Some may have noticed the news accounts of Fort Smith’s pit bull of a trial attorney Joey McCutchen and his partner Stephen Napurano recently filing suit against the city of Fort Smith.

It wasn’t the first (and I seriously doubt the last) time, the avid transparency and FOIA advocate McCutchen entertains the city fathers and Fort Smith’s city attorney or a school board in a walnut-paneled courtroom.

Representing citizen Jimmie Cavin, their complaint was filed in Sebastian County Circuit Court, alleging the city unlawfully directed taxpayer funds to private organizations and nonprofits, including Mercy Hospital Ball, the Fort Smith Round Table Juneteenth Celebration, Steel Horse Rally Inc., multiple golf sponsorships, Twisted Effects Braid Studio LLC, and “Begin a New Generation (BANG),” all in supposed violation of Article 12, Section 5 of the Arkansas Constitution, thereby constituting an “illegal exaction under Article 16, Section 1.”

In the complaint, McCutchen explained the problem this way: “While charitable and private organizations serve laudable, important roles in communities, it is not [the role] of government to decide which private organizations should receive taxpayer money.

“Taxpayers should have the freedom to decide for themselves whether to support certain charitable organizations, rather than having government officials make those decisions on their behalf using taxpayer money.

For government to do so is unconstitutional in Arkansas.”

I can understand the reasoning. To handle the matter any other way would free members of city or county governments to quietly favor the causes of friends or relatives over those who aren’t.

Once again, I’d encourage any Arkansas attorneys with the considerable integrity to stand up to their local power structures when it’s deserved to make me aware of it, for you, too, deserve to be recognized and celebrated for your courage and character on behalf of the public.

SAD THIRD PLACE

If you had to guess which states report the most difficulty for seniors living independently, what would you say, according to a study?

You’d be right if you guessed West Virginia, followed by Kentucky.

In third place, the unfortunate state would be ours, which made me sad, considering those involved have the most need of care. We were followed in order by New Mexico, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

Utah is the state with the best record for independent living. I can’t help but wonder if that is largely due to the Mormon faith and their close-knit families.

Anyway, Cleveland, Ohio, estate planning firm Rhodium Law said it analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data from 2023 on the percentage of residents with “self-care difficulty” and “independent living difficulty” for each state. Each of these values was given a score from zero to 10 to calculate an overall score out of 100 for every state, representing which states have residents with the highest levels of independent living difficulty.

“According to the U.S. Census Bureau,” Rhodium Law reports, “‘selfcare difficulty’ means ‘because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition lasting six months or more, the person has difficulty dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home;’ ‘independent living difficulty’ means ‘because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem, having difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping.’”

ID LESSONS

I’ve lately taken to watching true stories of crime, resolve and resolution on the streaming Discovery ID channel.

Why? Because these sad but factual stories about man and womankind’s inhumanities toward each other almost always have satisfying resolutions. It’s always a tragic, yet brutal and honest reminder of what terrible lives so many among us are living dayto-day because of bad choices we may have been misled into believing were good ones.

In every case my heart goes out to the victims of lies, deceptions and, what else to rightfully call it but evil?

Here is what Mike the quack psychologist has determined from life and experience (and that ID channel) about why most relations go bad, sometimes rapidly.

First to evaporate is usually a failure of trust in a friend or spouse (or anyone else for that matter). Second is lost respect for a variety of reasons, including the lost trust, integrity, honesty or misconception of who the other person truly is.

At that point one takes the other for granted, the affection quickly fades, the thin fabric unravels and abuse begins. Without trust, respect and resulting communication, a meaningful relationship (and certainly love) can’t survive.

At the same time, when respect and trust are earned and solidified, a relationship can (and often does) grow and endure for a lifetime.

Never forget: Real love can be seen and felt in one’s words, as well as authentic actions, whereas fake love is comprised of a mere assortment of well-chosen fake words and contrived actions.