. Suite 200 Hot Springs, AR 71901

Phone: (501) 609-9796

Fax: (501) 609-9887

School supplies will be exempt from the sales tax. Officially the first weekend of August is called the sales tax holiday, but many people refer to it as the “Back to School” sales tax holiday. That’s because the legislature intentionally scheduled it for early August, to benefit families with children going to school.

School supplies include pens, pencils and paper as well as art supplies.

Thanks to Act 944 of 2021, ap-

There is no price limit on electronics and computer equipment, nor is there one on school supplies.

The exemption applies to all sales taxes, not just state sales taxes. That means exempt items are free of all city, county and local sales taxes.

All retailers have to participate. Articles cannot be separated in order to lower their price under the $100 and $50 thresholds. Men’s suits and pairs of shoes, which normally are sold as one unit, cannot be split into separate purchases.